Yummy!

Yesterday my friend called and said she was on her way to pick up some lunch. We just had an In-N-Out Burger open by us. The lines have been ridiculous and I have refused to be any part of it and wondered if it really worth all the waiting? The excitement has been wearing off a bit and the lines are not so bad. So about 30 minutes later this arrived at my front door! Yes, it was sooo good!

Secret is Out!

Our big secret is no longer...

We are expecting our 4th baby on April 20, 2010. We finally shared our news with a fun announcement for my parents. For some reason, I had ideas of doing something better than a phone call, as was done with our previous three babies. So we waited till we knew what we were having and shocked them with that news as well. Now that they know, I thought we could make a post on the blog.

We had an ultrasound last Friday and found out we are having a boy we plan to name Walker. We are all very excited and Austin can hardly wait to share his room with his little brother!

3 Injuries only 15 hours into Vacation!

We spent our Fall Break in Colorado visiting the Nielson's. The night we arrived Austin took a really hard fall and smacked his face on the hardwood floor. His mouth was bleeding quite a bit, but thankfully we were with Uncle Kirk who is an orthodontist. He took great care of Austin and his injury and thought that we should probably get an x-ray the next day.

So the next morning we went to Uncle Kirk's office to have x-rays taken and to look at Austin more closely (both front teeth are now dead and starting to turn gray). I suggested that maybe we could have Sydney's very loose tooth looked at while we there too. It was indeed ready to come out and since this mom wants no part of pulling teeth, this was the perfect opportunity to leave it to the professional! All went well and Sydney was given a "sparkly silver tooth case" to take her treasure home in. With gauze in her mouth, we started to leave the office. Uncle Kirk told Sydney to give her dad the gauze pad and swap it for a clean one. She pulled out the gauze, looked at it and did a face first fall to the ground. She then started to convulse a bit and we quickly discovered she had passed out! Thank heavens she is not the only person in our family with this genetic problem (Jake, Grandpa Devlin, this mom and other aunts uncles which will remain nameless). Uncle and Kirk and Aunt Steph jumped right in and knew exactly what to do. With Camryn in my arms I was helpless to even be able to catch her when she went down.

I guess Camryn did not want to feel left out, so she had a nice spill just a few hours later on the cement path while we were at the Butterfly Pavillion. Another goose egg for one of the Reid kids. If DFS was anywhere nearby, they would be questioning these parents. We just hope that we are invited back to Denver to visit again!

1st Piano Recital

Sydney started taking piano lessons in March of this year. She begged me since she was 4 and I was able to hold off till she was 5. We gave her all of her books as part of her birthday present. She loves playing and only gives me grief once in awhile when I remind her she needs to practice.

On September 24th she had her first recital. She had to memorize and perform 3 pieces: 1 classical, 1 fun piece and 1 piece she composed herself. She also had to memorize 5 facts about her classical composer who was Beethoven. I do not know who felt more pressure Sydney or me. I am sure it was me, because when I asked her if she was nervous, she said, "No not at all."

First Day of School

Austin's first day of preschool with his friend Wells

Wait for me!

Everyone ready to take Sydney to school!

Sydney with her friends Carmen and London

Signing her Class of 2022 paper

I can hardly believe that Sydney started Kindergarten today. She was so excited to go and even woke up 15 minutes earlier than she needed to. Austin had his first day of preschool on Tuesday and was excited to take pictures with his sister on her first day. Of course Camryn had to have part of the action as well.

July 4th

We had a great 4th of July this year. Our morning started out with an incredible neighborhood parade (thank you Brooke). We had a BBQ with the Atwood's and then went to Sandy to watch the fireworks with the Tuellers. Everyone had a wonderful time!

A week with Papa

My dad was kind enough to drive back to Utah with me after our trip to California. Greg had to fly home to be back at work after the party. We enjoyed having him in our home for a week. We ventured to Park City, went on hikes and had lots of fun!

Papa is so good to our kids and is always game for lots of fun and wrestling.

Papa's 60th Birthday Party

Mid June we took a road trip to California to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday. The kids had a great time playing and swimming with thier cousins. We also celebrated the other 4 June birthdays and welcomed a new nephew on dad's actual birthday.

New York City

We had a wonderful trip to New York City the end of May. We decided to piggyback some family vaction time with mom's business trip. Thank goodness Aunt Kim was able to come with us, which made getting around the city with 3 kids so much easier. We enjoyed getting together with old friends, eating at our old favorite spots, and showing the kids everything we love about the city!

You never know...

It is always a little frightening what may come out of our 5 year old daughter's mouth. When my friend, Tara, brought Sydney home after taking her to run some errands yesterday she said, "Sydney makes me laugh." "Oh no," I thought, "this could be interesting!"

They were shopping at Michael's for some party favors. Sydney was looking around and said, "Wow, look at all these great deals! I can hardly stand it!" (I am sure I have never said that!) Then, as she continued to browse, Tara heard Sydney say, "Good friends are like wine, they get better with time." Hmmm...what are the Reid's teaching their kids? Thankfully, she then noticed Sydney was reading a card and not reciting a memorized quote!

Camryn's First Birthday

We can hardly believe that we brought this little girl home just one year ago! Camryn is such a sweet little girl and has brought so much happiness to our home. She is very busy and gets into everything! We do not leave bathroom doors open in this house anymore.

We enjoyed a nice evening at the park celebrating Camryn's birthday with our family. She was more cautious than we expected when it came time to dive into her cake. Aunt Kim decorated a large cake and a small one to match for the birthday girl to enjoy!

SmArT COokiE

It is 9:30pm on Tuesday night...way past bedtime for all good children! Austin comes in my room and the rest went like this:

Austin: "Mom, I need a cookie."

Mom: "You already had a cookie before your shower and they are all gone." Referring to the two sugar cookies Sydney's Primary Teachers brought her earlier in the day.

Austin: "No, they are not."

Mom: "Please get back in your bed, it is very late."

5 minutes pass and I realize the light is still on in Austin's room, so I get up and walk down the hall to turn it off...only to discover this!

Tulip Festival

Aunt Stephanie and Celine were in town for a brief 24+ hours and we were able to enjoy a beautiful afternoon at Thanksgiving Point. This was the first time we attended the festival and it was so amazing!

No More Tonsils

On Tuesday Sydney made her first visit to Primary Children's Hospital to have her tonsils and adnoids removed. She was very brave and clung tightly to her stuffed puppy, "Anabelle" which the Nielson's sent her. Anytime she had to be moved, they transported her in a red wagon. This definitely made saying goodbye to Mom, Dad and Grandma Joan a little easier. Sydney is recovering well and mom is trying to stay on top of the pain meds to keep her comfortable. Thank you to everyone for your phone calls and visits!

She is on the move...

Camryn is changing so quickly. Our little girl who was once content to sit and watch the action around her is now on the move! She had been scooting around for quite some time, then one day she was crawling on all fours. That was not cool enough so the next day she decided that pulling herself to standing and cruising around furniture was pretty fun. Now, she has discovered that many treasures await her behind cabinet doors!

A Break-Through Moment: NOT

When we returned from the annual Easter egg hunt at Greg's Mom's house, we decided to spend some quality time with the kids before bed to emphasize the true meaning of the Easter holiday. After taking baths, changing to pajamas and brushing teeth, we gathered Sydney and Austin on our bed where Greg meticulously explained the crucifixion and why we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus's spirit and body coming back together. I supplemented the lesson with pictures from our Family Home Evening packet depicting Jesus on the cross and showing himself to Mary Magdalene at the Garden Tomb and to his Apostles.
When we were done, Sydney thoughtfully said, "Dad, I just have two questions. Did Jesus make the Easter Bunny a baby or did he start out as a big rabbit AND does the Easter Bunny go to the North Pole to give Santa a basket, too?" The look on Greg's face before he attempted to answer Sydney's questions was priceless. Not exactly the "Mormon Ad" moment we were expecting. . .

Coloring Easter Eggs

Today we colored Easter Eggs with our friends the Rick's. Everyone had a great time watching the "magic" happen right before their very eyes! Sydney, who is not a fan of eating eggs said, "So now what do we do with them?" To which both Katie and I responded, "We eat them!" "Oh, yuck, I don't like eggs, I just like to color them!" said Sydney. Perfect because they will make great deviled eggs for our Easter Dinner!

Zoo

A few weeks ago we (along with the rest of Salt Lake) thought we would take advantage of a beautiful Saturday afternoon! Camryn was quite intrigued with the giraffe's, Sydney was thrilled to see her favorite zebras and Austin could not get enough of the big elephants!

Back Track to St. Patty's

The crazy leprechauns came to our house and left a shamrock trail which led to the disasterous kitchen and a treasure!

I just want to pinch those cheeks...

I can hardly believe that this sweet little girl is now 10 months. Although she has had 3 separate battles with RSV since December, she still smiles. Now when we thought we were done with sleepless nights for our sick little girl...she started cutting six teeth at the same time. I had no idea this was possible, but we figure if they all come now then there are sunny days and "sleepful" nights ahead for both of us!

Oh What a Week!

I have to laugh to keep from crying as this week progresses. It all started out with a lovely stomach flu on Sunday that lingered into Monday. By late Monday afternoon I was feeling better, but weak when I received the dreaded call..."Can you come to New York on Wednesday?" Well, of course, what would I rather do with my week? UGHHHHH!

I start making calls to arrange care for Sydney and Austin and then calls to New York so that I have someone to watch Camryn. Once that was in place it was time to book flights, hotel, and ground transportation. Now the panic begins I have just a day and half to put my house back together from being sick, get some laundry done and pack everyone up. By 3:00pm on Wednesday Camryn and I are off to the airport headed for the big apple. We arrived at our hotel at 1:00am quickly changed and crashed for the night. The next morning we were up early and I went to work, while Camryn hung out at the hotel with her wonderful sitter Bev. I finished my work, raced back to the hotel grabbed Camryn went back to JFK airport to make the 7:30pm flight back home. We were back home by about 12:15am and settled into bed by 1:00am.

Now today was supposed to be my "normal" Friday, but that quickly changed when the boss called at 9:45 AM and asked me to quickly change their trip for Colorado today and route them to Florida. Yikes, I won't go into the details, but all dinner, ski, massages and such have been cancelled for Colorado and the jet has been re-routed to Florida. Dinner reservations have been made for tonight, rental cars will be waiting on the tarmac, grocery shopping is being done while they are enroute. Life is good!

So where does that leave the Reid family...kids and mom still in pj's at noon, breakfast dishes to be done, laundry to started, beds to be made and oh, the kids are asking when lunch will be ready!

NOW WHERE IS MY PERSONAL ASSISTANT?