Happy Birthday Addison!

It's hard to believe that this was me 3 years ago pregnant with Addison. We were doing fire works in the circle and I was supposed to be induced the following morning. The next morning I got a call saying that my induction date was going to be bumped because I was voluntary and they had a backlog because of the holiday. I was disappointed because for some reason (that I can't remember now) I really wanted her born on my birthday. So I went and worked out that morning hoping it would make me go into labor...that didn't work so Janet and I went and had spicy mexican food...no go on that...then my neighbor Lorna convinced me to try Castor Oil...what was she/I thinking? Not only did it bring on labor, it did it with a vengeance! Within 2 hours of taking that nasty, vile, most disgusting liquid ever I was in labor!! I will spare the gory details of what else the Castor Oil brought on since the experience is forever carved to memory, but suffice to say that it was not pretty and I'm sure nurses everywhere curse and roll their eyes at patients (like me) who do stuff like that on purpose! But I got my way, and welcomed sweet little Addison into the world...on my birthday no less! She weighed in at an impressive 7 lbs 15 oz and 20 1/2 inches. My biggest kid at birth! She had a ton of hair and I remember that you could even see it in the ultrasound pics that Jenn took (as well as those CHEEKS!).

Addison was so sweet and loved Grandma Janet to rub and hold her feet. She was a good baby and never fussed much. She was and still is an awesome sleeper too. All the girls love to cuddle with Grandma and have her tickle their backs.

Addison's blessing picture. She looked like such a little angel...hard to believe I'd EVER want to put this sweet baby in time-out 3-4 times a day!

Right away we were taken by Addie's cheeks and sweet smile. She still has that sweet smile...but now it's used for alterior motives or to conceal something she doesn't want me to know about.

We did our best to take advantage of free flying under age 2 by going to San Francisco for Thanksgiving...

Rocky Point, Mexico with the cousins over Halloween...

And Stein Erickson in Utah over Labor Day one year. I look back and don't remember any of this being a big deal, probably because Addison was a great traveler and an easy kid (maybe she was priming me for the terrible 3's...). It's funny though, now just the thought of packing for 5 girls makes my head SPIN.

Cute little Addie posing for her 1-year pics.

She was so good to listen and the pictures turned out absolutely gorgeous!

Hey Mom, I've got my shades now so hurry and finish this post already so we can go swimming!

Hey sis, I can't believe you've been around for 3 years now! You are such a nut and we love you so much! You are so full of life and energy and we love your silly personality and the way you always make us smile. I don't love that as I'm blogging this post you are currently NOT potty-trained AND that you still steal poor little Emmy's bink sometimes...BUT that is you, and we will take the good with the bad since you are so dang adorable. I hope you will always know how much you are truly loved.

4th of July!

We started our 4th of July weekend by going to a BBQ at Aunt Diane's house. The girls had a blast hanging out with their extended cousins, eating and swimming most of the night. I love when all the cousins get together, they are so much fun to be around it's always a guaranteed good time (especially when Krista is there!!) and the kids all get along really well. Uncle Kent cooked up some tasty burgers and hot dogs and then we all sat around and caught up on life. I appreciate Diane having the fiesta at her house on the 4th for a couple of years now and I hope she keeps doing it.
Saturday morning Marianne and I took our girls swimming at Riverton pool. The kids love, love, love swimming and will jump at any chance to go. It was fun and Emmy had a great time playing in the water. Later that day we went back for the carnival. The kids had a blast on the rides and Addie kept saying she wanted to ride the "rolla costa"...a girl after her dad's heart.

It's always an interesting crowd at Carnivals... mulletts and muffin tops galore! Addie is either thinking hmmm, nice "who farted" t-shirt...or someone just told her what's really in that corn dog (but they were sure tasty!).

Ladies man. Can you tell who's the fave in our family? Look at Nat and Addie perfecting the art of people-watching.
Yum. Can't go to a trashy carnival and not eat FUNNEL CAKE! Natalie's probably going to be a crazy driver just like her dad! I think Dave likes to wear a wife-beater when he drives fast too!
The hay dive for the kids was pretty funny. They threw a bunch of candy, prizes, and money into piles of hay and then let the kids loose. It was madness, but pretty funny to watch. Oops, I spy a crack-a-doodle-doo! Nat, don't you know that crack is whack? I love sweet sis pics like this one... And this one...

Sparklers. So lame, but yet so fun at the same time. The girls love sparklers and Addie especially loved the king-size ones we found this year.

"Fire Marshall" Dave tried to get Ashley to light a firework and she wouldn't do it for anything. I don't like lighting them either, I always think they are going to blow up in my face.

Addie thought some of the fireworks were "TOO LOUD DADDY!"

Grandma Janet is so loving and sweet with the girls. They all love her so much and I'm so happy they have all had a chance to spend some great quality time with her. Addie was so silly during fireworks, she kept clapping and saying "yay Daddy!" or "good job Dad!". She is hilarious.
After doing fireworks in the circle Marianne, Grandma, and me and the girls all drove over near Riverton Park to check out how the professionals do it. Riverton did a really nice job...but after about 15 minutes the kids got a little restless and whiney - spoiled! Next time maybe I'll just go and put them all to bed.It was a fun 4th of July weekend and we were so grateful that Grandma and Grandpa were here to celebrate it with us. It has sort of become somewhat of a tradition to have Grandma here in July at least, and hopefully she'll keep coming. Janet I love and appreciate you so much and I'm so lucky to have you as my mom-in-law!

M.I.A in SLC

I finally downloaded all the pictures on my camera since my last post and judging by the number of pics (228) I'd say I'm a little behind on blog posts. Summer didn't start out quite the way I thought it would. I imagined lazy days at the pool, picnics at the park, the standard yearly zoo pass, and fun lunches w/girlfriends...but alas, my ideal summer has not yet come to pass. I'm playing catch-up big time on this post, but I have to cram a lot in to bring it up to date. Dave and I celebrated our 12th anniversary on June 6th. I was planning on posting a bunch of funny, old dating pics of us, but that would entail a.) finding them b.) scanning them and c.) WAY too much effort. Maybe I'll start organizing them now to post for our 13th. My mom tended the kids and we went to Flemings for dinner, saw "The Hangover"on opening night (hilarious!), and then finished off with Iceberg shakes. It was a perfect date. We've been together for 14 years and it seems crazy to me how quickly the time has gone! I'm happy to say that after all this time I still love my hubby and as far as I can tell he doesn't think I'm too bad either.

Addie had her first dance recital what seems like a million years ago now. It was really cute and Addie did really good up on stage. Her and Chloe, her BFF that lives next door were darling and you could tell they loved being all dressed up. The dance place wasn't very organized, but the end result was actually pretty cute considering it was dance and all and also that Dave and I felt completely out of our element. I guess we'd better change our attitude quick considering we might have a bazillion dance recitals on the horizon...

For what seemed like days on end we had rain, rain, and more rain. I thought we had fixed our flood problems in the basement until...one day the kids started screaming all at once and flew up the stairs to tell me that water was coming in the window. I went downstairs and our window well was filled up about halfway and the water was just pouring in. I told the girls to go grab all the towels they could find and I grabbed a bucket and was bucketing water for about 40 minutes. The damage was not terrible, just enough to be annoying. No carpet replacement this time.Lucky for me, the window well flooding happened 3 days in a row, always in the middle of the day when Dave was at work. By the end of the 3rd day I was not a happy camper. It was becoming a little too routine, so much that Ashley would remind me to go check the window wells every time it started to rain. This is me, thinking really bad thoughts, saying lots of bad words out loud and in my head (more out loud), before Dave finally solved the problem by cleaning the drain out and installing a sump pump. What the crap? There is a reason I don't live in Seattle!

Emmy has been eating solid foods for a while now, and therefore is always in the tub because she manages to make a mess everywhere when she eats! Her new favorite thing is putting food in her hair. Another favorite thing right now is pooping. This kid is seriously a machine. She puts any male I've ever known to shame. On a daily basis I probably only have maybe 1 or 2 wet diapers, the remaining 5 or so contain evidence that her diet is not lacking in variety. She is super cute, so even though she's super stinky, it's almost forgiveable (almost). In this pic she is sitting in the sink because apparently bathwater relaxes her bowels. I had to clean up the schrapnel in the tub and so this was her "time-out". Nasty, I know. Unfortunately she is in good company because all of my kids have done this at some point. I can't think about it too hard because it grosses me out...but not for long when she grins at me like this. Emery had her 9 month well-child check-up today and weighed in at a healthy 17 lbs. She is above average height, average weight, and her incredibly large melon is off the chart. Big brains are a good thing right?

Uh-oh, that big smile in the bathtub can only mean one thing...

Natalie had her first dance recital a few weeks ago as well. She did fantastic and I loved seeing her all girly up on stage. When Nat first asked to do ballet, it didn't seem to fit her personality. We were pleasantly surprised to find that she was good at it, was actually very graceful, and she looked absolutely stunning on her big night.


Nat got to pick what to eat for dinner that night, so big surprise, she picked shrimp! Sounds good, right?...Wrong. She picked Sizzler since she'd seen a commercial for all-you-can-eat shrimp. That place was bizarre, it's in Sandy, but it may as well be in the hood. I must have missed the sign that said "People with missing teeth and sweat pants welcome here". Ash and Nat were being so silly that night, we all had a lot of fun...especially since we didn't have the other 2 troublemakers with us.

Grandma Rosa was there for the recital as well, and also came with us for dinner. Unfortunately we carpooled to the recital and left my mom's car in a parking lot. When we came back for it...it was gone. It had been towed minutes before. Neither one of us noticed the no parking signs and my mom ended up paying a ridiculous price to get her car out. what a bummer. So, FYI, you can't park at the old Lowe's parking lot on 90th south or some jerk will do their best to rip you off.

Steak and shrimp...this kid is going to be an expensive date one day!

The kids started swimming lessons a few weeks back and they are all loving it. Ashley is a really good, strong swimmer and it's so fun to watch her form improve weekly. Natalie is doing great in her class and is a good listener. Addison thinks everything is fun in the water and has a huge smile on her face for most of the lesson. They are all so much fun to watch and I love that they can swim. I still can't even jump in a pool w/o plugging my nose.
Grandma and Grandma Hansen are staying with us until July 10th. We have lots of fun things planned and the girls are enjoying all the one on one time with them. It's been nice having them up so far, and they were gracious enough to watch our kids while we went to Cancun (more to come). Today Grandma, me, the girls and their friend Adri all went to Chick-fil-a (our fave)...I feel like I'm barely kicking the summer off and it's half over!