Lindsay is walking

Well Lindsay has been testing out her legs recently. She now walks around 5 to 10 steps at a time. She still walks on her tiptoes so that kind of prevents her for taking off and going longer. I don't know why she does that and I think she is the only one that started walking like that.





I love when the kids sit like this. I love their little toes and I wish I could sit like this longer than a few minutes.

I checked on Lindsay one night, which I don't always do, and I was surprised when I noticed that her bottom was exposed. So I took a closer look and noticed that her leg out of her pajamas and her diaper was off her rear. So of course I had to grab my camera to capture this moment. I am glad that I did go in that night because who knows what I might have found in the morning. Definitely a wet bed and hopefully not some #2's in her bed, yuck.




Here is Mallory loving on her much neglected dogs. So I took a few pictures of them since they do not get as much attention these days and they are getting older.


Mel's extremely large tongue.





Some more basketball pictures. Julianne had a great season in her first year of basketball. She really pushed herself and definitely came out of her comfort zone. She was point guard most of the time and ended up having a great season and she learned so much. I even practiced with her some nights and she would teach me about protection dribbling, screens, and left handed layups. So I am even having fun learning about the game and practicing with her. She still had days that she did not want to be the point guard because "it is too much pressure", but she really is the best person for that position on both teams. The local team, with all girls, was tough but not as tough as her co-ed league. She was good and really competed with the boys. She had really upsetting times in the game where she was frustrated with people blocking her or her not being able to protect the ball. I am just really proud of her for trying and staying strong. Basketball is a tough, aggressive sport. I know she puts a lot of pressure on herself so we tried to emphasize that she does not have to do that and it is about fun. Anyway, she had a great season and she really pushed her comfort level.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-Lindsay accomplishing walking
-Lindsay's crazy stage where she tears up my kitchen and never puts anything back. :)
-Julianne and all her hard work learning the tough and aggressive game of basketball
-D coaching Julianne in her two leagues and growing as a coach and a father in those times.

I am reflecting on Lindsay's birthday in a few weeks. I can't believe that our baby is almost one. It just seems like yesterday she was weeks old. I went to Mallory's school for a presentation yesterday and I saw a newborn, like a few weeks old. She was so tiny and pink. Then I looked at Lindsay and she was big, cruising, laughing, blabbing, and full of happiness. It was just so surreal to see the difference a year makes. I know that the nine months they are in the womb is nothing compared to the growth that occurs within the first year outside of the womb but it is too bad we can't see that as well. She is a happy, somewhat serious child. She still prefers to be held but has times that she crawls around the first floor and explores on her own. She likes to interact with the kids and sometimes wrestles with them. She is only posessive of me when another sibling is on my lap. Then she comes over and demands that they move. She loves her dad. She loves for him to carry around and for him to hold her when he comes home from work and eats his dinner. Within the past week she is showing her frustration by either putting her head down or arching her back in frustration. I know that more of that will come. She is not much of a snuggler, she is too busy with everything else. I remember that at this age Nathan was not a snuggler either but he is now a big snuggler. So hopefully that will come back to her. The girls still love her and still want to get her up from her nap. They also like to pick her up and move her away from their playing space. Nathan loves to tackle her at the basketball games when she is getting too close to the court. This year of growth is amazing and I am excited for the next year of her life. She will learn to walk, begin her tantrums, playing with the kids, talking more. It is such a fun age for kids.

Last night we had our first official no TV night. The kids watch about a half an hour to an hour of TV from 7 to 8 before bed. This has been their ritual for many years: they clean up their toys, get their desserts (if they get one) and watch TV. This either entails watching TV or playing an electronic devise, or both. It is not every night since we are so busy but if we are home during this time the TV is usually on. So on Sunday night I watch an Oprah show and it was about Hasidic Jews. it was very interesting and I really learned a lot about this group of Jewish community in New York City. I love how Oprah interviews different populations, cultures, religions. I think it opens my eyes up to different experiences and really in the end all we are all the same. That was even mentioned in this episode that even though this religion is strict in their dress, food separations, Faith and beliefs they are still people who love their children, want the best for their family and their community and really want to experience life. Anyway, from the show I learned that they do not watch TV, ever. Their kids help around the house, cook dinner, play games, read, sing songs with their kids, dance, etc. I loved the innocence of not watching TV. The older kids had no idea about all the pressures other teens go through with all the images of sexy clothes, games, violence, etc. While I am not advocating giving up our TV it is a great reminder that the kids can enjoy other things beside their beloved nighttime TV. So we went to the library and borrowed books they were interested in and looked at those books during that time at home. Nathan kept asking when are getting our treats and watching TV and I reminded him that we were not watching TV tonight that we were going to look at our books and explore different things we were interested in. So we did, we read a karate books, a book on figure skating, Julianne read a thumb sucking book to everyone, and Nathan looked through his Iron Man picture book. No one complained that they were not watching TV and it was nice. Nathan asked me this morning if we were going to watch TV tonight and I said we probably would and he said good. I asked him if he had fun last night and he did say he did. So I think I will try to do it every Monday, since I usually don't work and I am not cleaning up, catching up on house stuff or just exhausted, and make sure we have interesting books or learn about new things during this time.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-Learning about different cultures, even if it is through watching TV
-Lindsay and her growth
-Snow
-Julianne getting a 100% on her math test after having gone to school early to get some help
-Experiencing Julianne's mental growth with dealing with her emotions

January birthday's

Well we have finally completed all our January birthdays. Our household has 3 January birthdays including mine and D's. He gets to claim that for 8 days I am the older woman. During those times I like to say I am the wiser one for having lived longer then him. We have fun with it. We all had great birthday's. Not anything big but some nice family celebrations. I wanted to go to an indoor rock climbing place but with basketball in full swing I will have to postpone that adventure. So we went out to dinner and for D's birthday we are going to go to a local comedy show. We spent Nathan's birthday at the local Magic Mountain. We will never go to that over stimulating, games that cost more than 2 tokens (they said 2 tokens but once you put 2 in it demanded more), and bad pizza place. It was so over stimulating for D and I. The kids had an OK time. It might have been better in the warmer months when we could do some stuff outside but the kids play scape and the video games were too crowded and loud. I would go to Chuck-E-Cheese any day over this other place. So we will have to suggest bowling or another activity next time, even if it is not about us.











Everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to me.

I can't believe that Nathan is five years old. He is such a sweet loving boy. He loves to play sports, pretend play with the girls, do his learning books with Stacy, snuggle and read books with me, wrestle with D, play the ipod, and do it all over again the next day. He really is such a great kid. I love spending time with him while the girls are at school.

Julianne started basketball season and after a few over emotional time outs she is doing well. She is still getting used to this more physical game and learning the flow of the game. She is on two teams this year and it is a lot for her but she is working through it. She is on a local girls team and a recreation co-ed league. The competition in the co-ed league is fierce but it is good for her. D is also coaching both leagues so she is learning the fundamentals and enjoying the game with her father. I am happy because that means less time taking her to these practices and it is something that they can enjoy together. She is doing a great job and picking up the skills and learning the game. She was really upset when she got her first foul and did not understand that it is OK. That means she is really in the game. She also was amazed that players really do steal the ball. She is working on her confidence and her aggressiveness. I must say that basketball is pretty aggressive and it would be hard to really get into the game. I think with time and interest she will learn to turn that aggressive power on.





Funny picture of coach D getting into the game.


Lindsay not really enjoying the game or my picture taking activities.

Mallory having fun with Nathan while they run underneath the bleachers.





Of course I have to post some pictures of Lindsay. She is growing and eating like a champ. She loves lots of different foods so I am hoping that will stick with her, but I am not optimistic. She still cruises around and loves to crawl. She is playing with the kids more and seeks them out. She tries to hang with the big kids and what they are playing with but they don't always want to play with her. She is saying mama and dada but not really to us, just blabbling. She can also clap and wave. She loves to clap and started doing that when we were at Julianne's ochrestra concert in December. She will be one next month which just sounds and seems strange. Time does really fly by and that seems sad to me but I am excited to see what kind of personality she develops.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-good yoga practices
-warmer January weather
-another birthday
-Julianne continually working on her emotional highs
-my warm comfy bed and house
-when I do sleep well

Holidays are over...back to life

Well it is the Tuesday after the holidays and things are returning back to normal. The tree is on the curb, other decorations are in the basement, the kids are back in school, our holiday desserts are almost eaten, and D went back to work. Well that is life and life does go on even when you really enjoy some rest and relaxation time. Going back to work tomorrow will be hard because I will miss the kids and the routine of being around the house with them. Our house will go back to being chaotic once basketball season starts, which is this week, but there is also fun with those crazier times as well. Seeing the kids participate in activities, helping them learn, and watching them with their friends are also special times. I just love having a simple life (not a lot of activities) and that just does not go hand in hand with four kids. So I will morn our simpler life, transition into that life quickly and will enjoy that as well...but I will miss the less chaotic times as well.

We had a great holiday season. It was full of lounging around, getting caught up on household items (like hanging pictures) and hanging out with the kids. The kids enjoyed themselves and we rarely heard, "I'm bored". Julianne watched the "Little House on the Prairie" show at school with week before school got out so we continued the movies at home. The library was full of the videos and we also noticed last night that one of our channels has the series running at night. So they may pick up more of those throughout the year. They also watched their first 15 minutes of "The Brady Bunch". What a great TV show for all ages. It does not have snotty girls on it, provocative teenage girls dressed in inappropriate clothes, materialistic images, etc. It shows a blended family and normal everyday brother/sister issues. So hopefully we will be able to catch that show more often instead of other cartoons. Granted the older girls do not watch those new Disney shows but their friends all do. The girls act and look like high schoolers and we think it is just not appropriate for our girls at this age. So age appropriate cartoons/movies and maybe the Brady Bunch is all they will be watching now.

Here is another visit with Santa. We went with my parents and had a great time. My mom was able to join us with her fiance it was a great time.



Nathan was still not sure but at least got closer to him.


Christmas Eve dinner with Mom, Gigi, Mimi, Roger and our family. We had Ohio raised, grass fed steaks, Martha Stewart's "Perfect" mac-n-cheese, salad, Bob Evan's mashed potatoes, banana cream pie and Marci's peppermint ice cream cake.

Our Christmas Eve pajamas





Christmas morning wake up. We got them up at 7:00. Julianne was up in no time the others took awhile.


We woke Lindsay up after the kids opened most of their gifts. Sh... don't tell her.


Santa gifts. Julianne got an American Girl violin, Mallory received a nutcracker, Nathan a guitar and Lindsay a handmade doll.




Nathan got the girls earring/jewelry holder

Nathan and his guitar. Too bad no one knows how to play it.

Christmas dinner at Lisa's. The kids had fun. Santa got them a Wii so the kids enjoyed playing that.

Gigi received an iPad so she was excited when she opened it, even though I think she knew she was getting it. I think she was overwhelmed but hopefully she will get the hang of it.


Some Gigi watching a movie time.


Lindsay taking a bath in the sink.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-Holiday celebrations and traditions
-Spending New Years with the kids (we made pizza's, ate chocolate fondue, played Monopoly and all laid on the floor to see the ball drop.
-Having Nana and Gigi come for a visit
-Lindsay's first Christmas