Newman Nuthouse

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T16:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Family,
Merry Christmas! Are you and your elves busy getting ready for the holidays? My family sure is! I know I haven't been very good about this blog but here is our update and I entered in all the kids new pictures too!!
A lot has happened this year. Let’s go from oldest to youngest. Peter started working at NNP which makes the gummy vitamins for Costco and Target. It is less than 3 min from home! He gets to come home for lunch and we feel like we get to see him so much more since he doesn’t have 2 hours of travel time every day. He has also been called as the Elders Quorum 2nd Counselor. He also spent the summer months making the kids Halloween Costumes. They were very cool!
I have been busy with a part time at home job, being a counselor in the Primary in charge of Cub Scouts and a taxi driver to all the kids’ different events. I have also been doing some home improvements. I have installed a ceiling fan where there was no light, I also installed an over-the-range microwave where there used to be a hood and did all the electrical related to both of those. I am hoping to start my next project in Jan after the holidays. And of course my 5 kids have kept me hopping. Speaking of hopping, I have started eating healthy and doing Zumba 3 times a week and have lost 30 pds since July!
Logan is now 11yrs old, in 5th grade and just earned his Weblos with all three compass points and his arrow of light. Logan has done wrestling, soccer, and track this year and has done well at all of them. He’s now old enough to leave him home with the other kids for a little while and I have enjoyed having a little more freedom. He is growing into such a wonderful young man that the women in the ward are telling their daughters to marry him; we’ve had 2 offers already! LOL! We’re in trouble!
Speaking of trouble…Kira just turned 9 and is in 3rd grade. She is my “little mother” to all the boys. She is such a good helper. She had a rough start at the beginning of the year when she got sick and had to have her appendix taken out. It was her first surgery(as compared to the
rest of the boys who have all had more than 4, except Jake who’s only had 1 so far) She also did Wrestling, soccer, track and also tried Basketball this year. Heaven knows she’s got enough energy! It has been fun seeing her grow and mature this year. She has become a beautiful young lady inside and out!
Dallas will turn 6 in January and started Kindergarten this year. He is my mild mannered child who has always been very low key. We never have to worry about him, except when he rides his bike, then he turns into Evil Canevil!! He tried soccer for the first time this year and picked it up pretty quick. We love our Dallas!!!
Kaden will be 4 in January and has started going to Pre-School. He is finally talking to where you can understand a little over half of what he says, but with him it’s “how” he says it! He has 4 different voices he uses throughout the day. He is very funny and those dimples get me every time!!
Jake just turned 18 months and is a busy guy. He has gotten the most beautiful red hair! He has learned how to climb both bunk bed ladders, and sadly has not learned how to climb down yet! ;) He says “Mom” a lot, as that is the only thing he can say. If I am not careful he sneaks away from me gets into everything! Bill Cosby once said, “You know you have a two year old when they have a right hand reach of 8 ft!” This is so true for Jake but he needed to say 18 month old.
Happy Holidays and have a very merry New Year!
Love,
The Newman Family
Peter, Jen, Logan, Kira, Dallas, Kaden, and Jacob

I am going to lose it!!

2010-12-06T06:51:00.000-08:00

I grew up being generally athletic. I was on the swim team by 8 yrs old and did that till my senior year, when I tried Diving and Water Polo. By 18, I was slim(135) and muscular. I got married and had my first child at 20, now 10 years and 6 kids later I have some weight to lose. I have always tried to eat right, but have never found the time(after my 2nd child) to exercise consistently. Yet you would think that chasing after the kids and carrying my HUGE babies(they are usually 24pds by 4 months) I would loose alot of weight, but oh well.

I do not hold any false hopes of making it back to 135, but I would like to make it to a "healthy" weight. I started www.myfitnesspal.com, a calorie counter and its been nice for the last 3 days having to account for everything that I eat. I find myself eating smaller portions and not snacking as much. I started exercising last Friday night and this week I made a commitment to exercise at least 3 times a week. This morning I got up and ran for 15 min, it felt so good!! I just hope that I am able to keep it up. Peter wants to loose weight too, so I think I'm going to start a competition with him, to see who can loose the most by May/June.

I know people are always over-zealous at the beginning, but somethings gotta give and I am making the change.

I started MFP Thurs Dec 3rd at 189.
I am hoping that I can hit 150 by May or June for the Miller Reunion!

Random Pics

2010-09-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

Jake's First Smile on July 10, 2010

Does this picture remind you of anyone?!?!? :)

Kira and Kaden lovin on Jake at the beach...LOVE IT!!

Bryson and Jake, love them both!!

It was so fun having Bryson and Dad come for Jake's baby blessing!

Jacob Asher Newman Blessed on August 1, 2010

We found Kira like this, perfectly balanced on the top of the couch, asleep watching a movie...funny huh!?!?

How Jacob Asher became part of the Nuthouse....

2010-07-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

***Warning...I am long winded...sorry for the length but I had to write it down somewhere***

I woke up the morning of June 18th feeling a little uneasy. Not queasy, but just feeling unsure about something I couldn't put my finger on. I had been staying in bed or sitting on the couch for the last week since I had been in the hospital with contractions. I figured if I took it easy I would be able to keep this baby in the oven longer seeing as we still had 6 weeks till the due date of July 25th. Kira had a friend spending the night, and we were all playing a game sitting at the table. The contractions started about 11 am. and by 12:30 I could tell they were not going to stop. My contractions were 4-10 min apart and getting stronger. I was able to arrange for the kids to go to a friends house while I took myself(I know, not the smartest thing to do) to the hospital for one of those lovely shots they give you for stopping contractions. My friend could only watch them till 5 pm because they were going out of town. I was so grateful that even though she was trying to pack up and leave she was willing to watch 4 more children added to her 5! I figured that by the time they gave me the shot and got the contractions stopped I would be home by 4pm.

By the time I got to the hospital at 1:30 my contractions were 2-2.5 min apart and REALLY strong. It had been over 9 years since I've been in real labor and I don't remember it hurting that much. Well, they gave me the shot and while the intensity of the contractions lessened, they still were every 2-2.5 minutes. By this time my Mother and Father were looking at flights, either I was really going to be on bed rest or I was going to have a baby...either way they figured I would need some help. After a half an hour the contractions were very painful again and still 2-2.5 min apart. By 4 pm Peter and his Father had arrived at the hospital and gave me a blessing. As soon as they were done, my doctor walked in and told us that they were going to have to take the baby in an hour. We were shocked. She said that with 5 previous C-sections that she was worried my uterus would rupture and we would have MAJOR issues on our hands. We asked if they were going to check on the baby first and they said that it was too late, that they would just have to deal with it when he was born.

At this point, Peter and I were terrified for the baby. (Peter was also a little nervous about me...the doc wasn't painting a pretty picture...something about making sure she had a hemorrhage kit close at hand) Our last three children were all born about a week early and they all had to be taken to the NICU for breathing problems. The head nurse in the NICU came to see us and explained that because this baby was going to be born before reaching the 35th week, the baby would be taken directly to NICU. We told her how grateful we were that he would be taken care of. She then told us that it was the first time she ever had a patient that was happy about that news! I guess losing a child can make you not worry about "holding" your baby for the first time and making sure that it gets oxygen first! I was sure that if my last three had breathing problems at 39 weeks that this one would have to be in the NICU for at least 1-2 weeks!!

Now that the doctors had left the room we had to get our children to Peters mother and get Peter back in time for the surgery. I couldn't believe he was leaving me when we only had an hour before they were going to wheel me into surgery, but his mom needed the van to take all the children, and she didn't know where they were. Peter was sure he was going to miss this baby being born. He made it though. Luckily we were delayed getting into surgery a bit and he was able to make it with 20 min to spare.

Whenever I have C-sec, I am very uncomfortable while they have me strapped to a sterile table, but I know that it is nothing compared to real childbirth so I count my blessings and just tell myself that it won't last forever. I was a bit nervous for some reason for this one. I HATE the feeling when they poke you to do the spinal block, and then I feel nauseous for the next hour or so. So when the doc walked in that was going to do the Spinal I was shocked, when I knew him! His family had just moved into our ward and I had spoken with his wife about a month or two previously, saying how it would be funny if he ended up doing my C-sec.! I hadn't ever met him face to face, and what a way to met a person for the first time...in all my glory!! I just hope he doesn't remember me like that!! But after it was all said and done....I don't care how he saw me...he was the best doc ever!!! I never even felt the poke for the spinal block, and when I started to feel queasy he gave me something that instantly took it away. I've never felt more at peace while being cut open...I don't know if it was the blessing saying everything would be fine...or those wonderful drugs! :)

When we entered the room my OBGYN kept saying things like...we are singing Kumbiya(sp).....this is a room of healing.....we are thinking healing thoughts...and....YOU are thinking healing thoughts right??? Your not going to bleed on me right!?!?!?....I sure hoped I wasn't. She did say that since I was having him so early that he might be a normal size baby. Peter guessed he was going to be 6 pds 5 ounces and I guessed that he would be over 7. I knew he was bigger than Kaden at this point in my pregnancy and Kaden was 7 pds at my 36th week check up. When he was finally born, she said he was defiantly a normal size baby...but not for a 6 week preemie!!! The NICU nurses whisked him away and while they were still "working" on me we waited to hear how he was doing....it was the longest 10 min!!! The Head nurse came back in and said his Apgar score was 8.9, and that he was on a C-pap machine and they were monitoring him, but he looked great and was doing great! WHEW!!! Then we asked the big question all of us in that operating room were waiting for....How big was he??? She looked confused for a moment and then said..."Oh, I don't know, I just got all the important information." I laughed...she was so right! Anyway, they let Peter to go back and look at him while they were still "working." He came back and told everyone that he was 7lbs 5oz and 18.5 inches long. He was HUGE for a preemie!!!

Needless to say the rest went very smooth. My mom was at the hospital by midnight and he ended up on the C-pap for only 12 hours. He said in the NICU for 2 days and then 2 more days with me in the hospital...then we both went home together! It was truly a miracle. I still look at him and am shocked that I am still supposed to be pregnant!!!

The kids are doing great with him. Kira of course mothers him the most but the boys are just fascinated at how small he is. Kaden and Dallas aren't as nearly as jealous as I thought they would be....matter of fact...they aren't jealous at all(yet)!!!

A little about Jake: He as such long fingers and feet!!! I finally got a child that has my feet instead of Peters block feet(I call Peter my own hobbit). Jake has very light grey eyes, which means we might have a chance at having a kid with eyes a color other than brown!! He also has strawberry blond hair, which shines bright red in the sun. You can kind of see it in the pic with Kira above and in the pic with Logan below.

Jake had his 2 week check up last Friday and he was 7lbs 6 oz!! Preemies usually have a hard time making their birth weight at their 2 week, but once again Jake beat the odds! He is such an angel and we are so glad to add him to our Nuthouse!!

Grandma's Visit

2010-04-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

Flying Grandma(thats what they call Jen's mom since we have to fly to see each other) got to come visit for a whole week! We got to do some very fun things. We played games and went to parks and just got to spend time together. It was a great week. The pictures I have are of us going to the zoo and circus. That's right, the kids got to go to their first circus! They loved it. Here are the pics, enjoy!

Logans head is in the Lion that Kira's riding. I guess Kira was mad at him that day! ;)

Logan, Kira(in the back), Dallas, and Kaden all got to ride the Zoo train. Dallas and Kaden were super excited to ride on a train!

Logan's feeding a Loraket, with Kaden and Gma in the back, Kaden did not want to get very close to the birds.

Dallas feeding the Lorakets.

The birds LOVED Kira for some reason, once she had 4 on her at the same time! Dallas is in the back.

Kira, Logan, and Dallas on an Elephant! It was so cool! Kiras trying to touch the Elephants ears.

Flying Gma and all the Kids. We had such fun. Thanks for coming and seeing us!!

Baby News

2010-03-16T15:29:00.001-07:00

ITs A BOY!!! The person doing the ultrasound didn't get very good pics, so this is the best one.

Pinewood Derby

2010-03-13T21:58:00.000-08:00

Logan had his second pinewood derby today and got 2nd once again! His car qualifies for the Districts again so we are very excited for him. Way to go Logan! Peter painted the scorpion on the car...so cool! I have such a talented husband!

Update

2010-03-06T12:43:00.000-08:00

Ok so I haven't been so good at keeping up my blog lately. Shame on me...but I am going to try to do better. So here's the low down on the last 8 months.....

August: We had the Newman family reunion and it was so fun to see everybody!

Sept: Logan started 3rd Grade, Kira started 1st, and Dallas is still in Preschool. We also had soccer through Nov.

Oct: We found out we are expecting #6, but because my levels were so off, they thought we were having twins!!! We had an ultra sound and we are NOT! There is only one little cupcake in the oven! Whew!

Nov: Logans 9th Birthday, and Thanksgiving. My Parents, my brother Brad and his wife Rachel came for thanksgiving and we had so much fun(when we weren't working on the house).

Dec: Kira turned 7 and we had Christmas here at home. It was a nice and quiet Christmas that we just relaxed and enjoyed the day.

Jan: Dallas turned 4 and Kaden turned 2. This month went by fast!

Feb: Peter and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. Its amazing how each year you can grow to love a person more than you thought possible. The next week Kaden had surgery. He had his tonsils and adenoids taken out, tubes put back in and a throat scope to see why he talks so gravely(they think it was just the irritation from the constant post nasal drip). His recovery took longer than Dallas and Logan's combined. It was a ruff 2 weeks!

March: During Kadens recovery Peter came down with Bronchitis and I just found out today that I have it as well. Fun stuff huh!?! Never boring over here! On Monday my Mom is coming out for a week and we are all excited! Tuesday we have our ultrasound and find out what we are having. I will post on here as soon as I know!

Kira and Papa Newman at the Daddy Daughter Dance Feb 6th 2010

2009-08-06T22:52:00.000-07:00

Dallas playing in the water falls

Kira soaked from the water

Don't know why he does this with his hands but its cute!

Logan getting so handsome!

2009-06-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

So for my birthday I asked Bryson to send me of a picture of him that I could put up in my house since I have been putting up pictures. For those of you who don't know...Bryson is on a mission in Denver Colorado.

Here is what he sent me with what he wrote on the back(I will try to translate for you):

Learned to play the bagpipes...ish.

And the accordian!

(Me scriptures)? dominated by a sister missionary. They don't stop talking!

Emu band we created to make fun of emu people...:) There are songs and everything.

Welcome to Rifle!

Morning exersise up the mountian to look out.

Morning exercise. Looking over 1/8 of our area.

Pretty sweet huh?

I just laugh at this last one!!! Ok dude Love the flower thanks!

But my favorite is the bag pipes and kilt!

I am so glad he is so happy and enjoying this opportunity to serve. I am so proud of him! I can't belive that in 2 weeks is his year mark! Yikes!

Nutty week at the Nuthouse

2009-05-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

Ok so me and my hubby have started a side business. During the day I look up cheap broken psps and xbox 360s and buy them, at night(when he has about 20 min...but mostly sat.) he fixes them and then I sell them during the day. We thought this was going to be a quick easy hour a day for me and some sat time and night time for him...So far every time the kids get in the car they ask if we are going to go pick up more xboxs or psps with groaning and moaning...especially the last 4 days since it was really sunny outside and they got to spend it in the car. :( Sorry guys! But the good news is that we are actually making some money! So anyway everyday I spend most of my time on the computer or phone and when peter is home he spends most of his time in his office fixing things. It has been crazy!!!!!

This week was crazy for that reason and a different reason. KADEN!! Ok he has got to be the cutest boy on the face of this earth!!! I CAN NOT GET ENOUGH OF HIM!!! Oh he just makes me so happy....most of the time! He has been on this following mommy around crying bit that just drives me bonkers!!! But he has such a cute smile and he is just so cuddly I can't stay mad at him for long.

Anyway as for the crazy part. Monday night bed time. Both Dallas and Kaden were poopy and PU!! So I decided to give them a bath..not unusual..changed their diapers and put them in...sat there for a couple min and then I just couldn't take the smell any longer. Those diapers were NASTY!! So I thought Kaden is 15 months now I can just throw these in the garbage in the hall.(you know whats coming don't ya!) I hear Dallas screaming DaDen! DaDen! DaDen! and lots of splashing. I rush back in there and Kaden is on the bottom of the tub on his back arching trying so desperately to get out of the water...while Dallas is standing there pointing at him and screaming his name. I rush and pluck him out of the water and stand him on the toilet and pound his back to get all the water out. HE WAS NOT HAPPY! I didn't care I was still in shock from seeing him completely under the water!!!!! I was only gone less than five seconds!!!! Thank you Dallas for calling for help to save your little brother!!!

Ok so after I calmed down and realized I had not lost another child...I started worrying about dry drowning.(if you don't know what it is look it up! It is scary!) Then I was so tired I fell asleep and forgot about it. Peter on the other hand woke up like 7 times to check on him. Thank you honey!!

Ok so Thursday rolls around all too quickly...seriously where is the time going? The sister missionaries come over and I was feeding Kaden on the kitchen chair. All of a sudden he looses his balance and falls backwards and hits the back of his head. I check him out and he stops crying. I stopped worrying. 2am my hubby comes in and says that Kaden is throwing up. I help clean up and change him and go back to bed...Peter is asleep instantly...Kaden throws up 3 more times and eventually wakes up Kira and Dallas. Dallas won't go back to sleep and HAS to sleep on our floor next to our bed. I got back to sleep by 4 am. I was so tired!! I decided to let everyone sleep in since we had such an eventful night. We got up at around 9:30 and my brain started to put two and two together. I called the nurse and she said to take him IMMEDIATELY to the ER. So I haul all the kids to the ER and luckily the sister miss. called someone in the ward to come get my other kids so they didn't have to sit through the waiting. Thank you Bonnie! Anyway they did a full neurological exam and he is fine! Whew! They think he must have had a minor concussion and just gotten it all out of his system. Why do I feel like some incompetent mother to not put those two things together!!! Yikes! I mean my grandmother just died two years ago with in 24 hrs of hitting her head! You would think I would be a little concerned!!

Well off we go to another week...I just hope its not as eventful as the last!

PS Congrats to all those families who are expecting and adopting..I am so excited for you all! You know who you are!!!

Side note: Dallas is doing so well on speeking that we are able to understand about 50% of what he is saying now! YEA!!! I was laughing the other day because we were going over different animals and the sounds they make:

Cow=Dow Moo=Moo Cat=diddy dat Meow=now sheep=eep baa=aaa Duck=utt quack=DRAT DRAT

I laughed so hard and asked him to say it again.....what does a duck say......Drat drat!! LOL
He really is trying to say quack but he can't pronounce q's or k's yet. Oh so cute!

He's getting so old!!!

2009-04-29T14:21:00.000-07:00

I know these pictures are a little blurry but he is still so cute!!!

He was enjoying the deviled eggs I made

He was stealing Dallas' blanket and KNEW he was in trouble! But look at that face!

This is what he wore sunday.

Pinewood Derby District Meet

2009-04-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

Today was the District Pinewood Derby meet. Since Logan made 2nd place in our troop, his car was sent to districts with 11 other cars from our troop. Because of this Papa Newman wanted to take Logan to Districts. (I did not want to go, I heard there would be hundreds of cars and it was going to be an all day thing....I can think of 2 little boys who would not last 30 min!!) Peter, Papa Newman, Logan and Kira went to districts.

Districts ended up with 175 cars. Each car was to race 6 times each getting 1 turn on each lane. Logan won 5 out of his 6 races.(It only took 3 hrs and they feed everyone taco bell)

We thought that since Keanu beat Logan in our own troop he would be behind Keanu what ever Keanu made. Keanu also won 5 out of 6 races but they never actually raced each other.

They determine the winner by taking all your times and adding them all up and so forth. When they announced the winners they started with 3rd place....Keanu....(Dang....sorry Logan).....2nd Place Logan Newman!!!!!!!!!! It turned out with his times he beat Keanu by .1 sec!!!!

He ended up with 2nd place out of 175 cars!!!! We are very proud and happy for him and he is so excited. He even got a medal!!!

I kinda regret not going but I didn't think he'd stand a chance and I didn't want to battle kids....am I an awful mom or what!!
No faith :( I am horrible!!!

Way to go Logan!!!!!!! I love you!

Logan's First Pinewood Derby

2009-04-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

Logan had his first pinewood derby yesterday. Peter and Logan had been working on his car for weeks. It looked like it paid off cause he won second place! Good job Logan!

Logans car is black with a blue dragon that Peter drew

He was very happy to win second place

Kaden enjoyed the cupcakes!

Logan got a pin for getting second.

Grateful

2009-04-06T12:45:00.001-07:00

Ok so my luck still hasn't come back yet and I'm not going to tell you about it cause right now I feel so grateful, I don't want to ruin it.

The sun is out! Its so nice. It was such a sunny weekend and its still sunny today. We actually sat outside on our back porch yesterday. This morning I was doing the dishes with the sun pouring in the window. I am so grateful for my house. I am so happy here. I have my own kitchen, my own bedroom and more than one bathroom! I am so blessed! I have 4 beautiful children who are so sweet and caring, I really couldn't ask for better kids! And I have a wonderful caring husband who always is looking out for his family. We have a car that works and works well.

Living in someone elses house for 2.5 years has really made me appreciate the little things. I am so...I don't even know how to describe it....pure joy. Maybe its the sun shinning that has gotten to me but I am so happy today!

I am grateful for the gospel and for the opportunity for listing to the Prophet and apostles yesterday. I am grateful for a techno husband who hooked the computer to our small TV and we all watched conference in our room piled on the couch and our bed.

The one talk yesterday that really impacted me was the story of the widow with 4 kids walking 1000 miles with a small wooden wagon. I couldn't believe that she lost all 4 kids! It just broke my heart. I could partly sympathize with her since I have lost one of my own...but 4 kids and her husband! I couldn't fathom. And I hope I never have to! I think of what she went through and I know all of my complaints are trivial.

I remember after Kassi died that nothing seemed important anymore. Everything seemed so insignificant that I just didn't understand why the whole world couldn't see the whole picture. That everything we do on earth affects us in the afterlife. And now that I'm out of that "phase" I sometimes forget "the whole picture" and stories like this remind me of whats really important.
I know this probably isn't making any sense, I'm horrible at expressing my thoughts into words.

I just know that I'm grateful not to have to be a pioneer and pushing a handcart and moving across country in the dead of winter. I'm grateful to have heat and a roof over my head in the winter. And definitely thankful for Doctors and the whole medical field that helps keep our family healthy.

I Thank you for listing to my random rambling. I just had to do something!

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2009-04-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

Seriously did my luck run screaming? Here's my last week....

Thursday: Our TV died. We have had this TV for 5 years and now it just DIED! And we just bought a couch so no money to buy a new one...so we are left with the 18" that's in our room. Oh well. Not too bad right?

Friday: Dallas and Kaden were wrestling, it was so cute I was so happy that they were playing so nicely together. Then Kaden starts screaming and runs to Peter, Peter then started to tell him to buck up, then he saw the bruise starting to form on his cheek. By bedtime he had a black eye.

Saturday: Kaden decided to try walking down the front steps with out holding on to anything. Needless to say he didn't make it and landed flat on his FACE. I thought it was going to be hamburger. Luckily he only got a fat lip.

Sunday: A day of rest. It truly was. No accidents. Thank goodness.

Monday: First day of Spring Break. Keep my fingers crossed. Then the screaming started. I hear Kira say, "Mom can you get a band aid, Kadens bleeding." Great....Kaden got his finger slammed in the door and had a chunk of skin taken off the pad of his finger. Poor guy...he cried all day.

Tuesday: Where are my keys? I NEVER loose my keys, NEVER. I always hang them up. As a kid my mom always lost her keys, so I have been very careful about loosing my keys. The problem is the kids grab the keys and go get the mail and then don't put them back. I couldn't find them anywhere! We had an apt at 10am and I started looking at 8. I finally found them in the new couch in a hole they fell through at 9:53 am. We were a little late but I HATE being late. Ok so not too bad right? Then Kira was playing outside when we got back and fell and scraped her knee and hands. For kids this is a normal thing, for Kira its the end of the world as she knows it. She screamed for an hour. And was still whimpering by bed time.

Wednesday: Ok lets turn this around. I'm not going anywhere today. I did really well I got Logans closet cleaned put in two dressers and organized their clothes. Then I decided I was going to do laundry and match my 3 baskets full of socks. Ok so if I'm going to do that I'm gonna watch Hello Dolly. I've been wanting to watch it since Wall-E came out. I got all settled and got 1 basket of matched socks and two more to go by the end of the movie. I went to go get Kaden some milk and passed the kids bathroom. The door was closed the light was on and it sounded like the shower was on. I don't have a shower curtain in there yet so I rushed in. First step was in an inch of water. Not the shower. It was the toilet overflowing and still running. I rushed over and turned the water off. Kaden followed me in and slipped and hit the back of his head on the floor and was wet...He started screaming, Dallas then scared starts to cry. Logan and Kira come running and they both go grab towels. I ask Logan to go check downstairs to see if any water leaked through. He yells that its all over the kitchen table. I run downstairs and water is pouring in a waterfall like manner from the light fixture onto the table onto the chairs and onto the floor in a huge pool of water. AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Ok so now I have 8 holes in my ceiling and carpet up from the floor trying to dry and 4 loads of towels to wash and dry. FABULOUS.

Yep my luck ran screaming!

We need your Help!!!

2009-03-30T09:58:00.001-07:00

My wonderful parents bought us these fabulous cabinets for our laundry room as a housewarming gift. WE LOVE THEM.
Heres the problem, the counter top has two sides and we can't agree on which side to keep. So we thought we would leave it up to you! I am not going to tell you which ones we like so it will be fair. Here are the pictures. The poll is on the right side of my blog.

Thanks for your help!

I'm back!

2009-03-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

Ok so since the last posting we've closed on our house and moved in. My mom came for a week and a half to help me unpack which was a HUGE help! We are LOVING the new house. We are so excited and have settled right in. The kids have made friends at church and on our street, its been wonderful. We are enjoying unpacking all of our stuff and have been surprised to see what we did pack!

When we originally when we packed, we thought everything would be in storage for 4 months not 3 years!!! I had to throw out 7 boxes of expired food. I felt so wasteful. We had 19 boxes of toys!!! I found all my clothes..I thought I was missing a few...turns out I was missing A LOT!!

We now have about 15 boxes for donation...did you know your cub scout can earn a goodwill badge for donating over 5 huge garbage bags? Yup...good job Logan! ;-)

We have all been healthy except for the week that my mom was here...all three boys had ear infections. Nice timing mom! :)

We are all so happy!!!!! It is so nice to have a home again. Thank you all for your prayers..they certainly paid off!!!!

New Pictures

2009-02-10T21:58:00.000-08:00

Ok so I put kids to bed and decided to download some pics before I collapse into bed. I uploaded Pics from Brad and Rachels wedding, and the Pics from inside our house. Sounds like we MIGHT close this Friday....Heres to keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Remember...Go to the list of my other web pages and click on Newman Nuthouse Pictures.

My Commercial

2009-02-10T20:25:00.000-08:00

Ok a bunch of you have asked about my commercial and I finally got a copy of it, so I put a link on the right side so you can all go and see it.

Sick of Sickness

2009-02-09T15:06:00.001-08:00

When is the sickness ever going to END?

We have been watching Kira for the last two months with mono and her liver. Her eyes have been swollen which they attributed to the mono but its been two months now! Now they are going to send her in to an optometrist.

Two or Three weeks ago(honestly I can't remember time is crawling right now) Logan got a sinus infection, two days later Dallas got an ear infections, two days later Kaden was in the hospital for his asthma AGAIN(last time was in may right before Logan had his appendix out), both Kaden and Dallas had Diarrhea, Kaden had it so bad his whole butt was bleeding(not an exaggeration)! We had to get a prescription for his bottom and he's doing better now.

So when we were at the hospital with Kaden they found that most of his wheezing is from his tonsils being so LARGE. So we get to have those taken out pretty soon. I am so excited(notice the sarcasm)! That means another 2-3 day stay in the hospital during a move! Oh Boy!

Then 4 days later(I got a little break)Logan complained that his ear hurt. I thought he's just finished his antibiotics, he can't have an ear infection! So I took him in and they cleaned his ear out and it looked fine and sent us home. Pain was still there and growing worse, which for Logan is a big deal cause nothing ever hurts. So they prescribed us some pain drops and he about flew threw the roof(see last sentence). So we took him in and he has Mastoiditis. His ear canal was almost shut and his ear was swollen and behind his ear was swollen. Poor guy, he's feeling a little better now.

The next day Kaden started an ear infection and is still coughing. Anybody else having this much fun? Really it should not be allowed to have this much fun!

I'm saying UNCLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry about the complaining I just had to get that out.

Happy 9th Anniversary!!

2009-02-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

Happy 9th Anniversary Sweet-heart!

After 9 years, 5 kids, and 12 moves,

you are still the one for me!

Isn't he cute!

My Pictures

2009-01-30T08:51:00.000-08:00

I've noticed that its easier to put my pictures on shutterfly so if you want to see our pictures click on my link! http://newmannuthouse.shutterfly.com/ Or click on the Newman Nuthouse Pictures link under My other pages. I have pictures of the kids, the house, and Logans baptism!

Our New House!!!

2009-01-30T08:25:00.000-08:00

People have been begging for information so here it is.

WE HAVE A HOUSE!!!!!!!

We have waited 2 1/2 long years to get a place of our own and now its happening!!! We are so excited we can hardly contain ourselves!

It is in Ridgefield which is closer to the city(about 20 min) and close to Peters parents house(about 20 min). Peters bus will pick/drop him up at the house so we don't have to pick/drop him off at the stop and drop any more! Yea!!! The kids will finish out the school year at La Center schools and then transfer to Ridgefield.

Ok about the house....It is a little over 2400 sq ft, 2 car garage, 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, living room, family room, and dining area. The laundry room is upstairs with the bedrooms(SO NICE!). There is a bay window in the Kitchen nook area, and tile back splashes in all the bathrooms and Kitchen. We are right up against the Green belt so there is no one behind us and there never will be. There is walking trails around the Green belt but NOT behind MY house...thank goodness I don't want people walking by every 5 min! There is a little park at the end of the walking trail so that will be fun. We are on the very end street so we won't get alot of traffic.

We are so excited.....first time we will have more than 1 bathroom, a garage, a family room, and the part the kids like the best.....Stairs! When we were looking for houses their questions were...Does it have stairs? and Does it have a pool? Those were the most important to them! I remember saying the same thing about a pool to my parents....they didn't get a pool till I moved out...Thanks mom and dad that was NICE! :-P

The Appraiser is going to the house today and the inspection will be done on Monday, then we sign Papers next week and then its time to MOVE IN!!!!! YEA!!! No more going outside and upstairs to go to the kitchen or bathroom. I will have my OWN ROOM!!! We will have more than one room!!!!! I will have my own kitchen again!!!!!! I will have my own Bathroom!!!!!! Ok can anyone tell how excited I am??

Catch up!

2009-01-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

Ok so we are now back from Vacation. So I'm going to start from the beginning since its been a whole month!!! Pictures to come!

My parents came down to see Logan get baptized and that was so awesome! We are so excited for him and love to see his excitement for the gospel and the scriptures! My parents took Kaden with them because I would be flying out in a week anyway, and that would be one less kid to worry about. They had so much fun together but I don't think they remembered how much energy it takes to watch one that weighs so much and has so much energy!

We had Kira's birthday party the sat before we left. When we woke up that morning there was 2 ft of snow!!! We didn't know if the van would make it out! Then the power went out and I still had to cook the pizzas! Luckily my wonderful friend Rachel let us come and cook the pizzas at her house! Kira had such a nice time at her party and was so happy!

We flew out that Tuesday for my parents house and our 6 hr trip turned into a 12 hr trip! Luckily I didn't have Kaden or I don't think I would have made it! One problem was that I caught Dallas licking one of the hand rails, I thought I caught him in enough time but 2 days later he was pucking his guts out..then the rest of us were! I felt so bad. My Dad, my mom, my brothers, my sister in-laws, my nephew, my grandpa, my kids, my husband, the missionarys, it was so bad!!! Oh well! A Christmas to remember right! My husband was snowed in after we left until he had to leave and it looked like he got out in enough time because the snow just DUMPED after he left and he wouldn't have gotten to come. We had so much fun at Gma and Papa's house even though we were all not feeling well all at different times.

Peter had to go home the Monday after Christmas and then we did wedding prep for the rest of the week. Brad and Rachel's wedding was fabulous! Kira thought she was in princess land! She was in heaven! She even enjoyed cleaning it all up...she didn't want to leave! After that it was time to get packed up and go home. Luckily on the way home we were only delayed 45 min so that wasn't too bad. Logan and Kira are still bouncing off the walls though! It's been hard to get everybody back into a routine! Even me! Kaden is finally getting used to not being held constantly but it took a LOT of screaming!!

We had so much fun and we wish it could have lasted longer but now we have to get back into the swing of things.

We hope you all enjoyed your holidays!!!

LOGAN'S GETTING BAPTIZED!

2008-12-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

For anyone who would like to come, Logans Baptism is on Sat Dec 6th at 10am at the Battle Ground LDS Building. We would love to have you there!

The rest of the pictures

2008-11-21T12:16:00.000-08:00

The Happy Birthday boy!

The whole crew!

We had some Monkeys at the party!

He was so excited to get his presents he fainted! (OK not really, he's just a ham!)

Logans Birthday

2008-11-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

I finaly had the time(and the energy)to get Logan's birthday party pictures up..and it won't let me upload the pictures I want to you'll have to deal with these right now. Logan had a Poke'mon party, and had so much fun. We painted ping pong balls like poke'balls and hid them around the playground. Then let them all try to find them and they would bring one back and trade it for a poke'mon and then go look for another. Then we gave them each a Poke'mon guide book(I found a pack of 8 for really cheap) and they were so excited to find each of their poke'mon in the book. It was very windy and a little rainy so the decorations didn't work but the kids had fun!

Here they are all looking at their books and comparing Poke'mon

I love this picture. They all look so grown-up! Scary!

Update

2008-11-16T17:46:00.000-08:00

Ok now that soccer season is over, I might have part of my life back! Oh but wait it can't get that good yet! I got the flu and then Kaden and Dallas got it, then I got a cold and then Kira, Dallas, and Kaden got it. Kaden had an ear infection with blood coming out of his ear(that was fun!), and Kiras eyes got swollen so she could hardley see, turned out to be a sinus infection. Then this last Friday Dallas got his Adeniods and Tonsils out. There was some more in between there but I'm sure you get the idea. I am so tired I feel like I'm about to fall over! Kadens doing better but now he's cutting one of his top teeth. Kiras eyes aren't as swollen but now she says her ear hurts(haven't decided what to do about that one), and Dallas just plain hurts. He wants to eat everything everybody else is eating but he can only have liquids or mashed potatoes or Applesauce, none of which he wants nothing to do with!

Logan is the only one to survive unscathed! We just celebrated his 8th birthday and he was so excited! I can't believe that I have an 8 year old! He had his bishops interview today for his baptism which is Dec 6th for any of you who would like to come!

OK so I guess I missed halloween too. Logan was Batman, Kira was Tinkerbell, Dallas was Buzz Lightyear, and Kaden wore the froggy costume that Dallas wore last year! We went trick or treating in town and after the first door, Dallas got the hang of it. The only thing was, he had to ride in the stroller inbetween houses. He wouldn't walk!!! It was so funny, but he has sprained his ankle the day before so I guess thats understandable. The next day we had Trunk or Treating at the ward building but Dallas and Kaden were so tired that Logan, Kira, and I just went. It was tons of fun and the kids got TONS of candy!

So other than being sick, halloween, and having a birthday party things have been going well. We are now getting ready for the holidays. When my parents come for Logans baptism, they are taking Kaden back with them. Then a week later we fly out there for christmas and Kiras birthday. We are all so excited and can't wait.

Sorry there are no new pictures but our camera broke! Yup second time in a year! But now its out of the warrenty period, of course. And just in time for Logans birthday, the last of the soccer games, Halloween and everything!!! Nice huh! So it might be a while before I post somemore pics. I've borrowed a camera now and then though so hopefully we wont get too behind!

Sorry this is so scatterbrained, and I'm sure I left some things out but I'll have to write about them later.

Picture Tag

2008-10-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

So we were picture tagged!! I guess how it goes is.... You go to your picture file... choose the 4th file and the 4th picture in it, explain about it... post it... and tag others.... so here it goes!!

This is Dallas this last March. He was a frog for Halloween...got it at goodwill for like $2! He was so cute, but I forgot to take a picture, so in March(See how together I have it!) I took a picture of him in it. The amazing thing is that Kaden is so big that he is going to wear it this year!

So I tag....Kristen, Carrie, Cheri, and Angie

Logan's Magic Question

2008-09-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

Logan: "Dad, you know those tricks you do with the coin?"
Dad: "Yes"
Logan: "You know the one where you get it to come out of my ear?"
Dad: "Yes"
Logan: "How do you do that?"
Dad: "Well its called "Slight of Hand," its how you hold your hands and how you distract them with the other hand or with words."
Logan: "Yes, but the real question is how do I not feel it coming out of my ear?"

Yes that is the REAL question now isn't it!

Catch up

2008-09-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't written in a while but that's because it has been CRAZY! With school started and Soccer and everything else in between, I'm surprised I've had time to.....oh wait I don't have time for anything. HAHA.

Kira and Logan are still doing AWESOME in soccer. The last two weeks combined they have scored over 7 goals each and when Logan is goalie, he has only let one ball through out of 15! They are both having so much fun and are really enjoying themselves.

Logan is doing really well in school, as is Kira. Dallas is adjusting to having every other day with only Mom and Kaden, since Kira goes to school Monday, Wednesday and every other Friday. Dallas is actually learning how to play with Kaden, its quite amusing to watch. He plays Peek-a-boo with him but it comes out "bee-a-boo."

On Sunday it was such a nice night that Logan and Kira wanted to sleep under the stars. So Peter dragged out some mattresses and Logan, Kira and I slept under the stars. It was so beautiful! We talked about the Milky Way and watched for shooting stars. We saw about 4 shooting stars, though if you ask Kira she will tell you she saw 11! The kids were so excited, I had a hard time trying to get them to close their mouths and their eyes! We had so much fun!

Well, asthma season has started back in, luckily out of all 3 of my boys only one is having issues at this point. Kaden has started wheezing again and has started to get a cold. Which he promptly gave to me and Kira. I think I am starting to get a sinus infection, my whole face hurts! Thank you so very much Kaden!

We are very excited for this weekend. Peters brother Jared and his family are coming to visit! It has been since last October since we've seen them and we are not used to having such long intervals in between visits since we used to live in the same city. I miss you Emily!!!

Fun Snipets from the Newman Kids

2008-09-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

This last June we went to my parents house in San Antonio TX, and like almost all grandparents they spoiled my kids. My Dad would feed them ice cream or cake for breakfast and all sorts of other "healthy" things.

This last Saturday I was going through the freezer and realized that the ice cream was going to go bad, so I called the kids in and gave them each a bowl. While in the other room I hear them at the table:

Logan: "Remember when Papa would feed us ice cream for breakfast?"
Kira: "Yea, he loves to spoil us!"
Logan: "Remember when he wouldn't let us go to bed without ice cream or oreos?"
Kira: "Yea, I miss those times. Mom never lets us do that stuff!"
Logan: "Yea, those were the good ole' days."

On Monday we were outside laying on the grass and looking at the stars. We noticed that it was really quiet. No crickets, owls, dogs, or coyotes. Coyotes are very prevalent in our area and we usually hear them howling. We were talking about the coyotes and Kira said she was scared.

Peter trying to make her feel better asked: "Who is on top of the food chain?"
Kira very quickly stated: "Mommy!"

On Tuesday we went to a Relief Society Potluck at a sisters house that lived in town. This part of town is very hilly and the hill we parked on was almost straight up and down.

Kira: "Mom, we should have walked here!" (We live 15 min away driving time)
Mom: "Kira, that would have taken a very long time to walk!"
Kira: "But Mom, you would loose all your weight!"

I must be talking about loosing weight a little too much around her!

Our First Soccer Saturday of this Season!

2008-09-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

Logan and Kira had pictures and their 1st games today! Both teams ended with a tie.

Logans team is the Warriors and tied 1-1. Logan did so well as goalie for the first half of the game that the other team never scored on him! Then during the second half he almost scored twice! Way to go Logan!

Kiras team is the Dragonflies and tied 7-7. Kira did so well during her game, she was always right with the ball. She scored 5 out of 7 goals for our team! Way to go Kira!

Logan played Goalie for half the game and was awesome!!

Logans Team

Kira

Yes thats right I'm coach..our website is listed under "my other webpages"

Kira was giving her team mate a hug and a kiss for scoring! How cute is that!!!

What a good babysitter

2008-09-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

Kira has always been my biggest helper with all of my babies, and she constantly tells me that she can't wait to be a mom. Well the other day I needed something downstairs and didn't want to carry Kaden down the stairs, so I put him on the floor and told Kira to play with him till I got back. She of course was glad to do it and sat down and was playing with him. I came up the stairs 3 min later and this is what I found. She had picked Kaden up and put him on the rocking dog(yes, you read that right DOG, it barks too). Kaden weighs a whooping 23 pds and Kira weighs 35. I was surprised that she could even pick him up. She said, "Mom, he was crying so I wanted to make him happy!" She is going to make a GREAT MOM!

Look how happy they are!

She loves to make this face! I think its funny!
She and Kaden have such fun together!

Great day for Bikes

2008-09-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we thought it would be good for the kids to get some bikes and actually LEARN how to ride them. We went to Garage sales hoping to find some cool deals but they were more expensive than the ones at Walmart! So one day I took Logan and Kira down and got them new bikes. For the last two weeks Logan has been outside when he gets the chance or when its not raining and trying to learn all by himself! He declined help from me and Dad and from Papa and Gma. He just kept trying and falling and trying and falling. One time he got up to like 8 pedals with out falling and was doing reall well till he hit the back end of the TRAILER at full speed! He survived with just a little road rash. Still did not detour him from trying again. Today he did it! He can now offically ride a bike! He's not so good at the steering part yet but he has the general idea. (He ran straight into Dallas tire hitting face and all! Dallas' teeth cut into his top lip but he's fine, Logan's pride his hurt but they are all ok!) We are so proud of Logan and how well he is doing! Here's a couple of pictures of Logan riding.

Kira is also doing well with learning how to ride. She has the balance for the most part she just forgets to keep pedaling! The only problem, I've learned as a parent, with teaching kids how to ride bikes is the fact that you have to run with them! OH MY! I'm so tired!

Dallas has been so cute with them learning to ride their bikes. He didn't have one and so he took Kira's little Princess scooter and would go every 3 feet and then fall down. He was noticing the kids falling down while riding their bike that he thought it was the thing to do! He was so funny. I found this little bike at Value Village and its a little beat up but he LOVES it! Its just his size too. He hasn't quite learned that you have to pedal forward to move the bike forward. He just gets on and yells,"Mom, Puuuush!" He's so cute!!

I think I did it

2008-08-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well I think I finally am used to this site and am going to attempt to use it from now on...We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck and I hope you like it. Let me know if you have any suggestions or comments, any help would be appreciated!