Grearing Up for Take Steps 2010

This years Take Steps 2010 is right around the corner! We are only 25 days away from showing Addison our support and love by walking to fight Crohn's Disease.

We raised a lot of money for research last year and are hoping to match or pass last years fund-raising!!! 96% of everything raised goes to research and 100% is tax deductible :)
Thanks for your support by either joining our team and walking with us or donating towards research to find a cure!!

Daderday

This past Saturday was the kids first Daderday! Dad took Adam, Addison and Alex out for an afternoon full of fun. They started their day at Matukus Island. This is like a McDonald's in the South Pacific on steroids. After a few hours of fun they had lunch at Burger King.

As if that wasn't a fun enough day they came home and all went swimming. The water was 56 degrees, but they all had a great time! Each of the kids has talked about their Daderday these past few days and are all excited for the next one to come, what a great Dad :)

3 Months

Tuesday our sweet Amelia turned three months. Time seems to be flying by with our sweet Amelia. We weren't prepared to take single portraits of Amelia when we took family photos so last night we returned to "our spot" and focused on getting a few good shots of Amelia. These are a few of my favorites. I love the fingers in the mouth, if you double click and make the picture larger you can even see that she is holding flowers in her hand for a few of the pictures. I know that Amelia was a surprise, but I LOVE surprises and she was a great one for our family!

The Old Saying Still Rings True

I am a mom of four wonderful children. Over the past two days I have run a few errands with my children by my side. For some reason people feel that their input and comments are wanted and unoffensive. THEY ARE WRONG!! Yesterday when Adam came home from school I took all four kids to the mall. I had Alex and Addison in the stroller, Adam was walking beside me in flip flops (not a good idea) and I was carrying Amelia. I had a plan...I was going to go in and conquer. When we were walking through the stores people would look at me and say things like "Wow, you have your hands full." The kids were doing pretty well I thought. Addison and Alex were a little restless, but they weren't going completely insane... No one was crying or screaming at the top of their lungs or running around like wild children.
Today I took Addison, Alex and Amelia to Costco for diapers (the sale started today)! I had Alex in the back of the cart, I was holding Amelia and Addison was beside me (most of the time)! When I was checking out Addison wondered over to the window to watch the pizza being made. Alex was standing up in the back of the cart with his Wii light sword and I was still holding Amelia. Addison began to self stimulate by twirling. The cashier said "I wish I could have behaved like that when I was a kid". After I paid I went over to the snack bar to get the kids hot dogs. Addison was by the cart sitting on the floor and Alex was still standing the in cart with his sword. A few ladies walked up and were standing by him, I would tell them he was fine. Then a lady came up and took his sword away from him and handed it to me. He wasn't hurting anyone...he wasn't even around anyone. Unless you were standing a foot around him he wasn't going to touch you with his sword. The final blow of this outing was as I was walking out the door. An lady looked in my cart and said a snide remark about my purchases.
I really thought we were doing well...I thought the kids were doing alright for the most part. Don't they remember the saying... Until you walk a mile in my shoes (flip flops) don't judge me.
I find it very interesting how people think that their short encounter with your family be it at a store, church or in your home gives you the true indication of what your children are like. Even more than that I think it is crazy for them to think that as a mom I haven't either tried and failed their wonderful suggestion before or never attempted to be a parent.
Let them hold Addison down to get her blood drawn every 4 weeks, and go to multiple doctor visits each week. Are they the ones functioning on little sleep from nursing Amelia the night before or trying to entertain and keep up with Alex? Did they work on homework til 9:00 pm? Do they even have children, and no dogs don't count!
Sorry for my rant...
Just when you think you are getting the hang of things people kick ya right in the stomach. I feel that I do my very best and so do my little ones...if you think that you can do better feel free to trade shoes with me, I can always use a break :)

Christmas in April

My wonderful husband bought me Michael Buble tickets for Christmas last year. The concert was last night and I am happy to say it was wonderful :) I have had a few rough days and nights as of late and it was nice to just sit and enjoy time with Adam and some great music!!

The concert was amazing! My favorite part was the musicians. I was really surprised how young a few of them were. They looked like they had just graduated from high school.

The view from our seats were great. We even had isle seats and my husband let me sit on the isle!! What a great Christmas present. Thanks Adam :)

Easter 2010

Thank goodness for friends!! Adam has been scouting a good place for family photos for a few weeks. I looked at them and settled on a spot. Our great friend Molly came and took pictures of us and then even touched them up for us!! These are just a few of the 400 she shot on Wednesday! Thanks Molly :) The kids were pretty well behaved, but it is hard to get everyone looking the right way and smiling all at the same time!

The kids looked great in their Easter clothes! Addison had a great time modeling pool side! I love the picture of Adam, it is my favorite :)

Amelia had a great time getting ready for Easter! She told the Easter Bunny to bring her weight it candy!!

Saturday we had an Easter Egg hunt with the Ashton family! The kids had a great time. Alex needed a little help understanding the concept of the hunt. Once he found out their was candy in the eggs he was all for finding the eggs :) Adam was the first one done and just relaxed at the table while everyone else caught up!

Easter morning the kids had fun with their baskets. The bunnies were a big hit this year. The kids are excited to make Easter Bunny cookies after school today :) We hope you all had a great Easter!! ox

Way to Go Dad!!

The past seven and a half years my husband has spent the late part of December and January writing a focal. A focal is basically a brag sheet of everything you have accomplished in your job over the last year! A committee of managers meet and discuss all the brag sheets and in March you see how your previous years work weighs out. These ratings help with new jobs and standings in the company i.e. promotions! Adam always holds his own every year, but I am extra proud of him this year. As he was being interviewed before the committee met his manager told him he had 5 pages of reviews or positive remarks. His manager told Adam it was the most he had ever seen or heard of! I am very proud of him and always have been. I am glad that Intel is finally catching on too :) I love ya honey, great job!! Bring it home and I will hang it on the fridge :)