Arwen got us up at 6:00 am Christmas morning...well, actually that's when we got out of bed. She was up the first time at 4:30 am! We had to wake the boys up to let them come and open their stockings!
Poor Josh got awakened earlier than he wanted. Arwen went in and shouted at the boys to get up and scared Joshua to death. He didn't want to have anything to do with presents until we found the Pez candies in his stocking. Then he couldn't get enough fun!
Pretty much, this was Noah's favorite present!
What a silly, cute little kid!
Arwen got her Christmas wish...snow! Who would have thought it would snow on Christmas in Portland. Lots of kids must have said their prayers the night before! We had a really nice Christmas day watching movies and munching candy. We hope everyone else had a wonderful day too!

Christmas Eve was lots of fun! First we went to a Dr. appointment for Larkin. She was up to 7 pounds 3 ounces...she's been gaining weight without having to take formula! Her jaundice was looking better too! That evening we opened our Christmas pajamas. Here are the silly littles. I forgot to get a picture of Larkin.
Then after a delicious ham dinner (thanks Jenn!) we played a little and put the kids to bed so we could set up the "Santa" stuff.
Here are pictures of the kids' new chairs and their stockings.
Noah snuck out soon after to "use the bathroom" he said. He peeked around Aaron and said, "Wow, it looks really great down there!" He just kept saying it over and over again while he used the bathroom. He snuck out quite a few more times after that. What a naughty!

Noah loves baby Larkin! We don't really have too many pictures of the kids holding her because I haven't let them near her. They have been sick with colds. Somehow she managed to get it though. Too sad :(We let Josh hold her the other day. It was so cute. He sat there looking like such a big boy. It was one of the few times Larkin had her eyes open. Josh was so content...until a fit of badness got to him and he poked her right in the eye. It was pretty funny, considering he didn't hurt her. He hits and kicks her when he can, but not to be mean though. He's just testing out this new little "piglet" that we have now.

While I was in the hospital, Aaron and the kids made a great looking gingerbread house! Aaron even managed to talk the kids into not eating it until I could come home and see it !
Here's the before picture of the gingerbread house...
And here's the after! Josh has a sweet tooth like his mama...and Noah!

The kids just love Larkin. Arwen held her for over an hour yesterday and was delighted that she was able to put her to sleep. Noah liked holding her too but didn't care to hold her for as long as Arwen. But he would look over once and a while and put his little hand on her head or give her a kiss. They are both very proud of her.I wasn't able to get a decent shot of all the kids together, or even Joshua and Larkin together. So here's Joshua being a good boy all by himself. He later put him self down for a nap and cuddled with Sarah on her bed while Arwen was still holding Larkin. The kids are very excited to have Sarah and Larkin come home tomorrow. Arwen has got big plans to show Larkin all her toys and play with her in her new room. Noah did better today at saying goodbye but still has a hard time leaving Sarah and Larkin in the Hospital. He worries about his momma when he's not around to take care of her. Sarah is getting up and around and is recovering quickly. Larkin for all her little piggieness isn't gaining weight as fast as the chart would like so she may be drinking plastic for a while to make her doctors happy.

Larkin Emily Nielsen

Weight: 7 lbs 7 oz (this is a record weight for our kids)

Length: 20 in

I was holding a beautiful little Larkin at 9:28 this morning. Sarah and Larkin did and are doing great. The hungry little girl had no problem figuring out how to nurse, and she thinks eating is a wonderfully great way to spend her time, she likes her pacifier too (we're trying to keep her away from that thumb).

Here's Larkin trying to be naughty by sticking out her tongue for the camera.




Looks like I've got another daddies girl...we'll here's hoping :)

~

We're all heading back tomorrow for the kids to see Larkin and their mommy (that they miss terribly). Noah was upset with me that I just left her at the Hospital. The kids had a great time playing over at the Prestwich's house all day so I could be at the Hospital with Sarah, what a great gift, thank you so much. I called Arwen (the boy's were sleeping) with the good news, she was so excited to find out that her little sister was the cutest baby ever, and passed the news on to Noah and Joshua. Arwen can't wait to hold the baby tomorrow, Noe too, and Josha... he's just glad to be here. It's fun to see them all so excited about Larkin.

We celebrated Arwen's birthday tonight since I won't be home on her actual birthday. We started the day off by getting her and Larkin's new room in order...we finally found a bunk bed to go in the new room , so Arwen has a new bed! She's pretty excited. After running lots of errands, we had a fun little family party.
Here's Noah eating his delicious birthday dinner. I really out did myself this time...actually Aaron did!
Ramen Noodles...all three of my kids' favorite thing to eat! Gourmet, I know.
Arwen wanted a Strawberry Shortcake cake, so Aaron made her an angel food cake with whipped cream and strawberry topping. It was so yummy!
Here's Ar coloring up on her new bed with some of the art supplies Grandma Carrot gave her. Notice her cute little apron...it holds all her crayons! She's concentrating very hard as you can see!
We love our big 5 year old so much! Happy Birthday Arwen!!

FYI: I got a call last week and was told that my doctor couldn't do the c-section on the 17th because he had a meeting that day. So, I finally found out today that it has been rescheduled for December 18th at 8:30 am. Wish us luck!!

Sorry, no pictures! We went to zoo lights last night, which is always so fun! It was freezing out...literally, but we had tons of fun! We rode the train to look at the lights around the zoo. Little Noah was scared the whole time and sat tight between Aaron and I. Joshua loved everything about it. He was so bundled up that he could hardly move his arms. That made it so funny when he would try and point to things. We had yummy hot chocolate on the train. When we got off, we walked around a little. Good thing Joshua isn't lazy like my other two since we only have a DOUBLE stroller. Arwen and Noah wouldn't walk and Joshua refused to ride. It was SO cute to watch him walk. Sometimes he'd just venture off on his own little adventures. Most of you haven't seen Josh walk...it's pretty darn cute. He still has that drunken sailor walk and isn't so good at walking too straight! He sure loves to do it though! We kept asking him if he wanted us to carry him and he would stop and shake his head no and then continue walking. (He couldn't walk and do it at the same time!) When he would shake his head no, his whole body would shake back and forth. It was so cute! Those of you who are familiar with the Portland zoo know what a steep hill it is to get back to the entrance/exit. Joshua walked the whole way by himself! Yea Josh!!

On Saturday, we went to a tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree, Our real estate agent has a little party at this tree farm every year. She gives us free hot dogs, cookies, hot chocolate, and any Christmas tree we want. We got to pick out a pretty noble fir for FREE! You can't beat that! It was fun hunting with the kids and finding our perfect tree.

Here is Noah's "tree." He was so excited to bring it home!
Here are Arwen and Noah in front of the tree we picked out.
Noah was too afraid to sit on Santa's lap...he wouldn't even look at him. He did take the candy cane Santa offered him though!
Here's Noah after we had lunch, looking out on the pond at the ducks.
Here are the kids in front of our decorated tree. They had so much fun putting things on the tree. We have all kinds of random stuff on there now...everything has turned into an ornament!

If any of you have ever talked to my kids, you'll know that I may quite possibly be the worst cook in the universe. Everything I make is so YUCKY! Anyways, it has gotten to the point where we bribe them to eat their dinner so they won't starve. Last night, Aaron would light a candle for every bite of food the kids ate. I guess whatever gets them to eat right?? I don't know...maybe going to bed hungry for a few nights may help too :)

Arwen had another dance recital on Saturday. Her dance company put on "The Nutcracker Tea Party" for all of the younger kids to dance in. It was nice because it was only the littler kids and was only 45 minutes long! Arwen did a tap dance this year. She got to be in the overture and then she did "The Party March," which was the first dance in their Nutcracker show.

She had lots of fun and it was so neat to watch her dance. She sure can boogie when she wants to. She's also very good at doing the right moves, but always on the wrong foot as everyone in her class is doing. She cracked us up! She loved getting flowers after the show...that and they had apple juice, cookies, and candies for all the girls and families. It was Arwen's favorite...a little tea party!

We had a family party on Friday night. We rented "Meet the Robinson's" and ate Twinkies and little chocolate donuts. It was lots of fun. What was even better, we had a very yummy, nutritious breakfast on Saturday!

Joshua is a fan of the junk food, just like his siblings!

We had all of the Nielsen cousins at Grandma's house for the first time in years. Here's a cute shot we got of all of them. There's Arwen, Evan, Noah, Madelyn, Austin, Dallin, Joshua, and Jack.

Pretty much here are three, naughty, little mischief makers. The look on Evan's face pretty much sums them up! Just kidding! Arwen and Evan sure have a great time when they get together. They always just pick up from where they left off the last time.

We had a great Thanksgiving visiting family down in California. It was nice to see all the cousins and aunts and uncles! The food was really yummy too!

While the Mom's are away...the kids will play! Bethany, Heidi, and I went and did some wild and crazy shopping at the mall the day after Thanksgiving. We got some good deals and had so much fun enjoying some kid-free time. We even stopped and got pedicures! Here's Joshua with Lilly, Meghan's puppy.

Arwen had a hold of Lilly anytime she could. She loved her!

The kids spent a lot of time helping the Dad's "fix" Uncle Josh's tree house. Yes, that's Arwen with a saw and Evan with a hammer.

Don't you love the picture...check out where Arwen's fingers are. We made it home, amazingly with all of our appendages!

We had lots of fun playing outdoors in the beautiful weather. When we got back to Oregon, it was below freezing! We didn't even need coats at Grandma's house!
There were always a couple of dogs running around that the kids had a blast playing with. Here's Noah with Lilly, Meghan's new puppy. The kids loved Lilly, who was a sweet little puppy who didn't nip at them, which they appreciated!
Aunt Bethany built the kids a "house" out of leaves. It had a room for everyone. It was so cute. The little ones also had fun throwing the leaves in the air. Sweet little Noah liked to pick Grandma's pretty purple flowers. Later on, Arwen got a hold of them and "married Josh."

Uncle Josh has a really fun rope swing that the kids love! Here's Arwen at the TOP of the ladder. She was so brave. I remember trying to go off this swing when I was pregnant with Joshua and it scared me to death! Here she goes! What a silly, sweet girl!

We had another beautiful day yesterday! Aaron got all the leaves raked up and the kids had fun playing on the Trampoline.

Can we say, "Haircut?"

Along with the dry weather comes the static electricity!

I think this is Noah attempting to blow a bubble with this gum as Aaron took the picture.

Arwen has a little boy in her tap class. He has the CUTEST little sister that I have ever seen in my whole life. She is a month younger than Joshua and is just tiny! Noah really wanted to touch her hair. He just kept telling me how cute she was and that he needed to pet her. The mom seemed a little weirded out that my kid wouldn't stop petting her baby. I tried to get Noah to just play with her, but he needed to pet her. Later, I explained to Noah that we don't pet people, just animals. Well, the other day in the car, we were on the way to a baby shower. Arwen told me how excited she was to "pet" the baby. I told her we don't pet people...and from the back of the van, Noah shouted back, "We only pet animals!" Well, he understands what I tell him, even if he never minds me!

The other night Noah was being a beastie...like he sometimes is. I put him in a time-out. When he was allowed to get out, he came and cuddled beside me on the couch and told me, "Mom, when we are married, you cannot put me in time-outs anymore."

We have had the greatest weather for the last two weeks. We've had blue, sunny skies! It's been so great! Saturday, Arwen and I were out running errands and the boys stayed here and tried to rake up leaves. Aaron left Noah outside to bring Josh inside for his nap. When he came back out, he couldn't find Noah anywhere. Finally he called for him, and from a far corner of the yard, where Aaron's pile of leaves was, he heard Noah call back. Noah had completely buried himself in the leaves. Aaron said that he looked like he was about to fall asleep. He went in and got the camera and took a picture of all of Noah that he could see! What a cute little boy!