Happy Halloween!!!

Ok, so I caved. For the first time I allowed my children to not be an ensemble cast for Halloween. Do I regret it? Yes. Did I really have a choice? No. We were planning on having our entire family dress as the cast from The Wizard of Oz but the costumes available were either slutty or subpar. I decided that in order to do the movie justice I would need to make at least a few of the costumes, unfortunately time was not on our side this year and there was no way to make it happen. My Grandpa Lee passed away on October. 14th and we flew out to Utah for the funeral that was held on October 19th. We stayed for 10 days and returned home just in time for Halloween but with no time to create our own costumes. I will have to post about our time in Utah and my AMAZING Grandpa in another post---he deserves his own tribute, but for now here is a little of what Halloween looked like in our house.

Ruby apparently thinks that she is part of this class...and that she is old enough for school. She spent the whole time dancing around in front of each class following the singing teacher as she led the children in song. I know she stole the show and blocked a lot of parents who were trying to take pictures of their children who legitimately belong at the school.

Tate wants nothing to do with these Halloween shenanigans but I am doing a great job of making a fool of myself trying to get him into the spirit of things.

Someday my prince will come, Argh!

Lexie had her 2 month appointment right after the preschool parade so we thought we'd better take a picture of her. Time is passing too quickly and we are not taking enough pictures!

Baby Lexie does not love cameras.

School pick-up after the festivities. Wow!! Dad's never here, hooray!!

Tate is really into being shy and hiding behind things, trees, walls, cars, whatever is nearby and larger than he is.

I see this face way too often.

faux hawk

see what I mean about the hiding and peeking out?

someone needs to visit a dentist...or find Bella and Edward

watch out Volturi

Pumpkin math with Dad

Abbie pouting as I try and get a photo of my girls with their Halloween hairbows in the Costco parking lot

she reluctantly came

and was happy once she was allowed to hold Lex

yummy chocolate muffin, thank you Costco

something is strange about this picture, do you see it?

Abbie and Ava-Kate from down the street

Lexie crying that she doesn't want to wear a princess costume meant for a small dog

Grandpa Allen helping Lexie to feel happier

This was Tate the entire night, he insisted on pulling the wagon the whole time

Cinderella hiding from the paparazzi

Like a palace guard, nothing will make him crack

Top it Mom!!!! Ruby often puts her hand out for me to "top it"!!

The pumpkin that Bracken and Justin carved at school

too many treats and time to go home

We made it!!----First day of school 2009

***written in September, not time to edit or worry now so I'm posting as is***
Anyone who talked to me within the last 3 months knows that I had actively been praying that the baby would not arrive before Bracken's first day of school. I didn't want to miss the first day of school for any of the kids but because preschool begins so much later in the year than elementary school I knew that the likelihood of me missing the first day of kindergarten for my oldest child was much more realistic than that of the preschoolers. Thankfully Bracken had his first day on Monday August 24th and Lexie was born three days later, what a good little girl she was to wait!

I'm still playing catch-up with my blog [ha, I wrote that three months ago...now just look how behind I am] so I am not back to writing my lengthy diatribes yet, instead I am opting to continue documenting our goings-on through photos and captions. Time passes so quickly that I have a hard time holding onto these memories unless they are captured somewhere on film/flashcard/my hard drive/or the internet. I know that I am taking the easy way out by opting to blog and have a book printed rather than scrapbooking for each individual child but at this stage of life I'll take what I can get.

Bracken has had a great year so far but continues to be a little apprehensive about certain things, like being dropped off and having to walk into school on his own. Because we live less than 2 miles from the brand new elementary school Bracken is considered a "walker" but obviously a 5-year-old can't walk that distance along a semi-busy street alone so instead he is a "car rider" child. We are all sad that he doesn't take the bus and he asks me all the time when he will get to but for as long as we live in this house I guess I will be sitting in car lines with my gaggle of children.

Anyway, we walked Bracken into school and to his classroom everyday for the first 3 weeks but now he's on his own. He definitely knows how to find his classroom and by now I assume he knows most of the kids in his class so it shouldn't be a scary experience. When I asked him when he would feel comfortable walking in alone he told me he would once he got to know everyone at the school...we are not waiting for that to happen. Unfortunately for Bracken now that Grandpa has gone home and Daddy is back to traveling, I have to take all 5 kids with me for the 7:30 AM drop-off and that means he is definitely walking in alone. What a big kid!

Now if only Justin and I could just learn to let go a little. We are both suffering from major anxiety over whether or not Bracken is happy and well-adjusted. He always seems to have a lot of friends, but last night at bedtime he said that he "didn't like it when other kids said mean things about [him]". I immediately began to freak out inside but in a calm voice I asked him if anyone at school was saying mean things about him. He said he couldn't remember what they said so I asked him who was saying the mean things, then he proceeded to tell me that no one was really saying anything mean but that it would hurt his feelings, oh, and that Jett is always grumpy and Bracken doesn't like that.

I'm not sure what to think of the strange conversation. Was he just making a rhetorical statement or was there an incident he isn't telling me about? Parenting is very stressful. We just really want to be able to shield our kids from everything that might make them sad or jaded. In an attempt to do a little sleuthing Justin went to lunch with Bracken today at school. I think it did more damage than good because Justin came home freaking out about what a big kid Bracken is and how he (Justin) just wants to put us all in a big bubble and protect us from the world. I think that's a little extreme considering we are talking about kindergarten worries. Anyway, I have set up a few play dates to be sure Bracken has some good friends (other than his cute BFF Emily who sits next to him in class).

This was taken at Bracken's "practice day" of Kindergarten on August, 21st. Again with the faces???

He's in The Cat in the Hat classroom

This was after we got home from the "practice day" I didn't know until taking this picture that Bracken had taken a Book of Mormon with him to school...my little missionary!

Grandpa Lee took this picture the week he came to wait for Lexie's birth, before school started and before the school was finished being built.

After a few days Bracken asked me to stop sending "love notes" in his lunch box because he doesn't feel that he can wipe his face on such nice pictures. Hmm. He does still like it that his sandwich appears in a new shape every day.

Breakfast at 6:30 AM, still dark outside.

Yeah, hey, what's up, I'm five.

My guys!

Holy pregnant lady!! [now that it's been 10 weeks I am shocked to see that belly!!] Three days before Lexie's arrival!

This was their idea, Best Friends!!

Hey look Mom, my cubby is first!! Oh the joys of a last name that starts with "A"!

Abbie and Tate seem to be adjusting rather well to their new situations as well, granted they have only had one week so far. I knew Abbie would have no problem because she is quite confident and very social. She also went to this same school last year and is familiar with a lot of the people there. She has graduated up into Bracken's old classroom and has the same assistant teacher that Bracken had last year so she had no qualms about running right in and getting things started. Tate is still trying to figure things out I think. I'm sure he is the youngest one in his class because he only turned 3 two weeks before school started. Thankfully potty training him wasn't as difficult as I had anticipated and he was definitely ready in that regard [I spoke too soon, now that it is November he has regressed a little and is totally lazy about potty training].

I felt like a horrible mother doing it but I did call and give his teacher a heads-up about what it may be like to have Tate in her class. The phone call occurred while I was still pregnant and quite scatter-brained, for some reason I had felt quite a bit of urgency about talking to this woman and explaining to her that Tate is very difficult to communicate with and that he seems to have some anger management issues. However, after playing phone tag, once I finally had her on the phone I wasn't sure exactly what I should say, "Hi, Ms. Nancy, I'm just calling to tell you that my child can be awful, and can drive you crazy, and might make you want to scream as he tests every single rule and limit you try to instill." Nancy didn't seem to know how to react to that news but did her best to reassure me that everything would be fine. She told me not to worry and that her three-year-old son couldn't even recognize all of his letters yet. HA! Letters were the least of my worries, I was more concerned that he may hurl a metal truck at another child's head.

Anyway, all is well and life is crazy busy. Thank you new school year for getting my kids out of the house for several hours each day. No thank you to the amount of time Ruby, Lexie, and I spend getting in and out of the car each day!!!

Two weeks later, the first day for Abbs and Tate!

Grandpa and Tate blinded by the sun.

Tate and his beloved Wall-E backpack. I am not a fan of character anything (clothing, backpack's, umbrella's, etc. but my children are wearing me down...how have I let this happen?)

Walking into Peace Lutheran Preschool

My new little Lex

Allen family Road trip 2009: Part 1, Arizona

At the beginning of the summer I was giving my friend Jackie major grief for agreeing to a cross-country road trip with her four young children while she was pregnant with her fifth. I told her that after driving to Austin last summer I would think long and hard before embarking on a similar adventure in the car with my kids. She seemed very brave (even enthusiastic) about the whole thing. She and her family were to drive from Austin to San Diego then backtrack to Arizona to spend time with both sets of the kids grandparents. I wished her luck and told her I hoped she'd survive.

Little did I know that an idea for a trip was brewing in the mind of my father. It all started rather innocently as a discussion about the family condo in St.George, Utah that we have all been grossly neglecting. One thing lead to another and all of a sudden we found ourselves packing the car and making reservations. Our vacation destinations were Phoenix, Las Vegas, and St. George, with many pit stops along the way.

hiding out in the hotel hallway

found ya!

exploring hotel grounds

love these ducks

time with grandpa

now can we get in mom?

her princess obsession began much earlier than Abbie's

lifeguards

the love of Ruby's life

shall we dance?

Happy 4th of July

the story of my life

Bracken retrieving his runaway sister

two cute boys holding hands

power walking

we've finally seen a real cactus, like in cartoons (not like the little ones in Texas)

looking for fish

baking in the sun

mom, we can't see a thing

bathing beauty

last chance to wear this dress before passing it down to My-My (Mylie) for next year

The Arizona portion of our trip was so much fun that I wish I had done a better job of documenting all we did, unfortunately the summer was so crazy that there was just not enough time to blog about our adventures in a timely fashion. This was only the first leg of the trip but it proved to be a very eventful and fun time. I must admit that we spent most of our time just being together and relaxing poolside. The kids got some quality time with grandpa and we all got to enjoy the beautiful resort. With a zillion little kids and a huge pregnant belly it's always great to stay places that you don't have to leave to have fun. The hotel was amazing and the kids had a great time in all of the beautiful pools.

I had only been to Arizona one other time in my life and that was when I was 14 or 15 to visit my fun cousins Megan and Heather. It was great to become more familiar with the area and to get to visit with Megan and her sweet new baby---thanks for coming over to our hotel so we could catch up! It was also so fun to get to see the beautiful new home and baby of our great friends Rachel and J, and of course baby Chloe!!

Looking back at all of these pictures now I realize that the photos I should have taken would have been of us all crammed into the car like sardines. We drove over 3,000 miles on our trip and we were definitely worse for the wear. I will have to leave it up to your imagination to guess what a car filled with 4 children, 4 car seats, 2 adults (one hugely pregnant), 2 double strollers, beach towels, luggage, and snacks looked like...it wasn't pretty. Each time we opened the door things would flow out of the car like a tidal wave. As our car would approach the entrance for check-in at our luxury hotels I would shoot evil looks at the bell men as they came to open the car doors for us, some of them took the hint and backed away while others were oblivious and were showered in Allen family paraphernalia---completely humiliating but truly the stuff family vacations are made of!

Welcome to the family, Lex!

Totally thrilled to have gotten up at 3:30 AM for the 4:30 arrival at the hospital (especially after having gone to bed at midnight and having Tate climb into bed with us at 3:00). Who needs rest before a day of pushing another human being out of their body?

Lexie makes her grand appearance 12 hours after the pitocin was begun and 14 hours after arriving at the hospital.

Abbie finally gets to meet her baby sister, she has waited for so long. See Abbie I told you she wouldn't have purple hair!

A few very excited kids meeting their sister.

Why oh why must he make these faces? ALWAYS so weird.

A kiss for his baby sister.

Everyone was very quick to jump into the delivery bed with mom---some even gave a tug or two to my I.V.! It was really special and super comfy immediately after delivery to have the younger ones hopping on me.

What Dad? Why do we need to stop?

Hmm, I hadn't eaten in more than 24 hours but I'm sure Lexie was as hungry and tired as I was after that crazy delivery. I didn't have the energy to nurse. I couldn't stop shaking or get my teeth to stop chattering. My epidural had completely worn off and the anesthesiologist stood in the room watching me writhe in pain while he took a personal call on his cell. It was delightful.

Aren't they cute? I had set out every outfit for the kids so that they would be presentable and so my Dad wouldn't have to find clothes for them...I did not anticipate that Abbie would come in a dress and her Lelly Kelly high tops...or that my girls would have homeless child hair.**a special thanks to my friend Jackie whom I know had fixed the girls hair hours earlier, none of us thought the delivery would take so long

Thanks for the apple mom, I knew you probably wanted me to have it since you had Daddy put it right by your bedside. You couldn't possibly have intended it for yourself.

Tate and Ruby take a turn being the big kids and helping baby Lexie have a bottle.

What a big guy.

So excited to be a big brother and to have one more behind him in the pecking order.

Little Lexie feet.

Looks like we need to get her circulation under control because those are some mighty blue hands!

Mommy the next morning hoping we will be allowed to leave at the 24 hour mark.

No such luck...they held us hostage for an extra 12 hours but that just meant more mommy-baby bonding time for me and baby Lex.

So tiny and all ready to be a girl...gotta begin early with the hair bows.

Daddy and two of his girls.

A little family bonding and time in mom and dad's bed.

This one is for you Aunt Jessie, they're getting me started early. Brody and I can bond over Oreo's!

Mom, I'm sure that you don't want to take a picture of Lexie so that's why I stuck my head right in front of her.

So peaceful.

We love our beautiful girl!

Lexie Lee Allen

While Brooke is in the hospital recovering from her long day of labor yesterday, she asked her fabulous sister Jessie to post an announcement of their adorable new addition.

She also wanted me to pass along that the 4 other posts she has been drafting recently will hopefully be published sometime soon. But for now, they are busy spending time with the gorgeous Miss Lexie...

365 days away from a new decade

Happy Birthday Brooke, the big 2-9!!

My birthday breakfast of an orange glucose drink that I drank on the way to the hospital to have my blood drawn for my gestational diabetes test. Nothing says Happy Birthday like fasting for 18 hours and then having your blood drawn.

All I wanted to do for my birthday is go to the gym and have an ice cream cake. We hadn't been to the gym in a month because of our huge road trip and the kids had asked to go EVERY day, especially Tate because it is definitely his favorite place. Unfortunately our time was cut short by me beginning to have a lot of contractions on the elliptical. Justin made me get off and said we were not ready to have the baby that day. It was probably all for the best because that meant more time at the gym pool for the kids to go down the water slides and play in the fountains.

My aforementioned ice cream cake, so delicious I'm not sure why I only have them on my birthday

Justin laughing at me begging him not to ruin my ice cream cake with a zillion candles of fire and candle wax. He does not respect my wishes.

"I try it!!!" Tate would really like a turn with the camera.

Just back from the pool and the gym then straight to cake...calories out and double the calories in

Thanks for the help kids, with each passing year the fire grows larger

finally, the gift from grandpa...the kids were dying to see what was in that huge box!

after opening Bracken's gift that he made me days before my birthday, he fashioned the jewelry out of odds and ends from mine and Abbie's jewelry boxes

a little Betsey bling from the Nordstrom's sale

Bracken's homemade jewelry, bling bling!

And now Abbie got a hold of the camera...she LOVES to take pictures

silly faces

come on Abbie, how about a kiss?

Watch out next July, thirty years old here I come!!!

While You Were Sleeping

Dear husbands (Justin, Spencer, and James),

Do you remember that Sandra Bullock movie from the mid-90's? Well, as you know, we went out to celebrate my birthday tonight and we went to a restaurant owned by Ms. Bullock, Bess's Bistro. It was a wonderful little bistro with Manhattan-esque ambiance and great food. We didn't see Sandra---though we did hear she was there---but we didn't need a celeb sighting in order to have made the night memorable.

Yes, while you were sleeping we were having quite a time. Due to our need to be responsible mothers (and because we had already ditched you with the kids on Tuesday night) we opted to go out a little later tonight so that we could get the kids into bed or, in one case, support you in your church calling and allow you to attend an evening meeting before we headed out for our night on the town. Because of our late start we didn't even arrive at the restaurant until around 9:15pm. We parked in a lot across the street and headed in for our special evening. None of us had ever been down to this quaint little spot off of 6th Street but we had heard good things and knew that we were in for a good time.

Brooke, Jackie, Lonna

Two and a half hours later we emerged from the underground hotspot and crossed the street to Lonna's car. Unfortunately the car didn't seem to be in the spot where we had parked it, indeed I immediately had flashbacks to my BYU days where everyone I knew had their car towed at least once, and Lonna's car had definitely been towed. It turns out that the empty lot across the street was really for an Extended Stay America hotel and that across the parking lot, behind the branches of a tree, there was a sign posted by J & J Towing company stating that all vehicles without a proper hotel pass would be towed at the owners expense.

Because you were all home with our sleeping children we were unsure how to get to the impound lot, the only logical choice was to call a cab so that's what we did. After a rather unsettling drive through a sketchy part of east Austin---with Jackie monitoring the cabbies every move on her iphone map---we arrived on a little street with no street lights across from some factory at a shed with bars on its windows and a lot of sad looking cars parked behind an adjacent fence. I couldn't help but have flashes back to a conversation I had with Allie recently where she nonchalantly mentioned that there have been a lot of pregnant women who have had their baby's cut out of their bellies lately. It was clear that the smartest thing we could do was get out of there as fast as possible, I mean what could two women each in their ninth month of pregnancy, or a 110 lb. woman (who was asked by the tow guy if it was her Dad's car---I thought Lonna may lose it and tell him that she may look young but that she is the mother of two children) do against any creepy kind of danger on a back road? It would clearly be up to me.

Sketchy towing place in the middle of nowhere

We paid the fine of $193.30 and tried to not be infuriated by the fact that we learned that the car had only gotten to the lot 10 minutes before we realized it was gone. If only we hadn't taken that last pregnant-lady bathroom break right before leaving the restaurant!!!

Lonna and her car are reunited, they embrace

As Lonna said, "$75 spent on dinner. $16 cab ride. $193.30 impound fee. Celebrating Brooke's 29th birthday, priceless."

So husbands, sorry that we didn't arrive home until 2am and sorry that we are all at least $70 poorer than when we left home, and a special apology to James---sorry we got your car towed!

Sincerely,

the wives

(Brooke, Jackie, and Lonna)

Thanks girls for a very memorable night!