Woo-Tah!

We headed out at 4 am. We arrived at 12:30.
 Here is Wyoming...it was the prettiest I have ever seen it. :)

 Then we got to the condo where Juliet found a new favorite place...
 It was hilarious to watch. :)
 Here is the view from the Condo...Park City is gorgeous in the fall. :)
I mean look at those colors!
Then we went to SLC to show the kids the Temple.
 Its so pretty, how can you not take a million pictures of this amazing place?

 Lucas was so into the history and the why. The girls were into the missionaries. :)

 Lucas read most of the placards!
 Juliet was with me the whole time. She is so happy and cute and wiggly. :)
 Then we went outside to the reflection pool.

 The girls met some foreigners and were so friendly and taking pictures with people they had never met. They love hearing they are cute and funny by people who aren't even family!

 Then we went back to the condo so I could rest more and so the kids could hang out with more family.
 The kids had a blast being with their Uncles and Aunts.
We had Moochies for dinner. It was featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.
Philly CheeseSteak Sandwiches. 

It was a great first day here for the kids. They sure do love their family.
I was grateful for the break. : P

Family Fun-draiser!

Lucas's school had a Family Field Day/Fundraiser tonight.  He begged to go, and after how hectic this week had turned out to be I told him he couldn't go. Then our amazing neighbors offered to make Lucas one of their own for the night so he could go and then I guilt tripped, begged, asked, convinced, figured out a way for Nathan to make it and take him. Nathan, after a heap of snickerdoodles even took the older 2 girls to go too!

SCORE!

So here is how it went down...
They had a bunch of field day games set up.


 I love the team work here...
 Scarlett apparently loved doing everything "by my self"
 Then they had a police demonstration.

 The kids went on to the dunk tank the teacher AND pie in the face the teacher.
After that they played more games.
 and then they danced to the music and had more fun. Lucas was horrified that Mrs. Kelso (his teacher) was covered in cream. She had 6 pies to the face by the time it was his turn, so he told her he would pass and not throw.

The kids were there for 2 hours and loved every minute.
Lucas raised $65 for the fundraiser.
He was so proud of himself.
$0 came from us...although we threw in a $20 before we left.

It was a fun time and perfect weather.

Post 1 - Scary Times

*note* this has already happened - and things as of right now are okay.

This post is for journaling purposes.

I went to my first appointment. I was nervous/excited like you typically are when you "think" you might be pregnant.

I have new awesome insurance so I was even meeting a NEW doctor. They go in to check measurements, and due dates and she couldn't find anything. No sack, nothing.

Immediately the OB is talking to me about having a Molar Pregnancy. She told me how dangerous they are and then she went into having a D and C and I cried. I couldn't believe this could be happening.

She decided to send me to the hospital to radiology so get a more in depth look to what is going on. I think I am 7-10 weeks.

I have to go to the hospital ALONE because I made Nathan get the kids from a friends house. I was freaking out, the usual stuff.

I go into the ultrasound and tears are dripping down my face. I can't even look at the technician.

I need to mention she was 8 months pregnant. How cruel. She decided to do the vaginal US just to make sure of a few things and then tells me I need to see the screen. She said I need to look so I have closure. I can't muster the strength, I have been crying and panicking for 2 hours. Nathan isn't there yet and I didn't want to look alone. She told me it's time to just look, she will hold my hand and there it is...our baby. Moving almost dancing. Heart beating like a champ. I can't even contain myself. I hysterically cry and hyperventilate. Nathan walks in just at the right time and is teary eyed himself. The baby looks okay!

We tell the technician it's #5 and she started crying too. It was such a sad and great day.

Read the Whole Thing.

After careful consideration of her exemplary performance in the role of baby of the family;




it is with great joy and anticipation that we have decided to promote 
Juliet Elise to the exciting and demanding role of 
Big Sister. 




She has several examples to follow and we can finally complete 
the company logo with the 
fifth and final installment to our Witte Clan.






Promotion to officially take place Early Spring of 2012.




The kids are (see above) EXCITED.





I will go into the details and emotional roller coaster we have been on later.
PS - we aren't going to find out/tell the gender when the time comes.


thanks for the love and support we have received thus far. ; )

Better than a Card...2011


and now what she's been waiting for...

Happy Birthday Es-tephanie!

Her birthday is 9-25...but I back dated it so it would be special. :)

See ya in 2 years! LOL

Fash-e-on Pick me Up

When you need cheering up one of these - always seems to do the trick...
A Very Happy, Giggly, Adorable 7 month old.

A pair of stretch boot cut jeans never hurt either...

Standing up without assistance is pretty awesome too...

I just love this baby and the affects that she has on everyone in this house.

Especially me. How could you be sad or upset when she is like this ALL the time?

So go ahead, bookmark this page because I bet you couldn't help yourself from 
smiling when you looked at these pics. :)

A Hot Date

This week has been torture - to say the least.

Flat Tire, Flood, Leak in the Garage, Mid Terms, Potentially Bad News, Primary Program Practice, A much needed bang trim, and only 31 hours of uninterrupted Nathan time.  Nathan has had to be on call and work weird random times all week. Last night 11:09-11:58pm.

But through the thick of it all - Nathan STILL managed to get the floors done! Woods AND Carpet!

I got to look at this...

and paint some more, which is my favorite thing to do.

Then we slooooowly got stuff back together...
Here is just a peek at what we have up or sleeves.
Grey and Orange. Sounds weird, but it is coming together so nicely.
The kid lounge is almost complete. I am so happy that the kids will have a better place to do homework/school stuff and a place to hang out.

Today on the list is stairs, picking out the couches, the toy storage, and putting it all together.

I can't wait to show the big reveal. House projects seem to take my mind off the hard stuff - which is just what I need right now!

5 year old ears

There once was a time when I was younger (like a kid) and my parents would argue (gasp) and I would listen and have my own take on things.  I would decide in my head who was right and often times I would weigh in at the worst moments or later on after the fight was over and of course that would hash up the old wound.
There were also times in my life where I would listen extra hard to the grown ups 
because I felt we were equals.
No Joke. I really thought I was one of them, a smaller version perhaps but still one of them.
My parents would decide to take us out to dinner and then I would be so excited I would ruin the surprise or blab too soon because at the time I was TERRIBLE at secrets.

I often remember my parents saying the street names of the places we would go so I couldn't figure things out, or even worse SPELLING the places we would go because again, I was a surprise ruiner.
Not to be mean, but because I wanted to be the giver of good news.
Then once I got good at that they would use stock abbreviations or just the initials of a particular place.
Like TRU for Toys R Us, etc.

Funny thing about all this is that I married my true match, 
because Nathan's mother has told me similar stories about him. HaHa.

I chalk it up to my favorite excuse in the book: 
We are  both first borns

Well, we are experiencing similar things in our house now.
A certain boy in the house who is VERY smart picks up on things and then comments on them later.
Sometimes he is right on, and other times he has his facts jumbled.

My least favorite time is when I am on the phone with Nathan trying to go through conflict resolution and Lucas only hears half of the conversation. So when I am explaining something in a slightly louder voice (haha) than normal Lucas thinks I am mad at Nathan.

This skill that the boy has picked up from both sides of the gene pool also makes for hilarious stories.

Like today.

I was packing up some clothes and Lucas asked "what are you going to do with those boy clothes?"
I told him we were going to save them until we have another baby and know if it is a boy or a girl.
He then asked "Who are we going to give them to?"
I said well, baby Sydney (RV's daughter) gave us clothes for Juliet. 
We will give your clothes to Baby Philip (ST's son).

his response was awesome

"But if you give him all of my clothes, he will steal my identity!"
(he was refferring to a conversation I had about why some people go private on their blogs, and then are so open about their address  and info on facebook.)

This boy is so perceptive and smart and sometimes says the wrong things at the right time too.

Yesterday he told me after a really rough day 
"Thanks mom for keeping your cool"

How do you get mad at that?

Nathan and I are learning to be more aware of the little ears around us. 
Not that we argue, no not us (haha)
but who knows what he is telling others?!?

His poor Kindergarten Teacher thought Grandpa Horn LIVED with us because that is ALL Lucas writes about in his journal at school. 

No matter what quirks he was *lucky* enough to get he is a special little man and we are so glad he is in our lives.

Scrappy Scar

This little girl is something else. She usually looks GREAT in the morning and then...

...she naps. And when she naps, she naps HARD.

Here she is AFTER Preschool Pickup:
 Scarlett can ride the trike faster than anyone ever could.
 She never wants help with anything. Often you hear her say "No! All MySelf!"
 She is the scavenger of the family.  I often find her trying to bust open the #10 cans in the basement to get a snack. Haha.  One time I watched her pound an entire handful of dehydrated refried beans without blinking an eye.  She is the most inventive and eager girl in the house, and is willing to give ANYONE a run for their money.  But then at times she is so sweet and expressive and huggable - it truly is remarkable how different she is than her sisters.

I have been thinking about her a lot because this time last year she was ONLY 18 MONTHS
A ton has changed since then.

This little cutie came into our lives...

and so much more.

I love my little tom-boy, rough around the edges, but likes skirts kinda girl named Scarlett.
Her name was ALMOST Lindsey but you know what? Scarlett fits her WAY better!


In totally unrelated news Lucas drew this today outside ALL by himself.
I will name all the PLANETS for you:
VINS = Venus
MRS = Mars
JUPTR = Jupiter
ERF = Earth
NEPJIN (pronounced Nepjune) = Neptune

Awesome huh?

First Day of 3School!

That is what I am calling it anyway. Thanks Stef Mc!
Bridget, my very social almost 4 year old gets to go to PreSchool.
I swear she poses herself this way. 
I sometimes put her in the category of "less brilliant" because she isn't an on command answerer.

For instance.
I ask her colors, numbers, letters, etc. ALL the time at home. Usually she says she doesn't want to play or she says she'd rather do something else, and because of this I don't push it.  The sad part is that most of her life Lucas is there to say the answers and now that he is at school, Scarlett has quickly filled the Lucas void.
"Bridget, can you spell your name?" Before she can answer Scarlett blurts out "B-R----" I have to stop her because I can see in Bridget's face that she acts like she doesn't care but in fact, she does.

Well. When Bridget met Mrs. Lovely. Yes, that is her teacher's name Bridget walked in like I had never seen.
She came in and I sat back and just observed. A lot of the kids were shy and clingy (thank GOODNESS I have never had one of those kids) and Bridget walked right up to her and gave her a hug. The teacher asked if she knew what her name was on the chart and Bridget was quick to answer: 
"Right there! B is for Bridget, and its the only one on the chart! Its my name!"
My eyes BUGGED out of my head. WHAA--?
Mrs. Lovely asks Bridget do you know what color your name is?
"Yep! Lellow!"
Mrs. Lovely told her that yellow is where her cubby is and where she will sit and where her spot on the sharing time mat was.
Bridget was so happy and sat in her desk ready to learn.
In my WHOLE life I had NEVER seen Bridget act so grown up.
It was completely out of left field.
Bridget looked at me and begged me to stay.

This my friends is why I send my kids to school. One of the many, but you get it.
Bridget is going to get something completely different out of PreSchool that Lucas did.
Bridget is going to learn self discipline, and self confidence (in education) because we all know she has PLENTY of self confidence...haha. Bridget will have no problems making friends and picking up the basics because she already knows those things. But she is going to get something I can't teach her at home and for that I am grateful.  I am so happy she got into this program and look forward to the many changes that are ahead.

Instead of Good Luck I wished her a Good Day.

After school she told me EVERYONE's name in her class.
She told me everything that she did, and that she can't wait to go back.

Her teacher told me she was very patient (WHAT?!?!)
and very friendly (YEA OKAY)
and very helpful (YEA OKAY)

She also told me Bridget was the most confident and seemed very ready for school.
I even found a someone else that we know there and so I can arrange carpooling! SCORE.