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!