Today I am thankful for...

• Soap and water and magic erasers... and "washable" markers. I woke up this morning to "Mom! Sean colored all over his-self! and Addison! Sean colored all over Addison's face!" Super. Thanks Emily for taking your markers into Sean's room yesterday... and leaving them there.

• A sewing machine... daily I find more and more things that Emily cut with her scissors... in addition to her hair... before I took them away. A few of my latest findings:

her pajama pants

Liah's brand new sock

her blanket

her underwear...

When I was pregnant with Emily, her doctor would put the doppler on my belly, and Emily would kick it off. One time she said "Whoa! That's gonna be your curtain-cutter right there." Oh how that prophecy has come to pass. Only reason she hasn't cut the curtains yet is because she hasn't thought of it...

• Medicine... poor little Addy is cutting 4 molars right now. Super fun. This picture was taken in the middle of the night. Poor guy was up every two hours. All. night. long. That was a brutal night. Especially since we've been used to him sleeping through the night since he was 2 months old!

• This cute little guy. Have I mentioned I love this kid??

• Time to spend with just my boys while the girls are in school. One of the grossest things to me is listening to people eat. Gross. Especially cereal. My brothers were famous for smacking their lips and slurping. Nas-ty. So it totally grosses me out. Except when babies eat cereal. I think it is the cutest thing EVER.

Seriously, how cute is this??

Are you kidding me??

• This little girl and her daddy. Liah misses her daddy so badly when he's gone. She requested this picture before he left on his last trip, "so she could remember him." Dramatic? Maybe...

• These little brothers. Seriously best buds.

Here is Sean sharing his food with Addy.

• Time after the kids go to bed to do whatever I want.
  

I took these yard sale cut-off jeans (complete with adjustable waistband that my kids can't live without)

and these scraps of fabric from other projects I've made over the years

and made this skirt!

I've been wanting to try it out for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it. I think it turned out pretty well, and Emily is in love. She tried to wear it three days in a row. I intervened.

Valentine's Open House

Hi everyone I know that lives in Pasco...

This awesome girl is having an open house party at her house on Friday. Everyone is invited! (kids too!)

Check out the details here!

Sean, oh, Sean... what would I do without you??

Aside from half-crazed, psychotic looks that may cross my face much of the time in dealing with a certain sweet 3 year old, this boy never ceases to put a smile on my face.

Little Sean was insanely jealous that the girls got a bunkbed for Christmas, and kept talking about his bunkbed. Jeremy had taken apart his toddler bed and given him Emily's bed, which I guess looks like a bunkbed when you're 3, but other than that I had no idea what he was talking about.

...until I came into his room during his nap one day because I had heard a thump against the wall. Only I couldn't find him. It finally occurred to me to look on his "bottom bunk."

He was sound asleep. On his bunkbed.

(Jeremy had stored the toddler bed mattress under Sean's bed, and that is where I found him. Silly boy!)

This was from a couple days ago. Jeremy was making a hot pocket for lunch, which it is nigh unto impossible to heat up one of these without singing the "hot pockets!" jingle (I know you now have it stuck in your head). Only Sean disagreed with Jeremy's word choice. Because clearly it is not a "hot pocket," but a "piz-zaaa"(those are both sung...).

(video at http://amymommyof4.blogspot.com)

Oh, Seanbear! You crack me up!

btw, seems like a fitting place to put an update on Sean. Sean seems to be doing much better. He of course still has reflux, and likely always will, but the medicine he is on helps him to not feel like he is going to die everytime he eats or drinks anything. I have seen a noticeable difference in his behavior and in his appetite, and he has even gained a pound. woohoo! We are waiting to see his doctor when he travels here to their Tri-Cities branch in April, so it will be nice not to have to go all the way back over to Seattle for a check-up. Until then, he'll be on his medication...

18 months ago...

...this little love of my life was born! All chubby 9 lbs 0.1oz and 20" of him. That is definitely one of the best days of my life, and my life has never been the same since.

Addison has never ceased to make us smile and laugh. I love this little boy with all of my heart! Here are some of Addy's favorite things:

• Blankets! He loves blankets. Especially his brother Sean's froggy blanket. Seany will share his froggy blanket with Addy whenever he's feeling sad.
  

• His kitchen!

• Helping his daddy

• Riding things around the house and eating snacks

• Playing with Emily

• working on the computer with Dad

• walking around the house in his diaper

• chillin' on the couch eating snacks

• jammies and shoes of all kinds

• stacking things. Anything and everything.

• He also loves emptying the above pantry onto the kitchen table. 5-10 times daily. He is so cute! He looks so serious and determined walking to and from the pantry carrying various items that he has selected.

• Snuggling with Daddy and Sean. Or just snuggling in general. My little dude is still so sweet!

• Trying to steal his brother's bed. He is a little jealous of Sean's "cool new bed." Good news is, Jeremy bought him a matching set, so when he finally gets into a twin bed (which I'm hoping is not for a LONG time), he will get his, too.

• Playing with Daddy and Seanbear

Addy, I love you!!! We are so blessed to have you in our family! Happy 18 months baby beans!

Scissors: Small things with GREAT responsibility...

...apparently TOO great for various 5 and 7 year olds.

This morning, I told the girls I needed to trim their hair (I know it's been a while: a year for Liah, and 16 months for Emily). As I sat Emily down on a stool in the kitchen, I noticed something that was not there when I did her hair for church yesterday. Or more accurately, something that WAS there yesterday, but not today: her hair. Yes, yes. Emily cut her hair with her little "safety" scissors. Random locks of hair of varying lengths, just gone. As soon as Liah heard me ask Emily if she had cut her hair, Liah speaks up and says "Actually, I don't want a trim today, Mom." Oh, no. So after cutting off over 10 inches of hair (couldn't even donate it because it was so randomly uneven), and Emily sobbed the entire time and ran out of the room when I was done, I sat Liah on the stool. Only to notice a lock of her hair also cut short. "I only cut it one day, Mom!" Oh man. Fortunately for Liah, it was only in the front, so she got a normal trim and some sidebangs, thanks to her one cut off lock.

I had previously kept their scissors up high, but I was so sick of always having to get them down for them whenever they wanted to do crafts or homework (which is a lot) and then put them back up when they were finished before the boys got to them. So this Christmas, I gave them each a craft bucket that they keep all of that stuff in. I thought they could handle the responsibility. Guess I was wrong....

Oh well. They still look cute!

p.s. For any moms who have girls that still have long hair, I ironically just found a new hair blog today and I was so excited to try out some new hairstyles. Oh well... http://www.princesshairstyles.com/

Christmas 2009: Part 2: Christmas morning

I have been planning this Christmas for so long, and it was perfect! I give you... Christmas morning in the Meredith household:

Liah freaking out about the dollhouse and Emmy still trying to wake up.

Emily digging into her stocking

This was hilarious! Liah had been "naughty" the night before, and she knew it. She was sooooo scared of getting coal. She totally has coal-a-phobia. Last year at my parents house, she said family prayer and prayed that she wouldn't get coal in her stocking and that no one would get coal in their stockings. And oh, was her prayer sincere. Many an adult had to stifle a laugh. My sister may or may not have had to leave the room.

Anyway, she wouldn't open her stocking because she was sure there was coal in it. It was especially hilarious because Santa had already given her a dollhouse, and she could see a movie in the top of her stocking, but she was certain the heavy apple and orange in the bottom of her stocking was coal. I had to dump it out for her and prove there was no coal. She cringed as I dumped it, and then flipped when she saw it wasn't.

Seany and Em checking out their spoils.

Testing out the dollhouse Santa brought!

Addy took a while to wake up. Here is Christmas morning: Part 2

Addy chillin' by his kitchen, eating his candy cane. I love that kid!


Sean's awesome remote control Hummer that is an mp3 player. It is so cool! Santa may or may not have been saving this for Sean for 2 years after finding it on clearance for $10.

Dance party... yes, my children are goobers. ...but considering who they descended from, they really didn't have a prayer. Let's be honest, it's way more fun that way.

I always wanted a dollhouse when I was little... living my dream through my girls!

Showing Sean how to work the mp3 player!

Jere*cough*Santa gave me a game for my DS. It's the only present I didn't already know about!

Jeremy's mp3 player that he picked out himself from Santa, and then took back... got a better one later. Santa also gave Jeremy a gift card to Big 5 that may or may not be the exact same one that Jeremy got store credit on a few months ago when he returned something, that he still hadn't used yet. Santa is a little clever.

Is this dollhouse cool or what?! It is fully furnished and has lights and sounds. The fire place lights up, the doorbell rings, there is a pop-up flat screen TV, the toilet "flushes"... getting carried away. Let's just say that within a half hour of them having this thing, their Barbies had proved what weak bladders they have.

....

After we had our traditional Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs (I sadly forgot the sausage... it was a real shame), the kids dug into the presents under the tree! (one at a time of course... I must see the reaction after every present... otherwise, not worth it)

Sean never fails to deliver in the facial expressions department. I love this kid!





I gave Addy a Busy Ball Popper, which he LOVES (and which I may or may not have paid 5.99 for). But at first he couldn't figure out what you do with it:

Jeremy's model airplane from my sister Lorie (He has instructed me to say that it is a SPAD S.VII and that it is the same plane as the one on Sean's Geotrax movie)

Success! Addy has finally figured out what you do with it! oh, he's so cute!!!

(also you can see my awesome pots and pans set that I*cough*"Santa" got me)


Sean opening "Cars" from aunt Lorie!

Presents from aunt Lorie! The girls were sooo excited to finally get to open these presents!

Liah's running skirt from aunt Lorie. Let's just say she was a little bit excited.

Tubby turtle from Grandma MacGregor. Addy wasn't so into posing for any pictures. He just wanted the toys out!

American girl stuff from Grandma MacGregor!

I got Jeremy a telescope... he loved it! (and he hasn't even returned it!!)

I got Liah a new jewelry box, identical to the one that got trashed over this last year. She has been very protective of it this time around.

Addy's toy from aunt Lorie that he actually picked out himself on Thanksgiving. He played with it the whole time in the store. Like I said, don't take a picture. Just open the dang toy. (notice his facial expression is the same in both pictures)

More American girl stuff from Grandma!

I love this kid. She was just a little excited about the camera I gave her. Just a little.

Oh, Adds just loves blankets! Grandma MacGregor made him a cool truck blanket. He loves it!

Addy loves his new kitchen!

One of the reasons Jeremy didn't want the girls to have a dollhouse was that "they didn't have enough room in their room for one." Well after he bought them a bunkbed for Christmas, his reason was shot! Santa may or may not have confessed to getting the girls a dollhouse after Jeremy came home with a bunkbed, a couple days before Christmas.

After all of the presents were opened, he revealed the bunkbed to the girls. They were pretty excited. Jeremy and Joel spent the afternoon putting it together. Liah may or may not have been caught hugging her old bed and shelf in our living room.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas 2009: Part 1

These pictures are from the Sunday before Christmas, December 20. Our church service was amazing. One of our friends sang "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." I absolutely love that song!! The kids in our ward from Brook's singing group sang "Away in a Manger" and I sang in an acapella quartet of "The First Noel." It was beautiful. Combined with the inspirational talks from our bishopric, it was such a wonderful meeting! I left that meeting feeling so uplifted and inspired.


After church I decided to try and get some shots of my kids in their Christmas Sunday clothes. I'm posting them all because I think they are hilarious. This is how a typical Meredith children photo shoot goes. (notice all of the Sean-isms. He is at the stage where he has no idea how to smile a "real" smile)

For Christmas eve, we had our usual ham dinner with my mom's potato salad and my famous rolls. mmm... I am happy to report that I FINALLY successfully made my mom's potato salad, after 8 years. Go me. The problem was (I say to make myself feel better) that the recipe she gave me 8 years ago isn't the one she actually uses! It's the one she "starts" with, but she always does a ton of stuff different. Well last year, she and my Grandma put together a family favorites cookbook that had the recipe with all of her tweakings in it. Success!

We had our awesome Ridgecrest neighbors and Jeremy's brother and family over. It was fun!

As always, we read the real Christmas story from Luke 2, and did our nativity play. Addison was Joseph, but he kept stealing baby Jesus out of the manger because he wanted to hold him, which incensed Mary (Liah) quite a bit. Emily was an angel. Sean was a shepherd and Michael was his sheep. (We always did this growing up at my Grandma's house. With so many grandchildren, we had to get pretty creative with roles in the Christmas play!)


Coming soon: Christmas 2009: Part 2