Victoria's Dr. Appt

We just got back from taking Victoria to her 2 month appointment. It ended up taking us a little over 2 hrs!! I had some really antsy kids by the time we left. We had her appointment, and then we had to wait in a LONG line at immunizations and then we had to go to the pharmacy to pick up her tylenol and vitamins. I had to bribe Nick with M&M's to try to keep him in the stroller. It wasn't very fun.

Tori is doing great. She cried right when she got her shots and has been fine since. She now weighs 13 pounds, 7 ounces and was in the 95th percentile. She was 23 1/4 inches long (9oth percentile). I guess she's a a big baby :)

I am surprised that they gave me vitamin drops for her. She's the first one that they have ever done that for. They said that since I'm nursing her, milk is low in Vitamin D and they give it as a supplement. I had never heard that before.

Normal Nick

Here is a picture of Nick from today. I liked it because he wasn't making his "I'm getting my picture taken" face. He tends to scrunch up his entire face when you hold the camera up :)

Future Dancer??

Lexie is so graceful for a four year old.

At the Botanical Gardens

Kate and her friend, Olivia.

More stuffed animals than bed...

All 5 kids

It is hard for me to take a picture with all 5 kids looking at the camera. This one came close, but Tori isn't facing the camera. It will have to do :)

Tori Rose

Tori in her bouncy seat

I miss you Daddy!

I'm Dirty!!

First One InOk, so I didn't stay clean for long. It has now been DAYS since my last shower and our water is now turned off. I'm waiting for the water softener repairman to come and fix it so that we can again have some running water!! What I would do for a long hot shower right now....

I'm Clean!

Rubber Ducks in Bath
I just wanted to post for all of you who wondered how stinky I was getting with Ellie being gone and no one to watch Nick while I shower. The two little ones took a nap at the same time and I turned a movie on for Lexie and Kate and I actually took a relaxing shower in the middle of the day. After 3 days without one I needed it.......
Hurry home soon Ellie!!!!

This made me want to cry...

Kate is a budding reporter. She wrote her own newspaper article, complete with picture and delivered it to me rolled up and secured with a rubber band. I thought I was going to cry when I read it. Here is what it says (with the spelling VERY corrected):

The dads will fight in Iraq with bad guys. The moms and children will be worried about them for a while. 1 year is pretty long for a dad to be gone actually for every one to be gone for one year now that is a long time. See you next time. Goodbye. (There is a picture of two people sword fighting to go along with this)

On the other side of the newspaper is a similar story (again spelling corrected - this kid needs a proofreader!):

The dads are going to Iraq for a year. The moms and dads and children will miss them. It has to go that way. The dads are gone right now. It is sad for everyone. In 2 years the dads will return forever and ever. It is happy for everyone and the dads will come back with their kids and wife.

Andrea's Wedding

I have been talking to my parents about all of the wedding preparations and I'm starting to get really sad that I'm not going to be at Andrea and Dan's wedding :( She is my only sister and I hate that I can't make it. I just checked travelocity.com and it would cost me $3950 to fly down with the kids!! Yikes! Driving of course was out of the question. It would take me a week (or probably more with all of the bathroom breaks) and who knows how much that would cost in gas, hotels, and food! I have to say that is probably the biggest drawback to living in Alaska. We are so far from everything. That of course is also one of the reasons that people like living here - being far from the rest of the world. It is a drawback and an advantage both at the same time. I don't have any plans to make a trip to Washington until we move there after our tour in Alaska. Andy insists that he's going to retire when he gets back from Iraq (although I don't completely believe him yet). He has 20 years in now and it would be nice to finally settle down. Until then, we will be all alone up here at the top of the world :)

Bedtime woes

Sleepy Time IIII have had SO much trouble trying to get the kids to bed this past week. Part of the problem is that Andy usually puts Nick to bed. Trying to get all 5 of the kids to sleep at the same time is almost impossible. Someone always seems to be awake!!

When Andy left, we drove him to work at 1 a.m. The kids stayed up to see him off and slept in the next morning. They seem to still be on this schedule a week later!! I thought that I had a small victory last night, but it turned into a failure :( I took a short drive to put Nick out (I wasn't looking forward to the battle again). He was asleep before we left the garage (seriously). It was almost 8 when we got back home. Nick, Lexie, and Tori were all fast asleep. I frantically got things done around the house while I had the time. Then, all three of them woke up at about 10:30 - well rested and ready to run!! I didn't get Nick back to sleep until 1:30 and Lexie at 3:30!! We barely made church this morning :)

Vacation Bible School starts tonight and I'm hoping that it will help us get them back on schedule. It goes from 6-8:30 which means we'll be driving home right when I want them to fall asleep - I just hope they do :) Wish me luck!