i mustache post this picture

the night before we left for thanksgiving

michael decided to shave

because he was worried his family would think

he always has a beard

(which is kind of true)

so he was shaving

and got to the mustache

and i encouraged him to leave it on

until we got to his parent's house

since his dad has a mustache and always has

we thought it would be a funny joke

and it was

except his brother had a similar thought

and came with a goatee

which was really funny, too

i made michael shave before that day was over

because it was grossing me out to look at him

(love you, michael)

but it was hilarious nonetheless

and i'm glad someone got a picture

(thanks steve and janet)

so i could steal it off their blog and post it for all to see

christmas presents for our nieces

we have a lot of nieces

12 between the two of us

so i made some felt hair clips

as Christmas presents

two for each girl

 and i used old cereal and fruit snack boxes

to put them on

with the name of each girl stamped on top

 they were free (meaning i already had everything)

other than the stamps

(which i've been wanting anyway)

and fun to make

we don't really do gifts for everyone in my family

but every year i tend to

last year i did the dolls

and the year before capes

just because i want my nieces and nephews

to know that i love them

hopefully they like them

now on to the nephew presents....

those will be a little more work

tuesday night date night

instead of grocery shopping

like we should have

michael took me to dinner

and to see breaking dawn

it was super fun!

pike place market

one day while visiting family

we took the ferry to seattle

and walked around pike place

it was raining like crazy

which made for a very short

and memorable trip

very serious business

decorating our Christmas tree

this evening

also some very serious

undecorating by a little miss who i suppose

can go unnamed...

thanksgiving break

 cousins

 noah posing

walking at the railroad bridge park

cute girl

 time with family

rainy tractor rides

we had a fun visit with michael's family

and my mom this last week

but boy are we glad to be back home!

giving thanks

i am thankful for my husband

who is so perfect for me i can hardly believe it

michael is an amazing husband

and father

i am thankful for my children

being a mother brings me so much joy

i love my noah, hazel, olive and eleanor

i am thankful for the gospel

and the peace and happiness it brings 

i am thankful for the trials that we avoid

by following the gospel

and for the blessings it brings

i am thankful for a plan

that helps us not to be distracted 

by the unimportant things in life

i am thankful i am happy

thoughts on our baby girl

i was sure this was a boy. this pregnancy has reminded me of noah's most but i was wrong. i was shocked.

i was afraid noah would be disappointed about having THREE sisters and no brothers but "telling him" with pink cookies, strawberry milk and an "it's a girl" balloon when we picked him up from school that day seemed to do the trick. he was excited.

we are settled on a name for this little girl and i am so happy--not only with the name but with the fact that we won't be naming her in the hospital like we did olive

having my third girl in a row feels like i have deja vu especially since we're in the same apartment, going to the same hospital etc as olive

i am officially sick of girl clothes. we've tried to shop for eleanor twice but everything i would want, i bought for olive. i suppose it's a blessing to not have to buy much

we are so happy and feel so blessed to be having a healthy baby girl

naming noah was hard. especially because i named him alone but my good friend sara and mom both suggested noah one day and it stuck. i had hazel's name picked out for a few years before she got here so there was never a question. olive was tricky. she was going to be olive, eleanor, or beatrice. she ended up being olive beatrice.

this little lady will be eleanor mae olson

sunday best

somehow this was as good as it got

taking pictures this morning

it was really cold outside..

it's a......

 GIRL!!!

i think i'm the most shocked of all

but we're really happy

and excited to add another little girl to the family

tomorrow's the day

we find out what we're having!!

we're so excited

we decided not to have a gender reveal party

and just find out during the ultrasound instead

noah is the only one who won't be there

since he'll be at school

so i'm going to buy him some treats

in either pink or blue

and he'll get to find out when he gets home

so exciting!!
this baby is already very loved by our family
noah loves to give the baby hugs and kisses
and hazel does the same
they like to play around with names for the baby
and noah says, "i wish the baby could come out already"
so sweet
check back tomorrow to find out
whether olson baby #4 is a
boy or girl

ps. my parents currently have 20 grandchildren
10 boys and 10 girls
so this baby is the tie breaker!

olive's new trick

climbing onto the table

and causing a ruckus

what once used to be a safe place for

the kids to escape olive

is now unsafe

legos, coloring, cars and all 

a taste of hockey

the ice rink in moscow hosted

a free 1.5 hour trial of hockey for kids 5+ today

we weren't sure if noah would like it or not

but he didn't complain once

and he stayed in the whole time

despite lots of falls

(he'd never skated before...at all)

 some of us weren't so happy to be cold

 olive and i headed out to the car

to listen to music and warm up

 hazel was happy after a treat from the vending machine

 noah progressed so much during the practice

that he not only stayed up and skated,

he got to the point of being able to

use a hockey stick to hit a ball

 saying hi

pretty cute all geared up

 a group shot

i don't think we'll be signing noah upbecause it's on the far end of moscowand we're poor students latelybut it was a cool experience for sure

taking care of olive

since olive was 6 months old

we've gone to the doctor's office on a monthly basis

to check her ears

and every month

she has had fluid in one or both ears

causing her to have temporary hearing loss

she goes through phases of talking

depending on her ability to hear

finally

after 10 straight months of fluid

she finally got referred to the ENT

i'm so happy!

and for the last 2 months

olive has had an awful rash around her mouth

that we've been to the doctor four times for

with 3 different doctors

and 4 prescriptions

finally i think this one is working

and if it doesn't by next week

a dermatologist will see olive

things are finally getting resolved

yay!!

exciting things are happening here

noah lost his first tooth tonight

we were super surprised

especially that it wasn't one of his top teeth

that have been loose since his last injury

isn't he darling?

i was so excited that i made him a tooth pillow

to house his tooth until it's replaced by

something awesome

from the tooth fairy

which he reminded us is pretend :)

 and then he showed me some moves

 here are the girls

with all of their teeth

 this little one turned 16 months today

and i won a blog makeover from blessed design studioisn't it great?very exciting things going on here!

feeling the baby

today michael got to feel the baby move for the first time

and since i was still laying in bed

when noah woke up

he came to our bed and

got to feel the baby, too

he told me he loves the baby 

and that the baby is so cute

he loved feeling the little bump
i love watching the big kids enjoy
my pregnancy
the older they get, the more excited they are
it's so fun
and we're all getting excited to find out
what we're having next week
currently hazel thinks girl
and noah thinks boy
we'll see

nineteen weeks

is it just me

or does time fly when you're pregnant with your

fourth baby?
ps. please ignore the fact that i look like i might sneeze..