krew's baby blessing

 We started 2012 with a very special day. On New Year's Day, Bart gave Krew his baby blessing.  It was such a special day.  Bart gave such a beautiful blessing, and Krew was an angel. At one point during the meeting, I looked down at my adorable, sleeping son, all dressed in white, and wrapped in the baby blanket my mom crocheted when Kade and Ky were born.  I realized that I had dreamt of that moment for so long, and now that it was here, it was as special as I could have hoped for it to be.  I feel so lucky that my Heavenly Father would send such a sweet baby to our family, and that Bart is worthy to give him such a wonderful blessing.

 My three sons!  Aren't they handsome?

 While the guest of honor was sleeping, we got a picture with Bart's side of the family, who we were lucky enough to have at the blessing.  Maybe someday we'll get a picture of all of us, plus Krew!

 After the meeting, we came back to our house and had a nice, little luncheon.  Aren't all these neck-ties so cute?

m-i-c-k-e-y, why? because we love you!

 We love Mickey Mouse at our house, and I was thrilled when I saw the cute outfit my parents bought for Krew!  I happen to think he's the cutest Mickey Mouse I've ever seen!

6!

On December 29th, Kade and Ky turned 6 years old!!  I can't even believe it.  On the one hand, they are so smart, they constantly amaze me with what they know and what they can do, but on the other hand, it seems like it was just a few short months ago that they were my tiny babies!

The HUGE disappointment this year was that we were all so sick on their birthday!  Ky had actually gotten sick first, and was feeling mostly better by that morning, but Kade, Bart, me and my brother and his wife who were visiting us, had all been so sick that whole night before and could hardly get out of bed that day.  I was heartbroken that we couldn't spend the day celebrating them and making it such a special day.  But luckily we were able to spend the next couple of days doing things to help them have a happy, delayed birthday.

Grandma and Grandpa Adams gave them each Build-a-Bear gift cards for Christmas, and they couldn't wait to go make some new friends.  It's almost as much fun for me to watch their excitement in that store as it is for them to pick out what they want and watch their animal "come to life."

 We ended up with a Spider-man bunny and a Soldier camouflage bear. 

 Saturday night, instead of celebrating New Year's Eve, we decided to continue to celebrate their birthday since we still hadn't really done it right.  We let the boys pick where they wanted to go out to eat, and they chose Applebees.  The first time the waiter came to the table, Kade told him that it was their birthday and that they needed all the waiters and waitresses to sing to them, not the regular happy birthday song, but one with lots of clapping.  The whole time we were waiting for our food, and eating, I could tell that they were both just waiting to be sung to.  And, the wait staff at Applebees did not disappoint!  They started singing and clapping from across the restaurant and made sure everyone in the whole restaurant knew it was their birthday!  Let me just say that my boys loved the attention (I wonder where they get that from?) !

I asked them a few questions about themselves so we can remember what they were like when they turned 6!

Kade:

What's your favorite food: Peanut butter and honey sandwiches
What's the best thing about school: My friends
What's the worst thing about school:  You have to work all day
What do you want to be when you grow up: A race car driver
What are you really good at: Football
What is your favorite movie:  Cars 2
Who is the coolest person in the world:  Krew
If you could do one thing all day:  Play video games-especially NCAA football
What is the best place in the world to be: Disney World

Ky:

What is your favorite food: Macaroni and Cheese
What's the best thing about school: Gym
What's the worst thing about school:  It's too long
What do you want to be when you grow up: A boxer
What are you really good at: Video Games
What is your favorite movie:  Tron
Who is the coolest person in the world: Krewbee
If you could do one thing all day: Play video games-especially Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga
What is the best place in the world to be: Disney World

I feel so lucky to be Ky and Kade's mom and I have loved these past six years, and I'm excited to see what this year will be like with my two six year olds! 

P.S.  I'm kinda in love with the fact that even though they didn't hear each other's answers to the above questions, they both said that Krew was the coolest person in the whole world! 

christmas 2011

We had such a great Christmas this year.  It was a little different because we didn't have any family around, but after I changed my expectations about what Christmas is supposed to be like, we made some fun plans and had a great time. 

Christmas eve we spent with some friends from church, had a great dinner and watched the kids act out the nativity.  It was such a great evening.



Kade and Ky had been reminding me all day that they get to open one present on Christmas Eve, because it's a rule.  I explained to them that it wasn't a rule, but a fun tradition, so of course they got to open their Christmas jammies that night.  Kade and Ky got Transformers pajamas, Krew got football pajamas, and Bart got grey plaid pajama pants. 

One of the very best gifts I've ever received:

Christmas morning, after all the gifts were opened, we all had a few hours to play with our new toys.  Bart set up the Hot Wheels track that goes on the wall, while I curled my hair with my new curling iron.  We all went to church together (something that never happens now that Bart is in the Bishopric), and although he didn't get to sit by us, I enjoyed listening to his impromptu help with the Christmas program!

After church we played some more and got things ready for our Mexican Christmas dinner.  Bart had been talking to his Mexican patients and co-workers and learned that for them, it's not Christmas dinner unless they are having tamales and posole.  So, he arranged to have some made for us.  We invited our friends, Derrick and Brittney Rust to join us in our Mexican Christmas Dinner since they were without family this year too.  It was a fun evening, and although we missed being with our families, we all decided it was a great Christmas!

Below are a few videos of Kade and Ky opening their stockings and gifts from Santa.  Watch them if you have a few minutes, or if you just miss Kade and Ky and want to hear their cute voices!

happy 2 months, krew!

Krew is 2 months old today!  He is growing so fast, and changing every day.

 He's starting to smile a lot and sleeping quite well at night.  There have been a few nights this past week where he slept 7 or more hours in one stretch, ate and went back to sleep for a few more hours!   






























The most common comment we get from others when they see him is something about "all that hair!"  He certainly doesn't look like a 2 month old with so much hair and those big chubby cheeks!

He is so much fun, and we all feel so happy that he has joined our family!

merry christmas! (2011 "christmas letter")

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

This year I have had to simplify some things.  With a new baby in our home (not to mention two almost-six-year olds), I just don't have enough time or energy to do all the Christmas-y things I want to this year.  So I decided that anything that didn't help create Christmas memories for my kids, or teach them about the true meaning of Christmas, was out this year.  I didn't bake a variety of goodies to take to my friends and neighbors (store-bought gifts for them this year), I didn't put up all my Christmas decorations (don't worry-the house still looks very festive), and I'm not printing and mailing Christmas cards this year (consider this your Christmas card!)

I had to remind myself that Christmas will come again next year, but my tiny baby is already not so tiny, and I'd rather spend my time snuggling with him and getting excited about each sound he makes, and each smile he gives me, than worrying about some of the less important details of this Christmas season. 

But, if I had sent out a Christmas letter, this is what it would have looked like:
(click on the links for more info about each event)
This year has been a wonderful one! 

In January, Bart started a new job.  He was sad to say good-bye to his job working as an Otolaryngology PA, but also excited to start working in a family practice clinic, where 90% of his patients are Spanish-speaking.  He is loving being able to use his Spanish, work in family medicine, and he especially loves his pediatric patients.  I love that he no longer takes call, and only works until noon on Fridays!

After nearly two years of trying, March brought us the news that we were finally expecting baby #3!  We couldn't have been more excited!  Soon followed the fatigue and morning/all-day sickness, but let me tell you that it is way easier to be pregnant with one baby than with two, and I really enjoyed being pregnant.  Luckily I was starting to feel better by the time Kade and Ky got out of school for the summer, so I had enough energy to keep up with them!

Kade and Ky were on their first sports team this spring.  They played soccer and had a great time.  It's so fun watching 5 year-olds play soccer!  They played so hard and had such a good attitude.  They haven't decided if they want to play soccer again, so we'll have to see what this spring brings.

In May, Bart had a PA conference in Las Vegas, so I decided to tag along so we could have one last getaway before the baby came.  We ate lots of yummy food, saw a Cirque du Soleil show, and were amazed at the oddity that is the Las Vegas strip!  It was a great trip and will hopefully hold us over until we are able to get away just the two of us again some day!

In August we all went to Iowa on vacation.  We were able to see lots of Bart's extended family and it was nice to be able to reconnect with them.  We spent one day at Adventureland, playing and the water park and going on lots of rides.   We ended our trip by spending a day at the Iowa State Fair, where Kade and Ky won a ribbon in the Most Alike 5 year old category at the Twins, Triplets and More contest.

In September, Kade and Ky started Kindergarten!  It's all-day here, and was a huge adjustment for them and for me.  I suddenly had 7 hours to myself!  I filled my days working on projects to decorate the nursery, and tried to rest my ever-expanding body. After about a month Ky and Kade decided that they like school, and they are really excelling.  They even meet with the gifted and talent teacher for reading once a week.  Now they love to go to school and have made lots of friends there.

Perhaps my favorite single day of the year was October 28th, when baby Krew was born!  He has been such a sweet addition to our family and we are all in love with him!  Kade and Ky are such good brothers and help me with the baby so much.  Krew is a really good baby, and usually only cries when he's hungry or has a burp stuck (he's a very spit-upy baby!).  He's growing way too fast, which makes me sad, but this time around I know that there are so many fun stages ahead, that it's okay to let him grow up!

This year we feel that we have so much to be thankful for!  Our Heavenly Father has watched over us and taken care of us, and it's nice to be able to take some time this Christmas Season to think about Him and the ultimate gift He gave us, the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ. May the true spirit of Christmas be with you and yours this holiday season!

Love,

Bart, Ashli, Ky, Kade, and Krew

visit with santa and mrs. claus

 Santa and Mrs. Claus came to our house early this year!  Bart's parents dressed up and came as Santa and Mrs. Claus to our church Christmas party.  It was so fun to see Kade and Ky's reactions when Santa walked into the gym, and then to watch them as they realized it was grandpa.  Then when I said, "No, that's not grandpa it's Santa,"  you could see the wheels turning in their heads as they tried to figure out what to think about who this guy was!  By the time they came to our house afterward though, they were pretty convinced that it was grandma and grandpa.

We also got Krew's first pictures Santa.  He wasn't very happy about it, but I don't think it had anything to do with who was holding him so much as the fact that I woke him up for the photo op.

Merry Christmas!!