Summer

It was great to have the kids home for the summer and it was great to see them go back to school. Kayla turned 9 this summer and got her ears pierced and a hamster named, Fuzzy.  Took me a few seconds to remember it's name.  My kids have to wait until they are 9 to get a pet of their own.  I figure they are responsible enough to not be reminded to feed it or clean its cage.  Well, maybe I was wrong.  I am always having to remind her to clean out Fuzzy's cage.  One day while she was cleaning her cage Fuzzy was playing in her ball downstairs.  I heard Zander say, "Fuzzy" really loudly and turned to see that he was holding the ball with the top off.  Kayla and I looked for hours for that dang hamster!  Jared got home from work and found her in 20 seconds!  She was hiding in the corner behind the couch and had chewed through some of the computer cables. Kayla also had to wait until she was 9 to get her ears pierced.  I figured that is an age where they are old enough to clean their ears and take care of them.  Well, maybe I was wrong again.  I came home one night and held the flashlight for Jared as he squeezed Kayla's ear, the backing to her earing came popping out of the hole.  Yuck.



Kayla wanted a smores cake for her birthday.  Note all the marshmallow fluff oozing out of her cake.  I thought I would be lazy and just buy the chocolate glaze that is for sale next to the cake mixes.  Yuck.  That stuff was nasty. 

Thought I would add a few pictures of my babies.  Here is Zander relaxing at the desk with his feet up. And a picture of Addison chillin in her bouncer.  She loves to be bounced and will easily fall asleep if bounced long enough.

Liz turned 13 this year.  A real teenager now. We just had her "birthday" party this weekend in September.  It was a big hit.  They swam, played poker, farkel, and told ghost stories.  She has been scared of the dark ever since. :)  She is loving being the oldest at school and refers to the 7th graders as sevies.

Addison had her baby blessing.  My parents came down a day early and did cupcake wars with the kids for the refreshments for the blessing after party.  I think it was a big hit.  We are not sure who won since Grandpa Harris voted for everyone a few times with fake names.

 

Ah atlast the first day of school.  Blake started kindergarten and loves it.  I guess Liz must be old now because I forgot to take her picture before she left for school.

I had to call my friend over at 8:30pm to take a picture of our family for Kayla's class assignment due the next day.  Don't you love it when they remember at the last second?  I asked her the next day if alot of kids forgot to turn in their pictures.  She told me that apparently you could have just drawn a picture of you family! 

 

photos

For Father's Day this year I set up a little photo shoot in the family room.  I have a hard time knowing what to get my grandpa for gifts so I thought a picture of the kids would be nice.  I did not give him this picture because Elizabeth did not like her smile. :) So I put it on the internet instead.  I am so nice.  I sent the picture to Walgreens and when I went and got them Blake's head was half missing in the 8x10 size.  I guess that is why you check before you send in your order.

Addison is doing well.  She is a really good baby, yeah not another Blake baby!  She has started smiling at us.  She has a very big smile.  I have also found she loves to go into the shower with me.  She also loves her bouncer and is warming up to her swing (if she is asleep).  If you put her in her swing while she is awake she freaks out! And she is my only baby to not mind tummy time.  Crazy.

Kayla is having her birthday next week and when the kids turn 9 they get their very own pet.  Which means their own hamster.  No guinea pigs, snakes, or scorpions here.  She also gets to get her ears pierced.  So that is what we will be up to next week.

 

 

 

 

 

A few pics of the new baby

Addison was born May 22nd a little after 8am.  She tied Kayla for my heaviest baby weighing in at 9lbs 4oz and was 21 inches long.  I was called in for an induction at midnight and things got started around 2 in the morning.  The nurse asked if I would like my epidural right after they started the pitocin. Um, yeah.  Kind of weird getting an epidural without any pain. Jared and I then talked for a few hours about what to name this new little one and came up with Addison. A few hours later she was ready to be pushed out and was out in 2 pushes.  That is the way to do it.

 

 

Here they all are.  Kayla, Blake, Addison, Elizabeth, and Zander.  Zander has been great about the new baby.  He loves to rub her head and give her kisses.  He can be a little rough but for the most part is very "soft".  He had never said the word baby before but by the next day of Addison being home he says it all the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were able to come home the next day.  Once home we had many visitors and it was a little crazy and loud.  I think maybe we should have stayed just a little longer. :)  She is so far a very good baby and as long as she is being held does not cry much.  Thankfully I have many helping hands.

 

out of africa

For spring break we decided to take the kids to Out of Africa.  When you first get there you go on a Safari ride where you can feed the giraffe.  It was really crazy to have such a huge animal come right up next to you and grab a carrot from your hand! 
 

This is Elizabeth taking a picture of her feeding the giraffe.  Right after this picture someone from across the jeep came to feed the giraffe and it had to bring its neck so far in that it was right in front of Elizabeth's and my heads!  It was a little scary, giraffes are big!

 

Jared took Zander to the front of the jeep to feed it.  He was a little scared but they fed it together.  When I fed the giraffe its tongue touched me.  Look at that tongue it was pretty long.


 

After the giraffe section we were able to see all kinds of animals.  The guide kept saying we needed to keep our hands in the jeep because the animals will bite.  Zander was just too excited to not try to pet all of the animals!  We could have gone on the safari ride over and over if they would have let us.  It was definently the best part of the whole park.

 

We then headed up to see all of the caged animals.  It was amazing that you were able to get so close to the lions and tigers.  This white tiger was being taken to another exhibit while we were standing there.  She was being taken to the tiger splash section where we were able to see her play in the water and go after pool toys.  It was fun to watch.

 

After we were done at Out of Africa we decided to go home the back way and stop in
Jerome, and old mining town.  We wanted to go to the mine but ended up making our way to some historic mansion.  After seeing all it had to offer we realized this was not part of the mine we wanted to see.  By the time we found the mine it was closing time and we couldn't get in.



We thought it would be fun to stop in Prescott for dinner.  Well that was a mistake!  After we found somewhere to eat, it only took us an extra hour to our trip, it was time to head home.  Jared put into his phone our address to look up how to get home and we took off.  Well after we read the directions wrong (unknowingly to us at the time) we ended up going the wrong way and went through Wickenburg only adding another 3 hours to our trip home.  Oh well it is funny now. :)

Riding and elephant at the Renaissance Festival a few weeks ago.

Blake

I thought I would write a little about Blake and tell you guys everything that is going on with him. Blake loves to build/create. He is always asking me if he can cook or build in the garage. Everyday (well unless he is grounded from cooking) he likes to "cook". He does not like to follow recipes but to make them up himself. That kid goes through so much cinnamon! Blake is always in the garage building a boat or a robot or a motorcycle or a house you get the idea. He is very ambitious in his ideas of what he can build.
About a month ago I was outside with him and noticed that he was riding his bike without training wheels. I asked him when he learned to ride a bike and if dad had taken off his training wheels. He told me that he had gotten one of Jared's screwdrivers and taken them off himself. What kind of mom does not even know her kid can ride a bike!
Blake also in the last month has started to call me mother. Everyone that hears him call me mother thinks it is adorable.
Just a few days ago Blake came in from outside and asked me if I would sign him up for Bull riding lessons. I have no idea where he got that.
When we went for our sonogram earlier this year we took all of the kids. When the tech told us we were having a girl the girls were super excited. About 3 minutes later Blake started to cry, "I wanted a baby brother". I think he is over it now as he is always coming up with names for her. Today he came up with the name, Peanut and the other day he wanted to name her Emily. I asked him where he heard Emily and he said he just made it up.
Blake also does not like to bathe. Yesterday I asked him when was the last time you had a shower. He told me it was 14 years ago.

Zander's first words

So Zander just recently said his first word. No it was not mom or dad or anything cute like that but his first word is Dog. He loves our Cleo dog and I can always get him to stop crying or being a pill by asking him, "where is Cleo?". So shock of shocks when in the last few days he started saying his second word. Any guesses? Of all the words out there he can now say Cleo.