The Allens

Disneyland

2012-01-29T19:46:00.000-08:00

We just got back from our Allen family Disneyland reunion trip. We had a BLAST! It was so much fun having that time with the family. My kids have been literally counting down since before Christmas.

We left last Tuesday and travelled all day to get to our hotel room. We enjoyed the first evening in the pool and the kids seriously couldn't wait till the next morning to go. They got up at 5 (in the hotel room). It was so hard for them to contain their energy in that room. We finally headed over with his whole family to Disneyland.

Here are the kiddos all ready for the fun to begin. Yes I made their shirts :) I couldn't see myself paying $20 or even $30 for shirts so made some.

Cousin Ava

We didn't get to see too many characters but we did see Mary Poppins and Bert.

They were celebrating Chinese Lunar New year

Ridge refused most rides...including tea cups. We did force him on most though. Brecklynn LOVED almost every ride. So amazing to see the difference

Second day, we all wore our Allen shirts. There was a crowd of 41 of us. We enjoyed getting into the park earlier to get some of the busier rides done early.

Do you see her two teeth? Cute!!

Pout..pout...pout

Here's all the grandkids that attended. We were missing quite a few still too. Oh and GG (the kids Great Grandma) attended this year. What a special unique experience.

The Allen brothers...with April- no further explanation needed

Our cute happy family

I got this same picture two years ago so had to snap it again

The favorite ride by far was the new Ariel ride. We rode it probably 20 times. The kids LOVED it.

Ridge kept doing this to all his boy cousins....kind of concerning :)

The boys tricked GG onto Space Mountain. They told her it was a hay ride.

Cambree agreed to go on Tower of Terror. In this picture she is smiling. But that was the last time she smiled. She hated it. I love that all her uncles are looking at her :)

This is the end of the Ariel ride. Ariel is waving to everyone and EVERY time....Brecklynn had to wave and insisted everyone with her did as well. Super cute.

It was a lot of fun. The kids are already talking about when we get to go again. Brielle was wonderful the whole trip which was amazing. Thanks Steve and Pat for a wonderful trip filled with many memories!

Hello 2012!

2012-01-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

I know this is late...classic me right? But as always-better late then never.

As I realize how fast 2011 went and how 2012 is already here...I haven't had much time to really consider my goals and desires for the upcoming year. Last year was full of so many huge changes with moving and Brielle being born that 2012 seems less monumental in many ways. But I am excited about the prospect of really getting down to what I need/want to improve upon personally, as well as a family.

I am one for lists and goals and so resolutions are right up my ally. I love to really think about what I want to improve and how. So with that...here's some of my thoughts.

Personally I have several things I would like to improve upon. I need to get back to basics and really stregthen myself in the gospel. I need to read my scriptures daily and pray daily. I need to go to the temple. I need to be more patient with my kids and stop and take in the little things with them. I sometime stress so much over the small things that I forget to just enjoy the time with my kids. Physically I hope to continue getting healthier and in the process learning to make better choices for my family's eating habits and lifestyle as well. I am hoping to train and run a 1/2 marathon this year. That's a huge thing for me but its been one of those life goals for me. I would love to accomplish it.

On a family level I would like to plan more things for my kids and Curtis and I to do. We need to get back to reading scriptures daily and praying daily and doing fhe. We do good for awhile and then we always fall off the wagon. But that's what these resolutions and times are for right? We need to spend more time just enjoying each other. Sometimes we get in the rush of things we have to get done and the schedule, that we don't slow down enough to just talk and enjoy each other. I definitely want to do this more this year.

I am so excited about this year and I really hope to be able to work on these goals and see improvement in the days, weeks, months to come.

So here's to the new year!! Happy 2012!!

Brielle is 8 months

2012-01-09T16:45:00.000-08:00

So I am a slacker again. She's now 8 months. What a ball of chub she is now. She's really put on the weight. She eats table food like crazy. She refuses baby food like all my other kids. She has been mobile for a couple months and is so fast. She loves to pull herself up on EVERYTHING. Including your legs if she gets you. Its actually quite annoying how fast she is at getting on you. She FINALLY STARTED LAUGHING!! Its a big deal. She smiles at EVERYTHING but it wasn't until about a week ago that she started to actually laugh.

She also got her first tooth on Saturday. She is always drenched in her spit and finally has something to show for it.

She's still a happy easy baby. Love her to death. Can't believe how old she is.

Sundays...

2012-01-09T16:41:00.000-08:00

This was our first Sunday. Kids were so excited to wear their new clothes. Ridge is now CTR 4 and Cambree is CTR 5. Ridge came home the first Sunday preaching to us what was choosing the right and what wasn't. He even stated that his cousin wasn't choosing the right because he wasn't wearing a shirt.

New Years

2012-01-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

For New Years we had a pretty easy going New Years. I always get my hopes up that we'll have a game night etc. but with 4 small kids, that's next to impossible :) We did have fun though.

We went over to Steve and Pat's for an early dinner and did a game of bingo with the kids. It was just my kids and LeMae's kids so it was a quiet evening.

Here's the kids playing...

The prize loot

Ridge being cute about not getting a number yet

Getting help from Nana

Ecksen upset he's not winning :)

Picking from the loot...so hard to choose

Trying to quiet them down with a movie.

Then we celebrated early- like 10 ish with sparklers

It was an early night for us but fun. Happy New Years 2012. Crazy how fast time is flying. Here's to a wonderful new year!

Merry Christmas picture

2011-12-30T14:46:00.001-08:00

I cannot believe Christmas is gone already. This time flew by!!

On Friday, we went down to Phoenix for a quick day trip to swap gifts and also welcome home my cousin Bubba from his mission. The kids enjoyed opening a couple gifts early.

These are from Great Grandma Meikle

When we got home, we did a quick stop at Great-Granny Dowdle's house. She took a hard spill the night before so that's why she has some boo boo's on her face. It was good to see her for a bit.

Saturday was an easy day and we just relaxed. About 6:00 we played some games and ate dinner and then they finally got to open their one gift- PJ's!!

Here's all my cuties all dressed up. They all looked so cute.

After we went out to look at Christmas lights. This year, Brecklynn was by far the entertaining one. She would yell about EACH AND EVERY HOUSE that even had the smallest amount of lights on it. It was all exciting and great. Made it really fun for us. Cambree and Ridge enjoyed it too.

Then we threw them all in bed and they all fell asleep pretty quickly. Then Santa came and made his visit!

Cambree's stocking and gift...a new working camera

Brecklynn got a bike

Ridge got a bike

The tree

This is how we kept the kids down this year :) We tied a knot on it to keep them in. They would sit and yell all night at different hours that it was time to come up. I would have to walk over and tell them it was only 1 or 3 or 4 in the morning. We finally gave in about 5. Kids were so excited.

Despite the minor break downs at first when Cambree thought the new bike was hers...and Ridge getting legos and yelling -I didn't ask for this for Christmas...I didn't want legos- it was a great Christmas. We had to quickly get ready for church since we had lovely 9 sacrament. It was a great day overrall.

Side note- this is more for me to remember later on but this month has been sick month for the Allen family. We were struck with the flu bug and Brielle started it at church getting me head to toe...then Curtis got it and then I got it with Ridge and Cambree. After we finally got over that week of throwing up, I popped something in my shoulder than I kid you not, hurt like I cannot explain. I had to go get it adjusted. It hurt so bad.

Then Christmas eve I started to get sick. Well I thought I was taking care of it but the day after it went from bad to worse. I went in Tuesday to find out I had a bad kidney infection. I have never had one before and man, it is some of the worse pain I have ever felt. I was on the floor or couch all day. I felt miserable. Then I got a lovely cough. So here I am now still with a terrible cough and no voice but I am hoping this is the end of sickness for me. This has been one of the hardest months for me. Hopefully the new year will bring a healthier me :)

First annual Ugly Sweater White Elephant party

2011-12-22T10:45:00.000-08:00

Chace and Rachel Norton came up with the idea to have an ugly Christmas sweater and white elephant Christmas party. They put it on...we just had it at our house :). We had 17 adults over and it was a lot of fun. We had a quick finger feast before hand with some delicious food that everyone brought and then the fun began.

So finding/buying an ugly christmas sweater is actually pretty hard. They are either super expensive or you just can't come by them. So we decided to hit the thrift store in town and then with craft supplies I had, I literally threw Curtis' sweater together. He won!! I think it turned out pretty good. I wish I had taken better pics of it because its rather funny. It even has a full on reindeer head with jingle bell antlers on the back. And to add it all, he had his hair cut in a bowl style. Really classic!!

Ridge with Trakken (sp).

Here's all the couples...the brains of the party: Chace and Rachel. Chace's sweater was hilarious too...women's vest

Sam and Amber and Sam's sweater had a working stocking :)

JT and Jen

Us...yes its a bit creepy and Ridge just had to be in it too.

Cambree was feeling left out in all the picture taking

Mark and Jaelynn (so glad they could make it last minute)

Michael and Whitney

Ryan and his lovely 'date'. Don't you just love his all natural sweater?

Seth and Kamron

McKay and Jarica

All the guys.

It was a lot of fun. I am hoping this will be an annual thing. This group just makes anything like this a blast. Thanks Chace and Rachel for a good time!!

Polar Express Party!

2011-12-22T10:18:00.001-08:00

It was time once again for my Polar Express preschool party. This is by far my favorite party of the year. There's just something about the time of year and seeing the kids all excited and in the spirit of it all. Plus, this year was the first time in my new house which meant more space which was WONDERFUL!!

This year I made a cardboard train for the kids to 'get in'. It was a lot of work but worth it I think. Some kids were still disappointed that it wasn't a real train that moved though ;)

Here's Brecklynn all ready for the party to begin.

Here's the train. It was actually too long for the room...

Part of the set up

Train tracks to the train...

All the kids ready for the ride

We had chocolate milk and doughnuts

We made magic reindeer food and had a book exchange. Every year it cracks me up with the book exchange. Kids just can't grasp the concept of what seems to be a simple thing. They all kept getting upset that they weren't opening the gift they brought and that someone else got their gift. Pretty funny.

Then of course we had to have Santa come. The kids loved him. Well almost all did. He was so good to the kids. Brecklynn wanted nothing to do with him though which made me sad because I couldn't get a picture of her with him, but maybe next year.

Here's the whole group-all minus one who sadly ended up sick this day. So now we're on to celebrating Christmas and enjoying a 2 week break. I really love what I do. Yes there are hard days, but nothing is greater than teaching little kids!!

Merry Christmas picture

2011-12-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

Just had to share...we took this Sunday morning. They were so cute and coordinated (not actually planned)...so had to take a quick pic.

Christmas Card

2011-12-13T10:03:00.000-08:00

Here is our Christmas card for any of those I forgot to send one too. We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!! We love you all!

Chimmy our elf and Meikle Christmas party

2011-12-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

This year, we decided to start a new tradition. We brought 'Elf on the Shelf' to our house. Many people have started it over the past couple years. This year, there was a movie made it about it. My kids loved it!! Well the next morning our new little elf came to our house. The kids were so excited. He wrote a letter to them and asked them to name him and left them a little something special. Know what his name is? They all agreed upon 'Chimmy'. Every night he reports to Santa on how they are doing with being good. The rules are you can't touch him and he can't talk back but he's always watching. He moves every night when the kids are asleep. Its been so fun for them to get up and try to find him. We love to remind the kids when they aren't behaving...that Chimmy is always watching. Its worked quite well for the most part :)

Here is one of the spots he found one night

And another

Last Saturday we had the Meikle and McKnight family party. The kids loved it. We made gingerbread houses and had a gift exchange.

We had teams to make the gingerbread houses

This was ours.

This was Curtis'...rather gruesome if you look at it closely :)

The official judges

We then headed to the McKnight party. Here's Brielle with Great-Grandma McKnight

Great way to start off the season. We had another party last night with Curtis' family. Wasn't feeling the greatest so didn't grab too many pictures, but that was fun too. Can't believe its 2 weeks till Christmas!!

Kid Update

2011-11-21T19:41:00.000-08:00

I know-its been forever since I've done an official update on my kids and its long over due. I am constantly thinking of the little things they've been doing and telling myself I need to record it before I forget it. So here it goes.

I'll start with Miss Cambree. She is officially reading. She is doing amazing in school. I am so proud of her. Well that is, beside the hair cutting incident. Yep- she cut another girls' hair at school. Proud moment for me ;) She said they are good friends and she's not sure why she did it...not a good day in the Allen house. She was star student last week and decorated her own poster all by herself. She's one talented little girl. She can almost do a full back walk over by herself. She performed in her first play last week and did amazing in front of everyone. Her dance moves are more and more amazing. I still can't figure out where she gets it. She is such a little model. I can't get over how gorgeous she is. I know I am biased but she is a very pretty little girl.

Mr. Ridge. Ridge officially knows all his alphabet and sounds and can write his full name. We are still trying to figure out if he's left handed or right handed. He constantly is switching hands. He's going through a phase of not wanting to eat ANYTHING. Drives me CRAZY!! We put waffles in front of him and he freaked out. He even threw it all up when we made him try it. But its anything. He is always hungry until you actually give him his food and if he doesn't want to try it-he's amazingly no longer hungry. He is huge into break dancing right now. Again I am not sure where he gets his moves but its hilarious. He did his first primary presentation a little ways back and he was great. No nerves at all. A natural performer. He is in the phase of also asking for EVERYTHING for his birthday or Christmas. It could be a toy he sees another kid has, or a commercial or anything. At least he'll be easy to please come Christmas morning....right? He is our straight and narrow boy. Sometimes we'll slip and say 'stupid' and quickly chimes in, you're not supposed to say that. Or if we sneeze into our hands, he will correct you and say you're supposed to sneeze into your elbow. Quite funny.

Miss Brecklynn. Oh Miss Brecklynn. What a challenge she is right now. Love her to death but she is living the 'terrible two' title to the fullest. She is a natural bully to her siblings. For no reason at all she will walk up and punch Ridge or pull Cambree's hair. My mom recently took her for a week and I cannot tell you the difference it was. There wasn't nearly the amount of fighting or whining or problems. She is into everything!! She loves to do hair so she is always in my bathroom getting into trouble with lotion, lipstick or whatever she so happens to find. She gets away for 2 seconds and she's done so much. She throws fits about EVERYTHING and No is her new favorite word. But on a happier note, she's starting to come out of her shy shell a lot more. She can count to 20 and is close to counting to 30. She can pick out her name. She sings her alphabet and jingle bells and twinkle twinkle little star all the time. She loves to dance with her siblings. She is a coloring fool. She loves to color all the time and pretend to write. I think she watches Cambree too much :). Should be fun to see her this Christmas season-that's for sure.

And last but not least my little Brielle. I just wrote a short update on her just recently so there's not much to add. But she is 14 pounds. She loves table food and not baby food. She's fully crawling everywhere and its hilarious to watch. She is still the happiest baby and shares the biggest smiles all the time. She still looks 100% like Ridge...no joke. But I love her to death.

So there's the update on all the kiddos. I took their Christmas pics this year. I have a lot to learn still, especially with editing but at least I got a couple. 4 kids are hard to take pictures of but so worth it!

Brielle is 6 months!

2011-11-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

Today Brielle is 6 months old. I cannot believe how fast time is flying by. She is such a great baby.

So some new things...we haven't measured her yet-her appt isn't until the 10th so we'll see soon. But as of last night, she's officially mobile. She isn't crawling per say but does the inch worm which is hilarious to watch. She gets so excited over things in front of her now and goes crazy trying to reach for something in front of her. She's interested in table food and watches intently as we eat. She had her first french fry about a month ago and she loved it. We've attempted baby food and just like all my other babies, doesn't like it. So we'll have to see what happens.

She is a great sleeper. She is now sleeping all night and even sleeps in till about 8. I wish my other kids would take after her :)

She has yet to laugh...I know weird right? I don't get it. She wants to and loves to talk and squeal but do anything to tickle her or make her 'laugh', she just gets a huge smile on her face like she might...and nothing comes out.

She makes this grunting noise all the time now that sounds like she's constipated. Its hilarious because people that don't know just think she's making a diaper all the time..when nope that's just her.

She's very close to fully sitting up by herself. She just still gets too excited at times and falls over but she's almost there. She loves her siblings and they love her so much. Brecklynn especially loves Brielle. Almost too much at times. We will find Brecklynn in Brielle's crib in the morning or after naps a lot. She's just talking to her and 'keeping her happy'. Very cute.

So she's still an amazing baby. We are so lucky. I think back to now 3 months ago to where she was and how she cried all the time etc. and can't believe how she is now. I love her so much.

Here's some fun pics of her at Halloween. Still as happy as ever!

Halloween Night!

2011-11-05T22:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from Halloween night. We didn't go trick-or-treating house to house this year. We just hit family members houses. Kids still had fun. Brecklynn however was in rare form so I got no pictures of her in her costume. I am glad I got what I did from the Halloween parties.

See...there is Brecklynn as happy as can be!

With Great Grandma Dowdle

With GG

And finally with Aunt Tesia

This past week Tesia asked me to take some pics of her and her roommate. So I took advantage of the moment and grabbed some of the kids. Nothing great but still fun. I am hoping to get their Christmas pics done sometime this next week if the weather permits.

Halloween Parties

2011-11-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

This year-since we are finally in our house and have space, we decided to host a Halloween Party for some close friends. It was a lot of fun and I had a blast putting it on. Whitney Romney co-hosted it with me and helped plan and put it all together. It was fun having someone else get as excited as I do about these kinds of things.

We decided to hold it Saturday when our ward Trunk-or-treat was supposed to be. So we planned it for 4:30 to 6:00 with a potluck style dinner and some games for the kids.

Here's sweet Brielle playing in the grass. She wants to crawl so bad. She's so close. She just can't seem to figure out how to make her hands move forward. I give it not too much longer though and she'll be a crawling machine.

Here's the other cuties all dressed up. They were so excited for the party.

As part of the fun, Whitney found an amazing deal on a jump house in town. We had to get it. It was worth every bit of it. The kids LOVED it!

It was a huge jump house too...

Here's the set up outside. We scrambled to get tables for 40 adults but the funny things is, none were ever used :) You live and learn.

We had fun making these juice boxes for each kid. Took time but they turned out pretty cute.

Our first guests....Chace and Rachel. Yep that's Chace. Hard to tell huh? I couldn't stop laughing at him.

Here's a couple other guys that dressed up, McKay and Michael.

Captain America enjoying his mummy juice

We are planning on doing this again next year as an annual party but we'll open it up to anyone and everyone probably. We had 15 families confirm and I think we counted on maybe 7 that came so it will just be easier to not have formal invites and just let everyone come. We learned a lot from our first year :0 So next year should be much better-

This year for the preschool Halloween party- it went so much better than last year. We did have the same ol' wind issue but we survived ;) The kids had a blast and it was a lot of fun. I had 4 parents come this year to host a game or craft and it was perfect.

This was one of my kids with his mom and sibling. So stink'n cute. I couldn't resist sharing.

Then of course we had them all sing their Halloween songs for everyone.

Pumpkins

2011-10-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

This year I took the easy way out of pumpkin carving and decided to do it with Mr. Potato head parts. Cambree went to a volleyball game with her Aunt Tesia so I took the time with Ridge and Brecklynn to decorate their pumpkins. It was a lot of fun and they turned out super cute.

Church

2011-10-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we enjoyed a much cooler day and that meant we could break out the leg gins and cute sweater dresses. So I had to take a quick second to capture the cuteness :)

Halloween and life lately!

2011-10-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

Halloween is here...I am so excited. I love the start of this time of the year. Its finally starting to cool off and I love all the holidays that come with it as well.

My mom asked to take the kids for a couple days over Fair Day break. I took full advantage of the break to get some projects done that I've had my eye on. I love them. I still feel like the sign needs something else so we'll see. But I think it just adds to the overall feel of this time of year.

I actually decorated just before conference weekend but just never got around to posting or even taking any pictures. I still can't believe all these things fit into my other house last year. Its so fun finding all these new places for things during the holidays!

We had some exciting things happen-WE HAVE GRASS!! This was taken a couple days ago so it looks even better now but I cannot tell you how happy I am to see greenery outside. The kids love it too! We haven't been able to step on it yet and the kids ask several times a day to see if they can step on it yet but hopefully soon.

The kids have been so funny lately. Cambree is reading so good now and loves to read to her siblings...even Brielle. I just loved this. I came in from my room to find this scene and had to take a picture of this sweet moment.

For preschool each kid had to decorate pumpkins for class. Ridge was very proud of his.

All the kids showing off their pumpkins in preschool

I just love this time of year and all the fun it brings. So there will be more pictures soon I'm sure!!

Beautiful Brielle

2011-09-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

Just had some cute pics from the past couple weeks that I had to share. She's just such a stink'n cute little girl and getting bigger by the moment. She is now weighing a whopping 12 pounds.

I got these fun feather bows a couple weeks ago. They're a little big but love them.

She is so easy going. She doesn't really fuss much except when she's tired...but she just played so hard that she couldn't even fuss and fell right to sleep.

She's a rolling machine lately and got herself tangled up in the blanket on the floor. She rolls all over and loves to smile at you all the time. So stink'n cute.
''

I just love this girl. She is so fun.

Ridge's 4th Bday!

2011-09-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Today is Ridge's 4th birthday. He has been looking forward to his birthday for so long and every day he has recited ALL the presents he's wanted. Any commercial he's seen or any toy any other kid had for the past couple weeks, he will let me know 'I want that for my birthday'.

So we started by making his birthday cake and some mini cupcakes for preschool. I had an idea as to what I was going to do for his birthday but his idea was completely different. So after I started, he kind of took over. He didn't like my ideas at all. So this cake is truly his idea. Notice the polar bear and power ranger on there. And the white mountain...is a volcano with sprinklers.

Yeah he's proud

Him in preschool...he was so excited to celebrate it in preschool

Everyone singing to him

Later that day we took his cousins D and Luke out to McDonalds and then back for cupcakes and ice cream.

Saturday Grandma and Grandpa Meikle along with Aunt Jarica, Uncle Connor, Uncle Jaymon and Aunt ShanTay came up to do a birthday. He opened his gifts and LOVED them all.

He had a hard time getting out his cards

I got him a cape with a mask which he wears whenever he can. Grandma also got him a Captain America costume.

Sunday we went to Nana and Papa's and he got more presents. One was pretty funny. It was a Car's lego set from Nana. Turns out it was a returned gift to Walmart that apparently didn't have all the pieces to it and some from a Thomas the train set. Yeah...pretty funny.

Brielle 'loving' her cousin Reddick. He's I believe 5 weeks or 6 weeks and just a pound lighter than Brielle.

The uncles had fun chasing and playing a game with the kids.

So his birthday has finally come and gone. Not sure what he's going to do now :) Maybe look on to the next present giving day in his life-Christmas.

Brielle is 4 months!!

2011-09-09T07:13:00.000-07:00

I am a loser...I completely skipped on her 3 month post. But I am at least doing her 4 month. She is just such a different baby from a couple months ago. She is so fun. We can interact with her and you can just see her coming more and more into her little personality. She is a smiler. You look her direction and she thinks you're looking at her and gets all excited. Same with talking, if you're just talking to someone else in her area, she thinks you're talking to her and she just gives you the biggest smiles. Makes it hard to not talk to her :)

She is becoming quite mobile lately. She's been able to roll over for a couple weeks but its more routine and intentional this past week. She prefers her tummy and is really trying to move with her legs everywhere.

She is still pretty quiet. We keep wondering if she'll start 'talking' soon. She has her moments where she talks but I remember our other kids being so vocal by this point. It cracks us up cause we'll talk to her and she looks like she's going to squeal or make some loud noise and her expression and body just gets so excited and then only a little croak or sound comes out. Pretty funny.

She loves her brother and sisters. And they love her too. She is definitely starting to figure out people and recognize people.

We started sleep training her this week. Its been hard, but she's doing great. She sleeps in till like 6 right now which is beautiful. We are hoping to move her into the girls room this weekend hopefully.

We had our swing break this past month which has just not been fun. Out of all our kids, Brielle has taken to every gadget we have. Which is nice to a point but then when they all seem to break down, it makes it hard because we struggle with going to get a new one just for a few months with knowing she is our last one, or making do. The swing was a necessity unfortunately but my mother-in-law was sweet enough to buy it for us. Its nice and small and doesn't take up as much room. We think the other swing probably got done in with the older kids (especially Brecklynn) getting in it and swinging in it. She's light enough but she's just a little rough. So that's what I think happened. Its been weird having Brielle knowing she's our last though. Where I really wanted the next stage to come with my other kids, I am hoping Brielle will stay little longer and not go on to fast. Well here's some quick pictures I took from yesterday for fun. I didn't edit them and should have, but will try that later. Just wanted to get them on here before I just didn't do it and another month passes.

Can you believe its September...Holy Cow!!

Precious Moments

2011-08-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

Its special moments like this, that make being a mom so great. I just love the true joy shown on both of their faces.

Kindergarden and Preschool

2011-08-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

These past two weeks has been an adjustment for our family. Having a kid going to school full time, for some reason, has made our lives much busier. But we are all enjoying the change...well most of us.

Cambree's first week of school, she was so excited to go every day. She was excited to wear her clothes, and make her lunch and came home every day telling me about everything she did at school. She was definitely becoming more emotional but I figure it was just the length of time being gone and just being drained from school.

Well this past Monday, she for some reason, did a 180 and started to cry about going to school, cry at school and at home would ask us to pull her out. Of course, having such an independent child as Cambree, to come home asking to be pulled out, kind of concerned me. We would dig into her concerns trying to figure out a true reason why she all of the sudden did't like school. Her reasons were actually pretty funny... "I don't want to go to school on this earth, I want to go to another earth and go to school"...or even better "I just want to go to college". Gotta love kids. So this has been a complete shock to me to have her act this way. Of all my kids, I thought she would have the easiest time going. Little did I know :) I am hoping this will pass and she will start to love school. I think she will too. Its just a huge adjustment going to school full day like that.

We'll see. Hopefully next week will be better. We've got a few things we're going to try with her...keep your fingers crossed for me!

We just completed week 2 of preschool. I have an awesome group of kids this year. Its so fun having the school year start. This age is so great. They are so eager to learn and you can see it every day they come in. I love the quick relationships I've built with them. Ridge is adjusting without Cambree by his side telling him what to do but its making him grow up too which he definitely needs. I hope this year continues as well as it has started. This is the picture from the first day of preschool. Ridge chose his hat and inisted on wearing it. Also insisted on not holding the sign that stated it was his first day of school....yep he's stubborn ;)

So school is officially in full swing!!

Brielle 3 months and Baby Blessing

2011-08-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

Time has just flown by. I feel so terrible that I haven't taken more pictures of Brielle. It's been truly a month before I've taken out the camera to capture her. Talk about feeling guilty. Anyways, she is 3 months and a lot has changed. We took her back into the Dr. like we planned and decided that she didn't need to have all the tests we thought at first. He examined her really good and said that it didn't seem to be anything too serious and that she would grow out of it. I never took her back to the other therapist and amazingly, she did start to grow out of what ever it was that was ailing her.

Now she is gaining weight better...still small for her age but gaining. She eats full bottles without problem and for the most part is a happy baby. She is now a grinning fool and starting to really enjoy her. She has yet to fully laugh for us but you can tell she wants to. She can roll over which is funny to watch. She does it over and over and really can scoot herself around.

We finally decided to bless her this past weekend. We had tons of family that came into town which was great. We really appreciate all the support. So weird to think this was our last baby blessing. But I think Curtis is happy about that :). Thanks to everyone who came and made this day so special!!

Getting ready for church

Meikle Great Grandparents and Grandparents

Family shot- Brielle wasn't cooperating so we just did pics of her sleeping on the ottoman and everyone around her ;) It worked

It was a hard time to have it with it being nap time for several...

Whole Meikle family

All the men that helped in the blessing

Allen Grandparents

GG and another napper :)

Chace and Rachel

Teenage hall...

He claims it was the only seat left in the house

Papa hitching a ride

Cambree is in Kindergarten!!

2011-08-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

I still cannot believe we are going on 3 days already of having a Kindergartener. Cambree has been looking forward to going for so long.

Last Friday we found out who her teacher is. Ms. Griffin. We also got to see that she knows at least 4 of her classmates already for church and preschool. So that was kind of fun. Monday was the Meet and Greet event where she got to see her room and meet her teacher. She cracked us up because she walks right into her room and says 'Hi Ms. Griffin'. It caught her teacher off guard and even said 'Well you know me, but I don't know you' and Cambree promptly added, 'I am Cambree Allen'. She was so comfortable.

Tuesday she was up early and so excited to go. She got dressed, helped me make her lunch and we of course had to start taking her first day of school pictures. Curtis had to take her alone because Brecklynn was still asleep. But he called me right after he did and said that she didn't look back at all and just went right into class.

I definitely had a harder time than she did. I was excited for her to go, but she is my hands and my help. I never realized how big of a helper she really is. I watched the clock all day and was so excited to pick her up and see how her day went. When we got her, the kids were so excited to see her. She was obviously tired. She even mentioned that she wanted to take a nap. But she said she had fun and likes a boy named Brandon in class. She couldn't really name off any girls except the ones she knew before school started, but she knew like 5 new boys. We're in trouble.

She loves school so far though. I am anxious for her to start getting into things at school and learning different things. Its so strange to think she is from here on out in school. I feel so old.

After I took out Cambree and Brecklynn with my friend, I attempted to go out myself with Ridge to get some pics. I was excited with some of the shots I got. I am just learning photoshop still which is a lot harder than I expected but I do like the outcome of the work. I just need to take more time to figure it out.

I still need to post about Brielle turning 3 months so I will hopefully get that soon. Tonight is my preschool open house so I have to rush and get all ready.

School and Preschool starts soon!!

2011-08-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

This summer seemed to fly by. I cannot believe how soon school is starting. Cambree will be going to Kindergarten full day which is going to be so weird for me. She is so excited to go and we actually did some fun school shopping last week and got her a backpack and lunchbox. We find out who her teacher is Friday and school starts the following Tuesday. CRAZY!!

Amidst all that, I have also been preparing for Preschool which starts the 15th but our Open House is next Thursday evening. I am so excited about this year. I have got so many new ideas and some awesome centers this year.

Here's my room. I know its not much, but I still like it.

The floor is a mess because the kids insist on playing with the toys when I'm in there. But it gives you an idea. In the corner is my art center and where we'll be painting, doing playdough, a new sensory table, cutting glueing- all those fun things.

Here is our calendar corner.

Our chicka chicka boom boom trees where we will add each new letter to it as we learn them and in the corner is our reading nook with new comfy friends to sit on.

Today as part of my preparation, we colored rice for the August sensory tub. The kids LOVED it.

Then we sat them out to dry, which didn't take long in this heat :)

Put it in our tub....

And the kids gave it a test run. I think its going to be a huge success. Just have to work on keeping it in the bin.

So here's to one more week of running around getting stuff done and hopefully to a fun year in Kindergarten and Preschool!!

Cambree's 5th birthday pics...FINALLY!!

2011-08-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

I've been dragging my feet on getting the kids birthday pictures taken. But I finally got some taken this past weekend. Thanks to a good friend, I am learning more about my camera and how to take better pictures. We took Brecklynn out too to get some of her, but she wasn't having any of it so this is all we got.

Cambree is so natural in front of the camera. It truly cracks me up every single time. I love it.

This is not the one I took, but its so cute!!

I am still having to learn about photoshop so these aren't edited yet, but still like how they are just out of the camera so thought I would still share. Her personality shines through!!

These are totally her own poses...she would do a pose and say how about this one mom.

This is totally her too. Despite the black lid, I like it still. This was her idea :) It worked too.

Brecklynn's Bday!! She's 2!!!

2011-08-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

This is obviously a bit late, but its been hectic. We celebrated her birthday actually on the 24th Saturday celebration just to make it easier on everyone.

She totally caught us all off guard this year. Cambree and Ridge at this age were so different. They both had distinct interests like princesses or tractors. Brecklynn has none. They both LOVED their birthday and were all about them, Brecklynn HATED her birthday. We first figured it out on the Sunday before her birthday. At the Allens, they always acknowledge everyone's birthday that might be coming up that week with a song and cake. Well as soon as we started Brecklynn would have nothing to do with it. She wouldn't blow out her candles or anything. Darrek on the other hand, is a trained professional. So he was excited about the whole thing. This continued all week. If we started to sing Happy Birthday or ask her if it was her birthday or how old she was, she would start yelling "no, no, I don't want my birthday". It was hilarious.

The birthday twinners....

Well I still had to do something for her despite her dislike of birthdays. This was my worst cake to date. I just had no creative juices about it and it didn't help that with how hot its been, it literally was melting on my counter. But who cares right :)

Brecklynn liked it though

Of course she didn't like this...

But she loved this...

And this...

And of course her big present was a new bike.

The next week, I had to go to my mom's for a bit to get last minute school stuff done and we did a small celebration there for her. This time luckily she didn't necessarily freak out about it but she still wouldn't blow out the candles.

So this little stinker is now 2. She is definitely become a little firecracker. She loves to scream if something doesn't go her way and throws fits all the time. Her vocab is hilarious. She loves to copy and do what her sister and brother are doing. She is still super small at only 23 pounds but she is my best eater by far. She is actively trying to learn her abcs and colors. She loves to do puzzles, color, and just play. She is a daddy's girl all the way still. I just love her so much. She's so fun. Happy Birthday Brecklynn.

24th Pioneer Day Celebration

2011-08-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

This year for the 24th Celebration, Thatcher hosted it. I truly think Thatcher is the best at hosting everything. Festivities didn't start until 6:00 so Curtis spent the day getting our front yard ready for landscaping and the kids and I spent time over at Nana and Papa's on their water slide. The kids loved it. Right before the parade we hosted a small party for Brecklynn but more on that in another post. Then we all went to the parade and it was a pretty decent parade. The kids of course enjoyed the candy, cousins, and the parade. We headed over to the college field for the celebration and fireworks. Of course the weather couldn't cooperate. It wouldn't be the 24th if it did. It was ridiculously windy. But kids still had fun running around aimlessly and enjoying the fireworks.

Sea World!!!

2011-07-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

I have been desperate to get away for awhile. With Brielle being so demanding, I needed a break. We decided to take the 3 older kids to San Diego and do Sea World. We left Brielle with my mom!! THANKS MOM! We left Tuesday afternoon and got home Saturday evening. I think it was probably a day too long but we still had a blast. We started the trip with Sea World and it was so much fun. We got there at 9 and left at 8:30 and even then the kids didn't want to leave.

This is a little ride they have for the kids. Ridge didn't like any rides and this was the only one we got him on.

Ridge got a hold of a map and wouldn't let it go. It was hilarious because we would ask him what he wanted to do next and he would lay out his map and move his fingers along the map.

Shark exhibit

This is out of order but this is our room. Kids loved it. It had a bunk bed and Cambree and Ridge slept together on the top. Brecklynn slept with us which of course meant, we got no sleep :)

This was the first place we went to inside the park and we were the only ones there which was awesome. Look how close the polar bear is.

Brecklynn loved this play area. She could play there for hours.

Curtis loved taking the kids on this ad the kids loved playing on it. He insists he could make one for our yard. It was pretty neat.

Brecklynn's favorite ride by far. So cute!!

At the pet show.

They got to feed the Seals some fish which they loved

Ridge's favorite thing of the day I think was this area which was just an area full of huge punching bags. He went over and over again and did fight moves the whole time.

Brecklynn was getting so tired but was never cranky. Such a trooper.

Short break for a little treat

Favorite show by far of the daay

Sea Port Village and Middway

2011-07-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

This post is out of order. This is supposed to be on the same day as the beach. To fill the rest of the day we took the kids to Sea Port Village and to tour the Middway. Curtis loved this and loved showing the kids the airplanes. Was a pretty neat thing to see.

Beach Day!!

2011-07-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

This was such a fun day. Kids loved this more than I think we could have hoped. The water was still freezing but kids are kids and they don't care.

Ridge of course had to 'fight' the waves

Cambree's attempt at a sand angle

Curtis buried each kid. They loved it.

Great first trip to the ocean. I hope there will be many more of these.

Last Day in San Diego

2011-07-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

So this was our last day. Kids were so tired but we needed to do something with them. We attempted Balboa park but the people there looked at our kids and said they wouldn't enjoy it at all and directed us to the New Children's Museum. It was an awesome place. They got to do all sorts of things that they I would never allow them to do :)

They wrote on the walls with chalk

They painted to their hearts content

These were some weird guys walking all downtown. Kids loved them.

They played with clay (FOREVER)

They rode these around for a good 20 minutes or so. You just pump the handle to make it go and turn it side to side to direct it.

This room had drawers to pull stuff out of and huge pillows to have a pillow fight

Bubble maker

Craft room which was themed Superhero s for the day. Ridge loved it.

Rock wall for them to climb

And down stairs, there was a huge bubble tube that they jumped in. They loved it. We ended the day by going to a mexican restaurant and going to the pool for a couple hours. We ended the night early and got up and left first thing in the morning. Poor Brecklynn took a hard fall from the bunk beds before leaving, giving her already red face a black eye and bruise. Great souvenir. It was a fun trip and glad we did it.

Brielle is 2 months (or so)

2011-07-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

She is actually 2 months and like 2 weeks, but better late than never.

This month has been a very stressful and hard month. I thought the first was hard...little did I know.

First let's start off with her stats

Weight 9 lbs. 1 oz. 5 %

Length 22 35%

Head is 14 inches 10%

She is still very small and hasn't even gained a pound since birth. She on many accounts, looks still just like a newborn. This month has been extremely frustrating. My mother-in-law got the info of an herbalist to check out as a possible avenue for Brielle. I was very skeptical to begin with. We did a consult just to see what she thought and if what she offered would even help. She looked at her and said right away that there was no way that it was colic. She thought it was more along the lines of acid reflux. She put her on her machine which is a machine that puts electrodes in her through patches on her back and belly. She was on it for 27 minutes. She asked us to come back the next day for another treatment.

Well I have been doing this for the past month. I can tell you that I do see it helping. How it all works I don't know but it does do something that allows her to relax finally and eat. The therapist thought she would only need 3 appointments at most just to get whatever it is in her, out. Well after stopping for a day, her symptoms relapse and she is terrible again.

I have gone back to the Dr. and he finally agreed with me that it is more like acid reflux and gave her some medicine for it. Well she throws that up every time we give it to her no matter how slow or anything. So back to square one. Well I just stuck with therapy appointments and they have been working but she is still so small. My mother-in-law has been very worried about her growth and eating overall. After the 4th holiday, there was a lapse of 4 days without a treatment and she was doing horrible. Got her back on the treatments and then left again for our vacation. This was the first time that someone else has watched her solely and my mom was getting really worried about her. After getting her back and her being terrible again, I made a call to our Dr. at home. I expressed my fear.

At her two month appointment he had said she looked good and she had gained weight so he wrote it off again as colic. So when I called him I think and still think that he just doesn't get what she does and that its not colic. She wants to eat and can't and when she does she is in pain. Makes me so sad for her and makes me feel terrible that I lose my patience with such a small little being when its completely not her fault. My patience is so far gone and my poor kids, really are feeling the brunt of this. Well the dr. is at least appeasing me and we are getting her some xrays and hopefully an ultrasound tomorrow and maybe we'll start to get some answers. I am so tired, emotional and physically and I know she is too. I hope she can get better soon.

She tries so hard to be happy.

My good friend Erin Householder snagged this picture of Brielle at the 4th of July. Look how small she.

4th Of July

2011-07-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

What a fun weekend. The kids had so much fun this 4th of July. Unfortunately it felt like the LONGEST day ever but its once a year right :)

The day started super early. Brielle got up at 4:00 and with us knowing we were to be up by 5:30, we decided to just get up and get ready. We got the kids up at 5:15 and took them outside to hear and watch the firetrucks that went up and down all the streets in town. It was the official wake up to get everyone ready for the parade.

The kids loved it. It was short and sweet. They all got to see tons of fire trucks, get tons of candy and just enjoy the time with cousins. After we headed over to the little program and then to Nana and Papa's for a pancake breakfast. After it was done we sat down and looked at the clock and was shocked to see it was only 7:30. AAhhh. Kids had too much energy and all the adults were falling asleep or desperately wishing they could.

We tried to break up the long day with little things here and there. Sara brought over their horse for the kids to ride. They loved it. It was really hot otherwise I think they could have ridden that horse all day.

All the young Allen boys have the same hair cut. Look-they all have different hair colors too :)

Here's us first this in the morning.

I love her face in this. So hilarious!!

Even more of her little personality.

My little firecracker

Ridge with chocolate face and all

And what's a picture without a proper pose by Cambree

I really didn't want to put this on here, let alone even take the darn picture but I had to include it being that its our first family picture. Sad I know.

After everyone got a little rest, we headed to Aaron and Connie's for some water fun with a big water slide and pizza. Kids loved it. The weather had gotten so much cooler and it looked like a storm was coming in. Made it perfect for playing in the water.

They cousins all enjoyed some time on the tire swing pushed by Curtis.

To finish off the activities the kids all took turns riding the motorcycle. They LOVED it.

My sweet niece Carden. Need I say more

Cute?

April had to attempt (with the help of Sara) the impossible.

Just loved this shot of Ridge playing with Carden

And what's an Allen get together, without something like this...

We of course ended the night at the fireworks. We were a bit worried with how windy it was, that it wouldn't actually happen. However the show went on. The kids loved it. Cambree kept yelling out random things with every firework like "Christmas" or "Valentines Day", really weird. Brecklynn just sat in aw with a huge smile on her face watching. And Ridge, loved it too. We all got home and eagerly jumped into our beds and slept away the great day we had. Happy 4th of July!!

This past month...

2011-06-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

This has been a crazy month. I don't know where its gone actually. So here's my attempt to catch up on everything that has gone on before things really start to get hectic.

My Grandma Meikle and My Aunt Diane and cousin Melissa and her baby came down to visit for a couple hours. It was so nice to be able to catch up and go out to eat with all of them. Its been too long :)

Cambree did a day cheerleading camp. I didn't know how she'd do since it was 9-2 but seems like she did ok. They performed 2 cheers/dances and amazingly Cambree did well and actually performed like she does at home :) She got to do it with her cousin Ava and friend Charly Jae. I think she had a lot of fun.

Despite having a new born, I've still tried to keep the kids entertained. My mother-in-law has offered on several occasions to watch Brielle so we could go. The kids love the pool. In Brecklynn's words 'the bafff' (bath). Its been fun to enjoy this with the kids.

Cambree is very excited to start Kindergarden. Everything lately is about the fact that she's old enough now because she's 5. Cracks me up. She brought up at one point that now that she is 5 she can hold Brielle standing up. Then she says when she's 6 she can hold her with one hand. We'll see :). She loves to work on reading and homework. She loves to help me with chores. I cannot believe she is going to school. Going to be very weird without her. Her favorite movie right now is Twilight which is funny to a lot of people. Her Aunt Jarica taught her how to play a Twilight song on the piano and she loves that she can.

Ridge hasn't really done a lot lately. He's getting smarter as we do our little 'preschool' every day at home. He has had a hard time not being whiney still. We are really working on it but it still is a daily problem. Its been a joke lately (not to Ridge) but Curtis will call him Ragina when he starts to whine. He hates it and will get all serious and yell "stop calling me that".

We had fun when LeMae and her kids joined us at the pool one day. Little Carden didn't care too much for the water but Ecksen was fearless.

Cambree has been able to reconnect with her old best friend Kierstin at the pool. Its amazing to me that despite any time lapse, they pick up like they never were separated.

Brecklynn's little personality has been cracking us all up lately. She is speaking in full sentences and just hilarious. She really thinks she's older than she is. She loves her brother and sisters a ton. I love to watch her with them. She's recently found sunglasses and LOVES them. Just some funny things that she says is:

* color-ky-ee She loves to color and unfortunately colors on everything. If she gets a hold of a crayon, or pen or any writing utensil then she marks up something. Its been a permanent marker on her clothes, herself, crayon on our cabinets, doors and walls and pencil on our walls going down the stairs.

* Ridge- Adgy

* Hold her- admy meaning let me hold Brielle. She does this a lot and you let her and she just pushes her away pretty quickly after.

She won't say Brielle's name. Just calls her baby. She won't call Rachel, Rachel but calls her Chace.

She nonstop wants to go to Nana's house. I think its actually just a game to her to ask me or ask where Nana is all day long.

She talks nonstop. You can't get her to be quiet. She has this really funny walk that she does at times. She loves to brush her teeth. If she could, she'd do it all day long. She HATES nursery with a passion. I can't figure out how to help her with that. You walk in the direction of nursery and she flips. Curtis and I have swapped off taking her but its ridiculous.

Brielle looks more and more like Ridge every day. I thought it would be the opposite by now but its not. I am not going to post much about her since her 2 month post will be here around the corner.

Brecklynn loves to hold Brielle

On top of all this, I did my first yard sale almost two weeks ago. It was quite the undertaking but it felt good to de-clutter and I got rid of all my baby boy clothes. It was a weird feeling seeing them get sold but I'm glad too. It was very tiring but I made over $450 which was nice. Cambree came a long too and it was fun having some time just with her.

Despite what a true challenge this past month has been, I feel blessed to have this life and to be able to enjoy it like I am.

Brielle is 1 month!

2011-06-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

Our little Brielle is already a month old. Thinking back to a month ago and my life at that time, and my life now, it has changed a lot.

I am amazed how this little baby has made me feel like a new mom all over again. I'm asking questions like she's my first. She's really put my sanity to the test. I love her so much and so grateful to have her in our family, but she has really put the exclamation mark at the end of our little family.

First her stats:

She is 20 3/4"- yeah amazing still how she's grown from 18" to 20 3/4" but oh well :)

And she is only 8 lbs. 2 oz. So still not even up to her birth weight yet.

From day one we've noticed her issues with gas. She really struggles with it and feeding her is interesting because you are burping her more than feeding her. She'll swallow a couple times and stop and cry from a gas bubble but she's so hard to burp that she's asleep usually before you get her to burp and she doesn't want to finish eating. She is only eating about 2 oz a feeding which is apparently really low. We try to feed her more but she refuses.

At night she typically will throw up a ton and we give have to give her a bath. She fusses non-stop and you can't figure out how to make her feel comfortable.

Its been a real trial for me because I am such a goer and doer that having to be holding her non-stop or caring for her all the time, has really been trying on my patience. There have been days where Brecklynn is in her pjs till 10 or 11 because I can't put Brielle down long enough to do anything else. I had these hopes of doing a little school time with the kids every morning but that's been hard too. Plus to top it all off, since I am truly going on 3-4 hours maybe a night, my tempermant isn't the best and the kids sadly pay for it. I know this time will pass (hopefully soon), but it sure makes it hard to feel like I am back to normal.

Even harder yet is getting people to believe me on what she is like. For the most part if we go out anywhere, she tends to shut down and be happy or just sleep the entire time. As soon as we get home though, she is crying non-stop and you can't put her down.

Brecklynn was a hard baby and I remember that about 3 months she worked herself out of it, but she wasn't nearly this bad. Doesn't help that my milk supply wasn't good this time round and just gave up nursing and just went to formula. So I wonder sometimes if that is a factor in it.

When I took her in for her appt. the dr. really made me feel a little better about things. No he didn't give me a remedy of any kind but just said it was ok to hold her all the time and she won't get spoiled. I was really worried about that. Cambree has been a real blessing, in that she is ALWAYS wanting to help hold her. I have utilized her a lot more than I thought I would but she is a great big sister. She helps get her up from her swing or wherever she is and brings her to me or will just hold her and try to console her. She hasn't gotten tired of her yet and even between her holding her she is asking to hold her more. I'm so blessed and grateful to have her.

So I am hoping this next month is a little better but from what I hear, we are only at the beginning.

I have been so terrible with pictures but I tried to take a couple of her with the kids.

How cute are they?

2011-05-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

This is just a picture that truly defines their relationship and thought it was too cute not to share. Ridge is definitely a protector over his little sister. I love to watch him with her. He talks baby talk to her and helps her with everything. So stink'n cute.

Cambree's Birthday!

2011-05-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

Cambree has been lucky and had a weeks worth of celebrations for her 5th birthday.

Last Sunday she got sung to in Primary and then she also got a cake and sung to again at my MIL. Yes this was a whole week early, but she didn't mind :)

Then we went to the valley and my parents gave her a little birthday celebration. We also went to my Grandma McKnights and she had a little cupcake for her and we sang to her there as well. She was loving all the attention.

Cambree's 5th Birthday Party!!

2011-05-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

For the first time Cambree had her first friend birthday party. She was so excited about it. I really wanted to make sure she got a celebration despite having Brielle and our anniversary etc. May is such a busy month!

She chose who she wanted to come and her list grew with every day. But it was fun to have all the little girls over. She wanted a princess party-of course.

So here are the invitations to her party. Aunt Kayla designed them for her and they were great! She loved handing them out to everyone.

This was this morning. Brecklynn got dressed in a princess dress as well. Cambree's dress came from Aunt Teddie. She didn't even know we were doing this party. It was all meant to be.

The goody bags each girl got- crowns, wands, make-up, light up microphone, jewelry.

The 'Wonderful' cake. This cake had all kinds of issues but it finally worked out.

Just don't look at the back :) (That's her feet poking through)

Here is all the girls that came. Don't they look cute?

Maci Layton, Charly Jae Whetten, Ava Allen, McKenzie Ferrin, and Kayci Ferrin

We first painted nails

Took pictures

Put on some sparkly make-up

Had a dance party

Decorated princess frames and decorated cupcakes

She loved her party and made out good. I hope all the little girls had as much fun as I did putting it on. Thanks to my sister and her friends for coming to help. They truly help make the party a hit :)

I still cannot believe that Cambree is 5 now. She won't let me forget actually. She is constantly saying that she is now 5 and can do this and that. But I feel so old now. I'm excited to see her start this next chapter/adventure in life.

Happy Birthday Cambree

First day of Church pictures

2011-05-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

I've already posted about the first Sunday with all the kids, but I never posted the pics, so here they are.

Brielle's first trip to the valley!

2011-05-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

This past week I ventured out for the first time with all 4 kids. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. All the kids fit in the car and we started the trip. Unfortunately they were doing construction on the way and we got stopped for 45 minutes. That made for an interesting time. But Cambree was wonderful and saved me with Brielle and really helped feed her. While there, I got some pictures off my mom's camera of Brielle over the past couple weeks including this one. So this is a compilation of pictures.

Our good friend Rachel Norton graduated from nursing school and we all went to support her. The kids love their 'Aunt Rachel'.

Finally meeting Great-Grandma Mcknight. This is who she gets her middle name from- Christine.

4 Generation shot

All the little cousins :)

This is from my mom's camera. So this is the only shot of me and Brielle in the hospital. Love the hospital shots :)

7 Years together! Happy Anniversary

2011-05-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

This is late but its been a bit crazy lately to get this done before now.

I can't believe Curtis and I have been married for 7 years. It seems like only yesterday that we got married, yet at the same time it feels like its been eternity.

Our seven years have been so full of events. We've moved over 8 times, had 4 kids, had 5 cars, and our adventures continue. Its truly amazing to see how with 7 years we have grown closer and I love Curtis more now than the day I met him. We've had to learn a lot about each other and we've had a lot of trials but that's what has made us so strong.

I am truly so lucky to have such an amazing partner, husband and friend. He gets me and puts up with my antics and personality.

For our anniversary we didn't do too much but it was still a lot of fun. Having Brielle and her being only 2 weeks, we were really limited on activities. However, we were both itching to do something and get away. So Tesia and my mother-in-law graciously helped us with the 3 older kids so we could 'escape' to Mesa for a day trip. We had no big plans to do anything but it was a lot of fun. We listened to 90's music the whole time and laughed about growing up etc. We got a lot of running around done and just enjoyed being held to no real schedule. It was a perfect day.

So here's to many more anniversaries to come. I love you Curtis!!

Brielle is 2 weeks

2011-05-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Where have these two weeks gone? Its been such a fast two weeks. While life has been hectic and a blur, I'm trying to soak it all in.

I've truly forgotten how small newborns are. I love to cuddle her and just watch her sleep. Cambree, Ridge and Brecklynn cannot get enough of her. They are CONSTANTLY asking to hold her. Every move she makes or sound she makes, the kids get so excited. They are always wanting her to go downstairs to play. It will be fun to see how they all interact when she is older.

She's already grown so much these past couple weeks. In fact, at her one week appt. they checked her length and told me that she was measuring 20 1/2 inches. I had them double check it and yep that's what she's measuring. So her official record shows 18 and she was amazing and grew 2 1/2 inches in a week. She was also weighing 7 lbs. 11 oz. Down from her 7 13 when she was discharged from the hospital. They just told me to continue to supplement with her. She's a great eater, but nursing is just not my thing.

I want to look back at Brecklynn's first couple weeks to compare but Brielle is having some major gas issues. Its made for many long sleepless nights. Very hard. She just cries and its a hurt cry when you touch her tummy. I feel bad for her. She prefers to be held but even that doesn't work all the time. You have to constantly be moving her or something to help soothe her. I think Brecklynn suffered like this as well for about 3 months and then she was the happiest baby. We'll see.

She is awake a lot more. Its been fun to watch her check out this big world around her. She will sit awake for a couple hours in the morning.

I feel bad that I haven't taken more pictures than I have. I've tried to capture moments here and there but its been hard to do so all the time. We did take her to church last week which was ok. I just kept getting tons of questions from people. People kept commenting too on how much she looks like Ridge. She really really does.

Brecklynn loves Brielle but is having a hard time being clingy. I know she is just struggling for attention. She is seriously connected to my hip. I am hoping it will pass soon. But luckily she shows no dislike for Brielle herself. She gives her kisses all the time and loves to hold her. So for that I am very grateful.

So here's to surviving the next couple weeks. I hope I won't be as sleep deprived as I am right now but I know this will pass soon either way so I am trying to take it all in.

These pictures were taken by my SIL Rachel Allen when Brielle was 6 days old. Brielle had a hard time posing and sleeping but at least these turned out. Thanks Rachel.

Little Funnies from the past week!

2011-05-11T16:03:00.000-07:00

This past week has produced some funny little stories that I just don't want to forget. So I am documenting them here.

Last Wednesday, when I had gone to the hospital, Tesia was here to watch the kids. Cambree and Ridge had gone to a birthday party. When they got home Tesia told them "Mom is going to have the baby today". Well Ridge promptly followed it with "So no more Brecklynn?". Tesia told him that no Brecklynn was staying and that we were getting a new baby. He got upset I guess and said that he didn't want Brecklynn because that would be 2 babies and he didn't want 2 babies.

While I was at the hospital, Tesia stayed over-night with the kids. Ridge is known for staying up til 10:30 or so every night playing. He is also known for coming up with several excuses to come up to talk to us and he always starts it with "I have to tell you a question". Well this night he came up and started with "Tesia I have to tell you a question. Can I take books into my room". She of course said no. He then said "Tesia, don't come in my room because I don't have any books in my room". She later went down and he had a stack of books in his room.

Similar story as above but this time my mom was down stairs after putting them to bed. As she was putting him to bed my mom informed him that she would be down stairs. He started to cry and say " I don't want you to stay down stairs". See, after putting him to bed he likes to go out to the toy room and play and he knew that if my mom was down there, he wouldn't get away with that.

After bringing Brielle home, my dad was holding her and Cambree was right next to him. She asked him "Grandpa, you like Brielle?" He said he did and she said "even with her 2 chins?".

I think that's it, but I knew I would forget these little stories if I didn't write them down now.

Brielle

2011-05-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

At the hospital, my friend Erin Householder came down and was so sweet to take some priceless precious pictures of Brielle. She was so right- I had no energy or desire to take any pictures myself so I was so glad she was able to capture this sweet time for me so I could enjoy it later. They are so sweet and they mean so much to me. Erin- I owe you more than you know. It means so much to me to know this moment is captured in time thanks to you and your amazing talent. Thanks again!!

Its a Girl!! Brielle Christine Allen-LONG

2011-05-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe this little one is here already. Its been a crazy couple of weeks and this little has made it known that she will do things her way whether we want it or not :)

So here's her little birth story!!

So I have been stressed since finding out I was due May 16th, about making it to the end of my preschool for graduation. As the day neared closer and closer, I really started to freak out. I was a week early with Brecklynn so who knew what I would do this time round.

I went to my 38 week appt on Monday afternoon. Dr. Romero said that we needed to schedule an induction and was hoping to do it that week. I asked her if we could push it off till May 10th after my graduation. She agreed and scheduled me to go in at 4:30 am on the 10th to get induced. The reason for the induction was high blood pressure and I have a history of delivering fast and I am strep B positive so they wanted to make sure I got the meds in before delivering. I was already 4-5 cm dialated and 75% effaced so I could also go anytime.

With that information I started to really get things ready to go in case I couldn't make it to the Mother's Day Tea and Graduation. Tuesday was a day of getting stuff done. I still had no baby stuff done though.

That night about 1:00 am I woke up with contractions. I was kind of upset about it. I didn't want to go into labor yet. I was in definite denial. Curtis woke up about 4:00 and came out to see what was going on. I just told him it was nothing. He gave me a look like he didn't believe me. He went back to bed and I stayed up contracting 3-5 minutes apart until about 5:20 when it finally slowed down. I got about 45 minutes of sleep before Ridge woke up. I was determined to continue on with my day. I had preschool and did our graduation rehearsle while contracting the whole time. After preschool I asked my sister to watch Brecklynn for a bit so I could go the dr. just to put my mind at ease that I wasn't in labor.

Dr. Romero checked me and I was a 5 and 75% but asked me to sit on a monitor for a bit to see what I was doing contraction wise. I told her I thought I was going 1 every 10 minutes. After being monitored for 15 minutes she said that I needed to go straight to the hospital because I was contracting 3-5 minutes. I was kind of in shock. I asked if I could go home and get my kids squared away. She gave me an hour. I got in the car and just sat there for a bit. This couldn't be happening. I had to make it to the next week. I called Curtis to ask him where he was and if he was coming home for lunch. He told me he was super busy and wouldn't be home. I told him non-chalantly that I had to go to the hospital but he could just meet me later. He of course said absolutely not and that he would come home. I called my mom and she was suprised too.

I got home, told Tesia what was going on and she was of course more than happy to help with the kids. I got my hospital bag ready since I hadn't up til this point. We got to the hospital about 2:30 and they put me right on the meds. My contractions started to get really sparadic. I was bummed. This was going to be a long day. They needed to get the meds in me for 4 hours before they could do anything. So we waited. I was so tired from being up since 1 that morning and contracting all day. I was hoping I would go as fast as I had in the past and would have the baby by 8 that night.

Well things really progressed slowly. They put me on the pit and around 9:00 I wasn't really any further than a 6. She finally broke my water and she thinks that was part of the problem. I had so much fluid in there that I couldn't really progress more. So I still hoped I would deliver that day.

Around 11:00 she checked me again and I was a 7 but nothing more. I was getting so frustrated. It didn't help that my night nurse was driving me insane. She wouldn't leave me alone for more than 5 minutes and yet still kept saying-you should rest. It really became comical. I started to get really sick from my epidural too. I started to feel like I would fall right over and started to throw up. Not a fun feeling. I had no energy to do anything.

I really didn't want to have a cinco de mayo baby so she checked me again at 11:45. There was no way it was going to happen. So they left me to see what I could do. Well about 12:30 I started to feel something weird and they checked me. I wasn't totally there but she kind of helped that along. Usually I don't have to push more than 2 times and the kid is here. This time I had to push for 8 minutes and push hard. I don't know how people do it for longer. I was so tired. But FINALLY she came out. When she came out the dr and the nurses gasped. She was HUGE. They were all guessing 9 lbs 14 oz. or 9 lbs. 6oz. It was making me really nervous. Then they weighed her and realized they were way off. She's just a little butter ball. She weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and only 18 inches long. She's my largest and shortest. Her head is huge!! The dr. also said that was probably another reason by the delivery was so different.

I immediately saw her and thought she looked like Ridge. I mean, they could be twins. In fact, unless they told me she was a girl, I would have been certain she was a boy. Its scary. We decided to call her Brielle Christine. We've since found out there are several others who have named or are naming their girls Brielle. Oh well. But Christine is after my Grandma McKnight.

After delivering I was so tired. My nurse said I had to sit and wait for 2 hours in that room before settling in my recovery room. I had never done that before. She then told me I had to get up and shower. Uh, my epidural was still fully in effect. There was no way. She was adament though. I told her there was no way I was getting up. She finally listened and started to get me to another room. Curtis went home to relieve Tesia for the night. He was so tired.

Well unfortunately I continued to suffer from after affects of the epidural. I was throwing up till about 3 in the morning until they finally gave me something for the nausea and then I had the itchies till about 5:30. I couldn't sleep. I was so miserable. I finally got up about 6:30 and found out I had a new nurse and she was a friend of the families and was AWESOME!! She helped me get up for the first time and I got a shower and felt like a new person.

Brielle was so loud all night. She makes these funny 'pug' noises all night and just squeaks. So cute. she's a champ at nursing. She's a natural :)

Well I continued to suffer from the epidural. I had so many other problems occur from it. I kept telling Curtis, she is really sealing the deal for me that this is it. I had never had a recovery like this before. I still couldn't sleep. We had all kinds of visitors. My parents came into town that morning to help with the kids. It was great to see them.

Cambree came down with Tesia and was a natural big sister. She instantly started loving up on her. SO cute. Ridge and Brecklynn came with Curtis. Ridge was great but Brecklynn wanted nothing to do with her. She acutally pushed her away. She didn't like her one bit.

So it was a long day. But I did get discharged on Friday and my nurse knew I had to get back for my preschool function so helped that along.

Its been a fun adjustment and a crazy weekend. Now to see what the next little bit brings.

Brecklynn finally agreed to holding her and loved that Brielle had a bow like hers. We'll see if this continues....

My mom gave her her first bath and she was great. This little girl doesn't cry at all. Its like she doesn't know how. Her cries are like loud grunts. Quite funny.

So now I can say I am a mom of 4 kids 4 and under, for at least a little bit. Now to adjusting to this new addition.

Mother's Day Tea!!

2011-05-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was my preschool tea. I was able to go to it which was wonderful. I had a wonderful discharge nurse who helped push us out of the hospital so I could go. My wonderful sister and mom stepped up and made it all happen. The day was perfect. I was so worried that it would be so windy and be miserable but the day turned out perfect. So here are some fun pics taken by my sister-in-law Rachel, of the day.

Preschool Graduation!!

2011-05-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe my preschool graduation has already come and gone. Its been such a crazy crazy weekend. Yesterday was my little preschool graduation and I think it went pretty good. We were able to fit everyone in my house which was a worry of mine. The kids did great and were so fun to watch. I'm so proud of this little group and going to miss this group of kids!! I don't know what I am going to do now that preschool is officially over. Its seriously been such a whirlwind these past couple of weeks and to go from that to absolutely nothing is just weird.

Cambree's last graduation and Ridge's first...

This is Cambree's 'boyfriend' Teagun. These two are so cute together. She makes me nervous though because at such an age she already worries about her hair looking ok for Teagun or checks what she's wearing to see if Teagun will like it :). I'm sad to say that these two won't be going to the same school next year but hopefully we'll see him over the summer. He's such a cute little boy.

So one more year of preschool down. I love what I get to do and every year seems to get more and more fun :)

Countdown begins

2011-05-03T14:41:00.001-07:00

Well the end is here. I cannot believe this baby can be here any day. This pregnancy has zoomed by in some aspects, but dragged on in others.

I went to my Dr. appt yesterday. They wanted to induce me this weekend but I asked to wait till at least next Tuesday. I think I am the only pregnant girl to beg not to have their baby yet :). I have high blood pressure and because I am have strep B, they just want to be safe and have more control over this delivery to helpwith cost aswell. So I am officially down to be induced next Tuesday morning. I get to go in at 4:30 in the morning. YEAH :( I am 3-4 dialated however, so we'll see if I make it toTuesday. I have mixed emotions about going before then. I HATE inductions with a passion but it would be nice to be able to make it through all my important events before delivering. My preschool Mother's Day tea is Friday and my preschool Graduation is Monday... So we'll see.

So this time next week I could have had our baby. WEIRD!! Maybe I should start getting some clothes ready, or get the bed ready, or maybe figure out names. This kid just has been so pushed to the back burner with everything else that has been going on. I was actually hoping to have a couple days after my preschool graduation to get some of those things done. Guess not now :). Babies come when they want/need to andnot necessarily when I would like. But I am anxious to finally meet this littleone. I do think I am having a girl-that's just my guess but we'll see.

If I get induced, I expect tons of visitors with goodies to help pass time :) I hate being strapped to the bed like that for that long. I've only been induced once-with Cambree and it was a 12 hour induction. Yuck.

So start making guesses-will I go intolabor on my own? If so when? What will I have? How big?

Here's some fun pics from this past week. Just some cute fun pics. So hopefully next time you hear from me, I'll have the big announcement to share!

This is just a fun set of pictures. Brecklynn is starting to wear clothes that I distinctly remember Cambree wearing. So fun. They are so different and its fun to see. Here's one of my favorite outfits. The boots go up to her knee and she LOVES them!!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

What a busy weekend. Its been so crazy these past couple of days but the kids have loved it. My pictures uploaded backwards for some reason so you'll experience our weekend backwards :)

So this was today when the Easter Bunny visited. The Easter Bunny visited after church this year.

This was before church and my 'attempt' on getting a picture of them in their Easter outfits. Yeah- you can see how well that went over :)

My beautiful girls

Last night we had an Allen family Easter Party. The kids had a BLAST!!! We had a barbeque and huge egg hunt and then played minute to win it games.

This is my oh so cute niece Carden. She is the cutest little baby. Brecklynn absolutely loves her.

It had been such a long day that Brecklynn kept taking little breaks here and there and it was cute to watch.

So to add to the fun of the weekend, we had a little emergency with Cambree's hair. On Thursday I was doing her hair and found a chunk of her hair missing (aka it had been cut). I was so upset. Connie my SIL who has been doing our hair, was out of town. So I decided to get her into a salon to attempt to fix it. Well the stylist didn't listen to me AT ALL. She literally butchered her hair. She layered her hair so short that there was about an inch layer on the top and then just random chunks taken all over. Then to make it better, the original issue that had been cut, wasn't even fixed. She left it the same length and it was a noticeable chunk out of her hair. Thanksfully Connie got back Friday morning and saved the day. It is shorter but she literally saved her hair. It sucks because I have to do it everyday from wet to dry but hopefully it will grow out fast.

Earlier Saturday, we went to a huge Allred family Easter party/reunion. It was so hot!!

This is my cute niece again. Curtis loved getting her to smile.

Here's Brecklynn just mesmerized by her cousin. I love it. Makes me wonder how she'll be with the new baby.

My mom and sister Jarica came down Thursday evening for awhile. It was so much fun to have them here for a bit and the kids loved the attention. The kids got new outfits and pjs and they LOVED it.

Is this a glance at our future....3 girls and a boy....

Friday my mom did a little egg hunt at the park for the kids. They were so excited. It was a beautiful day too.

It was such a hectic weekend and man am I tired, but it was fun. Now to survive the next 2 weeks.... Happy Easter everyone!!

36 weeks pregnant and a new hair-do

2011-04-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

I have been a terrible blogger lately. I just haven't taken any pics besides preschool pics and just haven't been really wanting to blog lately :). But I figured I'd do a quick update as I only have a month left of this pregnancy.

I am still feeling relatively good. I am actually shocked at how huge I really look. I haven't taken any pics this whole pregnancy so this is the first time I'm seeing what I really look like. Wowzer!! I have gotten larger with every kid. :)

We are finally narrowing down our name choices. I know-its taken long enough! The house has just been such a task lately that this kid has quite frankly, been put on the back burner. But we figured with about a month left, we better start figuring it out.

I have 3 weeks left of preschool and I am getting nervous that I will go early like I have before and ruin my graduation for preschool. This is the one time I don't want to go early.

Today I CHOPPED off my hair. I should have taken a before picture. I was really nervous about doing it because I worried I was pulling a classic end of the pregnancy decision of making a drastic hair change because of my hormones. After deliberating with my SIL Connie, my sister Tesia and my mom, I decided to go for it. We cut off 2 inches on the length and REALLY stacked the back of it. I LOVE it. I am actually going to cut off a bit more in the front to make it a little more cohesive with the back but I love it. Its short for sure, but I think it will be easy. I actually got this idea from the wonderful Erin Householder and one of her pics I found of her. She made the cut look so dang cute. I hope I can do it cute too by myself.

So here's a picture of my hair after the hair cut. You can't see too much because I am not turned enough. But its short. Cambree helped me take this pic ;) She did good right? I'll take some better pics tomorrow and grab some of the back as well.

Spring Break-Dinosaur Museum

2011-03-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday of Spring Break, I met my mom in Mesa and we took the kids to the Natural History Museum-or as Ridge would put it, the Dinosaur Museum. I remember going here as a kid.

We walked in and the kids were so excited just seeing the bones. Mind you, it was an elephant and not a dinosaur, but they loved it the same. Brecklynn cracked me up. She was so excited the whole time. She kept hitting herself when she would look or point at a dinosaur and she loved looking at everything.

This was the dinosaur Ridge had been waiting for. He loves triceratops and t-rex.

At one point in the museum they do a history portion and have little jail cells for the kids to go into. At first the kids were afraid to go in, but then they loved going in and shutting me out.

I have to say, the highlight of the whole thing though was this tiny tube for them to play in. Such a simple thing, but they couldn't get over it.

They had this old western movie that you could 'be apart' of and of course my kids were all over it. Cambree and Ridge loved making faces in it. Even Brecklynn loved it.

My mom bought the three kids (Ridge), a dinosaur figurine pack and Ridge was in heaven. He couldn't stop talking about it and telling everyone about his new dinosaurs. My mom kept the kids for a couple days and said that he would come up over and over again and thank her for the dinosaurs. Even now, he sleeps with the whole bag in his bed.

Thanks mom for the special day and going with us to the museum, and of course taking my kids for a couple days. My kids love being with their grandparents!!

Spring Break Zoo!

2011-03-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

During Spring Break, my parents took the kids to the zoo. I guess it was really busy with tons of schools there but the kids still seemed to have a lot of fun.

Just an overall update on kids. Its been awhile!

2011-03-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

Life is starting to finally gain some normalcy and we are feeling more settled in our new home. Its weird to have so much space and even better, more time to enjoy our family. There is definitely still things to get done and we still have some large projects to tackle but we don't have the stress and pressure like before. The kids love having the space to run and play. They love their play room and they entertain themselves for hours downstairs.

I haven't done a kid update in so long and I am constantly thinking about some of the things they do and how I don't want to forget them, so I wanted to take some time to document those little things.

These pics are from when my sisters Chelsie and Jarica came down last weekend and Chelsie 'generously' allowed my kids to put on her makeup. Ridge was taking it all a bit too seriously :)

Brecklynn not getting her way

So here's some updates.

Brecklynn has grown up so much these past couple of weeks. I swear she's gone from a baby to a little kid overnight. She transitioned to a big girl bed upon moving here in the new house and did it without any problems. In fact she loves her big girl bed.

She is speaking a lot more. She FINALLY says Cambree's name but it sounds like 'me me'. Ridge- well he says Ridge is Tesia. We're still working on that one. She says 'yes' 'no', 'blanky', 'mom', 'dad', 'Little', bye, hello, nigh nigh (night), eyes, teef (teeth), baby, ball, and a lot more. She still says uh uh for a lot so we are still working on that but she's coming a long.

She loves her sister and brother. In fact, she loves them a lot more than I think they want her to. She wants to be with them playing and they are constantly complaining about her.

She loves to watch me and also put on make-up every day. She loves to get her hair done and loves for you to tell her how pretty she looks. She also loves to brush her teeth. She insists on standing on a stool and just repeatedly running her brush under the water and brushing her teeth.

She loves baths and showers and could stay in all day if she was allowed.

We call her bi-polar right now just because she is SO opionated and so cranky at times. You'll ask her if she wants something and she'll say yes and just as you're giving it to her she freaks out. She is great at throwing fits. They are really funny to watch right now.

She LOVES puzzles and could spend hours doing the same one. She also loves to color. A little too much in fact. Amazingly she holds a writing utensil better than most of my preschoolers. She's a natural.

She's a little dare devil. Lately she loves to dive off the arm of our couch with Ridge and Cambree. She will completely fall on her face and get right back up again and go again.

She is so independent. She doesn't let you help with much. Even putting on her shoes (which is also an obsession of hers). She makes a mess out of EVERYTHING she eats lately which is frustrating but I know its a phase.

Her hair cracks us up. She has none compared to Cambree at this age.

Ridge-oh Ridge. This kid is ALL boy. In some ways I hope this next kid isn't a boy just because he is so boy all by himself that I doubt he could compete with any other sibling. We still constantly get comments on his hair. People are always asking if he paints his hair or uses shoe polish on his hair etc.

Him and Cambree are obsessed with cars right now and lining them up and moving them in lines all over. They are also obsessed with playing pretend as 'Curtis' and 'Chantel' and having a baby doll together.

His vocabulary cracks us up. He still say Thank you like "Sank you", or he'll say "no sanks". We want to correct him but we also love it so much I don't want him to stop.

He is loving preschool and getting better at his basic skills. He loves having the kids here and loves all his little friends.

I struggle with him a lot lately with just being whiney and crying over everything. I've been told that its just like Curtis was as a kid (he hates that I say that :) but its true. Ridge can cry at the drop of a hat over absolutely nothing and it drives me crazy. He's got the saddest lip that he can put out on command and its just pathetic. I am hoping this again is just a phase and he'll grow out of it soon. He's cute for the most part and he's lucky he's so cute when it comes to these frustrating moments :)

Brecklynn and him continue to have a strong and cute bond. Every morning they have to give each other a huge hug and they love to tackle each other to the ground. They rarely ever fight and share so well together. I love to watch this little relationship grow.

Cambree.

Its weird for me to sit here and think how old Cambree really is. She is turning 5 at the end of May and going to Kindergarden this fall. I have a 5 year old! Kind of creeps me out in a way. I swear she is a teenager though, in that little body.

She is such a dancer. Her moves are so funny to watch. I don't know where she gets them from. She's going through, what I hope is just a phase, but has a hard time being nice to Brecklynn. She hates her being around and doesn't like to share anything with her. Don't get me wrong, there are moments when Cambree can't get enough of her, but more often then not, she can't stand her and even told my MIL and SIL this week that she wants her in the garbage.

She is such a helper and is excited about the new house and chores etc. I hope it keeps up over the next couple weeks. We'll see :)

For the past year or so, Cambree has insisted on growing out her hair but recently its become quite a chore every morning to do it. She screams and cries at everything. Well Wednesday night I was speaking to her and convinced her to cut her hair. I called my SIL Connie immediately and set it up to get done the next morning before she would change her mind. I LOVE it. I miss her hair being short.

I need to get a better picture and I'll try to get that today but this gives you an idea. This is her at our pajama day in preschool.

I am still trying to grasp the fact that we have yet one more kid on the way very soon. These 3 definitely keep me busy and entertained enough that who knows what one more will do but I am also excited to see what this new one will add to this trios relationships.