Turning 30, Parties, and Others

Blowing out my candles with help from Gracie

I thought I'd do a quick update on what we've been doing this week. Not much happened, but we did manage to keep busy. The first part of the week went pretty smooth. Then on Wednesday I woke up at 6:45 to get Sarah ready for school. I was feeling kind of dizzy and when I stood up everything around me was spinning. I tried to focus on the door, but it kept moving out of my frame of vision. It was the weirdest thing I had ever experienced. I managed to make it down the hall and into Sarah's room. She asked if she could stay asleep and have me drive her to school. I was all for this considering how dizzy I was. I walked to the couch and laid down. The kids got up about a half hour later and I got up, trying to help Sarah get ready. I barely made it to the hall before I almost tipped over. I went in the bedroom and told Kenny he had to get her ready because I wasn't going to be able to. He got her ready for school and drove her, with all of the other kids, to school.

When Kenny got back he asked me what I needed and I asked him to call the doctor. I wanted to make sure everything was OK with me and the baby. They asked me to come in immediately. Kenny took me in and then waited in the car with the little kids (it was just easier that way.) They took some blood, took my vitals, and did some tests on me. The doctor had me try to follow her finger. Sounds simple I know, but I just couldn't do it. Anyway, it turns out I had a migraine. I've never had a migraine before so I didn't know what it was. The doctor thinks it was caused by stress (4 small kids, an unemployed husband, and being 26 weeks pregnant, I don't know what I would have to be stressed about.) They gave me some medicine and told me to go home and rest. I did just that. The medicine stopped the spinning so I was able to sleep.

The next day just happened to be my 30th birthday. I was feeling a little better, but still not great. I spent most of the day in bed and Kenny was nice enough to watch the kids for me. He also bought 6 raspberry filled donuts and had the kids decorate them for me. When Sarah got home from school we broke out the donuts, blew out the candles (3, my candles are in decades now) and then we each ate the donut we decorated. Kenny told me he thought I'd seen enough cake in the last little while and he thought I'd like donuts better. He was right and so thoughtful. We all enjoyed the donuts and then Sarah went to a birthday party. It wasn't much of a birthday, but considering how I felt, it was good.

Donuts decorated by the famiy.

Top: Ben's, Kenny's, Sarah's

Bottom: Gracie, Hannah's, and mine

We had 2 parties for the kids after my birthday. Sarah's best friend Carina had a birthday party and Sarah was able to spend the night. It was her first sleepover and she did very well. She only called me once to tell me she was a little nervous. After that, Carina's mom said she sat upstairs for a little while and then went and played. She had a lot of fun and didn't come home the next day until around noon. Meanwhile, Ben had a church party on Friday. He got to go to Leo's pizza place with his primary class as a treat for them being good for 10 Sunday's. I took him and then hung out to help for the hour and a half of the party. He had a lot of fun with his church friends playing on the toys and eating pizza. It was a fun time for both kids.

The rest of the week was pretty boring. We were going to go to Boise for Kenny's Aunt Janet's surprise birthday party, but we made the tough choice to save our money and not go. Instead we stayed home and did nothing. Kenny got sick late on Saturday night and threw up once and then had a very bad headache (I wonder if his could be stress too.) He was still sick on Sunday morning so I told him to go back to sleep and I took the kids to church. I was very proud of myself, taking 4 little kids and my big pregnant self to all of church all by myself. Everything went smooth until halfway through nursery when they brought me Hannah whose dress had fallen in the toilet while she was trying to go potty. I had to rush her home to change her dress and I found Kenny just waking up with a headache. I went back to church and the rest of the day went smooth.

So, that was our week. I guess it was a little busier than than I originally thought. It's currently spring break so we have Sarah home for almost a week. It's nice to have her home. I'm looking forward to summer break when she's around more often. Hopefully I'll be feeling better and we can do more things.

Glasses For Sarah Kate

The day she got her glasses.

For quite some time we've noticed Sarah Kate squinting to see things and we've known we needed to get her into the eye doctor. When we went to her school for her birthday we noticed her get out of her chair and walk up to the board in order to see what was on it. It was at that point that I made the decision to stop putting off the eye doctor and just make the call. I found a local children's optometrist and made an appointment. We were all set to go on Thursday the 12th, until Sarah threw up at school on the 11th and spent all of the 12th with the flu. The poor kid. I rescheduled her appointment for the next Thursday.

I sent her to school that morning for about an hour, got the other kids ready, and then we picked Sarah up and headed to the doctor. She was a little nervous. She kept asking if it would hurt and what it would be like. I assured her that everything would be fine and it might actually be kind of fun. She did very well at the doctors and did everything she was asked, everything except see 20/20. Apparently she has REALLY bad eyes. They're almost as bad as mine. I had no idea they were so bad. It made me feel just awful. I guess the good thing is she never knew what she was missing out on. The doctor discovered that she is nearsighted and that she definitely needed glasses. We got her prescription and tried a number of different places looking for the perfect glasses.

Kenny helped her the most when it came to finding the perfect glasses. I entertained the little kids. She decided on a pair at Lens Crafters, and the were able to get them ready in an hour. We decided to wait to take her back to school until her glasses were ready. We ordered them and then took the kids to lunch. It was a rare treat that everyone enjoyed. After an hour we took her back and got her glasses.

It's hard having your child in glasses. I think she is so beautiful and so perfect and I feel bad that the glasses hide that beauty a little. Also having had glasses since 5th grade, I'm completely aware of what a pain they are and I feel bad that she has to have them. On the bright side she can definitely see better. She was fun to watch the first day because she kept lifting them up and telling us all the things she could see better with her glasses. I'm glad she can see now and that she likes them so much.

Sarah has done a great job taking care of and wearing her glasses. I was worried about getting her to keep them on, but I guess when they make that big of a difference it's not a huge struggle to get kids to wear them. She is always super careful with them and has done a good job of keeping them out of reach of her little sisters. We are so proud of how well she's done with them. It's too bad she has to have them, but that's OK I guess.

Sarah has sensitive eyes and the sunlight hurts them so we got her the lens that change to sunglasses in the sunlight. This has been a huge help to her and she thinks it's really cool. Luckily all her friends and family have been very supportive and the transition to glasses has been a smooth one. We think she's cute, Sarah thinks she cute, what do you think?

Hannah Elizabeth Newbry

Hannah is now three and I can't believe it. In some ways she seems old for her age, in other ways (like her speech) she seems young. Mostly she just seems like Hannah. Hannah was born in West Valley, Utah on March 16, 2006. She was born at 12:57 and weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces. She has always been our small child being in the 50-60% instead of the 90%, but she is slowly catching up and is now in the 70-80% for height. When Hannah was a baby we called her our little orangutan. She had a dark complexion, big eyes, and the cutest little go everywhere dark hair that made her look just like an orangutan. She has outgrown the orangutan look and has turned out looking a lot like her big sister Sarah.

At birth

6 Weeks Old

Her Birth Announcement Picture

July 2006
4 Months Old

Hannah has always been in catch up mode. She wants so bad to do the big things her siblings do. She started crawling at 5 months old and did an army crawl for the longest time. She really just wanted to be able to move, she didn't care how. She didn't walk early, but she could get wherever she wanted by crawling and she was an excellent climber at an early age. She has always tagged along with her siblings and done a good job at it. Ben and Sarah have done a good job including her and it has been so much fun watching them all play.

8 Months Old

9 Months Old

Hannah's speech has not come as easily. We recently learned that Hannah had excessive fluid in her ear that made it hard for her to hear and she also had enlarged tonsils that made it almost impossible for her to make certain sounds. After having tubes put in her ears and having her tonsils out in January, we have seen some improvement in her speech. She still has a long ways to go, but we are confident she will catch up and be talking our ear off (and we'll understand it all) in no time.

Hannah's 1st Birthday

July 2007

Almost 1 1/2

Hannah is our little princess. She LOVES dress-up clothes and will change her dress a few times each day. There are many days I don't even dress her in the morning because I know it will only be a few minutes before she has change into one of her dress-up dresses. She loves to sing and dance around in her dresses and somewhere along the way she's gotten some rhythm.

May 2007

Her official 1 year old picture

October 2007

The day we brought Gracie home from the hospital. 1 1/2 years old.

Along with being a princess Hannah is also a little Mommy. She loves dolls and is often caring one around. There are many times I'll walk into the living room and find a doll laying down on Hannah's blanket and pillow sleeping. Hannah tells me the babies sleeping and I need to be quite. She's a good little Mommy, but hasn't learn the art of clothing on dolls. She prefers all her dolls to have no clothes on. I'm sure this will change with time, but for now I think it's kind of cute.

May 2008

Hannah's official 2 year old picture

September 2008

Hannah's first haircut. 2 1/2 years old.

While Hannah is very girly in some aspects of her life she definitely has a tomboy side to her. She's a ruff and tumble kind of kid who loves to wrestle Ben and Daddy. She loves to be thrown through the air and to run screaming through the house. She also loves to be outside riding her bike or playing with chalk. Her favorite outside activity is bubbles (very typical of a 3 year old) and she loves to blow them and chase them. I like to think of her as a well rounded mix. She loves most things girlish and boyish.

Playing dress up on her 3rd birthday.

We are very fortunate to have Hannah in our life. She brings such a joy to our family and I can't image life without her. She is the most loving of the kids, she's always there to give you a hug if your sad or hurt, and she worries the most if someones not with us. She's a very caring little kid who is also a ball of energy. I love my Hannah Banana.

Hannah's Castle Cake

Hannah's Castle Cake

This year for Hannah's birthday cake I decided to do a castle. You may remember it from Sarah's 5th birthday as it's the same cake. I figured Hannah loves princess' so much that she may enjoy a castle cake. Boy was I right. She was so excited when we brought it out. She kept saying 'castle' over and over again. Not only did she like the cake, but she loved the fact that it was her turn to blow out the candles all by herself. She has been wanting to do this since Ben's birthday and it was finally her turn. It took her 3 tries (the candles were kind of spread out), but she didn't care. She loved having us sing to her and blowing out her very own candles.

Blowing out the candles all by herself.

Hannah wanted the center tower as her own to eat. She, of course, didn't eat it all, but it was still fun to pretend. The other kids each had a smaller tower to eat and more face planting was done than actual cake eating. I'm glad they had so much fun eating Hannah's cake, and I'm even more glad that Hannah liked the cake so much. Halfway through the cake eating Hannah remembered her picnic table. Kenny brought it to the dinning room and she and Ben at their cake at the little table.

Hannah diving into her big tower.

Gracie didn't dive head first into her cake this time, but she sure did make a mess.

Ben eating his tower.

What a cutie!

Sarah eating her cake nicely. Is she really getting too old to dive into her cake?

Eating cake with Ben on her new picnic table.

Birthday Dinner at Leo's

Hannah on the bouncy thing in the toys at Leo's

We've been meaning to take the kids to Leo's for one of their birthday's, but we've always been too busy. We decided Hannah was our last shot for awhile so we just went for it. Leo's is kind of like a Chuck-E-Cheese and has a huge indoor playland, an arcade, and some little cars to ride on. They serve pizza and hamburgers and allow the kids to just play and have fun. We've never taken the kids there, but thought a birthday would be a great time to start.

Hannah showing off her balancing act.

Climbing up to the toys.

The kids had a blast playing in the playland and chasing Daddy around. I went up for a little while, but it's just to hard being as pregnant as I am. Instead I enjoyed watching the kids play with Kenny and I enjoyed a little quite time at the table while everyone played. We had pizza that was actually pretty good (much better than Chuck-E-Cheese) and then the kids played some more. Hannah really like the little cars to ride on and because it was her birthday I even put some money in some of them. Her favorite was the motorcycle that she rode over and over again. Everyone had so much fun that I think we may need to go back again sometime.

Ben goofing around.

Gracie playing on the bouncer.

Sarah being cute.

Riding the motorcycle

Hannah's 3rd Birthday

Hannah turned 3 on the 16th of March. She was very excited for her birthday and, I think because of the other recent birthday's, she knew pretty much just what to expect. The morning went pretty much routine. We didn't do anything special except for talk about her birthday and how she was turning 3 instead of 2. She seemed to like this and has enjoyed holding up 3 fingers when we ask how old she is.

Opening presents.

The siblings sitting on the picnic table waiting for Hannah to open more presents.

I put the little kids down for a nap around 1:00 and finished Hannah's cake while Kenny wrapped her presents and decorated the house. Next we waited for her to wake up. Sarah Kate came home from school and Hannah still didn't wake up. We waited and waited, of all the day's to take a long nap, and finally Kenny opened the door to check on her and Gracie. It woke Gracie up and that woke Hannah up. She wasn't in the best mood because Daddy was taking Gracie out of the room which meant Hannah was left alone. Also her arm had fallen asleep while she slept and that didn't make her happy either. When she came into the hall and saw the decorations she cheered up a little and when the arm finally stopped tingling she really cheered up. She played with the balloons and the streamers and then we asked if she wanted to see her presents. She was very excited and she waited patiently for Daddy to bring them out into the living room.

Opening her baby doll bed.

Her facial expression was the same for every present she opened! Priceless!

Hannah had a pretty good birthday. She got a dress-up dress complete with wings, a picnic table, a My First Leap Pad, an outfit for her snap dolls, and a bed for her dolls. She's at the perfect age where everything is amazing and where they have the cutest expression for everything. I love this age. Hannah opened her dress first and immediately had to change into it. Then she opened all of her presents, including books from Grandma and Grandpa Newbry, (she got a Cinderella doll from Grandma and Grandpa Gass a few days before). When everything was opened and Daddy was putting together the doll bed she danced and sang on her little table.

Reading books from Grandma and Grandpa

Dancing and singing on her pinic table in her new dress-up dress.

We were debating on whether or not to get her the table, but it has proved to be a good choice. The weather has been warmer, but not quite warm enough to picnic outside so the table has been in the dinning room. She has eaten every meal at her little table since her birthday. I guess that proves she likes it. She has also slept every night with her doll next to her in it's very own bed. All in all I think she liked her presents. What a relief.

Playing with her new dolly bed.

Putting a baby to bed.

Sarah Kate made a Happy Birthday sign for Hannah.

Sarah The Kate

I still haven't gotten the scanner to work so this is the first picture of Sarah Kate I have. It was taken at my sister-in-laws wedding when Sarah was almost 19 months old. Do her sisters look like her?

Where do I start with describing Sarah Kate? Sarah Kate was born on March 5th 2002 in Logan, Utah. She was 10 days early and weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. Since that day she has grown up to be a beautifully fun girl. Being our first Sarah Kate was quite the adventure. There's nothing like the excitement, nervousness, and anticipation of your first child. Sarah Kate didn't disappoint.

Thanksgiving 2004

2 1/2 years old

Grandpa Holderness' 80th Birthday Party.
Sarah's 3rd birthday (that's why she got to wear the boa.)

Sarah is probably our most outgoing and friendly child. She loves to be around people and she can make friends wherever we go. This has been a challenge for me some time because I'm a very shy, reserved person (most of the time), but it's been good for me. I remember a time in the Pentagon Mall in Washington DC when Sarah Kate was maybe 1. We were down in the food court having lunch when we notice Sarah Kate was waving to and keeping someones attention on the top floor (3 floors up). When we looked up we noticed it was a group of young males, smiling and playing with our daughter from so high up. She could always pull people in, get and keep their attention, even from a young age.

May 2006

4 years old

Sarah is also a people pleaser. She tries so hard to do what's right that sometimes it can get her into trouble. At school last month the class using rubber bands in their art project. Apparently the kids were flipping them all over the classroom. Mrs. Ramos had told all the kids to stop flipping the rubber bands around and then she sat down at her desk. When she wasn't looking the kids started flipping the rubber bands again. Sarah Kate took it upon herself to tell Mrs. Ramos what the kids were doing. Then for some reason, according to Sarah, all the kids were very mad at her. They called her a tattle tail, and didn't want to talk to her. She was so confused because she was only trying to do what was right by telling Mrs. Ramos what was happening. She didn't understand why the others were mad at her, they were the ones doing the wrong thing. It was kind of funny and sweet to see her innocence. She's just so determined to do what is right that sometimes she doesn't stop to think before she acts. We're working on the brown nosing.

One of my favorite pictures of Sarah Kate
December 2006 (4 1/2 years old)

Sarah Kate would have to be the chicken of the family. She wants so much to be brave, but she just really isn't. She used to gage what she could or would do depending of if Ben could/would do something. On some things I think she's give up this idea because Ben now does stuff she's not brave enough to do. At the playground last summer Ben and Kenny were climbing on the top of the monkey bars. Sarah Kate really wanted to do it to. Kenny has a philosophy that if the kids can't do something on their own then they shouldn't be doing it. He, or I, of course, are there in case they fall or decided they can't do something on their own, but we like time to feel confident in what they're doing. Sarah climbed on top of the monkey bars and was straddling them looking down at Kenny and said, "I don't know why ANYONE would ever want to do this." She wants to be brave, but instead is super cautions. As a baby it was frustrating at times (it still is even though now she's a big kid) but we've never had to worry about her wandering off, falling in a hole or a swimming pool, or anything else. She just extremely careful and caution in everything she tries to do or she won't do it.

Getting her Green Belt in Karate

Feburary 2007 (Almost 5 years old)

We like to call Sarah Kate our science girl and she loves the nickname. She loves rocks, flowers, animals, almost anything science. She's funny because when we take her to Toys r Us she gets more excited over the science isle than the doll, barbies, or any other toys. She's a collector. She loves to collect rocks, and seashells, and feathers, and anything else she can find. She is also very interested in how everything works. Since she first learned to talk one of her favorite words has always been why. She wants to now why something happens or how something works. She's definitely going to keep me on my toes, which is good.

Just before kindergarten 2007
5 1/2 years old

Other than that, Sarah Kate is, well Sarah Kate. She loves school, her friends, and her siblings. She's a wonderful big sister who loves to help me, most of the time. She's getting to the age where she's wanting some more one on one time with Mom and Dad and she's starting to have less in common with her sisters. She still loves to play with Ben and I feel very fortunate that my kids get along so well and love each other so much. She still shares a room with Ben because neither one of them want to split up. I think we'll let them stay together for a few more years, as long as they want to.

Sarah Kate and Ben

December 2007 (5 1/2 Years Old)

Sarah's an excellent student in school. She's excelled so much this year and is now reading well into the 2nd grade level. She started her accelerated math work at school (basically that's math at your own pace) and she was the first one in her class to hit the 50 point mark even though she started months behind some of the other kids. She loves to learn and is picking up on things so quickly. It's been so much fun watching her learn and grow this year.

Summer 2008
6 1/2 years old

I feel so fortunate to have Sarah in my life. She is such a delight and such an amazing child. She seems so perfect in so many ways that I'm constantly in awe at my luck in being her mom. I can't wait to see what kind of person she's going to become, but at the same time I don't mind waiting. She's already growing up way to fast.

Sarah's Butterfly Cake

Sarah's butterfly cake.

I've been wondering if Sarah is getting a little old for my cakes. Kenny wants me to come up with an age when the kids no longer get a special cake (I think he's getting sick of me making them.) I don't like to think of my kids growing up so quickly so I don't want to think about them not wanting a cake anymore. This year, lucky for me, Sarah still wanted one. She is growing out of the princess and Dora thing so I wanted to make her something a little more grown up. I settled for a butterfly cake and it seemed to be a good choice. She didn't want to see it before it was cake time so I put it on the toaster oven and put a towel over it. When I finally brought it out she said she already knew, but she was happy anyway (I wonder if a sibling helped her figure out what it was!)

Sarah excited to blow out the candles.

Look at all those candles. Are there really 7!

Sarah was very patient as we sang her Happy Birthday (the longer version from her class) and when the time came she blew out the candles. It took her 2 breathes, but she did get them out. Hannah wanted to help, but Sarah was too quick. Poor Hannah was devastated that she didn't get to blow out the candles. Lucky for us her birthday is next and we convinced her that she could blow out her own candles on her birthday.

Sarah blowing out her candles as Hannah tries to help.

Hannah not being happy that the candles are out.

We had a lot of fun eating cake and ice cream (though Mom and Dad were so full from dinner that we didn't have any.) Sarah took the bottom half of the butterfly and Ben took the middle section including face and belly. Hannah and Grace each had their own smaller piece. The kids ate in their silly ways and made more mess than anything. That's the way cake is eaten around our house.

Sarah ready to eat the bottom half of her cake. She's such a goofy girl.


Ben enjoying the middle of the butterfly.

Hannah eating her cake without a fork.This is how Gracie chose to eat her cake.

She's such a goof ball.

Sarah's messy cake face.

When we finished the cake and ice cream it was time to clean everyone up and put them in bed. Another good day was finished and the kids were all happy, healthy, and full.