Goodbye Hawaii

Hawaii

Just had a massage with Jared now sitting on the beach. :)

TaDa!

So we have been doing some changing of furniture and such in our house... one room is officially finished (I think) and there are two others that are very close. I did not have the foresight to actually take a purposeful before picture, so I had to go through a bunch of old pictures trying to find some. We got new furniture and put a lot of time and thought into our living room. This is what it looked like shortly after we moved in (almost three years ago).

It basically looked the same except this big wall unit was decorated like this (mostly thanks to Jared's talented mother who has an eye for those things).
So that was before... here it is after with a couple different views. You can all do a silent drumroll in your mind as you scroll down!
I had canvas wraps of the kids made for the big empty wall. (The pictures were taken by my friends at laughingstarsphotography.com).
We got all new furniture... a couch and ottoman, two armchairs, a few little tables, a rug and a tree, and then my dear friend Jessica who has much more talent for these things than I do painted the wall unit for us and I LOVE IT! I was nervous about that part (which is why I would not do it myself... painting is not a talent of mine) but I love the result and the room feels so different.
So... what do you think?

Six

Yesterday my big kids turned 6... I cannot believe we have 2 six year olds, the past six years have been such a fun adventure for us. They started out the day by getting dressed in anything they wanted and decorating their own room with whatever they could find in my stash... lots of tissue paper torn up and taped with LOTS of tape to things and Christmas wrapping bows stuck to just about everything... all of their nightlights were covered in tissue.

Then they had breakfast in their room (still not in bed because they are so excited to get moving on their birthday morning).
They requested McDonald's for lunch... I wasn't really asking for lunch requests, but I took them anyway and then dropped them at school. I was feeling uninspired about birthday cake this year... so instead I let them decorate it, and they loved it...perfect! It had ALOT of different kinds of sprinkles on it. Claire had dance class, then Jacob had t-ball.
We had our friend Chris over who has been here for every birthday in Oregon and had what the kiddos requested for dinner... hot dogs, fried shrimp, and strawberries. Opened presents and had cake. Wrestled them to bed.
Tonight they went with a friend to John's Incredible Pizza (think really nice Chuckee Cheese) to celebrate.

John's Incredible Pizza has a big pizza buffet that is pretty good.  They also have rides.  Their bumper cars are a lot of fun!  The ride below spins around and each individual pod can spin around as well.  Claire liked a little spinning.  Dani didn't want to ride it (for good reason)!

They also have lots of games to play.  For some reason, they all really wanted to ride the little 3-seat carousel, like the ones they have outside grocery stores.  Jacob and Ty got to share the seat.

Here they are in their new beanbag chairs that they got so they have a special place to sit and read. Hard to believe we have been blessed to be their parents for 6 whole years.

Jacob is really into basketball currently (he loves to play with the big neighbor boys next door), he just started his second year of t-ball. He loves school and loves to be with friends and around other people. He is a sweet sensitive kid that is very obedient and always watching out for the feelings of other people, he is a great little peacemaker. He is a funny big brother and so so good at helping out with and wanting to play with his baby brother and sister. His eye surgery went well last week and he has been such a trooper through the whole thing. He remembers everything, he loves to ask questions and read non-fiction books and once you tell him something it seems like he will know it forever. Jacob is our cuddly guy and just really loves his family and loves to let them know it.

Claire is our little reader, she just loves it and has gotten really good at it really quickly. A couple weekends ago she read a 92 page chapter book and totally took us by surprise. She is taking ballet again this year and loves it... she spends a lot of her day spinning in circles. She is a great big sister and reads to the babies and has a knack for making them laugh. She is so smart and oh so spacey at the same time, she does a great job thinking through math problems and reading the hard stuff.

Jared and I always love how much they look out for each other; when we go to a store or appointment with one and someone gives them a sticker or sucker they ALWAYS ask for a second one for their brother/sister. It is so fun to watch them pretend together, listen to them talk about little important things when they are going to sleep at night, and just play together. They are great friends and I am so glad to have them both and so glad they came together. Happy Birthday Sweet kiddos!

Happy Easter

Forgot to post these last week... Happy Easter from all our beloved hoodlums!  They all wore cute new Easter outfits.

We did an Easter egg hunt at the Bishop's house, then we went over to the Evans' house.  They hid a ton of eggs!

Babies hunted for eggs, too - they were heavy to carry around!

For the 3rd straight year, we had a bright blue skies and a beautiful day!  We were blessed with beautiful weekends all month long.

Babies liked their Easter baskets - Liam liked the food, of course!

 The kids got lots of candy - one of the baskets was left on the floor one day, and Liam got into the jelly beans.  He was having lots of fun eating them, drooling on our white rug.  He wasn't happy when I took him away from his food.

Kate really liked her bow... though it didn't stay on for long.

Sisters alike

Kate has started exhibiting a number of characteristics we remember in Claire as a little baby. For example, after I had put her down for a nap one day and was bringing Liam in for his nap, Kate was laying there looking at her hand and talking.

She's also become quite "vocally curious." She's making lots of different sounds (baba, dada, Wookie noises). She has a really funny sense of humor and thinks things (especially her siblings) are quite funny.

Also, she spits.
Claire did too - though Claire's spitting endurance was quite a bit higher than Kate's!
Also, both Claire and Kate had/have a cubby roll on their left leg's thigh!

Patch Master

We are now just two months shy of the 2 year anniversary of Jacob's glasses and patching. He has amblyopia which means his right eye is much stronger than his left eye. We use patches to try to get the left eye to work harder and improve the vision in that eye. I was pretty nervous about how the patching and the glasses wearing was going to go from the beginning, I did not think he would really tolerate either, but I was wrong. He wears his glasses all day everyday and never even thinks to complain, he also has been a superstar about wearing his patch happily without complaining, at first it was only for 3 hours a day, we at one point were at 8 hours a day and for the majority of the time we have been at 6 hours a day. When we first started I had the false impression that we would be doing it for a couple months, I even thought I might only need one box of patches (50). I was wrong, he has been so great about doing what he is supposed to, but his eye was stubborn. The vision has improved SO much, but it improved much slower than everyone was expecting (including the eye doctor). When he is done with the patch for the day, he puts it on a poster, some I ordered, but there are only a few poster designs, so I made some. Here are all the posters (mostly in order). I also included a few pictures of what happens when I don't get a poster made for awhile when one is full. We have patches stuck to every stroller and carseat we own, some on backs of chairs in the car, dashboards, steering wheels, backpacks, wallets, t-shirts, etc...

Anyway, as we have been patching the vision has been improving, but the eye is drifting farther and farther inward, so tomorrow Jacob has surgery on the eye muscles to attempt to straighten his eye. After the surgery we will likely be patching for another year, but for less time each day. He will always need the glasses. We are so grateful for such a willing, positive, obedient boy and for modern medicine. He is more excited than nervous for tomorrow, he wants to see the new children's hospital, but he also found out he could have rootbeer flavored anesthesia and he is VERY excited about it.

Crunch!

Probably one of my least favorite feelings is that one where you accidentally step on a Cheerio or Kix with bare feet... ugh!  Sometimes I hit one, grimace, continue on only to hit another on the very next step!

And sometimes I crunch a stray one far from the table because it was stuck to a baby when I picked him/her up and it was transported somewhere I wouldn't be as vigilant about watching my feet.

Okay, it is kind of funny - but I really do dread that inevitable CRUNCH!

Bath time!!!

This blog would feel incomplete if we didn't put some cute pictures of bath time we recently took! We had a lot of good/funny pictures to choose from!

Kate loves the bath tub - when she gets excited, she splashes her arms and kicks her legs and scoots around a little bit... and sometimes needs a hand to keep herself upright!
Liam loves to splash - he gets really excited in the tub.
Kate and Liam have different reactions to water being splashed in their faces or dripped on them - Kate thinks it's hilarious, and Liam is surprised by it.
Kate also loves to suck her thumb when in the tub - I think she likes the taste of it when it's wet (gross!!)

KATE!

SIZE: While Kate looks and feels a little more petite compared to her twin brother, she is actually bigger than Jacob and Claire were at 10 months. Her features are very small (except her eyes) and cute.

NICKNAMES: Kate really doesn't have as many nicknames as Liam. Baby Girl and Neenee, Neenee Girl, or Neenee Baby (coined by Jacob and said in a loud, high pitched voice) are her current nicknames.

PERSONALITY: I remember commenting to my brother Andrew over Skype the day after the babies were born that Kate had a very expressive face. That trait has certainly grown as she's gotten older.

She is really interested in getting things, though that hasn't seemed to motivate her to roll over much or crawl. But she stretches out as far as she can and opens and closes her hand over and over trying to get her target. In the picture above, she was holding 2 rubber ducks and wanted me to give her another - which she indicated by opening her mouth as wide as possible so she could chew on its head!

Kate is probably the more extreme in terms of being happy and sad/mad. She can go from 0 to MAD in a hurry, but she may be easier to get back calm.

RELATIONSHIP WITH HER FEET: Kate LOVES her feet! Sometimes, that's all she really needs to keep herself entertained for a while. And, she's flexible enough that she always has something to play with. Quite often, she'll lay on her back with a hand on each foot almost in the splits. Also, her feet are in constant motion - she's always rolling her ankles around.

EXPRESSING HERSELF: Kate has many ways of expressing herself. She's been the more vocal baby for quite a while, saying "babababa" or just "ba" or "aaaah." Recently, she's been looking at us and telling us these things, knowing that we understand exactly what she's saying. She also spits a lot (sound familiar to her sister?). What is it with our dainty little baby girls?

FAVORITE THINGS:

• "Kamakazee Kisses" - you pick her up, and suddenly she's seemingly eating your lips... nope, that's a kiss.
• The face Kate makes when she's about to give you a kiss. She gets a little serious and stares at your lips. It's really funny
• Getting her out of bed. Or picking her up. Often you get a Kamakazee kiss :)
• When Kate is sad when she's sitting on the ground, she bends herself in half and sticks her forehead on the ground!
• The crazy look. Sometimes, her smile and the look in her eyes is a little crazy (see smile below)!
• Putting her to bed. She lays down and sucks her thumb. Sometimes she'll put one or both her hands behind her head to sleep.
• When throwing her up in the air, she kicks one foot straight out and giggles. Just recently, she's started kicking both out.
• Watching her with Jacob and Claire - they love her, and she loves them!

We love this little girl! She's a fun addition to our family!