Some cute pics and Disneyland!Our beautiful Grace! She still hasn't got the baby acne thing really -all my other kids did...Yesterday Grandad said that she was the most beautiful baby of all. Amber and Marin did not like that comment and I'm sure none of his other granddaughters would either. Just to be fair, he has been able to spend a lot more time with her than he usually does, she hasn't been crying too much, and no baby acne. She is beautiful!

Speaking of beautiful and handsome...Ryan took these two pics when the kids were headed to church the other day. Grace and I stayed home that week to keep her away from all the sicky type people. These four kids are so cute- if I do say so myself. The suits were a gift from Nana so that the boys would get to match their cousins.

Grace's first trip to Disneyland!!

This year they made the castle look like it had snow on it and as the day went on there was more snow. By nighttime, it was all lit up and looked like it was covered in glistening snow.

I love this pics of Marin at California Adventure- She loves to pose!

Marin, Grace and Ben with Flik- Grace slept through most of her first trip to the parks, but she did get to go one two rides at Flik's Fun Fair and enjoyed sleeping through the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Christmas parade!

I'll have to post the Christmas stuff sometime soon!

Tag!

Julie doesn't actually tag me , but I liked this one...so here are my answers...check out her blog to see what she wrote)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I like wrapping paper, but for those unusual size or shaped gifts bags are awesome.

2. Real tree or artificial? REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ours is awesome this year and it smells so good- I'm still disgusted with my parents for getting an artificial one a few years ago.

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the first week of December. We don't have a big tradition of when- how (all together and who puts the ugly star on the top) is more the big thing with my kids.

4. When do you take the tree down? We do it within two weeks of Christmas ending- due to the live tree- because that is when the trash guys will take it for you.

5. Favorite gift received as a child? I always loved books and clothes- as a small child I loved the Barbie fashion head I got- the one where you could do her hair and makeup.

6. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes- a nice one and a Fisher Price one to play with. A lady gave a talk last week at church and she said they always waited until Christmas Eve to put the baby Jesus in the stable- we thought that sounded cool, so we took him out and his is hidden away until just before bed on Christmas Eve. A new tradition for us.

7. Hardest person to by for? Any of our parents- Janet especially!

8. Easiest to buy for? Amber- I don't know why, but I always end up with TONS of stuff for her.

9. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received? can't think of anything- I did get a white elephant gift of maxi pads once...

11. Favorite Christmas movie? The Grinch Who Stole Christmas- the cartoon version

12. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? no- a few wedding presents though...

13. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? That's hard- I LOVE fudge, carmel corn and Gregnog- tamale dinner at Robles' is awesome too!

14. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Ryan insists on colored. I'd like to mix it up each year, but he only wants colored- it looks good though.

15. Favorite Christmas song? I love tons of them, but my top 4 would be: Nat King Cole singing The Christmas Song (chestnuts roasting...) because that is the one that my dad uses to declare Christmas season open, Ave Maria by the Pacific Chorale- it is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world! and Barbra Striesand singing Jingle Bells- I think of Adam, Laura and I running around the house and spinning until we fell over, and off the same cd The Best Gift- I've always loved that song about a baby being the best Christmas gift ever and now Grace is mine!

16. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I love to be with family, but it has become too difficult to move 7 people and all the presents, etc for Christmas.

17. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? I shouldn't even respond to that...of course! I can even name all the 7 dwarfs. My mind is full of important things like that!

18. Open presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open pjs on Christmas Eve and one at a time everything else Christmas morning.

19. Most annoying things about this time of year? "Winter Break"- It's Christmas break! None of us get Hanukkah off, or any of the made up holidays...I hate things pc in general.

20. Favorite ornament or theme color? We have some new Charger and Angels ornaments that I love. I also love nutcrackers and candy cane looking things.

21. Favorite Christmas dinner- tamales at Robles' home

22. What do you want for Christmas this year? I got it- her name is Grace Rylynn.

Tag you are all now "it". MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!


18.

CAN I HOLD HER?!?!!! No matter where I am in the house, someone is asking to hold Grace. I put her in her bed the other day, went to the bathroom and came back to find her gone- Amber was holding her. I lay her on the couch and leave to answer the phone- I come back, Justin is holding her. We were decorating the Christmas tree and she was laying ont he couch watching. Next thing I know Ryan is holding her. I have to admit that I too, hold her a lot! She is so cute and loves to snuggle and she smells so good. I even find myself holding her for a few extra minutes in the middle of the night when I don't have to share her!

Daddy is smitten!

My baby and my old baby- holy cow! how did he get so big?

Who holds her the most? It's a toss up I think!

Aunt Laura finished her finals and drove down from LA just to hold her!

How could you not hold this cuteness? It's better than candy!

Miller Six Pack + One!

Welcome Grace Rylynn Miller!!!!

Dec. 1, 2007

11:02 a.m. 7lbs.11oz. 20 inches

Her brother and sisters are so excited- all they want to do is hold her all day long. I can hardly blame them because that is what I want to do all day long too!


Brand new and in the hospital!

You can't tell in the pic, but her eyes are currently blue- of course that usually changes. She looks so much like Marin did as a baby.

Grace was a name I liked and Ryan never really did. We had a list of other names- none of which was Grace- but when she was born, Ryan said none of them fit her and he suggested Grace. The kids loved it and the more I looked at her, I did too. Rylynn is after her Daddy (who adores her and pulls rank over the kids to hold her). Marilee has called him that often as a joke, but I thought it would be fun to use his name somehow, since we've used lots of other family names. I can't believe she is only 3 days old! She is beautiful, sleeps well so far and seems okay with all the TONS of love and attention from her family. I hope she keeps that up since she ended up in a family that ADORES her and isn't really known for being calm and quiet.

We are so lucky!!!!!!!!!!

When Will This Baby Come?

I'm sure I have always been this impatient, but I don't remember. I had contractions yesterday (Monday) for about 4-5 hours and then after dinner they just stopped. LAME! Today Ben and I went to California Adventure- me in hopes that it would start something again- no luck. It just made Ben and I both tired, so we had naps when we got home. Anyway, doctor's appointment is Thursday afternoon, so hopefully something will be going on by then- or the doctor will take pitty on a very uncomfortable lady and induce me. I figure if I can't sleep I might as well have a baby to feed and change in the middle of the night- atleast I'd be able to roll over without Herculean effort! I'll keep you posted! Cross your fingers!

Halloween Fun, The Cutest Cheerleader Ever and Stubborn Baby?

These first pics are Halloween night- we had a great time, but this year was a little different...the Trunk or Treat that we do at the church every year got postponed because of the fires and switched to another day. We had football and cheer the night it was rescheduled, so no one but Amber got to go. I usually use up all my candy there and then give out anything the kids collected that they don't like on the acutal night of Halloween. Since we didn't go, I have one and a half bags of candy left! Ahhhh! We'll be eating it forever. It was a also a bit different for us because Amber went to a birthday party where they Trick-or- Treated, so she didn't come with us! My girl is growing up too fast! We did go out with the Hall family (pic above) and had great fun, even though the older boys wanted to run as fast as they could from house to house!

Benjamin as Peter Pan



Amber was a baby- thank goodness she wasn't that large at delivery! Marin was a pop star, Ben was Peter Pan, and Justin was a lacrosse player. When he passed out candy at Grandma and Papa's house there were multiple people who asked if he played lacrosse at Irvine High! He's big, but not that big yet!


Justin and Marin with thtier proud Daddy after Justin's first play-off game this weekend. They won 40-0. Justin had a great defensive game. He was actually voted to represent Irvine at the All Conference game again this year. Since he is one of the youngest players on the team, we didn't think he would be chosen, but he was as a linebacker. The game will be Dec. 8th.

Here is the cutest cheerleader ever- she is so fun to watch at the games. She is the youngest on her squad, but definetely not the shortest. I get the biggest kick out of watching her.

This is their night/competition uniform. Bummer the pic didn't turn out better.


Ok- on to the stubborn baby...Check up for week 36 was today and the baby is still breech. Not only breech, but breech with just one foot down! The doctor and I decided to wait one more week and if it has not turned, then he will take me over to the hospital and they will try to turn it. That invloves giving me a shot to relieve pain and to make my uterus relax, then trying to push my stomach so that the baby will turn. There are a few ways to do it. I am rather stressed about the whole thing, but a mom at football tonight said she had it done and it worked really well and the baby was delivered without any problem a week or two later. If it does not work, or if my water breaks before then, then I will have to have a C-section- which I really don't want to do since the recovery is longer. Pray extra for me that it will just turn itself and be more cooperative! I hope this baby isn't as stubborn as Justin was (and still is sometimes!). I was hoping I'd be early because I can hardly sleep anymore and I'm so uncomfortable, but now I'm nervous and want to wait a bit longer so the baby can right itself.

Anyway, there is the Miller update!

AMBER THE GREAT

I don't often brag about Amber since the things she's involved in aren't as public as a football game- in any case- I am braggin' today! Yesterday they announced the winners of the Reflections contest for our school and Amber won 1st place for a poem she wrote! She was so excited. When I get it back- I'll send it out for you to read. Anyway, her work now goes to the district to be judged there and if she wins there then to a regional thing and on and on. Most people probably don't know, but she writes song lyrics and poems a lot. In fact we have journals and notebooks full of them. She has been singled out before by various teachers for her great creative writing and had one of her stories picked a few years ago to be acted out by a theater group. Here is her latest story- although not the winning one- it gives you an idea of her cleverness (and her hate of anything healthy). YEAH Amber!

The Scariest Halloween Ever

By Amber Miller

"Trick or Treat!" Sheryl and Marie held out their bags.

"Oh, hi girls," cooed Mrs. Adams. "Here you go. Three candy bars for each of you."

"Thank you Mrs. Adams. Happy Halloween!

It was your typical Halloween- kids were trick or treating, pranks were pulled and parties were thrown. But something seemed wrong to Sheryl. She couldn't put her finger on it, so she kept quiet.

"Come on Sherrie." Marie pulled Sheryl to the last house. "I want more candy!" She jumped up and down.

Sheryl replied nervously, "I...I...I...don't think we should go to that house. I mean we already have enough candy to last us a year- or five. Anyhow, you're getting to hyper again. Besides we are fourteen- we should be pulling pranks."

"We're growing girls and we need our sugar. Come on. Are you scared?" questioned Marie.

Sheryl didn't reply. She was heading toward the house. "Wait for me!"

As the girls knocked on the door it slowly opened revealing an old parlor. Cobwebs and spiders covered everything. The smell of dust and mold made them sneeze. "Come on, let's explore." Marie jogged down the hall and around the corner.

Sheryl said, "Wait up", as she ran down the hall after her friend. When she caught up, the friends headed down a spiraling staircase. Down. Down. Down. Then suddenly a black cat popped out of nowhere. "Oh! A cat. How cute!" they said. Without flinching they walked down the rest of the steps. At the bottom, Sheryl and Marie bumped into a witch! Next to her was a wizard! "Wow!" they said. "Trick or treat."

"Well, what do we have here Miz Liz?" the handsome wizard asked the witch. The wizard had shiny, smooth, black hair. Perched on his flawless hair was a purple hat with orange stars. He wore purple and orange polka dot robes. The wizard was lying on a lawn chair with a wand in his pocket. In his hand was a gold cup full of slimy, green liquid.

"I don't know Bobby, by by the looks of their outfits, I think Halloween's back." The witch was dressed in black with a pointy, black hat on her long, flowing blond hair. She was stirring a pot with a purple and yellow bubbling substance. She too had a wand in her pocket. "Where are our manners?" said the witch extending her hand. "I'm Miz Liz Batty and this is Bobby Jack O'Lanny. I suppose you would like your candy." The girls nodded their heads. "Okay," they said. The witch pulled a box out of the cupboard and out of the box she pulled...VEGETABLES- carrots, lettuce, spinach and peas.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the girls screamed. They ran up the stairs, through the corridor, past the hall, out the door, and past the broken mailbox. They didn't stop until the got home. To this day they will not do two things: 1) go near that house and 2) they still won't eat their vegetables.

The End

Where does she come up with these ideas?!

GREETINGS

Hello...cough...cough...from sunny...cough....cough...Cali...cough...cough- Sorry I can't exactly remember where I live since there isn't enough fresh oxygen getting to my brain! I do know that school was cancelled due to the poor air quality (the kids are crushed!) -remember there's no fresh oxygen so I may be hallucinating. Anyway- still lots of fires, smoke and raining ash. What a great day!

I did go to the doctor yesterday and the baby is fine, I'm healthy and getting big- at least I think so. We did find out that the baby hasn't turned yet and is still in the breech position, but the doctor didn't seem worried as I still have 6 weeks to go. I did dream last night that it was a boy and we named him Matthew. Which was an interesting dream because that is a name we have never ever discussed. Who knows?

That's..cough...cough...the end of the...cough...cough...update. Hope all is well and that you can all breathe!!!

Where there is smoke there's fire!!!!!!!!!!!

Most of you know that Sunday night the fires in Irvine/Foothill Ranch started around 6 pm. We now know it was arson (If I got my hands on that person I think I'd end up in jail- it makes me sooooooooooooo mad!). Anyway, we are covered in smoke and ash. We are on the second day of lock down- no sports, no playing outside, the kids even have to have recess, lunch and P.E. indoors. I guess that if we lived where there was snow it would be the same, but it is strange. The sky has an eery orangish-brown hue and there is ash everywhere. It is very hot and Arizona- in -the -summer -like dry. It feels a bit like the world is ending. Luckily we haven't had any homes in Irvine destroyed, but the fire is still raging and there is smoke everywhere. It hurts to breathe. There are so many fires in So. California right now that the firefighters from others counties can't help each other- everyone has a fire burning in their county.

When I'm not laying awake at night planning what I would take if we had to evacuate, I'm dreaming of rain. How wonderful it would feel for there to be a rainstorm. (no lightening please, of course!) Anyway, we're safe for now, just coughing and praying for those fighting the fires!

Awesome Game

Last week's game from our team and Justin was less than stellar and tons of you were there to watch..this week they had an awesome game- Justin in particular- and only Nana, Grandad and I saw it...oh well... he threw 2 touchdown passes, had a sack, was in on at least 10 tackles and even had a long run (the run was called back because of a penalty- holding on #10- we don't have a #10...hmmm....) Anyway, he played great today- maybe ya'll just made him nervous last week :).

Marin was the cutest thing ever though last week, so that made up for it. I love to watch her cheerlead (and dance). She's so funny and dramatic!

Now as I type, Justin and Ryan are off to Las Vegas for the BYU game- go Cougars!

We've been moving furniture around and now need to paint 3/4 of the upstairs. Baby check up was good yesterday. All is well!

BABY UPDATE- Week 31

So we still can't decide on names, but the top two boys are Troy or Drew and the top girl name this week seems to be Sydney. Ryan still really likes Teegan, but the kids don't. It's way harder to name a baby when you have already used up 4 names, your siblings have used up many more, and now your kids are old enough to have a strong opinion (Ben is still holding out for Luke Skywalker Miller).

Doctor check up last week was boring and short- which is always a good thing. I've gained a whopping 14 lbs, but I feel like it's about 30! Everything is normal and the baby's heart beat is strong. This one loves to kick me when it hears music- much like my other ones- especially Amber. I guess they can't help but be musical with me as their mom.

So that's about it...we're just running around every afternoon like chickens with their heads cut off to all the kids activities. We have begun the moving of all the bedrooms as almost everyone is switching around somehow to make room for the baby. I have to get up every night and use the bathroom, so things are pretty normal I guess! Happy Birthday to Marilee today and happy Tuesday to everyone else!

Poor Benjamin!

Wednesday late in the afternoon I heard a horrible scream from the backyard. Within a minute or two Amber's friend, Emily, came into the room carrying Ben. He had been jumping on the trampoline with Emily and Marin and somehow came down and badly twisted his ankle. Within a matter of minutes it looked like there was an egg growing out of the side of his ankle bone. We iced it, gave him Motrin and wrapped it. The next morning he still couldn't put any kind of weight on it, so after I took the kids to school, we went to the doctor's office. He eventually got xrays which showed that there were not any breaks- it's just badly sprained. I've been carrying him everywhere- no small task, as he weighs a lot and I'm 29 weeks pregnant! He had to skip gymnastics Thursday morning and school on Friday since he couldn't put weight on it.

The good news- although it is turning all different colors now, he did finally start walking on it yesterday during Justin's football game (they are 3-0). Benjamin has 2 friends- little brothers of boys on the team- and the 3 of them play together all the time at practices and games. The other two were running around yesterday and by the 4th quarter he couldn't take it anymore, so he got up and started walking on it. It is still really sore this morning and swollen, but he is limping around and doing much better. We've now had the tramp for 2 years and this is the first "go to the doctor" injury, so that's not too bad I guess!

Denver Trip

So here is my attempt to put a picture montage on my blog- which of course doesn't turn out the way it is supposed to! Oh well- I have to consol myself that I am talented in many other ways- computer savy I am not. Click on the link below and click open link and you can see my pictures.

The trip itself was great! We had so much fun. I had to put the pic of Logan sleeping in because that is how I felt when we got home- I was wiped out! A quick run down-

Thursday- Lunch with Spencer at school, some shopping and the Denver Broncos game- yes I actually wore orange- yuck! It was awesome- we rode the train, bought fun stuff and had a great time at the game. What a gorgeous stadium.

Friday- Amazing Jake's palace of fun- rock climbing, laser tag, bumper cars, vidoes games, air hockey and more...plus an all you can eat buffet. Truly a kid paradise. Movies at night at Marilee's house.

Saturday- Spencer's football game- hot, but fun to see him play! Then I took Spencer and Justin on the train to downtown. We ate at ESPN Zone, walked the 16th street promenade and ran into a festival/fair they were having for Labor Day weekend where the boys played, we saw a magician (not as good as Uncle Kevin), the boys panned for gold, Justin jumped in a bungy/ trampoline thing and we saw lots of booths with stuff for sale. Took the train home and then Marilee and I went scrapbooking til late.

Sunday- Church. Adam got home from Guilt Free Golf and met us there. After a great Sunday dinner we drove to the temple to see it and had a big thunderstorm. Stayed up late again watching movies.

Monday- The cousins spent most of the morning playing (which they truly did non-stop between all of the above listed things) and then we all went to the Rockies vs Giants game. I could heartily cheer for the Rockies because they are not in the same division as the Angels. In fact later I thought I should have purchased Rockies stuff for Justin instead of Broncos stuff seeing as we are Charger fans! Anyway, we had great seats and lots of fun at the game. With little time left- the kids kept playing and Mar and I tried to watch the last of the 6 hour long Pride and Prejudice DVD- I had to rent it went I got home because we stopped with only 40 minutes left.

It was a great trip and so fun to be with Marilee and the kids. It was especially fun to have time with my Justin- what a special boy and what a lucky mom I am! Big thanks to the C's for such fabulous hospitality! and to Grandma and Papa for watching the others so that Justin and I could run away for a few days. I wonder where Marin's 9 year old trip will take us.....

Party time!!!!

Oops sideways pics- oh well- I've tried to blog this three times already and I'm just going to make you live with a sideways pic... Anyway, last week we had the "girliest" party I've ever been to. Marin turned 6! She had 7 of her best buddies come to Olivia's doll house and tea room. The entire place is decorated with every possible girly thing you can think of. The girls each get to pick something to wear from a huge room of dress up clothes, shoes and jewelry, then they get their hair and make-up done along with fingernails getting painted.
After that, they had a fashion show and then went into the tea room. The table is shaped like a heart and decorated to the hilt! (think Baroque, but princess-dolly Baroque). The girls were each served small sandwiches, tiny hot dogs, and little pizzas with pink lemonade to drink out of their own personal tea pots and cups. Queen Marin had a bell she could ring to call the "servants" whenever anyone needed something else. They sang and ate dessert and then opened presents.

I did nothing, but smile and take pictures- a perfect party for a pregnant lady! The girls were hilarious and had a fabulous time. Could it be any more fun? Dress-up, food, servants, presents and friends- why don't they have this for adults? Marin is 6 and off to 1st grade! How did that happen? I did put in the pic of her and her friend Michelle so you can see how much taller she is than most of her friends...just like her mom! Happy Birthday sweetheart!!!!

Wedding!!!!
We had the BEST weekend- Laura and Kevin were married in the Los Angeles Temple and it was beautiful! Here are the pics- my camera died and I had to use a disposable camera, so they aren't the greatest pics...oh well- Laura was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO beautiful and even Kevin looked happy in the pictures (he doesn't love taking pictures...) What an fabulous day! I'm so happy for my sister who could not stop smiling and I love my new brother-in-law!!!
Christofferson family outside the temple

Kevin and Laura with all the nieces and nephews- they all adore them and the feeling is mutual. We had so much fun with Kevin's family- they are great! It was especially wonderful for Amber to have other kids around her age and older. The BBQ and pool party the night before at our house was great and all the kids had so much fun together.

The Lovely bride and her nieces- all just as beautiful

The Redfords and the Christoffersons- whoever had my camera didn't take one of Kevin and his mom....I wish I had that too.

Our family- Marin was about done with pictures at this point...Ben loves the camera though!

My beautiful girls surrounded by the gorgeous flowers at the temple.

Justin didn't want to be left out!

What a glorious weekend- What a great family we have- I love them all!!!!!!! (Redfords, Millers, Christoffersons, Ellisons, Sherwoods, Empeys, Brinks and more)

Vacation!

Well, here is just a bit of the vacation- I may need to do this in a number of issues...
We traveled (by car) through 8 states and 2 provinces. We saw the license plates of 9 out of 12 provinces and 44 out of 50 states! Crazy!

The kids were truly great- I probably complained about the driving more than they did with a sore pregnant back and an entire day of nausea- but they were fabulous. Of course, Amber had the last Harry Potter book to read the whole way home. She finished 759 pages in about 12 hours! That's about a page a minute. We have sworn her to secrecy and she is not allowed to talk about it with people unless they have also read it.

Here are a few pics of the crazy fun!
Marin on the boat at the cabin! The water was warm!!!! and the weather was perfect- what a great week!

Uncle Adam, Nana and Auntie Marilee at the park near the dock- what cuties!

The kids LOVED the tubes. The hardest part was getting in with a life jacket on. We had some slower trips for the younger kids and a few wild rides for the older ones. Justin and Spencer actually went flipping out of the tube on one ride and the tube even flipped over. They went flying! Luckily no one really got hurt all week (unless you count Grandad's various cuts, scrapes and injuries, but that is nothing new:))

Mom and Ben on the boat. Ben loved riding, but wouldn't get out of the boat except to go on the jet ski with Dad. Due to the pregnant thing I was limited to to the boat as well, but we had great fun watching others tube, ski and surf.

On the boat!

The Calgary Stampede! Doesn't Justin make a good farmer?! It was a VERY VERY VERY hot day in Calgary, but we had fun? This part was actually neat- going in the barns, etc. The rides and games were too expensive and it was too hot, but we'll never forget it!

My cute cowgirls!

Spencer and Marin playing at Lake Bonnavista (sp?) in south Calgary with one of Marilee's childhood friends and his adorable family.

Amber was busy at the lake!!!!

We finished the trip in Mountain View (pics still to come for that part). We drove down from Calgary and stopped for a while at the Cardston Alberta temple. Marilee and Adam, Heather and Steve and Julie and TJ were all married here. It always has been special to me because this is where my grandparents and Ryan's grandparents visited often. Yeah for a fun trip!!!

Off we go...

A quick note before we head off for vacation...I have decided I hate getting ready for trips- there is always so much to do and I get stressed! I can usually handle stress pretty well, but AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! anyway, I think it's all done and whether it is or not, we are off tomorrow!

On a happy note, I felt the baby move this morning. I was awake very early (needing to use the bathroom of course) and when I got back in bed and tried to sleep I felt Miller #5 moving around a bit. As I recall with the others I didn't feel too much too often at first because I am usually moving myself, so it only works when I am really still and focused. It was fun :).

I also have never written about the Shower Fairy! A while back, I received an anonymous present on my doorstep from the "Shower Fairy". The card informed me that I would be receiving random visits. The bag contained a baby towel and washclothes- I had actually thought the day or two before that we would need new ones since the old ones were used until they fell apart. Then, just before we went to Utah I received another gift- a gift card to Motherhood. That came in handy! I needed jeans for the family picture and mine were way beyond fitting. So yeah- a trip shopping! Anyway, it's so fun to be suprised and big thanks to whomever the giver may be!!!!!!!

BABY UPDATE- 14 weeks

Since I seem too busy running in a thousand directions to call everybody- I'll post the baby update. I went to the doctor again this week. My original due date was Dec 10th. After my first official appointment and an ultrasound it was Dec 6th. I had another ultrasound this time to see if we could get a good date and it came up Dec 2nd. So truly none of these ultrasounds have really helped anything! I did see and hear the baby's heartbeat and watched as the tech, in frustraion, tried to get the baby to stop moving so that she could get a good measurement. I finally told her that I had been dancing all day, so maybe the baby didn't know that classes were over! :)

In any case, I'm still in quite a quandry about if we should find out or not. I have the big ultrasound scheduled for the week after we get back from Canada. The kids want to know for sure. I kind of want to know so that I can figure out the bedroom situation- we will probably be moving people around and switching rooms- which requires new paint, etc. That would be easier done before the baby gets here and I am completely sleep deprived. Having said that, it breaks tradition, and I really don't want everyone else to know- just me- and maybe Ryan. So what do you all think?

I am feeling slightly better the last two days- no throwing up and I'm not quite so tired. Ryan would disagree, but he thinks I should be up to 11 pm every night with him. I atleast made it to 10! So that's what happening in my neck of the woods....

Do You Think the Spiders Like That?

(warning there is throwing up in this story) So Thursday, Ben and I drove out to Nana's to check on the house and as we were driving back to Irvine on the toll road, I had that horrible feeling come over me. I got off at the next exit and quickly turned into an apartment complex. Ben starts questioning me..."Mom are you lost?", "Do you know where you are going?", "This doesn't look like the right place." I couldn't answer him for fear of losing it in the car. I quickly pulled over, put the car in park and ran out of the vehicle and lost it in the bushes. As I was throwing up, Ben jumps out of the car and begins asking me questions. I finally got control enough to ask him to get me some tissues from the car, which he promptly did. As I was waiting to see if I was for sure done, he leaned over and looked in the bushes.
"That's gross Mom."
"Yes it is."
Then with a questioning look he asked, "Do you think the spiders like it when you throw up in there?"
If I hadn't been feeling so gross, I would have fallen over laughing! I chuckled and answered, "I don't know son. That's a good question."
I love that even in the grossed of situations my children keep me entertained! What will he come up with next?

Just a shout out to my amazing 9 year old son!!!! He played baseball again this year and was drafted onto the upper level teams. He then played on a GREAT team with some really talented kids and held his own. He was the only 9 year old on a team of 10 year olds. His batting average was .462, he had 28 stolen bases, 12 RBIs and was tied for first with the fewest strike outs. As per last year, he was catcher much of the time and always worked so hard behind the plate. He made some awesome throws to get kids out trying to steal bases. I love it! He also got to play left field and played good defense there as well. In one of the last games of the season he went 4 for 4 and hit in the game winning RBI after almost three hours of play (the game kept going on and on because we kept tying up the score) It was awesome! They finished baseball on Saturday winning first place in the play- offs. We elected not to play All Stars this year so that we could actually have a summer vacation, so we are done- it seems VERY strange since we have always played until altleast June.

In any case, my cute (and getting quite tall) Justin keeps asking me about babies and each of the kids as a baby...ie what I liked to eat while pregnant, who was the cutest, calmest, etc. I finally had to say, "Justin, you were the worst baby of all four. You cried and cried, and until you were about 4 years old I wasn't sure if I was going to make it." He looked sorry, and little devastated. But I continued and said that since then he has been the best boy a mom could ever ask for- school, church, sports, helping me, taking care of his younger siblings, etc, etc, etc. And that is no lie!!! I love you Justin!

Barfing instead of blogging...

I haven't felt too great since the last post, hence my lack of updating and not even reading your cute blogs! I have been exhausted beyond anything I remember! And spending lots of "quality" time in the bathroom as well. NOT my favorite month. In any case here is some of what has been going on anyway...

Amber turned 11!!! Can you believe it? It doesn't seem that long agao tha I was barfing with her! :) Her party was fun. The girls had a fashion show, a sleep pver, lots of food and tons of giggling.

The bouncers for Amber's party- special VIP guests were the only ones allowed in!

We spent one fun spring break day at Aunt Laura's. We went to UCLA- check out my two cute Bruin basketball players. We had lunch, turned in books at the library for Lolo- holy cow- it took four of us to carry them all- we went to the bookstore and checked out the clubs on campus. We then headed to Diddy Reese (one of the greatest ice cream stores in the world).

This was a pic we took at UCLA. After our jaunt around town. Amber and Justin each rode with Kevin on his motorcycle and then went with Laura and Kevin to the famous Santa Monica Pier. If you ask Ben what we did, one of his first responses is that we rode the bus! How cool are we taking the city bus?

In April, the 3rd graders at our school did a HUGE project called Famous Americans. They pick someone, learn all about him or her, make a replica doll, a detailed poster and do an assembly with a "guess who I am?" kind of thing. Justin was chosen to be one of the introducers for his class. He did a great job on all of it! We were so proud of him. This is a picture of "Roberto Clemente", "Jackie Robinson" and "Babe Ruth" can't you tell?

Luckily I had done quite a bit of gardening before I felt so gross, so here is my beautiful yard. Or a bit of it anyway...I love flowers!

April and May also saw visits from Nana as she fixes up the new house. Here are just two picks- it was just getting unpacked, so it looks even better now. These probably don't do it justice. It is gorgeous! And we are so excited to have them here!!!!!! Yeah us!

Well, that's the long and the short of it all. I am now exhausted and I think I should lay down! On top of all this of course has been baseball season, dance lessons, guitar, tons of choreography for the schools, Amber is in a play and rehearsing another one and we try to still go to church and do our callings there :). oh yeah- and school. No wonder I'm tired.......