Scarlett went to the MD for a flu shot yesterday

Baby #4

Is a boy!! Had the "big ultrasound" today. So fun to see that little baby. So fun to find out it's a boy. We are all excited, but Nathan is by far the most excited. He's been wanting a little brother for a long time.

Had this ultrasound originally scheduled for 3 weeks ago (at 18 weeks prego), but moved it until after the 1st of the year because I hadn't met my deductible yet in 2010 and I will meet it in 2011 (saved me $400). Poor, poor baby #4. Has to wait for us to find out these things....because, well, it's baby #4 and we'd be happy either way.

Catching up

OK, so it's been almost 9 months since I posted last. Since I use this blog as a journal of sorts, you'll have to deal with the chaos of this long post. Here's the "catch-up"

March - NC house on the market (half our stuff packed up and in storage)

April - Graduation for Brig! A real dentist now.

May - Move to UT. Live with the in-laws.

June - Shannon working, Brig setting up his brand-spankin' new practice (see: http://www.slcdentalcenter.com).

July - NC house SOLD

October - move in to new UT house! We love it!

Someone asked me the other day if I had just recently cut Mia's bangs. No, no. Rest assured I did not give my 2 year old side-sweepy bangs. The mullet is all natural....
These two girls love books. So sweet when they read together. Scarlett loves to "read" -- she has a few books memorized and she'll recite them. It's the best.

Mia Jane turned 2 at the end of November! As always I was decorating the cake as my family was (literally) piling into the car to go to Grandma's house for dinner. I thought it turned out pretty cute anyway, thanks to Brig's birthday present to me: a cake decorating kit!
This picture was taken at a Halloween Party BEFORE Halloween, because the night we were going to go out trick-or-treating 1)We had just moved into our new house THAT DAY 2) Couldn't find the costumes (threw together some make-shift ones) 3) It started pouring rain 4) the kids fell asleep in the car on the way to meet our friends. That was the last straw. We called it quits before we even got there.

This picture of the fam was taken during a really ghetto-fabulous haunted boat ride. Our "pirate" tour guide pulled our "ship" down a "river" with a rope that was strung overhead. There really was water. And lit jack-o-lanterns along the riverbanks. Very homemade-y. Very hilarious. The kids still had fun.
No words.
Nathan's soccer team.
Then it was back to NC for our good friends' wedding in October! Mia was a fantastic dancer whenever there was music.

Nathan was the ring-bearer and Scarlett escorted him down the aisle. I wish I could steal some of the professional shots of them walking down the aisle. They were so adorable! They did a great job -- a relief since Nathan REFUSED to walk down the aisle at another wedding when he was 2 1/2. And Scarlett loved all the attention and was instantly best friends with anyone wearing a red dress (bridesmaid).
And to Jackson Hole with my family. I actually went with the kids myself (without Brig), because Brig and his mom went to NC to pack up our house there. I'm still trying to sort out how it is fair for me to go on vacation while my husband and his mother move us from NC to UT....all I can say is they are the BEST!

The Birthday Boy

Yes, he is now 5 years old. Yes, he is wearing 2 ties.

Thanks for coming to celebrate, guys!

Nathan overheard Brig and I talking about the cake as I was decorating it. Then he asked, "what does ghetto mean"?
So this year Nathan requested a "green turtle" cake. Remember the "green Q" cake last year? It wasn't until after I started to decorate it that he told me, "I mean I want a Ninja Turtle cake." Oh, great. Like I know what that looks like. Brig helped me with the logistics. If only I'd had a few more minutes maybe the eyes wouldn't be so lopsided and the rest wouldn't be so ghetto. In my own defense, that afternoon we had someone coming to see the house, Mia had to go to the doctor, then that someone who was coming to see the house while we left it vacant for an hour (with the beginnings of the un-decorated turtle cake stashed in the oven) decided to come late. While we were all home. While the baby was in the bath. While we were making dinner. If only they'd offered on the house it would have been worth it.

Happy Birthday big 5 year old. We love you!

Haircut

Scarlett has needed a haircut for a LONG time, but every time I mentioned it she would burst into tears. Then one morning I asked her if she wanted a haircut and she said, "and I will turn into Cinderella?" "Oh, yes" I agreed, "and you will be a beautiful princess." Then I didn't waste any time. I cut it immediately. Couldn't give her time to change her mind, which changes as fast as her moods.

Now she has a haircut. Now she thinks she is Cinderella.

Praying for dreams

Tonight Nathan said prayers before bed, "......and please bless me to have cool dreams and Scarlett to have pretty dreams."

"Dress-Ups" (for boys)

(Stoker family riding in the car, on the way home from Chick-Fil-A)

Nathan and Scarlett are jabbering about going on another play-date at Lilly's house. Scarlett wants to bring her dress-ups (Lilly has lots of dress-ups at her house) and Nathan says he wants to bring his only dress-up, his doctor hat: "I only have one dress-up to bring--I mean I only have one 'pants-up' (I'm a boy) to bring." Glad we got that straightened out. "Dress-ups" for girls. "Pants-ups" for boys.

In November...

Happy 1st Birthday Mia!

Thanks again to Sarah for the great birthday photos!

Sweet Mia--we just can't get enough of your: kisses and hugs, walking and running, talking and singing, and you tolerating pushes and pulls from two older siblings

We could do without: you getting out of your crib (falling or otherwise).

Still, we love you to pieces.

Do NOT break the rules

Tonight we were at a friend's birthday party. You know the game where you roll the dice and if you get doubles you get to try to unwrap a huge candy bar while wearing oven mittens and two knives for utensils? Well, Nathan rolled doubles, but then he flat-out refused, "I'm not supposed to play with knives."

Preschool Dropout

So in the car tonight, Nathan is rocking some fantastic air-guitar when he loudly (and excitedly) announces, "Hey guys! Guess what?!?! I'm not going to go to school OR work! I'm going to play the guitar in a band!"

The things Nathan says

Nathan: We don't eat stars because they are burning gas, but these (pointing to the starburst candy from his halloween bag that he is eating) are good burning gas.

Walking and Hair

TA-DA! Here's the rundown, for her baby book someday:

-1st steps just before 10 months

-Taking 8 or 9 steps at 11 months

-Never even crawls anymore at 11 months 3 weeks (and always so proud of herself when she walks across the room to you!)

Words: moma, dada, bear, boo, bye-bye (waves), meow, that (points), poo-poo, quack

This is what she does when you ask to see her funny face

Just can't get enough of her stink face

This is a little random, but Nathan has been insisting on a mohawk lately...

Scarlett has started keeping her hair in for a good, maybe 20 minutes or so before she pulls it out -- we are making progress!

Halloween

The kitten, spiderman, and turtle before we went out door to door.

Scarlett saw Amelia's dress and instantly fell in love. Weirdly, Amelia wanted to be a cat, so the trade worked out nicely.
Our kids were burning up. The back of their necks were getting all sweaty. It was almost 80 degrees while we were out. And so humid. Yuck.

Of course we had to have boney-finger breadsticks for dinner. I forgot to take a picture of the plate full of fingers, so here is a pic of the last one. I just painted slivered almonds with red food coloring mixed with water for the fingernails. In the past I've taken the time to make them more realistic (ie: actually sculpt knuckles into them). This year I was in a hurry.

The Fair

This is Nathan and Scarlett before the little roller coaster started to go. By the end Scarlett was crying, "I want to get off, I'm all done....WAAAHHH." and Nathan was holding onto Scarlett and screaming. Then when I asked if they wanted to go again Nathan said, "No way!" and Scarlett said, "Yeah! Woo-hoo! That was fun!"

Food, food, food. Can't believe what people eat there. Including my husband. This meat stick makes me a little nauseated just looking at it.

Asheville

So last weekend we went to the mountains. It was SO BEAUTIFUL. All North Carolina friends: if you haven't done this yet, it is a MUST! A few days after we got back home Nathan told me he wanted to pack up his Nintendo Wii and move to the hotel. He loved that he got to watch movies in bed, and I have a sneaking suspicion that he has been dreaming of playing Mario Kart while lying in bed. Can't get much lazier than that.

On another note, I think Brigham looks like a thief of some sort with this hat on. It made me laugh.

Of course, I don't look much different in mine! (It was C-O-L-D while we were there....we had to buy these cheapie hats to keep our heads from freezing off!)
Nathan insisted on reading every sign that we passed on our little hike. Thanks to him, I am a virtual fount of knowledge when it comes to NC trees and shrubbery and I can spot sassafras in a split second.

Nathan in love

This is a picture of my white board right now. Nathan told me, "Write, 'I love Adriana. With a heart. Because the heart is for pumping blood, but it is also for love."

This is Nathan and Adri at a farm on a recent preschool field trip. Luckily, Adriana's mom had her camera, because I forgot to bring mine with me.

Adri is the one in the orange hat. I think Nathan has good taste. She's not only cute (and adorably shy), but she's bilingual, too.
I think we'll have to keep an eye on these two!

My little scar-scar

Today Scarlett wiped her runny nose on her arm.  Then she licked it.  Then she held out her arm to me and asked, "Want some?"

1st Day of Preschool

Nathan and Scarlett were playing in the living room this morning while I was getting ready. I overheard Nathan say, "Scarlett, I'm going to be leaving soon. I'm going to miss you."