Van Ginkel Family Blog

Just some cute pics!!

2010-10-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

I'm almost caught up with all our pics....HOORAY!!! I really need to do this more often so I don't have to post six months worth of pics at once!! Here are some random pics that don't warrant a whole post by themselves, but that are cute none the less!! :O)

Pa and Riet came over labor day weekend, and I couldn't resist taking this adorable picture! She loves grandpa!!!

This was just a day at the park, but I had fun taking pics of my kiddos. Don't you just love Allies crazy hair!! She's got it goin on in the front, with nothin in the back!!!! :) It almost looks like a hairpiece!!

Speaking of hair, I'm lovin doing Emily's hair lately. The hair that she cut is finally growing out so I can do it again! Emily loves having her hair done, although she's not the happiest camper while it's being done! We're growing out her bangs, and I think she looks adorable! She's getting so big!

Hooray for pigtails!!!

Allie was 5 1/2 months when she started sitting up! This was the first time that she actually did it. We put pillows all around her so she wouldn't hurt herself too badly when she fell, which worked out well! I can't believe she's already sitting up....crazy!!

Alright!!! I think we're all caught up!!! Yippeee!!

First Day of School

2010-10-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

August 16th was Jonathans first day of kindergarten. My how time flies!!! Jonathan is such a sweet fun boy, and I knew he would do great! He is a bit shy, but thankfully he met a friend the first day that loved the wii as much as he does! :)

Quite a few kids had a hard time the first day, but Jonathan did really well. He wanted me to sit next to him for a minute, but then he was fine. Their first day was just an orientation day. Families were welcome to come and stay the whole day while the kids got comfortable with their surroundings. Emily was so sad when we had to leave Jona! She kept asking when we were going to see him. She sure loves her big brother!!

The dentist!!

2010-10-03T12:52:00.000-07:00

In July we finally took our kids to see the dentist! Poor Jonathan was five and hadn't seen the dentist yet, so I figured it was time. I was worried about how the kids would react, but they did just fine! It helped that the lady that cleaned their teeth was super nice....annoyingly super nice....like, I almost couldn't handle it nice. But it helped the kids, so it was ok. She explained to them what she was going to do, and how it was going to feel. It seemed to really help. They also had tv screens in the ceiling so the kids were distracted. Both the kids did fabulous and we had no cavities!!! Yahoo!!

I love my Jona!!

2010-10-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

How could you not smile when you look at this face?? I mean really????

Jonathan is FIVE!!!!

2010-09-15T22:01:00.001-07:00

On June 30th Jonathan turned 5 years old! We've decided to only do a big party every other year, so we told Jona that he could pick one friend to take to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday. He picked his friend Nathan from church, and they had a great time! Nathan gave Jonathan a nerf gun that Jona LOVED!!

That evening we had a family party. Jonathan loves Super Mario Bro. so I thought I'd try to make my own Mario Bros. cake. As usual, it didn't turn out exactly like I'd expected, but I was pretty proud of myself! We had such a great time having all the family over for cake and ice cream (and of course the night couldn't be complete without playing some computer with the cousins!!)

Jonathan, we love you so much! You are such a sweet, loving boy. I love that you are such a good big brother to your two little sisters! You are so willing to share with Emily, and I love that you always want to hold Allie. You are such a good friend to everyone you meet. I love waking up in the morning to see your smiling face! You are such a happy kid!! Thank you for being such a good example to your sisters. I love you my Jona boy!!!!!

Fathers Day

2010-09-15T21:43:00.000-07:00

For fathers day this year, Jacki and I got the kids together for a cute picture for Grandpa. It ended up being a little more difficult than we'd expected! Getting 6 kids to all look at you and smile at the same time was interesting!! But it turned out cute!

We also ended up doing the same thing for Trevor. Next time we do it I'll do it a little differently, but it worked for this year!! :)

Emily is THREE!!!

2010-09-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

On April 19th, Emily turned three!! I can't believe she's getting so big! We had a small family party for her on her birthday. She loves barbies and princesses! Her favorite princess is Belle from Beauty and the Beast, so I thought I'd get creative and make her a princess cake. It didn't turn out exactly like I'd planned, but she loved it, and that's all that matters! :)

Emily got a new scooter, and Uncle Tony was nice enough to help her put it together. She loves that scooter!!

This is what happened to Belle after she escaped the cake!! Safety first man, Safety first!!!!!

We sure love you Emily!! You are such a fun little girl! I love that you love to dance!! It doesn't matter the type of music, you bust a groove, and I love it! You're such a happy girl! You have the cutest dimple, and love to show it off with your super cheesy grins! They make mommy smile!! I think it's adorable that skittles to you are 'spadiddles'! I love that you're such a big helper! You love to help me empty the dishwasher and make dinner, and you run to get baby Allie a diaper without me even asking. You are such a good big sister to Allie, and you love your big brother Jona. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father sent you into my home. I could not imagine going a day without your sweet little spirit in my life! I love you Emily!!

Family Pictures....finally!!!

2010-09-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

I must admit that I'm not the best when it comes to having pictures taken. I love taking pictures of my own kids, but for some reason the thought of taking professional pictures freaks me out. I dread the stress of picking out the perfect outfits, making sure everyone's hair is perfect, picking a time when all the kids will be happy.....ughh, it's all just too much for me. But, I'm so glad I finally got family pictures taken. Trevor and I have been married 7 years, and we don't have one professional picture of our family......until now!! :)

We had these taken the middle of April. Isn't it such a great picture?!!! I love how it captures Jonathan and Emily's personality! So perfect!

My three sweet kids!! Emily was so excited to wear a matching outfit with Allie!

I love the cheesy grin on this one. So cute! I tried to have Jonathan take off his shoes for the picture, but he loves those sandals for some reason!

My sweet little Emmers! She was a bit shy, but once the photographer gave her the flower and butterfly, she was fine!

Allie was 2 weeks old for these pics. I had an adorable outfit for her single photo, but I couldn't resist the naked baby pic (naked + the diaper of course! I don't even try the diaper free pics anymore, cause my kid would undoubtedly poop....!!). Doesn't she look so sweet?? I'm loving the huge flower! You'd think she was fast asleep for this pic, but the whole time I kept shoving a binky in to calm her down, then I'd pull it out and the photographer would snap a couple shots before she started to cry again. It was a bit stressful, but I'm so glad I got them taken! My goal is to have them taken now at least once a year!!

Baby Allie!!!

2010-08-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

With this pregnancy, I wasn't sure when I was going to have the baby. I had Jonathan almost two weeks early, but I had Emily a day after I was due. I was really hoping Allie would come early, but no such luck. March 25th, my due date, I went to the doctor only to find out labor was nowhere in sight. But it turned out my ob was working in labor/delivery that Saturday, and she offered to induce me. This is me the night before.

Saturday the 27th, we got to the hospital around 9am. It took a couple hours to get admitted, and around 11am they started the pitocin. I'd never been induced, so I was really worried about it. I didn't sleep much the night before. I couldn't stop thinking of Jacki's horror story of being induced!! But it turned out ok. The bad thing about being induced is that you can't eat anything the whole time. They told me not to eat anything that morning, and then I was restricted to a liquid diet while at the hospital. It was ok until they gave me some Tylenol for my headache. 5 minutes later I was throwing up everything...popsicles, jello, water....ewww. Just thinking about it makes me want to gag!! You'd think throwing up grape popsicles and strawberry jello wouldn't be so bad, but it was yucky!! I was glad to have a great nurse that held the bag for me and wiped the puke off my face! :) She even got me a toothbrush after! Anyway, my doctor told me that she would give me an epidural as soon as I was in pain since it was my third baby. They induced me around 11, and by 4pm I was starting to feel it. Around 5 I got my epidural.....HEAVEN!!! I've gotten an epidural with all my kids, and I wouldn't change it! This time was a little different because it numbed the left side of my body, but I could still feel quite a bit on my right side. So I had to sit all crooked, propped up on my left side to hopefully help it numb my right. When I got my epidural I was still only dilated to a 4. The doctor estimated that it would probably take another 6-7 hours, and that I should get comfortable. Around 7pm it really started hurting, especially on the side that wasn't numb! I was crying and asking them to please up the epidural. They thought I was just being a big baby, but around 8 I told them I felt like I needed to push. They checked me and I was dilated to a 10. Two pushes later, at 8:27pm, our beautiful Allison Elizabeth Van Ginkel was born! She weighed 7lbs 5.1oz and was 20 inches long. She had a full head of dark hair, just like her brother and sister had.

Aunt Jappy and Uncle Kent were nice enough to let the kids sleep at their house while we were at the hospital. Jonathan and Emily were so excited to have a little sister! Jonathan couldn't get enough! Emily was a little hesitant, but for being a two year old with a new little sister that steals all the attention, she did amazingly well!

We are so happy to have baby Allie in our home! She is such a sweet and fun little baby! I'm not sure why we don't have any pictures of Daddy with Allie!?? He was there, I promise!!! Anyway, stay tuned for more updates!!

Time to Catch Up!!

2010-08-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

Over the next couple days I'm hoping to catch up with what's happened since we had Allison. So stay tuned!!! :)

It's been too long!!

2010-03-23T23:55:00.000-07:00

Has it already been six months?? Crazy! I hadn't realized it had been so long since I posted. I'll try to update on some of the things that have been going on lately!

I am officially 40 weeks pregnant in 2 days! My pregnancy has gone really well and we're looking forward to having little Allison Elizabeth join us soon! I was able to work up until about 2 weeks ago, and have enjoyed the last 2 weeks of relaxation (not sure if that's what it's called when I still have my 2 other kiddos and all the responsibilities that come with that!). But it's been great to get some stuff done around the house and spend quality time with Jonathan and Emily. I have been working really hard on decorating the girls room before we have the baby. Here are a couple pictures of what I've done.

Jacki was awesome enough to help me paint the room! She actually ended up doing most of the painting because she's stubborn like that! :) I was so thankful for her help though!

I made the curtains, and was very surprised at how they turned out! I messed up with the measurements quite a few times, but they're done now! Let's just say sewing isn't one of my strongest talents!

I mod podged the girls names with scrapbook paper. This was probably the most fun!
I can't find the rest of the pictures of the other things I've done, but I'll try to post again. I'm just happy I was able to get this much done in the few weeks that I've had.

Last month friends and family threw me a baby shower/pamper party. We had fun eating dessert foods and playing games together. Thanks to everyone who either helped plan it or attended it! It was fun having time with just the ladies!

Jacki made me this diaper cake! Isn't it adorable??!!!

Here's a random picture of stickers Emily decided to put on my belly! I thought it was pretty ironic! And now that I'm only 2 days away from my due date, I'm figuring she was right! Alli will be coming right on time!!

Ok, now I'm going to post some pics that are kind of old, but I never really updated for the end of last year. So here are some pics of what we did to finish up 2009!

Trevor took me to the So You Think You Can Dance concert in November! It has been one of our favorite shows, and we had tons of fun!

For Thanksgiving we were lucky enough to have Mom, Kent, Jen, and Ashlin come visit us! We loved spending time with them and playing games! And the Black Friday shopping will be a morning I will never forget! Lots of fun! And Jen, I had to post that picture of you since you REFUSED to let me take any decent pictures!! You know I loof you!! Thanks you guys for coming out. We definitely wish you lived closer!

We had a great Christmas with friends and family!! We spent Christmas day with Pa and Riet! We always have a great time! The kids enjoyed opening presents and playing together! Sorry for the funny pic of you Pa and Riet, but you guys were having too much fun making faces for me! This was the best there was! :)

Emily decided to cut her own hair for the first (and second) time in January. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but I still cried! I loved doing her hair every day, and now it's just not as fun! She's still adorable though. I saved the hair for her special box....one day I'll laugh, right?

Well, I think that's all that happened since my last post. I would like to say that I'll post more often, but with little Allison on the way, I'm not sure how much time I'll have! Sorry this is the longest post EVER!!!!! I'll try to update once we have the baby!!

We're expecting!!!!

2009-09-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

We just wanted to let everyone know that we are pregnant! I'm now just over 3 months pregnant, and am due on March 21, 2010. We are very excited to have another addition to our little family. Jonathan is super excited to have a little brother or sister, although he insists it's going to be a boy and we're going to name him Brandon! Emily wants a little sister of course!

The first time we told the kids I was going to have another baby, Jonathan lifted up my shirt and said, "Yeah mom, I can see your belly poking out already!" I had to kindly inform him that I was just barely pregnant, and that the extra belly was there long before I got pregnant!! :) But we're all very excited! I have no preference as to whether it's a boy or girl. I'll be happy no matter what! So that's all! We'll keep you updated on the progress!

Random Stuff!

2009-06-22T00:08:00.000-07:00

This post is just a bunch of random things that have happened lately that I want to record for memory sake! The first one has to do with yet another one of my children exploring her 'smeller'. I came home from work one day and noticed that Emily was sniffling a lot and kept picking at her nose. I just thought she had a stuffed up nose, but she kept messing with it and when I looked closer I saw a little hair-like thing sticking out of her nose. I got out my handy tweezers, and this is what I found...

It's kind of hard to see what it is, but Emily stuffed a piece of carpet up her nose. I could only reach it with my tweezers, so it was pretty far up there. So gross! That was a couple weeks ago, and again, I thought Emily would have learned her lesson......but apparently not. We went to my dad's house tonight for fathers day. My kids LOVE going over there! Well, Grandma Riet, being the awesome grandma that she is, gave us a baggie of cherries to take home. I let Emily hold them in the car on the way home, and didn't realize until we got home that she had opened the bag and eaten some of the cherries......not a big deal. I then notice that she's sniffling again and picking at her nose. Fantastic. Just what I need! So I get out my tweezers again, and after about half an hour of fighting Emily to pick at her nose, I finally extract this from her nose...

...what is that, you're asking? That would be half of a cherry(thankfully no pit!)! I'm so glad I was able to get it out! Now my question is, at what age will she STOP seeing what will fit up her nose??? ...(and at what age will mommy stop freaking out every time she does??) :)

On to happier news, Jonathan is growing up too quickly. He is so smart, and loves to share his knowledge with whomever will listen.
~A couple weeks ago in primary, the primary president was asking if any of the kids had missionary moments to share. Jonathan raised his hand, and when called on said, "I eat dinner with my mommy and daddy." Sister Nutall was quick to respond with, "so do you teach your mommy and daddy about what you learn about in primary?" to which Jonathan replies, "no, I don't ever really think about church."
~Then today I was asked to teach Jonathans class with my friend Lindsey. Our lesson was about how Heavenly Father created animals for us. She asked where milk comes from, and one of the kids said, "from cows." Jonathan quickly said, "No, milk comes from the grocery store." I laughed at that. He said it so matter-of-factly!
~Jonathan makes us laugh all the time! Last week, out of the blue, Jonathan said, "FYI mommy, that stinks." Where in the heck does he hear this stuff? :)
~Jonathan has also decided he likes to dress himself! I've resorted to small bribes to get him to change before we leave the house!

He loves his basketball jerseys! Awww, and look at this cute picture!!!

Jonathan sure loves his daddy!

And now I'll leave you with a few cute pics of my kids!!

Catch up

2009-06-01T23:28:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for a while, so I figure I'll catch up with what I can. Life around her has been pretty busy. I've been working over 3o hours a week, with Trevor still working full time, plus trying to keep my house clean, keeping my kids entertained, going to the gym regularly, and keeping up with my church duties. I feel like there's not enough time in the day to get everything done that I need to! I've been slacking on a lot of things, but for now I'm just doing the best that I can! :) So here are a couple things we've done within the last few months!

My sister and her husband were able to go on a cruise for their 10th anniversary last month, and we were lucky to be able to spend the weekend with their kids. We had lots of fun! My kids just LOVE their cousins! We played outside in the kiddie pool, we played lots of Wii, we had monster ice cream sundaes, and we pitched a tent in our upstairs loft so the kids could have a "camp out". I even got to take all 5 of the kids(2 mine, 3 nephews) to church with me on mothers day. I was a little worried, but they were all great! The Roper boys actually seemed to tame my kids. It turned out to be a great weekend, and I was so glad to be able to have my nephews here!

This happened a couple months ago, but it was too cute to not post. So, if you know my kids you know they love Dora and Diego. There's one Dora episode called Little Star, where a star falls down from the sky and they're trying to get little star back up to the moon. ANYWAY, in part of the movie they have to solve a riddle given by the grumpy old troll. He says, "Star light, star bright, how many stars are here tonight," and they have to count the stars. Well, one night I was going to Jonathan's room to tuck him in when I hear him say, "Star light, star bright, how many boogies are here tonight?" Then I hear him start to count. I walk into his room and this is what I see.

I had noticed a while ago that he had been putting his boogers on his wall, but I hadn't realized there were so many!! It was absolutely disgusting!! So after I took this picture, I spent almost an hour trying to scrub these crusty boogers off the wall. I brought Jonathan in after and asked him if he noticed anything different. Of course he didn't, but I made it clear that he would NOT be putting any more nose pickings on his wall. Although I found his altered riddle hilarious, I never want to pick dried crusty boogers off a wall again. :)

I think the last thing I'll post happened a couple months ago. Emily has been able to open doors for a while, and has just recently become curious about the door locks. So I come home one afternoon to find out that Emily has locked her bedroom door, walked out, and shut the door behind her. I was frustrated, but we had to head out for a birthday party, so I didn't really worry about it then. Trevor had to leave the party early so he could go to work, but I didn't come home until late that night. We come home to find this...

Trevor says he was trying to wedge a screwdriver in between the door and the door jam, while nudging the door with his shoulder. As you can see, the door is super cheap, and it just broke in half! Needless to say I was a little shocked! Hopefully Emily has learned her lesson about door locks!! I know I have!!

Well, that's all I have time for right now. We've had other things happen the last couple months, including Emily turning 2 and Trevor turning 32, but we don't have any pictures to share. I'll do better next time!

Date night with daddy!

2009-03-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, Jonathan LOVES basketball! He loves playing it, he loves watching it, he loves it all. He and Trevor get up every Saturday at 7am to go play ball at the church. So I was so excited to find out I had won tickets at work to a King's game. Trevor and I had been to a game a few weeks earlier, and I thought it would be fun for Daddy and Jonathan to go. Jonathan was super excited!!

Aren't they so cute??!!

Trevor said Jonathan watched most of the game through his cone thingy(I don't know what it's called!)

They had so much fun, and I'm so glad they were able to go! What fun!!

It's time...

2009-02-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

I've decided it's time to hop back on the diet bandwagon. If you know me, you know I struggle with my weight. And with the roller coaster weight gains and weight losses, comes a roller coaster of depression and more depression. Last year I went on weight watchers and lost 30 lbs. I was so proud of myself! But then halloween and thanksgiving came, and I just gave up. I was tired of counting everything I ate and tired of feeling guilty all the time. So I just went the opposite direction and ate everything in sight. Long story short, I've gained back 20 of the 30 lbs(so embarrassing to admit!!). My clothes are all tight and I feel like I'm always depressed. (Sorry, this is not a 'pity me' party. I just feel like I need to make it public that I'm going to try to be good so others will support me. I definitely can't do it on my own!) So today I decided that I'm going to start out light. I'm going to eat smaller portions, eat less sweets, drink my water, and exercise.....is that light? Anyway, I don't know if I can count calories yet. I'll probably work up to that. But at least I have a goal, right? My friend Lindsey has a separate blog where she writes about her diet, and I think I might do that. I can't afford to go to weight watchers meetings, but maybe if I set up a blog, then you guys can comment and give me the guilt trip my meeting leader would normally give me!! So, wish me luck. I'll let you all know how I'm doing!!

I LOVE TWILIGHT!!!!!!!

2009-02-04T08:32:00.001-08:00

I just had to put it out there! I LOVE it!! I went and saw Twilight for the second time with Alisa, and I LOVE it!!! Can I say it again??? I LOVE IT!! I saw the movie when it first came out, and didn't like it very much, only because I was analyzing it too much. I had just finished reading the twilight series for the second time, and decided to watch the movie and just enjoy it this time. And I did!!!! I loved it! So, if you haven't read the books or seen the movie, DO IT! Ok, that's all! I just had to share my obsessions with you all.

Oh, and thanks Alisa for the pin!!! LOVE IT!!!!!

Our Little Rock Star

2009-02-04T08:10:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to get Guitar Hero for Wii this Christmas. I had only played it once before at Jared and Heathers house, but I knew I would love it. I had no idea how much Jonathan would like it! I hesitated at first when he said he wanted to play with me, but decided that he was old enough to be careful with the guitar. We were so amazed to find out that he actually gets the whole concept, and does really well with it! It only took him a few songs before he was able to play through a song. And now, a month after Christmas, he gets 80-90% of the notes right in the easy mode. It's funny to watch him too because he concentrates really hard while he's playing, and then when there's a break with no notes, he rocks out, swinging the guitar around and dancing. It's pretty darn funny! We have our own little rock star!

Terrible almost-two's!!

2009-02-03T22:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess I wouldn't call them terrible. I guess I'm just tired of cleaning up after my daughter! :) I had just gotten back from the movies, and was talking to Trevor. Emily was out of my sight for all of two minutes!! I noticed she was quiet and went to check on her. This is what I found.

She had pushed a chair to the counter, climbed on top, and was scooping and flinging the dirt everywhere. It was all over the floor and counter, and half the pot of dirt was in my sink! Thankfully the dishes were done! So, I put her in time out and started cleaning up. She was so sad to be in timeout!

So I cleaned up the kitchen, and then looked over to see what the kids were doing. This is what Emily was doing...

She had taken off her diaper, peed on the floor, and was putting her pants back on backwards, without a diaper. I couldn't help laughing at this one! I cleaned up the pee and then tried to run after her to put a diaper on. She ran away, with her little butt crack hanging out, giggling the whole way. It was absolutely hilarious!! Now I know this doesn't compare to what others have had to deal with, especially you Naomi, but this is trying for me!! Jonathan went through this stage, but definitely not as bad!!!! She gets into EVERYTHING!!! Oh the joys of having children!!

2009-01-26T00:02:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've updated, so I'll try to squish the last month into one post. I should be sleeping, but the neighbors are celebrating Chinese New Year with fireworks and other loud crap, so I doubt I could sleep anyway!! I am amazed that my kids haven't woken up yet!!! Anyway!!

We had a FANTASTIC Christmas this year! I went a little overboard, which explains our lack of money this month, but it was worth it......I think! The kids loved all their new toys, and we had so much fun spending time together. Mr and Mrs Claus were up til 3am putting together the basketball hoop they gave us! Whew! It took forever!!

Here are my kids on Christmas Eve in their new jammies.

Our oh-so-lame plate for Santa! But, it's what the kids wanted to give him, so I guess that's what matters, right??

Jonathan got a big boy bike that he just loves!!!

Emily's favorite gifts were her new baby and stroller. It's so fun buying for girls!

We had opened all the presents, and then asked Jonathan if he had gotten everything that he wanted. He said he loved his presents, but he didn't get a basketball hoop. Trevor then told him that he heard someone playing basketball late last night, and that maybe we should check it out. It was so cute to see him go to the door, and then see the excitement once he saw the hoop. It was just perfect! This was our family gift, and we have enjoyed having it!!!

This would be my thrashed front room! It took me forever to clean up!!!

So all in all we had a great Christmas! We had fun spending time with family and friends christmas eve and christmas day, and it was just great!!!

JANUARY

These pictures were taken the first Sunday of the new year(thanks Jacki for the idea!!). I think we'll make it a tradition, although I like Jacki's idea of taking the picture at church. Anyway, my kids are getting so big! Jonathan is now a SUNBEAM!! Crazy! I'm embarrassed to say I did shed a tear or two! He did so good! I just walked him to his seat in primary, and told him to have fun and that I'd see him after class. He said, 'ok mom! bye! i love you!' and that was it. I walked out the door and stood there for a minute, wondering how I got so lucky to have such a sweet little boy. He's getting so big. And Emily didn't cry when I sent her to nursery without her favorite brother! She's had issues in the past, but always had Jonathan right next to her. So my kids did amazingly well!

Ok, I have more pictures to post, but they'll have to wait! The fireworks are finally over, and I should really go to bed so I'm not grumpy with my kids tomorrow! Hopefully I can blog the rest of the month soon! We'll see!

Our house

2008-12-02T07:49:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd finally show before and after pictures of our house. We still have boxes to unpack and pictures to hang, but at least the floors and baseboards are pretty much done! It sure took us forever to put those darn floors down! But I'm now an expert, so if anyone needs flooring installed, I'm your woman!! (for a hefty charge!!!....installing is no fun!!)

Our front room from different angles

The kitchen

Staircase. Doesn't the new carpet look so much better??!!

The family room that's attached to the kitchen

The kids play room. It's right off the family room and the kitchen. Hopefully it will keep the kids toys contained!

How sweet!

2008-11-19T21:34:00.001-08:00

Jonathan has finally moved up to a twin size bed, and has passed his toddler bed on to Emily. Yesterday we went and got him Diego bedding, and I had finally finished washing and drying it. Jonathan was so excited to get into his new bed! As I went to give him a hug, he said, 'You know mom, you're my favorite girl in the whole wide world!' Isn't that so sweet? He's never said anything like that before! So that's all! I just wanted to share!! :)

Cute pics of my kids!!

2008-11-19T00:12:00.001-08:00

These are just some random pictures that I couldn't resist posting! The first pictures are after church one day. The kids look too cute all dressed up!

This is my attempt at picturing them together.

Goofy kids

It was a cold morning, so we broke out the hot chocolate! The kids just loved it!

My cute little cheeser!

Of course I had to post one of my hot gangsta husband!!

Piece of Cake!!

2008-11-18T23:35:00.000-08:00

This is how I found Emily a couple days ago! I left the room for 2 minutes, and she pushed a chair over to the counter and helped herself to the cake! It's actually kind of scary. If the pan had been hot or if I had been cooking something else, who knows what could have happened. But thankfully I wasn't, and it was actually kind of cute. We had to hide the cake in the microwave after that!

Halloween....a little late

2008-11-14T21:37:00.000-08:00

So I know it's been two weeks since Halloween, but we've been a tad busy and I'm just now getting around to it! On a Friday night. I know, I'm such a party animal!
Jonathan wanted to be Franklin the turtle for halloween so I decided to have Emily be Franklin's friend skunk. They both looked super cute, but Emily's was the cutest! She got tons of candy! They would give her the candy, she'd sign 'thank you' and they'd say 'oh, she's so cute!! Here's some more!' I wish I would have gotten professional pictures taken. Oh well. This will have to do!

You couldn't tell what he was unless he tilted down! Kinda goofy, but oh well!

Isn't she adorable??

Trevor was a clown. A very scary clown!

All of the friends and family we went trick or treating with.

This is what Emily does when you tell her to say 'cheese'

Creepy.

Again....creepy. Except for Emily. She's cute!!

7 Things

2008-10-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged so here's 7 things about me. (I wish I could say 7 interesting things, or 7 things you didn't know, or something like that but it is just 7 random things.)

1-I can't watch nature shows...you know, where the lion chases after the gazelle and tears it apart? Yeah, can't do it. Trevor once caught me crying while watching one of these shows. I don't think he'll ever let me live that down. I'm just a big emotional dork.

2-I hate the dark. My house is called 'Safety House USA' for a reason! Every door and window has to be locked, and then relocked before I go to bed. I sleep with the bathroom light on in my room, with my door shut and sometimes locked, depending on how creeped out I am that night. I have a monitor on in my kids room so I can hear everything that goes on in their room. I've always had issues with the dark, but having a husband that works nights doesn't really help things!

3-My tear ducts are magically attached to my sister Jacki's tear ducts. When she cries, I cry. When her eyes mist over, so do mine. I don't know what it is. Again, it could be that I'm an emotional dork. Who knows...

4-I'm a craigslist junkie. I have to look at it almost every night. Even if there's nothing that I need at the time, I still have to look.

5-I am very unorganized. I really WANT to be organized, but I normally try to get organized and then give up. I think my brain lacks the ability to follow through with things. So if anyone out there has any tips, let me know!!

6-I have a horrible memory! I have very few memories of my childhood, and the memories from high school are starting to fade. I am horrible at remembering birthdays, so if I've forgotten your birthday, I apologize! Don't blame me, blame my memory!!!

7-I can't go into Target without going to the bathroom. Even if I went before I left, without fail, at some point while walking through Target, I'll feel the sudden urgency to use the bathroom. And let me remind you that the bathrooms at Target are not always the cleanest, plus after having a few kids, I don't have the 'control' that I used to. So now I try to limit my visits to Target, or carry my lysol wipes with me when I go.

And there you have it. 7 totally uninteresting things about me. Don't you feel mentally nourished?? I'm supposed to tag 7 other people, so let's choose Jacki, Naomi, Cathy, Heather, Pa, Jen, and Jess. I know some of you already posted something like this, so don't feel the need to do it again!!!

4th and 4th Tag

2008-10-16T08:00:00.001-07:00

So here are the rules of the game. Go to your pictures folder and take the fourth picture from the fourth file and post it. That's it. Then tag four friends.

I'm excited this is the 4th picture, because I LOVE this picture, but just never posted it. One night I went in and found Jonathan asleep like this. He loves his teddy and his hat. So cute!

I can't choose just 4 people to tag, so anyone that reads this HAS to post it!!!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-10-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

So much has been going on lately, and I finally have some downtime (for the minute) to update my blog! I know...you're all super excited.
The biggest news is that we've moved! Hooray!! We've officially had it for about a month, but still haven't moved most of our stuff in. We got it at a great price, and it's the perfect size for our family to grow into. Our biggest project has been putting down new floors. The entire house had blue-green carpet! We're not really fans of that color, so for the last month we've been working on putting new flooring in. The carpet upstairs was the easiest. We just had somebody install it. But we decided to put laminate wood flooring throughout the whole downstairs, and that has just been a pain in the tush!!!! Thankfully we have lots of family and friends that have been so great to help with installing and watching the kids while it's being done. I don't think we could have done it without them. We're still working on the flooring, and only have the kitchen left. I can't wait until it's all done! Then we can move the rest of our stuff in! So here are some pics of the house. Pardon the mess in some of the pictures! Oh, and I've lost my camera, so thanks Alisa for taking the pictures!!

The front of the house

The yard. We hope it will get green soon!!

The kitchen

We painted the whole downstairs in a day and a half! What a rough day that was!!

The kids enjoying peaches from our new peach tree

The kids LOVE the backyard!

My poor kids...they've ended up watching a lot of tv while we put the flooring in

Trevor and I workin hard for the money

Our little helper

This picture was too cute to leave out

Jonathan was a really good helper!

Well, I thought I had more pictures, but apparently not! You can see the new carpet in the background of one of the pictures, but I'll just have to update once I find my camera. And I'll put pictures up of how the rooms look before and after.

Another one bites the dust!

2008-09-03T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well, not really dust, more like bathtub! I was giving Jonathan and Emily a bath last night before bed, but had only gotten 5 minutes into it when Emily slipped and hit her chin on the side of the bathtub. I felt like such a horrible mom because I was sitting right there next to the tub. Jonathan and I were playing with toys, and I just couldn't catch Emily fast enough. Once I heard the thud on the side of the bathtub, I knew it would be pretty serious. So I wrapped her in a towel and tried to find what had happened. Thankfully she didn't bite her tongue, but she split open her chin pretty badly. It didn't bleed that much, but the advice nurse said that since it was gaping open(sorry, it's kinda gross!) she may need it glued or stitched shut. So, Emily and I took a fun trip to the emergency room last night at 9pm. They actually got us in pretty quick, which was great since we all know trying to keep a 1 year old in your lap is impossible! The doctor took a quick look at it, and announced Emily would need stitches! Joy of all joys. I got a little teary eyed when she told me this, so she quickly told me I didn't have to be in the room, and she could get other people to hold her so I didn't have to. I took her up on the second part, but decided that I would suck it up and stay there with Emily. It's so hard to see your kids hurt, but this seemed especially hard as I sat there next to her and let two big guys hold her down while the doctor gave her a shot to numb it, and then stitched it up. She cried the whole time, and it took all my strength to keep from blubbering right along with her! But, I'm very proud to say that, aside from the teary mist in my eyes, I made it out of the ER without breaking down! I saved that for when we got to the car! It seems so lame, but this is the first time we've had to deal with anything like this. The only trips to the ER we've made were when I was in labor or when Jonathan had a high fever. So, I'm a big baby, but I'm glad that it's over with! Emily was smiling and waving bye to the doctors five minutes after they were done, and it made me so glad she is such a happy little girl! I know there are much worse things to go through, and I'm sure I'll have my fair share of them, but we'll hope it's not too soon!

It's not bugging her at all today! She's her happy little self!

Swimming classes

2008-09-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

I'm really late blogging about this, but I figured better late than never!
This was the first year we signed Jonathan up for swimming lessons. He had a really tough time the first two days. The first day he got in the pool only because Trevor, the great daddy that he is, went in with him FULLY CLOTHED! The second day I had him and Emily by myself, so obviously I couldn't get in with him. I tried everything, from bribing to threatening to pleading, but nothing worked(bad mommy moment!). I ended up just taking him home early because I was so frustrated. The next day I decided that it didn't matter if he got in. I paid for those darn lessons, so we should at least go. So, we sat in the chairs by the pool and watched everyone swim. After a while I asked Jonathan if he wanted to go in, but he said he was scared. I asked him if he wanted to say a prayer to ask Heavenly Father to help him not be scared, and he thought that was a good idea(good mommy moment!:) hooray!). So, sitting there by the pool with all the moms and dads looking at me like I'm crazy, we said a prayer. And five minutes later Jonathan was in the pool. We went the rest of the two weeks of lessons without a problem. I don't know if he'll remember that years down the road, but it's exciting to see the beginnings of a testimony. Anyway, he had a really great time. He loved his teacher, and by the end of the class he was comfortable going under the water, among many other things. We can't wait for next year!

going under the water for the 1st time

His class was at 9am! He was so cold!

He loved his teacher!

Jonathan putting his ear in the water for the 1st time

Jonathan and his teacher Jessica

Poor Emily was so bored! She wanted to swim with brother!

My big kid!

2008-08-27T07:33:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. Jonathan is potty trained!!!!!!! Hooray!!! We have been trying to potty train him for months, but he never wanted to do it. Thankfully my sister Jacki decided to potty train her son Jacob around the same time, which has helped things quite a bit. Jonathan always says he wants to wear big boy underwear like Jacob! We're so excited to be done with pull ups and diapers(although we still have Emily, but changing 1 is better than 2!) I love this picture of Jonathan. He refuses to wear his underwear the right way. He wants to be able to see the picture, so he wears them backwards. I think it's just hilarious! We are so proud of our big boy!!

Dress up and cookies!

2008-08-04T01:13:00.000-07:00

I found a couple costumes at a garage sale a while ago, and we sure had a fun time trying them on! Jonathan tried on the cat, but didn't like it and refused to try on anything else. But Emily really enjoyed putting on the different costumes!

After dress up we decided to make cookies. I've never let Jonathan make them by himself, so he was super excited. Aside from the finger licking, he did a great job with only a little help from me! Emily wasn't very happy that she couldn't help, but she enjoyed the cookies once they were done!

Vacation

2008-08-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm about a month behind in posting this, but I blame it on my busy schedule......and my lack of motivation to put these pictures up.
Trevor and I took a week off in the beginning of July to take a vacation. We decided to go camping with my sister Jacki and her family for a couple days. I haven't been camping since I was a kid, so this was a little rough for me! My kids were soooooo dirty!! It took so much self restraint to just let my kids play in the dirt! We ended up camping in Carmel, which is about 15 minutes from Monterey. The campsite wasn't what we were expecting, but we did enjoy the playground for the kids, the basketball hoop, and the pool. The kids had such a fun time playing with their cousins.

Everyone ended up getting dirty.........

...but nobody was as dirty as Emily!

I fought the urge to puke when Emily ate some mushy eggs off the ground that had been stepped on and were covered in dirt. Ughhhh....I'm feeling sick just thinking about it!

The next day we packed up camp and headed to the Monterey Aquarium. Jonathan loved seeing all the different fish, and enjoyed it even more since he was with his cousins. Emily wasn't very fond of sitting in the stroller the whole time, but she enjoyed when she got to get out and play. They had a fun area for toddlers, and Jonathan and Emily had so much fun playing with the toys and getting soaked in the water. There was a lady walking around with an otter puppet that Emily couldn't get enough of. We ended up buying her one of her own since she loved it so much.

We had a wonderful vacation, and I'm so glad we were able to go with the Ropers! Hopefully this is the first of many vacations with them!

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-16T00:30:00.000-07:00

We started our 4th of July out at our ward breakfast. We had to get up super early, but the food and company were worth it!

The night of 4th of July we had Aunt Alisa and her friend Shannon over for dinner and fireworks. Jonathan had a little thing for Shannon, and kept showing off for her and trying to get her attention. She thought it was cute, but I bet by the end of the night she was happy to leave!:) This was the first year Jonathan really liked the fireworks. He got scared a couple times, but did really good overall. Emily, on the other hand, didn't do as well. We even started off with the quiet fireworks so she hopefully wouldn't get scared, but it didn't work. She didn't like them at all. We ended up putting her to bed about half way through the fireworks. But overall it was a great evening!!

He's THREE!!!......continued

2008-07-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

A couple days after Jonathan's birthday we took him to Chuck E Cheese with his best friends. I told Jonathan he could take one best friend to Chuck E Cheese, and he chose "Jojo, Kyky, and Jacob"....I know, it's more than one, but it was just too cute. He loves his cousins. He also asked if his friends Maddie and Bella could come, so we ended up having a big party at Chuck E Cheese.

These kids sure have a great time together

The Roper gang enjoying their cupcakes

Jonathan doing his crazy 'one finger pointed CHEEZ' smile

Emily devoured her cupcake, and then wanted mine and Bella's and Maddies! She's so much like her mommy! :)

This was Jonathan's favorite part! He LOVES basketball. (just a side note....that night when Jonathan said his prayers, he didn't thank Heavenly Father for his birthday presents, or his yummy cupcakes, or that he was able to have all his friends there......he thanked him for the basketball hoop that was just his size. Hey, I'm not complaining. At least he's thankful for something!)

Trevor playing video games with the Roper boys. He's still a kid at heart!

Jacki with Bella and Emily. This would have been even cuter if Emily's cup wasn't covering half her face.

We were so glad everyone was able to come. We had such a fun time, and I'm sure Jonathan will have great memories of his first time at Chuck E Cheese!!

He's THREE!!!!!!!

2008-07-11T10:53:00.001-07:00

On June 30th, Jonathan turned 3 years old! I can't believe what a big boy he is now. We celebrated the day before his birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Van Ginkel, Auntie Alisa, and Grandma Riet and Grandpa Jack.

Dolla bills ya'll, dolla dolla bills ya'll!!!!

Jonathan helping Daddy put together his Thomas scooter

Emily trying on Jonathan's Sporticus outfit that he got from Grandma and Grandpa Van Ginkel

Random pictures!!

2008-07-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

I am so behind on posting, so get ready for that last month of our lives!!

These pictures are just random pics that I thought were adorable! I couldn't resist sharing them!

I put Emily's hair in curlers for the first time, and I just thought she looked too cute! It brought back memories of my mom putting our hair in curlers on Saturday night so our hair would be curly for Sunday. Emily left them in for a good 5 minutes, and then pulled them out. So needless to say she didn't have curly hair, but she sure looked cute in the curlers!!

My kids playing peekaboo with me in the kitchen. Pardon Emily's crazy hair and nudity!! :)

Hubby Tag!!

2008-06-26T00:21:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by my sister Jacki!!

What is his full name? Trevor John

How long have you been married? 5 years

How long did you date? Just over three years. Our first date was in December of '99, and we were married in February of '03

How did you meet? We initially met at a singles dance where my sister introduced us. I remember I was dancing with this guy that was holding me a little too close. He had danced with me for two dances straight, and I couldn't seem to get away from him. Trevor thankfully came to my rescue and asked if he could dance with me. I had a super fun time with him, and the rest is history!!!!!

Who eats more sweets? ME!!!!!! I've kind of rubbed off on him, but I'm still the queen of sweets

Who said “I love you” first? Trevor, except he technically mouthed 'olive juice', but I knew what he meant!!

How old is he? 31

Who is taller? Trevor by about a foot

Who is smarter? Definitely Trevor. He can remember just about anything he's EVER heard or been taught!!!!

Who does the laundry? I wash and fold, and he puts away

Who pays the bills? Unfortunately I do.....it's definitely not one of my strong points!

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Which right? Looking at the bed, me.......laying in the bed, him......I'm so confused...

Who mows the lawn? We don't have a lawn, but hopefully that will change soon.

Who drives? Trevor normally does.

Who is more stubborn? I say TREVOR,hands down, but I don't know what he'd say.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me.....on our first date!!!!!!

Who has more siblings? Yeah, me. 6 to 4.

Who wears the pants? I'm not sure how to answer this question! We both wear pants, how about that??

So now I’ll tag Naomi, Cathy, Melissa, and Keera.

Monkeyin' Around

2008-06-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

Last week I decided to go through my kids closet and organize all the clothes they had grown out of. It brought back so many memories seeing all the clothes that Jonathan wore. I found his halloween costume that he wore when he was 4 months old. It was really big on him when he wore it, so I thought I'd try it on Emily. It fit her perfectly, and she looked adorable!!
This is Jonathan in October of 2006. Too cute! Can you tell they're siblings?!

Here are some more cute pictures of my youngest monkey!

Memorial Day fun!!

2008-05-28T23:47:00.000-07:00

We took the kids, along with Aunt Alisa, to Six Flags Marine World for memorial day. We'd never been there, and were so excited to be able to go. The kids just loved it!

2008-05-28T22:17:00.000-07:00

Trevor and I have been feeling the need to do something different, so we decided to go camping last weekend. Trevor's mom was nice enough to give us a tent.....thanks mama!
The kids had so much fun playing together.
Trevor was super tired, and somehow seemed to sleep through Jonathan jumping on the bed!

A picture with my awesome kids!......what's that? You're wondering what's in the background??? Yeah, it was raining here in Cali, so we decided to camp inside! The tent barely fit in our house, but we had an awesome time!

Hopefully we'll have better weather on our next vacation!

What a fun weekend!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-06T23:24:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to have some of my family visit this last weekend. Jen and her daughter Ashlin came to visit, as well as my mom and step dad. Unfortunately, my mom and step dad had to leave early due to family illness, but we were so glad to be able to see them. We stayed up late every night playing games and just enjoyed being together. All the kids had such a fun time playing together. I sure wish they lived closer!!!!

Here are all the cousins together. Kyle(Jacki's), Jacob(Jacki's), Jonathan(mine), Emily(mine), Ashlin(Jen's), and Joseph(Jacki's). What fun!!

Jen and Kent cleaning Jacob's feet......again, what fun....:)

Jen taking a bite out of my hubby. I love this picture!

2008-04-29T23:15:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest things about living in California is the beautiful weather, and we had a great time enjoying it the other day! We had so much fun playing in the water and enjoying each other. So here are some pictures of our fun time!

-I SURE LOVE MY KIDS!!!!!!!-

Emily is 1!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 19th, was Emily's 1st birthday! We decided to keep it easy and just have it at our house. We invited family and friends over to help us celebrate, and we sure had a great time! I think she would have been overwhelmed with all the people there, but it really helped to have her cousins and friends there that she sees all the time. Emily's favorite part was the cake, as you'll see by the pictures. She started out being really dainty and girly, but once she realized it was all hers, she dug right it! She doesn't get sweets very often, so after she ate it all she went a little psycho! She just kept laughing and kind of squealing....it was just hilarious! Once we got her out of her high chair, she just kept turning in circles and laughing! It was just too cute! I can't believe she's already 1!!! Happy Birthday Emily! We love you!!!!!

A Tribute

2008-04-09T00:44:00.001-07:00

My grandpa, E. Dwain Buchanan, passed away exactly ten years ago, April 9, 1998. He was an extraordinary man, and an even greater grandpa. I have wonderful memories of him being very loving and caring. I always felt so special when I was around him. He was very mild tempered, and I don't ever remember him getting angry. He was such a sweet man, and I regret not getting to know him better when he was alive. I am so thankful to him for his Christlike example. I love you grandpa!

My kids are growing up!!

2008-04-09T00:21:00.000-07:00

I was just looking through my pictures from last month, and couldn't resist putting these up. I just love my kids, and I can't believe how big they are getting. Emily is almost walking like a pro now, although she has the bruises on her tush to prove she's not a pro yet. She turns one in two weeks, and I just can't believe it. And Jonathan will turn three in a couple months......it's just too weird. I have to start thinking about preschool and enrolling him in sports. My babies are growing up!!

A BOUNCING GOOD TIME!!!

2008-04-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

Trevor and I went with Jacki and her kids to the bounce house today and had an awesome time!!! Trevor had never been, and after today he definitely wants to go back! Jonathan loves this bounce house because it has two basketball hoops, and that's pretty much what he does most of the time. He loved having his daddy and cousins there. Here are a couple pics!

This is Joe and Kyle's version of 'Titanic':)

Jonathan and his cousin Joseph

I LOVE this picture! I hope Trevor can still have kids!!:) So hilarious!!!!

Trevor had a great time!

ABC Tag

2008-04-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

ABC Tag

I was tagged by Jacki

A: ATTACHED OR SINGLE?
Attached

B: BEST FRIEND

Trevor

C: CAKE OR PIE?
Cake for sure!!

D: DAY OF CHOICE
Any day I have off with my family

E: ESSENTIAL ITEMS
family and friends

F: FAVORITE COLORS
Blue

G: GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS?
Gummy bears

H: HOMETOWN
I was born in Englewood, Colorado, but Sacramento is my hometown

I: FAVORITE INDULGENCE
A huge bowl of ice cream or getting a pedicure

J: JANUARY OR JULY?
July

K: KIDS?
Yep. Jonathan-almost three, and Emily-almost one

L: LIFE ISN’T COMPLETE WITHOUT…
My Family

M: MARRIAGE DATE?
February 8, 2003

N: NUMBER OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS
1 brother & 4 sisters

O: ORANGES OR APPLES?
Apples as long as they're not mushy

P: PHOBIA OR FEARS
the dark, spiders, snakes, creepy people, the list could go on...

Q: QUOTE
Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. -Maya Angelou

R: REASONS TO SMILE
Because I have awesome family and friends that love me.

S:SUPERMAN OR WONDER WOMAN?
Wonder Woman, duh. Women are always better:)

T: TAG 4 PEOPLE
Jen, Naomi, Cathy, and that's all the friends I have!!!!! :)

U: UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME
I like to pick my kids noses. So gross but true!!!

V: VEGETABLE
carrots

W: WORST HABIT
not doing the dishes....(I HATE doing the dishes!!!!!)

X: X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND?
Ultrasound I guess

Y: YOUR FAVORITE FOOD
I don't have just one....pizza, chinese, ice cream, green salad with lots of toppings, brownies

Z: ZODIAC SIGN
Libra

I'm not really sure what I'm doing!!

2008-03-23T23:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not really sure what I'm doing, but this 'blog thing' seems to be a great idea. We'll see if I can get the hang of it!!! It's such a great way to keep in touch with everyone!