My not so little girl.

I can't believe how big Kailyn is getting. I was doing some end of the season shopping to buy clothes for next year. With how Kailyn is growing I was needing to get a 8-9T size. I don't know why but it is hard for me to believe that she is that big. For some reason, this is an age hurdle my mind is having a hard time wrapping its self around. Some other things that make her so big:

She is reading chapter books. Not just reading them but inhaling them. I swear I can't keep up with her. I check out a bunch thinking they will last her awhile but she comes to me a couple days later saying she is all done. Right now she loves the Magic Tree House series.

She did her hair all by herself. Can you believe she did this all by herself? She combed it and put the rubber band and clip in. I was impressed.

Here is her latest artwork.

A thing from school showing she got 100% on a reading proficiency test and is reading above grade level.

Ken got home today he was out of town for the last 3 days for interviews. Kailyn informed us, "Its ok Dad, I didn't miss you while you were gone cause I'm used to you being gone."

I Love! Love! Love! my new camera.

Did I mention I love my new camera? It was totally worth saving all of my birthday and Christmas money all those years and being without my husband for a few days. I just love the quality of picture I get. It is amazing the detail and color difference. So here are a few pictures from my new camera.

Here is the nutcracker that I practiced on the first night I got my camera. I seriously had over 100 pictures of it!

Chase playing with my lens cap.

What is with that tongue?

Jordan loves to look at books. She loves to go to the library and pick out stacks and stacks of books.

I can actually capture the cute freckles on Jordan's face.

Jordan was often my practice subject while Kailyn was at school and the boys were sleeping.

Had to put this picture in. There aren't many pictures of Ken. There aren't many of me for that matter, but that is because I am normally the one behind the camera.

Caden loves to wear this basket as a helmet.

I was trying to get pictures of Chase walking. Caden got right in the middle, posed and then came and excitedly asked if he could see a picture of himself.

Chase walking.

Chase discovered chocolate when someone left out their advent calendar. I think he liked it.

Ken was home one day when I had to teach preschool so he volunteered to watch Chase. Apparently, all Chase wanted was a nap. Here he is asleep, on the floor, in the middle of playing.

Chase's First Steps

Chase took his first steps! He was 10 1/2 months old when he did. We thought he would start walking earlier with how quickly he crawled and started pulling himself to a standing position. I am SO excited for him to start walking. Unlike a lot of parents I actually love when my kids start walking. I think kids are easier when they are walking (the exception would be church-walking babies are not happy to sit and play quietly, making for a long church day).

Here is some video of Chase taking some steps.

First Steps

Chase took his first steps last week.  He has taken longer to start walking than we expected.  Having crawled and stood up on his own fairly early, we thought he would walk fairly early too.  He was 10 1/2 months old when he took his first steps.  Unlike some parents I am SO excited for him to start walking.  I love when my kids start walking and move past the crawling stage, I find it much easier.

Ketchup

Ketchup is my kids favorite food (ok so ketchup is not actually a food).  This post is actually about catching up not ketchup.  Here is some of what we have been up to.

Went to Maumee for the Holiday Hustle and Parade

I ran the 'Holiday Hustle', a 5K.  It was a lot of fun.  I was really happy because I ran the whole way and actually got a pretty good time.  I was nervous for the race because I didn't get to train because of sick kids and unexpected trips.  We stayed after the race to watch the parade.  We ran into our friends the Phillips and Ericksens.

Chase loves to hold onto the sides of his car seat with both hands, so cute.

Jordan got a haircut.

I have loved it!  Not only is it cute on her, but it is so much easier to do in the morning.  No more crying as I try to comb out her hair.

Went to the Imagination Station.

The Imagination Station is a children's museum that recently reopened.

Ironically I think their favorite part was this ball thing just outside of the entrance.  There is pool balls that roll down different obstacle courses.

I got suckered...

into buying pizza.  This local pizza shop had all of the kids at Kailyn's school decorate pizza boxes.  Then they had a day where a percentage of all sales would go to the school and you got your pizza delivered in your child's decorated box.  I'm telling it was a good idea.  What kid doesn't want to see a pizza delivered in their pizza box?  I have never seen this pizza place so busy.  I figured for $6 I could do my part.

We hired our first babysitter.

Not bad considering our oldest is 6.  We normally just swap with friends but we were going to a party with friends so if we wanted to go we needed to hire a sitter.  We have actually used a sitter 2 other times-- once with a group of friends and the second was with family when the kids were already in bed.

All the sitter had to do was read the 3 oldest a story (Chase was already in bed asleep) and tuck them in.  Kailyn has this thing about having a bed time snack.  She tries all the time to get one, ever since she found out one of her friends gets one.  We normally don't eat anything after dinner.  Well, Kailyn told the sitter that on special occasions they get a snack before bed.  I guess the sitter gave them carrots and string cheese, at least it was a healthy snack.  Kailyn is such a silly girl, I don't know why she is so obsessed with getting a snack at night.

I got a new camera!

This is one of the reasons there has not been any updates for a little bit.  I have been having too much fun playing with my new camera to do a post.

Ken won a gift card from a conference he went to and gave it to me to spend however I wanted.  So I decided to take my birthday/Christmas money I have been saving and the gift card and use it to get a new camera.  I got some great advice from my cousin Brent on what kind to get and my friend Leisy found a great deal on Amazon.  Thanks for your help guys.

I love my camera!  I have been having so much fun playing with it.  I was so annoyed with our other camera because the pictures were not very good quality.  I have not actually downloaded any pictures yet, but they will be coming soon.  Oh, and if you are wondering I got the Nikon D3000.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.  We were able to get together with our friends the Phillips and Wielands for some delicious food.  Unfortunately, no pictures.  After dinner and some games we went home and got our Christmas decorations out.  Guess who has already discovered the shiny, colorful appeal of the ornaments?

Pictures from Trip

Trying to make our way to the plane with all of our stuff.

Chase's first plane ride.

Isn't he cute?

Things were going great until Chase started breaking out in hives.  They were all over his face.  Unfortunately, you can't see them very well in the pictures.  He then broke out in a fever and had a fever for all of our time in Utah.  He also threw up a couple of times.  Poor kid.  I'm just so thankful that no one else got sick.

We were one of the first to arrive so we decided to do a little reminiscing.  Here we are standing in front of our very first apartment we had together.  It was a tiny studio.  When we lived there the area to the left of the building was full of junk...old oil, car parts, etc.

There was a Krispy Kreme right next to our hotel so we decided to check it out.  Here is Kailyn, Jordan, Hailey, and Caden watching the donuts get made.

For the funeral service, we threw all of the kids in this room to watch a movie and color.  Thank you so much to Miranda for keeping an eye on everyone.

Here is what the kids did during the graveside service.  Poor kids were exhausted.  The 2 hour time difference really messed up their sleep.

Ken was so excited to see the mountains.  He just couldn't take enough pictures.

After our time in Utah, we flew to Michigan and immediately hopped in our car and drove to Pennsylvania to take another look at the job offer Ken has there.

After checking out the hospital, we were loading up in the car.  Unfortunately, Jordan was watching Caden and turned her head just in time to meet the sliding door Kailyn was opening.  This picture really doesn't do justice.  The cut was actually fairly deep.  Thank goodness Ken is an ER doctor.  He was able to put her back together.

3883--Not just a Palindrome

3883 Miles Traveled
15 hours in airports and airplanes
5 states visited (or at least spent time in)
4 flights
4 car seats, 6 coats, 4 kids, 4 carry-ons, 1 stroller, 1 checked bag (When we arrived at the airport on Thursday morning, I said to the kids, "Welcome to the zoo!"  They said, "This is the zoo?"  I replied, "WE are the zoo."  The security check point was particularly enjoyable!)
3 days that started at 4 am or earlier
1 funeral (We will miss Grandma Kenison. The funeral was a wonderful tribute paid to her.)
1: 10-month old child with fever > 104 for 3 days
17 hours in the car (doesn't count in-town driving)
268: the number of fast food restaurants we visited (maybe a little exaggerated, but not by much!)
995: the number of fits/tantrums Caden threw (a low estimate; NOT an exaggeration)

How were the past 5 days for you?

We'll post pictures and give more details later.  Just thought it would be fun to give you a quick look at what that past 5 days have been like for us.

My Grandma

My maternal Grandma passed away this morning.  I don't know that it has fully hit me that she is gone.  I am going to miss her so much.  My cousin wrote a great tribute to her on one of her blogs.  If you want to check it out go here.  She really did endure a lot in her life.  I think of her often as Ken has had to work so much and I often go for a week without seeing him.  I don't know how she raised five young kids all on her own.  I find it very hard at times and yet I do have someone to lean on and support me (he may not always be here physically but I know he is there for me).  I love my Grandma very much and only wish that my kids could have been able to know her better cause she really was a great woman.  She was spunky, hard working, and loved her family dearly.

Robbery

So we got home Saturday night from a date and we were unloading the car when Ken hears someone calling his name.  I had gone in with the kids to get them bathed and in bed, so he knew it wasn't me.  Of course, it was a guy's voice, so he doubly knew it wasn't me.  It turns out it was our neighbors who live across the street from us.  Apparently, they had gone out for a quick bite to eat and were just getting home when they noticed that their lights were on and their garage door was open.  Their car was gone (they found it around the corner on a side street).  They had been or currently were getting robbed!  So we invited them into our house until the police arrived.  Apparently, someone had broken in through their back door, found a key on the counter, moved their car out of their driveway and parked it down the street, and then pulled their own car in so they could load it up with stuff.  They didn't have much stolen, it sounds like, just a TV and a lock box.  The saddest part is what was inside the lock box--the robbers will be surprised when they open it to find it full of medical degree information and letters the couple had written to each other (they are recently married).  We think they may have been targeted because they are both doctors, actually residents.  I am so thankful it wasn't us!  Of course, they may have seen our tricycles parked in the driveway and our peeling paint on our house and realized we have absolutely nothing valuable (other than our laptop).  No nice TV, no Wii, no money laying around, no fancy electronics, no gold, no fine silver or china.

0 for 5

Zero for five!  That's how many cavities were found in the five of us who went to the dentist (Kailyn, Jordan, Caden, Ken, and me).  Hurray!!  Chase did not get his tooth checked but they did think his tooth was adorable.  This was Jordan's and Caden's first time at the dentist.  All of the kids did amazing!  The staff were all amazed at how well they all did--no tears, no crying, no trying to get away.  They said we are welcome back anytime.

We were told we were destined for major orthodontic work.  All of our kids have crowding issues, especially Jordan.  Her teeth are already all crooked and that's her baby teeth.