December Dance Recital

Mia's Dance Recital was on December 11th. We had a lot of fun with her hair-do this time. She was supposed to wear it in a high bun, so we decided to check out all the "hair blogs" out there and wanted to try this cute one out. It turned out really fun, in spite of her being in terrible pain from all the bobby pins. :)

One of Mia's favorite things about dance recital day is that she gets to wear make-up! She's such a pretty little dancer.

Big cheeser!

A pose for or two for the camera from the little Sugarplum fairy...

And THIS is how Emme felt about the dance recital.

A quick pic of the finale' number.

Mia with her Daddy, who gave her flowers after the performance.

Great dancing, tiny dancer! We love you!

Keeler Rocks

Well after an eventful night full of pain, I finally begged my wife to take me in to the ER. Kidney stone #4 (or 5? maybe) has gone from the kidney to the bladder. Plus they gave me pain medication after the 3rd hour. Usually it is done right away. So basically 3 hours of straight labor pain. NO BREAKS! Only I get nothing out of it.

Now we just wait to see if the new stone will pass out of me or I will pass out with it. Now I have surpassed every woman with 3 or 4 kids. OUCH! Wow talk about a whiner.

I am...and so I post.

I am mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. Spent. Ready for Christmas break. SO ready. My exhaustion is coming from all directions. Kids (5 of them to be exact), work, Christmas, out-of-control messy house, laundry, etc. You name it, it's draining me. So much that I can't sleep. And so I post.

Can I tell you how much I love these kids? Every single one of them. They are all so very different, yet they each have qualities that endear me to them. One of them asked me this week if I had to make a choice and could only keep one of them, who I would keep? Can you imagine? I could never choose. EVER. I thought about it for a long time.

Some people give us a hard time about having so many kids. "With the economy, how will you support them all?"

So you tell me, who should I have left out? YOU pick one.

Is it a lot of work to have these crazies? Absolutely.
Are there some days that I think "What was I THINKING?" For sure.
Do I ever dream about days filled with doing things JUST for me? I'd be lying if I said no.
BUT, would I trade these guys for anything? Not on your life.
Each one of them makes up such a crucial part of my life. I am sure that my Heavenly Father sent each and every one of them to me for a specific reason. If I ever lose one, there will be a hole in my heart that nothing can ever fill in. NOTHING. My very favorite parts of my day involve them. And one day, all too soon, they will be gone.
For that...I can wait.

The best decision of my life!

14 years ago today I made the absolute best decision of my life. (Well, I actually made the decision WAY before that, but you know...) This video tribute is for the love of my life. Thanks for taking such great care of me, babe. I love you. XOXO

Emme - 6 months

Miss Emmeline has been with us for a whole half of a year! I'm so sad that she is growing up so fast...

Our little Cabbage Patch Doll just gets cuter (and rounder) by the day.

She pulls some of the best faces.

And has the best body. EVER.

And you know what else? Her dad doesn't like her one bit. In fact, nobody in this house does. She's very neglected, as you can clearly see.

And this is her 99.9% of the time. She is the happiest baby ever! She is SO nice even though she is always getting carted around from place to place. With all the taxi-ing I do, she spends a great deal of her days in the car, but she doesn't seem to mind.
Here are her stats and our favorite things about her right now:

Weight: 19 lbs. 7 oz.
Height: 28 inches

*starting to sit up (with support)
*loves to gurgle, babble and "visit" with others
*is a MAJOR cat-napper during the day but sleeps through the night
*loves attention
*holds and plays with toys, but is reluctant to hold her own bottle
*shows no interest in rolling over (yet!)
*is trying REALLY hard to grow some hair :)
*is much happier WITHOUT a headband, hat or socks on
*loves to grab her toes while lying on her back

We love you, little blondie!