Rough Month

Michael and I went out for Valentine's Day the Saturday before.  We went for a run at the lake and went out for breakfast.  It was fun to hang out with Michael and enjoy the beautiful morning.  This month has been really hard on us, so hoping for better things next month.

I made heart shaped pizza for dinner for us.

The kids got lots of candy from school and even shared a little with Evan.  

Evan has almost earned himself a new bike.  He decided to practice on Leah's to see if he was ready for the 16 in bike.  He only has 12 inch now.  

This sweet baby is getting too big too fast.  He is rolling all over the place.  He loves to be entertained by his siblings.  He is finally self soothing to sleep in the crib by himself.  He was so happy in the rock n play because he could almost roll himself out.  ha ha

We are working on hard on our alphabet.  Evan is getting closer to know them.  He is good at writing his name.  We have been sick the last few weeks so it has been good practice staying home.  We were all sick for about a month.  I am so glad that we are finally better.  

My sister and I had to take a last minute flight out.  My Dad went into cardiac arrest caused by a heart attack.  It is really scary.  It is one of the hardest times of my life.  Michael has been super supportive.  I guess I was grateful that this baby actually took a bottle, so I could leave.  Things are still quite uncertain but I had to fly back for my family.   I may be returning.  I am grateful that my Aunts were there as well, and my Aunt Deby is still there.  They are amazing.  I know the Lord was with us.  My Dad had a great nurse.  We are grateful for the care he is receiving.

We stayed at a hotel across the street from the hospital so we didn't have to rent a car.  It must have at one time been a part of the hospital because these pull cords were in room and bathroom.  It was nice to be so close since I had to go back and forth to pump.  

Happy Birthday Leah!

We have been sick this past week, so I am struggling to get anything done.  I didn't want a to miss sharing Leah's Birthday.

We started the morning out with Leah's first 5K ever.  She did amazing.  I was predicting we would be around 45 minutes, but we came in around 39.  She fell and even managed to finish the race. She struggled a little the last half of it, but after some gatorade she was good to go.  :)  It was really fun to run with her.

Leah wanted a Belle cake, so I tried out the ball gown cake.  

We had family come over to celebrate.  She wanted grilled cheese for her meals.  Easy enough for us. 

She got lots of great gifts.  

It was our city's father daughter dance that night, so Michael got to take her out to the dance.  They get to eat dinner, take a pic, and of course dance.

The button turned out great.  They had a great time.

We had fun celebrating Leah's Birthday.  She is one amazing girl!  She is so kind and sweet.  She loves to draw and craft.  She recently wrote out all of her Valentines for her class.  It was so easy compared to what I have to go through to get my boys to do it.  ha ha  She loves school, and is doing really well in it.

Last night Leah had her Kindergarten performance.  It was rodeo themed.  She looked cute! It was fun to see her interact with other kids in her class.  

They sang and danced with their horses.  

It was nice that we were all in a circle.  No one was in front of us with their phones.  It worked great!  After the performance we played some rodeo games and went home.

STEAM

Dallin had to make a balloon powered car.  This is what we came up with.  Leah had to make a marble maze.  She did great.  The kids are still playing with the marble maze.  I didn't get any pictures because Michael took her.  

The car did pretty well.  It turned a little at the end.  I am proud of how hard my kids work on their school projects.  Joshua and Michael made a huge tower for STEAM night, and again I didn't get any pictures because I was with Dallin.  ha ha  I love the kids school.  I love how it makes us grown ups think and create.  ha ha

This baby has made it to 5 months.  Time has flown by.  I am kind of sad how fast it is going.  He is rolling and holding his own bottle.  He hates baths.  He loves his siblings.  He loves interacting with people.  

He loves playing with his toes.  Joshua is working on an invention for a school project to help keep his socks on.  I am excited to see if it works out.  ha ha

Relaxing weekend

We stopped and played at a park while waiting for our pizza.  The kids had a great time.  Michael got a gift card from his boss for a pizza place in Allen, so we enjoyed a new park.  

They loved the ducks and creek.

Our kids thought this slide was the best.  They would pick up their feet and just fly off.

Aaron just hung out with me, but on another day he did experience the park.  The weather has been great! 

Snow

The temps dropped down enough to get snow. Evan was so excited.  He played outside by himself until his siblings got home.  I had to stay in so I could hear a sleeping baby.  :)

The kids were so excited to play after they got home from school.  The boys went right to the trampoline to have some fun.  

Aaron is getting big and growing up fast.  He just weighed in at his 4 month check up.  He is in the 50th percentile and up to 16 pounds.  He loves the octopus my friend Elise made him.  It is such a fun toy.  He usually wakes up once a night but takes a while to go back down to sleep.  He loves being entertained by his siblings.  He also loves to talk.  He coos all of the time.  He has rolled over a few times but I think it was more accidental than skill.  

Christmas Break Fun!

Grandma got the kids passes to Adventure Landing.

The kids had a blast with the Go Karts.

We adults did too!

Rylan got these sweet glasses for Michael

Aaron trying out my new rain boots

Evan and Rylan playing around on the Zebras

More Go Kart fun

The kids went back to Six Flags and got to sled. 

It was the perfect weather.

Evan got to go this time.  He had a great time!

We hope you all had a great Christmas as well, and a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I couldn't get them all dressed up at the same time in front of the tree, so this is as good as it got.  Evan and the nursery sang in church and the rest of the kids sang with the primary in church as well.   Michael and Joshua sang with the ward choir.

We went to the Galleria mall to check out the massive Christmas tree.   

We baked lots of yummy goodies with Grandma

All five kids in pjs on Christmas Eve.

It is hard with a family of our size to sit still.  ha ha

After Santa had come

Our Fireplace after Santa came

Christmas morning started a little later than usual because Evan slept in.  He didn't wake up until 7:30.  ha ha

It didn't take long after that to dig in.

Michael finally got a new TV.  He always said how out of all of his siblings he had the smallest tv.  

We had a yummy dinner and dessert.  

We had a wonderful Christmas filled with family and love!  We hope you had a great one too!  We are so grateful for our Savior and love celebrating his birth.