Kid Stuff

#1 At some point in Penelope's first few months of life, her nickname was shortened/modified from Pepper to Peppy and finally to Pepsi. Then it became a joke to call her "Diet Cherry Pepsi," 'cause I love that almost as much as I love her. Now she can be called any one of a dozen nicknames.

This morning I asked Kyle to ask Guthrie to bring me a Pepsi (at 6:30 in the morning, in case you were wondering). Guthrie came downstairs holding a can of Diet Pepsi with a really confused look on his face (it was realllly early). He put the can on my desk and then looked at me and waited for some kind of response. I stopped working, took hold of the can, and told him "Thank You!!" He looked relieved and said, "Oh good! I thought dad meant I should bring you the baby."

#2 Sullivan has had a world of ear trouble. We noticed he seemed hard of hearing over the last year or so, but it wasn't until the pediatrician noticed that he always seemed to have fluid in his ears and finally sent us to an ENT that we realized there might actually be a problem. We spent several months trying to get the fluid to resolve naturally and get his hearing up to par, but finally resorted to having tubes put in. We have noticed a world of difference!

The other day Guthrie and Sullivan were trying to have a conversation while in two separate rooms with Mario playing loudly in the background. Guthrie called something out to Sullivan several times. Each time Sullivan would yell back, "What?!" Finally Guthrie was fed up and walked into the room saying, "You got those tubes in your ears, but you're still deaf!" Sullivan looked at Kyle with a concerned expression and said, "You're right. Daddy, I got these tubes and I'm still deaf. What a rip off!?"

My 4-year-old is so eloquent.

#3 Adeline brought home a short essay titled "If I were queen for a day. . ." Hers said, "If I were queen for a day, I would tell people what to do and RULE THE WORLD and ask my mom to get me whatever I want!"

She would RULE the world, but she would still have to ask her mom for things. We're raising her right! :)

Lessons from Dax.

So my baby brother, Dax, is on a mission in Germany. Apparently something in my last letter came across as judgmental.

An excerpt from his reply: Don't worry. Everyone is a little.... Judgmental... We could probably all afford a little inward glance.... if you know what I mean... Except me. I only have a mote in my eye. I could help you with that beam though.... bible jokes! Get 'em while they're hot!

That boy!!

Really, though, I'll take that kind of chastisement. :)

September/October 2010

We went on a little jaunt to Green Bay. We stopped by a little zoo and. . .ummmm what else? Well shoot - that's what I get for not writing it down sooner. I remember having fun.

Adeline and Ella checkin' out the animals.

Read that sign. . .get it. They're spitting (raspberry style).

Two months old! Why didn't I hold you more? And stare at you more? Good thing you're still a baby right now - or I would be totally mad at you. Instead, I'll hold your fevered self in my arms (now at 7.5 months).

The Gasall Family has become one of our favorite go-to families for fun. They invited us to a family scavenger hunt. Adeline wanted to play in the eat-the-apple game. Hard when you're missing your two front teeth. She rocked it. But didn't win.

Thanks for holding our crap, Pepper.

Done yet?

Victory??

Halloween 2010

These don't need much explanation. Harry Potter, Tiger, Spiderman, Cat, Butterfly. LOVE.

deja vu

I guess Truman takes a lot of naps. . .and that's the only time I feel relaxed enough to think of taking pictures. I sure wish I could prove that there are more kids in this house.

End of October 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

Keara and Alan drove from Davenport, Iowa to spend Thanksgiving with us! I am lame-O and have uploaded the ONLY 5 pictures that were on my camera! What on earth is wrong with me?

We had 8 kids in the house with only cold, dreary weather outside - so we had to get pretty creative. Homemade play dough was a big hit. . .for about half as long as we wanted it to be. :)

I've got two babies. Caleb is about Pepper's age. Isn't a cutie patootie?

Me again! 'cause when there are only 5 pictures, you don't get to edit.

Probably my favorite picture. I can totally hear his voice in this one. He sounds just like Goob from Meet the Robinson's. Cuteness.

Keara and Alan were SO fun to have. Kyle ended up having to work on Thanksgiving (call - so overnight at the hospital). Thankfully (get it, THANKSgiving?), Keara and Alan were willing to celebrate with us one day late so he could join us. It ended up snowing on Thursday night, so Friday morning Alan got up and shoveled a few inches of snow out of the driveway before Kyle got home. Sweet, ain't he? We had fun listening to kids chatter, talking about life, eating and eating and experimenting with our very own Thanksgiving food. The verdict is that it was a LOT of fun - and I'm already wondering what we'll do next year for Thanksgiving if they aren't around to do it with us!!! AHHHH!

I should also note that I tried to talk Keara into going with me and a couple friends to the after T-day sales. She totally denied me. . .which was maybe good considering I left at midnight and didn't get home until after 7:00 a.m. No sleep for me!! I came in the house, showered, and then got to work making our Thanksgiving meal. I'm thinking it was maybe not worth it monetarily - but fun nonetheless. I ended up taking back almost everything I bought that day. Again, what is wrong with me?

When Tru's sleeping. . .

We have to find some way to kill the quiet time and I have cute models, a nice camera, and a picture window. I love me some chubs - of the 5-month-old variety and the 4-year-old variety.

December 2010

Winter 2010

Adeline turned 7 years old this winter. She was so happy to move on up. She had a GREAT year being 6. In summary: This was the year that she finished Kindergarten (half the year in Arizona, the other half in New York). She learned to read and then REALLY learned to read. She finally learned to ride a two-wheeler and enjoyed racing up and down the street in our new neighborhood on her new bike. She was thrilled to gain a baby sister and is the most loving, tender, big sister that any girl could ask for. She decided she would like to grow her hair long, so we spent the year trying to get it healthy enough to do just that. She has had various bob-length haircuts this year, but we're finally getting it to nearly shoulder length (shorter in these pictures). She absolutely blossomed at school here in Wisconsin. Just a few weeks into school, her teacher requested that she be tested for their "Challenge" program and her math scores were off the charts. I never even realized we had a little brainiac in our Adeline, but her education has definitely become a priority in her young life. She still doesn't enjoy tackling things that don't come easily (like reading), but she's very disciplined for a 7-year-old and will do what she has been assigned. She is slowly losing her dress up imagination - but still loves to drag any impressionable child into her wild world of princesses, drama, and make-believe. I'm not sure she'll leave that behind any time soon. I always knew I loved babies and I was thrilled when I had my GIRL baby 7 years ago - but I had no clue way back then how amazing it would be to have her grow into a sweet, sensitive, athletic, feminine ally in this household. I cannot imagine life without her. Love you, Adeline!

Birthday Breakfast! Pancakes with buttermilk syrup, chocolate chips and whipped cream! When you're 7, you can get away with that.

Someone forgot to buy a pack of candles for her delicious little mini cupcakes we shared with friends. The nativity pewter decoration with the candlestick served as an adequate substitute. It lent a certain spiritual charm to the otherwise NOT spiritual affair. :)

Guthrie is showing off the fingerless gloves I crocheted for him. For like 45 minutes this year I was having fun crocheting. Then I remembered I have 5 kids, a part-time job, and only half a husband (though he is a REALLY awesome half-husband and I am not in any way complaining - just looking forward to the end of residency when being "on call" means more of a phone situation and less of a 30+ hours at a time in a hospital while the world at home goes on without him situation). I plan on crocheting again sometime in the future. When the kids are old. And I am too.

Truman enjoyed putting on coats, hats and scarves this winter. Until it was really cold outside and he actually needed them. Then he pulled the hat off every time.

Sullivan is attending a sweet little Lutheran preschool. They did a GREAT Christ-centered Christmas program. Sullivan sang these songs all day every day at home for months. On the actual day of the performance, I don't think he sang a single word. But he looked cute staring off into the distance.

I think this was Christmas Sunday. We looked so awesome. All of us. I promise. I only have proof that they did, though.

We helped out with the Christmas program at church. Someone wrote a cute little script with kids and parents sitting around talking about Christ's life. We didn't dare have all of our kids up there. So we were really like a fake family sitting up there having a sweet discussion. And halfway through, Penelope started crying. One of the Young Women was sweet enough to come up and take her out for me. So then our fake family's image was totally shattered - no more perfect baby claims. After the program she slept perfectly in my arms. And then perfectly pooped all over this awesome SILK baby dress that is white and actually was completely ruined and is now in the garbage. Awwww, tender.

Christmas 2010

Our Christmas was a strange one this year - but also great in a new way. When we spend Christmas with family, we tend to be busy, busy, busy through the whole season - so this was a new adventure. Kyle saved his vacation time to take a week off while the kids were out of school. We were so thankful to have him on a Surgery rotation, which meant he had Christmas day off completely - and the entire following week. HEAVEN - let me tell you. :) We really kept it low key - lots of baking, sleeping, getting together with friends, and movies, movies, movies with the kids. Of course I didn't get too many pictures, but the memories will live on in my mind and heart forever. . .or at least for a little while. Actually, they're already fading. Why don't I take more pictures?!

I didn't get a great "before" shot. This one pretty much sums up the aftermath. We epitomized the "commercial Christmas" thing. I swear next year we're going with a spiritual Christmas in December. (Followed up by a New Year gift giving event - I really scored in the after Christmas sales. . .Truman's birthday is coming up and I think I have a closet full of toys that were all $2 or less. fun fun!)

I really wanted to find one that wasn't pink. Why don't they make camo strollers?? Little boys like to be cute with dollies too!

The cursed Dragonoid Collosus. Guthrie and Sullivan both raved about this toy for months before Christmas. After some drama involving spying on Christmas presents and all the empty threats that go along with that fun, the boys were thrilled to get their toys. They played with them for about five minutes and now I'm constantly tripping over any one of the 76 pieces involved. YAY.

My gift from Kyle. . .or ummm Santa. A generic Snuggie. Sheesh, Santa's cheap!

She had no clue what was going on. Someday when she sees this, she'll know that we didn't get her a single present for her first Christmas. We promise to make it up to her at a later date. . .when she'll actually care. Plus, she was spoiled by grandmas and grandpas. And Santa might have brought her a second-hand plastic monkey without batteries. (Hey look! The monkey is in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture.)

The kids all got a little ornament picture frame with their 2010 picture in it. We thought it might be fun to do that every year. But talk to me next year and we'll see if we kept it up. I originally wanted to get them all an ornament (a la Hallmark), but it turns out that is out of the budget for a first-year medical resident and his family of 7. Maybe in a few years. Thanks to Target for the $1-spot ornament frames.
Yes, he still used his binky in December. Actually, he still uses it now. And he went to the dentist today (March 2011) and the dentist didn't say a single word about it. . .even though I mentioned it. So I take that as permission to let him keep his binks for a little while longer.

This about sums up how we all felt at the end of the day. I love this little boo. She was so teeny weeny!!! Awwww, I can't believe I'm saying this, but. . .I totally miss that! I blinked!

Do I have to catch up?

There is a blank of unimaginable proportions here that probably will never get filled in. I blogged about Pepper's birth. . .and now she's six months old. Choo choo will be TWO in 7 weeks. Sully has completed a whole half a year of Pre-K (hahah, a whole half. I really talk/think like this, people.) Guthrie and Addie started and love their school and are excelling and blossoming in a way that would make any mother sappy and proud to have any part of them. Kyle started and completed his first half-year of residency. We've even been part of the round of interviews to fill the positions for the NEXT year of residency (by "we", I mean that I got to go to some free dinners and smile and talk about the education system in Wisconsin). The majority of our conversations now center around a)home improvements, b)future job opportunities, and c)attempts to remember the last time we had a full night's sleep. I am still figuring out the juggling of 5 little mini-us's, working part-time (at night or in the wee hours of the morning - usually the morning, 'cause I love my lazy evenings), and settling into Wisconsin life. Snow is cool.

I am *so* grateful January came around and love the chance to whip up a new batch of self-improvement goals. I can't say them out loud, though, 'cause that is definitely jinxing it. The short version is a more positive, less judgmental, more nurturing Hanna. The long version would just bore you.

Project: Blog/Journal 2011 has begun.