The Story of Us: So many new things...

The last few months have been unbelievably busy. Moving was like my whole life was stuffed into a new container and shaken until it was all mixed up, spinning, and foamy. Even now, we've got most of the boxes unpacked, but my routine is still all messed up. It took weeks to be able to get Lily to school on time, even though her new class started later than her old one. For some reason I can't get dinner ready consistently and I'm still feeding the kids chicken nuggets a little more often than I'd like to.

A big part of this I blame on my overall wellness, and the biggest shake up of all, I'm pregnant. This was a big, BIG surprise. I had been suspecting for awhile, and Jared and I kept joking about it, but the day after we moved I finally got a pregnancy test and it was positive. Jared was out of town for "work" (he had to go race his dream car in Virginia, poor guy. More on that, later.) and so I was on my own with this news for a couple days. It was also extra terrible timing to find out, because we'd just bought this house that I definitely never would have bought had I know there was a baby on the way. The house is such a project and too small, a baby is going to take a big priority over the house for a long time. There is an added challenge in that I've given away all my baby stuff. In general, though I wasn't planning on this, the idea is growing on me. Clearly this baby was meant to be part of our family, and so far I like my other ones a whole lot, so it's all going to be OK. So what if I have to drive a mini van? ugh. He or She is due June 8th.

Anyway, because of this pregnancy, I've been a little sick. Nothing major, just enough to make me want to do nothing but lay on the couch for a few weeks. I always have more of a problem with extreme fatigue than barfing. In addition to this, I've had about 3 or 4 different colds one after another for the entire month of November. The kids have also had various illnesses, so it's added to the frustration of not being able to get anything done around the house.

So I wanted to write a blog post to just tell a bunch of kids stories. My kids are unbelievably cute and I want to remember them this way forever.

Annie is a little angel. She has so many words now. She says "Thank You" which she does all on her own, and "Please", as well as so many others, like "See" when she wants to see something, "bath", "down", "up" everyone's name, and a handful of others. The cutest is when she wants something and she points and says "Annie's?" The best part is that she thinks she can say everything, so she'll just make sounds in a conversational way, which is pretty adorable.

Her little white curls are getting longer and when she wakes up she's got a halo of fuzzy white hair glowing all around her head. Here she is with her first pigtails. They lasted about 30 seconds. But she does love shoes, and tries on everyone's.

She's adorable and sweet, but we also call her "The Destroyer" a nickname that was coined by my dad. She has a way of making messes and breaking things that my other kids never did. I'll clean a room, she'll walk in, and it will be destroyed within 5 minutes. She empties every drawer, dumps every box, drives me freaking crazy. She also breaks stuff. Since I got out Christmas decorations she averages 2 things per day, and they're things I didn't think were breakable, that she will just gnaw on until it's breaks.

This is what happens when a baby eating a cracker, sneezes on a mirror.

Jack is still saying hilarious things all day, every day. While at my parents house, my sister Sunny, Jared and I were sitting around. Jack stood up at the front of the room with a pencil and wanted to direct us in a song (a family home evening thing). He said he wanted us to sing "Party Rock" (Party Rock Anthem, by LMFAO, one of the kids favorites). We decided to play along and we started singing, "Party Rock is in the house, tonight!" , but he made this face and said "No, like this: pssssh pssssh" He wanted us to beat box! It was pretty awesome.

I think Jack really likes our new house, either that or he really hates moving, like me. He kept asking me "Are we ever going to move again?" or "Can we live here forever?". I told him yes, he seems very satisfied with that answer and has been telling everyone else the good news, too.

Ruby has become Jack's cat, and she sleeps with him every night. He squeezes her and is so rough with her, but she just purrs and drools and cuddles with him all night.

Lily is a gem, and now we have proof. Lily just got the Citizen of the Month Award in her class at school. There was an awards assembly at school and the principle announced her name and everything. The award is for being a good friend and nice, kind and friendly. I'm constantly impressed with how kind Lily is to everyone. I honestly don't think she notices any difference between kids, she just assumes that she is friends with everyone. I love and admire her so much.

Today I let Lily and Jack ride a few blocks in the trunk of our car. It's a wagon, so it's not as bad as it sounds. Lily said in all seriousness "Hmm, this must be how the groceries feel."

I had a birthday, 32, it was a good time. I guess I didn't take any pictures. I got some ramekins, because I love pies, especially tiny ones.

Jared did a Zombie Chase 5K with his dudes. Aren't they adorable?

Hannah, had a baby! We have a new cousin to play with, and it's a boy! His name is Aaron and he is adorable, I can't wait to get to know him.

Halloween was a good time. Lily was a nice witch, Jack a tiger, and Annie was a koala. They went to Novell and the church trunk or treat, so they got a butt-load of candy.