JOSIE MAE -- SIX MONTHS TODAY

What a Beauty! I lOVE her so MuCH! The kids and I went to the hospital to visit John, and my mind couldn't help but think of that day she was born. It was such a crazy day to me, to roll over and have my water break, and just feel like everything is about to change. Change it did! In such wonderful ways! She is such a little light in our house. It is like she was always here. The big kids adore her. We are glad we will have many more months to spend with her.

Stats as of the 26th of January:

14lbs 3oz

24 inches

Josie is getting close to sitting up by herself. She rolls like crazy now, and is trying to get up on her knees. (SCARY!) She sleeps 8 to 10 hours a night! She celebrated turning turning six months a few days early when daddy could be around to watch her try her first solid. Rice Cereal, Gotta love it! YUCK! Can you blame her for spitting it out!?!

Annie or Micah Yates?

I adore these pics. Isn't she adorable?

My mom helped me roll some of the foam curlers like I used as a little girl. It was hilarious at first, but as the curls befan to relax, it was sssssooooo CUTE!

Micah decided she looked like Annie, Noah thought she looked like Kimball's mom. Either way is cute.

Just a side note: I was talking to Noah about his makeup days for the days they missed for snow. Micah said, "No fair, I want to go to Noah's school for Make-Up days." I was a liitle confused until Micah said, "Oh well, Maybe Mom will just paint my face."

Fun in the last two weeks

My parents didn't know that we would be coming home for Christmas, so when they found great price tickets, they booked em. It was so great to have them here! I miss them a lot already and can't wait to see them again when we go to Utah in March to look for a house. Here is just some of the fun activities we did while they were here:

• Shopped at Wal-mart's great toy sale-Papa survived by showing the kids pet fish
• Noah and Grandpa went to 'Daddies and Donuts' at Noah's school.
• Went shopping in the Valley-Papa survived by Sudoku and watching the kids at the playground
• Celebrated my Dad's 67th Birthday!!!
• Shopped at Costco-Dad(John) survived because of samples
• Went to watch Micah at Ballet class
• Went to Chucky Cheese
• Went to Spokane Temple(thank you Heidi and Mike)
• Played Uno
• Turned Micah into a Yates(pics to come)
• Looked online for houses
• Tried to fix our heat so parents wouldn't freeze to death
• Dad did our taxes-Can you say YAHOO for tax refunds!?!
• Went to return LOTS of thing-Papa survived by staying at home with the sleeping kids!
• Ate at lots of fun places
• Lots of other fun things!
• 

Noodles MUST equal LOVE!

Micah: Oh, I got most of that one.

Mom: Disgusting!

Micah: Why does mom think it is disgusting, she kisses you all the time!

I LOVE this girl!

and these boys!

Oh and this little beauty too!

A Funny from the Past

The kids and I had just dropped John off at work, and I was going to do some much needed grocery shopping. Now, understand I was going crazy after two and a half days of not getting out of the house.

Micah: Mom, we just drove past our house.

Me: Micah, I am 26 years old, I think I know when we have driven past our house.

Noah leans over to her and says: She means 28.

Maybe I was going a little more crazy then I thought.

Just a thought...

You know those women who have children, and they look around and think someone is missing, yet all of their children are there? Some women then take that to mean, that someone is literally missing in their family, and they need to have another child.

Not to say this doesn't happen, everyone has their own way of recieving spiritual promptings. But as I have had the feeling that someone is missing three or four times lately, I have come up with a new meaning for this feeling to be happening.

I live my life at such a pace that the world often seems to be spinning. It is all too often I am running in the car from here to there, thinking to myself, "I have got to slow down." When, in rare moments, the world does seem to slow down, it is then I have had these feelings of an absence. I have come to believe in my own life that this is due to the lack of "motion." Motion in this case can be, lack of; nagging, whinning, crying, hitting, or just plain out craziness.

In no way do I feel the Lord is telling me at this time that I am supposed to add to my "motion" with what I am sure would be another BEAUTIFUL Farr baby. I love my children, and though the world I live in may be spinning, I am grateful for the company on this crazy ride called life.

It was just a thought.

PS This thought comes after sacrement meeting alone with my four kids, where I left the bottle at home on the kitchen table, and wore a dress to church! Spinning....Spinning...Spinning...

Present for Grandpa's Birthday

We were eating at Pizza Hut for dinner(Thank you Book It!), and I asked the kids what we should get Papa for his birthday? Noah's response was, "I don't know, maybe Dad could go hunting, kill an animal and give papa it's head." My Dad is a hunter, and has a room full of his "Trophies." The kids have to sleep in that room when we sleep there. I think it stuck with Noah.

Review/Blessings of 2008

• On New Years Day we were surprised to find out we were pregnant
• McKell Joined the Farr family(Joel lucked out)
• My parents finished their mission
• Bryce and Brenley made a surprise visit...and I got to meet McCoy
• My parents came to visit and we announced we were pregnant
• Deeken went into Nursery
• We matched at the U for Anesthesiology
• Sierra and the kids came for a visit
• We went to Disneyland
• John and I had our first vacation w/o kids since Noah was born (Puerto Viarta)
• We got one more trip to the Oregon Coast in
• John graduated Med School
• Noah graduated Kindergarten
• We moved to Spokane
• Took a trip to Utah
• John and the kids did the Hiawatha Trail
• Josie was Born
• She only spent five days in the NICU although she was 5 weeks early
• My mom caught a flight 5 hours after I called and told her my water broke
• Josie was blessed
• Noah started First Grade
• Micah started her second year of preschool
• John had three easy 4 week rotations right in a row
• We Took a trip to Utah for John's Grandma Peggy's funeral
• John's parents meet Josie
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• We got to go to Utah for Christmas

I know I missed out on a lot of things, so feel welcome to let me know of any I missed! Above all my Friends and Family are my greatest blessings. I am glad I have added to both of them this year!

Christmas Vacation 2008

So the last time I wrote, we were having our first snow day from school, and even as I am writing this, we are having our third snow day from school(mind you there was WINTER break in there too.) I must admit, after the first two days and then the weekend, I knew that I had to be getting out of this place! When John's doctor decided to take Christmas eve off, and John was going to be getting out relatively early on Tuesday, we decided there was "no place like home for the holidays." So we packed up all our presents(even the ones grandparents had already sent) and headed to UTAH!

Yes, I know it sounds a little crazy, but many prayers were answered and we made it... With great roads and no troubles! We stayed over at a hotel in Butte that first night, just because it was so late. But made it to my parents house on Christmas Eve by 3pm. Just enough time for a run to Wal-Mart and to eat dinner at Applebees.

We had a wonderful Christmas Day. Our kids were totally spoiled. I would love to blame it all on my mother, but John has now dubbed me Mrs. Claus Jr.. Micah was a little sullen, having been sick for the three days before Christmas...I actually think if I remember right, she threw-up on Christmas morning too. She is such a trooper. She loved her singing Diamond Castle Princesses dolls. Josie was kind of a bore and just slept through the whole thing...oh well, what can you expect from a 5 month old. Deeken was a blast to watch, although I am sure he got totally overwhelmed by the amount of presents. He loved his Thomas the Train talking books, and dragon. Noah, really scored this Christmas getting exactly what he wanted, Bionicles, and something he did not expect but has LOVED...a Nintendo DS. He repeatedly thanked us over and over for it. I got lots of fun stuff too, mostly from Pampered Chef. I now have enough Corn Cobb end thingers for our whole family!!! John was lucky and had his wish list completely checked off...it helps when you go to REI.com and put everything you would want in the basket and then tell your wife to decide. I am hoping this can happen every year.

The rest of our trip there was filled completely with relaxing and spending lots of time with family! Thanks to my mom and dad who hosted our crazy brood. We had a great time and are so happy we made the trip. Thanks to my in-laws who threw a great family party and took everyone to a movie and lunch. Good times! Thanks to Heidi and Travis, who have us over more often than they should have to...and to their kids who completely take care of our kids when we are there, and truly make it feel like a vacation. We love and miss you all so much!

In fact, as I am sitting here in Spokane, having made it home safely...I am TRYING to count my blessings! I am wondering what I am doing here in this snow clad town...stuck in my house...with my four kids...while my husband starts a rotation working 90 hours a week for pretty much the next 8 weeks. When we arrived home, we were greeted by this.... We couldn't even get in our drive-way. Although I prayed all the way home that our next-door-snowblower-owning-neighbor might plow for us, alas it did not happen. We had to drive around to a side street and John made a path for the kids and I to go inside. After a while I took pity on John and went to help him. The kids were playing inside, and as I went to check on them one time, Noah says to me, "Mom, do you think you could start making a little dinner?" Ahhh, to be a kid again. No back- breaking snow shoveling, and somebody else to make your dinner.

Utah(MOM) I miss you Already!

Sledding with Cousins - Dec 29, 08'

Christmas 08