Congrats Alyssa and Chase!

Two friends from work ended up getting engaged recently so I threw a bridal shower for Alyssa before she ditched us to go to Cali to be with Chase. Alyssa is a fun college student I hired in August. She kept us very entertained by all of her crazy stories. Good luck with the final marriage preprations and Congratulations. We are really excited for you two!

The latest and greatest

I am happy to report we are almost over our house woes. The basement is no longer full of water and our carpet has been saved thanks to Advanced Cleaning and Restoration. Now all we have to do is fix up the wall a little and repaint so that Brigham can move in. He is moving downstairs to a new room because of this: Most people already know because my children (and Scott) can't keep a secret but if you weren't aware, Yes we are expecting another little Ricks around 9-12-09. I am close to 11 weeks along. I had my first ultrasound today and was really nervous for this one. I have had a few friends with miscarriages lately which has made me so much more aware that they really do happen. This pregnancy has also been very very different than the first three. Usually I am throwing up several times a day completely miserable. This time I haven't thrown up once and as long as I eat every 3 hours I feel pretty good. Needless to say I was excited to see that little heart beating and also to see that there was only one little heart beating. We are really excited. Only seven more months to go.

My Valentine Gift

The kids were so generous this year and turned on the outside water spicket (we have no idea when) and filled our basement with water. Advanced Cleaning and Restoration sucked about 80 gallons of water out of the guest room where the damage was done. It was in the room next to the laundry room and luckily there is a drain in the room which a lot of water drained into thankfully. Scott had heard the water running but thought I was doing laundry. I knew I wasn't doing any laundry so I questioned him on what the noise was and we started investigating. I ran downstairs in sock fee and walked in the room and knew we had a problem when my socks were instantly soaked. Ugh! What a mess. We cleared out the room and were thinking we would just shop vac it out but realized we were in over our heads. Scott vacuumed the window well out which was full of water. We called Advanced Cleaning and they came to the rescue. Thank heavens we did because they have way better tools than we had. The one wall under the window has water damage and they have special equipment that blows through the wall (the hoses drilled at the bottom are blowing air inside the wall). It saved us from having to cut out and re sheet rock. The blowers will be running for about three days to get it all dry. I guess it is a nice opportunity to clean out the room and repaint so that Brigham can move in. Thanks for the nice Valentines gift kids it will be one I will always remember.

The Kids

I haven't had much to blog about lately so I thought I would take the time to document the kids as I remember them now. Ashtyn is turning into the little Mom around the house. I often hear her putting the kids in time out and asking them to clean up their messes. She is doing well in School now and finally does homework without throwing a fit. You can usually find Ashtyn hanging with the adults. She would rather sit and listen to our boring conversations than go and play with the other kids. She has always been mature this way. She always trys to be obedient and has been this way since she was a baby. If we would tell her not to climb something or to draw on the walls, she just wouldn't do it. On the flip side she was a lazy baby. If she wanted a toy across the room she would wine until you brought it to her. She hardly tried to crawl and when she would she would be crying in frustration in less than a minute. She never attempted stairs on her own either...too much work. She would sit at the bottom and wait for someone to pack her to where she needed to go. We see these traits come through now and then as she has grown older. If it involves too much work she simply just won't do it. She is our little artist and scrapbooker and is very creative with what she does. I am always surprised at what she comes up with and how well she puts it all together. She is also a little jokester and will crack jokes all the time. She reminds me a lot of her Grandpa McGarry and his wise cracks all the time. We love you for who you are Ashtyn. We are grateful to have you in the family. Our little Hayzee Mayzee is nothing but girl! She is constantly playing dress up and goes through several outfits a day. Usually every day she sneaks on some form of make up. She loves Barbie movies and makes Brigham watch them with her. Haylee is a drama queen and if things aren't going her way we all know about it. She can be sassy but can also be very sweet. Today she brought me a string cheese that she had cut up into little pieces because she thought I would be hungry. This girl can clean like an adult. If she gets the urge to clean the entire house will be cleaned in no time and it always passes my approval. It amazes me at how much she can accomplish when she puts her mind to it. She is a very determined little girl and can do anything she wants if she puts her mind to it. She does a lot of gymnastics even though she has never taken a class and is really good at it. Haylee still loves cuddle time and requests it at least once a day. She gets a lot of compliments on her big brown eyes and loves the attention. Anyone who comes near her now has to take a look at her two missing teeth. She is not shy at all and will talk to anyone about just about anything. Haylee we love you, you are such a great spirit to have in our family! Mr. B keeps us all entertained. If there is ever any type of music on he will be groovin' in some sort of way. His dance moves are pretty funny and crack me up day in and day out. He always includes great facial expressions which may be why I find him so funny. He is a clown most of the time. He always has a funny comment or facial expression and has been this way since he was very little. He is also very kind hearted and loves to cuddle with me. Often I will be working in the office and from the living room he will yell "I love you Mom" to me. It melts my heart every time. His big brown eyes make it really hard for me to ever get mad at him. He uses those bad boys to milk me for all I am worth. He is usually pretty good about helping when asked. He likes all the super heros like Spiderman and Hulk and has always been a fan of Toy Story. He loves playing games and hanging out with his sisters. He also really loves books and stays entertained going through them all the time. Right now I spy books are his favorite. His newest trick is snapping. He snaps all the time. When he gets in trouble he uses it as a deterent to try get you to forget or something. It is hilarious. If you are ever around him I am sure you have witnessed the snap. We love you Briggy bunches and bunches!