FUNNY story!

The day of Parker's 6-month appointment:

Michael: Did the doctor check Parker's penis?

Me: Yes. And she told me to be really careful when pulling the skin back to clean because you can actually pull it over the head where it gets stuck and then the head swells up and it's an emergency.

Michael: Yeah, I've heard about that. That's really bad.

Evan: Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You can't pull your penis over your head. That's impossible!

And, finally, Christmas!

First things first...the tree! We love going to the tree farm to pick out the perfect tree.

The Christmas Eve picture...one mediocre picture out of about 20. Good grief...is it really possible to get a decent picture of all of your kids when you have more than one?

Parker enjoyed opening his gifts. Well, no, he enjoyed eating the wrapping paper.

And then he enjoyed playing with them. At 5 1/2 months old I finally got a picture of him smiling, though it's not very good. Michael and I really have to tag team on this to get a good one before, like, his birthday or something!!

Maren really enjoyed her princesses and Evan loved his dart guns.

And then that evening at my sister's house, the cousins enjoyed some DDR. Evan was serious about it and played for probably 45 minutes in those hot jammies with flush cheeks. All in all, it was our best Christmas ever. The kids were really fabulous, we had a great day together as a family, we were able to play together. Just a great time!

First Food

We started Parker on solid food and so far so good. Of course, we have to share the token first bite pictures. He had a funny face for the first 5 days or so but now he's really getting into it. And he always wants water and is getting rather good at holding his sippy cup. Yahoo for early independence. Ha!

Our Generous Boy

I just wanted to jot down some experiences we've had with generous Evan lately. He really amazes me sometimes. It seems like when I tell him about the kids who have few if any toys that he might think about donating his old toys to, he doesn't really care. I'm sure he cares, but it just doesn't seem real to him. However, if there's someone who needs help and he sees that need, he will just jump in to help. Here are a few examples:

1. Our friend wanted to go hike a really tall mountain with his brothers but didn't really have the money to get or rent the gear and pay for the training you need to get before you can safely make the climb. His wife was telling me this in our family room and Evan overheard. He ran out and came back a minute later with all of the money from his piggy bank...about $1.17 or something like that. He put it in a sandwich bag and handed it to my friend and said it was for her husband to pay for his climbing gear.

2. Evan and Maren had a sleepover at my mom's house one Friday night. The tradition is that on Saturday morning, after breakfast, they hit the local toy store and my mom gives them a couple of dollars to buy something. After the toy store Evan said, "Grammy, can we go out to lunch?" My mom said, "Not today, I'm all out of money." Well, was she really all out of money? Probably not. But that's what we tell our kids sometimes when we're not willing to pay to go out to eat. Well, when she dropped him off at home, he ran straight to his money and started a collection in another baggie. I think he got 62 cents for her. You've really got to be careful what you say around this sweet boy.

3. Our friend Steve's dog died. Evan had met this dog a couple of times and enjoyed having him do tricks for treats. A couple days after the dog died, Steve came over to help Michael with something. Evan walked up to Steve and said, "I'm sorry your dog died." I thought that was really thoughtful of him to remember. Then he ran away. A couple minutes later he came out with Patch...his absolute most favorite stuffed animal in the whole world. The one he made at Build-A-Bear that he sleeps with, takes to preschool when they're allowed to take things like that, just loves like crazy. Yeah, Patch. He comes out with Patch and hands him to Steve and explains that Steve can keep Patch because his dog died. Steve tried to tell Evan that he couldn't take him but, with tears in my eyes, I told Steve he'd better just accept it and be really grateful.

This is definitely something we want to cultivate in our children...this spirit of giving to those who are in need. Evan may end up giving the shirt off his back to someone one of these days but I couldn't be more proud of him and the choices he's making.

Recital Videos

I forgot the live action proof of the recital! One day when Maren is older and watches these, she's going to just roll her eyes (if she's anything like me).

In this one, they sang a verse, whistled in between verses, and then sang the second verse. When the video starts, you can hear Maren "whistling" and she whistles through part of the second verse. It just cracks me up. Maybe I'm the only one who could listen to this 2-year-old "whistle" all day. Cute, cute.

Here they are singing about popping popcorn to string for the Christmas tree. An d they talk about tasting a little bite. Of course they're not really supposed to take a bite of it, but, as I mentioned, she was spazzing out. I bust up laughing when she took a bite, realized it was gross and started spitting it out. Classic. By the way, she totally knew all the songs and sang then all day every day at home. But then when it comes time for the show, she'd just goof off during them. Figures.

And at her most spastic ever! Seriously, you'd think we'd given her speed for breakfast. And yet, I can't help but laugh.

Here's those five seconds of her solo. She really was so sweet...and that was my favorite costume. She just looked like, well, an angel in it. I believe she even through in an arabesque. What a dancer! I just adore this girl. She is ridiculously funny, kinda and loving, and has empathy just gushing out of her. Way to go, sweet Maren!

Let It Snow!

We got a surprise snow this week...according to Evan, because he prayed for it. Boy, that guy does get whatever he prays for, doesn't he? It just kept coming and coming. The kids had a great time playing in it while Michael was at home (Parker and I stayed nice and toasty inside) and when Michael got home, they wanted to go build something with him outside. 15 minutes before bedtime they finally talked him into it. I let him know that they had about 10 minutes and then they needed to come in. Well, an hour and a half later, I got pictures of one OCD husband, two sleepy but happy kids and one amazing "Wonder Bear", as the kids called it...

About another hour and a half after the kids were in bed, said OCD husband called me out to show me the new and improved Wonder Bear. Uh, honey, the dishes were waiting to be done, too!! :-) Heehee.

Dance Recital

Maren had her first recital this month (December). They had about three months to work on this recital and they did 13 numbers. It was WAY fun to watch. Maren was hysterical, to say the least. She was a complete spazz sometimes (you'll see the proof), but when she wasn't being a spazz she was posing for pictures in the middle of her dancing and doing whatever she could to get attention (I think not even all that much on purpose!). I just couldn't stop laughing at her. She really wasn't shy at all...she worked the whole floor when it was free dance time. I loved every minute of it (except for when Evan was trying to take the camera from me in the middle of her solo so I only got about 5 seconds of it!). Here are a few hundred highlights...

Their first number...

My kids have something with playing with their ears in the cold months. I don't know what it is.

She was supposed to stand by the fireplace in this pose, with her fifth position arm. She did a GREAT job of holding it while the other girls danced. I think that little arm is just too, too cute.

I love this full-action shot. She just took up the whole room when she started to dance.

I included this one because, well, I just think it's a sweet picture.

Michael was really excited to bring her flowers. He even took the day off work just to come to her recital. She loved having her family there and her roses. For the rest of the week she asked when her flowers were going to die. At first I thought she wanted them to. Then she told me she didn't want them to die so she just kept checking. Ha!

My Confession & 5 Months!

My confession is that I'm in love with Parker's dimple chin. And, speaking of that...did you know you can change your genetics? It's true. I did it. Here's the other part of my confession. Now, this is exciting because until Parker was born I had not told a single soul about this! Only my mom knew about this from observation. Here it goes...getting my weird quirks off my chest. When I was younger there was a guy in our ward at church, Brother Palmer, who was awesome! And he was always fun with the kids and did the best Donald Duck impressions. And you know what else? He had a huge dimple chin. And I loved him. I think it's because of him that I wanted a dimple chin, too. So every day on the way to ballet class I would sit in the front seat, looking out into the side view mirror and pinch my chin together to force a dimple. Well, I must say that over all those years something actually did happen. My chin isn't flat. There's a bit of a separation of chin fat between the left and right sides. Not exactly a dimple but I'll take it. Never in a million years did I think that I could have changed my genetics, however, to get myself a real, bonafide dimple chinned baby! Boy was I ever thrilled to see Parker with that chin! Just one more reason to love this guy. So, there you have it. I was a strange teenager...

And speaking of that Parker guy...he just hit his 5-month mark. I can't believe it! Seriously...didn't he just leave my body? Seems like it should be so but, in reality, it feels like he's always been here. We all love, love, love this baby boy! He is sweet and funny and cute as a button. Evan loves having time to "babysit" him when I take a shower or something. He'll hold him and let Parker watch the Christmas lights and then lay him down on his play mat and then pick him up to move him. Yikes! Scary, I know, but he's been so super amazing with him. The comment I hear most about Parker from strangers is, "He's so alert! Look at those eyes." Yes, yes. That has been said about all of our babies. I think they look so alert because those eyes are just huge, wide open. And his eyelashes go on forever! I still stare at them whenever I have the chance. Parker absolutely loves it when Evan dances around crazy. He laughs and pumps his legs and arms and rocks back and forth. It's dangerous, I tell you. I'm liable to lose my grip and drop the guy. Ha! And the last thing about him is that he's dying to eat solid food. Holy cow...he just wants our food SO bad. And our water, too. Every time I have a cup and take a drink, he makes begging noises. When I started to "pass" it to him, he grabs both sides of the cup and brings it to his mouth. Goodness, son. So we got some baby cereal, sippy cups, spoons, etc. for him for Christmas. He will be exactly 5 1/2 months on Christmas day so we thought it would be fun to start then. I think it will actually be tomorrow because we can't hold him off any longer. Good. Maybe that means he'll sleep through the night. :-)

I love my boys!

GWL

Yahoo! Just got an email with additional Great Wolf Lodge pictures. Here, in random order...

On day 2 Maren completely crashed for a 2-hour nap on the lounge chairs.

Looking at this picture makes me so sad. On day 2 he was such a pill and I kept getting frustrated with him. He wasn't having fun and neither was I when I was with him. In this picture he's about to fall asleep. Come to find out, when we got home at 1 a.m., he had a fever and the start of his [supposed] swine flu. Poor guy. He was sick and miserable all day. Next time we've got to remember to schedule our Great Wolf Lodge trip around everyone being sick!

We like to end our little vacation with a trip to the sweet shop. Yeah, it's about 9:30 p.m. at this time and we didn't get out of there until 11 p.m. Should've just stayed another night! Parker, are you asleep, buddy?

4 Months!

Our sweet Parker is 4 months old already! Boy how time flies with #3. We had his appointment last week and he was all over the chart. 30th percentile for weight (13 lbs. 5 oz.) but 90th percentile for length (WHAT? For a Bybee baby?). Head was 50th percentile. I guess over everything he evens out to about average. He has been adding some chub lately around his wrists and calves and cheeks. He is delicious to kiss.

Parker, just like Evan and Maren, you add a great deal of love to our family. It seems like none of the rest of us can get enough of you. You are starting to do what Evan calls talking now. I call it spitting or doing raspberries. I think you're quite pleased with yourself and the other day I was wondering how babies figure out how to do that anyway. I love hearing it! It means you're happy. The other way we know you're happy...those kicking legs. The faster and harder the kicks, the more excited you are. You've had really strong legs since you were born. Speaking of that, you really love to be standing on them and you're so steady when we stand you up. I don't remember standing starting so soon with the other two but, then again, I have nursing brain. I can't remember much nowadays. You rolled over, front to back, about two weeks ago and surprised and excited everyone. Now you seem to be done with it and haven't done it for about a week. Ha! Big stuff is coming up and it's so exciting! You are big on smiling (not that you'd know by these posts...we have got to get a picture of this guy smiling!) but we've got to work pretty hard for a laugh. I can usually get one if I'm changing your diaper and give you a tickle and Evan is good at getting them out of you if he's just being silly. You sure love that brother who takes ownership of you! :-) Your hair is totally ready for another haircut! Seriously...two haircuts in the first four months of life...that's crazy! But so is that hair. It's going to take some serious gel to tame when you get older. For now, we just love looking at its craziness and feeling it. Although you went for two weeks about a month ago sleeping from about 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., you gave that up as quickly as it came. Boy, that was such a sweet dream! Now you're waking up around 4 a.m. We're going to have to work on cutting that back out so I can start working out at 5:30 again! You are usually a very happy boy. You put yourself to sleep and are happy to be carried around in stores for a long time in the Baby Bjorn. Our family wouldn't be complete without you and we're grateful each day to have you. Love you, Parker!

Fruity Fall

Like father like son. Remember this post about Michael climbing the tree to get cherries? Well, here's his little protege up in our Asian pear tree. He really loves to climb trees but his Crocs are not the greatest shoes for that! Being in jammies helps, it appears. Like the plastic bag hanging down around his neck? Yeah, we remedied that pretty quickly.

Uh, yeah, that's Evan's watermelon that he grew. The face...that's all Evan's doing, too. We could not get him to put on a normal face. I'd call that typical 4-year-old behavior. We felt pretty amazing that we got a watermelon to grow, considering that our friend who has a jungle for a garden won't even attempt them. Then I was talking to another friend about our one amazing watermelon and she let me down gently when she told me they had four, about twice the size of ours. Ha! Wasn't a very tasty little thing, but it was fun to watch it grow!

End of Summer

To finish off summer this year, we took two trips to the beach...on back-to-back weekends. It was cold and windy but everyone had a great time. The first week we took Michael's 32-year-old cousin who had never been to the beach before. It was fun watching him for the first time at the beach. Here...my three favorite pictures. None of Parker since he was in the Baby Bjorn the whole time!

This girl knows how to relax...and look cute doing it!

He had no desire to be anywhere near the water but LOVES playing in the sand.

Hello, my cute husband! I just love this picture of him. Enjoying a little kite flying.

Pizazz

Evan: "Maren, you have such pizazz!"

Emma: "Maren, you're such a sassy girl!"

Cousins

Mine and my sister's kids are all close in age. It's fun now and I'm assuming it will only get more and more so as the years pass.

A year and a month apart


8 weeks apart

7 weeks apart...with my mom! (Please ignore the disastrous desk!)

Water, Water Everywhere!

This post is seriously lacking in good pictures and pictures with removed red eye (note to self: must load Photo Shop onto the computer again!) but I'm getting it on here anyway and I'll fix it up later.

We went to Great Wolf Lodge again last weekend and had a blast, despite some illness. Maren had gotten the [supposed] swine flu on Halloween and she was still coughing when we went to GWL. Evan got sick the day we left. Even with those things and a 3-month-old in tow, we were able to enjoy lots of things there. Evan was tall enough to go on the big tube slides this time and LOVED them. After Michael finally got him to go on one (took about 20 minutes of talking at the top of the slide!), Evan wanted to go down with me. He wanted to go down the fast one. I was nervous. I screamed just about all the way down and Evan was laughing and squealing. He just loved the fact that I was freaked out. Maren went on the "purple slide" probably 100 times...down the slide, walk back around to the stairs, up the stairs, down the slide... Parker was a champ, being happy when he was awake, nursing well in the 84 degree environment with only a swim diaper on, and sleeping in people's arms. And I went on the craziest water slide there probably is anywhere! It's like a roller coaster, only on a tube in the water. Crazy fun! Here are totally random pictures from our trip...

This is how we spent some of our evening in the hotel room...nebulizing poor swine flu-coughing Maren. She was such a sport! To cut through the boredom...Pixar shorts on the iPod. Looks like even Parker is getting into it!

The kids in their big beds. Go to Great Wolf Lodge on a weekday in November! There was hardly anyone there and we got upgraded from the cheap room to a two-room suite with a fireplace and two bathrooms that sleeps up to eight! Too bad we didn't know that was going to happen sooner and we could've invited another family along!

And the only picture from the waterpark...me and Parker...since we spent so much time together. Yeah, who cares about me here, but Parker. Now that kid is a cutie! Couldn't pass up this picture!