Since You've Been Gone....

Whew! I have spent over the last hour just catching up on your blogs (and I'm not done yet) and making my grocery list for the week! Now I will try to very quickly add comments to the many pictures below. I need to post more often, because I am forgetting all the funny things the kids say, particularly with a nursing baby around. You can imagine. :) 

This was just a cute picture of Lainey "mowing" in underwear and a bee costume. She likes to not wear pants with her underwear. I think it is a matter of convenience.

The first bath we gave to all the kids at once! I think we are going to have to do this more often to get them all cleaned regularly! Or do assembly line baths. They all thought it was really great.

Ahhh..... happiness. When it is warm here, the kids just stay outside all day long and it is sooo nice. I love it. Today there were snow flurries outside.

Emme chilling on the deck swing. I can't wait for it to get warm for good!

The kids all beg to hold Emme. She seems to think they are all pretty nice, but I am her favorite, as I provide the warm, sugary stuff she eats. One of the advantages of being Mom. And one of the challenges!

Alaina with Princess Laia buns. I thought it was really cute and worth a picture or two.

Doesn't she have a cute profile?

We weren't actually going swimming, Alaina just found the new suit we bought her and put it on. Who does it remind you of?

We went to the zoo on Sat. with Justin, Ben, Linda and Josh. It was really fun and kind of crazy, as there were tons of people there. Which is why this was the only picture I got, of Danny and Alaina walking back to the car. Isn't that exciting?

Emme not so happy on the swing.

Wow, I think that's all! We've actually been super busy and have probably done lots worth blogging about, but I can't remember and never have any time. Funny how that happens when you have a new baby......

It Don't Matter if You're Black or White

Haley, this should make you in particular happy! Now you won't have to feel all guilty and worried about us when you come to pick up your car. Because we got a new one!! Yea! We have been watching cars for a while, because we just have to have two cars. It was hard to decide if we should get a $500 clunker or a nicer car that will last longer. I think we came to a good compromise! It is a 2000 Ford Crown Victoria and was a police chief's car, so it was maintained perfectly. At 100,000 miles they sell the cars at auction. This car only has 104,000 miles, so that was good! Also, since it was a police car, it has upgrades in the motor, cooler, suspension and shocks. Anyhoo, on Kelley Blue Book it was $3,100 without the upgrades, and he was only asking $1,800 because he got it at a police auction and he only had to pay $2000.00 and just wanted to get most of his money back. It wasn't the style I was hoping to get, but it is really pretty anyway. And I really wanted silver (thank you Twilight) and it is white. But it drives sooo nice and picks up great and has no leaks or anything and the engine looks really good. Even Justin thought we should get it, and he is really picky. I think what he likes is that it still has the spotlights by the side mirrors, so people think you are a cop. It is pretty funny to see people really move out of the way and slow down around you! So, we feel good about it and since we won't be putting many miles on it, hopefully it will last a long time with only regular maintenance and repairs. Here is a picture of it! I think it is really funny that my two least favorite car colors are black and white, and I have one of each. I guess it shows that I am willing to sacrifice style to get a reliable car for a good price!

 Yesterday we spent all day cleaning our garage! Doesn't that sound exciting? This was the first time in a very long time that we have done a real, full-blown cleaning. We took two trips to the dump and a load to D.I. What did we take to the dump, you ask? Mostly lots of old paneling and lots of pieces of wood and just all kinds of crazy stuff. It seems almost empty now! It's soo awesome! That probably sounds weird to you, but it makes me so much happier, like a part of my brain is cleaned out. So, here is a picture for you!

I think it looks a lot cleaner in real life.

  That's about all that's going on now. We're blessing Emme next week- Oh, Haley can you and Dalley come? Let me know! I have to clean my house a lot today, Emme took her first bottle yesterday just great, and it was actually kind of warm today! That's all for now. Here are some Lainey pictures just for fun!

Happy Emme and a Mommy sleepover

I have been trying to write for so long, so while Emme is happy watching her mobile I am going to try to post this. So this will be really short. Ummm... Now I can't even think of anything that has been going on here. But, we are all doing well, other than seeming like someone is always sick. Emme isn't stuffy anymore and that is soo much nicer. She sleeps quite well at night, just wakes up about 4 times a night to eat. Remember when you feed them in bed and fall asleep and can't move becaue you are holding them? And then you put them in their bassinet and it feels sooo great to be able to roll over? Oh, how I love that feeling!

 I keep having the oddest dreams, probably from getting broken up sleep. But I had a fun dream that I found two extra bedrooms in our house that I didn't know about, and that was really fun!

 Danny and I are looking at cars. Again. We are trying to decide if we should be really frugal and buy some $500 car that runs (we only need it to get Danny to work, basically) or if we should spend a little more and get something that might actually last us a few years and be worth repairing, should we need to. Ahh, money. No matter how much you have, you think of all you could do with a little more!

So, here are way too many pictures of Emme! She smiles a lot now and is a very contented baby. The kids love her and Danny expends a lot of energy trying to keep them from touching and breathing all over her and getting her sick. I feel like it is a lost cause if you live in the same house and just bathe them in sanitizer every time they come near me. Emme likes to coo and talk a lot and sounds like she is laughing sometimes.

Do you see her big dimples?

Hey, look! I do have other kids!

I think babies are so cute when they yawn!

Looking very smug.

Do you see Alex's front tooth that was really loose and sore? So we tried to help him by pulling it out, but it wouldn't come. So we left it alone and now it is not loose at all, but sticks out at this funny angle. Kind of sad, but funny, too.

And last but not least, the only picture I got when Mammers stayed over after the book club on Wednesday! It was so fun for her to be here, especially to have a chance to just sit with the kids and enjoy them and hear all the funny things they say. Alaina told Grandma that she was cute and that she loved her shirt. They hugged her a whole bunch and made her watch Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs with them and read them books, which Grandma liked to change to words to and make them silly.

We loved having you over Grandma and hope you come again soon to stay!! And we want everyone else to come over and stay, too! Well, baby is starting to get bored, so I gotta go! But I will try to put Alex's singing on Meggie's blog, since it won't work on mine. So be on the lookout!