Christmas Eve Cookies

We decided that we would make cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. The girls love to help me bake. We found a good recipe for sugar cookies and went for it. They each took turns adding ingredients and then I did all the mixing. Then we rolled out the dough and the girls picked their favorite cookie cutter shapes. They actually did really well. Joslyn didn't understand why she couldn't eat the cookies after she cut them out. I tried to tell her we had to bake them first, but that didn't go over too well. After they were cooled, we added some icing and sprinkles. The girls had so much fun decorating. Justin liked it too. The only not so good thing was that the flour we used was a little old, so the cookies didn't taste that great. We are trying to rotate our food storage and I think we waited a little too long to use the flour. Anyway, they looked great, we had a good time, and I am sure Santa enjoyed them!

Work in progress and Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to share pictures of the kids playhouse that is still in progress. Yes, we procrastinated too long and it won't be done in time for Christmas. But, it will be so much fun for the kids, and we just a few more things to do on it. Justin worked all night last weekend and made a lot of progress. It is in our basement under the stairs. We are planning on painting and putting carpet in soon. I also want to hire someone to paint the outside like a mural. Hopefully I can find someone in the ward with that talent, so if you know anyone let me know. It is a good thing Justin went crazy this year for Christmas, or else I would feel bad that it isn't quite done. If you know Justin, you know that he is really good with money, no debt, loves to save, etc. But watch out when Christmas comes along! He spoils us like crazy, which makes me laugh! If I spent as much as he did, there would be words, lets just say that. But with me being pretty much stuck in the house with the kids, I am glad he took care of all the shopping. I can't believe that it is Christmas Eve. Justin just braved Walmart to bring us some yummy goodies for tonight. The girls and I are going to make cookies for Santa, so it should be lots of fun. I hope everyone has a great Christmas. I feel so blessed to have the life that I do. I am so grateful for my family and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what makes Christmas so special to me, it is a celebration of the two. Love to all and Merry Christmas!

Cooking class with Taylor

Last Thursday I had the chance to go to preschool with Taylor. Each of the parents take turns doing a little cooking with the class for their snack time. I had the letter "C" so we decorated cupcakes. It was also her teacher's birthday, so it was fun. The kids did pretty good with the frosting and candy. They didn't make too much of a mess. It was really fun to see Taylor learning and interacting with the other kids. That was her last day of school until after the new year. I am so glad to have such talented people who live close to us. Taylor's preschool is a perfect fit for us.

Taylor

Okay so before I could post about Taylor our Internet stopped working and it just came back this morning. I love her just as much! She has been such a big helper to me lately. She helps with Joslyn when I can't. Last night she even put Joslyn's pjs on for her. It was really cute. Joslyn loves her so much. She loves to look at books with her and play with her. Even though she is only four she actually helps a lot. She is still in preschool twice a week. Tomorrow is her last day before Christmas. I am going with her to help her class with the snack. She loves her teacher and is learning so much. She was also excited that it finally snowed. She finally got Justin to take her outside the other day and play in it. I think she just wanted to wear her new coat. She loves to dress up and change her clothes 5 times a day. She always wants to wear shorts and tank tops even when it is freezing outside, she doesn't really know how to dress for the weather yet. I just found out that a lady at my church is going to teach a dance class for girls her age starting next month. I am excited that she will be able to start going. I think Ellie will be able to go also, we will see how that goes! Well here are the pictures I tried to post the other day.

Ellie bellie

Our little Ellie has had a pretty rough weekend. She also went to the Doctor this morning, which by the way made for a crazy morning. Justin took Ellie and Taylor with him and I took Joslyn and Noah. Anyway it turns out Ellie has a bladder infection and has to start some antibiotics. Poor thing! I hope she starts to feel better and that she can stop having accidents all over the house, not fun to clean up! She also had her first hair cut a couple of days ago. It was so thin at the bottom that I just wanted to even it out a bit. Justin ended up taking way to much off. I had a small panic attack and then decided it was okay. It is up to her shoulders now, but it looks much healthier. I will post some pictures of the before and after. She is beautiful, and my first little girl to get a hair cut!
This a really horrible pic of me right after Justin cut off all of Ellie's hair. I was so mad! I am also in my beautiful work clothes, I didn't have to work after all, but I didn't know at the time.

This is actually the after shot, Ellie was a little sad like I was.

The scene of the crime

This is just a cute picture of Ellie after she fell asleep with her pooh bear in hand.

Jos

A little update on the Jos Boss as we call her. She is so cute and has loves to give everyone kisses, especially her mama. Her current favorite activity is dancing around the living room as I sing "Five little ducks" over and over. She loves it and everytime I finish she says "again!" She also loves wrestling with Dad and being thrown in the air, but who doesn't love that, right? She also has learned how to ask for juice and milk and she will bring me her favorite cup whenever she wants some. Of course her favorite word is still No and she loves to run away from me when she is covered in chocolate, or whatever she is eating. She doesn't like her face cleaned, but she loves her bath. In fact she cries when it is time to get out and I have to bribe her using her favorite kitty towel. When she sees that thing she gets really excited and starts saying "meow, meow, meow" It has a hood with a cat face on it so she loves pretending to be a cat. She just keeps me laughing all day long, I love the little munchkin. Here are some cute pics.

These pictures are from the other night when we played music. She loves to beat the drums while Dad plays the recorder. I played with the shakey things whatever they are called, maracas? Anyway we had lots of fun.


These are her first pigtails. She didn't want her picture taken, she doesn't like it at all. I think it is so funny! Doesn't she look cute!

My little Chunk

Well Noah finally had his two month Dr. appt this morning. He is getting so big. 11pounds 8 oz. He is also 25.5 inches long!! The doctor was so impressed. He really couldn't believe how tall he has gotten, I guess the growth spurt explains the crazy appetite. He is still spoiled and doesn't like to not be held during the day, but he is sleeping through the night so I try not to complain. Its amazing what a good nights sleep does for a tired mommy! I am so lucky to have the cutest kids.

Thanksgiving part two

I know this post is a little late and you all have been on the edge of your seat wondering about part two of Thanksgiving, so here it is. We took of from California and headed for Justin's parents house in Fallon, NV. It was fun to see all the cousins and we even got a couple of cute pictures. We also were able to go to church with the family which is always fun. The kids love playing together and I hardly ever see Taylor and Ellie the whole time because they are so busy with the other kids. This makes it an easier ride home because they are always so exhausted. Anyway, the trip was great and I am glad we decided to go last minute. Justin and I got to spend time with both of our families, which is the most important thing. I wish everyone was closer and that we could do this more often.
Here are all the older cousins!


This is all of the Doren and Ellen Sorensen family, almost, we are missing Justin's next oldest brother Brandon and his wife Elizabeth.

This picture of Joslyn makes me laugh, she did not want to be in it, so she is walking away in a lot of them!

Crazy last minute trip aka: Thanksgiving part one

Well as some of you noticed, Justin and I didn't end up spending Thanksgiving alone like we thought we would. Wednesday afternoon I was feeling lonely and sad that we wouldn't be able to be with my family this year. Alot of family on my mom's side were getting together at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Grass Valley CA. Some of them I haven't seen in years and I was jealous not to be with them. I also wanted to go shopping with my mom and Aunt and Grandma on Black Friday. It is sort of a tradition that we have. So long story short on Wed around 3:00pm we decided to make the 10 hour drive, at 6pm we left and at 4am we arrived in CA!! It was a lot of fun and so good to see everyone. And the food was awesome. It just doesn't feel like Thanksgiving if there aren't 30 people around. My Aunt and Uncle were so nice and let us use their room to fit our whole family. I even got to see my cousins Josh, Nichole and Toni, who I only see every few years. And yes after a little drama, I did go shopping with my mom and aunt. We didn't make it to Target until the afternoon, but we still found some pretty good deals. The girls did great and Noah was spoiled and held the entire time. I hope we can get together more often! Here are some pictures.
This is Taylor and my cousin Toni's little girl Delany.

10 lbs 10 oz!!!!

Happy day for Noah, I took him to be weighed this morning and he was 10 lbs 10 oz! Almost two pounds heavier than last time. I guess all of that constant nursing and formula has finally paid off. I am so relieved that he is out of the 5Th percentile. We had to postpone his actual 2 month apt. until the 15Th, but I am sure the doctor will be just as excited as I am. He has been eating a ton and I thought he was bigger, now I know for sure! He has also started cooing and smiles all of the time! It is so fun to have a little boy around. The girls love to hug and kiss him. I guess that is why he is a little sick today. We all have a cold and it is almost impossible to keep the girls away from the baby. He is doing okay, just a little snotty nose. I hope he keeps growing the way he should!

This one is for Uncle Brett!

Will Noah end up going to the U like his mommy?? I thought Ness and Brett would enjoy this one! But, make sure you check out the post below!

Game Day 2008

Well tomorrow is the big day and Justin and I are super excited. If you didn't know, we both love college football and tomorrow will be such a good game. Noah is already pretty excited as you can tell from his photos. He has been so smiley all day that I couldn't resist taking some pictures of him. The girls all took turns trying to make him crack a smile, so cute!!!

Noah's day out

On Saturday Noah and I went out on the town. Our first stop was the doctor's office where Noah weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds 13 ounces. Still very small, but up 9 ounces from Tuesday. I have been feeding him nonstop and supplementing him with high calorie formula. He will see the doc again in a couple of weeks and we will try and figure out why he is requiring so many calories to grow. Hopefully it won't be anything serious. I am trying not to worry, but unfortunately I know too much about this from work. I am happy that he is at least gaining and not losing like he was before. After the doctor we went to the mall where I got some clothes that actually fit over my huge, you know, and don't think butt, but that is still pretty big as well. I hate being overweight and have a goal to lose 20 lbs, but that is a different post. We also went to the eye doctor and picked up my new glasses. I was very excited about that, I can finally see without having to wear my contacts all the time, which was starting to bother my eyes. Then we came home and rested and watched lots of football with Justin. A perfect Saturday. I also got to spend lots of time with the girls, because I didn't do any housework! I needed a break. Well I posted some pics of Noah so you can see how huge he is, HA HA! I almost caught him with a smile!

This and that

Things are going pretty well around here. Noah is having trouble gaining weight, and it is making me a little nervous. Before we thought it was just because I didn't have enough breast milk, but even with formula he is still so small. I had him weighed today and he was barely more than he was three weeks ago. I will weigh him again on Sat and see the doctor. There are so many reasons this could be happening, we will just have to see. In the meantime, I will continue to feed him all the time and increase his calories a little. He is also a little sick so I hope everything clears up soon. Everyone else is doing well. Justin was sick last week and even came home early from work, that is how you know he is really feeling bad! Then yesterday I felt yucky, but thankfully we are both feeling better. Today I am just trying to catch up on housework. It is amazing how much needs to be done after just one day of missed chores. I have been sticking to a chore calender that helps me keep on top of the housework. This house has been a challenge to keep clean. With almost 5000 square feet, it is a little overwhelming. Of course half of that is the basement which I have basically given up on, but I still have to pick it up once in awhile. Taylor is becoming my little helper. Lately when everyone else is sleeping she helps me do things. Today we vacuumed and cleaned the couches. Like her mom, she loves to clean! It is fun to spend time with her and do things like that. These pictures are from last week when Ellie hurt her leg and Taylor made a little foot prop for it so they could continue to play princess Polly pockets. They are having so much fun with those things lately. I am grateful. Well it is time to feed Noah again, wish me luck!

Hooray for me

I just wanted to pat myself on the back for today. I feel really special because I took all four of my kids to the grocery store today, all by myself. The greatest part is that it wasn't a total disaster. They did really well. I had to bribe them a little, but who doesn't do that?? Ellie even cooperated until we were leaving and then she refused to come out with me. She finally agreed after some threats, and we made it to the car in one piece. I even had enough energy left when I came home to clean my kitchen and write on this blog! I have hope that I will someday feel 100% normal and be able to do all the things I used to. I have been sleeping better thanks to Noah who, slept from 11-4:30 this morning! I have been going to the gym and that has helped a lot also. Oh, and the best news is that Noah started to smile a couple of days ago. It is so cute, I haven't been able to catch it on a picture yet, but I will soon. I can't believe he is 5 weeks old already. Well enough of this, I just wanted to remember this historic day!

Joslyn

These are some cute pictures that Justin took of Joslyn the other morning. Since Noah was born, she seems so grown up. She tries to do everything on her own. She doesn't allow me to help at all. This makes things a little difficult, but I try to let her be independent. She doesn't sit in her high chair anymore, she has to sit at the table like a big girl. She even started to drink the milk from her cereal like her big sisters. This habit did not come from me, we didn't do that, and I think it is gross. Justin has taught the girls this by his example. You can't take the farm out of the boy I guess! Joslyn has also started to talk a lot more lately and it is so fun to hear her say new words. Her favorite thing at the moment is playing my little ponies. She gives one to me and then makes her pony and my pony kiss, she makes the kissy noises and everything, it is so cute. We play all the time and she is getting quite the imagination. I can't believe how grown up she is becoming!