9 years ago . . .

(plus almost 2 months) Henry was born. He came into the world kicking and screaming. In fact, one of the nurses outside our room said, "I wouldn't want to take that one home." But, his amazing smile always helped make up for whatever trouble he caused. And, he's turned into a pretty great kid.

He suddenly seems so much older to me--he's an inch or so shy of 5 feet tall, he likes to go in and buy the hot 'n ready pizza all by himself, he's even getting a little bit of adolescent moodiness. But, sometimes it seems like he's really not that old after all. When I drop him off for school, he won't go in without blowing me a kiss. And, he still can't always restrain himself from leaping with joy and flapping/clapping when he's really excited.

There's just so much goodness and brightness and lovingness and helpfulness in Henry. I sure hope he doesn't outgrow any of that, even while he's growing so fast. I wish I could keep him small and innocent forever.

Somehow we didn't take any pictures of his birthday, even though we had a family gathering for him and a party with his friends. He wanted an Avatar: The Last Airbender birthday party, so we did activities for the 4 elements--made tea bag rockets and water bottle whirlpools, and blew up balloons without using our mouths, and played a game. Henry loves science and games. But alas, no pictures, just video. And, I don't know how to upload videos--that's Brandon's specialty.

Anyway,
Happy Birthday, Henry! We love you, and we're so glad we got to "take that one home."

it's a big, six-toed . . .

GIRL!

I know that to many of you this is old news. But, for those of you who are far away, we had the ultrasound a while back, and it's official. We are thrilled to be having a girl. In fact, we wanted a girl so much we were afraid we would jinx it. In retrospect, I think it's more that I just didn't want another colicky baby, and Elsa was our only colic-free baby. I realize now that this baby will probably prove my prejudice wrong and be a really colicky girl. But, we're excited anyway.

She doesn't really have 6 toes, but it looked like it to us from the ultrasound. And, she looked 9 days bigger than her expected due date. I'm trying not to get my hopes up about her coming early, since I'm pretty sure being huge and swollen in July in Utah is going to be miserable. Oh well. HOORAY for another girl!

work

I have a lot of updating to do, but last night I was helping Henry practice his vocabulary words. I explained to him what a motto was, and then he looked at me and said, "Your motto would be 'I will work for truth.'"

I laughed and asked him why. He said, "Because you're always working."

It reminded me of a prayer he said a while ago, where he decided to be very specific in his gratitude. He said, "Thank you for a little brother who is funny, a little sister who is fun to play with, a dad who is my best friend, and a mom who is workful."

It's a little sad when that's your defining characteristic.

Happy Birthday Kara!

I had to wait to post this until kara spilled the beans about the our forthcoming little one. Otherwise, how could I write about how she couldn't stand the thought of a birthday cake? Instead we had birthday nachos. Yes, with candles. Sorry, no pictures. Despite the birthday, December was not a very fun month for Kara. So sick, and such bizarre cravings: breadsticks, kool-aid, Twilight novels... But she's been a champion through it all.

Bless you, Kara, for going through this three times previously for our three goofy children, and still being willing to go through it again. You rock my world.

lest you think i've vanished off the face of the earth . . .

Here's Will's take on what has been going on for the last few months:

First, you eat a baby. Then, it goes in your tummy and makes you sick like this--aauuugh, aauuugh, aauuugh (vomiting sounds).

halloween

So. Here it is. The Halloween post. Our kids had a great time. There was a church party, a school carnival, and then a whole lot of trick or treating. Brandon's family joined us for trick or treating because our neighborhood is perfect for it. The weather was amazing--warm enough that no coats were needed, since the costumes were pretty warm. And there was a full (or close to it) moon hovering right in between the mountains. It was so much fun to walk around that the plastic pumpkins were full by the time we got home.

Elsa and Henry were Jedi Knights. Not any specific Jedi, just Jedi. Elsa refused to be anything too girly--no Leia or Amidala or anything. Will wanted to be a Jedi too, until he tried on the robe I made for him, and then he immediately wanted it off. But, he was obsessed with the hand-me-down Buzz costume from cousin Brenna. It didn't matter how sweaty he was, how much of a hikey he got, or how much the elastic was cutting off the circulation to his feet--he was keeping the Buzz costume on.

The Halloween fairy came again and left a watch for Henry, slinky dog for Elsa, and green plastic army guys for Will. They were all thrilled, and the Halloween Fairy has gotten a little fatter this week.

It was a delightful Halloween all around.

Oh yeah, Henry and Elsa had to be something curriculum-oriented for school. So, Elsa had to be an Egyptian/Cleopatra and Henry was a skeleton. Like the last-minute costumes? These were done the day before with $1.50 in ribbon and a few pennies worth of masking tape. It was a little ghetto, but it worked. And don't they look happy?

first camping trip

Here are my favorite quotes from our first family camping trip back in August:

Henry (while roasting his hotdog on a stick, which took a little longer than expected): Is this fun?

Will (first thing in the morning; only the two of us were awake; there was rustling in the bushes next to us): What was that?
Mom: There's some kind of animal in there. What kind of animal do you think it is?
Will: A bear.
Mom: Uh oh. What do you think the bear will do?
Will: Maybe he'll come out and say, "Hi. Can I have some chips?"

Elsa (on a walk around the little lake/pond): Look there's a little hole. I wonder what lives in there.
Mom: I don't know. What do you think it is?
Elsa: I think it's zombies.

And, this is why I'm not super anxious to go again, although I'm sure I'll be dragged out next summer anyway: