Annelise's last day at Schiff Elementary

Annelise is such a great girl. Brian and I really admire the way she quickly adapts to new situations, loves people and new opportunities. Even on her last day of school in Texas (11-11-11) she was happy the whole time she said goodbye to her friends and teachers. She never did get sad even after we moved. She did miss having friends so much we put her back in school the week after Thanksgiving here in Fort Collins and she was thrilled. Although the school operates differently in many ways, she loves it and is happy so I am happy. I did nearly have a heart attack when I inquired about how picking up the kids after school works here and found out you just pull up along the side of the road and they get in. So different from the strict car lines and numbers in Texas. I quickly taught Annelise about not going with strangers and it has actually worked out better since we are home about five minutes after she gets out of school. Here are pics from Annelise saying goodbye to her 1st grade school friends in Miss McDonald's class.

Adeline is crawling

This little baby is growing so fast! Due to the move I have really missed taking pictures of her quickly changing self. Adi can now get up on all fours and lunge forward getting to whatever she wants. She is a master roller and is just starting baby food. She hasn't warmed up to it yet. Her hair is growing in light brown and her eyes and kind of like Lily's. Blue/Gray with brown streaks. She still cries frequently at night, but I can't help loving her anyway!

Lily's first haircut

We let Lily's great curly hair grow for 2 and a half years and then decided it really needed cut. Goodbye curls- hello new static hair that sticks straight out in the dry Colorado air.

Before

During

After

Our move to Fort Collins, CO

We uploaded this video today and watched it at least four times because it made us laugh so much. Here is Annelise, Nathan, and Lily playing in the snow for the first time.

1st grade

Yeah! School started this week and Annelise was off to 1st grade. She loved every minute of it and is happy to see old friends and make new ones. Annelise loves having her own desk this year and being able to keep her supplies in it. I think this happiness comes from having to share her art supplies at home with younger siblings that quickly destroy them. It was a great week for me too. I love having a new routine and Adeline had two nights this week where she only got up once. I'm definitely not rested yet, but the sleep deprivation headaches went away after that. Now that school has started we have cooler weather and a new BYU football season to look forward to!

Adeline's blessing day

We blessed Adeline at church this Sunday. I loved getting to use this dress again. It was a beautiful blessing.

And I had to throw in a picture of me with the baby since there are so few pictures of me with any of the kids.

More Adeline pictures

I love this little sweetie.

First smiles.

Family Pictures

We tried to take advantage of my mom being here and her awesome camera by taking some family pictures. It proved nearly impossible to make all our kids smile at the camera at the same time, but I still thought these pictures turned out great!

Painting

Having my mom here this week was really great and lucky for the kids several trips were made to Hobby Lobby. Here are some of their Saturday painting pictures.

Welcome Adeline

Adeline Melanie Eldredge- June 14, 2011
7 lbs 14 oz, born 9:20 am, 201/2 inches

Lily's baby quotes

Lily loves the new baby more than anything. Some of her sayings:

"Baby Adeline has buzz cut".
"Ahhhh, cute!"
When I clean the cord: "Mommy painting baby Adeline"
"Baby come out and play toys".

Other fun this week

Ryan and Katie visit Houston

Ryan and Katie came to visit us around Memorial Day. We loved having them here and we were excited that they would drive all the way here to see us. I think this picture shows how the kids felt about Uncle Ryan and Aunt Katie. Some of our fun included swimming, bowling, eating mexican food, and seeing the alligators.
Nathan definitely had the most fun of anyone since he was not in school like Annelise and got to do everything.

Happy 2nd Birthday Lily!

Happy Birthday 2 year old! Lily was very aware that it was "my birthday party" this year. She picked out her own number candle at the grocery store (and threw a tantrum when I tried to put it in the cart) and was happy to see it in her banana chocolate chip muffin on her birthday morning. Since Lily was so aware of her special day this year, we celebrated three times: breakfast, playgroup with mini cupcakes, and and at home after going to the children's museum with regular cupcakes.
Things to note about Lily at two:
-she talks nonstop, all day
-she thinks she's the mom sometimes. I often catch her telling Nathan to go to timeout for not giving her his toys.
-she likes to take her clothes off during the day. We have daily lessons on the importance of being modest, but she is my first striping child and so far nothing has worked.
-she is the most polite of the kids, always saying "thankyou and welcome"
-she is the most naughty of the kids, but quick to say "sowee" so she doesn't spend long in time out.
-she loves to sing along with the children's music while we drive
-she adores everyone in the family and is constantly asking during the day where "Isey" and "Daddy" are.
-she loves to give my belly kisses and says "baby come out and play"
-she is starting to want to take her turn saying the prayer at mealtime

We love you silly Lily!

My favorite cheese question

Nathan is happy to not be allergic to dairy products. In fact, if I ask him whether he wants peanut butter or a lunch meat sandwich, he says he wants a cheese sandwich. So the other day while I'm making lunch Nathan is telling me all about the different color cheeses he knows about:
Nathan: "Hey Mom, pepper jack cheese is white."
Me: "yep"
Nathan: "and cheddar cheese is yellow"
Me: "you're right"
Nathan: "and pizza cheese (mozarella) is white"
Me:"uh-huh"
Nathan: "Mom, what color is Chuck E. Cheese?"

Daddy Date #1

Brian really earned the super dad award in April. Annelise had her kindergarten field trip to Dewberry Farm and Brian was great about taking the day off work to go with her since I didn't really feel like walking around in the heat all day pregnant. They had a great time together and Brian claims she even held his hand at one point. Sometimes I wish we could freeze her in time, so things like that would never go away.

Annelise hanging out with her best friend Leona.

Daddy Date #2

On Friday night Brian went on his second special outing with Nathan. They went to the Father/Sons campout at Brazos Bend state park. This was Nathan's first real camping experience and he absolutely loved it. I had bought him a kids flashlight earlier in the year and he took this opportunity to convince me that he needed to take it with him. Brian says Nathan kept asking when he could use it. Nathan would also occasionally just wander over to the tent to admire it .

Water time

We are really trying to improve our lawn this year. So far it has hardly rained at all this spring, so we are now watering at night off and on. The kids think this is just great because it means lots of sprinkler time. I just had to include a picture of their new crocs. I am absolutely in love with these shoes for the kids during the summer. Even Lily can put them on herself!

Waterwall and pigeons

Last weekend we tried to go see the waterwall in the Galleria. When we got there we found that it was being cleaned and not running. So we spent the time feeding muffins to the pigeons and looking at tall buildings. Annelise and Nathan had a blast just chasing pigeons. It was a great moment for enjoying the simple happiness of kid life.

Playgroup

Last time Nathan's playgroup was at our house, the kids spotted this little lizard in the backyard. He was quickly snatched up and passed around between the kids that wanted to hold him. I was surprised that Nathan enjoyed holding him so much. I am not that brave. The poor little thing was probably traumatized because they squeezed him for at least a half hour and I saw some tail pulling as well. The lizard was great though because he provided lots of running around and entertainment.

DodgeBall

This is how our family plays dodgeball. It's sort of long, but keeping it real with a little meltdown at the end.

Early morning project

Nathan found this in his room one morning after Annelise left for school.

Only Two Wheels

Last week we decided to teach Annelise to ride a bike. Brian got the job since I'm not really physically up to keeping the bike steady right now. Fortunately, he got off easy since she learned to ride in just a few days. We started off like this and by the end of the week she was riding circles around the parking lot at the elementary school. Yeah! We were excited that teaching her didn't take as long as we thought it would. We also think it helped that we taught her on Nathan's 10 inch bike. Here is quick clip of one of her first attempts.

Coming June 2011....

Hi! From our newest little girl.

Happy Valentine's Day

A cute school craft. It was up for a few days on the fridge before Annelise told me about the note on the back. It was very sweet- all about how we are the best parents ever and she loves us so much. I hope she can just keep these good feelings for us forever!
Our main craft this week-22 valentine's modeled off an idea we found on the web.
And while Brian was at a church meeting this afternoon-chocolate covered strawberries. The kids requested them and I was happy to agree!