Our Favorite Place

There is a park up the canyon in a side canyon that is our favorite place. A huge field for the kids to run, a small stream to cool the watermelon, plush grass, cool breezes, and friends/family to share it with...what else could we want?

This was STs first outing other than the doctor/hospital for bilirubin checks.

The whole family relaxing on the blanket waiting for the steaks to be done.

Blurry, but it goes fast. SC loves the air.

J attempted with SV, but she is a bit taller and doesn't go as high.

E and T...he LOVES to tackle her when she lays down. They are our dearest friends and we enjoy dragging them along when we go places.

Stream-cooled watermelon makes us smile.

Did I mention how peaceful it can be? E likes to embrace that too.

Sometimes its other cookies instead of smores...less messy.
Thanks to Oma for taking the pictures!

Dress-up Girls

Just a random fun afternoon with the dress-up box. SC usually gets into it too; however, she just wanted to pose instead.

Why can't they smile like this when I am taking nice pictures?

Super SC

Ballerina Barbie SV

Snow White SD

Sds Haircut...

Our SD has talked about cutting her long, beautiful hair off and have a "short" hairstyle. J and I were not fans of this idea because we LOVE her hair long. Finally, after months of talking about it, I gave her the okay if she did it for a good cause. She decided to donate it to Locks of Love, so they could use her hair to make a wig for children who have lost their hair due to medical conditions/procedures. Here is her long braid.

The moment of truth...my eyes were welling up with tears as the stylist just kept cutting. Breathe!!!

After the shampoo...she was giggling because the spray hose tickled her head.

Apparently she didn't realize that it takes time to style dry hair. This expression made me laugh!

The final product! SD doesn't miss her hair, but I do a bit. She looks great and LOVES the new cut. I love that she can almost take care of it by herself. ;)

Announcing #4...

This birth was very interesting. Thanks to Oma bringing her laptop with her, I was able to be online during most of the labor process...until epidural time. This was a great distraction as we waited for things to progress. From start to finish was a little over 6 hours. It was a great experience and my main nurse was fantastic! The doctor took longer than I would have liked to get back to the hospital and I was beyond READY.

Sweet Baby ST was born on Monday, June 21st, at 3:15 p.m. She weighed in at 7 lbs 7 oz and was 20 in. long. Her APGAR scores were 8/9, so we have a healthy girl.

She has long toes and fingers...maybe she'll be a pianist.

J holding ST for the first time.

Proud big sister #1, SD, with ST.

Proud big sister #2, SV, with ST.

Proud big sister #3, SC, with ST.

Trying to get all 3 older sisters to smile for the camera is impossible...for now. Hopefully in the future, something will work out better.

SV also has a birthday...still January, but later

Oma, Opa and Uncle K sent a birthday package with new shoes!!

...and some hair things.

We realized that we didn't take many pictures at her party, but here are the important ones...

SV has allergies/reactivities to gluten, dairy, eggs, sugar, etc., so I made her a wonderful cobbler type dessert with a balsamic vinegar reduction from a recipe that my cousin made up. SV gobbled it right up, but the other kids weren't quite sure.

The best part about this picture is that SV was really laughing, as you can tell, and if you know SV, you know how infectious her laugh is.

Here's a bit about SV:
SV has many that she loves fiercely...including her sisters and parents. She enjoys any type of art project, especially with paints. Reading is important to her, both someone else reading to her and her reading to someone else. She LOVES preschool and thrives on that routine. Despite her diagnosis of allergies last year, she has been a trooper. She knows what she can and cannot have and deals with it all very diplomatically. We appreciate her cooperation, because it has been a much easier experience than it could have been. She loves to laugh...and it is INFECTIOUS. She laughs with her whole being. She has a great smile, which she shares often. She loves to help everyone and rushes when you need her. She is an amazing child!

Laundry fun...what?

Nothing like laundry baskets to keep the children occupied.

Surprisingly, for a while...

SV didn't want to fold clothes, this is what J did to her to get them off the floor. ;)

SD and first time curlers...mid/late January

As a young girl, I remember my mother putting my hair in curlers on Saturday night before Sunday church. I always enjoyed the compliments that I received from spending extra time on my hair.

SD received curlers for Christmas and kept asking to use them. Finally, on a Thursday night (because we usually have extra time before bedtime on a school night...not really), I gave in and we tried it.

The next morning was nothing special, just an ordinary school day. Her curls hung nicely down her back and she was overjoyed.

A nice cheesy grin...

Here she is almost set to go to school.

I checked in on her during lunch time and most of the curls had fallen, but for the morning, I thought they turned out nicely. After all these years of attempting to perfect my curly hair, you would think that I would have realized before that moment...IF you want your hair to stay how it is, use some time of holding product, i.e. mousse, gel, hairspray. So much effort for such a short time. Again, another learning experience from my children. We need to try this again, so I can redeem myself. :)

SD Looses Tooth #2...mid January

I don't know about the rest of you, but loose teeth drive me NUTS! SD has lost two teeth now, but both times I was tired of seeing her play with it after a couple of days (not to mention it was the ONLY topic of every conversation she started). She came up to me and asked if I would like to wiggle her tooth. I figured we could change the subject around the house if it came out, so I came up with a quick plan.

No worries...I just wiggled it a little harder than I had been, and happened to pull/push it out. She cried for a minute while I took her to the bathroom to wash out her mouth. After she calmed down, she was supposed to stop talking about her loose tooth, right? Now the subject for the next three days became how I pulled her tooth out and "it really hurt." Oh well, chalk it up as a learning experience that loose teeth are a HUGE deal and we should enjoy the novelty of the situation.

SC has another birthday...early January still

This is our big girl, SC, wearing a cute sweater from Uncle K.

I found the shirt on a clearance sale and she didn't really need anything.

Lots of balloons make entertainment easy for family and friends.

Even the younger kids appreciated them...including T.

SV being silly...as always!

Cousin E taking a break from the balloon festivities.

Thanks M for the big smiles!

Dad of the Birthday Girl!

Relaxing with Ro-Ro.

Some of the adults wore the hats, at least for a picture.

Where's R?

She decorated her cupcakes with her choice of sprinkles...thanks to Oma.

The anticipation of enjoying that frosting.

A few fun things about SC...
She is tall & skinny for her age, not something we have had before. She loves to laugh and smile. She doesn't talk much, but understands a ton. Her favorite toys are the baby dolls, which she has many of. She loves stars, including the glow-in-the-dark ones on her ceiling. Her favorite phrase is "I do it!" She loves pasta, cheese, fruit and sometimes veggies. She enjoys "shooting" Daddy's Nerf ball guns. Her loves and hugs are the best!