Amber Turned the Big 2-0!

Amber turned the big 20 today! She was so excited to be out of her teens and moving on. For her Birthday, all the big girls took Amber to lunch in Grangeville. We had a good time hanging out and being together. Back at home, we finished her Grasshopper Pie and somehow fit 20 candles onto it. Happy Birthday Amber! We love you.

Happy Birthday!!!

My baby girl turned 3 today! I can hardly believe how big she has gotten. She was so excited for her birthday this year, and I was determined that she would have a real birthday cake for once! She wasn't disappointed! I made her a Barbie cake and she LOVED it! It was great to make her feel special. Even though her Birthday is the day after Christmas, I think we succeeded this year in making it into it's own special day! Happy Birthday Molly! We love you!

My parents gave her a Barbie car and she couldn't have been happier. She also got a lala loopsy tree house. She was one spoiled girl!

On Christmas day it was Orrin's 4th birthday, so we decided to make him his own special cupcakes. He was also extra excited to have his very own cupcakes. It is so much fun to watch these two just relish in being the center of attention at least for one evening!

Christmas Day

After Christmas morning we loaded up the car and headed out to my brother, Roy's house. My parents had a fire in November, so we couldn't stay at their place at all. But it was great for us to all be at Roy and Cody's house. When we got there, we had a great Christmas dinner and then we opened more presents. We got to exchange our sibling gifts and also gifts from my parents. Then we capped it all off by playing games, staying up late and feeding the hordes of people! Thanks Roy and Cody for letting us all stay. We had a great time.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was great! I just love seeing the looks on the kids faces when they see what Santa brought for them. Lilly was so excited and did a fist bump and a "Yesssssssss!" Molly was almost reverent when she whispered "Barbie Camper!" Aaron and I both got Kindles this year and I got a great new straightener. This year for Lilly she got some Polly Pockets and Molly got a Barbie camper. Grayson got a jumperoo (I can't wait til he's actually big enough to use it!) We hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas morning!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve found us spending time together at home. We started our day slowly and then we had some friends over in the afternoon to play games. We had a great time. Then we had a nice family dinner together, followed by making cookies for Santa. After we finished our cookies, we opened our Christmas PJ's. The girls were so excited about them. Then they oh so carefully put out their plate of cookies, milk and reindeer food. The girls could hardly wait to go to bed so that Santa would come and visit.

Ear Surgery Number 3

After we moved to Boise Aaron started have even more problems with his hearing. He was worried that his cholesteotoma had returned. So we went through all the proper channels and ended up at a specialist. His doctor is one of the best in the state and specializes in cholesteotomas. We couldn't have been happier. He told us about what he would do and how he could make it so that Aaron will not have to have any more surgeries - most likely. So in Aaron went and 2 1/2 hours later he was in recovery. After surgery we found out that once the doctor had gotten in there, he realized that he couldn't do what he originally thought, so the entire game plan had changed. So Aaron came out with a permanently larger ear canal and an implant.

Aaron was in significantly more pain this time around and it took us a while to convince him that he had been through major surgery (even though it seems like a small body part) and that he really had to take it a lot easier than he was prepared for. He is doing great now and his ear is almost back to its original size. He still looks a little lopsided, but it will fix itself. He can also tell that he can hear better already and the packing isn't even all out yet, so that is super encouraging. Now I'll know that when he can't hear me it's more because it's selective and not because he just really can't hear! We feel so blessed to have found this doctor and we are so happy that Aaron is safe and recovering wonderfully.

While we were waiting for Aaron to come out of his stupor, the nurses brought the girls these hats. They just thought it was the best thing in the whole world!

Updates

I am finally updating which means there are a lot of posts, even from before we had Grayson. I didn't realize that I hadn't even blogged Halloween! So here it is, and still coming! Enjoy!

Visiting Santa and Mrs. Claus

This year we decided to head out to RC Willey so that we could visit Santa and Mrs. Claus. The kids were so excited and they certainly talked their ears off. Not telling them about things they wanted but about things that are going on around them. It was really cute and they loved it.

Gifts

I'm just so proud of our [neighbor/teacher/practically everyone] gifts this year that I just had to show it off. I think it turned out so cute and so yummy!

Our Tree

We found a beautiful Christmas tree this year. We were so excited to decorate it. We started out like most people do, by putting the lights on. Of course all of our strands of lights had a short or two so we had to pause and wait while Aaron went to the store to buy all new lights. Once we finally got the lights on we went to ornaments. Molly just hung them all in one spot and almost always on the strands of lights instead of a tree branch. Lilly was definitely a little more picky about where she placed each of her ornaments. When the kids are done decorating the tree, that is where I come in and ever so secretly re balance the tree and spread out the ornaments. I just love to see how proud they are of the work they did. Decorating the tree is just such a great way to begin a holiday season full of fun and memories.

Happy Birthday Aaron and Heather

Happy, Happy Birthday to us! We had a great time celebrating our Birthdays this year. Aaron made me feel so special and we were able to finally go out on a date! We had Grayson with us, but he was easy to take care of. We started our evening by seeing Breaking Dawn (Twilight) Thanks honey for taking me. Then we had dinner at P.F. Changs. It was delicious! It is kind of nice that we get to celebrate together every year. My Birthday was on the 3rd and Aaron's was on the 5th.

Happy 32nd Birthday to the love of my life. I love and adore you and appreciate so much all that you do for me and our family. We couldn't ask for a better husband and father!

1 month old

Here is Grayson at 1 month. He is a good baby who eats, sleeps and needs diaper changes. We love having him in our family!

Thanksgiving 2011

This year we were able to make the trip to the cabin so that we could spend Thanksgiving with Aaron's Sister Lauren and her family. Sarah and Ian were also able to make it. We had a really great time and the girls just love spending time with Eliza. Grayson was hardly ever put down and nothing could have made him happier. We played games, laughed a lot, and ate great food. Thanks for sharing your Thanksgiving with us Lauren and Family! We had a fantastic time.

This is how Grayson spent his Thanksgiving meal. Nikki and Eliza.

Molly and Lilly. Sarah and Ian

Oh Chandler! Ken and Nelson.

Aaron and Lauren. Molly spending time on the couch. That couch always does funny things to her hair!

Bath Time

I haven't really taken any pictures of Grayson and his first bath, so we just snapped one... sometime around his very first bath.... I think it works.

I swear something just happens when you have 3 kids. It's like the picture taking get so much less than they were with your first and your time split 3 ways is, well, split 3 ways. And then you add in the time you need for your husband/marriage/relationship and well... you can see what I'm saying. So I must apologize now to Grayson. I'm sorry, but I will try my best to document your life as you grow up. I may not always get the picture taken, but I will certainly be there no matter what to support you through it all. And in the end, I hope the memories we make together will out way the lack of pictures.

10 diapers

So I send Molly upstairs to bring some of her diapers and here is what she brings....

It's like diaper-palooza! It takes her like 5 minutes to get them because she tries to bring so many and then she can barely keep a hold of them, so they spill everywhere. But she is just so darn proud of hereself and so proud of the fact that she got them all down the stairs all by herself. She is such a silly girl!

Cleaning

At our house we have been really trying to give the girls some more responsibilities, especially when it comes to cleaning the house each week. So, every Saturday morning, the girls fight over who gets to clean the toilet! I can hardly believe that this task is their favorite one. We had to take a picture, just so that we can prove to them in the future that yes, you actually liked doing it. Yes, your were only 5, but so what,now clean the bathroom!

A Month in Review

One week old

One week old

One week old

two weeks old

Two weeks old

two weeks old

Two weeks old

three weeks old

We are finally adjusting to having a new little one here in our family. He has been a great baby. He sleeps at night and only gets up when he is hungry, then goes right back to bed. I was totally prepared for a baby that wanted to have awake time in the middle of the night, but he is not like that at all. His awake time is between 8 and midnight and then he is ready for bed. It is great! We are also starting to establish a better routine with everyone. Maybe one day soon we will have it all down pat, but for now we are pretty flexible and just adjusting to all the new dynamics of our house. The girls are in love with him! So much so we tell people that he has 3 mothers.

During the first few days that he was home, anytime he would cry, Molly thought that he was hurt or in trouble. It took a while to convince her that babies just cry. Twice she picked him up from his bouncer when he started to cry. The first time she picked him up under his arms and then called to me that she had him. I was surprised that first time and we talked about not picking him up, because she is still little, and I thought that was that. Well the next time she picked him up, I was at the sink making his bottle and she says, "I have Grayson". I turn around and she is holding him by an arm and a leg and he is upside down. I kind of, might of freaked out just a little and we then had a long talk about not picking our brother up. But, I'll be honest, I would have taken a picture of it had I not been afraid that she was going to drop him!

Lilly has been a huge helper she loves her brother and wants to protect him from everything. Needless to say, he gets a whole lot of kisses and hugs from his sisters!

Going Home

We were so happy when we could finally take Grayson home from the hospital. He came home on Tuesday the 8th of November. The only thing that was keeping us there was that he had to finish the antibiotics that they had started him on. He is absolutely perfect and they couldn't ever find anything wrong with him. We are so glad we don't have to drive back and forth to the hospital anymore, but we were so lucky to have my Mom here. That made everything go a lot smoother. Thanks Mom for everything! We appreciate it more than you will ever know.

Our first family photo

Grayson

Here are some more pictures of Grayson during his first few days of life. Needless to say, we are in love....