Where has the time gone?

I can't believe that 4 months have gone by! I have so many pictures it will be hard to narrow down to my favorites!
We've moved into the new house! I don't have many pictures yet... too many boxes on the way! But I will get some up soon!

The summer has been busy so far. Besides moving, we have been to Forest Park Petting farm and Playground and Big Four Ice Caves. We spent 4th of July with neighbors in our old neighborhood. We went to the Everett Naval Base open house where Bill and Allyssa got to take a tour of the Aircraft Carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, and we watched a 4th of July parade in Everett.

March Update

Tummy Time! Bella hates to spend time on her tummy but we were having a good day so I had to get the camera! She's now 3 1/2 months old. Where does the time go? She smiling, laughing, and babbling! She still rarely takes more than power naps during the day but she does sleep well at night!

Emma and Allyssa participated in their school's Science Fair last week. They did an experiment titled 'Boiling Ice?" where they observed and reported the results of adding ice to boiling water. They each received a participation ribbon and had a great time!



Jake has become a little Puzzle Master! He has already gotten bored with the 25 piece puzzles and moved on to the 60 and 100 piece ones! During the day, the floor is just littered in various puzzles! The ones that have stumped him are the lenticular puzzles with dual images. They are pretty tough!

Hello Spring????

It has been unseasonably warm all year long. We've had trees and flowers blooming for weeks and it's only the beginning of March! It's been a busy (as usual) month for us already.
Allyssa is finishing up her basketball season tomorrow. She had a very successful talent show where she sang 'Amazing Grace' Girls Scout cookie season is wrapping up after this weekend. Allyssa has sold over 270 boxes and is still going!
Emma has sold over 100 boxes and passed up her goal of 75 boxes.
Jake is fighting another cold and as his 3rd birthday approaches he is already starting to act like a 3 year old. He is full of spunk and energy and is hard to keep up with sometimes! Bella is now 3 months old and is smiling and even laughing a little. She's sleeping through the night some nights but still refuses to take more than power naps during the day. Since her tummy troubles have cleared up she has decided to boycott the bottle so she is pretty much goes wherever I go, even to cookie booths!

Bill started his new position and is dealing with the extra stress that comes with it!
Our newest addition is a full size van. We recently bought a 15 passenger Club Wagon. The thing is huge but I can actually drive it (and park it!) For those who have seen the movie "RV" you'll love this... The kids have nick-named it "The Big 'Ol Rolling Turd!" Even Jake sings the song from the movie "Big 'ol rolling turd comin' through, coming though!" If you haven't seen the movie... rent it! It is hilarious!

Getting Back to Normal...

Well, it's February already and we're finally starting to get back into our routines. Bella made her entrance a little earlier than expected and was born on December 5, 2009. She weighed in at 7 pounds and 7 ounces and was 19 inches long. My amazing in-laws were with us for over a week and did all the work around the house and took care of the other kids while I was able to recover from the surgery. Thank you Mom! They went back to Michigan on the 15th and Bill was able to take much of the rest of December off from work. But January brought us all back to reality. Bill had to go back to work and the girls had to go back to school. It was a little rough for me for a few weeks. Bella didn't sleep much and she has had some ongoing tummy problems that have made things difficult for me to juggle. But now her tummy is doing better. She is sleeping pretty well at night. And I'm learning to add in the 4th kid into my juggling routine. The girls have really stepped up and started to help out a lot more around the house and that has been a big help!
Right now Bill is working long hours and has even worked through the last 2 weekends. But this weekend we are taking some much needed time off and heading to Leavenworth for a weekend retreat with friends. After we get back Bill will be starting a new position at Boeing, which will still include the long hours, but at least he'll be well rested!
Sometime this spring we will be moving again! The house that we are renting will be going up for sale, as our landlords will be moving out of state. So we are already looking for our new location, possibly closer to Bill's work. (A long day is made so much longer by a long drive!)
The kids are doing well. Bella is now 2 months old and already starting to smile! Allyssa just turned 10 and is enjoying 4th grade, making friends, Girl Scouts and Basketball. Emma is 6, loving Kindergarten and also joined Girl Scouts as a Daisy. Jake will already be turning 3 in a couple of months (although he's already starting to act it... he's spunky and testing me!) We're still involved with the MOMS Club. Actually, as of last July, I am the President of our local chapter. Both the kids and I have made some great friends and the club has been a good resource for me.

Coming into the home stretch... to D-Day!

Well, it's been a pretty long time since I've added anything new to this blog but here is our family update...






Jacob is really talking these days! He is doing really well and missing his sisters while they are gone at school.




Emma is loving kindergarten! She goes 3 days a week and even gets to ride the bus! She has Tuesday and Thursday off so she still gets to participate in some of the MOMS club activities like playgroup. (I've taken on the position of President of the chapter and have kept pretty busy with it!) Her birthday is coming up on Saturday! I still can't believe that she is going to be 6 already!




Allyssa struggled a little at school for her first month or so but is now starting to get on track. She is in an advanced placement class that is a 4th/5th grade split so she is in class with kids that are older than her. She joined the school Christmas Choir and got a dance part! She also auditioned for and made the district jazz choir which is made up of kids from all the schools from 4th grade to 8th grade. She will also start Basketball in December.







Bill has been really busy at work and putting in quite a bit of overtime! He also is taking another class this fall which will be done right after the baby is born.

And as for the baby... my C-section has been scheduled for Monday December 7th. I now have just over 5 weeks to go! We've started getting the nursery ready to go. The baby will be sharing a room with Allyssa. Emma and Jake are now sharing a room which Jake seems pretty happy about! We've settled on a name... Isabella Grace (Bella). The pregnancy has been going well although I do have to go in for an ultrasound tomorrow. The doctor is concerned about problems with scar tissue from the other 3 C-sections so the ultrasound is just to see what they should expect. We also have a tour of the hospital scheduled for next week. I am delivering at Providence Hospital in Everett which seems to have a pretty nice set up (and private rooms, YEAH!)

The 4th of July

While we spent most of our weekend lighting fireworks and grilling with friends and neighbors at our new home, we did have a sad afternoon on Saturday. We went to our previous next door neighbor Gary and Diane's house to drop off some chairs that we were loaning them. His mother passed away and they were expecting lots of people at the house Monday and Tuesday after the memorial. While we were there her son heard a noise over his room and came out to check it out only to discover that their roof was on fire. The neighbor called 911, Bill moved the cars from the driveway and the family got themselves and the pets out of the house. The fire department was there within a few minutes but the fire had already spread across the wood shingle roof. We've had very little rain this summer and everything is so dry. It took a couple hours before the fire was finally put out but the house is a total loss. It was great to see our neighbors (well, former neighbors) come together to help out. Some brought food and drinks and so many gave the family their phone numbers offering any help that was needed. The Red Cross was there to help out and their family also arrived to help. We are keeping them in our prayers and hope that you can add them to yours as well.
We drove the kids by the house today to show them how dangerous Fireworks can be if not handled properly and why some fireworks are not even legal. This fire was determined to be started by Fireworks.





























Here are some pics of the fire. The house to the left is the one we just moved out of 2 weeks ago. Fortunately, the Fire Department was able to contain the fire so that it didn't spread to any of the surrounding houses!

Goodbye Training Wheels!

The training wheels came off of Emma's bike this week and she has taken to 2 wheels like a pro! I was a little concerned considering how much trouble she has with balance just when she walks. But she has mastered he bike with ease!