kiddos

What a cute bum!!!
I was hoping to capture Camden playing with his toes, but got other cute pictures instead. I love watching him play with his piggies, they are his most favorite entertainment - until the camera comes out! He loves his piggies and he loves to giggle. Kyrie is the best at getting him to laugh, and it helps that he is very ticklish. He is getting so big and is finding out that he doesn't have to stay right where we put him. I laid him in the corner of the couch, turned around about 5 seconds later and saw him like this. He can turn in circles while laying on his back and is starting to roll from his back to his belly. I'm greatful that he is most content in my arms. He loves to be held and can force out a good scream if he sees me walk by. I am most content with him in my arms too! My sleeping beauty. As I was putting her to bed a couple nights ago, she disagreed that she is not my tired little girl, she is my "Cindelella pinkalicious butterfly princess". That pink bear she is sleeping with - the next night as I was putting her to bed she said, "I don't like my big bear anymore, she can sleep on the floor if she wants to, but I don't like her" and she threw it out of her bed.We painted toenails a few days ago and Chris was asking her what colors they were. Ky said, "purple, green, strawberry shortcake, orange blossom, and blueberry muffin".Even with all the school Dusty has missed, he has maintained a 4.0! He was pretty excited at the awards ceremony, he definately didn't earn the 100% attendance this time. He is doing a little better with things. I have avoided all topics of his episodes all I can, and he complains much less. His anxiety is not near what it was, he is handling things better. I am confused as what we should be doing, and where we should get help. I got a call from the school nurse on Friday and she said he had an episode in class that came on so strong that he shouted out in class while they were quietly working on math. She went and got him from class and took him to her office and within a couple minutes he felt totally fine and happily went back to class. The good thing is, he went back to class - he wasn't scared and he did it happily! That's improvement! One of Dusty's latest, fully dressed in Kyrie's underware!

And for Hayden - he lost a tooth a couple of weeks ago and was pretty sure it was a big $ one! He said he thought he would get a lot of money from the toothfairy for this one because it didn't have any blood on it, only a little blood in it! haha!

Ew!

I just heard Hayden say, "I've kissed dad before", Dusty said "SO?" and Hayden said, "So, I didn't like it!"

last of all

Here is the last little bit of 2011

Kyrie playing "keekaboo" with Camden. She is good at making him laugh!

She loves to take care of him and is always sharing her toys. Chris's flower boquet from work, I think Kyrie believed it was all for her!One of the yummy meals my friend brought in for us after surgery - We were so blessed and well taken care of by those around us.

Dennis came out for Christmas

Ian, Heather and Abby came into Denver from Texas and were able to spend a little time with us. We were all so excited to see them, and the boys had planned an attack for their arrival. They had all of their nerf guns lined up behind the couch ready to fire for the moment they walked in the door - the torture they got from "Uncle" Ian was well deserved! We had a great time with them having game night, and I appreciate all the help they gave us. They got up super early to come over to take care of the kids for us and stayed here all day while Chris and I were at the hospital. Heather had made gingerbread cookies with the kids, and who know what else super fun things, Kyrie can't stop talking about her, and says "do you know Heather is going to come to our house again". I sure hope so!

THE END!

look who is 3!!!

I can hardly believe it, and I think I am in denial, my little girl is now 3! Three of the very best years of my life - with her in it! She started out her special day with her favorite food - eggs! She has had her birthday planned out for about 10.5 months when we went to a friends party - a Rapunzel party, and ever since then, that is what she has wanted. And to clarify, I think that is what she has wanted for the table setting, and party favors. But when it came down to it at the store, she couldn't decide, so she ended up with a tinkerbell napkin, disney princesses cup and a dora plate!Maybe she didn't get barbies for Christmas, she got them the next day - for her birthday! She has fallen in love with them! After opening her presents, she played with them until we took her to the mall for the long awaited moment in her life.......ear piercing! She has wanted this for a very long time, and I have told her for several months that we would on her birthday. We got to the mall along with everyone else that lives in Denver and got some lunch to eat. Ok, I knew it would be busy, being the day after Christmas, but this busy was something else! It was crazy! The lady at Claires said it was the busiest day she has EVER seen! Even in the jewelry store - and the ear piercings, she said that earlier in the day there was a line to the back of the store with little girls waiting to get their ears pierced! Luckily, Kyrie was the only little one waiting in line when we were there - everyone else was still in line waiting for a table to eat their lunch I guess.waiting...more waitingta da!it's finally done - talk about a little torture on her birthday! Hello Kitty studs! We had a butterfly cake all planned out, I have saved the design for several months, but when it came down to it on her birthday, I just didn't have it in me to put forth all the effort - I guess we can save that one for next year. I usually make her cake on Christmas day, but this year having Christmas on Sunday, I didn't find the time. I remember my sister doing this rainbow cake for her daughter, and I borrowed the idea. I realized she really doesn't care how much effort I put into the cake, and I shouldn't either! A few days after her birthday we had a couple of friends come over for a little princess party. We played pin the tiara on the princess, pass the magic wand, and royal ball freeze dance. Honestly their favorite thing was just to kick all the ballons and dance to the princess music! There are just not words to describe how I feel about Kyrie. She is everything wonderful and beautiful and perfect. She is so much fun and brings great joy. I wish I could capture her whole life, but since that is impossible, I hold as many memories that I can, and lock the feelings I have for her in my heart. I love having a daughter, and in this house full of boys,she gives me a good feel of what girls are like - she is everything girly and to the max! She is so sweet and I can already know what an awesome mommy she is going to be. I love everything about her. She means the world to me. I love being with her, spending time with her, and when I put her to bed at night, I just pause for a moment. She is so beautiful and peaceful as she sleeps, I soak up a little bit of it and sometimes wish I could stay in there all night and just watch her. I wish I could hold on to her tighter and longer, I know these days will come to an end. Thankfully she will always be mine! She has got the cutest, sassiest personality. She is like an idol to me - I wish I could be just like Kyrie! Love ya bunches birthday girl!

Christmas 2011

Our Christmas - Hayden couldn't wait to see Santa, or maybe it was he couldn't wait to get his gift at the work children's party. We got to see Santa a couple of times this Christmas, at Chris's work and at Bass Pro Shops. Dusty asked for rollerblades, Hayden asked for a Dsi and Kyrie asked for Barbie Charm School and her friends. But what Kyrie really wanted was EVERYTHING - everything her eyes fell upon, "Ooh, mom I love this, I love that, I want that, I have to have this, Hayden, please I can have that, oh, it's pink!!! I love that!". That is what we heard for 5 weeks, every commercial, every store ad, everything she saw she had to have. She would say how much she loved an item, and we had to acknowledge every item she talked about or else she would cry, "I know you love that, I know you want that, maybe you should ask Santa". I did my best to throw the ads away as soon as they came into the house. I remember Dusty this age and all he asked for was a yellow toy! This little girl is high maintainance!
This is the street view of our house - look at all the work Chris did! Just kidding, it is in our neighborhood though! There is also a Santa that stands in the open doorway, but it was too cold this night for Santa to leave the door open. I think these guys must have a storage unit just for their Christmas stuff! We were able to squeeze in a couple nights of light seeing in the neighborhood and at the zoo just before Chris went into surgery. This has to be my favorite thing about Christmas is seeing the lights, with a thermos of hot chocolate in hand. Christmas seemed to be an all new thing for Kyrie, she loved it all, but she really loved the lights too! Every night before bed, she would look out her bedroom window and say, "Look mom, Christmas lights in my window" as if it was the most exciting thing ever. Other than sledding and the ward party, that pretty much sums up our fun other than Christmas day! We didn't do much, didn't go anywhere, we just stayed home - and it was nice!

The kids in their new jammies all ready to go to bed. Camden with his first filled stockingPerfect, baby food, snacks oragel and teething tablets - how exciting! She got it - Barbie Charm School dvd towels from Gma, Gpa Anderson Kyrie was afraid of hers and wanted nothing to do with it for a couple hours - now she loves it Dusty's favorite thing of all was his warhead candies in his stocking! Neither of the boys got what they really wanted, but I guess that is what happens when they tell you in October that they want skateboards, and Santa shops early, instead of waiting to see what they want in December. Oh well, they were still happy and greatful for what they got.
Our family gift, from Chris and I and Gma, Gpa Salvesen. I swore we would never get a game console for the kids, but caved in. We have had a lot of fun with it already, as well as a lot of fighting and adjusting rules for privledges to play.

Funny story about the Wii...we purchased it in October while on a date, came home, took the babysitter home, and went to bed. The next day was Sunday and we sent the kids out to get in the car, and as soon as I headed out to the garage, I realized we never brought the Wii into the house and as soon as I opened the door, I saw the look on Haydens face. I quickly yelled, "get out of the car, we are taking the truck." Chris sternly said there would be no talking on the way to church. As soon as we got home from church and got the kids in the house, I went back out and emptied the box and put the empty box back in the car just as it had been earlier. After we ate dinner, Dusty kept trying to find every excuse to go out to the garage, "mom can I go look for my basketball" and finally, "what is in that box" with a huge grin that he tried to hide. Chris told the boys to go ahead and bring it in the house and excited is an understatement, they ran out the door so fast and came back in the door very slowly and disapointed, "It's just an empty box!" Chris said, "You don't really think I would buy you a Wii do you" and Hayden crashed his face into Chris's chest and said "NO!" We told them we saw the box in a cart in the paring lot and thought we should bring it home, and asked them to put it in the recycling bin. Oh - they were crushed! I later retrieved the box from the recycling bin and filled it with its contents. And they were surprised Christmas morning!

Christmas day we read the Christmas story out of the scriptures, enjoyed playing with all of our new toys, and went to church. When we got home I took down the tree. I know - on Christmas day! I have done that for several years and I just can't help it. Chris thinks it is wrong, Kyrie cried. I can honestly say I have enjoyed the holiday this year more than the last few. I really loved the lights and seeing the excitement through my children's eyes. Kyrie ws especially fun, since how she didn't seem to remember Christmas and it was all new to her. I guess next year I will have to try harder to leave it up for another day or two. It's just when the presents have been all opened and scattered all over the floor, there is a lonely tree in the corner that no longer serves a purpose. Its branches and ornaments have been played with and there is just nothing pretty about it except for in the dark when the lights are on. And to me, at that point it just looks and feels like clutter. And for some reason, I can't wait to put it back in the box! I can try to leave it up through Christmas day next year! The day after Christmas, we saw a pile of about 20 trees in the Christmas tree collection pile across the street from our house and Chris said, "Oh, I guess you are not the only one".

Kyrie seemed to be so upset about the whole issue because not only was this her first memory of Christmas, but it seemed to be that she thought maybe it was a one time thing. She was so sad it was over, Christmas was gone! I tried to explain to her that after the summer, when we get to play outside in the water, then after Halloween when we go trick or treating, we could get ready for Christmas again. She would look out our windows even a couple weeks after Christmas and notice others still had their lights on, and say "look mom, it's Christmas time again" and then she would say something about us needing to get our lights on again. I think she has finally caught on that Christmas won't be anytime soon. A couple days ago she talked to me like she was trying to comfort me. She told me about how Christmas is gone. But it will come back. And we can go see it in the truck. And then she asked for my understanding, and I said, "okay". It was really cute!