Rob's last day in the grey cubical

We made him a poster, because it was a special day.

more photo updates

Family photo
little lambs waiting for their turn in the Christmas musical

I guess we should have investigated why it was so quite upstairs...

making dog treats for our four legged friends

Gingerbread house 2010 version (like the toilet in the background?)

Our first naps at home and not in car seats in three days. Noelle slept for three hours, Dallas for three and half. I think they were so happy to be stretched out. They even slept through the destruction of my pantry and the start of the new shelves being put in!
My present under the tree from Santa was new pantry shelving. Really a gift for Rob and a I but I will be happiest about it. The note from Santa said my contractor would show up Monday and get to work, and be devilishly handsome. A win-win!

minivan Express

in our pj's with our blankets and 3D glasses
I find this adorable, he is wearing adult glasses, has a candy cane in one hand and two cookies in the other

Tonight we did our own version of this

We climbed into the van in our PJ's and drove around looking at lights, eating festive snacks, and listening to Christmas music. It is a perfect outing, Rob gets to drive, the kids giggle and get to stare at things, and I get to relax. The 3D glasses were left over from a movie we saw at the theater.

super post...

I feel like I am way behind blogging about our wonderful December happenings. Today was the first time this month I had downloaded photos to the computer. This is my attempt to catch you up, fast, in no particular order!

Dallas and his birthday ice cream at Hickory Park

Noelle loves to sit up straight and look at the world

Dallas frosting his first sugar cookie, and his last. This was as far as he got, then he proceded to eat all the frosting and one bite of the cookie

Sweet Noelle

Emily and Robert met Dallas, April and Jen in Dubuqe to see Manheim Steamroller in concert

Dallas and our first snowfall, yes he is wearing sandals

Watching Rudolph the red nosed reindeer

my dear friend Sarah gave birth to Libby, and I got to hold her, she was about 12 hours old

Dallas is two! He thought the tractor on the cake was the coolest thing

decorating the tree in their room

Noelle and I posing in front of our Cyclone tree

Emily's thankfullness tree (Nov. carryover), designed/executed by Aunt April

Dallas 2 year well visit

We went to check Dallas out today. For all the concerns we had all year about his wheezing and his lungs he is a healthy big boy.
He weighed 29lb, and was 35.5" tall. His head is still in the 90% but height and weight were even-steven at 50%. He gained two pounds and grew two inches in six months. Pretty good for a kid who has probably eaten 10 veggies total in six months. I guess we get to start vitamins with him. Any suggestions on kinds, I think he will think the Finestones or the gummies would be candy. I will keep putting a balanced meal on his plate, but the Dr. agreed with me that you still can't reason with him eating yet, and it is better to make meal time as pleasant as possible so we are not going to force food (yet), but there will be no treats either!

He is just finishing up another round of amoxicillin for last weeks ear infection. He has had two infections since the tubes, lets hope that is it. It also appears that one tube is clogged, so we will try to fix that with some drops. Developmentally he is a star. I encouraged him to say "good morning Dr. Swanson" and that was a big hit!

Christmas letter

I finished our 2010 Christmas letter. Click on button to the right indicating letter and it will take you to the Christmas letter page.

popcorn Sunday

Is anything more awesome than a dinner of popcorn, cheese and apple slices? Yes. That Sunday is Rob's night to cook. He makes the best popcorn ever, the kids are so excited to eat popcorn for dinner. I love the break. It seems that most of the battle is deciding what to eat, I have recently gone back to planning our meals for the week, which really helps. I took a big break.
We have a stir-crazy popcorn maker, but every now and then he makes it on the stove in my soup pot, and it is extra good.

if you still need to buy your kids a Christmas present

Buy this YooKidoo bath fountain. I bought mine (actually a couple for birthday presents too) through diapers.com. They have a great first time customer discount and often you can find a coupon for free shipping.

We got this for Dallas for his birthday. We have used it twice and I bet our water bill is already lower. I don't know how it will hold up long term as we have only had it in use a couple days. Every kid likes the bath better with running water, and this makes bath time super fun. The fountain head swivels and do does the cup holder. You can put three different cups in the holder. The colors are bright and fun. A great toy for $20. Watch out because it will elicit a tantrum when trying to remove the kid from the tub.

Dallas is 2

Dallas and his daddy, (iPhone pic)

Dallas and his namesake 1 year

Dallas in 2008 minutes old

Tomorrow I will be a mom to a 4 year 5 monther, a two year old and a 12 week old baby. I am in awe of how I got here, how I handle or not handle it, and what my life has become.

I am really happy with my life, I want to do a better job of living in the moment. I see time passing so quickly, how is Noelle 12 weeks already? I am putting away 0-3 month clothes that she is to long for. I am reflecting on the fact that I am lucky enough to have had another baby to wear these clothes, but sad that this might be the last time I see my baby wear them.
I am busy taking in Dallas's language, he will say anything you ask him to, and it is so stinking adorable. I know soon he will be able to pronounce the words more correctly and I fear I will forget the adorable way he says "mini loader" or "skid steer".
And quite honestly I spend quite a bit of my day negotiating Dallas and Emily. I dwell on the precious moments where they play wonderfully together, and make up some new activity that causes them both to giggle. But many times it is breaking up quarrels, how does Em know already that repeating everything her brother says will annoy him so? They fight over the same silly toy when they are blessed with so many toys that go unplayed with. And they hit, each other all the time!

I have these grand plans for how our day should go, all the activities I want to do with them, and then the daily house stuff. I get irritated that I mean for us to leave the house at 9:30 and we arrive some place at 10:15, because we can't find a hat, or we want to wear a spring jacket not a winter coat. I should relish in these fits that occur daily, but instead it annoys me, that I am a bad parent for letting it happen, that we will be late, that I don't have the patience in the moment to be helpful and redirect a kid throwing a tantrum and instead I lose my cool! My goal for this month is to live in the moment, really enjoy these blessings I have. As my friend Jen's blog says... The Days are long, but the Years are short

snap shots from the month

one of his last naps in the pack n'play he is now happily sleeping in his bottom bunk

Emily mixing up batter for her turkey cupcakes for Thanksgiving dinner

I love this, lately Noelle has ended up in our bed after she eats around 5 or 6 am. I have to get in my snuggles

Catching a little smirk, Rob thinks she has Greg's smile. I now think she has a little dimple on her right cheek

Ready for winter, remember this hat?

Visiting Walmarts Christmas trees

Our family tree

We stayed in a hotel over Thanksgiving, for a fleeting moment we tried the kids in the same bed. Luckily gpa Dallas reserved us two cribs, because they were having too much fun to sleep

They look sweet but shortly after this picture they had a fight over who was going to hold Noelle, they Dallas poked her in the eye

Fire Chief Dallas

Rob's handiwork. The swagger wagon all shined up after a day of waxing, putting in the winter floor mats and attaching the rear mudflaps.

I think I could get rid of most of our real toys and they wouldn't even notice. Laundry baskets get played with a lot around here, especially when I try to keep them empty! Dry beans also occupy them so nicely in that last hour before Rob gets home but I am trying to cook and entertain all three. It is about time for a new batch, I have swept this bunch off the floor for the last year and we have significantly less beans but more dog hair!

transitions...

Things are changing around here. Colder weather, new beds, and growing kids.



Last weekend was Rob's annual clean and wax the cars time. Saturday he washed the Chevelle and winterized it, changed the oil, and we took it over to the garage to spend the winter. The kids were saying night, night, as Rob covered it with the "blanket" car cover. He took the afternoon off to watch the Cyclones lose with me, then he spent the remaining day washing and waxing the truck. The same process occurred on Sunday after church, only with the van. It was his first time waxing the van, and it is a tad bigger than our other vehicles, so that ate up most of Sunday. He also installed the vans rear mudflaps, I know you are all jealous!

Sunday afternoon Emily went to a Strawberry Shortcake Birthday party and had all sorts of fun!

Monday night Dallas slept in his new bed, after several fits and lots screaming/crying he finally settled down, and ended up in the bed. I figured he would end up sleeping on the floor with Bo. Now that the crib is down, I am going to try to boy up the room for him a little and hang some stuff on the wall.

And I know you are all wondering why I haven't complained about raking one of God's greatest creations, LEAVES. We are once again splurging this year and have hired it out. I found a guy on craigslist willing to do large yards for $40. I wonder if he has driven by to see what he agreed to yet? Plus since we have scheduled him to come Sat. a free yard waste day he doesn't have to bag the leaves, he can throw them loose in his truck, that saves us bag money too! I know in years past we have spent more that $40 in bags alone. This is a tremendous help this year as Noelle and Dallas don't nap at the same time, not allowing me afternoons to rake!

Noelle is growing everyday, she is such a smiley girl when she is well rested. I have been sort or sleep training her, trying to teach her to go to sleep on her own. I stick to an eat, play, sleep schedule, keeping her awake time to less than an hour. This keeps her from becoming overtired. I can usually stick her in the crib swaddled and awake, and she drifts off. I know writing this will probably jinx the process, but as with kids, once you think you have it figured out something changes.

comparisons

Three kids

Eight weeks old

Three hair colors

One Kibbe nose

All blue eyed? (Noelle might break the mold here, at eight weeks Dallas and Em already had their brilliant blue eyes, how does that happen when Rob and I have muddy hazel eyes)

Emily 2 mo 11lb 2oz 22" 38.5cm
Dallas 2 mo 13lb 10oz 24" 41cm
Noelle 2 mo 11lb 5oz 22.75" 37.5cm

the weird thing is Dallas weighed the most at birth and the least at 2 weeks?

The Doctor's trip

I feel shorter, do I look shorter? What a trip. This morning started out with me going to my annual trip to get my moley skin looked at, always looking out for that cancer! Robert really needed to go to work, but I was lucky enough that he was able to watch the kids for my appt. I assume chasing three kids in a 4x4 ft room in a paper gown is not fun.
He met me at 9:00 with the kids across town at the other McFarland clinic for Noelle's 2 month well check. He scampered off to work. We waited for our turn, Dallas yelled at another girl in the waiting room that apparently got to close to him, perhaps he found her threatening. Then he pooped, I wanted to change him, but didn't want to miss them calling our name, so I decided to wait it out, sorry for the stink, if you were there! We go back to the room, I have to undress Noelle so she can be measured and weighed, I decide to change Dallas too, and then gave Em and Dallas snacks. Everything is going smoothly. Noelle is a perfect 50% baby. She weighed
11 lb 5 oz, and was 22.75 inch long.
I asked if we could get the flu shot for the kids during this visit, I was hoping Dallas and Emily could both get the mist, so I would only have the baby crying from the shots. Emily qualifies for the mist, but Dallas has to be two years first, but then he still doesn't get the mist, because of his past breathing issues, and the fact that we use the nebulizer often.
Nurse Janet thought it would be easiest to do Em first since she would get the spray, guess what she freaked out the most. Luckily Janet and I are strong, we had to wrestle her, and Janet had a near miss to the head. She moved to Noelle next, gave her the one oral immunization. Then Dallas got a shot in his arm, he took it fairly well, cried, was better after the hug, and then said over and over owie hurt. And finally Noelle needed three more shots in her thighs. She squeaked a tad, I dressed her and then she fell asleep. Meanwhile Emily is still throwing a fit, and Dallas is Owie Hurt! Thank goodness I had put two bags of fruit snacks in my bag that we got while trick or treating. We have not had fruit snacks in the house in over 6 months, so that was an attention getting snack, and solved every one's problems. But boy am I tired, and short...

Go Cyclones!

One more win until we are bowl eligible. Cheering this Sat with some of our bestie college friends, too bad Rob will be traveling and out of town.

Emily's first Ballet class

Our little dancer started ballet lessons last Thursday. She was a little unsure at first as we were the first to arrive, I had told her we would know some friends in the class and I think she was expecting them to be there. She warmed up about 10 minutes into class, and joined the class and her friends. They learned 1st and 2nd position, and plie. Also some tap, which Rob will get to review with her as he is the tap dancer in the family.

Halloween 2010

Jesse the Cowgirl and Cowboy Woody

You know how they say a photo captures a memory, with little kids, sometimes your memories look like this

DeMoss Farm and carving 2010

The Church has left the Building

Hair nets and plastic aprons were provided.

We participated in the 2nd annual TCHLTB, at our church E-Free. The concept is to get people to volunteer and take our ministry out into the community. The church aids you in finding lots of opportunities to volunteer in the community and we also hosted an event to make 100,000 meals for Orphans in Haiti. As it is called the church has left the building, we literally don't have church that weekend. The Sat. night before we worked a shift to assemble meals. Dallas went to the provided daycare, and I wore Noelle until she got a little fussy, then she went to be cuddled in the nursery. Emily added the dehydrated vegetables to the packets, Rob ran the heat sealer, and I helped Em remember to add the veggies, as well as the other little kids at the table to add the rice, vitamins, soy protein and flavor packet. It was a fun thing to do as a family, and hopefully Emily learned something in her first volunteer event.

And we have our first ear infection post tubes. I was hoping not to spend the winter at the Dr. office, lets pray this is an anomaly.

Also, I think all of our furniture is covered with either baby throw up or Dallas snot. Is there any point in getting new furniture after this stage of life, or with the kid years and teenage years be just as hard on the recliner...

A peek at my week

I love these. This is what I asked for from my Grandparents house. I remember staring at these in the buffet since I was little. And stopping into thrift stores with Grandma and having her find one and pick it up for a quarter. I split the lot with my Aunt as she wanted them too. I am not sure what it is, perhaps depression glass? I would love more, and I think it shall go on my Christmas list permanently. I only have four plates, 3 red and one green. I also have 4 sherbet cups? and the rest are glasses, mostly green, but I have blue, purple, red, yellow and orange. They are so pretty, I wish I could display them in the sunlight or in a door less cabinet!

My Grandma F came to visit Noelle. They snuggled the afternoon away!

Emily's new science project. It is growing "hair" that you can even cut! A great gift from my Aunt Sherrie, thanks.

Sleepy baby, why do all my kids sleep with their hand on their chins?

and lastly a sneak peek of the costumes, still a work in progress

The Office, brought to you by Rob Kibbe

Clicking on the picture will make it bigger
I found this lying on the counter top one morning waiting for me. Rob leaves early twice a week for Men's Frat and his Bible study. I am usually too lazy to see him off, unless I am up with a kid. This encompasses a lot of what I love about Rob. He left it for me with zero explanation, yet I totally get it!