Four Christmas's

We had a busy holiday! We started off with our traditional Christmas Eve. We have breakfast for dinner and open a present, which is Jammie's. I was so excited to find matching Jammie's for all four of my kids. I love them so much! We played "left, right, center" everyone has a stack of money, we usually play with dimes, then you roll dice and your money goes with the dice. So at the end whoever has the last coin gets to keep all the money in the center. This year dad surprised us and we played with dimes, then quarters, then dollars! We had so much fun. We finished the night watching a Christmas story in our new pjs. I think Noah has a new favorite. :)

Christmas morning we woke up and did presents at our home. I love seeing the excitement in the kids faces. Benjamin and Emma got skates, Benjamin a fuseball table, Emma lots of crafts, and Noah got all the trolls. Navy loved playing with the paper and watching everyone.

Next we headed to grandma DeeDee's for breakfast of scones and yummy sauce we get every year. All of Jakes siblings were there and we had a great time chatting and all the cousins playing. The kids each got a special pillow/character from grandma and grandpa. It was great having all the cousins together.

Our next stop was grandpa Jeffs and Grammy Vickis. We had a yummy dinner and all sat and talked. The kids played with their presents and had so much fun! I love sitting around and laughing together.

Off to nana and papas house next! We had another amazing dinner with mom's best rolls! We did our sister and brother gift exchange. Madi had me and got me a Gilmore girls cookbook! Amazing! Haha. The kids got to open more presents. They got spoiled and each got their own supplies for their own fort.

We ended the night at our house all exhausted, but feeling so blessed and grateful. We had a long day full of love, laughter, memories, presents, food, joy and blessings. Thank you to everyone that made our families Christmas special. We love you!

Benjamin's birthday

I can never say it enough, but this is so crazy to me. My boy is 8! He is tall, handsome, smart, kind, and so much more. We are truly blessed to have him in our lives. He is doing so great with school and has great friends. He loves to read and play basketball. He is so full of energy, it's rare we see him sitting down very often. I love this boy more then words can express.
For his birthday we had a basketball camp with some of his friends. Aunt Kylee was such a great coach. The kids had so much fun. Uncle Chad made them shirts and they looked great. We came back to the house and had pizza, treats, and presents! Benjamin is so spoiled and I love seeing everyone show how much love they have for him. Thank you to you all. Happy birthday Benjamin. You will always be my little prince!

Snow play

We needed some white since Christmas was coming so we went up to Mt. Charleston to play in the snow. The kids had so much fun! We had a hill all to ourselves. We built a snow men and went sledding.  It snowed the entire time and made for a beautiful mountain day. That trek up the hill to sled was a work out. The little kids and I were out of breath, going down was absolutely worth it! The kids started to get cold and so we didn't make it too long, but we sure had a blast while we were there. I love spending time with my kids and all my sisters!

Winter fun

This month has been so crazy and so fun. Benjamin had a singing program and he has his own part to start the show. He memorized it and did great! They sang the cutest songs and he smiled and looked so handsome. Emma's class did the gingerbread man play and she was a gingerbread. She did so great. She had her parts memorized. She gets shy sometimes so I was so proud to watch her! Benjamin and Emma had a singing program together too. Their school does great with making the holidays special!

Four months for miss Navy

We have had so much fun this month. Navy had her first car ride all the way to Idaho and did amazing both ways! Navy met Santa and Mrs. Claus and smiled so big for her pictures. We went to her first movie Moana. Navy got her ears pierced! Emma was exactly two months old when we got hers. We went straight from the Drs to the piercing. I waited a tiny bit longer for Navy, but she has them done now and we love them! So dang precious. She is having a little bit of stomach problem that we are working on, but nothing too extreme. She is loving to look at mirrors and has been grabbing at her toys all month long. She does really well at turning and playing on her sides and will just stay there. She is rolling from her back to stomach all the time and just started to roll from stomach to back. She absolutely loves to talk. Navy is so dang cute just talks and talks and talks, if you aren't talking back she just squawks louder till you do. Her neck is getting so strong and she is doing great with her stretches. She holds her bottle by herself if you will let her. Her siblings all love her and she just is in awe of them. It is her favorite thing to watch them.

My Parents are old.... Haha JK JK JK

Mom and Dad turned 50! Mom's birthday is the 16 and dad's is the 19. So yep mom married a young one. ;) Us kids made a little dinner for mom and set up Christmas for her. They left to Idaho before we got to celebrate dad's birthday. We have had this surprise party for while we were in Idaho in the works for awhile and they had no clue. Dad talked to his brother and said that his birthday wasn't exciting and then Rob called grandma and was so mad at us for not doing something special. eeekkk we all felt so bad, but at the same time so excited that he still had no clue. We thought for sure somehow it would get spoiled. The day came down and Grandpa was very adamant about getting mom and dad out of the house for a break. He wanted to take them out, they were a bit reluctant thinking they would have a pedicure then be running errands. Our friends pretended to start the drive home, people showed up and we hid cars in the neighbors driveways. All of us kids got to work. We had help from our cousins and aunt too. We had lots of balloons, quotes, lists from things in 1966, candy gram, a 50 sign made from their pictures throughout their whole life, cakes, candy, and lots of love! We all got ready with our noisemakers and gave grandpa the sign! When they showed up they were COMPLETELY SHOCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We did it!!!! Dad kept saying where are the cars. Mom was so surprised she couldn't even walk into the room. It took three people to light all 50 of their candles. We love you mom and dad so unbelievably much. We are all so blessed and thankful for you in our lives. You are seriously the best. I am in awe of how much love and life you have had for your first 50 years or half a century and can't wait to make more memories with you for the next!

Idahome

        We were lucky enough to be able to celebrate thanksgiving in Idaho. All of my family made it up to grandma and grandpa's. They sure had a full house. We all love being there so much. Seeing all of my grandparents and my kids loving them as much as we do. They sure spoil us so much! We had so much fun with cousins and family celebrating the day.

       Taliah and I went black friday shopping and got matching outfits. We all went and cheered on my cousin Casdon at CSI basketball. Benjamin was in absolute awe. He sat both nights and watched every second of the games. After the last nights game he went on the court and got the teams signatures. He is very proud and so are we. GO Eagles!! All of us girls helped grandma set up her Christmas tree. I sure love these girls! I got to catch up and have a girls night with some friends from high school, It was so great seeing them! I love our hometown. The views are amazing and we were so blessed to grow up where we did.

     

       We had a day out at Papa Buzz's and had so much fun riding four wheelers. We saw some of our cousins that we have not seen in years and I don't even remember the last time we were all together. It was so great catching up and having our kids play together. Kylee took all the kids on so many rides and they all had a blast as they froze in the wind. Papa Buzz and Grandma were doing great and we loved all being out there together.

We got so spoiled with all of our amazing family time with so many amazing people. Thank you and we love you all. I hope everyone else had as good of a Thanksgiving as we did.

Jordan turned one!

Jordan had a birthday! One year has gone by so fast! This little man is so handsome and smart! He is so good at walking, playing with Roxy, anything to do with balls. He is the sweetest and loves to give hugs and high fives. Jordan is loved so much by his momma and she is such a great mom! He loves to play basketball or rather try to throw the ball at the hoop and stand right under it while others play. Its the cutest and he will be a baller for sure. He loves his Uncle Jake, I hate to admit it, but Jake is definitely his favorite. Jake is a baby whisperer and the best uncle. Jordan has the cutest faces and such crazy expressions. 

For Jordan's birthday we celebrated in Idaho at our favorite pizza place then we went to grandma and grandpas and he got spoiled with balloons and presents. When we got back from Idaho we celebrated again. He is so loved by so many. Kylee worked so hard on his party and we made airplane sugar cookies. Jordan is obsessed with planes right now. We all loved celebrating this little guy and our so thankful for him and Kylee in our lives! Happy birthday Jordan!

Doctors, Doctors, and more Doctors

We have had quite the last few months.

Navy--- in Physical Therapy three times a week along with her well checks. She is doing so well and her neck gets better and stronger every week.

Emma-- had a lot of work done on her teeth, she is my best brusher and always does it, never complains and had cavaties. Benjamin fakes it and had none. Dang brothers haha

Benjamin-- had both sides of his nose cauterized back in May. He has had bloody noses since he was 2. Well that did not work so we had to go back in and have work done on both sides again. He is doing good now though, hopefully they don't start back up. (Noah just started having them randomly so it looks like he might have to when he is older too.)

I had about 1 good week after healing from my csection with Navy and then had Gall bladder surgery. I was not prepared and neither was my body. It knocked me out for a good week. No fun at all. I am doing much better just get a little sore sometimes, didn't help that we got in a car accident and that started the pain all over again.

Noah-- this little guy had to have surgery today. His pee hole was too small. The doctor went in and made the hole bigger. We went in really early this morning. He did really well. The surgery took a lot longer then it was supposed to, but the Drs all said that he did really good. I went back when they were done so I would be the first thing he saw when he woke up. It broke my heart seeing him sleeping with all the cords and mask. He took a bit to wake up, but finally opened his eyes when I told the nurse he likes apple juice. This kid and his juice haha. He was so brave. He had his Arlo (good dinosaur), Branch (trolls) and his blanket. We went on a special date yesterday to get Branch so he could have a friend with him. Then we went to a family, aunts, uncle, cousin date last night to the movie Moana.  We got hot chocolate on the way home from the hospital today and he has done pretty good since just goes from tired to super awake back and forth. This was a pretty easy procedure for the Drs. I definitely had a hard time with everything knowing he would go under anesthesia. He is so little. I am so grateful that everything went well.  Now we have recovery.

So we have a few follow up appts left for us, and Navy has her physical therapy. I sure am blessed that everything has gone as well as it has. Jake and I sure love these kids!

The little things

These are just a few things that have been going on lately. Benjamin finished football and loved it. We have loved cousin time, aunt time and grandparents. Benjamin and Emma both met their A.R. goals for the first quarter. Emma was a pilgrim in her first grade Thanksgiving program. The kids are goofs and loving the nicer weather. Four kids fills our home with lots of laughter, homework, tears, meals, movie nights, bedtime stories, and love.

Navy girl is 3 months

Baby Navy is 3 months! I can't believe it was three months ago that we brought this joy home from the hospital. She is so sweet. Navy startled to giggle this month and we are all loving it! Her giggle is the best sound ever. Every time she wakes up she is the happiest little girl. Her entire body moves with her giant smiles. She loves to have conversations with us. Benjamin and Emma help with feeding and calming her down. Noah loves to entertain her. She is so spoiled with all the love she gets. Emma calls her, "my best friend" it is the sweetest. She loves her sister. We all do! Navy's neck is getting much better. She can look both ways now and the stretching isn't bothering her as much. Her progress is so great for just a few weeks in physical therapy. She is on just formula now and starting to grow so much. Navy still absolutely loves to be swaddled and loves her binky. She is very entertained with watching her little toys and lights.

Halloween

This year we had a zombie football player, Benjamin wanted face paint and that is what he came up with. Emma was a little deer, Noah was Nemo, and miss Navy was a our little pig. Emma and Noah all wanted face paint for their costumes and I love being able to do it for them. When I picked up the kids Noah was in the car yelling at everyone that walked by screaming, "Happy Halloween! I'm Nemo!" over and over. He was having so much fun. We started off at the kid's school carnival. We always have so much fun at this every year. The school goes all out with booths, games and bounce houses. Jake and I love watching the kids have so much fun. Halloween night we went trick or treating at one of the best neighborhoods in Vegas. We have been the last few years and every year they go full out. Almost every house decorates, our favorites are the spider house and the pirate ship house. We went with almost everyone in Jake's family and all the cousins had so much fun together.  Happy Halloween!

Navy 2 months

We are just loving life over here! Navy is so sweet and her smiles are the best. Every morning she lays on the bed while all the kids get ready. As each kid comes by they all stop and say hi and she smiles at each of them. I love how it makes our house all smiles in the morning with everyone. She does great at holding her head up. She loves tummy time. We are sure spoiling her! She likes to go to sleep a certain way and she is held all the time! Navy and I got spoiled with a new rocker and we both love it so much! Her hair is so cute. I thought it would fall off but so far it's just growing. She definitely gets some crazy bedhead! Her hair has lightened up a lot since birth. It was black and now it's a brown and has some gold high lights in it! She loves her binky and if she doesn't have it she will  find her fist or her arm and has even left hickies.  It's crazy how fast she is growing. We love her and her little noises she is making.
Navy has torticollis. It is where one side of her neck isn't as strong, weak, kinked.... she can't turn her head to the left. She is strong enough that she will just move it the other way if you move it. So we started doing stretches at home and she will have to start seeing a physical therapist a few times a week. She cries so much when we move her head that way and it breaks my heart. She looks so uncomfortable and you can tell it hurts. We are doing our best at home till her appts start and we are seeing some improvement. Her doctor thinks she will be fine since we caught it and because we are willing to do anything! We will watch her and continue working. This girl is an angel and we love her so!

Benjamin's been playing flag football!

We have had so much fun cheering on Benjamin. This was his first time ever playing football. We were all a little slow catching on to the rules but got really into the games once we did. :) Soon we had dads and grandpas all cheering and loving it like the pros! He sure loves seeing nana, papa and aunties come cheer him on. Papa loves watching his boy play too. Jake is the assistant coach so him and Benjamin have been able to spend time together at practices and games. We have loved our times we have and memories of lunches, errands, bowling, mountain and chill time we have together after games.
Benjamin has had some awesome passes and catches. He had a great catch surrounded by other players and then got tackled in flag football haha.

Noah is three!

Yay! Noah is having a party! We sure love this kid! He is so smart and things he is the boss of the house. It is crazy how much he talks like an adult. So dang cute, but just shows how fast they grow up. The other day he came up to me and said, " mom, I'll give you 5 dollars if I can have a juice box" haha he is the best! Noah is so polite and kind. It sure makes me a proud mommy. Noah loves to color and play games on the iPad :/ He had his first dentist appt This last month and did great. He likes balloons, fruit, juice, blue, p.j.masks, Curious George. He is my buddy and helps me all day.

We started out his birthday at Benjamin's football game. We love cheering him on! After we headed to mcdonalds for lunch. What better then a happy meal and playing on the gym. For an activity we decided to go bowling. Noah hasn't been before and had a blast. Every time he went he would throw his arms in the air and say yay I got it! I have to say I killed it! At one point I got three strikes in a row!!!!! I said it was for Noah's third birthday! We love him! I also took pictures of everyone's faces as they turned around after their turn! LOL I love you all! 

Noah isn't big on cakes and cupcakes. We decided to make caramel apples and strawberries and pretzels. Kylee and I worked so hard on the apples and they looked professional! We did s'mores, white chocolate, milk, and m&ms. Noah got so spoiled! A balance bike, a pirate ship fort, easel, lots more and eggs with a box..... yes, Aunt Kylee knows how Noah loves to try and make his own eggs in the family room. He was like what I actually get to smash these eggs! Haha all the kids smashed a couple into the box! We had a fun night playing and setting up toys. 

Thank you all who came and sent presents. He loves his family and was so excited for everyone to come to his house for his party. Happy birthday baby boy! 

Navy Ann Bierstedt's blessing

Thank you all to came to celebrate with us today and we miss all that couldn't make it. We are so blessed to have such a great family. Jacob gave Navy a beautiful blessing. I am so grateful that he holds the priesthood and all the other men that could stand with him for this little girl. Grandma DeeDee was great and made Navy her own blessing dress. It is beautiful and perfect for our baby Navy. I love that the girl's dresses mean so much and that much more.

Picnic Dinner

We had a last minute plan to go up to Mt. Charleston for dinner today. Right when we got there we all threw on sweaters. We didn't have much time up there before it got dark and so cold! Haha in the 50-60's is that cold for us now. Benjamin, Emma and Charlotte all loved exploring and climbing. Noah just chased everyone and always had a stick. Navy just slept the whole time :) We ate and talked, played football, tag, hide and go seek and just had a nice relaxing evening. We love our family time!