Tanner is crawling!!

After several weeks of rocking, pulling his feet up below him and general balance issues, Tanner has finally figured out how to crawl! It is so cute to watch him scoot across the room now. He loves to pull himself up on anything--chairs, couch, table, cabinets, tv stand and stairs. Now we have to be sure that the basement door is always closed and every little thing is off the floor in case he gets to it and tries to eat it. Making it to this milestone has been monumental for Tanner. He is a little less clingy and much more free to go wherever he wants, within reason. I'll have pictures and even a video soon! (I didn't realize I hadn't downloaded them to the computer when I started posting this.) Way to go, Tanner boy!

Congratulations, Tiffins!

A week ago, we started our journey down to Mesa, AZ to celebrate a most momentous event with our oldest. Tiffany. Tiffany graduated from Mesa High School on Thursday, May 21, 2009 in a crazy, crazy rain storm! We were so excited to be there with Tiffany and celebrate but the weather would not cooperate. So, I took Amelie, Eric and Tanner, who were practically soaked through, to the car right after we watched Tiffany walk in and sit down. The others stayed and though I was jealous, I knew it was too wet and cold for the little ones. We played in the car while everyone else watched the ceremony. Even though I didn't get to see Tiffany walk across the stage, I was so proud of her--we all are. Graduating from high school is a big deal and she did it well--she worked hard for her grades and played hard for her teams and now she is done and moves on to bigger mountains of accomplishment.
Tiffany is a sweet young woman with so much to look forward to in life. Her smile will brighten a room and her laughter is so contagious, no one can avoid joining her. We love her so very much and are so proud of her for graduating from high school!! Way to go, Tiffins!!!!!

Eric turns 3

Happy 3rd Birthday, Eric!
Eric is a vivacious, charismatic, moody, hilarious, talkative, cuddly, loving and wonderful little boy. He is trying to grow up fast to catch up to both Amelie and Billy. In size, he isn't doing so well--the doctor thinks something is going wrong in his little body as he only grew an inch in an entire year and fell from 95th percentile to below 5oth in just one year. I try not to worry too much, but it is bothersome as we impatiently wait for lab results...but that wasn't where I wanted to focus my attention on this post.
Eric is a fast learner. He LOVES to pray to his Heavenly Father. He loves nursery and playgroup and being with friends. He'll talk your ear off if he isn't pretending to be shy or in a bad mood.
Right now, Eric loves Cars. he was all into pirates until about a month ago when he suddenly switched his attention and efforts to cars. So, we did a Cars birthday. I am not artistic, so to decorate the Cars Lightening McQueen shaped cake that we borrowed from some dear friends was a nightmare and stressor--I think I yelled a few times at the kids, only because I was feeling so unskilled as I tried to get the icing to go where it was supposed to, etc. But it all worked out and Eric recognized it, so that's all that counts. We had some friends over, played games, ate cake and ice cream and had a blast. Eric is certainly a blessing in our family and we are so thankful for his loving nature and wonderful hugs and kisses. Happy Birthday, little man!

Knee Surgery

When Mary was here for Spring break, I got to work out a little more than usual--Jim was off to spend more time with her, so he was also here to watch the kids while I went to the gym. Our elliptical at home isn't working anymore, so I was thrilled to be able to go workout. I promise, I wasn't overdoing it. I also played volleyball with a group twice while Mary was here at the church. It was great fun. However, at the end of the week--that Friday night, I was starting to feel sore in my left knee and right heel. I just thought I had pulled something and put heat on it and took a few Ibuprofen. After two weeks of real pain (and I have a high pain tolerance, so you know this was real pain), I finally decided it wasn't going away on its own I got a referral and saw a knee doc. I had my first MRI--it wasn't scary, either, though I only had to be in the tube up to my waist. Instead of a meniscus tear as originally thought, the doc told me I had a piece of cartilage about the size of a nickel floating around getting stuck where it shouldn't be and that was causing the pain. So, on Monday, he went in arthroscopically and got rid of not one, not two but three pieces of cartilage that had broken off. Normally, he would have fully repaired teh spot where the cartilage had been, but that would mean a 6-8 week recovery on crutches. Not with three little kids and a teenager! I may be fine with the make-do fix, or when I have a few months to sit and do nothing, I may reconsider the repair. All in all, though, my surgery went well and I only had crutches for 2 1/2 days. Now, I am working on bending. I get stitches out on Wednesday. I'll post some pics then.

Happy Birthday, Billy!

Billy turned 14 on April 28. I can't believe that I met him just before he turned 8 and was baptized. It feels we have been family longer. I am so thankful for him and for his acceptance of me in his life and his desire to come live with us. I know it must be tough to be away from his mom and older sisters, but in all honesty, he is a tremendous big brother. Sure, he loves to have siblings younger and smaller that he can pick on after years of being the youngest and the recipient of much teasing himself. But aside from the teasing, he loves to shower his younger brothers and sister with love and attention. Amelie couldn't wait until he got back from Spring Break this year so he could teach her more wrestling moves :) Eric loves to play sword fight with Billy. Billy is also a great helper around the house and is even putting his hours in babysitting as his big sisters have done for him. Billy even lets the kids 'play' x-box with him with the extra controllers while he zooms around like nobody's business. Billy has done well in school this year and continues to impress me with his righteous desires. He loves to bear his testimony and we love to hear him and watch his tremendous example of goodness emanate through our home. We love you so much Billy! This Sunday, Jim will ordain him to be a teacher. What a blessing he is in our lives.

Run, Billy, Run!

Billy is in track right now and doing great! He is running the 100 m the 1oo m Hurdles, the 400m and the 800m. He is doing really well and enjoying it. It can sometimes take a long time for his heat, especially when there are 5-8 heats for the 100m and 100m hurdles. Still, it's so fun to watch him and cheer him on. He is a great kid!! Last Friday we got to watch him in Whitefish--it was a nice day, too and I came home with some pink arms. We got there just as the 100m dash was beginning so we didn't get to talk to Billy before he raced. We weren't sure when he was racing, either, or what he was wearing, aside from the green and orange track top. You know your son is changing and growing when you look down the track and go 'I think that might be him! No, it can't be--Oh wait, it is him!!' He looked taller and older than both Jim and I thought until we saw him close up. He is growing and changing so fast from a boy to a young man. It is a great honor and privilege to be able to watch him develop into a wonderful young man~~Run, Billy, Run!!