"Googer"

Since Trent was a little baby, I have always called him my little "googie". When he was a little over 1 year old, he used to sit in my lap and I would say, "you are my little googie-baby" and he would say, (in the sweetest, baby voice) "uh-uh". It was always the sweetest little response. Well, "googie" has evolved to "googer". I have no idea why. I am just a nick-name kind of person. Well, googer is approaching his 4th birthday and every day I can't believe how big my baby is getting. Being well past the baby stage is awesome and freeing, but I do love to reflect back on those special days when Trent was just a little googie.

Every night, I lay in bed with Trent for a few minutes while he drinks some juice. As soon as he's done, he hands me his cup and says, "one more mimmet?" He's asking me to sit with him for "one more minute". It is the sweetest thing and I love that he still needs to be babied every once in awhile. He is growing up fast and I'm thankful for every extra "mimmet" I have with all my kids.

Sweet Cousins

We got to have all 4 Duke kids over the other day for a few hours. We all had a great time and Rach had lots of fun playing with her sweet, young cousins. They loved watching her play her DS.

All 6 big kids wanted to "help" take care of baby Sarah. They brought her toys, supported her when she was sitting up and even hugged her more than she would ever want. Sarah was a sweet, go-with-the-flow baby about it all. It was so much fun having a baby in the house for a little while.

"News-worthy" Train track

The other day, we got to have Thomas over to play. He wanted to build a choo choo track, so he basically built this by himself. Trent and Brad were impressed and Thomas was proud of his creation. They wanted me to take a picture of it. They thought it could be on the news or on tv because it was so good! They always have a great time playing together! Thankful for our cousins!

Tragedy strikes the Barbie Barn

Rach has always been an extremely imaginative little girl who loves to play independently. (Maybe this has something to do with the fact that she wants to get away from her brothers...??!!) The other day, I walked into her very messy room and saw this barn scene. I thought maybe the Barbie on the right had simply fallen down. When I asked Rach about it, she said that the horse got sick and died and the Barbie fell down, crying over her dead horse. I thought it was too funny and the whole scene cracked me up. Obviously, it doesn't matter if you're in a wheel chair or if you're an infant...all are welcome at this barn. :)

Go Lynx!!

We are having so much fun watching Rach play bball this year! Not only is it less chaotic and less people, I don't have any responsibilities except being a parent. (And I love that responsibility!) We traded Upward for Rec ball this year. There's nothing wrong with Upward...and I think it's a fantastic program. But, I needed a break from feeling obligated to help and I felt like a clean separation from the program would help. It has been a wonderful change for our family! And, Rach has a fantastic coach this year who has done a great job teaching the girls the ins and outs of basketball. She has learned a ton and is playing so well! She's gotten more aggressive and more confident. And, last year she felt lots of anxiety before and during the games. This year she has had None! She says basketball is her favorite sport and we're just glad she's having fun!
Go #12!

Papa turns 60!

Papa turned 60 on January 9th! We had a great time celebrating him and got to enjoy a delicious meal from Inoko Japanese steakhouse! The kids had never been to a japanese steakhouse before and it was a cool treat watching the chef's cooking skills. We saw him make an onion volcano, a choo choo train, flip a salt shaker into his chef's hat and lots of cool cooking tool tricks. It was a very fun night!

 Happy Birthday Papa!

Brad loses his first tooth!

We thought this day would never come! After months of asking "when will I lose a tooth?" it finally happened! Bradley lost his 1st tooth! He was absolutely thrilled that it pretty much fell out when I was washing his face. (Must have been extremely loose!!) Thankfully, we saw it in the sink before it went down the drain! He was so excited to get to put it in a special tooth pillow (that his big sis let him borrow) and could hardly wait to see what the tooth fairy would bring! We left a jar of water on his dresser so the tooth fairy could dip her wings in and we could see what color they were (they were blue!). Brad woke up and found a dollar in his tooth pillow. He was very excited and can't wait to lose more teeth and get more money! (He's saving up for an ipad!)  ;)