Kisses

Okay, I'm posting lots tonight trying to catch up. So make sure you read all of the posts. I had to share one last little thing. Our bedtime routine is to read scriptures, say prayers and then tuck the kids into bed. Well, we always start with Dakota and Paris for some reason. So we were in saying goodnight and tucking them in. I gave Dakota a kiss and she wiped it off. I asked her why she always wipes away my kisses. "Because I don't want them to stay on me." Okay, so then I go to give Paris a kiss and she tells me she doesn't want a kiss. Now I kiss my kids almost every night before bed, so I was shocked. So I walked out of the room and onto the next child who needed to be tucked in. Paris starts crying and yelling for me (this is a normal occurance- the child always has something wrong with her). So I walk in a she is in tears saying "you didn't kiss me goodnight" over and over. It was so sweet. So I kissed her goodnight, the tears stopped and she went to sleep. This is why I love being a mom.

Happy Birthday to Tyler!

Tyler turned 7 years old on the 7th. I can't believe he is so old. We had a pretty low key day and will have a birthday party for him on the 17th. Yes I know that is a long ways from his birthday but I couldn't plan a party any sooner. I was actually trying to convince him and Dakota to forgo a party and we would get a Wii. Dakota wanted a party so badly that we decided to throw them both a party. So on Tyler's birthday, Garrett and I took doughnuts to his class at school. The kids were so excited to see Tyler's baby. They asked me all sorts of fun questions like "Is he dead?" and "Does he have eyes?" Of course the baby was sleeping. Tyler was so proud to show off his brother. Then we had our friends, the Lassen's, over for dinner. Steve's birthday is the same day. So I made hawaiian haystacks (Tyler's favorite) and Dani made an ice cream cake. It was yummy. Then they blew out their candles and opened their presents. It was really fun.

Trip to Atlanta

Well off we headed for Atlanta. The kids were great. A couple hours into our trip Savannah decides to throw up all over herself and she wouldn't use a bucket. So we stopped and cleaned her up. Then Garrett decided to throw up a couple hours later. So we are off to a great start. But the kids were fantastic on this long journey. It is a 141/2 hour drive to my moms house. So we were in the car all day only stopping when necessary. Then they got to play with their cousins and play the Wii. They had a great time. Paris and Josh became great friends and they are two peas in a pod. They are very mischievious (spell?) together. They would dissappear and when it got too quiet everyone went on a search to find them. It was fun to watch them together. We spent New Year's Eve at mom's house. Lindsay and her family came over and we played the Wii and dominoes. The kids actually made it until midnight, except for Josh (I think). We were all pretty tired. Mom broke out the fireworks and the sparkling cider and we all toasted. The kids thought this was so much fun. We had so much fun visiting with family and letting the kids play with their cousins. The first day we went to Lindsay's house Josh kept asking Lindsay where "her people" were. I got a good laugh out of that. Thanks Lindsay for letting us come and crash at your house and Thanks mom for all that you do for us. We really had a great time. Oh Lindsay, Dakota wants to know if her cousins are going to come to her birthday party? I told her they lived far away, but she assured me that they would make it because they like her and want to come. So don't break her heart!!! Just kidding.

Christmas time catch up

Well, I haven't posted in so long and I have so much to catch up on. We have certainly been busy. Christmas was lots of fun at our house. The kids got lots of presents and toys. Christmas Eve we had some of our friends come over for dinner. We had the kids sort of dress up for the nativity and we read the Christmas story out of the bible. Then we opened our pj's and went to bed. We had no presents under our tree up to this point. Savannah is into everything and we didn't want the other kids to know what they got until Christmas morning!! They were excited to see lots of presents under the tree. Tyler keeps telling his friends that he didn't get anything he asked for from Santa. Well, he asked for a Nintendo DS and a Wii about a week before Christmas. Santa had already done his shopping and that wasn't on the list. But he'll get over it and maybe next year he'll get something that he "asked" for. Then we spent the rest of the day opening all of their gifts and doing laundry. We headed for Atlanta the next morning and I hadn't done any laundry or packed. Yep, I'm a big procrastinator.

I'm on my own now!

Well, my mom is gone and Rich went back to work. I keep wondering what I'm going to do with five kids by myself. I'm feeling very out numbered, yet very blessed. We had a great time with my mom here. We kept very busy. I didn't realize how tired I was until we got home from the airport and all I wanted to do was sleep. While mom was here we went and cut down our Christmas tree and went on a sleigh ride in the snow (mom stayed in the car with Garrett-she didn't want to get snowed on!) We baked lots of goodies, we decorated sugar cookies with the kids and went shopping for Christmas presents. We also went to Longview Lake and looked at the Christmas lights. They do a huge display of lights and they are so fun to watch. My kids keep asking if we can go back to see the moving lights since they have displays of characters riding skate boards or skiing, etc. It was really cool. We also drove to the plaza to look at lights down there. I've decided that driving all the way to the plaza to look at lights on buildings is quite boring. I'd rather look at lights in the neighborhood, they are more exciting. Anyway, we kept busing while mom was here and I was sad that she had to go home. Paris keeps walking around the house looking for Grammie and I know that Savannah misses her. Grammie would hold Savannah when I was holding the baby- yes she is spoiled. Well, Garrett is getting big way too fast. I can't believe how long it takes for the nine months to get here and then how quickly they grow up. It seems it should be the opposite. This is my last baby and I'm trying to cherish every moment. Although I'm struggling to enjoy this adjustment period that my family is going through. The kids have not been very good since we brought the baby home and I hope this will pass soon. I finally got so frustrated this morning that I broke down in tears. They didn't understand why I was sad and I told them that I just wanted them to behave and it made me sad that they weren't getting along with each other. They all told me they would try, but soon forgot as they were fighting about 5 minutes later. Oh well, this too shall pass- I hope. Well, I'm just rambling on so I'll stop but I wanted to post some cute pictures of the kids.

Isn't he so cute?

Paris and Dakota waiting for the Christmas tree to be bagged. Tyler ended up in the car after about 10 minutes b/c he was too cold.

Decorating cookies is so much fun.

My sweet baby boy.

Grammie with Garrett before she left.

Paris and Savannah are such big helpers when it comes to taking pictures.

Garrett at one week old!

Well, One week has passed and all 7 of us are surviving. It has been so nice to have Rich home for the week and have my mom here. We had our Thanksgiving day feast today and what an appropriate day to have it, Garrett's one week birthday. We are so thankful for our kids and all of our family. We have been very blessed and watched over. Thanks to everyone for their love and support. We wouldn't be where we are without all of our friends and family. I just wanted to post some pictures of Garrett. He has changed so much and is such a good baby. He actually sleeps at night (knock on wood). The Lord knows that we need a sleeper, since we are up all night with the other kids.

What a sweet little boy.

Savannah is a good big sister!

Garrett Allan Hollingshead

We'd like to introduce you to the newest Hollingshead addition. Please say hi to Garrett Allan Hollingshead. We was born Nov 21, 2008 at 9:39 am. He weighed 6 lb 12 oz and was 18 inches long. He likes sleeping, mom, and sleeping. He does not like baths and probably won't like circumcision after tomorrow. I'll let Hill tell you more when she returns from her vacation from the 4 star hotel she is staying at where she is being pampered by customer relations professionals.