Nine Months

It breaks my heart that this little boy is already nine months old! He is such a content boy. He still takes two naps a day and goes to bed between 6:30 or 7. He's been crawling every where for the last month and can get from a crawling to sitting up position by himself. He just started pulling himself up on things in the last week and now crawls up the stairs (scary). He says "mama" and "dada". Tate is starting to get very attached to me. If I walk by him it's all over unless he's busy. I have to sneak around him. He is such a love and cuddler. He still only has two teeth. I seriously can't put into words how much we adore him. I just wish I could freeze time right now.

Party Time

Rylee's party was at Redwood Park in Arcata. The sun was out that day but it was very cold and windy at my parents house. Redwood Park is set in the middle of a redwood forest (hence the name) so it was protected from the wind and was warm and sunny. The weather was perfect! We have been friends with the Jones/McCartney family for years and when you just invite their families this is the group you get! That's all you need for a party. The kids played, we barbecued hot dogs, hit a pinata, opened presents and ate cupcakes. It was perfect. Rylee loved opening her presents and carried all of her gift bags everywhere. Good times.

Rylee Roo

Rylee turned three last week! I was really hoping that three would be the magical age for her. That by three she would listen better and calm down. Now I'm realizing that when people have told me that three only gets harder with girls, I can understand. But this isn't a post about that!

Rylee is three! She is such a funny spirited girl! For her birthday she got a new pink scooter and helmet. She talked about getting a pink scooter for the last few months and when I went to get her scooter all I could find was a red one. I didn't think she would mind but when she opened it she said, "I want a pink scooter, not a red one!" So I put it in the box and took it back to Kmart. I found a pink one at Big Five later that day. She had pancakes for breakfast, McDonald's for lunch and pizza for dinner. Her cousins arrived the night of her birthday so we had cake and sang happy birthday.

Rylee's favorite color is pink. She loves purses and any gift bag is considered a purse too. She loves baby dolls, princess stuff and anything purple or pink. She likes to look "pretty" by having me fix her hair but then is out in the dirt and mud two minutes later. Rylee is a very good eater. She loves salad, pizza, mac and cheese, quesadilla's, chips and salsa, sour cream, olives and watermelon. She has recently decided that she likes dogs. Especially my parents next door neighbor's dog, King. She could throw rocks for him all day long. She is so independent. I've been told that it will be a good thing someday but for now it causes lots of messes and quite a few arguments. She is very loving and sweet and loves to sing and dance. Happy birthday Roo girl!

Finally!

Cute Connor.

Bailee is very attached to her mommy!

Adorable Lane.

Crazy girl.

Lighthouse in Trinidad

If it weren't for the Jones family I'd be going nutso here! Up until a couple of days ago the weather has been horrible. Me, bad weather, alone with my kids makes me very grumpy. Lucky for us the weather was beautiful today. I went to a ward party in Trinidad with the Jones/Whites and then spent the rest of the day with them. They filled up a pool and the kids went back and forth from the hot tub to the pool. Rylee was in heaven with all of her new friends. She loves them all. Then we barbecued hamburgers. My mom and dad stay pretty busy. I'm so grateful that Tasha includes me in everything and lets me come over everyday and bug her. She's been my best friend since before I can remember.

I hurt my ankle in my softball game on Thursday night. I was pitching (which I loved) and got hit with the softball right on the inside of my ankle. It was killing me all day yesterday but is doing much better today. My mom took the boys up to the lake for the weekend and my dad just had knee surgery. So my dad and I are hobbling around each other in the house. It's kind of funny.

Living here hasn't been easy. I miss my own space, seeing my husband, having some of my own time. It's kind of lonely. I feel like I'm single again but with four kids. Which I guess translates into a single mom. It's hard to relax because I don't want my kids to mess my parents nice house up. Rylee has been pretty hard which makes it that more difficult. I feel like I'm getting after her all day long. So basically I'm in a bad mood all day. I get zero breaks because if I want to go to the store I have to go with all of them or when they are in bed at night. But by then I'm too tired to go out. Anyway, yes I'm having a pity party. What to join? I just keep reminding myself that this is very short term and so worth it. I think I can, I think I can...... Good news is that my sister Kasey will be here on Monday. Wahoo!

windsor

We had a wonderful time in Windsor celebrating all of the end of year festivities. I'm so glad our friends asked us to house sit an extra week. They live in a neighborhood that has a community pool and we were able to take full advantage of that. It was weird being in Windsor without having my own place to go home to but I realized that Windsor really is home to me now, more so than McKinleyville. I really love it there.

One day we took the kids to the FFA fair in Healdsburg. It was a beautiful day. They looked at the animals, jumped on jumpy houses, ate snow cones (I had my usual funnel cake, yum), and then we went to the clown show.

The clowns kept on asking for volunteers and Ammon kept on volunteering! It was hilarious to watch him. First the clown told the kids to sweep the floor which was impossible with the little brooms on the carpet (it was a joke) but Ammon was working VERY hard to try and sweep it all up. I was dieing laughing. I love the top picture of Ammon and Cohen because it shows what their personalities are like. They were called up to do a dancing competition and Cohen only went because he wanted a balloon. He does not like to be in front of people or on stage. On the other hand, Ammon was rocking out! Neither of them won anything though.

I had to catch this picture at our friends home. Rylee was trying to help Cohen swing.

Going to 2nd Grade :(

We love you Ms. Rosen.

My little Ammon is going to be in second grade next year! My dad was right when he said that once your kids get into school it goes by very quickly. I feel like he was starting kindergarten a few months ago.

In the Windsor school district each school has just two grades at it until middle school. So next year Ammon will move to a new school and Cohen will go to Ammon's old school. I wish they could be together. It would be fun for them and easier for me. But they will bus Cohen over to Ammon's school and then I can pick them both up there.

Ammon had a great first grade year. We adored his teacher Ms. Rosen. She was fun, young and loving. She welcomed me bringing all of the kids to class parties or on field trips. She would teach and hold Tate at the same time. When Ammon said goodbye to her on the last day he said, "But I'll be coming back to see you when Cohen is here next year, right?" Knowing that helped him get through this process without getting sad.

In first grade Ammon learned to become a wonderful reader. He can read anything now. I love having a kid that can read. He is enjoying reading chapter books. His current one is Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

This year Ammon played baseball on the Pirates. It was machine pitch baseball and so much better than t-ball. They actually played positions, made outs, and played by the rules. We enjoyed watching Ammon better understand one of our favorite sports. Ammon is a great hitter and in his last game he was running as fast as he could and slide into third base!