Welcome to the world Aiden James!

My step-brother and his wife had their 2nd baby on the 1st. Yep a New Years baby! And the first one for their county (it's a smaller area) of the year! He weighed 6lbs 7oz and was 19" long.

He is quite the handsome boy isn't he?! And you gotta love the hat!

Happy 9th Birthday Elijah!

Holy cow...I cannot believe he is already 9 yrs old! How did that happen?! Time flies when raising kids. It seems like just yesterday I was changing his diapers. Oh wait, that must have been Hailey. :)

We celebrated as a family at home by cooking Eli cheeseburgers. The kid ate a double cheeseburger...it was huge! Then he got to open his presents and we had ice cream cake to end the night. Yummy!

He got a couple DS games (the ones we got him for Christmas were too hard), a new Nerf gun with an extra set of "bullets" for his big Nerf and some money. One of the games he got is Transformers and the kid is breezing through it. He is quite funny with it because he talks to us about the game as though we will understand all the lingo. He also got Mario Kart and I think we all like playing that one!

(I have no idea what I did to this post so sorry for the funky layout!)

And now she's rollin

Hailey finally did it! She rolled all the way over - back to front - today. Several times even! The first time she did it I was sitting there watching her but it took me a minute to realize what she had just done. She hasn't gone the other direction yet so she can't quite get all over the living room like that. But I do think she is getting a kick out of doing it now.

The funny thing is that I don't think I was truly ready for movement from her. That signifies a whole new stage....mobility. It was nice to have her somewhat stationary (she could wiggle her way all over the place on her back) so that I could lay her in the middle of the living room and not have to worry about her getting into anything. This is just one step closer to trouble! And I tell you, I am terrified of the terror her and Emma are going to create! :)

2008 in review meme style

I am not going to write some riveting year in review post here because, quite honestly, a big part of my year was a blur. Spending 3 months in bed kind of made those 3 months run together. Then I had a baby and suffered from lack of sleep and learning how to make sure 4 kids live through the day every day. So I really feel like my year was consumed with pregnancy, baby and kids! I am looking forward to clearing my head and focusing on other things this year!

I stole this meme from Mandajuice in place of a regular post.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
had an epidural, was put on semi-bed rest, had most of the summer off of work

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't believe in resolutions....if you want to change something just do it! Don't wait for the new year to do it. I do however have a goal for the next 6 months to clear out our storage area and get rid of EVERYTHING we don't need or use.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Besides me....my friend Justine had her 3rd baby (and my step-brother's wife just had their 2nd baby but that was the 1st so it is for 2009)

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My step-dad's mother - Grandma Betty

5. What countries did you visit?
This one.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Money! my pre-pregnancy body (I will settle for pre-Hailey at this point!)

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Jan 6th - Eli's 8th bday, March 12 - Kayla's 12th bday, Sept 25th - Emma's 2nd bday, June 24th - the day we got the van because of June 27th - the day Hailey was born and July 1st - the day my sister and brother-in-law got here for their visit

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Definitely the birth of Hailey. Finding a good home for Chica. Getting Emma potty trained with the help of Nana.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I'm still too ashamed of it to mention it here....

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
If you can consider pregnancy and low amniotic fluid and illness then sure! Oh I had some horrible sinus thing going on in June too.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Boy...didn't do a lot of buying of anything with the exception of the van and that was a have to not necessarily a want to

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Kayla, Eli and Emma for how well they all adjusted to my bed rest and to bringing yet another human into this house!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I was very disappointed in one of my coworkers in the months leading up to the election for sure! Other than that I would have to say Eli's teacher at the beginning of the year...thankfully she is no longer his teacher!

14. Where did most of your money go?
Uhhh gas? bills....food.....diapers. Like I said before, there was nothing fun going on with our wallets this year since we knew I wouldn't get paid for my maternity leave.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Finally getting to meet Hailey

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
This is probably rather cliche but it would probably be All Summer Long by Kid Rock

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier for sure
b) thinner or fatter? I'm going to have to go with fatter on this one unfortunately
c) richer or poorer? This is always a hard time of year for us but we are poorer due to having half the income for the summer....still trying to come out of that slump!

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I feel like I did everything I had wanted to do this year actually. I guess maybe making a trip or two to Boulder would have been nice since I didn't go at all this year.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Even though it wasn't an option I wish I wasn't in bed so much!

20. How did you spend Christmas?
At home with just JR, the kids and I and then dinner at Nana's with more family

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
With Hailey for the first time and with JR, Kayla, Eli and Emma over and over again

22. What was your favorite TV program?
I gotta admit I really loved Swingtown! And of course the requisite Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and Big Brother

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope can't say that I HATE anyone....

24. What was the best book you read?
I would say Rockabye by Rebecca Woolf and Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen were tied for me. Twilight is up there close too!

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Didn't necessarily discover any new artists but I did help Kayla order songs off of itunes for the first time ever!

26. What did you want and get?
A vehicle to fit my family. To give birth to a healthy baby. New teacher for Eli. Kayla to do track again. Emma to be potty trained. To enjoy my maternity leave and do lots of stuff with the kids.

27. What did you want and not get?
Well besides money.....I honestly can't think of anything! I know there were lots of things but nothing so big that it stands out in my mind.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
The only two movies I even remember seeing was Baby Mama and Twilight....not sure which one I would say was a favorite!

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Went to dinner with the family and I turned 31.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Is this answer getting old yet? Money! And sleep would fall right in there with that one (and the lack of sleep is more from Emma than Hailey)!

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Uh yeah I don't really consider maternity wear fashion...and my post maternity wear of whatever fits wear it isn't doing so hot either!

32. What kept you sane?
Hands down having a helpful husband when it comes to the kids. And of course my mom and my friends Jess, Sue and Lew!

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Hmmmm not sure that I fancied anyone in particular!

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Besides the election as a whole - I am a democrat and work with mostly republicans, some being more outspoken than they needed to be and chose to bring the issues up with me instead of their fellow republicans! These bailout issues really bother me....

35. Who did you miss?
The main person I missed was my friend Lew while I was on maternity leave!

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Hailey of course!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
That I am that 1 in 100 women whose birth control pill doesn't work for! :)

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Cryyyyybabayyyyyyyy - Janis Joplin.....

Kayla's new 'do

As you saw from the Christmas post, we gave Kayla a certificate to get her hair done by my friend Sue. And Kayla being a 12 yr old girl desperately wanted to get it done before she goes back to school next week. Fortunately we were able to get her in yesterday to do it. She has seriously changed her mind a ton of times on what she wanted to do to her hair. One of the last ideas was to put red on the tips of her hair so that if she didn't like it she could just cut it off! Rather clever I thought! But in the end she decided she wanted red "highlights" and found a picture of a hair cut and style that she liked. It turned out super cute and Sue did a great job and did it just like the picture!

Kayla (with a bonus Eli) before...

And Kayla after....it is hard to see the red in this pic (or maybe it is just my computer screen) but I think she looks like a totally different girl! And I think this fits her personality way better.

6 Months

WOW Hailey is already 6 months old. These last 6 months feel like they have just flown by! It seems like I was just dealing with a somewhat stressful, scary pregnancy! And now I have this cute, chubby, attention demanding baby. And by attention demanding I don't just mean the usual feed me, hold me, change my diaper and put me to bed baby. Oh no! She is the 4th....which means she has to make sure we all know she is here and won't let us forget it! She is by far my fussiest baby and knows how to let you know she needs attention. It took us a bit but we figured her out and she figured us out. We also got to learn alot about birth marks and how they work. Of course that will be a learning event for us for a while to come. She is so different from the other 3 kids. Right down to her slight head of blond hair. I think she will end up with Hazel eyes like JR and Kayla because they aren't as blue as they used to be.

She has 1 tooth and the 2nd well on it's way. You can see it just trying to break through the gums. She has only rolled over once so far from her back to her front. And she got stuck on her arm so it wasn't quite complete. But honestly, the longer it takes her to be mobile that happier I am! I fear the day her and Emma team up against me! :) She loves to stand up though. The girl has some strong legs! One of her favorite toys is a rattle that we put in her stocking. She will lay there and talk to it for quite a while. Then it manages to slide down her arm and away it goes! She also loves to chew on baby dolls and well anything that will fit in her mouth really. We started to give her baby food but didn't get past sweet potatoes. She really wasn't interested in it so we didn't push it. Saves on a mess and on the wallet for sure! Despite the chub, she has a small appetite compared to the other 3 when they were that age. And speaking of chub, she had her 6 month well baby check up and she weighs 20lbs 12oz! And she is 27 3/4" long! She is pretty much the size of a 1 yr old! I can't wait to see who my tallest kid is going to be. I wouldn't be surprised if she is the one!

Christmas '08

This year, Christmas actually seemed a little more relaxed than years past. Not exactly sure why since we still did the same routine. We open presents and have breakfast here at home and then sometime in the afternoon we head to Nana's house for more presents and dinner. My dad lives close to her so we usually go to his house to visit after dinner. Naturally, the kids had a blast and got lots of cool things. Emma is getting more into opening things and was trying to help Hailey with her stuff too. Anyways, here are a few pictures from the day.

The tree after Santa's visit

The stockings were laid out on the couch with care...we have a chimney but it is downstairs and we don't use that area!

Kayla's ultimate present....a gift certificate for Tangles Salon and Day Spa to get her hair done by my friend Sue

One of Eli's ultimate gifts from Darlin...it has this little alien with a UFO that sounds like the Jetsons vehicles!

Eli's ultimate, ultimate gift...a Nintendo DS. This is the first game system we have purchased for any of the kids!

Emma with her baby doll from Santa. Whenever you would ask her what Santa was going to bring her, the response was always "Santa's gonna bring me a baby doll"! So naturally that was what he had to do! The funny thing was that I went out one night to buy this thing and promptly showed JR and the big kids because I thought it was too darn cute. Eli is getting to the age now where he isn't sure if he believes in Santa or not. So he immediately looks up at me when she opens this thing and says something about me getting it but how can it be from Santa! Oops! And the really funny thing about this doll is that it says 5 different cheers and my 12 yr old has all of them memorized and moves to go along with them! I swear Kayla plays with this doll way more than Emma!

Hailey with her cool Peek-a-blocks from Darlin

Eli with his Nerf Vulcan from Nana....he also has a Nerf bow (he calls it his big, bad bow) so I have seriously been dealing with not just Eli playing with this thing....his father has been playing too! They love to have wars with them and we all get stuck in the middle! I even got ambushed one day by JR when I came in the front door.

One last little gift from Santa! This was at the end of the day when we finally got home from Nana's. Hailey under the tree with a portion of loot collected throughout the day!

She has a tooth!

We had our company Christmas party last Thurs at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It was the coolest place for the party and everyone agreed that it was the best one they have had yet! Our zoo lights up a portion of the exhibits and you can go in and feed the giraffes while you are there. It does get rather cold because it is on a mountain though! Anyways, I have a friend that we swap babysitting with primarily during this time of year for shopping and parties. So she was gracious enough to come to my house at 5 so we could get to the party on time and she had to make friends with Hailey. You see, Hailey isn't friends with just anyone....the baby cries if she doesn't want you talking to her. Which is what she tends to do with my friend. So she fed her some dinner and then Hailey was cool with her. However, we got a call shortly before 8...seems Hailey was crying and she was crying good. And this wasn't your average "I'm tired and want to be rocked to sleep" types of cries. Nope, it was a cry of pain. And since my friend has 3 kids of her own then I trust her instincts! So we came home early not only to check on Hailey but to relieve my friend from a crying baby.

Friday afternoon when I am picking Hailey up from Nana's house......she has a tooth! So apparently her crying was because that tooth was finally breaking through the surface. And of course I had to call my friend to let her know what the problem was and not to take the crying personal! :)

Family game night

Kayla's school had family game night last Tues that we went to, of course! They had several different areas set up throughout the school with different activities/games going on. Of course Eli wanted to do rock band but it was way to chaotic with too many older kids (obviously) in it. So he is working on getting Nana to understand just how bad she needs that game! :) Anyways, the kids got their faces painted, bowled, did the cake walk and attempted to climb a wall! Eli decided he was going to be brave and try to climb the wall in their gym. I have no idea how tall this thing is but I would guess it to be around 15 feet. He got the lesson, climbed a couple feet and then was done! That was high enough for him! But I was proud of him for even doing that. Let's face it, the poor kid comes from a family of chickens when it comes to heights!

Eli with his spider and Kayla with her Santa hat

Eli starting his climb.....

And Eli finishing his climb!

Kayla getting ready to do the cake walk. Yeah, I made her do it which is why she has attitude. I did do it with her for 1 round but we had an extra ticket!

Pardon the photo quality...apparently I can't even remember to bring my camera anywhere anymore so I had to use my phone!

Oh Christmas Tree

Oh Christmas tree, how beautiful I think it is without ornaments! Hee hee

We put our tree up last Saturday and just before we put the ornaments on I realized I had to leave to go babysit. JR thought we should decorate as a family so he had the kids wait to do anything else. Well as I sat and looked at the tree on Sunday I really thought it would be fun to go with a color scheme on this tree since it is white. I also decided I don't like our current topper or tree skirt. However, I am not willing to buy anything until it all goes on clearance after Christmas! So the kids are protesting not decorating the tree but I am riding it out to see how long I can get away with this! :)

And yes I see the picture is blurry....couldn't really tell you what I was doing when I took it!

Still here!

So when I said not to be surprised if you don't see a post from in a bit....I didn't mean this long! Not that there haven't been blogging moments over these last 2 weeks. I just didn't do it! And because I didn't do it or even make a note on what I wanted to blog, it is all stuck in the back of the brain and it isn't coming forward. So in the meantime, I will share some cute pics with you.

Eli and Hailey sportin' the beanie caps

So sweet! She loves to cuddle!

This was Eli's bed when he was little. We had it out so that grandpa could come get it and take to my nephew Joey. My step-sister is hoping it will help motivate him to sleep in his own bed! Emma decided it would be fun to drive the car so I put Hailey's seat (it is meant for newborn to toddlers) in it and gave her Eli's wheel pillow....and away she went!

Hailey participating in her much loathed tummy time. Emma hated it too! But it's gotta be done if the girl is ever going to learn how to roll over! I know you can't really see it but I would like to point out that the blanket she is on was Kayla's when she was born!

NaBloPoMo....the end!

Today is the last day of November. That means it is also the last day of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month)! I made it! I managed to only miss 1 day which I think is pretty darn good!

Not a whole lot going on in Trumbull's World today. Except that it FINALLY snowed here! We actually got a tad on Friday morning and a tad on Saturday. But it has been snowing all day long today. It was a slow snowfall so it didn't accumulate too bad but it was enough for shoveling! Yippee!

Oh and don't be surprised if you don't see a post for several days. I will probably just be so glad to not feel like I HAVE to do it! :)