Christmas in Colorado

What a fun time we had in Colorado!!! Having 8 kids (all 10 and under) under one roof makes for one fun, chaotic, loud, crazy week! We stayed at completely tore apart my in-law's house, with Elijah and Isaac needing to touch everything in sight. Mike's older sister, along with her husband and 3 kiddos, and his younger sister were also there to witness the destruction. I'm sure they were all ready for us to go. No, not really. at least I hope not :)

We had so much fun playing games, pigging out, and just spending time together. The girls just love their cousin Aliya....they spent pretty much every waking moment together. They hate the fact that we all live so far away from each other, as do I.

Baby Jett got enough love while we were there to last him his whole life! I'm a little bit worried that he's gonna be dependant on all these people...you know, the ones that pick him up at the first tiny little wimper he makes. I know, I know...they needed to love on him while he'll still let them. :) The next time we see some of them will be after he grows out of the snuggly stage, and into the "put me down so I can destroy things!" stage.

It didn't snow while we were there, but there was already a little snow on the ground when we arrived. The kids got all bundled up and played for a long time. Uncle Jason helped them build pretty much the coolest snow fort ever.

Beautiful Aliya

Jett got to open his very first Christmas present!!! It's an activity mat, and he LOVES it!! I LOVE that he LOVES it! :)

Come on dad...rip that sucker open!

Just what I always wanted!!!

The kids had a blast playing at the foam factory!!! Too bad we don't have a house big enough for one of these! That would be niiiiiice!!!

Sweet Daymon :)

Crazy Dylan! :D

We took a drive up to the mountains and got some really good pics up there!

Mommy's little angel.

YAY! I finally got a picture of our family in the mountains...and it's our complete family!!!

We had so much fun and made so many memories....which reminds me of my favorite quote of the week -- "We're making memories, and you're not in them." (Aliya - after coming in from playing outside in the snow without the grown-ups...besides Jason, who helped them build their fort) I will forever remember that...she's hilarious! :)

So. Anyway. We made it back last night, and I still have yet to unpack 3 of the 4 suitcases. Eh, they'll have to wait...
I'm exhausted.
10+ hours in a car with 5 kids and a dog does not a fun car ride make. I'm just sayin'. But in all honesty, the drive really couldn't have gone better. It still wasn't fun by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't as bad as I had pictured. It actually started out pretty well on the way home. We stopped by Starbucks before we left town. After getting approximately 4 hours of sleep the night before, we needed a little caffeine boost. We ordered our drinks, and drove up to pay. The guy behind the window told us that the car in front of us had payed $5 of our order, so we only needed to make up the difference. I almost got a little teary-eyed. *almost* What a sweet thing to do...I'm still trying to think of a way to pay it forward.

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

This post is all over the map...consider yourself warned.

Oh how I love this baby!

I could honestly stare at him all day long.

And this baby just has me wrapped around his chubby little finger...

I didn't take any pictures while we were decorating the tree, so this picture of Isaac redecorating it is the closest thing I have. :)

**Change of subject**

We leave for Colorado on Saturday, and while it thrills me that we're gonna be able to see our family that we never get to see, I am totally dreading the drive. You know. 10 hours. 5 kids. 1 nurser. 1 dog. and a partridge in a pear tree.

Seriously though, really dreading it.

So if anyone would like to donate about $5000 to our family, which is what I'm assuming 6 plane tickets this late in the game would be, I would really appreciate it! =)

But it's all worth it to be able to see my 2 sisters I never get to see (well, sisters-in-law, but they feel like full sisters to me) and my other parents (my hubby's parents...whom also feel like full parents to me), and my sister's hilarious hubby and 3 gorgeous kids...really gorgeous. Don't believe me? Go here and see for yourself, oh, and prepare to laugh, because my sis-in-law is hilarious, when writing about her kids! I can't wait to see them!!!! We always have so much fun when we're together...it's a darned shame that we're only together once a year...if that, sometimes.

Okay, onto a complety different subject, again...I told you it would be like this.

I called the urologist yesterday, and made an appt. for Mike to have a little snippity-snip done. I was gonna go ahead and get my tubes tied, but we've got the deductible met for our whole family already, so we decided that I've done enough. You know, birthing 5 babes and all. So, Mike's gonna do this one little thing for me. :) The only appt. they had left was on the 22nd. Merry Christmas, honey! :) I know he doesn't mind, but it's just getting the time off of work to rest. See, we'll have been in Colorado the whole week before, and he has to have a couple days after it's done to rest. It's necessary. So we're praying that God will show us how he's to get all the work done he needs to have done, in just a few days. I'm sure everything will work out. It always does.

So anyway, that's what's going on with our family these next few weeks. And how are you spending your Christmas vacation?! ;) Anyone else being sterilized?

“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”

~Oscar Wilde

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

We took the girls on a date tonight to the Country Club Plaza, to walk around, look at the beautiful Christmas lights, and take a carriage ride. We surprised them with this little outing, and they had so much fun!! After the carriage ride, we went to starbucks, and walked around for a while. It was pretty chilly, but it was fun!!

Here's the girls with our horse, named Mike. :)

Waiting for our carriage.

My beautiful (and funny) girls.

Me and my honey. =)

Mike and I did this on our first anniversary, 10 days before I had Laney! :) Such fun memories!

Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories...

~An Affair To Remember

My Little Turkey

Jett's first Thanksgiving!

...and he spent it just like a man... ;)

He had his 1 month check-up last Wednesday, and he the doc prescribed Axid for him. He's been taking it since Friday or Saturday, and I noticed he was vomiting a little less over the weekend, but this week, he's pretty much back to where he was. Ugghh.. I've tried cutting back on my dairy intake, as well as things like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc...things that will make him gassy. I'm just hoping that all of these things combined will eventually start working. She told me that if he takes this for a few weeks, and it doesn't seem to be helping, then she'll put him on zantac or something else (I can't remember exactly what she said).



His measurements:
Weight: 9lbs. 10oz. - 25-50%
Length: 22 1/4in. - 75% (my kids are always long and lean...is that the way most kids are)
Head: 15cm - 25-50%

Oh, and he smiled at me today for the first time...purposefully. :) At least I'm telling myself it was.


It was the tiniest thing I ever decided to put my whole life into. ~Terri Guillemets

Is that kid doing what I think he's doing?

I just know it will be my kid one of these days...but we were driving home from church, and we were passing the football fields about a mile from our home. There were a few games in progress, and I noticed one team all huddled around the sideline, and one kid from this team all alone about 50 yards from the pack. about 3 feet from the road. facing the traffic. with his hands near, ahem, his, um, waistline. and a stream of urine coming from him. Yes, the kid was peeing right in front of everyone driving down the road. He had his pants pulled down so far, you could clearly see what his mother, I'm sure, would not want anyone to see.
Like I said, I know it will be my kid one of these days...I'm not that naive to think that my boys won't do it. But seriously...I hope that, if it is right in front of the street, at least there will be no traffic.
oy.

"Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable."
-Plato

Fall Pics -- Elijah and Chloe

Okay, I'll admit that I adjust the color in alot of my pics (obviously), but I honestly did not adjust the color in this one at all! That's how blue her eyes are! If it turns out that Jett has brown eyes, at least I got one blue-eyed baby!! =)

One month Jett

He's already a month old?? Where is the time going?!

I can't even believe I'm typing this, but for 3 nights in a row, he has slept 6 1/2 hours straight! I went in to check on him the first time he did it, because I got a little concerned! He's having a few sinus issues, which is one of the reasons why I suspect he's been so fussy lately. To help the problem, we put him in the swing...it elevates his head, so he can breathe a little better. The first night we put him in there was the first time he slept for such a long stretch.

He loves being swaddled!! Loves it! If he's fussy and I know there's nothing wrong with him, I just swaddle him up and he's good to go.

He has his one month check up tomorrow, and I'm gonna ask about what I can do for his chronic spitting up. I've tried everything in the book (gas drops, holding him upright while he eats, burping him often, etc.), and nothing seems to be helping. He spits up after every.single.feeding. And I'm not just talking about dribble-down-the-chin spitting up either...this kid throws up. It isn't projectile vomit (although he has done that once or twice) but it's always alot! I'm hoping he's not alergic to something I'm eating. I hope they're able to help me find a solution for it. My poor little guy!

This last month has just flown by, and I love him more and more every day. I'm smitten! :)

Happy one month Jett!