Christmas Slideshow

He walks!

Just wanted to share a video I took tonight of Orion walking. I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is only a few short days away. Are you ready? I think we finally are. The boys are excited about Santa coming and, to be honest, I am too. I love Christmas!

Things have been crazy here. Our heater went out for 2 days, the oven went out (no Christmas cookies this year), and the garbage disposal. That's just the major things in the house that are broken. We are looking to be in the market for a bigger house of our own after the New Year. I hope all goes well and we find the right house for us.

Orion took his first unassisted steps a couple of nights ago, and although he hasn't done it much since, he is working on walking for sure. He is growing up so fast! He is 8 months old now, and is an absolute joy to us.

Christian turns 9 in another 2 weeks!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Heart Attack

Gabriel just gave me a HEART ATTACK. We found a dead black widow spider in the toy wagon under his bed about a month ago, along with a couple egg sacs. Then today I heard Gabriel saying "Mommy!! Look, a SPIDER!" As I walked up to him to see it, he reached down and snatched it up. All I saw was something big, black, and a bunch of legs, and my heart leaped into my throat and I started screaming "OMG Gabriel put it down! PUT IT DOWN!" He dropped it and started crying. When I got a closer look at it I realized it was this plastic fly from Christian's fly gun (it shoots big plastic flies).

I stormed over and threw that stupid thing in the trash. I'm still waiting for my heart to settle down!

Bed Dilemma Over

Jerry was able to fix Gabriel's bed so we are no longer on the search until after the New Year. On to Christmas shopping!

Orion is 7 months old now. Wow time is flying. He stands up every chance he gets and can stand unassisted for 5-10 seconds. Not too much longer before he's walking.

The boys are all doing pretty well. Dominic started homeschooled preK this week. I want him to be ready for kingergarten so he has a math workbook he's doing now (and very much enjoying) and after that we'll start on letters, then colors and shapes. I'll also be helping him learn the following list (from a school teacher friend):

Listen to stories without interrupting
Recognize rhyming sounds
Pay attention for short periods of time to adult-directed tasks
Understand actions have both causes and effects
Show understanding of general times of day
Cut with scissors
Trace basic shapes
Begin to share with others
Start to follow rules
Be able to recognize authority
Manage bathroom needs
Button shirts, pants, coats, and zip up zippers
Begin to control oneself
Separate from parents without being upset
Speak understandably
Talk in complete sentences of five to six words
Look at pictures and then tell stories
Identify rhyming words
Identify the beginning sound of some words
Identify some alphabet letters
Recognize some common sight words like "stop"
Sort similar objects by color, size, and shape
Recognize groups of one, two, three, four, and five objects
Count to ten
Bounce a ball

He knows some of those things but a lot of them he doesn't.

Bed Dilemma

Gabriel's bed broke and I don't see that it's fixable (it's been a long time coming, honestly). If anyone hears of anyone getting rid of a toddler bed in decent condition PLEASE let me know. We can't afford much but it's one of those things where he'll be sleeping on his mattress on the floor until we can find a replacement.

Hidden Blessing

Being a large family we have been struggling a bit recently with money for winter clothes for the boys (not to mention Gabriel needs a winter coat) combined with money for Christmas. Then yesterday inspiration hit me to go through all the bags of clothing in the garage. My goal was to pull out any 12m stuff that would fit Orion (since he's in 9-12m now) but in the process of going through stuff I found a HUUUUUUGE bag FULL of nothing but 4T clothes, half of them winter. I had forgotten about the bag, which was taken from an apartment my mother in law cleaned after the tenants abandoned it. It took two washing machine loads to wash it all, and all the clothing is in like-new condition. Dominic now has a new, fitting wardrobe!

It was my hidden blessing to have the inspiration to go through the clothes in the garage, and the clothes themselves were a hidden blessing. A HUGE thank you to Mom and Dad for the coats they got the three older boys last year...they still fit and are in like-new condition so I only have 1 coat to buy for a boy this year.

Out of the mouths of babes Part 1

These days when Gabriel passes gas he giggles and says "Mommy, my butt burped!"

Christmas List

We have been asked for a Christmas list so here it is. This is primarily for immediate family that we will be exchanging gifts with, so PLEASE do not feel obligated.

Note: We ask that no one receive gifts this year that have tiny pieces. Inevitably all the boys' toys find their way into the living room at some point or another, where the baby crawls, and we wish to prevent any choking hazards to him. Thanks!

Hannah
AIO BumGenius cloth diapers in boy or neutral colors (AIO means All In One)...will take other diapers made similarly (using that brand for you to compare, love it).
Toilet sprayer (hooks onto the water tank in the toilet so you can spray poop off diapers instead of dunking them...not sure where to get them besides online diaper websites)
food-scented candles (except cinnamon...I love it, Jerry hates it haha)....
Alton Gansky books (list available of the ones I don't have yet)
wall shelves (black) & simple black book ends

Jerry
funny t-shirts, size large
Star Wars books (list available of which ones he needs for his collection)
fishing pole & gear (open-faced reel & rod, NOT bait caster)
wall shelves (black) & simple black book ends

Christian
scooter or bike
skateboard
Wii controller (this can be a joint gift for both)
art pack (or anything art related that is for kids)
PSP charger (playstation portable)

Michael
battery-operated car or truck you can drive (the kids toys, they're in the bike section of Wal Mart...not sure if he's too big for them or not though, would have to check)
puppy that is battery operated and moves, barks etc.
Leapfrog handheld game
Wii game (this can be a joint gift)
Boombox (this can be a joint gift for Christian and Dominic too)

Dominic
dinosaurs
helicopter
super hero toys
cars
Disney movies

Gabriel
dinosaurs
super hero toys
Disney movies
cars
train conductor hat (like on Thomas the train)

Orion
warm clothes size 12-18m
leg/arm warmers (I have easy instructions on how to make them if you want/need)
age-appropriate toys
white noise machine (although we might end up getting one before Christmas, not sure yet)
Baby Einstein DVD's

All the boys want bedsets for their beds. Christian and Michael have twin size beds and prefer super hero patterns. Gabriel and Dominic have toddler mattresses and prefer Thomas the train, Disney, or Go Diego patterns.

PLEASE PLEASE get with me about what you are getting everyone (except myself of course) so I can compare and not end up getting the same things. Jerry and I are going off this list as well. Thanks!

Keeping up

Hello to family and friends! I decided that, especially with the holidays upon us, it would be much easier to create a family blog. You can check in here periodically for updates or I will be happy to send out an email notifying you of updates. Just let me know if you DON'T want email notifications.

Of course, living with this many means life is a lot of things but never boring. My paparazzi self is coming back out, and I have been taking a lot of pictures again, so expect to be inundated with a lot of them. I've also been working somewhat on my editing skills so you will see some of that too, I'm sure.

Please feel free to comment. I don't think you have to be a member to comment. Let me know if you try and have problems. I would love to see comments, complaints, questions, whatnot from you all as you like. I also encourage mature discussion on anything I might write about here, as I plan on covering more than just the average "updated on family, this is how we are doing" topic.

Love you all!