Happy birthday, Annaka!

We were very lucky this year to have enough snow to do a sledding party for Annaka's birthday. The kids seemed to really enjoy the icy sled run and stayed out for a couple hours before cake and presents. I think everyone was exhausted afterward (especially the adults)! I never made it out to take pictures of the sledding but here are some quick shots of the party.




The princess cake. I was having a hard time deciding how to decorate the cake so I made the one person with an art degree do it.(nod to Mandee) A treasure to behold... And eat!



Kids diving into a present!



Wyn is just too busy to bother holding a bottle with her hands.



Maria and Ratnali.



Samir, Ratnali and Adelyn spiking the balloon to the ground.



Annaka playing with grandma Sue's present. It's a birthday cake.

Location:Home

The Princess Pancake

We often get up on Saturday and go to breakfast in Kettle Falls. This morning we bundled up and braved the somewhat icy roads so we could have a princess pancake. Aren't local joints that know who you are and do special things for your kids pretty darn cool?

Andrea's Smiles

Andrea is now smiling!

The Somersault

Annaka is showing Adelyn how to do a somersault. Adelyn gets the idea but, needs some warm up spinning before she gets down to business. It reminds me of what our dog does before he lays down somewhere.




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The Middle Child

Poor Adelyn has now become "the middle child." So, in an effort to keep her from getting lost in the mix, I dedicate this post to our sweet Adelyn.

A few weeks ago Adelyn got up from a nap looking like this. Some of my high schoolers only dream of getting their hair to look like this. For her, it's natural!

One of her sweetest smiles.

Adelyn, with her sister, dressed up for Halloween. Pretty awesome "wind in the hair" shot.

She's not sure what to do with the hat.

Cutie Patootie Lady Bug

It's only 11 AM and...

The toddler and baby have blown through five diapers and one outfit,
Annaka has brushed the dog with Mommy's brush,
four different princess dresses have been worn,
three pairs of winter boots were found and left strewn about the house,
one old (shiny) purse has done more mileage than the dog does chasing deer,
two cups of hot cocoa have been mostly consumed then spilled,
one baby doll died and has been resurrected by the powers of a prince running around in a cape,
Mommy has only had one cup of caffeinated tea. Time to move on to the hard stuff and brew some coffee! :)

Annaka's First Haircut

Annaka had her first haircut this week. It only took four years to grow enough to cut! She actually enjoyed the experience and did very well but had a hard time keeping her head totally straight.

Here's the "do." Annaka likes it... and Mommy likes how clean she looks! Plus her hair isn't hanging in her face all time. :)

One Month Old

Andrea is now one month old! Today's doctor appointment showed she is gaining well, 9lbs 7oz. She also has a great disposition and tolerates her older sisters pretty well. Even with all the poking and prodding she usually comes up smiling(sort of, she's almost getting those first smiles out). She does, however, appear to be looking for an escape route in the picture below.

The Hunter

We were having some visitors that were less than welcome. Caleb and his deft hunting skills caught not one but, two mice! He was laughing as he told me about the two mice he had caught while I was half asleep in bed. I didn't understand how cool it was until I saw the pictures. :)

They're almost kind of cute smooshed there together. Awwww...

Amerinasion America

A little nearly four-year-old came bouncing out of preschool today telling me about what they did in class. Since Veteran's Day is this Thursday they they were able to participate in the School District's Veteran's Day parade down main street. Every kiddo loves a parade! But, she was most excited to tell me the Pledge of Allegiance, which she had learned today. Instead of trying to explain the listening experience, I will just put the mp3 up for your listening pleasure.

I was incredibly impressed! A few hours in preschool and she was able to recite a pretty good amount of the Pledge of Allegiance. They do such a fantastic job at that preschool! I was just beaming while listening to her and, at the end, worked very hard to hold back my giggles and tears at the same time! I praised her for a fantastic job but, she'll never really know how much she impressed me today and how much joy she gave me with her little ditty. Watching children learn is an incredible experience. Not much else compares. This reminds me how much I need to closely pay attention to what my kids are doing and how they are learning or else I'm going to miss it while in this whirlwind of life, kids and work.

Know when to hold em.

Here are a few pictures of Andrea. Also a few of Andrea and her older sister Annaka. Annaka absolutely loves to hold her sister. Enjoy while we wait for Carrie to have her new one... Today! She was induced earlier this morning... now we wait and pray that all goes well.

Chaos and Candy

No big fancy Halloween party this year. Instead we enjoyed the community trick-or-treating at the school and then headed over to Elliott's house to try out some real trick-or-treating.

Let me tell you, it was quite the experience. I do not remember actually trick-or-treating door to door when I was younger. I do remember dressing up but usually only for school. Thus for me, the entire going from house to house was a bit uncomfortable. I did have a secret weapon or two. Not a light saber or numchucks but a Princess that kept stepping on her dress and a horribly content little ladybug. Luckily, for my self and some little teeth, my little girls were not going to be able to solicit the entire neighborhood. Instead they were joyfully treated along one street. The cold really set in as Ratnali and I along with Spider-Man, Cinderella, and a Ladybug headed back up the hill to the house. I do believe that with the cold or not Adelyn would have kept going until she dropped from the dead weight of her candy loot.

The rest of the night we enjoyed watching all the many many trick-or-treaters ring El and Whits door bell in full garb. Elliott kept us well entertained confusing the many older kids and treating the little ones.

Our Week in numbers.

1. One brand new baby girl, Andrea Dae.

2. Two tired and adjusting parents.

3. Triple A - top shelf... wear you out daughters.

4. Four new chickens that are starting to lay eggs. (replacing our old ones that met an untimely end)

5. Five days since 1,2, and 3 altered our lives for ever.

6. Six am on the 19th. This was the point when we were not sure if we would have to have a C-Section because of the baby's position. This is also the point when Naomi's water just happened to break causing nurses to start running.

7. Seven thirty. This is about the time I normally start getting the girls ready for bed. With the new baby I have started tucking Adelyn in with Annaka. The last three nights this technique has been more successful than I could ever have imagined. Before Andrea was born Adelyn was sleeping with us, between us and on us. She is so far our biggest snuggler and I love that dearly. However, this was not going to work with a new baby in bed (Seemingly huge Adelyn sleeping on top of tiny new baby could give me nightmares). This whole transition to Annaka's bed has been an amazing blessing. So far I attribute this to how much Adelyn adores her older sister, Annaka loves her little sister, and a blessing from a higher power.

8. Eight twenty eight in the morning on the 19th Andrea was born in grand fashion. She plopped out and was ready for the world, alert and eyes wide open. Amazingly she was wide awake and alert for over an hour enjoying all the space she was now able to stretch into.

9. Nine, the number of Edwards family cousins. (as soon as my sister Carrie has her baby... at any timenow).

10. (actually is the exact time right now but that seems like cheating) Number of soups that Wha Sun has made for Naomi in the past 5 days. Disclaimer: This may not be exact... I just know it is a lot, and greatly appreciated, another blessing.

20. Twenty fingers and toes. It is hard not to count fingers and toes once that baby pops out.

39. The number of kisses I received today... Boy this could add up after a while! (Probably 30 would be from Adelyn alone. She has a big transition to live through and she seems to be taking it in stride.)

57. Fifty seven diapers changed... or something crazy like that. Forgot how many diapers an infant can go through when they are the size of a football and their stomach is the size of an egg.

147. Number of pictures I have taken of our new baby. I probably should take more than that!

1,200. Twelve hundred, the number of hours of sleep I have lost because my (now three) daughters.

10,000. The number of hours I expect I will loose to my three daughters by the time they are all over 20 (Lord willing).

Infinite. Infinite in amount of love I have for my family and the blessings they give me each and every day.

Andrea Dae

We are very glad to announce the arrival of Andrea Dae! She was born on October 19th at 8:28 am. And, she didn't come a minute too soon for me. At 20in long and 7lbs and 7oz she was my largest baby by nearly a pound!

I am fully convinced Andrea was trying to come about a week earlier than she did. For five days I had been experiencing quite a few contractions in the evenings and middle of the night. At this point I was still working and trying to survive off of less and less sleep. However, she finally came and we are happy to have a healthy baby girl that adds tremendously to our family. Annaka and Adelyn are completely in love with our new addition. They both have a hard time keeping their hands off their new baby sister.

I am trying to recover as fast as I can so I can keep up with three kiddos! This is proving to be a challenge right now as Andrea was definitely the toughest on me. So, hopefully, I will be back up and running as soon as possible.

Thank you to all of our family that has kept us in much needed prayer! You have been a blessing to us on a tough journey to get Andrea here. The Lord has blessed us beyond measure and we are still taking it all in. I don't think we even know how good this life is.

And now for a few pictures. :)

First we have Adelyn happy to see momma and a little interested in the new baby.

A very proud momma. She is a trooper and wonderful woman.

Sisters adoring their new addition.

Annaka was very interested in her sister. The first question she asked is how the doctor was able to get the baby out of mommy's tummy. (This picture is actually the first time she was able to see her little sister)

Baby Andrea.

Adelyn has had to adjust the most. She really wanted some mommy attention. We tried to do our best.

One of many kisses this day.

Andrea a nice pinky yellow.

Beautiful momma enjoying the moment.

Daddy playing with some little fingers.

A proud and tired daddy.

My arms full of daughters.

Annaka getting to hold Andrea.

Grandma Barkley's turn.

Yawn..

A head full of dark hair.

Grandma Edwards' turn.