Josh

Josh's appointment went really well!! They did a bunch of lab work and everything looked so much better, so he was able to get his PICC line out and they scheduled his surgery for June 11. Thanks again to everyone - we couldn't do it without our friends and family!!

Fry Sauce

Here is a conversation from lunch today:
Cole: You know who made this fry sauce? Uncle Rico!
Josh: No he didn't. Jesus made it.
Cole: No, Jesus just made the bottle. Uncle Rico made the fry sauce.


It's been awhile since I've posted anything...maybe one day I will actually load my Easter pictures on my computer. In the meantime, here's an update on Josh. Josh had his appendix burst. He has been sick for 3 weeks. We took him to the ER early in this and the doctor didn't catch it. Luckily we were able to take him in this past week and get more tests and he was admitted to Primary Children's Hospital for 3 days. They sent us home after putting a PICC Line in Josh and we are giving him heavy-duty antibiotics to kill the infection, as well as pain medication. We have an appointment this week with the Surgeon to see where things are at, but once the infection is all cleared up they will go in and remove his appendix. They caught it too late and if they did surgery this week it would have re-spread all of the infection throughou his body, so that is why we are waiting. This will apprently create an easier surgery with better results...a faster recovery. Josh has been SO tough and brave and has been through a lot. We are so grateful for all of our family and friends and all of the support that we have received!

Why is Two So Terrible???

I really never thought that Alaria would go through the "terrible two" phase. She was always so mellow and sweet and cooperative...unlike the boys at an early age. Their terrible two phase started between 12-18 months and lasts til about 4 years of age (yes, Josh is still stuck there!). Anyway - Alaria didn't show any of those signs. I was so relieved. Well there is something magical about the age of two. It almost seemed that on her birthday she transformed. Instead of becoming a planet-saving robot (transformed...haha) she turned into a sassy little terror. Of course she throws fits, but here are a few examples of what she says to me when she gets mad(usually as she's hitting me):

"Stupid!"

"You are stupid"

"I don't like you anymore"...followed by "I don't like Colee anymore" and whoever else is in the room

and my favorite.... "I chuck you out the window. And you die". If I tell her it's not nice she'll usually repeat it in a sweet little voice. Something about hearing her "sweet voice" saying "and you die" is a little disturbing.

However...I can't help but laugh when she says these things.

Maybe it's because she's the third child. Maybe it's because she's the only girl. Whatever it is, I can't get mad, she is just too dang cute!

aka 'Dad'

Yesterday I was telling Kris I had an idea for the boys. Cole asked me what it was and I said "I'm not going to tell you...it's a surprise". Cole acts all disguisted and says "Oh sure. So you'll tell that guy you married, but you won't tell your own kid? Nice mom."

Fun Family Times

This past week all of Kris's sisters were in town. We did a fun girl's night sleepover and stayed up talking until 5:30 a.m. What a fun time! Yesterday was Kris's Grandpa Bellows' 85th Birthday! He and Grandma are unbelievable! They are still 20 at heart and so much fun!
Alaria and Quincey (who Alaria calls "Princey") at Grandma's house

I Looked Out The Window And What Did I See?

A Deer!

We were eating breakfast and the boys went to the window to see how much snow is falling (AH the dreaded snow!!) and all of a sudden a deer comes running across the neighbor's lawn, toward our house and then runs right around the fence. They were SO excited and kept yelling "a real live deer!". It was a doe but they keep talking about how big its horns were :)
So living in the middle of nowhere does have it's advantages!

Dreams

I am not, and have never been, a morning person. Neither is Kris. Not even close. Josh takes after us. He comes in in the morning and will not talk to you, just gives dirty looks and grunty noises until well after breakfast.
Cole, on the other hand...he is a different story. Once those eyes pop open he is ready to go! And it's always so EARLY! Well today I hear his door open and he comes right in, jumps up on my bed and yells "give me 5 mom!". Then he kneels down by me on my bed and gives me his report...it went a little something like this:
"OK, I had two dreams. First one was about mice. There were good mice and there were bad mice and they were having a wrestling match. There was an open hole to the sewer and the water and the bad mice ended up falling in that and the good ones were saved (as he's telling me this he is marching back and forth across the top of my bed!). OK, next one. Me and dad and Josh have jet packs. We're running from the bad animals. I tell dad we forgot you and Ali, so we come back down, tell you to get your jet packs, then fly away. A turtle turns into a lion and jumps up to get us (again, acting out the whole thing and how the lion is jumping up in crouched position to get us) but we get away. So we jet pack away to Price, grab Grandma and Grandpa and Wiegert (their cat). Then we get all of our other friends and family members and jet pack up again. Well now the elephants turn in to dinosaurs. And they got us."
If anyone knows how to anazlyze dreams, I would love to hear what this is all about!

My Date with Joshua

We love to take turns taking one of the kids out for a fun "date" - just some good one-on-one time. I don't know if this technically qualifies as a date, since I just brought Josh along with me for a Cub Scout field trip...but we had fun together at the fire station!

The firemen decided it would be fun for one of the scouts and one of their leaders to have a race getting all of the gear on...so here is me and Tanner all suited up!

Still Celebrating...

Today is actually Alaria's birthday, so of course I had to find a cute baby picture of her to post. I had too much fun looking at her picures, so I am posting a few that I love...there were just so many! I can't believe how little Cole and Josh look.

We could not have have asked for a more sweet, happy, adorable little girl! She is always smiling and laughing and LOVES to help! If anyone ever coughs or gets hurt, she always runs over and ask "OK?" in a sweet little voice. She loves music so much. She is always dancing and singing. She can sing the ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, Child of God, Itsy Bitsy Spider and Popcorn. She uses full sentences all the time and bosses everyone around. She also pronounces her words so clearly and we especially love how she says "yes" all the time. Today she was downstairs with the boys and I heard her say "stupid". Then I hear Cole say "Don't say stupid Ali, it's not nice" and she says "OK". Then she runs upstairs and says "Mommy I said stupid". Then the boys are saying "She said stupid" and she tells them "don't say that, guys". She just cracks us up all the time. In the morning we hear her in her crib and she always yells things like "Mommy, I crying" (even though she's not...she just wants me to get her) or "Mommy I need a new diaper" or just "I am done, I want out". She loves anything and everything princess and also her babies. She got new babies for her birthday and she feeds and rocks them and sings to them. She loves to push them in her stroller. She also loves books and loves being read to. She is constantly carrying books around and will come to you and say "read it" if you tell her just a minute she yells "read it now" and if you still tell her in a minute she will say in a cute little voice "please read it to me". She knows you can't say no to that...she really knows how to get her way.

Well I could go on all night, but we are so happy to have our little Ali in our family. She is our little princess and we all love her so much! Happy Birthday!

Happy Happy Birthday!!!

We decided to celebrate Alaria's 2nd birthday a few days early since my mom was here.

I can't believe she is already 2. She is such a fun little girl - we love her so much!

She loves wearing pig tails, but calls them "princess tails"

She started out her morning great - wearing a tutu and batman cape and watching superheroes!

And got all dressed up after her nap...
Of course she loved opening presents...I love all of her expressions - she gets SO
excited about everything!
This is her with her presents and her cake. For about two months she has been talking about a princess cake. Every time we brought up her birthday or grandma coming to visit, she would just yell out "princess cake". I finished making it during her nap and she was so excited when she came down and saw it. She just kept staring at it and waving to it and saying "MY princess cake" and laughing. It was the best!

The cake.... (holding candles...they look weird in the picture)

Make a wish...

A new princess bike! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

What a fun day! I'll post more on her actual birthday!