Six is Sweet

Ridge turned 5 days old today, and had a nice checkup at the doctor. He is doing great!

What fun it has been to have a newborn in our home! He is so sweet, and the kids just can't get enough of him.

Kami would hold him all day if I let her. Something funny she said yesterday as we were eating breakfast- "Mom! Your stomach is melting!" Then she thought a second and starting singing to the tune of Once There Was a Snowman...Once there was a stomach stomach stomach, tall tall tall....then the baby came out, came out, came out, small small small! She's always got a song for everything!

Dallin thought he was SO funny wearing "day dee's" (baby's) hat

Every one always is wanting to hold baby, and finally I said- We'll just put him in his chair and you all can look at him at the same time...thought maybe that would stop the arguing as to who's turn it was to hold him.

Yes, there are really six kids in this next picture, and they are all mine. It is slowly sinking in...I have SIX KIDS!! Wowsers!

He sure is a popular little guy around this place!

He's Here!!

The long awaited day has finally come! RIDGE JAMES made a grand entry into the world on Tuesday, January 26th at 6:24 am. He woke up his mom about 3:30 am with some mild contractions, she woke up his dad about 4:30 am telling him it was time to go, he emailed all his students that all classes were cancelled, then they woke up the midwife with a phone call at 4:45 am, got to the hospital at 5, and he came healthy and round at 6:24 am- weighing in at 8 lb 7 oz and 19 1/2 inches. We are all SO glad he is here!


The reward of it all....aahhh a baby in the arms.

At last!! Lindsey has been waiting what seems like FOREVER to hold her brother.

Having a little too much fun on mom's hospital bed.

All ready to go home in his safety approved car seat.
Mom and baby came home this afternoon, and are doing well.

Two Cute

Dallin is at such a fun age! I have to enjoy him as the baby as long as I can, since there will soon be an intruder!


He was so cute last night making faces into the mixing bowl and being silly.

He's always brightening my day with a big smile or a happy hug.

I've been wondering how much he understands that there is a new baby coming, and what is in my tummy under the big bump. We've talked about it together and looked at the little diapers and talked about who goes in the bassinett...and last night he showed somewhat of an understanding, I guess.... all on his own, he was walking around the house with a stuffed animal under his shirt saying "bee bee! bee bee!" (baby) So maybe he does kind of get it!

December

Well, December has come and gone....we had a great holiday season with Ryan home for two weeks! One of my favorite things I did this year for Christmas was suprise Lindsey with dresses for her American Girl doll. It seems like Christmas is the only time I ever get out the ol' sewing machine...I forget how fun it is to sew! Anyways, this year, she was drooling over the American Girl catalog at all the different things she wanted for her doll. Of course it is all too expensive for her to ever dream of buying much.... She has the historical Kirsten doll, which is a pioneer. She loves history and pioneers, and loves her doll! Well, online I found free patterns for all the original Kirsten dresses! I got so excited, because the material for each dress was under $3-5 each...in the catalog they are around $25!

So this is what I was busy with 4 weeks before Christmas... (Lindsey was kind enough the other day to dress her up in all the dresses and do her hair for a little photo shoot).


Kirsten's nightgown

Kirsten's Spring Birthday Dress

I dress I made up from the Spring dress pattern

Kirsten's School Dress... I still need to make the shawl that goes with it

Kirsten's Bonnet


I also had fun making a quilt for her doll bed.
One week before Christmas:
Kami was busy getting foot surgery....
Yes, it happened. She was upstairs in her bedroom, and stepped on a needle (left by her older sister who likes to sew up in her room...no more!!) The tip, about 1/4", broke off in her heel, pretty far up there! After going to urgent care, we were sent to the hospital, and ended up she had to have it taken out by an orthepedic surgeon! Ouch!

BEFORE: She was so cute and brave, even when she got the IV

AFTER:
This is when she is coming out of the anesthesia and still a little loopy. Mmmmm....chicken nuggets!

The highlight of it all was the ride out to the car in the kid sized wheelchair! She thought she was so special! (She was) When she got home the other kids had her room decorated, and posters up, and took good care of her.

Christmas!



Lindsey with "Rascal" the new member of the family

Lazy days

Well, I'm
glad to finally catch up...maybe the next post will be of a new little one???

Here Comes Christmas

Time sure has been flying by! The kids are already counting down how many days 'til Christmas. Porter is our math guy who is always right on the ball with knowing how many days.


Here lies a pile of Christmas books. December 1st begins our tradition of opening a book a day. Over the years we've collected lots of Christmas books and stories. We open one a day until we run out. I think we counted 21 books this time! I always buy a new book for the next year to add to our collection at the after Christmas sales, and then wrap them all up for the next year so they are all ready to go. So here is Kami after opening the first book of the season!

Spencer and Lindsey had fun after their first clogging performance. They performed a real fun routine at the Festival of Trees in Idaho Falls.



We had a fun Thanksgiving going down to Salt Lake to be with family. Lots of cousins had lots of fun,and lots of pie!! I took Porter and Kami to the dentist this last week, and they were going on and on telling the dentist and his assistant all about the PIES that were at Thanksgiving dinner! Besides the fun at Ryan's sister Maegan's house, we went to temple square and enjoyed the lights and a warm dinner at the Lion House. Their bowl of soup w/a big roll is a great deal for only $1.29! We went to tour the Beehive house, and all the sister missionaries there knew Angela (who just barely transferred to Pennsylvania two days before we were there) and talked about what a great sister she was (is)! Explaination of why there is a huge lampost in the header picture....Temple Square was SO busy that night, because it was the first night that the lights were lit. There were families everywhere taking pictures right where we wanted to be, and the only open spot we could conveniently find had a huge lamp post in it!

Double Dental Extraction Night

Tonight during our read aloud time Kami decided she wanted to pull out her loose tooth...so she set to wiggling and twisting, proudly showing a bit of blood on her paper towel now and then...Then Porter decided it was time his loose tooth got some attention, too. I told them working on teeth while we read was a good thing to do as long as they were quiet. So I read and they both sat there very intent on their loose teeth. Soon Kami popped up with a triumphant grin holding out her tooth... then moments later, Porter produced his tooth. It was cute, and they both have a little baggie with their tooth nestled inside under their pillow awaiting the tooth fairy.



This was a cute picture...Ryan hurt his back yesterday during a scout service project, and has been really sore...so he decided to lay down on the floor in hopes to relieve his back, and listen to our book, and soon after this is what I found!



Right now we are reading the book Caddie Woodlawn while we study the Civil War. We've also read Moccasin Trail and Across Five Aprils these past couple months. I would highly recommend any of these books if you are looking for some enjoyable reading and want to learn a lot too! Our entire family has loved them all....especially because they have made history come alive for us.

Happy Halloween!

Well, this year, Spencer claims it was the funnest Halloween ever! The kids were all sick with the flu. Luckily, we did our pumpkin carving early last week, and they got to dress up for their clogging class last Monday...so they had some fun before the evil strike - Dallin got sick Wednesday, then the rest of the kids woke up Thursday with fevers, coughs, and headaches. Kami had been so excited counting down the days until Halloween, and watching the calendar, and drawing a little picture on the square of the 31st to remind her it was the "big day". So it was sad when yesterday they were all still coughing and had low fevers... so no trick or treating this year (boy am I glad I don't have to deal with 5 bags of candy!)

However, Spencer said it was the funnest day ever, and Kami said "it was better than trick or treating"....why? First we'll check out the pre-Halloween festivites...


Pumpkin Carving...someone was getting a little sleepy!


We had a nice warm day so we could take the mess outside...they all had fun cleaning and carving their own.

Kami really liked the digging out part.

This is the best shot I got of them lit up. Spencer's turned out pretty cute, on the far right. It's the first time he tried one of the patterns.

I'm glad I got a shot of them at their clogging class since it was the only time they really dressed up. Porter the vampire and Kami the Kangeroo also dressed up, but I didn't get a pic of them.

On Halloween day, I decided to try and get them excited about something besides trick or treating since they couldn't go. So I put up a sign that said "Come to the Spectacular Spooky Supper tonight at 6 pm... and wear your costume!" So they were all excited the whole day in anticipation of this mystery meal that I wouldn't tell them about. When dinner time came near, I rented them a movie, and had them all watch it while I made dinner, then they all came out...some dressed up, some not... to a spooky suprise meal.



Eyeballs and fingers...
(eggs and carrots and string cheese)

Rats served on a bed of worms tossed with blood, with a warm bone on the side
(meatballs and spagetti, w/a breadstick)The meatballs looked more like rats in real life than they do in the picture...they were pretty creepy, but tasted good!


Mmmmm, yummy rat!


....and last of all, a witch's hat.
(Icecream cone stuffed with chocolate icecream and a brownie brimmed hat)

So although they didn't get to go trick or treating, and some of them were drugged up on Motrin, we had fun, and made a great memory and maybe a new tradition?