two bike crashes in two days

on thursday morning

michael got in a bike accident

he was doing a u-turn

and we think his handlebars were

loose because they turned way too far

and now when they're straight

his wheel is at a 90 degree angle

his face got scraped

and glasses broke

his lense even popped out onto the street

 the back of his leg got all scraped up

 his shoulder

 scraped hands

and a possible break on his right pinkie

 then yesterday noah was riding his bike

around the parking lot

something he does for hours a day

somehow he lost control

and he fell on his face

he went to the ER because his lip bled really bad

as well as his teeth

at the ER they said he didn't need stitches

and that he didn't have a concussion though he was 

complaining of dizziness

then he vomited all over

and fell asleep 2 seconds later

so they let him sleep for a little bit

then woke him up to clean him up

he fell right back asleep

and then woke up to vomit again

they determined he did have a concussion

and they did a CT scan

which looked good

but after 4 hours in the ER

by the time Michael brought Noah home

we put him straight to bed

and had to wake him up all night

to check on him

and this morning he has a loose tooth

YIKES

it's crazy both of them got in bike crashes

within two days of each other

but we're so glad we've always worn helmets

so the injuries weren't worse 

and hopefully they will heal soon

i'm pretty sure we will need picture re-takes

since noah has picture day this next week..

i didn't know

we walked noah

to the bus

for the first time

this morning

we stood around

he saw his friends

and when the bus came

he hopped on

he sat next to a friend

and then another kid sat next to them

by the time i spotted him

i couldn't help it

i was trying to wave goodbye

with a happy, brave face

but i couldn't quite keep it together

and i think noah might have seen

but when they pulled away

i balled

and another mom who was fine

saw me cry

and it made her cry too

i had no idea

i'd be that mom

my wild and crazy birthday

despite the way the day started out today

michael's bike crash

and noah's first day of kindergarten

i have had an awesome birthday

we went to spokane for some shopping

and out to lunch at azteca

 then we came home for some delicious

ice cream cake

 that we were all really excited about

do you see olive trying to stab it with a fork

from her high chair?

thank you to my sweet husband

who made my day so special

and to all of those who have taken the time

to send me birthday love

i love my life

all twenty six years i've had of it

noah's first day of kindergarten

me: "smile"

me: "smile"

me: "noah, smile!"

me: "show me your backpack"

 noah: "look at my angry face"

 me: "smile"

 michael comes outside

michael: "smile"

 for noah's first day he has a parent come

and it's a short day

to help ease them in

the plan was that michael would go to class

and i would take noah

with the help of my friend erin watching the girls

instead 

michael got in a nice big bike crash

came home

tried not to go in shock

noah tried not to cry that his best friend,

his dad, was hurt

and i tried not to throw up 

while i bandaged michael  up

then he took noah to kindergarten

i think they were both pretty happy to go together

they just love each other

a lunch date

today we stole michael from work

to run errands 

and go out to lunch

my birthday is tomorrow

and in our house

you get a birthday week

unless you're michael

who insists he gets a whole month

olive

i've been meaning to applique

something with an olive

for our girl

her whole life

and finally got to it today

 i used a little vintage dress

olive is getting so big

i feel like she's a little lady
all the sudden

cars two

cars two came to our cheaper theater this weekend

and i thought it would be a fun last hoorah 

before noah starts kindergarten

 olive and hazel didn't sit through it that well

but since michael had already seen it 

on a night out with his brother

he didn't mind occupying them outside

 noah totally loved it

as soon as it was over i asked him if he liked it

and he said, "can we buy it?"

it was fun to see him enjoy it so much

how funny is this boy?

he told me to take more pictures

and kept changing his pose

he's the best

lentil festival 2011

we love the lentil festival

this was our 3rd year

the lentil festival is broken up between two days

friday night is the street fair

free lentil chili

and fun things for kids

here's noah riding the cougar

 i love this picture

do you like michael's beard?

it's been his summer project

 hazel loved the bouncy house

 proof that i am in fact showing

a lot

at 8.5 weeks

 then this morning

we had the parade portion of the lentil fest

so we started by going out to breakie

noah and hazel are eating their whipped cream

off their hot chocolate

 olive's mouth was full

 the parade

here is a very excited hazel and brooks

 and our three cute kiddies

all in a row

watching the parade

it's the fun community events like this

that make me love pullman

summer is ending

and these are the lessons we've learned

kids really like hanging out at our house

maybe it's our toys

or the fact that i won't let noah play

at other people's house

but we have a lot of kids in and out of here

maybe it's the wii..

 noah totally thrives on having boys his age

and older to play with

 most recently,

the kids have learned how to ride their bikes

 noah just got his training wheels off yesterday

 and hazel just got bike pedaling down

in the last couple of weeks

 olive's hair is long enough to fit in a single ponytail

how many 13 month olds can say that?

and lastly,

this summer

the most important lesson learned here

is that noah and hazel really like each other

they have had so much fun playing together

she's usually the mom/rapunzel and

he's the baby

they love it

and they love each other

it makes me so happy!

changes

i don't know what's happened

but lately i've been all sorts of sentimental

there are a lot of changes coming up

and for the first time in a long time

i am not welcoming them

i used to want to up and leave all the time

let's move to new york, or california

let's go!

i would ask michael to go to grad school

somewhere far away

so we could have a new experience

but now i just want things to stay the same

is that weird?

normal?

i don't know

noah is about to start kindergarten next week

is that even possible?

and part of me is so happy and excited for him

but the other part of me can't help but worry

and be scared for him

i fear he won't like riding the bus

or someone will be mean to him

or he'll learn something he shouldn't

or i'll miss him

and hazel will miss him

and michael is about to start school again

finally his senior year

which makes me sad that summer is ending

and we'll have so much less time together

and he will be stressed with homework

and tests

hazel's on the wait list for preschool this year

that would probably be really positive

but we don't know if she'll be in or not

i am so excited to be having our 4th baby

but of course things will be different again

and is it a boy or a girl?

what will we name it?

where will we put it, in our 3 bedroom apt?

plus, who knows where michael will get his masters?

will we stay, will we move?

so many changes

and to top it off we were thinking it was time

to switch out of our student stake

and move to a family ward

because noah is hitting the age cut-off next april

and everyone else seemed to move out his age

but i think i decided i can't handle that change quite yet

we'll stick it out this next year

and hope other kids are still there with him

just too many changes!

i know i shouldn't worry

it'll all work out

right?

ipod photos

pregnant

7.5 weeks along

feeling sick

and already showing

but so excited and grateful

to welcome baby number 4 

into our family

sometime in late march

little rachael

i'm on the far right in both photos

it may be hard to see

 (you can click to enlarge)

but i'm starting to see some strong 

resemblances between little rachael and olive 

do you see it?

fun fact: as soon as olive was born and we were trying to name her, michael tried to convince me to name her rachael because he thought she looked just like me. i guess he was right!

silverwood

michael's parents spent the weekend with us

and took us to silverwood

we had a lot of fun there, once the kids warmed up

and we celebrated grandma olson's birthday

while we were there

it was all fun and games until

we were leaving our hotel 

and grandma got a concussion 

caused by a maintenance man's negligence

leaving a brick sized metal magnet propped above

the door so when she went through

it dropped on her head

luckily it wasn't more serious

and she's feeling better

but it was scary 

we weren't expecting a visit to the ER on our trip

all in all we had a wonderful visit

and can't wait to see them again!!

get better soon, grandma olson!

olive's newest trick

i made olive a skirt today

and i guess she likes it

because she keeps standing all on her own in it

she is so cute i can hardly stand it

no pun intended

ballet

hazel had her last ballet class of the summer 

she still has one more tap class

and then it's done

but i think she's hooked

so we're thinking instead of preschool next year

(she's only 3)

she'll do a day or two of dance

while noah's at kindergarten

how are they getting so old?

my random kiddies

hazel's naps are always at different times

and in different locations

olive loves to climb

and she especially loves to climb in the refrigerator

and since noah always leaves it part way open

she gets in there a lot

noah's not too random

but that's just the way i like him