Alli's 8!

Alli just turned 8, and she has been so excited, because it's a big birthday! Unfortunately, her birthday fell on a Tuesday, so she had to go to school, but after school we went to the mall for dinner and to find a dress for her baptism. Since Quinn had to be out of town on her big day, Alli got a doll from her dad a few days early. I gave her the big 8 year-old present: her own set of scriptures. She was so excited and loved the fact that her name was engraved on them so they were just hers! Not to mention the fact that they came in a little pink carrier... After the mall, we went out to ice cream (good old Delsa's!) with Grandma Cindy.



These are some pictures we took outside our house in Alli's
special dress for her baptism announcements.

Mary is 6!

Mary turned six April 3.  She is quite the character-all she wanted for her birthday was Moon Sand and 10 packs of gum.  She had specific instructions for her birthday cake, too: brownies with six cherries on top.  While she was thrilled to get the Moon Sand (and I was not thrilled about buying it-it is a mess), she loves two presents more than anything: her Zhu-zhu pet and her charm bracelet, both from the grandmas.  We went out to eat and stopped by Pojos for games.

Mary loves to steal my camera and take pictures of herself.  They are always a surprise to me as I'm uploading pictures!  She loves to play on the Wii with her dad, and already acknowledges that I am hopeless at video games.  She still loves her special bear, Cuddly Bear, who she sleeps with every night.  Mary is becoming a real reader; it is fun to have her read books to me.  She is lots of fun-she has a great sense of humor!  She is hilarious to watch wrestle her dad, which she insists they do every day, and she lovingly refers to dinner as "slop".  Life wouldn't be the same without Mary, we're glad we have her!

Not a Good Week

For the last couple of weeks, everyone has been sick.  Last week, it all caught up with Jack, and he progressively got worse until Friday (3/12) I took him in to the doctor.  His oxygen levels were fine, but he wasn't eating much so I was worried about dehydration.  He was clearly sick, but checked out okay, doctor just said to keep an eye on him and push the fluids.  That night he slept the whole night, which is not normal, and the next day he was white and listless.  Worst of all, he wouldn't eat.  At all.  I had to feed him formula from a medicine dropper where it would take me an hour to get almost an ounce in him!  By that evening, it was not improving so I talked to a nurse who recommended he go to the ER.  It's a good thing I did because his oxygen levels were really low.  They took all kinds of tests including blood tests and a spinal tap (which was awful!), and a chest x-ray.  His white blood cell count was really high, indicating some kind of infection, and he had something showing up on his x-ray. 
He ended up spending four days in the hospital, testing positive for RSV and has been pumped full of antibiotics to treat pneumonia.  It was the scariest thing I have ever been through, and I am really thankful that Jack is back home and recovering quickly!  I have never been so happy to change diapers and love it that he is super hungry!  The best part is that Jack was just starting to smile right before he got sick.  He was not smiling at all for that week that he was really not well, but the last few days he has been all smiles!  Unfortunately I have not been able to catch him in the act, so no smiling pictures yet.

Here he is at the hospital.  He did have a tube running across his face and into his nostrils, but I was too traumatized at the time to take pictures.  These were taken after he was showing improvement and I knew he was going to be okay!

Jack is here!

Okay, so it's been a week, but let's be honest, for me that's not too bad.

We are so excited to finally have our little guy. We named him Jack Gary Dittman, after Quinn's dad Gary who passed away two days before Christmas. I love his birthday: 02/01/2010. Yeah, I'm probably the only weirdo out there who notices that kind of thing, but now that you know, you have to admit it's kinda cool. He was born at 9:01 a.m. weighing 7lbs. 4oz. and was 21 inches long. He has the most hair out of any of my kids, and I think he is just adorable! He is really mellow and has even been sleeping pretty well. I am just going to post a bunch of pictures because I know he's going to wake up soon so I can't figure out how I ever did slideshows before....oh, and before you shudder cruelly at any pictures of me, give me a break. I am not cute after I have a baby like some of you out there (Angie).

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

After a mild fall, we finally had some snow!  It really feels like Christmas now.

Speaking of Christmas, this is from a few weeks ago, but had to put it in...Alli and Mary worked up the courage to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.  Hazel would have nothing to do with him and gripped Quinn with her hands and feet.  From a safe distance, though, she will point to Santas and say "ho ho ho"! Some more snow pictures....

Mary decided she likes to shovel snow       Alli had fun sledding, and throwing snowballs.  I noticed I was a favorite target.

We are pretty sure Hazel liked sledding.  It was her first real time going, and she liked to lay back in the sled and close her eyes.  Apparently she found it relaxing...?  Quinn was just pulling her around, maybe once she hits some hills she will find it more exciting!

Hazel is 2!

Hazel had her second birthday on Thanksgiving this year. It was a busy, crazy day so of course I did not get all the pictures I wanted to! What Hazel wanted more than anything was a doll with a binky (she is obsessed with her own). Grandma Cindy gave her a stroller to go with it, and that is what she did the rest of the day! She has taken that baby everywhere, she even sleeps with it. It's fun to see her love something so much, and it makes me hopeful that maybe a real baby in the house won't be such a traumatic adjustment for her!






Hazel's personality has really come out over the last year. She is a little busybody, following her big sisters around. They have taught all kinds of valuable things like how to make noises that sound like bodily functions, and also they helped her come up with this strange phenomena:

She keeps constant track of each family member by holding her hands out to me during the day and asking "where Daddy?" and going down the line as I explain that everyone's either at work or at school. She is my little shopping and cooking buddy, so I also hear "ina hep" (I want to help) all day long! She is a sweet little girl, and we can't get enough of her!

Halloween

The weatherman kept telling us to prepare for a cold, wet Halloween. We lucked out and had pretty mild weather. We had a fun time walking the loop in our little part of the neighborhood, seeing friends dressed up, and eating too much candy!


Alli was Emily Elizabeth, and Arthur was Clifford.


Mary as a cat.





Hazel's costume was a last-minute decision. She's a little tiger.