Birthday Dance

Untitled from Rachel Witbeck on Vimeo.

Makayla got this tutu from an awesome family in Texas (thank you!) for her birthday and she couldn't resist dancing. Where did she learn to be a ballerina? Does it come ingrained in girl DNA? Well, whatever the reason I think it's adorable!

6

Here are some pictures of Preston's birthday party we had a couple weeks ago. We are in the midst of moving and I wanted to get this done before I forget.

Opening presents. He never tires of Transformers and Star Wars "action figures".

Okay, now don't laugh. Preston told me he wanted a spider cake. I am not artistically inclined AT ALL! That gene just passed right by me. Seriously. I thought that a spider cake shouldn't be too hard. Just give it some legs and eyes and it's all good right?


Wrong. I am so completely embarrassed by this cake. At first I didn't think it was too bad then my nephew Damon informed me it was a hamburger with legs. Ummm, thanks. Where is my sister Amy or Erik when I need them?


But I guess all hope wasn't lost. Preston was really excited about it and in the end that's all that matters.

Happy Birthday Preston!

Dear Preston,

You turned six last week. I've been meaning to do the post about it but I'm having some problems. You see, you're growing up too fast. I've been looking through the family albums and I just forgot how small you used to be. I'm around you everyday and I was so taken back by it. You're growing up. (sigh)

When we first found out we were expecting you, I can't speak for you father but for me I was soooo scared. I mean, married for 8 months and still in school. Also, I grew up the youngest child and had changed maybe one diaper in my life. How was I going to take care of my own child? How do we pay for this? There's a lot of school left for us, how are we going to do this?

Needless to say, we were not expecting you so soon. You were always part of the plan, the timing was just off for us. I later came to realize that it wasn't our timing. Heavenly Father knew when to send you to us so in reality, it was perfect timing.

And you have been and will continue to be such a wonderful, awesome blessing to this family! You are kind, funny, imaginative, smart, a great big brother, and a wonderful son.

There's more. But I'm not into getting too mushy where others can read it. :) But as I was going through all the pictures, I just had to post them on here. You look so different I can hardly believe it. I love you sweet boy. Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mom

(now get ready for picture overload)

After our first night at home.


3 months old with cousin Abigail.


5 months old. Look how cute you are!!!!!!!


6 months.


7 months with cousin Jenna.


8 months. You are the only one of the kids with those big brown eyes....just like mine! :)


10 months.


1 year!


15 months.


18 months.


2 years and getting your first buzz cut.


And then those glasses went on and you grew up overnight. It was amazing how much older you looked in those glasses.


2.5 years with cousin Samuel.


3 years.


4 years with your best friend.

Now I don't have any pictures of when you're 5 because those are on the other computer but I think these will do. More pictures of the birthday festivities coming soon!

When Grandma Visits

Last week Erik's mom came to visit and the kids were soooo excited. And it was really nice to have some help while I figured out all of the stuff with our move coming up soon.

So what did we do while grandma visited?

Have impromptu pirate birthday party for all the October birthdays. Awesome!


Play at the park every day. Maybe even a couple times a day. Gotta take advantage of the no rain days.


And go to the pumpkin patch with friends.

Now the kids have to deal with boring 'ol mom now that grandma is gone. Thanks for coming and helping out Valeni!

Dejavu

Some might remember THIS post from last year. We are in the same situation this year with Erik in Arizona and me at home with the kids in Portland. Not fun. I don't think any one is enjoying this situation.

So I am making cookies again. The kids are enjoying that part at least and I get to take my mind off of this mess.

I love cookie dough. I don't care if I can get salmonella. I'm gonna
eat it!

The finished product. I LOVE these cookies!

Milk and cookies were enjoyed by all! Time for oatmeal raisin!

My Theory

I have this theory. It all has to do with Makayla's hair. You see, I can tell if the day is going to be good by how bad Makayla's bedhead is.

Exhibit 1:

Notice how she is pleasantly eating her oatmeal with her baby by her side and the nest of bedhead.
Good day.

Exhibits 2 and 3:

Again, pleasantly eating her cereal with her baby and a nasty case of bedhead.
Good day.

Exhibits 4 and 5:

She will not look at me, will not allow her baby to sit by her, and she has a permanent scowl. See the hair? No bedhead.
Bad day.

Case closed.

School

I have been excited and dreading the first day of school since Preston was born. I am a tad bit overprotective with the kids. I won't even try to deny it. I hate the idea of Preston, or any of the kids, going to spend their days with adults I don't know and around kids that could be just awful. I know we all went through it and some parts of my brain knows that the kids need these life experiences. Other parts of the brain, the illogical mother parts, are screaming at me to keep them as close to me at all times:

he could get hurt
what if they lose him?
what if he cries?
what if another kid picks on him?

It's all part of it. But through all my apprehension, Preston has been sooooo excited! Well, excited doesn't even begin to cover it. We've been marking the calendar every day leading up to the first day of school. Finally it arrived. We woke up early in the morning and made sure we had everything ready to go. I packed all the kids in the car and we were off. We walked into his classroom and he was in heaven! We looked around got him settled and I knew I had to leave. It was hard. No, excruciating. Heartbreaking. Nauseating. I hated leaving my little boy there. Hugs and kisses were given out by everyone and we left.

Ugh.

Once I got the others strapped in and we were going home, Bryce all the sudden breaks down. "Where is my brother?" "I miss Preston!" "Why did you leave him?" Double ugh.

I had planned on Preston taking the bus home but everything was all messed up with the buses so I decided to pick him up. Class gets out at 11 and it takes seriously 2 minutes to get there. We got there at exactly 11 and what is this? Preston is the only kid left sitting with his teacher. I am one of those parents that "forgets" their kid. Not a good impression.

All in all, we survived the first day of school. The only problem being that he has to continue to go. Triple ugh.

Preston loves it. Bryce hates it. I am torn. Makayla doesn't care. Erik is gone. The only thing left to say is that if anyone messes with him, I don't care how old you are, you better be able to outrun me because I will make you pay! Wow, that made me feel better!

Getting ready to go.

Now he's just waiting for me to leave.

Rip Van Winkle

Untitled from Rachel Witbeck on Vimeo.

Run, Erik! Run!

Not too long ago, Erik was up and looking around on the computer. I was probably reading a book or something like that. Anyway, he casually says, "I think I want to do the Crater Lake half marathon." I think my only response was , "Uh-huh." You see, to me to run a marathon or half-marathon or even to run down the street is absolutely crazy. I'm not thinking he's really serious. No way would someone willingly want to put themselves through that kind of pain and torture. If I had gotten my nose out of the book and really thought about the man I married, I would've realized just how serious he was.

He signed up and set up a schedule to get in shape for the torment. Now the Crater Lake Rim Run is a pretty big deal around here. People come from all over the country to run in this race and it's all around a volcano that erupted, who knows how long ago, and is now a lake.

Now, the kids and I didn't actually get to see him run but we were with him in spirit! There were 133 people who ran the half-marathon and Erik placed 38th! That's pretty awesome to me. I feel so lucky to be married to someone who sets goals and works so hard to achieve those goals. What a great example to me and to our children. Great job Erik! We are soooo proud of you!

If you want to see the pictures of Erik running go HERE. I don't know how long those pictures will be up so look soon!

The drive to Crater Lake took us about 5 hours. We decided the best thing to do was to camp. I really have nothing against camping....honestly! But I think the last time we went camping together I was about 4 months pregnant with Preston. I'm just not that interested in taking little kids camping and staying up with them all night because they are too wired/cold/hungry/uncomfortable to sleep. The boys are at the age now that it's more fun to do these things but Makayla......not so much. I would still prefer to keep Makayla at home in her crib.

Oh well. We packed it up and made the trek.

I was so glad when Makayla finally slept. I made everyone be quiet as soon as she was out.


Crater Lake


This was the best we could do. I think the kids were done with the day.


Preston ran free while Bryce huddled close to the fire.


And everyone at s'mores until we groaned with stomach aches. All in all...not a bad trip. Maybe we'll try it again in another 6 years! :) Just kidding Erik!

***I decided to add the rest of the pictures but I think they're self explanatory so I'm not writing anything else...starting now.***