Zane, Emerson, and Smith: December 2012

Woah, this is a big catch up! A lot has gone on and I've been horrible about keeping up with all of it.
Hey, at least we're doing fun thing, right? I feel like 5, 3, and 1 are such fun ages.

Yes, Smith is at a really physically hard age - I have to keep my eye on him every second and he gets into everything, falls down, throws tantrums, screams, steals toys, etc. But he's still irresistibly cute and amazing. He has started playing more with Zane and Emmy and when all 3 are playing together, it makes me so happy. He is starting to talk, is running at full speed, understands a ton of what we say, and is just getting so big. He's about 24 pounds already!!

Zane is half way done with Kindergarten and is loving it. He is making friends and is just doing so well. I am loving his new obsession with his Magic Tree House chapter books. He reads them and talks about them all the time. He gives us every detail. He write letters to the author, is a member on the book website, writes his own stories, plays imaginary games from the books with Emmy, etc. He is also being such a great big brother lately - he is learning to really help me with the younger kids. I left him out to "babysit" Smith for a few minutes while I took a shower the other day and he took his job so seriously. He made sure Smith didn't get hurt and he played with him the whole time. He also has been treating Emmy so good lately - just makes her feel good about herself.

Emmy has been fun too. She also helps me out a ton during the days. She follows me around pretty much all day and helps me with most things. She loves taking care of Smith and Molly and her baby doll Lucy. We change a lot of diapers each day for those three babies! If she hears someone crying, she immediately brings them a toy or finds a way to entertain or comfort them. She is also going through a "dramatic" phase. She responds big to everything - either super happy or really upset! When she gets a scrape, she freaks out for a while. LOL. Sweet girl. She loves preschool and her teacher is perfect for her. Mrs. Serani loves Emmy so much and makes her feel so special.

Here are some pictures from the past month or so, in no particular order. :)

Smith

The moments when Zane and Emmy are buddies are my absolute favorite. They were watching and waiting for our cookies to bake...

Clowns!

Here are a bunch of pictures from our Thanksgiving road trip to Minnesota to visit the Weingartner crew. Overall they did really well in the car. We were completely prepared with activities for them and at the last minute, Grandma Fran sent another packed full bag of fun engaging activities. Smith pretty much lost it at the end of each day of driving but was really a trooper the rest of the time. It took us two days of driving there and two back. They loved staying in the hotels and we made some good memories. On the second day driving there, I got really sick...probably food poisoning...so Zack had to do everything, take me to an urgent care, and somehow drive 4-5 hours up to MN. I don't know how he did it all by himself. What a guy!

Here they are at the beginning of our drive.

Of course we had to visit the Mall of America. That's Emmy and her cousin Fisher in the stroller.

Gigi and Papa (Zack's parents) got the kids unlimited ride tickets at the amusement park so we went crazy on the rides!!

Emmy and me on the crazy car ride.

Smith liked this little carousel. I didn't get any pics of Zane riding, but he was riding real roller coasters and all sorts of rides. Brave man!

Zane got to go to a basketball game that night with the guys. I think they said he had cotton candy, and at least two other snacks.

Emmy had so much fun with her cousin Fisher. They are only 6 weeks apart in age and played really well together.

We had a great time at the Children's museum...

We had to give Smith snacks constantly - he got so messy.

Back home. Just a cute pic of Smith with his favorite dancing Santa.

Zack and I got to go to Seattle for the weekend the next week. My mom stayed with the kids for a few days and made snowman pancakes. My dad and Kris stayed one day and Nell and Anthony stayed one day. Pictures of Zack and I are down further.

Random face shots

Here we are at Ella's 3rd birthday party. There were 14 kids under the age of 5! Crazy but fun.

Gingerbread houses...

Emmy did a performance for her preschool. She had her songs and poems completely memorized and was so proud of herself!

Hangin with her cousin, with their Super Girl shirts on.

Sweet little Molly

Giving Lucy an airplane ride.

Eating icecream - he ate an entire cone by himself.

A day at the park...

Emmy's pic of Gigi and Papa holding hands

Broncos game with Jord and Ben...Broncos vs. Chargers.

Back to Minnesota - Zack, his sister Becca and her husband Chris ran an 8K race on Thanksgiving. The rest of us "ran/walked" the 2K. Since the rest of us had all the kids, we ended up carrying them on shoulders, in strollers, etc. It was funny.