Maggie's Birthday

Today is Maggie's 4th Birthday!  It was 4 years ago that we plowed our way through 4 feet of snow (eventually 7 feet) to make it to the hospital to have her.  It has been quite a trip with her but she is the sweetest, cutest, most full of life little girl and I love her so much!  Here are a couple of pictures of her special day.  She took pink cupcakes to school.  Then after Matthew got home she opened her presents.  After that, we went downtown and had Santa pictures taken and we rounded out the evening with sushi and cake.  I made her a mermaid cake because she is obsessed with mermaids right now!!!  All in all it was a great day.  The kicker is when she came home from school and announced "It is my birthday and I can do what I want!"  WOW!

FINALLY!

I have finally caught up on my posting.  There are three below this one in case you are interested:)  This is a picture from Chris' Christmas party.  We took Peter and I put him in his "fancy" clothes!!

Matthew's Program

Thursday night we had Matthew's Christmas program.  It was quite interesting...let's just say that the CDC wasn't incorrect in predicting this year's flu season.  A poor kindergartner threw up on stage and apparently there were a few more back stage!  Nasty.  Other than that, it was a really cute, sweet program.  We bought the front row pew at the auction so we had a nice view of all the action. (Including the puke) They do a great job with the program and it was so cute to see all the kiddos up there!

Maggie's Christmas Program

Maggie had her pre school program last week on Wednesday.  She was so excited and so cute.  She was mostly excited about her new Christmas dress that she got to wear.  It was so cute to see her sing her heart out.  She had practiced for us doing the motions.  It was precious!!

Otis

Last week was quite a pricey week for the Herzog family.  Let's just say that I am glad we had planned some extra money in savings because it seemed like it was one of those weeks.  Anyway, one of the things that happened pertained to Otis.  I know that many of you are thinking "I thought you were annoyed with Otis most of the time."  Yes that is a true statement.  He sometimes drives me nuts and I yell at him but he is my first born and I love him.  On Wednesday of last week he seemed off.  He was really depressed and not eating or drinking.  I thought at first it was because I bought him a new bag of dog food and he is really picky (I am being serious) but when we started not drinking and just laying under my bed I was worried.  I called my vet but they were all booked up until Friday.  I was super stressed out that he had cancer or something.  We took him in Friday and they had him all morning.  Our vet (she is amazing btw) called and said that she did some xrays and blood work and gave him some anti inflammatories and pain killers.  All I heard was "cha ching, cha ching and cha ching..."  (for the record it was about $350) As it turned out he strained a muscle in his back and it was so painful he couldn't eat or drink.  Our vet loves Otis and was telling me how great he was and that he would be a bit groggy when he got home.  WELL he came home and promptly had diarrhea on the floor.  And of course he was on a week of medicine that again depended on him eating so that meant a week of turkey and rice.  I love the damn dog but he really chaps me sometimes!!!  Glad he is ok though.

Sorry for the pause...

Ok I know you have read this before but I PROMISE I will be back with pictures and updates.  I have a ton that I want to do starting with Otis and his health hiccup (he is fine I promise). We have been busy with birthday parties and Christmas programs and the flu, yes the stomach flu, whipping through the house.  Thanks for your patience:)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree How Lovely are Your (Fake) Branches

For the 4th year in a row, we went Christmas tree hunting.  It has been nice and warm here for Spokane, so it was quite enjoyable.  Instead of the forest, we went to the jungle...

 

 

It is amazing you can find the perfect tree in that jungle, but we knew it was there...somewhere.





I had the location all cleaned and ready to go!

And after some recycling, we located it!

Then it was time to put it up and decorate it!

And it didn't disappoint!

Last but not least, the mantle...and that pesky Elf on the Shelf.

I still need to get Peter his own letter or picture.  For now tape:)

Maggie

Seriously this girl is always cracking me up.  I have been wanting to write a post dedicated to her lately because I feel like she gets a little lost among the boys in this house.  She never makes my day boring and she never runs out of things to talk about.  (Seriously sometimes I have to tune her out!!) Lately, she has been really motherly with her baby Fischer and I found her "nursing" her with my hooter hider.  I was dying and had to take a picture of that!  I think having Peter around has brought out her motherly instinct.  She is really good with him too.  She is always repeating what I am saying to him in her high pitched voice.  It is really sweet!!!  She is still doing ballet/tap and they are just starting their routine for the big recital in June.  I downloaded the song and when I play it she does the dance for me.  It is really cute.  The look she gets on her face is priceless.  So much concentration.  School is going really well.  She seems to like it a lot.  She has a main Teacher, Mrs. Nickell and the aid Mrs. Poole.  The other day at Costco she told me out of the blue that Mrs. Nickell is the teacher and Mrs. Poole give the snacks.  It totally cracked me up.  She does this little crooked smile out of the side of her mouth and giggles.  Matthew is my independent kiddo.  He can go play on his own for hours and has always been like that.  Maggie on the other hand, likes to know you are close to her.  She wants to play by herself but she wants you right there next to her.  Lately, her new thing has been doing my hair.  It is quite funny and I will try and get a picture of it.  She still loves to dress herself and the other morning I totally overslept and she came in all dressed for school asking when we were going to get up.  I love that about her.  She just gets up and gets ready!  Most days, when I don't oversleep, I will try to help her and she will say "I need my privacy please" REALLY?!  She was a hard pregnancy but knowing her now, I understand.  She is my unique, spirited, smart, sweet girl and I wouldn't change one thing about her.  Even her eyesight.  Her glasses are so adorable on her and are part of her spunky personality.  Most people who meet her just love her instantly!  I sure love her a lot and I am thankful that God blessed me with her! These are some pictures from this summer...

Thanksgiving Part II

My parents flew in on Friday and we got to work cooking for Thanksgiving dinner part II.  Since I wanted a lot of left overs I had bought 2 turkeys totaling 36 lbs so we made one on Friday and one on Saturday.  Saturday morning Terese came over to hang out because the football team that Adam coaches made it to finals so they played here.  It was such a treat to see her again and we had breakfast and coffee.  Then my parents and I pretty much cooked the rest of the day!  It was so delicious and worth it though.  We had turkey, potatoes, stuffing, homemade rolls (yum), cranberry sauce, yams, and pie.  It took 2 days of cooking and 20 minutes of eating and then and hour of cleaning up!  But I have to say that it was fun having my parents in town and fun cooking with them.  I couldn't have done it without their help with the kids and the cooking!  Whew...on to the next holiday!  A few pictures that I took:

Peter had some wild hair!

We used the fancy china

Bennett in the tupperware drawer:)

Maggie gets in on the action

Uncle Alex holding the boys...6 months apart and 3lbs difference! Haha
 

Thanksgiving

We made a new tradition this year for Thanksgiving.  It all started when Chris and I decided that we were too tired to travel this year for the holidays.  With 3 kids it is just too much so we decided to bring my parents here.  My dad works nights and works Thanksgiving so we decided to fly them over Friday.  We didn't want to do traditional Thanksgiving 2 days so we came up with the idea of making homemade Chinese food on Thursday and saving the turkey for Saturday.  Chris' family is awesome because they were up for anything!  It turned out to be a HUGE success.  Seriously it might be a new tradition:)  We made sweet and sour chicken, chicken chow mein and beef and broccoli.  I think my favorite was beef and broccoli. We topped off the dinner with a texas sheet cake!  Delicious.  I actually took some pictures!  Yay me:)  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and more pictures to come of our traditional dinner.

The Feast

Alex and Bennett

Oma, Opa and Peter

The three stooges: Matthew, Agatha, and Opa

Thankful

A lot of my facebook friends have been posting about things that they are thankful for during the month of November.  I thought about doing it too but never got around to it so I decided to make one big long list here on the blog.  Some are simple and some are deep but all things I am most grateful for in my life.  Here goes (in no particular order, just how they come to me):
1) Christopher
2) Those three beauties Matthew, Maggie and Peter
3) Health
4) Faith/God
5) My home
6) Not worrying where my next meal is coming from
7) TV
8) Amber my babysitter
9) My parents and in laws.  The fact that I still have all four here.
10) Sisters
11) Friends: some near and some far but all are dear to my heart
12) wine (or maybe champagne depending on the mood)
13) Sweet Frostings cup cakes
14) people.com, usmagazine.com, eonline.com
15) The school my children attend
16) Carpool
17) cavities (considering that is my hubby's business)
18) airplanes
19) prayer
20) The fact that I knew my grandparents.  Not a day goes by that I don't think about my Gee Gee
21) Ohio
22) cooking skills
23) Keri at Rosauers...heck Rosauers in general
24) Coffee...especially my peeps at Starbucks.  Love those guys.
25) The gym.  I will get back there soon.
26) The fact that I was/am able to nurse my children. 
27) Twilight
28) My cell phone
29) Gonzaga University
30) My health
31) Susan and Teresa...they are my saviors
32) Facebook

The list could go on and on.  I am trying really hard to be present in the moment and not wish it away.  Especially with Peter.  Knowing he is the last (which is a good thing trust me) makes me want to be more present with my kids in general.  I am so incredibly blessed in my life and thankful for all the gifts I have been given.  I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Disney on Ice

We were lucky enough to be invited by the Daley's to attend Disney on Ice.  Matt's law firm has a box and let me tell you...we were spoiled!  In my humble opinion, this is the only way to attend a show with three kids (including an infant and a middle child who has sight issues!) We had our own bathroom and room to wiggle.  We had food, drink and good friends.  What a treat!

November Happenings...

One day I am going to be one of those bloggers that has each post coordinated with pictures that are perfectly taken (yeah right!) but for now I am just mashing it all together.  If not, you might not get any updates:)  This past weekend Amy and Karen came to visit.  It was amazing!  Of course I have no pictures but basically it went like this: talking, champagne, more talking, laughing, dinner at Wild Sage, more drinking and not so much sleep.  It was so much fun and I was really sad to see them leave:(  I know right now it is hard for me to get away to be with them so I was so thankful that they could take a day off to fly up here and hang with me.  We always end up laughing so hard and it is exactly what I needed. We started Friday off with cupcakes from Sweet Frostings (of course) and champagne.  Four bottles later (yep that's right) we were in hysterics and I was on the road to a bit of a hangover.  All worth it though!  Saturday night, Amber came over and Chris took us girls out to dinner at Wild Sage.  That is one of my favorite restaurants in Spokane so I was so full and happy.  They left Sunday and I was sad but excited to hopefully see them soon.  I am thinking about jetting down to LA for a weekend with Peter. 
Speaking of Peter, he turned 4 months old!  I took him to his check up and he is 14lbs 5oz and 26.25in.  This is just about exactly what Matthew was!  He is right on track and looking good.  I am sad to say that all three kiddos have a touch of a cold but other than that he is doing great!  We have been introducing some new food into his diet which is super exciting!  He has had rice cereal, avocado, and sweet potato.  I am going to do bananas next.  He likes it and I think it helps fill him up. 

It snowed here last weekend and the kids were having a blast playing in the snow.  I actually like the snow and get around quite fine in it (living with 7 ft cures you of any snow issues).  It is just a matter of pulling out all the snow gear and making sure all of it fits!  Last night, Chris and I had a date night and went to the Zag game!  It was really fun but it was on ESPN so it was at 9pm.  Coupled with the events of the weekend, I am one tired girl!  I need to get my game back:)  We are so lucky that Amber is such a good sitter and is someone that I trust with the kids (especially Peter) so I can have some adult time!  So excited for Thanksgiving...today Nicole said that next week was a short week and I was like how?  DUH Siri Thanksgiving!  I can't believe that it has snuck up on me.  My parents are going to visit so hopefully I will take some more pictures!!