Thanksgiving!

We stayed in town this year for Thanksgiving and went to the Poppe's for dinner and then to the Hillers for dessert. Betty decided to do Thanksgiving dinner on our regular Sunday dinner gathering and I think it worked out really well.

Becky and Danny came down from Cedar City for Thanksgiving too - we had a great time at the Poppe's with all the cousins and their kids. It was like the old days at Grandma Johnsons. We also had some friendly football games after dinner which Claire and Miles really liked. I am not a football fan and don't really want Miles to play it, but they were anxious to learn and Justin took them under his wing.

At the Hillers Dessert Party

Aunt Jen brought some fun photo props

The Bottomless Pit

No nap meant I actually got to hold Penelope while she slept... I think the last time I did that she was 6 months old - she was so tired, I could barely wake her up! Look how big she is! 

Miss P

Ethan and Penelope at Mema's House

She thinks she is a monster lately... This is her new greeting - ROAR! 

Baby Boy Update

Baby Boy is doing great - at 21 weeks now and already almost a pound. The latest comparison in size is the length of a carrot... who comes up with these? 

 This kid is active! He is always moving around during my ultrasounds. This time with his hands on his face - pretty cute! I feel him kicking a lot, but not enough for anyone else to feel from the outside just yet.

And this is the photo that made Penelope think the baby is a monster... I can totally see it. The profile shots are much cuter. Seeing the eye sockets is sort of scary. 

Still a boy :) 

I am doing pretty good - I haven't gotten sick nearly as much with this pregnancy. I have had my share of rough days with the other three, so I figure it's only fair to have a few good days on this pregnancy. That said, I totally threw up in the shower this morning. :) What the heck? I usually stop this nonsense about now, though I did have morning sickness for five months with Claire.

I am gaining way too much weight, as usual. It will never be my privelage to have a cute little baby bump. My entire body is pregnant and it shows. I am still playing tennis once a week, and I really love it, though I can tell it will soon get hard to twist and bend like we need to. I am trying to find some time to start walking again. Mornings are freezing, evenings are so dark. I need a friend to walk with. Sigh. If I stick to our neighborhood I should be ok. I am taking progesterone hormones - just a small dose a day - but they make you kind of sleepy.

I have to attend a perinatologist at the high risk pregnancy center again this time but I also have to see the regular OB. It makes for double the appointments and half the time off left for materntiy leave. The specialist is more for the baby and the other is for me, that's my conclusion anyway, though both check everything out. I am switching doctors to have an OB in the north part of town so I can deliver at a closer hospital. I think I have found one and am switching in December. My specialist is amazing and I wish he could deliver the baby, though a nurse would do just fine at this point. I have found that FINALLY, at your fourth kid, you get some respect from the doctor's and nurses. I have heard a few times, "Oh, you know what you're doing then." Maybe this time they will actually believe me when I say my water broke instead of assuming I have just been wetting myself for the past hour... Here's hoping!

Family Photos - Sneak Peek

Fall 2014 Soccer Season Pics

Wish I had these electronically - had to scan them in so they aren't the best, but wanted to show the end of season soccer pictures. All done! This was a VERY long soccer season - but we made it!

And here they are last season - just around May of this year. Time flies when you see it written on the faces of your kids. 

Kid Quotes - Penelope Style

Even though Penelope took a long time to talk, she jumped right into complete sentences once she did. Here are a few of her latest gems. 

I yawned and said I was tired. Penelope said, "I'm not tired mom, I'm happy." 

Sometimes I have Penelope on my lap or near me when I get upset with the other kids and yell at them for some reason or another. She says, "Mom, not so loud. It's ok." And then she hugs me and talks all soft like she is calming down a crazy person. Which she is. 

Her latest thing is to say, "Mom, I want you to want me" instead of will you hold me, or something like that. All I can think about are those song lyrics by Cheap Trick. 

I told Penelope to stay with Matt while I picked up the kids from school - she said, "I don't want to, he has pricklies." She is very much against stubble. 

Penelope got mad at Claire and Evie for singing the other day - Matt told her not to be mad. She said "Dad! I'm mad up to my eyebrows!" Haha awesome. I think she was looking at her face in the rearview mirror and she had angry eyes. 

2014 School Pictures - Hayden Elementary School

Claire - Second Grade

Miles - Kindergarten 

Cousin Photo Shoot

Mandatory after church photos with the kids - can you guess who was cooperating and who wasn't?

And one last picture of the "girls night" Becky and I so naively planned for after the air show. No movie or shopping for us. We ended up just going to Home Depot after dinner to get a dowel to put in our sliding glass door to make sure it stays shut. We are party animals!

Perfect Weather for the Park

Aviation Nation

Becky and her family came down for the Nellis Air Force Base air show, Aviation Nation. I wisely decided to stay home with Penelope for a few reasons: 1. Penelope does not like jet noise - for about two months after we first moved here she would cry every time a jet flew over our house, 2. She is pretty much potty trained but the traffic delays and port-a-potties would have been a challenge, and 3. I have to pee every 30 minutes too and I'm grouchy.

So, the rest of the gang headed over to Nellis where they encountered major traffic jams. It took over one hour to drive less than one mile on the 215 while they waited to merge onto the 15. I give them credit for not just coming right back home.

Here are some of the photos from the afternoon  - the kids had fun, and I think they won't remember the crazy logistics it took to get there. That's why Matt has such good memories of air shows as a kid - they only remember the fun parts. :) Thanks for being troopers everyone! And Happy Veteran's Day!

Recent Happs

Just a few fun things that are going on lately....

Soccer - almost over! This season has been SOOOO long given the distance we are now from the fields. The kids ask - is it on the other side of town? Ugh!

Hanging out with Dylan - I think these two are second cousins... Matt's cousin's son, whatever that makes them, they sure have fun together! 

I just love Sephora - look how cute their emails are, with my name out of makeup and perfume? Makes me want to start my Christmas list already!

Went to see Box Trolls last weekend, finally. It wasn't my first pick, but it was pretty good - even though the characters (humans more than the trolls) were a little scary looking. Kids weren't scared though, and liked it.

Gabe celebrated his fifth birthday! Wish we could have gone up for a big party, but we get him this weekend for Aviation Nation out at Nellis Air Force Base. Anyway, Becky sent me this photo and text when he got my present - a monster truck made out of Legos and a dinosaur monster truck. Best reaction ever, I had to save it!

And here is the sign I put on my door at work as an easy response to the question, "Is she??" 

I had one coworker, we will call her L, go to another woman (who I had told about my pregnancy) and say - So, Shannon told me her news. The other woman confirmed, and said oh yes, she told me she was pregnant. Only thing ,was I never told L! She made that up to get a confirmation of what she had already guessed. Made me so mad! 

So when she saw this sign, she said, "Huh. I figured you were." And walked away from my office. No other comment. The only acceptable response is CONGRATULATIONS!