I Swear! Other Stuff Happened, Too!

I've been a bit absent, the last couple months.  The late stages of pregnancy will do that.  Things happened, though, I promise.

I planted bulbs, and though only the paperwhites came up they were my favorites anyway.   One of then even bloomed!

We had the usual Easter party at my Mom's.  I missed having Dad there, especially with it being a new house and all.  So much change, but having family together will always be the same.

We colored and hunted our own eggs, at home.

The kids decided to film their own movie, a thrilling adaptation of Little Miss Muffet.  This would be one of the stills from the set.

The Aztex are back!  And we got tickets!  We've been to a couple games and it's always a good time.

We got a car, too.  It is a Mazda5, but not the one from the other post.  For $5k less we got 2 years newer, 50k less miles, leather seats and tinted windows.  Yeah.

A sunflower sprouted up in our back yard, fell over, then produced blossoms all up the length of the stem.  There's probably 100 or more flowers on it.

Joseph turned 6!  He asked for a square cake that was chocolate with chocolate and M&Ms.  He wore his Super Cape to the soccer game, too.

Yes, Lucy came two days later.  Several people asked me when I was due, at church.  I told them "Technically, a week and a half.  In all practicality, any day, now."  I was at that very moment having contractions that never actually went away.  Here she is at home, getting all settled in.

She makes the big kids (all 3 of them!) look enormous.

And finally, today, at about noon, Joseph lost his first tooth.  He's so excited!

Finally!!!

This third tooth has been loose for 6 months. 6 months! The first two came out before school got out, in early June, and this one started wiggling about the same time. We waited through the summer, and through the fall. It's been hanging by a thread for weeks. Jonathan wondered if she was the only kid ever who didn't sit there and wiggle her tooth for untold hours until it popped free. I finally took a really good look at it, yesterday, and noticed that the new tooth was already through, underneath. Enough was enough. I grabbed it and gave a quick, hard pull. Pop! All better. And her new smile is so stinkin' cute.

Next Phase

Elena noticed that a second tooth was loose, maybe a week after she found the first one was loose, and has been wiggling it for the last two months, waiting for it to fall out. Friday evening, she discovered that it goes back, too, and climbed out of bed to show me. Daddy was at work at the time, though. At her very next opportunity, she went show him her cool new trick but never got the chance because it popped right out. I still have no idea what the Tooth Fairy does with teeth, either, as she's lost both of them. The first went in a plastic bag because she wanted to show her cousins (all of them) personally, then disappeared in a pile of papers she's drawn on. The second slipped out of her hand while she was running around in excitement right after the big event. She says that if she finds the first she's trading it to the Tooth Fairy for a Wishing Ring. You can only do that with first teeth, though. The second one isn't quite as special, apparently.

In other news, the new ward has come, and we're not in it. About 60% of our ward leadership is, though. The next few weeks are going to be hectic as we scramble to fill callings.

Super Big Humongus Announcement

We interrupt our irregularly scheduled boredom for a News Update. We'll get back to everything else that's been going on, eventually, but first we have a big announcement. Elena, being the eldest and, well, HER, wanted to tell all her "family and cousins" herself. She has to be in bed, right now, though, so we have to do it in pictures. Also, it's hard trying to catch everyone on Skype.

OK, she's ready.


Are you ready?

Yes?

Here we go:



We're a house full of glittering excitement, here, practically beaming with joy and giddiness.

#5 & 6

Joseph's been running a low-grade fever and fussing at things he wouldn't normally care about for about a week. Thursday night, when I picked the kids up at my in-laws (I was up there for a bridal shower), I forced my way past the ever-present fingers to discover that Joseph has two new teeth. One is all the way through, and the other has just broken through. Speaking of broken, his fever broke yesterday afternoon, but today he's got a weird rash on his cheeks , tummy and lower back. And Elena has a fever. Sigh...