Christmas Festivities!!

We had a fun December, full of lots of Christmas events!  Here are some of the moments from this past month...

Leah had a little Christmas Pajama Party on her last day of school, which is something that she had been looking forward to for a long time!  Here's what she looked like when I picked her up!  I love preschool! 

Noah had his Christmas Sing at school, but he was terribly sick and didn't really enjoy it at all.  He insisted on going to school that day, and he didn't have a fever or anything in the morning, so I let him go.  Well...as soon as he came home that day, he had a temp of 103 and was sick in bed for the next 5 days!  Not fun.

The day before Noah got sick, we went to the annual Fowler Christmas Party.  My uncle was so nice to give each of the great grandkids a toy...they loved it!

My sweet grandma gave each of the kiddos a little container with M&M's, and the kids LOVED it!  Candy is definitely the way to a kids heart :).

We usually go to my parent's house on Christmas Eve to celebrate, but we were all so sick that we had to wait a week to go!  The kids were so excited when we were finally able to go up there.  They were even more excited when they got some fun gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Fowler!  They were definitely spoiled!

Noah got a huge bear, a nerf gun, and some cool legos that light up!

Leah got some clothes, a book, and...

...a cotton candy maker!  Oh boy! 

Isaac got a remote control car, which he is in love with!

And sweet Kate got some clothes, and a cabbage patch doll! 

Us at my parent's house.

We all would have had a little more fun if we hadn't had that dreadful sickness, but we pulled through and made the best of it!  I'm am worn out by all the Christmas fun we had!  Until next year :).

Christmas ~ 2012

Ahhh...Christmas FINALLY came! I don't know who was more excited this year...me or the kiddos! We have all been looking forward to the big day for what seems like forever!  I think that we all really needed a day to really relax and have fun because we had all been crazy sick for the two weeks leading up to Christmas!  It started with Noah, who passed it to me {I don't remember being as sick as I was...I was down in bed for five days straight!  Not fun at all!!}, then I passed it to Leah, Isaac, and Kate!  So, ya, we were pretty miserable at our house and needed some sort of boost...and Christmas was just what we needed :).

The kiddos actually slept in until 8:30, which was wonderful!  When they came upstairs and saw this, they started to freak out!

Man, oh man, I so remember waking up Christmas morning and being SO excited!  That feeling was so awesome, and I know that they felt it too!  After opening our stockings, we got down to business and opened up all the goods.

Noah got the Lego set his has been longing for...

...and a double light saber!  I am seriously not a huge fan of that thing, but whatever makes the kiddos happy, right?

Leah was beyond thrilled to get her doll...

...and she was BEYOND excited to get the princess watch that she has wanted!  Check out that face!  I'm so glad I got it on camera.  Ha!

Isaac was happy with everything that he got.  He would take his precious little time to open each gift, which just drove Leah craaazy!  

But he was SO happy when he opened up his big gift and saw that he got a GO UTAH basketball!  Oh my...this kid hasn't put this thing down in a week!  He LOVES it!

And he was just as excited about every other toy...especially the Cars Legos.  Check out that face...love it!

Kate was SO sick on the big day, and she could have cared less about her toys.  Although she did enjoy the little pig that Noah gave her :).  Poor little thing...she spent the entire day in our arms snuggling and relaxing.  

I got an awesome waffle maker that makes TWO waffles at the same time!  Woot!  Plus I got a new hard drive, which is amazing!  Doug was thrilled with his new shoes...can't you tell! :)

Me and my girlies.

Cute brothers.

Ah...I love my kids so much!  I know that they had a great Christmas this year.  I decided to not get them as much as I have in years past, and they were perfectly content :).  They have enough toys as it is, and I think they realized that they need to be happy with whatever they receive, big or small.  They were thrilled with what they did get, which was so great.  Now I just need to find room for all the new goodies...that'll be an adventure in itself!  We hope that you all had a fabulous Christmas!!

Leah's Preschool Christmas Program

Leah had her Christmas Program the week before Christmas, and it was seriously so adorable! I live for performances like this! I was grinning from ear to ear the entire time watching our little performer sing to her hearts content! Noah's not a huge fan of performing, but Leah LOVES it! She knew every word and every action to every song. I was very impressed, and not at all surprised, seeing that she has been singing these songs non-stop for the past month! Leah's preschool teacher is absolutely amazing and I'm just so happy with all the work that she puts in to create these wonderful performances for our enjoyment. It was definitely a good night :).  Plus she looked SO pretty in her little Christmas dress :).

Click here to see Noah's program from two years ago.  Oh my, how the time flies!

Leah and Ryan getting ready to start the program.  I'm so glad that they get to experience preschool together!!

Kate ~ 8 Months

Sweet Baby Kate is 8 months old!  The time is going by a lot faster as of late, so, of course, we are cherishing all these precious little moments just a little bit more :).  At 8 months, Kate...

...is finally sitting up!  We were all SO excited when she finally started to sit up, especially Kate!  It's so nice to sit her down and let her actually sit and play with a toy.  Whenever I would lay her on her back, she would just sob.  I was seriously jumping up and down when she could sit unassisted...yay!
...is so, SO sensitive!  I have never had a baby that cried a lot, or really even a little.  Noah, Leah, and Isaac were all pretty good babies and didn't cry too often...at least not often enough for me to remember!  Well, Kate cries...a LOT!  It kind of drives me nutty sometimes, but I'm getting used to it.  She definitely knows what she likes and she will NOT stop crying until she gets her way!  Sometimes I think that she'll eventually stop, but she doesn't.  Most of the time, her cry is more like a whine, which I guess is a little better.  It's just her way to say "pick me up"!
...loves to be held...all.of.the.time!  She always wants to be in my arms.  Needless to say, my left arm is pretty strong from totting her around :).
...is finally starting to eat solid foods.  We had a rough time with her for a while because whenever we gave her cereal {oatmeal, rice}, she would throw it up.  After talking to the doc, he said to just give her the fruits and veggies sans cereal.  She is doing a lot better now.  They don't know if she is allergic to the grains or not, but for now we're just not going to have them in her diet.  She is getting what she really needs from me, so at least we know she's healthy :).
...is a binky baby!  None of the others liked binkies, but Kate sure loves hers!  I actually don't mind, because sometimes when she's crying, it's the only thing that will calm her down...aside from me holding her!  I'm all over it.
...is still a tiny little thing.  She has been very sick the past few weeks, so I took her to the doc and she weighed 14 lbs 8 oz!  What?!?!?  The doc attributed it to her being sick and not having a big appetite, which makes sense.  Hopefully she starts gaining more soon.
...is not a huge fan of playing with her toys...but she loves to play with the tags on her toys!  Go figure!
...is the most wonderful little sleeper!  She still takes two way long naps every day, and sleeps 12 hours at night!  Love it!
...has really long hair...on the sides :).  We were able to put her hair in little piggies this month...SO CUTE!
...is a HUGE snuggler, and I LOVE it!  I could snuggle with that girl all day.  Makes my heart melt every time she puts her head on my chest :).

We definitely can't imagine our lives without our sweet baby Kate!  We love you little girl...to the moon and back!!

Santa ~ 2012

The kiddos have been waiting, for what seems like forever, to go and see Santa.  Well, tonight was the night that we fulfilled that request :).  Now, I totally expected that at least one of the kids would freak out to see the big guy, but, to my amazement, they *all* sat on Santa's lap, all with a big smile on their faces!  Woot, woot!  I really love this tradition at Christmas, as do my kids!  They were thrilled as can be to finally put in their request for what they wanted for Christmas...

Noah wants a Double Light Saber and a Lego Set!

Leah wants a Doll and a Watch.

OK, now I totally did not expect Isaac to be as excited as he was to see Santa!  He literally ran up to sit on his lap, and then proceeded to tell him that he wanted a Basketball for Christmas!  So, SO, cute!

Kate has been pretty fussy lately and isn't a huge fan of strangers, so I totally expected her to cry...but, no!  She was as content as can be and just sat there.  

Sweet kids!

Our family with Santa :).

We really had such a wonderful time...it was COOOLLLD, but so worth it!!