Merry Christmas Everyone!

Grandpa Donaldson

Grandpa Donaldson comes into town every year for Thanksgiving and this year was the first time he met Breaker!  It seems like we never make it up to Utah so it's nice that we are able to see him at least once a year.  The kids really like him and although he is big and seems rough and tough, he's a total softy!!!

He treated us all to dinner the day before he left.  We can't wait to see him next year!

You can't tell it from this picture, but.....

She lost her first tooth!  It was the day before Karolyn's wedding.  The day I had the flu.  The day of Daniel's last CIF game.  The day we got to our hotel room so late that she fell asleep in the car and wasn't able to put her tooth underneath her pillow.  We made sure the next night to put her tooth underneath her pillow so the tooth fairy would be able to exchange the tooth for some $$$.  Well, the tooth fairy was so exhausted from the wedding, and Breaker's rash was in it's all time WORSE state that the tooth fairy forgot (gasp!).  "Apparently", the tooth fairy was super busy because lots of kids lost a tooth that day so she was forgiven.  Lucky for Brooklyn - she came the next night with a few extra dollars because of all the mishaps.  Phew.

ps - don't ever get a cybershot - they suck! (my mom would be so mad if she knew I just said that - she hates that phrase).  I'm throwing it in the trash and gonna stick to my dslr from now on which I never use because it's just easier to lug the little camera everywhere.  That's why I'm getting rid of the little one so I have no excuse.  rrrrrrr.

We just can't stay away from this place

We got Disneyland passes.  Again.  It's the Jensen's fault - they made us go with them while they were in town.

The best part: we walked onto every ride the first week we got the passes, so we went again last week and only waited maybe 5 minutes per ride.  It was fun for Brielle because she is now tall enough to go on pretty much everything!  We took her on Hotel Tower of Terror and she LOVED it.  Morgan and Brielle had their hands in the air the whole ride - I couldn't believe it because I thought for sure they would be terrified.  Brooklyn on the other hand...I couldn't stop laughing the whole ride and Brooklyn's face - it was classic.  Let's just say, she didn't enjoy it as much as her sister.  During the ride I asked her if she was okay and she shook her head and said "No, I'm not okay".  She quickly changed her story though once we got off and everyone else liked it :)

Well, I guess - here's to another year.

"It sure is exhausting playing with those girls..."

The day before Karolyn's wedding - I got the flu.  I was feeling miserable and I was not wanting to spread it and have the kids throwing up the next day. Lucky for me - Jamie came to the rescue and came over to help with the kids so I could recoup.  Mike's sisters are such great helpers - I love them!

 This is how Breaker fell asleep for her:  

That's right.  In the middle of the girls bedroom while everyone was playing!  As long as he has his paci and his blankey, this kid could fall asleep anywhere.  Love it.

Claremont's #8 - The leading passer in the CIF Southern Section

I know I'm totally bragging, but he is good and we love watching him play.  Brielle says Daniel is her "favorite aunt" but she is fickle, bribe her with candy and you'll likely be the new favorite.

On a totally different note: Breaker is rolling like crazy and chewing everything in sight.  He has TWO teeth and has had a horrible rash all over his body (including diaper area) for the last 6 weeks.  Been to the pediatrician twice as well as the dermatologist twice - have treated it with everything we could think of and it's still there.  We have done everything we can think of from switching detergents to switching soaps/lotions, foods, blankets.  The only other thing I can think of is that maybe he has a milk allergy???  Anyone with any experience in this area?  I'd love to hear what you think!  

My Birthday!!!

It was perfect.  Brooklyn had the day off from school, got my house cleaned, we went out to dinner, opened presents and I somehow managed to stick to my diet and avoided the birthday cake (don't ask me how!)

This is what our friday nights for the last 5 and next 5 weeks will consist of...

It's Daniel's senior year this year - and Claremont (minus one game) has been really good!  The girls love to copy all of the cheer moves, chat with their cousins and eat popcorn.  Breaker could do without it all - especially when everyone jumps up and cheers.  He hates it!  

Daniel is being filmed for a documentary on recruiting (I think) so his camera man comes to the games and we pretty much had to bribe the girls to "act normal" instead of standing 2 inches away from the camera showing all their moves to the camera man when he filmed in the stands.  Good thing we aren't a reality show!  It's been fun watching Daniel this year - he's having an awesome year and he loves his loyal supporters -the kids, although I'm sure the people around us could do without :)

Go Wolfpack!

Why are my kids so CRAZY?

My children went to bed at 7:00 tonight.  Breaker, because his sisters cannot resist "checking" on him while he is napping - therefore, his naps weren't very long today.  The girls, because they decided that while I was feeding the baby and getting him down for the night, that they wanted to wash their hair in the loft so they could watch a show at the same time.  Guess where all the water ended up?  On the carpet.  Buckets and buckets of it - seriously, why are my kids so crazy?

Random bullet points.

* Brielle really wants to be Ashley.  For months now, she has made Mike & I and Brooklyn for that matter, call her Ashley on a daily basis.  Guess what Brielle is now telling me she wants to be for Halloween?  You got it, Ashley.  I've tried to figure out who Ashley is: is she someone in her preschool class, or is it a girl on tv or in a movie she's watched, is she some imaginary person she's made up, but I still have no answers.  What I know about Ashley: she lives in a house, she likes to wear skirts and dresses, she isn't on a tv show or in a movie she is just a person she's never met.  Um, okay?  I guess you can be Ashley for Halloween, should be an easy one.  I'm trying to talk her into being Jessie form Toy Story since we have the hand me down costume, but no luck yet.  It would be weird for her to be "Ashley" for Halloween.  I'd have too much explaining her costume to do.

* Breaker is the BEST best sleeper right now.  He falls asleep on his own, in his crib, while I lay him down wide awake.  It's awesome.  He is my first baby to do this.  I will admit though, it's totally hard not to just rock and snuggle him while he's sleepy because that's the only time he'll lay down his head and cuddle.  I just have to remind myself what the girls were like at this age and how I had to spend half of my life at that point trying to get them down for a nap without me right there with them.

* I am an addict.  Seriously.  I started a diet last week that involves no sugar.  I cannot handle it!  All I think about is a homemade brownie or cookie - and I'm not kidding.  I'm miserable, but I need to lose baby weight and not just from this baby, from the one before that, and the one before that.  It sucks.  That's all there is to it.

* I also think I have a head sweating problem.  I rarely sweat anywhere else, always from my head - isn't that weird?  And I sweat like a man - when I work out, I am drenched...it's gross.  I never understand how people only wash their hair once a week.  Either they never work out, or they work out and shower but don't wash their hair which, just the though of that grosses me out.

* I can't get enough of Breaker smiling and laughing.  I love this stage.  He is into peek a boo right now and if you scare him a little, he thinks it's hilarious.  He will cry if you scare him a lot though, and let me tell you - he gets scared at Daniel's football games when anything exciting happens on the field and the crowd cheers.  He screams bloody murder every time people cheer, I feel kind of bad for subjecting him to that but I know he's got to just get used to it.

Guess what I will be buying my kids:

Brooklyn had 2 cavities filled, Brielle had 3 filled.

I promise I brush my kids teeth!  Brooklyn has not wanted to eat ANYTHING with sugar in it since.

They were surprisingly SO good while the dentist filled them and I almost wanted to cry when they called Brielle back because I stood up with her and she said "no no no Mom, I'll go back all by myself" 

Isn't 3 too young to be that independent?

Has it really been four months already???

Breaker's 4 month stats: 16 lbs. 11oz. - 26 in. long - 75% for both.

I started feeding him rice cereal on Friday - the first three days he was kicking every bite out so I decided to warm it up & see how it went  - and he loved it!  He is getting so big and fun to interact with, he loves to coo and smile, he is rolling over (from tummy to back only) grabbing his feet constantly and laughing when you tickle him.  He is at such a fun stage right now - I love it!

Oh NO!

We have a serious thumb sucker on our hands!  We keep popping his thumb out of his mouth and sticking his paci in it instead BUT he kicks that paci right out and shoves his thumb right back in.  It makes me a little nervous because thumbs you can't take away - Mike said he sucked his thumb until he was probably five.  Great.

I will have to admit though - he looks so dang cute doing it!   

30

I threw Mike a surprise 30th party on his birthday and I was just happy that he actually ended up being surprised because I was so worried that he would figure it out somehow!  Not to mention it's 30, isn't that already such a predictable year to have a surprise party?  It was 80's style to celebrate the year of his birth and as you can see there were some pretty sweet outfits that were sported :)  I didn't get one dang picture the whole night so I'm glad my Dad took some...thanks Dad!  

Mike loved it and couldn't believe that all of his friends got babysitters and came out to my parents house just for him.  He kept saying "wow, that was nice of everybody!" so thanks to all that came...I knew it meant a lot to him!          

First Day Of School

She was SO excited for this day to come and was not nervous at all.  She looks so cute and grown up in this picture and she was beaming with pride over her outfit that she got to pick out at Justice all by herself!  Two of her favorite things in the world combined: skirts and dogs.

 
Brielle was disappointed that she couldn't stay and go to kindergarten as well...but I think she enjoys the quiet time she gets by herself when Brooklyn is gone.

Breaker happened to wake up 4 times that night and combined with my anxiety over Brooklyn's first day meant that I got 2 hours of sleep that night.  I made a lovely first impression with no make-up and messy hair dropping her off on the first day I'm sure :)  She probably would have been so embarrassed if she was any older...good thing she's not.

He is not a fan of his car seat but does a good job everyday helping Brielle and I dropping off and picking up his sister (which is kind of a pain!)

Don't Brooklyn and Mike look so much alike in this picture?

The first week of school I sent her lunches in the brown bags and she let me know that nobody uses brown bags, they all have lunch pails and that she wanted a lunch pail too.  She used such a sad tone when she told me that I felt like the worst Mom of the year.  Needless to say she got her lunch pail.  She also wanted to buy a lunch for the first time today - which is a total waste if you ask me because she hardly makes a dent in the lunches I send her, and today after school she told me that she only got to eat one bite of her apple, a lick of her carrot and didn't even get to taste her hot dog before lunch was over.  I think she talks too much instead of eating.  Her father's child for sure.

All in all she is loving school but bummed that I run my errands without her.  She is loving her homework and reading assignments and is SO excited about the fundraising folder she just got to raise money for field trips.  She told me that if she sells 23 items she gets a certificate to go to chuck-e-cheese and she loves chuck-e-cheese.  Can't wait. Wha-hoo.  

I love Vacation!!! Who doesn't???

Brooklyn had no fear!  She wanted to go on every single ride.  They almost let her go on Ghost Rider even though she was a few inches too short.  I am SO glad she didn't go!  She would have been scarred for life.  I know because I was!  I loved sitting next to her on the roller coasters because her laugh was so cute.  She laughed the whole ride through too...that had to be the best part of the day.  

The only bummer was the weather!  It was high 60's low 70's the whole week and overcast until 2 :(  The one sunny day we had was super windy at the beach...it kind of ruined our beach plans for the week!

Whoops...we weren't suppose to feed the fish.  Shhhhh.....

Karolyn and Alex came down for a few days for a wedding, a baby blessing and to hang out.  We got together with his family one night.  Looks like she will be marrying into a good one :)!  The kids thought it was hilarious when Alex played his guitar and sang goodnight to them, silly girls!  Once one starts to laugh, they all join in.  

I'm pretty sure that one week is not enough!  Next year we need two weeks.  The kids had so much fun together and I loved having Mike with us all week.  This year was really fun.