Happy Birthday Dantzel

Had a fun day remembering Dantzel's birth day and the fun story that goes with it. I love telling people the story, and I am still amazed that I managed to have my baby on my only sisters' wedding day. Go fig. We told the kids the story and showed them pictures, they laughed. Jeff is a great storyteller.
I was ready to start the day fixing pancakes for Dantzel (trying to make it special) and she said, "no I want eatmeal (oatmeal)". Okay fair enough. Then I made a fabulous angel food cake, and she wouldn't touch it, just ate the strawberries...I guess I have a whole year to get over it. :)
Dantzel had presents from grandmas and friends to open, that was fun and she loved it (Brett too). She got a strider balance bike in pink, she was very surprised. We kept having to lower the seat, it almost rubs against the back tire, love those short legs!!
We sang happy birthday a lot today, she would listen politely and after the song say "thank you". Cute. She wouldn't blow out the candles, she looked a little stressed about the whole situation, Jeff blew them out and she started laughing.
We love our Dantzel, Sissy, Dantzi, Danno, Lulu, Dolly Llama...She answers to just about anything. Her happy, upbeat, sweet spirit is just what our family needs. <3

3 weeks

1 year

2 years

We ♥ Idaho

We took a last minute week long trip to Idaho to visit family and friends. The weather was amazing (nothing like a fresh breath of Idaho air after living in Texas), and it was so good to see everyone and get spoiled by grandma.

Family of five, still amazed all these kids belong to me. Love Kelsey's smile.

Dantzel coloring. Love this pic my dad took of my dolled up (thanks grandma) baby girl!

We spent three days of our trip at our favorite campground at the base of the Tetons. It was beautiful and a great break. No cell phone service, which seems to eliminate a lot of distractions. Jeff spent a lot of time fishing with the kids. We went on a hike and had yummy food on the campfire, sang songs (James: Brett is still making up funny lyrics to "Down by the Bay") and played games.

Pic by my brother James. On a hike with the fam. Lots of babies. ♥

Another pic by James, he was on top of the trailer. We love this campsite, and we have claimed it "our spot".

Trever in his funny PJ's. Mom forgot Trev's PJ's so he wore this one piece Santa looking suit. They were a little small with a button missing in the middle, hence the blanket. He was tickled about them, hootin' and hollerin', love ya Trev.

As we were packing up to leave, Dantzel was grabbing handfuls of dirt and throwing them in her hair. Funny girl.

We love grandmas house!!

My Girls (I love saying that)

Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of having baby girls I could dress alike. Dreams are coming true for me! I love my girls!! Thanks aunt Alissa for the adorable outfits!

 

A Visit From the Neeleys

 Mom, Dad, Shelby, Trevor and Derek made the long trek to see us. I'm learning that Texas is a long way from everything. It was so good to see them, and introduce them to baby Kelsey! Kelsey definitely loved aunt Shelby!
During the day we were in the water and at night we were home playing games and eating blue bell! FUN weekend.

 Trevor (13 years old) only inches shorter than Jeff. I can see Jeff's thought cloud, "oh no, this cannot be happening.)

Pretty hair accessories from Grandma, but Dantzel was sure they went on her arms.

Rudy's barbeque with the fam. They even have sauce just for our "sissy".

 Brett, Granddad, Jeff, Shelby, Trevor and Derek spent the day at Schlitterbahn. Supposedly it is the biggest waterpark in the U.S. They left sunburned, hungry, exhausted and happy.

 Loves from Shelbs

 Brett loves his uncles

Another visit with uncle Paul. The old folks were going crazy over Dantzel's hat and jumper.

It was so fun to have them with us, and lucky for us they came back two weeks later for another weekend trip!

Besties Reunited

Hailee, Ashlee and I have been seperated for far too long. They made the long journey from New Mexico for a week long visit in Texas, it was so much fun! It did rain most of the time, but we managed to go swimming, see the bats on Congress Bridge, and enjoy some Rudy's barbeque. At one point we were caought in a horrific rainstorm. I like Ashlee's point of view best:
The Torrential Downpour:
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of this, so you'll have to use your imaginations.
Hailee, Lindsay, and I were about ready to leave a store when it sounded like the building was going to cave in due to a herd of elephants doing the Macarena on the roof. A lovely Texas storm had rolled into town.  The parking lot had become a lake in about 5 seconds. We debated on whether or not we should wait for the rain to stop (we had two babies with us) or just run to the car. We waited it out for 5 minutes or so, when we decided the rain wasn't going to stop any time soon. We ran to the car as fast as we could, strapped in the kiddos, and jumped in. We were soaked, and driving home was NOT fun. The rain never let up, and did I mention it was at night? We're talking flash-floods, lighting, the whole shebang. I think our top speed was about 15 mph, but better safe than sorry, folks! It was pretty nerve-wracking, and I'm really glad I wasn't the one driving. After we got back to the house, we found out that there was a tornado warning for the area, so that's something to write home about.
Thanks Ash. And one insert, I remember calming my nerves with a huge bowl of bluebell ice cream once home safe!

 Rainy day activity: angry birds with auntie Ash

 Best friends...with some appendages. Love my peeps!

 Love my sis. I must live close to her someday!

 Now that Carly can crawl, she pretty much followed these two around the entire trip.

Oh, Dantz. 

So she loves to put hair ties on her wrists, trying to be like me (I think I have a hair tie on my wrist 90% of the time). But hers are a bit tighter, and her hands are looking a little purple.

Kelsey's Blessing

Jeff blessed our sweet Kelsey on May 6th 2012. The blessing was beautiful, Jeff did a wonderful job. There was so much love in his voice as he was blessing her. Kelsey wore Dantzel's blessing dress and she looked like a doll. No family was able to make it for the blessing, but our ward family stepped in and made it a special day. We sure love the Buda ward.

 Ready to be out of the frilly dress. But I am lovin' that double chin.

 These kids are wild after church, this was taken right before Dantzel went to play in the dirt.

Sun, window background and crying baby on her big day! It's better than no picture at all, right?!

My Babies - 2 months

I love comparing my babies pictures. Here are Brett, Dantzel and Kelsey at 2 months.

 Brett Louis

Dantzel

 Kelsey Lynn

Guadalupe River State Park

We bought a Texas parks state pass and we are loving it, this Saturday was to the Guadalupe river.

Beautiful rock formations. They had fun wading in the water, throwing rocks, and hitting sticks on the water to make big splashes.

This pictures makes me laugh.

The trees grow straight from the river, it's crazy looking.

Temperatures are high 80's to low 90's and getting wet is the best way to keep cool, I'm sure most posts from here on out will involve us and some sort of water activity!

Dantzel's biffy

Poor baby girl fell on the sharp corner of an open dresser drawer and cut her lip real good. I called Jeff and he rushed home very fast (record time for him, he only had to run a few red lights). He arrived home and grabbed Dantzel to take her to our pediatrician's office down the road a ways. Little did he know he would be doing some off-roading, like going down in a ditch and up and around a semi (stuck in the ditch). Thank goodness they were in the truck. They got to the Dr. office and they immediately got her in, and the Dr looked at it and said I can't do this, you need to take her to Dell Children's Hospital. I guess matching up the lip line can be pretty tricky. Jeff got Dantzel back in the truck and she got mad at him for doing her buckle, she likes to do it herself, but come on baby girl, right now? She was so tough.
They got to the hospital and I arrived shortly after. They gave her some medication via nose spray that was supposed to relax her so they could do the stitches, well that did not work. The medication made her angry, she did not want us to touch her or doing anything for her, like help her figure out the toys they had given her. She was really happy to see me when I walked in the door, she said "good morning mommy" but she would hit me every time I tried to touch her or hold her. They ended up having to start an IV and give her medications to sedate her. It was so sad seeing my little girl like that. She got three stitches and shortly woke up from the sedation saying "hi gapa"(grandpa) and begging for food. "popcorn, pancakes, strawberries, bananas" poor girl doesn't skip meals too often, this was the worst part for her, 7 hours without eating.
It was a pretty traumatic day for all of us, but Dantzel did so great and was up and about, good as new the next day.

Poor Dansi

Waiting for stitches.

Sedated, so sad.

Ready to go home.

This picture was taken 3 hours after stitches, it has healed very nicely.

Camping, Haircut and more...

 People frequently see me with my kiddos and stop to say, "wow, you are busy". Yes it's true, these babies keep me running. I have found waking up before the kids keeps me a step ahead of the game, which I need. We seem to go through dull mundane weeks, and weeks with adventure and surprises. The last two weeks have been full of surprises and adventure.

 Brett with bags packed for father-and-sons camp out. He was so excited, and kept going through his bad to make sure he had everything. "Okay, I got  my flashlight, fresh clean undies, and hairplane blank". It started to rain during the day and I was worried they might cancel the camp out. I texted Jeff "It's raining here, do you think they will cancel" and he texted back "they may cancel, but we're not". What a good dad, they had so much fun, but unfortunately didn't take any pictures.

 While the boys were gone at father-and-sons camp out, I took Dantzel to get her haircut into a bob. Her hair was growing into a mullet shape and I was not a big fan. She was perfectly behaved and it turned out adorable.

 

The finished product!

Smiley baby - 7wks. Kelsey is a happy and sweet baby, very even tempered. She will not take a pacifier, and oh I have tried to force it on her, she's not interested at all. Wakes up for a quick feeding only 1 time each night and loves to be held, a lot. She also enjoys her swing, and is becoming aware of her surroundings. She can coo and stick out her tongue in response to us sticking out our tongue at her. Her chubby cheeks are so kissable.

Sure love my buddy. 

My girls! So sweet!

Where do the groceries go?

These three little ones keep me hoppin', and there is always something funny happening. I attempted "the biggy" grocery trip with all three and that was a mistake. I strapped Kelsey to me and had the kids in a racecar shopping cart (those terribly large, difficult to maneuver kind). At HEB they give the kids a cookie, which keeps them behaved for a while, but this time Brett leaned over to try a bite of Dantzel's cookie and he ended biting her finger, hard. Dantzel started screaming, I got upset with Brett and he started crying and of course Kelsey had to chime in. Let's just say I'm back to shopping in the evening when the kids are sleeping.

No room for the groceries, this should keep my spending low.

Every Wednesday we have playgroup with moms in the ward. I pack the kids a picnic lunch in their backpacks to eat while at the park. Playgroup starts at 10am, and when we get to the park the first thing they do is head straight for a table and start eating. I always thought parents had to drag their kids off the toys to get them to eat lunch...not these stinkers.

Updated picture of Kelsey. 5 1/2 weeks. She is starting to smile, but it's difficult to catch on camera. She looks a lot like Brett as a baby. She is the sweetest, best baby ever...I feel so blessed.

Brett was proud of the match he found!

We spent Sunday afternoon visiting Uncle Paul. He is 100 years old!! He is still walking and fun to talk to, he's quite witty. This is Brett, Dantzel and Kelsey's great-great-great uncle. WOW!

Saturday we spent outside taking care of the yard, house and cars. Brett and Dantzel had been helping Jeff wash the truck and took a little break for a snack. This picture makes me laugh. The kids watching daddy work.