Sum it up already!

This Winter...

There was lots of snow!
(Our fence is in there somewhere)

Which resulted in snow-removal bonding...

& Roxy swimming in powder.

There were LOTS of sick days & more doctor visits than can be counted...

There was lots of amusement for these two derived by their invented & beloved "Bow Game".

There was lots of mischief...as evidenced here by the suspect's own wall inscription.

There was lots of loving this baby girl...

& there was lots of walking practice.
Go, Lexi, go!

There was lots of using Dad as a human pyramid base.

And there was even more snow!!
Aghhh!

 

New bar stools were bought and are a new favorite seat in the house.

And the cutest fur coat was sent and loved and put to good use from Aunt Suesan.

 

There was lots of  taking care of babies.

These two have continued to think that Kindergarten and Preschool are the best things that have happened to them thus far...

And whose to say otherwise?

This one loved celebrating her half birthday at school...

And this one has been given countless standing ovations for finally standing.

Lots and lots of family birthdays were celebrated.

And the kids got the Peter Pan blu ray for Valentines Day and hoards of candy from school.

I framed & gave printables this year as one of my favorite things at the annual & anticipated 
Favorite Things Party...

And that about sums it up!
Winter has been a-okay, but we have spring fever and are ready to break out of hibernation!
SO glad it's here!!!
Bring on the sunshine!

Mid-thirties, mid-winter, mid-flu season...

Chris turned the big 35 back in January.
How did this happen?
I remember my own Dad's 30th birthday party...
and now my husband is even 5 years older than that...
Crazy.
When did we go and get so old?
He likes to tell me that, "35's not old.... for a guy"....
Ouch.
Good thing I'm only 29. ;)




We were planning to go out on a rare date the night of his birthday. (Rare because of Chris' mostly pm work schedule) He even switched his shift to the early one so we could go. However, between a snow storm and Emmie's vomiting (just the beginning of the ensuing weeks of throw up in January at our house), we were forced to cancel plans and stay home. The kids were excited for him to get home from work and present him with his gifts. They hid all the presents and Parker drew a map to help Chris find them. It amazes me how fast he can whip up something like that. Takes after his Dad - for sure! You can see the map in Chris' hand - it was pretty cute.
Note sick little Emmie in her jams with the "beautiful" bows that she chose to dress up her bed-head hair.

I have severe mommy amnesia lately and cannot remember a thing that he got! And better yet, I don't recall what we ended up doing for our at home celebration although I'm pretty certain it involved cleaning up lots of vomit...Fun birthday! That's what you get when your birthday is in the middle of flu season and you have three susceptible kids I suppose...

 Good thing he had more parties coming. :)

This is also what you might get during your January birthday...

 

 Crazy snow storms and white stuff piled up almost as tall as your fence...
Okay so a lot of that is snow drift. Still...it's snow, and a lot of it!

 

 

I'm always trying to figure out who Lexi looks like, but then I see this picture and it seems so obvious. Same cute little round noses, full, plump lips, same expression, auburn highlights...

Is it just me???

She's a Daddy's Girl through and through!

She loves him so much...

and the rest of us kind of like him too. :)

 

 

Fall 2012

In thinking of all the posts I'd like to catch up on for the sake of preserving my life's ramblings, I realized today that I never posted some pictures we had done back in October by my talented friend and neighbor photographer. Yep, these were taken 5 months ago, but let's face it, playing catch up is what I do on this blog so I'm okay with it. In fact, that pretty much sums up my life with three kids - I'm never caught up on anything anymore! Period.
These were taken during a "mini session", meaning they were done in a fast and furious 15-20 minutes. So crazy but so grateful to get a few good shots for Christmas cards and to hang on my wall....I really appreciate her doing them! I would love to get professional pics done more often, but they are so. stinkin'. expensive!
 

 

 

Love these kids!

Lexi Girl

This cute baby girl had her 15 month check up in January. We were hoping to hear big numbers in the growth department, but we knew that wasn't going to be the case...
 Here are her 15 month stats:
WEIGHT: 16.27 lbs, 1.12%ile
HEIGHT: 27 inches, 0.94%ile
HEAD:                       31.97 %ile

so off to the specialist we went!

We were able to get into see the Pediatric Endocrinologist within just a few weeks. He was a great doctor, and kept referring to himself as a "Growth Detective".
I love cute little Grandpas. :)
He didn't feel that she looked like a typical GHD (Growth hormone deficient) patient, because although she is very short, they typically are short and round (but not always - it's still a possibility).... she is short and proportionately skinny. There are some tests he wants to run on her (to "investigate" her lack of growth as he put it), but her weight is so low that she needs to put on more weight before they will give an accurate reading. SO, for the last 5 weeks we have been trying  to push lots of Vitamin D milk, protein drinks, lots of cheese, etc in hopes that she will gain weight. In June, assuming this has worked, she will have  several tests done, we'll see the specialist again in July, and we'll go from there!:) Poor Lexi has been sick on and off since January with bouts of the stomach flu, 2  colds that both resulted in ear infections (which resulted in many sleepless nights), and this last cold resulted in the lovely bronchiolitis, and RSV. She just got over that about 10 days ago. It's been a rough three months - which explains my MIA status on this blog! Needless to say, with all her sicknesses it's been especially hard to put extra weight on her (she's maybe gained a pound), but we're trying!

Meanwhile here is an update on our little Miss Itty Bitty...



She might not be officially walking, but she is super coordinated and climbs on everything! Walking seems to be the only thing that she seems timid about! Chris left this stool out after changing a light bulb and she climbed right up to the top with ease and taunted me from across the room. Every time I tried to approach her to get her down to safety, she screeched her warning to back off... so I just let proud little Miss Queenie stand on her perch and show off...On a sidenote, yes, she looks like a total raga muffin, with clothes clearly waaay to big for her (& crazy hair), but sometimes I get anxious for her to grow into her awaiting 12 month-sized wardrobe and dress her in them nonetheless.
 

She's been a chatty baby, and as of January 2013, she had at least 25 word in her vocab, but added these new ones in January...
"Wawer" : "water", but really it's what she calls any drink with a straw in it
"Brow" for eyebrow
"Darder" Parker
"Five" to give high fives
"Guys"
"Breb" - Bread
She is always shouting, "HEY!" (Probably because we are always saying that to her tormenting siblings)
"Mine!" (another awesome one)
"Cheese"
"Boppo" Diaper
"Tay" for "K"
and in February she started saying "Emm-e" (with a short E)

The kids put this little back pack (she calls it a "pack pack") on her one day and didn't take it off for nearly two days straight.
Tooth #5 made it's appearance in February (16 months),
 and she took her  first official, unassisted step on 2/27/13. She started cruising around furniture in December, but didn't start standing herself up from mid floor on her own until a few weeks ago. Since then she will take a shaky step, once in a while two, and then falls. The girl just seems to prefer speed crawling! We're working on it though because she will have to start seeing another specialist next month if she doesn't get the hang of walking by then...

She LOOOOVES her Fisher Price Little People and calls them her "babies" or "guys". Chris and I joke that she is our first child to really love toys. She will play and play (Emmie's good at playing with her toys too - Parker - not so much!)! She also loves her stackable cups, the books "Little Blue Truck" and "The Bear Snores On" (I highly recommend both!), her "Peek-a-Shoe elephant ball game, baby dolls, coloring like the big kids, she loves to wear bracelets and tells us they are "pree" (pretty), loves to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider", and in true toddler fashion likes to unload any drawer or cupboard that might not have a safety lock on it. Between she and the other two, I pretty much never get to sit down as I  do my best to keep up with the endless messes. Sometimes I feel like all I ever do is clean, but ironically my house never seems to get all the way clean!  I have a friend who said that
"Cleaning your house with kids in it is like brushing your teeth while eating oreos"....so so true!

Lexi is such a fun and spunky addition to our family. She definitely has a (loud!) voice and wants it to be heard, and can definitely hold her own against her over-bearing siblings. She loooves her Daddy and kicks her feet, throws up her arms, & lets out a loud shriek while panting like a worn out dog when she hears the garage and thinks he's home. SO CUTE!
 Despite her pint size, she is growing up so fast. I can't believe she's almost 18 months - what a whirlwind it's been!
 We love her so much!!!

High School Girls... Changed but not changed...

{Me, Jill, Tammy, Cami... there's no way we graduated 15 years ago, right?!?!}

In December I was able to meet up with these amazing ladies (aka "Pups" as Tams would call us) for lunch and some overdue girl catch-up time. They were some of my High School besties back in the day and I just adore them and am lucky to call them my friends, then and now. I love how we can go quite awhile without seeing one another but that when we get together we can pick right back up where we left off and that deep down we're still those crazy girls who once upon a time loved to go out on the town in disco gear or turn up our car stereos in a parking lot and have a dance party.
We were pretty awesome, in case you wondered.;)
 We've all had our hard times since our high school days, but most recently, Cami, (far right) was diagnosed with Lymphoma, just weeks after delivering her fourth baby several months back. I can't even begin to imagine how scary the reality of that diagnosis must have been for her having four small children. I can't even fathom... But Cami, she is such an incredible woman of faith and strength and I admire her so much! She smiles and calmly  talks of all that she is learning despite her difficult circumstances. She's AMAZING!  She had just undergone her third chemo treatment in this picture and she lost the remainder of her hair just a few weeks after this visit. She was so upbeat about the prospect  (of losing her hair), and admittedly a little nervous, but I can't imagine how difficult that really must be.
 I first heard of her diagnosis as I was stressing over something petty in my life...to be specific - Emmie's preschool is one more day a week than I would like, and I was wondering if letting her go so many days a week was the right thing... when I heard of Cami's cancer my heart just broke and my perspective was adjusted and I had the impression, as silly as it sounds, that yes, Emmie was in a great preschool, to quit stressing over such an insignificant thing, that the three extra hours she goes per week are no big deal, and that there are bigger things in life to worry about.
 It's funny how we can get so caught up in such minor details in life...and then are shaken to reality when true obstacles arise, whether it be our own or the trial of another. What really gets me is how we can repeat this process over and over and over...
Cami is such an amazing person with such a positive outlook,  which is nothing new, she's always been that way. I hope that I could have half of her strength in the face of such adversity.
She and her cute family have definitely been in our prayers.
I honestly can say that all of these girls (plus Lacey and Amanda who are a vital part of our crew!) are an inspiration to me!

A Little Flashback...

 

Senior Year, 1998
(L to R) Cami, Me, Tammy, Amanda, Lacey, Jill & Megan
{With Amanda and Lacey living out of state it's hard to get all together at once so we missed them!}
I love these girls so much and am lucky to call them my "Pups" all these years!! :):)
We look just the same (but better), right? ;)

Christmas Day 2012

The kids were so excited for Christmas morning, as were Chris and I. It's so much fun to relive through our kids the magic that Christmas brings. It's sure a whole lot of work but so worth every ounce of effort!

Here is what the kids woke up to:


Emmie got her requested Baby Alive doll and high chair, Lexi a Minnie Mouse ride on/walker that lights up, sings, and spins, and Parker his much anticipated "SURPRISE" was an Imaginext castle, that interacts with a big dragon, ogre and cannon ball thrower. It's a pretty awesome toy, I have to say!
They were all happy with Santa's delivery!

Emmie also loved her Cinderella carriage, Lexi her mini go-go puppy, and Parker was so happy with his new BYU hat found in his stocking that he slept in it every night for the following week. In all honesty, it makes me cringe a little, but whatever makes him happy. Sorry BYU. :) And did I mention he also got the new Wii U game system? That was his very last "hidden" present and he was literally bouncing off the couch in excitement. Totally spoiled, I know, but I'm not so sure if that present was more for him or for the purchaser... which wasn't me...;) Needless to say, we had some happy boys in our house that morning!

Our next stop was Mimi's house at 1:00, just like it is every year. Mimi fell and broke her ankle in early December, so this year the gathering was upstairs in her Living Room, rather than her spacious downstairs family room. Between she and my Dad, it's always Christmas Present Wonderland, so it was a little crowded with everyone's gifts, but we made it work. Mimi is a gifted party thrower & gatherings from food to gifts to decorations are always perfection. Even hosting from a wheelchair this year, everything was so nice, and the gifts from all were so generous.

Steven and Kylie & Baby Jack were moving to San Diego 2 days later, so I couldn't hold back the tears when it was time to say goodbye, knowing we wouldn't see them again for a long time. I was so sad to have them leave but so glad for them and their new ventures in San Diego as Steven pursues his MBA at SDSU. I loved living out of state and know they will too. I think it's a great experience for every young married couple.

Next and last stop, was the Hansens.

Ends up, the only pics I had taken were these... of our own little fam! I guess I was tired of playing photographer, and mostly I was irritated at my camera that has been taking lots of blurry pics since being dropped a few months back...:)

{Lex was asleep in her carseat for this pic}

There we had a delicious dinner and more gift opening.
It was a very busy, but wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2012

CHRISTMAS EVE

COUSINS
Isaac is just 8 months older than Lexi.

Love this cute face!


We spent the evening with Hansens.
I thought I was going to have a panic attack leading up to our ride over there as it had been snowing quite a bit all day and driving in the snow (especially at night) gives me extreme anxiety. BIG TIME! I am such a homebody anyways, and when it's snowing, there are few things that make me put my kids in what I feel to be harms way by driving in bad weather conditions.
 Low and behold, we went anyways, and thankfully made it there and back safely.
Sometimes I think I need to get my hands on some Xanax...

In all honesty, the mood at the Hansens was a somber one this year.
 We were missing these two important family members...



Grandpa and Atticus, Christmas Eve 2011.


{Parker, Atticus and Emmie (& Uncle Z) December 2011}

It's so crazy to look at these pictures from Christmas 2011, just one year ago and think of how oblivious we were to the doom we were all about to be hit with with Atti's diagnosis just weeks later.
My kids loved their first little cousin so much and had such a fun time laughing, chasing and playing with him for days over the Christmas break. It really hurts to not have him here with us. Parker and Emmie pray for Atticus every night. And Cindy and Eric. We hate watching them suffer through the loss of their sweet little boy. It just doesn't seem fair. We're SO grateful for the knowledge of eternal families. But it still stinks.  A LOT!

Grandma H read this cute story about a Christmas train by Thomas S. Monson, and gave that book as a gift to all the family's with kids (the Loncyna extended family side were there also).

We left a little early skipping the candy bar game, so that we could brave the snowy conditions and get our kiddos home and in bed and ready for Santa's visit. 

 

Christmas buildup

Holiday Festivities...

The Festival of Trees... I was so glad we could make it there this year since we missed it in 2011. It was a quick excursion because we had to get back for afternoon kindergarten and preschool, but as always, I was glad that we went!
 I love the Christmas spirit that this festival represents. I love seeing all the beautiful, creative trees that have lovingly & thoughtfully been crafted in honor of lost loved ones & that they stand as a tribute to an amazing person or child.  I love that the proceeds for the auctioned off trees go to Primary Childrens Hospital. 
What's not to love about this awesome Festival?

Visit with Old St. Nick....

None of our kids have ever cried visiting Santa.

Ever!

And we've been to visit every single year of their lives.

 Pretty impressive, ay? Okay maybe not so impressive that they willingly sit on some stranger's lap... Lexi was CLOSE to breaking down but she recovered quickly, keeping up our no-cry record.

Not sure it gets any more corny than this....

They charged us a whopping $30 to get our pics taken with Santa at the Mall.

I know I'm kind of a frugal girl, but THiRTY BUCKS!?

 That was the minimum package, and they won't let you take one with your own camera, so basically you're conned into paying up, if you want any recollection of this moment someday. So of course I had to milk it for all it was worth, and had them take a family pic, in addtion to the kiddo one. Somehow it made me feel a little better for our thirty dollar minute-and-a-half visit with Kris Kringle!

Oh well, sometimes it's just worth sucking it up and paying. :)

 Emmie asked for a Baby Alive Doll, and Parker asked for another "Surprise" this year.

I love that kid.

 

 

 The kids were pretty excited to make gingerbread houses this year!
So maybe they're not the prettiest houses in Gingerbread Land, but we ran out of candy fast, and they were pretty proud of their creations, so we called it a success.

The most important holiday festivity of all to me was getting to Temple Square to see the lights. Chris has Mondays off, so the first Monday that we were healthy in December, we jumped at the chance of going. It was a really, really fun night!
And we lucked out, because it was pretty "warm" too!

 

 I just love the special feeling there is at Temple Square.


Combine that with the Christmas season, the amazing Christmas lights, the nativity, and the statue of the Savior in the Visitors Center, and it makes for a pretty incredible evening.



And to top it off, we walked over to City Creek to find a huge crowd surrounding the fountains that were done by my uncle there, cheering and applauding to the dancing water choreographed to beautiful Christmas music, like is done at the Bellagio. I had not yet seen these fountains at night, and I have to say, they were pretty spectacular! I wished my Grandma were there to see the crowds (or my Uncle - who lives in LA) cheering for her son's amazing water show. SO fun to see that! Even if my uncle weren't the creator, the show was undeniably awesome - confirmed by the applause of the crowd! I loved it!

O Christmas Tree...



It's tradition that every vacation we go on, we try to buy a Christmas ornament for our tree. We started this on our honeymoon in San Diego, where we got a Santa starfish. This year we bought a little sparkly cupcake representing the celebration of Lexi's first birthday in San Francisco, and we also bought a trolley car ornament, hanging there between the girls. We've collected lots of Disney ornaments over the years. Maybe someday we can visit somewhere other than Cali (not that I mind visiting Cali - love it there!) and add a palm tree (from the Caribbean preferably), the White House, Kensington Palace, and a Statue of Liberty...Just a few stops on my bucket list.
Someday, right?!;)

We basically let the kids decorate both trees this year. In the past I would have "fixed" it or tried to perfect them a bit, but I just didn't care this year. It's funny how much more relaxed I am than when we had just one or even two kids. Or maybe it's just that I'm too tired. Either way, some things just don't matter- a lesson I'm always learning. I think they did a pretty good job though! (and not to say Chris and I didn't help at all...)

Having kids just puts a whole new spin on Christmas and we had a great holiday season! We mostly stayed healthy, a small miracle in itself since November and January and so far February were super sickly months for us!
Very grateful to be healthy for the holidays and very grateful for these cute little faces to share them with!