Welcome Baby Alice!

This pregnancy was a lot easier than the last one. I really, really wanted a girl and thought it probably was. In our ultrasound, the tech said the head of the baby was small (I had to ask to know if I needed to prep for another big head delivery), so that made me pretty hopeful. Plus, my stomach looked like a torpedo like Hattie's did. By the end though I kept telling myself it was a boy, just in case, though I knew I would be absolutely in love with either gender when I saw it.

This first photo is back at the beginning of April. I get really big really fast, then sort of stop, which throws a lot of people off. When I am still counting how many months left, people are asking me how many days.

 This next photo is from the day before I had her. I could feel that she had dropped and I was totally ready to have her by this point.

 Hours before I had her I knew I was in labour, but I decided to go to the movies with my mom and sisters(in-laws) instead of putting grumpy toddlers to bed. Good decision. About an hour after the movie I went into the hospital and had my beautiful baby girl. Such a happy moment!

 The next day we had Tanner, Hattie, and Peter come meet their new baby sister. Tanner and Hattie were in love! Peter, who still called himself "Baby" yelled "No Baby Alice" when asked if he liked her. Haha, he actually adjusted perfectly (thank goodness). We brought her home the next morning and cuddled and kissed her non-stop!

Hattie's Ballet Concert

After a year of taking Hattie to the University and having to sit outside on cement chairs waiting and never being aloud to watch Hattie in her ballet class, it was finally time for her year-end class concert. My mom, Naomi, and Cayden all came to watch Hattie on her special day.

 Before the class started I made her come pose for some pictures for me. She was super cute looking, but was just not into taking pictures and would only humour me for a minute. Luckily we got a cute picture of her in first position :)

 and twirling.

 The class started and the girls all got in a circle and did some little routines to some songs. They were all super cute.

 They did some partner dances

 and dances in a line.

 Then they got their pink balloons to dance with, and Hattie started smiling big for the first time. The entire concert Hattie wasn't really into it. If she did the dance at all, it was only half hearted. I figured she just didn't like ballet. Little did I know, she was running a really high fever that stuck around for days. The poor girl could hardly stand she was so sick for days after. Sad she had to be so sick the day of her concert. However, being sick on important days seems to be a running theme with her. Flu in Disneyland, fever on the day of her birthday party (ages 3 and 4), and fever on her ballet concert day. You'd think she was always sick, but really, those happen to be the only days in the year. What are the chances.

 However, she wasn't too sick to go out for the promised Dairy Queen treat after. She kept saying how that was the best part. ha ha, oh well!

Our Hattie

This little girl is the Best!

 She knows exactly what she wants and exactly how to get it.  Everything in her life is so intense, from eating breakfast in the morning with the exact right amount of milk to cereal ratio, right down to going to bed in princess jammies after smothering everyone in goodnight kisses (making her brothers really mad and her really happy)

 She loves all things girly and loves to force them upon everyone around her. Larry is still constantly victim to her hairdos while he naps on the ground. When I took this picture, I asked her what she was doing, and she said, "Oh, I'm just doing Daisy's hair for her." Ha ha!

 She insist on dressing herself and usually comes upstairs wearing the most random outfits and always a skirt or dress and usually both. She figures I put tights on her when she is wearing a dress, so why not a skirt on under her dress instead.

She got some makeup and nail polish for her birthday, and she absolutely loves it. She likes to have her toes and nails painted like a rainbow and insists that I have nails and toes to match her.

 I enrolled her in ballet at the University, and she has had a love/hate relationship with it. Getting ready to go was usually a struggle, but once we got there she thought she was the prima ballerina every time. Once spring came and dandelions started appearing, she would pick some for her teacher and the other girls in her class. She was always amazed that "Miss Mary has so many flowers around her house."

My absolute favourite! We were on our way to ballet and we had this conversation:

Hattie: Mom, can we get a donut after ballet today?

Me: probably

Hattie: Yaaaaa! Probably is yes's best friend!

After a comment like that, how could I not.

We sure love you Hattie! You fill each day up with so much, well, emotion. You are a master story teller and can talk your way into and out of anything. You love to torment your brothers constantly by smothering them and occasionally beating them up. You are an amazing friend to them too! When Tanner is home, you two are inseparable and play the most fantastic games together for hours. Once Tanner leaves to school, you instantly get Peter involved in all your little girly games. You are a wonderful help to me, and I can get you to do most any chore by telling you you need to do it so you can practice being a mom. And when your dad gets home you are perfect at telling him all your stories to make him laugh! 

Dressing up for Dad

I was gone for the evening, so Larry was watching the kids. When I came home he told me they had dressed up for him in some pretty funny costumes, so he had taken pictures. I thought, 'sure, they always dress up, so how funny can they really be'. I didn't expect this.

Tanner in a double cape, batman, cowboy costume.

Peter with a lightsaber.

Hattie in a dinosaur costume with spiderman mask, cape, leotard arms, and shield. Okay?

 Then they came back up with Peter in necklaces, Hattie in a double layer princess costume, and Tanner in cape, half sunday shirt, shield, hat, satchel, and sword. Random, I think so.

I love that they love to get dressed up and get their pictures taken. It will provide them with hours of amusement looking back at themselves through the years.

We love Photo Booth!

By far, one of my kids favourite things to do with the computer is play with the photo booth. It can entertain them for Hours! I love looking at the photo roll when they are done and just laughing my face off. Besides just making funny faces, I love that they will spend hours dressing up in different costumes to pose for the camera, play in that costume for a while, then change costumes so they can pose and play again!

Peter's 2nd Birthday

Anyone who knows Peter knows two main things about him. 1. He calls himself 'baby' and expects every one else to.  and 2. He LOVES "Engines". So it was only natural to throw this little boy a train party for his 2nd Birthday!

We made the cakes in the morning, and he was so excited to help put the trains on. He was also super patient and didn't try to touch the cake while we were assembling it and taking pictures (probably because he was in a sugar coma from all the icing I let him have while I decorated it :).

 I also made him his own personal Thomas train for the candle blowing ceremony. 

I wanted some cute pictures at home, so I lit the candles and stuck the cake in front of him. Poor kid had a panic attack. He started crying and saying, "Hot, hot, Mom, no no!" Needless to say he wouldn't get near enough to it to blow it out for pictures.

 For the party we invited friends to come to the train park with us for a picnic and playing.

 Picnic included hotdogs, chips, fruits and veggies and pop!

 Then we lit the sparkler and sang him Happy Birthday. Again, he was terrified and needed Larry to hold him so he didn't run away. Then he was happy and started singing 'Happy Birthday to Baby' with everyone else.

 What's a party without your cousin buddy there to celebrate with you and eat cake with you until your sick!

 Even Grandpa made it back from his long trip to join in the celebration and show Peter how to blow bubbles!

We had a fantastic day! Peter was so great the entire time and had so much fun playing on the playground. Peter, you are growing up so fast it's crazy! It's true what people say about every kid growing up faster than the older ones. We have enjoyed every minute with you. You are generally so mild mannered and play so good with your older brother and sister.

At 2 years-old, I can say your favourite things are: Everything Engines, 'Batman' (which is any superhero), playing trains with Tanner (cause no one else wants to play as long as you do, so we bribe Tanner, and the two of you play for hours), jumping off the couch arm onto the cushions (much against my liking), eating cereal from mine and dad's bowl (I'm certain you have a 6th sense where you can hear me pour my bowl of cereal from the furthest corner of the basement), candy!, socks, playing outside (you could spend all day out there riding bikes, throwing balls, and playing in the sand and rocks), letting Hattie dress you up like a princess, and watching Thomas movies (we go to the library to get books and movies and you very confidently try to walk out with 10 Thomas movies every time. You hear the tv turn on and naturally assume someone has put in a Thomas movie for you so you go running as fast as you can). You are so fun and lively! We love you so much!!!

Easter Morning!

This year the Easter Bunny came Sunday morning and did a scavenger hunt for the kids to find their baskets.

 They each started with a egg at the top of the stairs, and their clues took them all over the house. Tanner's clues were all hidden in the coveted Star Wars eggs, Hattie's were in Princess eggs, and Peter's were in Batman eggs. Most of the clues were pretty easy, which was good considering the excitement level was way too high to concentrate on solving clues. It was a really fun way to spend the morning.

 That silly bunny dropped little candies all over the house. That was Peter's favourite part by Far. He had eagle eyes and cat-like reflexes in his candy gathering efforts.

 Hattie's treasure hunt led her outside in the Freezing cold to discover her basket.

 Tanner discovered him in the craft room stuffed in his helmet.

 Peter was directed to find his under the train table after he had collected every jelly bean off the tracks.

 The Easter Bunny brought each of the kids a chocolate egg, a little toy, and a fun things like toothpaste :)