Gretel's Birthday, Daniel and Olivia Welch Visit, March 2015

Hurray!! Gretel turned 1 year old on March 6th! She has brought our family so much joy! She is the first girl grandchild for Sue and Greg Stapp after 9 boys! I really wanted a girl so badly! Nearly every night I sneak into her room to take a little peak at her while she is sleeping! I get giddy every

To sum up our little Gretel goes like this. Her favorite foods are salty crackers, bacon, sausage, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, spaghetti. She is barely figuring out the sippy cup, and still would rather have the bottle. Drinks milk with baby oatmeal in it. She crawls everywhere. She also does this little walking on her knees move.

time!

Moses and Heber have effectively kept her away from our stairs so we do not have gates. She rarely even goes near them. She walks along furniture, but will not attempt much more than that. She loves to wrestle and often crawls right over Zak's face while he is resting. She has this scratchy grunt/scream that she does when she is unhappy. Gretel is just learning sign language. She does the sign for cookie when she wants 'more' 'please'. She also signs milk.

She naps twice a day--but is starting to fight it. She used to just roll over and zonk out.. but now she's gotta scream for at least one-ten minutes. Her hair now long enough for me to put it in little pig tails! I love to dress her in the mornings and do her little hair! It makes me so happy. Sadly the hair style only lasts about half the day..

We decided to celebrate Gretel's birthday the week later because Daniel and Olivia and Lincoln we coming out to Wisconsin to visit us! We feel so blessed and lucky when family come out to be with us. We really loved having DandOandL with us! They made it just in time to enjoy the VERY FIRST WEEK that the weather was over 30 degrees all winter! We enjoyed 50 degrees with them!

We did the Union Star Cheese Factory, which is SUCH a great place to take guests. They show you right up close how they make cheese!! It is awesome. We then had Gretel's Official Birthday Party out in the shop! We have been working all winter to heat and insulate the shop and we heated it up to 90 and put hot water in the pools so we could have a pool party in March! It worked! The water was warm, but the floor was FREEZING! So it was a fun combo! Moses and Heber LOVED IT!

The Green Bay Packer's Stadium was a real treat! The tour is really amazing-it makes you an automatic Packer's fan! My favorite part is when the let you run out onto the field using the same tunnel as the players.

St. Patrick's Day is a funny holiday to me. But, this year, Grandma Sue sent us tattoos and mustaches for the occasion. We went to GREEN bay to see the GREEN bay packers stadium, we wore the GREEN mustaches, GREEN shirts, GREEN tattoos (some of us), and we went to GREENville's own ice cream parlor-The Twist. That is the most I have ever celebrated St. Patrick's Day-we loved it!

It was such a perfect week with Daniel and Olivia and Lincoln. We are so glad they made the sacrifice to come out and see us!

Wisconsin Dells February 2015

Last winter was BRUTAL.  I know that we were under the freezing point for more than three months straight. And for most of those cold days, we were below ZERO! We didn't go outside ever from the moment we came home from utah, to the middle of March.

We learned a lot about ourselves while being indoors so many days/weeks/months in a row--That we need to MOVE and WIGGLE and PLAY. We got a gym membership, and that was nice, but that didn't seem to be enough.

SO this year we got smart!! WE planned a trip with our dear friends, Lucy and Cody Bowman, and headed to the Wisconsin Dells! We picked the Wilderness Lodge and stayed in a condo in the Glacier Lodge portion. After we booked it, I already felt so much better. Zak did give us a scare of needing to move the date for a work thing... but, we got that all settled.. And then it was finally time to go!! I was ultra ready. I packed WAY early and I was so glad I did!

We had such a great time!!! The drive was only 2 hours and our room was as close as you can get to the sky walk over to the water parks. There were 4 different water parks and there were slides and pools for all ages. We took turns watching the babies so that all of the adults got to go out and play! Our favorite water park was the Wild Waterdome. We had the perfect day! The sun was shinning right into the dome and we all got a bit of sun. It honestly felt like Summer!! The Wave pool was awesome! Gretel fell asleep with Zak during the soft waves, but was rudely awakened during the rougher waves that came 15 min later!! Little Heber begged me to take him on water slides the whole time we were there. There were super big raft rides that the whole family could go on and both Heber and Moses loved them. Heber said he wanted to go on it 5 hundred million more times!!

I really couldn't have asked for a more perfect mid-winter trip! I felt like I had gone to Florida and it only cost us 250 dollars plus food! (and I got us all new flip flops! )

Life in the fast lane

Some people would say that we had our children very close. Moses was not yet 16 months old when Heber was born. Moses wasn't yet walking either. I vividly recall carrying them both- Heber as a new baby in the car seat and Moses as a chunky toddler-who wasn't toddling. Yes it was challenging. Yes we stayed home a lot. Yes we had two in diapers. It was awesome!!!! They have no memories without the other. And they have a super sweet brotherly bond. 

This is Moses and Heber nursing their babies. 

In march we had our baby Gretel. She is 28 months younger than Heber. I am grateful everyday that I had Moses and Heber so close. They are now 3 and 2 years old. Yes it is a challenge to have two little boys jumping and playing while I nurse. But with a little schedule and some extra patience they do really well. I love watching them play together and I love the secret codes they have invented. 

I've had several comments about how busy I must be. They have NO idea!! At 730 am I feed Gretel. We are working still with nursing because she was born with a posterior tongue tie and it has made nursing a long process. We are having it revised again on Monday. So at 830 I put her down for a nap and right then I get Heber out of his crib since he's been in there happy and awake for a good 30 min. Moses usually is already up and dressed and reading books with me by then. We then make breakfast. By 930 it is usually all eaten and cleaned up. We have one hour- if all has gone well. I clean something or prepare dinner or read to my boys. At 1030 it is time to feed Gretel. I put my boys in Alone Time. They get to play in their rooms alone for one hour. Gretel and I bond a little and she's back in bed for a nap at 1130. The boys come out after Alone Time refreshed but hungry. I make lunch and the whole making/eating/ cleaning up brings us to 1230-1245. Heber then asks to play one more minute and the it's his turn for a nap. If we didn't do alone time then Moses will have it now. If we did then he plays while I nurse Gretel at 130. This is a hard one because Moses wants attention. I used to do a letter and a number with him but now I try to get him to read a book with me or color. At 230 Gretel goes down for a nap and I'm exhausted. Moses is too. We watch a little show or read or I try to get something done around the house. I am working on this part of our day because it isn't working out well for us. At 430 I feed Gretel and Zak gets home and Heber wakes up. I feel bad that Zak comes home and I'm tied up nursing. He then gets the rest of dinner ready. And we eat at 530. The evening is filled with family time and at 730 Zak gets the boys ready for bed at 8 and I feed Gretel. At 9ish she is asleep too. Geez!!! I feel like I have run five miles but I haven't seen the outside of my house. I love my children. I love being a mom. It is so so hard. But I know this is perfect. 

This is Gretel in an outfit we bought in Guatemala when we were pregnant with Moses. 

So it's been a while!!

Matthew and Megan just showed me how I can continue my blog with the app!!! I'm so excited for this to be an easier process!! 

As is the way of spending time with the Stapps, we had a project or two planned for our distinguished guests to accomplish. Matthew and Megan and even Lucy helped us rake and clean up our entire yard!!

Matthew and Zak had some male bonding of the typical Welch wrestling match- complete with tickling. Zak appearanlty couldn't hack the tickles-it turns out he gets totally furious and threw some almost not playful punches. For a Welch that only makes it more hilarious and fun to tickle again!! 

Easter was a blast!! It was fridged freezing- as it should be if you love in Wisconsin-but it was clear skies and no snow on the ground!! Zak and Matthew his the eggs and then gave the boys a briefing on what an Easter egg hunt really is. 

It took a little coaxing, but after a few minutes both Moses and Heber had this egg hunt all figured out. 

The grand prize was this box from grandma sue and a new pair of sandals. But the boys were so focused on eggs that they didn't even see the big boxes!!!

For lunch we went on a real walk around Appleton. It was awesome to be out in the chilly sunshine. We had a picnic on Lawrence university campus and then went to the paper discovery museum. 

Got to use my triple stroller!! That stroller spells freedom for me!!! 

Gretel was blessed at church right on Easter Sunday. She wore a dress that was made to look like the one that I was blessed in. She was a perfect angel during the blessing and that night even slept 8 hours!! That was almost the biggest highlight if the week!! 

We absolute loved having Matthew and Megan and Lucy at our house this week. We learned a lot from them and felt a lot of love together. 

Christmas time in UTAH

Just 2 months after moving to Wisconsin, we were flying back to Utah to spend Christmas and New Years with family and friends! In fact, we had the tickets booked before we even left Utah in the first place! I knew that this Christmas, especially, was going to be important to spend back at our HOME of so many years. Our flight was on Christmas Eve and it was a smooth trip with our two little ones in tow. With lots of toys and snacks and a pizza in the airport, we managed to keep them both pretty happy. We landed at 8pm that evening and from then till our 2 week trip was over, it felt as if we were going at full speed!

We had celebrated our own little christmas in Wisconsin on the 22nd and it was a blast! The boys especially loved the train table that Zak and I hand made from one sheet of plywood. They also really loved the cardboard box that my boots came in.. hmm.. We only kept the train table though.

Moses and Heber play with it EVERYDAY! 

So here was the Itinerary for our trip- I could never sum up in a great way all that happened while we were out there.. so I won't. But I'll do one line for each day.

Christmas Eve: Landed in Utah- Sleep over at the Welchs
Christmas Day: Lots of Presents at the Welch Home- Matthew and Megan are having a baby girl!
26th: Daniel's Birthday!! Went to see Les Mis!
27th:Christmas with Stapps!! Trampoline House!
28th: Started Evicting our renters-what a mess! Got to see the tubbs! Went to Hobbit with Stapps!
29th: Went to see the City Creek Mall and Temple Square Lights. Our men went camping.
30th: didn't go to church, Moses has awful cough, Heber is teething. Played Loaded Questions with Stapps-super fun!
31st: Get ready to go to Cabin with Welchs. Zak flew back to WI. Made it to cabin and got it all warmed up! So excited!
Jan 1st: Lots of Snow for sledding!!
2nd: Clean up and come home.

Moses and Grandpa Great were SO darling playing together. Giving High 5's, pinching noses and making miniature towers with mini blocks. Moses gave GG hugs and kisses every night before bed!

3rd: Hang out with stapps. Went Swimming!!!
4th: Welch boys went Snowboarding, Welch girls went Shopping! Park City!!
5th: Haley's Wedding (smith side) So fun to see relatives! So So fun!
6th: Church with Welchs, great to see home ward!
7th: My Christmas Gift to Sue: 3 hours of Cleaning her house-It was awesome!
8th: Relaxed and played games with Sue and Greg. Moses and Grandpa Great are cute friends! Ice cream with Jennica-fantastic.

In the airport with his own little suitcase! We prefer to travel in style! Although he does push it more like a stroller!

Heber's just glad to be out of the Eddie-who cares that it's 10 degrees, right? One Matthew and 2 toys is all he needs.

Moses is always a trooper in the cold

Cute Olivia praying that the pilot light isn't the only flame we get out of this fireplace. 

Fire is always the best way to heat up the cabin!

Grandma is REALLY good at Peek-a-boo!

The fabulous Four (including me) getting using every heating element in the kitchen to cook and to heat up the place!

Getting in a large bucket is lots of fun only when Daniel is around!

I had no idea why he was screaming for 15min!! I didn't look back only because I was alone driving at night in the winter and was scared to crash. Cute that he fell asleep like that!

it was so great to get hugs from my favorite uncle terry! I love you!

9th: Pack and fly back to Wisconsin! What a stellar trip! We love you all!!

Our Blizzard Brianna!

One cold December evening, we watched on the news as a gigantic snow storm headed our way. Being new to Wisconsin I wondered exactly what a blizzard really was in the eyes of a Wisconsinite. I admit, I feared that it would be terrible and power would go out and we might freeze to death.  Then I also let the thought cross my mind that in Utah, just last year, the news was screaming to every living creature to get into any kind of shelter for the BIG ONE was about to plaster us to the ground. AND we got 2-3 inches. 

So on Dec 20th when our blizzard Brianna hit, I was pleasantly surprised that it looked very much like a raging winter hurricane had landed in our backyard! Snow was blowing, the roads were deep in slush, people we digging their cars out of knee deep drifts-it was awesome! 

At about mid-morning, though, Moses, Heber and I were done just watching the action! Moses told me that it was time for him to step into the snow (exciting right?). Moses gladly accepted the responsibility of wearing certain new and strange clothing and even giggled! He doesn't have boots but was super excited to wear his normal shoes.  Heber was not so willing to comply! I slid him into his snow pants and coat alright, but anything past that was met with all out war! We had back-bending, kicking, screaming and I put his gloves on 4 times! He also kicked off his boots within 12 seconds of them being on-so we opted for his normal shoes too!

His gloves are awesome cuz they DON'T have thumbs!

Mosey first STEPPED on the snow and then he "Bounced" into it!

It may just look like falling snow, but this snow is blowing so hard we moved to the front of the house for cover! 

Heber's first moment with snow! Notice his shoes instead of boots!

Heber is very easy to distract (gratefully) and just plopping some snow into his lap calmed him down. 

Once calm, Heber could see that there was an adventure to be had. He crawled through the snow as if he was crawling through our front room! 

My little snow men! 

Moses is very good at saying 'cheese'-just not as good at smiling as he says it!

We made three snow men. One big by the garage, and these 2 little ones. Moses was very excited to sit next to them. Heber was very excited to knock them down. But he only got to one! 

So after we enjoyed our time in the snow, which was probably about 40min, we gathered our wet mittens and headed for the front door. With a shock I realized that it was locked and there for we were totally locked out of the house!! This is only the 3rd time that i have locked us out of the house-but the first time that we were locked out in the middle of a blizzard! My babies were tough little troupers as I carried Heber and held Mosey's little hand as we trudged through the neighborhood to find help. About 4 doors down was a family we had met briefly when we caroled at their door just a week earlier. They were out shoveling and playing in the snow and the wife noticed right away that I needed help. We hung out in their garage for about 30min while we waited for Zak to come to our rescue! So grateful that my white Honda is awesome in the snow!

We were colder than we look. No-I correct myself, Heber looks as cold as he felt!

When we got inside was the first time that my boys cried. They were SOAKED and FROZEN. Our blizzard Brianna really pulled through for us!