Here are those pictures.  We have the SanDiego trip, plus Serra's 8 year pics, plus some extra's of the kids in an impromptu photo shoot inspired by new dresses, and as an extra bonus some great shots of Mr. Wes's spit eye.    In case you hadn't heard...while waiting to start FHE on Monday night the kids were chasing each other.  Weston smacked into the wrought iron supports for the granite counter and split open his eyebrow.  It was gushing blood everywhere.  Rosie especially was quite freaked out.  We have never had anything like this happen with our kids and after a few calls decided we better take him in.  If I had known all they were going to do was use super glue and then charge hundreds of dollars for it I would have done it myself.  Live and learn and keep the super glue handy from now on.

On a side note...we took the kids swimming at a neighbors pool yesterday.  I decided to give Rosie a swim lesson.  We practiced not plugging our noses and floating on the back.  Then I had her start swimming to the side of the pool.  Within 10 minutes she was swimming on her own.  She figured that one out really fast.  She can probably ride a bike too and we just haven't tried.   On a sad note.  I had my phone in the top of my suit and forgot to take it out before jumping in the pool.  It is very dead.  I am trying the rice trick for the time being but in the mean time have no access to long distance or text.  Arrgh!

Why are there always really weird people at the beach and why do they always get in my pictures?  Note:  Guy in bikini and Chinese guy.

Wes had a healthy fear of water...that's a good thing.

My conversation with Rosie just now...
When I get old I am going to have hair in my armpits, my dad said.  But Mom, I don't want to have hair in my armpits.
Me:  Neither do I, that's why I shave it off.
Oh, Thanks Mom!

Knowing Brian's summer schedule consists of literally no available weekends we planned a Memorial Day weekend jaunt to San Diego...our family summer trip if you will.  Brian secured killer hotel rates through Priceline and acquired 2 for 1 tickets to Sea World.  So after we picked up Serra from school on friday we were off.  We took our time, stopping for dinner at a Mexican joint in Victorville where several onlookers commented on how well behaved our kids were at a restaurant.  We just smiled and said thankyou and were glad that they were all behaving at that particular moment. We stayed in La Jolla just a few blocks from the San Diego temple (which looks like the space shuttle launch right now with all the scaffolding).  The kids settled in well for the evening and we partook of our first night in peace.  Our hotel was pretty full and we needed a fridge for the baby's food and Westons chocolate milk.  They only had one room open with a fridge.  We realized why they they filled it last as it was right next to the elevators.  You can actually hear the elevators going up and down constantly.  It didn't really bug us, but we have never experienced it before. 

Saturday dawned bright, clear, and balmy.  We got ourselves beach ready, fed the troops pancakes at Mc D's, and headed to the coast.  We wandered around a bit looking for just the spot and found a place with some rock caves as well as sand and good waves all in a nice little cove where the kids couldn't wander too far....and then set the troops free.  What a fun afternoon.  I love the beach.  I love to sit and listen to the waves and watch my kids do what I grew up doing...playing keep away from the waves, digging for sand crabs, lying in the warm sand, collecting sea weed to adorn the sand castles, and discovering sea creatures in the rocks.  It was hilarious to watch Serra and Rosie get plowed over by waves and the look on their faces at the taste of the salt water was priceless.  Weston stayed away from the water and climbed around the rocks jumping into the warm sand.  I don't know that I have ever seen him more content.  He was free to do what he wanted and I could sit under the umbrella with the baby and just smile at him.  Brian did a lousy job putting sunscreen on his legs and has the reddest patchiest sunburned legs I have ever seen. 

On a side note...a few days before the trip Charlie decided she was no longer going to nurse.  She would just arch her back and turn her head, and if I pushed the issue she gave me a good bite.  So we are done nursing.  I think what set it off was the few scoldings she got last week for biting.  I didn't even flick her cheek or anything.  I just sternly told her no.  She got really bent out of shape every time I scolded her and so refused from then on.  Luckily she has adapted to regular milk well.  I mix half formula and half whole milk too and she does great.  I pump every day just to keep from engorgement but it's been less every day and I suspect by the end of the week that will come to an end.  I found a great little cooler that holds two bottles and keeps them at fridge temps for 12 hours.  I was able to fill 2 bottles in the morning as we set off on our adventures and it was just enough along with a little table food.  It was much easier bottle feeding her on this trip than nursing would have been as we were in public places the whole time.

At about 2pm we decided we better get cleaned up so we could head to the baseball game.  We did just that and made it to our seats about 20 minutes before the first pitch.  We had great seats way up high in an uncrowded area where I was able to put Charlie on a blanket to play and even sleep.  The kids were able to move around and play a bit too which was way nicer than having to sit in tight quarters the whole time.  We indulged with hot dogs, nachos, lemonade, and cotton candy...baseball food right?  Didn't do the peanuts and cracker jacks though.  Padres won so everyone was in a good mood.  And Serra was thrilled that she and Rosie got shown on the big screen.  The kicker was that because of some construction we ended up parking about a mile away.  It was only a block as the crow flies and we thought we were awesome when we got there but ended up having to walk waaaaay around all the fences.  We didn't have the stroller because of all the stairs and so had to carry the baby, the blankets, free bobbleheads, and all the jackets, and try to keep track of Wes.  He was all over the place and even stepped on and then stood on a sleeping homeless guy at one point as I franticly tried to get to him to get him off the guy.  But we made it back to the hotel safely and everyone fell into a happy exhausted sleep...or at least most of us.  We put on Alice in Wonderland with good intentions and Serra stayed up and watched while the rest of us slept. 

Sunday morning we tried to be more reverent and so after getting the kids fed we headed up to Cabrillo point where Brian and I spent an afternoon when we were dating.  There is a lighthouse you can go in and it was perfect weather and a nice walk to get there.  The view of the ocean and the port of San Diego is phenomenal and there were a lot of sail boats out to watch.  Down below the lighthouse were some tidepools so we spent a good part of the afternoon playing around the tidepools and trying to keep Wes from falling off a cliff.  From there we headed to the Mormon Battalion museum in Old Town.  They have redone the whole place and it was GREAT.  They have a 30 minute tour where they take you from Iowa to SanDiego with the Battalion.  It is very well done and you can pan for gold at the end.  The kids really liked it and we were able to find our relatives on the list of battalion members.  Two of the Workman brothers were part of that group.  (Our common ancestors in case you didn't know)  We spent the rest of the afternoon in Old Town and as it started to get dark we headed back to the hotel. 

Monday morning we packed up the car and checked out of the hotel and headed to Sea World.  We were able to catch the Sea lion and Otter show, the Shamu show with all the killer whales (very cool), and the dolphin show.  There were a few rides which almost all included getting soaked...which was welcomed in the afternoon but not so much in the evening.  Rosie went on her first roller coaster and LOVED it.  She can't wait to go to Disneyland in the fall where she'll be tall enough to ride them all.  There is also a helicopter motion ride that takes you to the arctic.  Rosie's convinced she went on a helicopter to the arctic and then made it back to Sea World in 10 minutes.  Weston was a real handful this day.  He didn't want to ride in the stroller, refused to walk with the leash, and wouldn't stay with us if he walked.  The last straw that confined him to the stroller for the rest of the day was when he ran ahead, crawled under a fence and took off into the back lots of Sea World.  I was able to squeeze through some shrubs at the side of the fence with Rosie and we ran after him.  I yelled to Rosie who was ahead of me to just knock him down so I could catch up.  He doesn't listen sometimes and in fact when I call him back will look back and then take off running as fast as he can.  I was terrified he was going to come in contact with some wild polar bear or something. 

Later we separated so Serra could ride the roller coaster once again and Rosie could explore Elmo's land.  I lost track of Rosie almost immediately and was about two seconds from finding security when I finally spotted her above me on the rope bridge maze.  She was scared because she couldn't find her way off.  I was freaked out because it was starting to get dark.  We hugged and promised to not get separated again.  Brian and Serra found us and we let the kids ride the Elmo fish which are exactly like Dumbo at DL and we were done.  It was 8pm and we had the drive to LV ahead of us.  We changed the babies, got on the road and the kids were all out almost immediately.  We made great time and were glad we weren't the suckers on the the way back to CA in bumper to bumper traffic.

Sooo, we are back and back to the grindstone...and all suffering from a bit of sun overexposure.  But we had a great time and would do it all over again.  In fact, Rosie has asked if we can do it again next weekend.

We have pictures and I am in the process of compiling them all so another post will be coming along soon with all the visuals. 

I've turned into an anti-blogger...I just can't bring myself to sit down and do it.  So this one's going to be a pictorial doozy. 

The end of March we celebrated our anniversary at the Green Valley Ranch where Brian was able to get a sweet suite through his sister Adriane.  It was quite amazing as well as 50% off any restaurant at the hotel which we took advantage of.  We did have to take the Charlie-meister with us since I was still her only source of sustenance but she was a nice baby and went to bed early and stayed asleep all night so it was almost like she wasn't there.  We enjoyed our little getaway.  Many thanks to Grandma Anderson who tended the other 3 rugrats. 

April has passed away and May will soon follow.  April and May brought Serra's 8th birthday and baptism...a very special occasion for our family.  Before that, however, we ventured northward to Cache Valley where we enjoyed General Conference with the Arnell contingency....Easter...and then Great Grandma/Grandma on the Farm/The Wrinkly Grandma/Grandma Arnell's 90th birthday celebration.  What a gathering that turned out to be with over 100 attendees and about 1/2 that at a morning session at the temple per Grandmothers request.  We were able to see so many family members we hadn't seen in years.  Unfortunately our fragile immune systems, not quite recovered from March's madness, succumbed to another round of sickness which took us another few weeks to recover from.  We are totally sick of being sick.  And our ward thought we were going inactive.  Weston I am afraid has taken the brunt of it and is again in the midst of another cough.  I think it's because he doesn't eat.  I have had to start slipping vitamin drops into his chocolate milk (or coco as he calls it) so he gets something besides sugar and milk.  It's a good day if I can get him to take a few bites of something. 

In early May, Julie and Serra came with their girls and my folks.  We celebrated and got our Serra baptized and played for a few days.  The girls, especially Rosie, have been asking when they get to play again.  They get along famously and love the time the get to spend together. 

Charlie K is growing so fast it makes me a little sad.  I took her in for a round of immunizations and a check-up yesterday.  At 10 months she weighs in at 22 lbs.  and is 28 1/2 inches tall.  On the charts she measures short and fat.  That just means 95th for weight and 75th for height which is flipped stats from her sisters who were always tall and lean.  But she measures in the 110th percentile for cuteness.  We turned one of our master closets into a nursery for her and it is working out awesomely.  She goes to bed between 8 and 9 and sleeps most nights until 7-8 am.  It's like a dream come true.  She also takes naps which is a foreign concept to my other children.  I am in the process of weaning her so she nurses in the morning and at night.  During the day she is on juice and whole milk which she has taken to very well.  She also enjoys a variety of cereals and fruits and veggies...although not too keen on meats yet.  She loves the walker and her favorite haunt while in said walker is Brian's office where she can get into things and make a huge mess. Brian loves this especially.  She loves to bounce in the bouncer too but when it comes to crawling...she can't be bothered.  Still just sits. 

Serra has 2 1/2 months left of 2nd grade and then she gets a week or so off before she starts the 3rd grade at her school which is switching to 9 months instead of year round.  Hallelujah!  Only bummer is she gets the short end of the stick when it comes to a summer break this year...none.  She is just a few points shy of making the all A honor roll and is working really hard to make that a reality.  She is a smart kid with a love to learn new things.  While we were visiting cousins in Logan, Serra hopped on Olivia's bike and started riding it like she knew how.  Apparently she does.  Serra can ride a 2 wheeler and never had a single lesson.  She also looks a little more grown up with here newly pierced ears. 

Rosie has become my little helper at home and is the big sister while Serra is away at school.  She is very sweet with her younger sibs and likes to be in charge.  I love her moon eye smiles and giggles.  Brian surprised us all with a Wii on Mothers Day and she is soon becoming the one to beat.  (must take after her dad)  She is a bit of a wiz with the computer and gets herself to kid websites all by herself while we just scratch our head wondering how she figured it out. She is at an early reading stage where she recognizes words she sees a lot.  She doesn't sit and read a book yet but can pick out most of the alphabet and write it too.  Smart kid.

Weston OH Weston...how I adore this child.  He is quite the talker now and we can understand most of what he says...but sometimes...the frustration mounts when he wants something desperately and no one understands.  He is becoming less of a menace.  The toilets are no longer the temptation for torture that they once were, he leaves the dogs food alone (mostly), the kitchen is safe again, and the cupboard and bookshelves aren't emptied daily anymore.  His biggest issue is sleeping.  I am in the process of coming up with another plan that I hope will work. 

Anyway, here are the loads of pictures...sorry there are so many. 

And in no particular order...

Mom enjoying some ice cream after Serra's baptism.

Touring Maren's place of employment...FANCY

Cuddles with Grandpa and the new blanket from Grandma

Benefits to a large tub...time saving bath time.

Mr. Wes

Some girls.

Cousins and buddies.

Jane declares...what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. 

The sweet suite.

Newly 8...what a beauty.

Posing

...and a great family shot...Thanks Julie!

After Serra's baptism...all the folks that were able to come.

This is what happens when there are multiple camera persons.

Serra's friend birthday party. 

Serra's family birthday party.  New jewelry box from Daddy to put all the new ear rings in. 

I've never know someone who likes to be sung "happy birthday" to more that this girl.  She LOVES it.

A Maren creation

My creation doesn't look quite so nice but it tasted yummy.

Good bye beard...HELLO mustache!
 

Cousin Jill came for a visit and so the triplets were together again.

...and it was warm enough for a swim.

Back up to Logan and Easter.  Wes and the ever present coco.

Some outside fun.  Charlie in the swing and Serra's first time riding a 2-wheeler.

Mr. Wes likes to hang out in the van.  He finds mints and buttons.

Rosie took in some training wheel action.

Which one is the boy?

Me and Jen...cousin buds.

Love these folks. 

Jill...soooo cute.

When he takes a nap he just drops where he is. 

Watching Little Einsteins together.

Little Vampire.

Rosie...completely relaxes in her sleep.

Priceless.

Some outdoor splash park fun. Trying to stay cool and hydrated.

Serra started soccer this year and loves it.  We all go to the games and make an afternoon of it on Saturdays.

Let me in to the pool.  Dad doesn't feel like swimming.

But Jeff and Mr. Wes do.

He actually fell asleep while swimming.  Not recommended for pool safety.

Loves cousins.

Horsing around.

another Maren creation...who wants to be the first to cut into it?        Ladies Man

At Alex again.

The gardens at the Bellagio.

WHew!

   Fathers and sons...apparently Wes is a natural...give the kid a coco and he's content wherever he is. 

 

Apparently Daddy was in charge for dinner.  Hot dog and Pepsi...and I think a cookie was involved too.
Although we ladies didn't do much better.  We went to dinner with some friends and the girls ordered mini corn dogs, fries and root beer and then topped it off with icecream.  My girls were left with tummy aches. 

Diggin' the dirt...and if you look closely you can see Wes wandering off somewhere.  He does that.  This week he escaped the house while wearing only a diaper, riding a stick horse, with a fresh black eye, and with Mo as a companion.  I found him a few houses down riding his horse on a neighbors front lawn.

This was taken about 5:30 this morning...sawing logs...snug inside daddy's tent.  He was up by 6. 

Photo's via Brian's phone...they are still adventuring.
 

 8 is Great!  I can't believe my tiny baby girl is 8 today.  She made a lot of my dreams come true the day she was born.  Happy birthday Serra~V!

The last few weeks have gotten away from me.  Things were going along just dandy and then we started to fall like dominoes around here.  First Brian with a cough.  Charlie and Serra came next.  Then Weston with a trip to the doctor because he seemed like he was struggling to breath.  It looked like the croup for all and I thought Rosie and I were in the clear.  Then I got hit fast and it immediately went to my lungs for a nice case of pneumonia.  Rosie joined in on the fun and soon we were the house of sick.  It's taken a full two weeks for me to recover and now I am in catch up mode with a quarterly RS activity this week to finish and put on.  Rosie has a nice case of double pink eye now that I hope she doesn't give to anyone else. The weather has warmed up and the kids are spending more time outside so I hope we are all on the road to more permanent health.  I guess it's better to get it all over at the same time.  We've been pretty lucky through this flu season with only minor colds now and then.  Soooo here is to a better few weeks to come.

In  the mean time Charlie has turned 8 months and has gained the nickname "Sparkles" from Brian because she literally lights up and sparkles when he talks to her.   She is so sweet and has been the dream baby everyone wishes for.  She is sporting her first 2 teeth which popped through this week.  The only indication that she was uncomfortable was the extra wake time at night.  She is so delightful and is simply adored by all. 

Weston is like a new kid with his new vocabulary skills.  He calls everyone by their name except for Charlie who is still "Baby".   With  "Wosie" and "Sahwah" are where he wants to be but he occasionally gets locked out because he isn't known for his tidy skills.  He is still a one man wrecking crew, climbs to get what he wants, and loves his coco (chocolate milk).  We ran out for a few days and you would have thought the world had come to an end.  We can't give him juice of any kind as it acts like an instant laxative.  He loves the girls scooters and is really quite good at riding them.  He still won't sleep in his bed. 

Rosie is signed up for pre-school in the fall.  Unfortunately her late birthday makes her ineligible for Kindergarten  this fall and she is ready for something.  It will be for a few hours 2 days a week.  I think she will like it.  She loves to play with my phone and also on the computer.  Rosie is our funny little kid and can be very sweet.  She is very independent and gets herself snacks when she's hungry and is still a bit on the dramatic side.  She is learning self control.

Serra is signed up for soccer and went to the planning meeting with Brian yesterday.  Brian signed up to be assistant coach and since no one signed up to be the coach it looks like he will be.  Schedule wise I think it will work out fine.  They went out and got cleats, shin guards, and soccer socks yesterday.  I think a corn dog got involved in there somewhere too.  I think Brian is more excited about this than Serra...he had a gleam in his eye all afternoon. 

This month is planting season here in Vegas and I have been feeling the need to get things going out there before it gets too hot.  If things don't get established before the weather turns HOT it doesn't do too well.  So yesterday afternoon while Serra and Brian were doing the soccer prep stuff  I took the other kids to the nursery and picked up our little seedlings.  We are planted.  Tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, yellow flying saucer squash, onions, cucumbers.  We'll see how it goes. 

This past week we celebrated our 12th anniversary.  I'm happy to report we are still in love and planning on eternity.  I really lucked out when Brian happened into my life.  I feel so blessed.  I think we compliment each other nicely.  He had a really nice overnight at a nice suite planned but because of all the sickness we have rescheduled it for a week from now.  It will actually work out nicely as we will be able to take the kids to Brian's folks after church next Sunday and Serra is then on track break so we don't have to worry about getting her to school the next morning.  Grandma Anderson has Sunday's and Monday's off  and she is graciously taking charge of our 3 oldest.  The baby will have to come with us but we are used to that.  We haven't been anywhere without at least one kid in 4 years.  On our actually anniversary day (Thursday) I was feeling well enough to go out and so Brian took us to our favorite Italian place.  We enjoyed dinner and each other for about 2 hours.  It was really nice. 

On a Happiest- Place- on -Earth note we have secured all the needed funds for Disneyland in the fall.  That has been about 6 months in the making.  So baring any unforeseen event that would prevent the trip we are planning on the week after Thanksgiving. 

Here are Charlie's 7 month pictures.  I'm afraid the 8 month one's got skipped due to my under the weather-ness.  First off though...I caught the kids all sitting together watching Little Einsteins the other day and thought it was pretty cute. 

 

   I’m having mixed feelings about some new developments.  Brian and I were asked to come in together to see our Bishop last Wednesday.  Those of you in our church know that means it’s usually a new hefty service calling.  We speculated a bit…Brian wondered if maybe it was a beard intervention.  We wondered about Relief Society for me since one of the counselors is pregnant, very sick, and having to work full time.  We were correct in that I’ve been asked to serve as 2^nd counselor in the Relief Society Presidency.  I believe the responsibilities are over the activities although the Bishop had no idea when he called me what role I would be playing.  I still don’t know who I will be working with either…I’ll find out with the rest of the ward on Sunday…that seems a bit weird.  My mixed feelings come with the fact that it is a completely new presidency which means I’m sure there will be a lot of fumbling over the next few months.  I’m excited at the prospect of being with the sisters again and getting to know some adults in the ward…I already know all the kids.  The other mixed emotion comes with the knowledge that my easy ride is over for a while.  Teaching in primary is a breeze job with no meetings and I have thoroughly enjoyed that, yet missed the interaction with adults.  With Brian in the elders quorum we will surely have to sit down and juggle our meeting schedules every week.  Life is about to get a little more busy, I am sure.

On the home front we have kept ourselves busy.  Serra is back in school after a long winter break combined with track break.  I must admit it was nice to get to sleep in for a few weeks but it’s nice to be back on a schedule again.  I get so much more accomplished when we are scheduled.  Over the holidays Julie taught me some crocheting basics.  I took what she taught me and ran with it.  That, and a few UTube tutorials, and I have had a grand time cutifying my girls.  I really enjoy making small projects.  I can’t imagine doing a huge blanket or anything like that as it seems really tedious.  I like to do things I can finish within a few days.  So, thanks Julie for my new hobby.  Brian complains a little that I am crocheting in the evenings instead of rubbing his head. 

Speaking of the holidays…we headed up to the frigid North Country, (Cache Valley) for Christmas.  Brian was with us for the first few days but had to head home right before New Years.  Serra asked me yesterday “Why at Grandma and Grandpa Arnells there is a party every night?”  It must seem that way to the kids since we get together every day and most evenings is a party atmosphere.  We had a great time spending time with everyone. 

This month we celebrated Brian and then Weston’s birthday.  They shared a yummy oreo icecream cake that I made.  Brian and I celebrated alone for his birthday with faboo primerib from the Golden Steer, which is a sweet old Vegas steak house.  And for Weston’s b-day we celebrated with the Anderson folks Sunday and again on Monday.  Weston got mostly clothes for the coming summer which he tried to try on after opening each one, and a hopper which he knows just what to do with.  I got Brian a new shelving unit and organized part of his office for him.  (He has been working on the lions share of the organizing as he prepared for the audit.) You should see it now…you would never believe it.  It’s the first time since we were married that his office is actually a nice place. 

One of Brian’s bedtime routines with the girls is the one question before he leaves the room for the night.  Most of the questions are centered on animals and there have been some good ones lately.  Brian especially likes giving false answers. 

“Why does a leopard have spots?”  So he can run fast.

“Why does a snake only make the ‘S’ sound?”  Because he can’t talk.

“Why does a rhino have a horn on his forehead?” (Don’t know what the answer was to that)

“Why does a rhino do this with his head?”  They proceed to do the motion with their head.

Serra continues to love school and is still my right hand at home.  She is such a great kid.  I forget she is only 7 most of the time. Rosie is getting much better about helping me during the day.  She complains that cleaning up is too hard and takes too long but she will do it with a lot of coaxing.  Last night Serra asked me what Rosie did during the day to help and I told her she helped clean up some toys in the living room.  Rosie piped up…”I did clean up toys but I was super whiney.” She nailed that one on the head.  Weston OH Weston…continues to try my patience with his menacing antics.  We will title this next excerpt…Weston’s Bad Day .  I believe the day was Tuesday although I have tried to eradicate it from memory.  We start the day by putting the chairs up on the table after breakfast.  This slows him down a little since he doesn’t have as easy access to the chairs for climbing.  He decided he wanted a banana though and so went into the little kid TV room and got one of the short rocking chairs.  He climbed up on the counter, selected a knife from the knife block and tried to cut one off the bunch.  He actually succeeded in getting a banana but sliced 2 fingers in the process.  Where was I…doing laundry in the next room.  He refused to let me put on a bandaid so I just had to sit there with him and hold his little hand until the bleeding stopped.  That one could have been a lot worse.  Lunchtime.  We pulled the chairs down.  Brian was home and so we were sitting at the table together chatting and eating.  Weston was all over the place.  He kept climbing on and off the table and missed the chair at one point and fell flat on his face.  Bloody nose.  He proceeded to draw on the wall while I was gone visiting teaching and broke a ceramic elephant I made in the 8^th grade.  Later, he pulled a stool out from its hiding place in his room and was pushing it around trying to get access to forbidden places.  He tipped it over and it fell breaking a tile in our entry way.  That left a nice sharp piece on the floor that Serra cut her toe on yesterday.  Finally it was bath time.  Brian was getting him in the big tub and Wes was super excited and slipped on the edge and fell again flat on his face…another bloody nose and a fat lip to go with it.  Poor little guy had a banner day.  Of course, he fell asleep late that afternoon and was up until past 11pm  so it was a LOOOOONG day.  He refuses to sleep in his room and wakes up within an hour of falling asleep extremely ticked off.  He ends up in bed with me which makes for a lousy night sleep most nights.  What am I going to do with this kid?  We now have to duct tape his diapers on as he deems nakedness his personal preferred state of being.  And if he gets the diaper off we find little puddles everywhere. His new favorite past time is tormenting Rosie…Man!  He sure knows how to push her buttons to annoy her and beats the crap out of her while she screams.  I think he finds it funny to get the drastic reactions and Rosie especially obliges with those.  It’s actually pretty funny to watch Rosie playing with something and he walks up calmly, snatches it, and tears off running.  He is very fast and laughs hysterically while Rosie chases him screaming.   He sure has a great laugh though…and says to me yesterday after unraveling a skein of yarn all over the house, “Sorry Mom.”  He is such a cute menace.  So that’s what our home dynamics look like most of the time.

Last Saturday morning we cleaned up breakfast and then lined up a few family members for haircuts.  Brian got his trimmed although he is still sporting a beard.  Weston cried up a storm while we buzzed him and Serra asked to go short again.  We took 7 inches off and she is sporting a cute new bob. 

Brian has been staying busy with work and was stressing lately over an audit that was scheduled to take up 3 days this week.  He has been organizing and preparing for weeks for it and it paid off.  It only ended up taking one day and hopefully the lady was forthcoming in that there won’t be too big of a bill. 

On the Charlie front…she is officially 6 months old and weighs in at 20.3 lbs and is 27 inches long.  The doctor says she is short and fat.  I’m cool with that.  She hates rice and oatmeal cereals (see photo) and gags and pukes whenever I try to feed it to her.  We have had better luck with apple and pear sauces.  And she did really well when I added a little cereal to that.  I also decided to retry a bottle with diluted juice and she really digs that so I’m hoping to try again with the bottle and milk when she gets good with the juice.  I have a feeling I’m going to need the freedom soon.  She continues to be a delightful smiling baby. She sits like a champ and grabs at anything she can get to and puts it in her mouth promptly.  The whole family thinks she is just the greatest thing ever and we continue to have a great time with this sweet little familial addition.  (And she is a great sleeper)

WHEW!

Christmas in Logan.   Two sweet babies, same age, different as night and day.   I love the one below of Evelyn's and Rosie's faces.

Weston's birthday...we couldn't get his shirt back on him...notice Rosie's funny face and all of Wes's scrapes.

Wes the champion hopper and Serra with a new do.  Charlie is now 6 months.

We had some cousin time with the Andersons before Christmas.

Momma and Charliea before we buzzed her. 

Some local pre CHristmas sight seeing here in Vegas.

Largest C-mas tree in N. America right here in Vegas at the M resort.   And a visit to The Bass Pro shop. 

Christmas with a different camera...Wes gets his dolly from Grandma.

Wes's fat lip.

Some shots of my handsome boy at 2 years old.

Candles to blow out after a nap isn't a good combo.  Wes didn't want to do it.

 But he thought the cake was ok.

Grandma Anderson always gives all the kids presents on birthdays.  Rosie with hers.

Charlie loving rice cereal.

Fresh Charlie.

And back to Christmas and Charlie at 5 months.

Forget about sitting!  Look who's standing!

Why do we even bother with gifts...just boxes will do. 

 

The only problem with waiting so long to update during the last few months of the year are the sheer number of photos taken that must be shared.  YIKES!  We have Halloween, Rosie's birthday, Thanksgiving, numerous baby shots, all the pre-Christmas festivities, and our recent trip to CA.  These are completely out of order.  Sorry. 

This is Charlie girl at about 3 months when she discovered her toes. 

 

Next is Rosie's birthday.  The big #4.  She wanted a lemon flavored princess cake with blue icing....and that is what she got. 

Me and my big girl.

Me and my other big girl.

Can't forget the boy.  Isn't he handsome?

Silly string....the little kids didn't think I was funny at all. 

Grandma Anderson always brings gifts for the other kids too.  Weston got a gun that lights up.  He was showing Charlie...or was he shooting Charlie?...not quite sure. 

Blowing out candles...

One of her gifts....wall stickers.  They can be moved...and are... daily. 

...And then the Christmas card photo shoot.  160 shots later...we got one.  Here were some of the good times.  We did Rosie's 4 year old shots at the same time.

The winning shot. 

And in black and white...the one that now hangs on my wall. 

The wheels are starting to come off.

...and the wheels have officially fallen off.

 

Candy house fun.

Rosie taking her job of the star topper very seriously. 

 

 Meeting Santa and whispering in his ear.

Our trip to CA.  and the Santa Barbara zoo and a stop at the beach too.

And back up a bit for some Halloween parties and trick or treating. 

My sweet Wes man.

My dark haired girls and Charlie sitting tall in her Bumbo

How Wes takes naps.

Thanksgiving.

Thats all folks!

 

 

Happy Halloween! 

Trunk or Treating tonight so we can collect enough to hand out to trick or treaters tomorrow...cackle cackle...

    

 

    

Wes the Pirate...not interested in the earring...earrings are for girls.   Serra lamented that the clip on earring for Westons costume didn't come in a pair so she could clip them on herself. 

Charlottes Web...also not overly amused by the costume.

Weston thought picture taking time was fun...kept running in the shot and posing and grinning...until it was his turn.

And last but not least...Rosie our resident princess, as Cinderella.