Growing Stinkweeds

I love doing this every year!  It helps me keep track of where I put their growth info, and it's cute to see them growing!  I wish I could have fit Emmalyn into the picture this year, but it just wasn't going to happen.  I'll add a cutesy picture of her at the end.  So, since I have their heights and weights listed on the photo, my chart that I'm typing out now will be their height/weight PERCENTILES...

                  2011            2012            2013
Keith         7th/6th        19th/12th     28th/19th     (5yr11mo to 7yr11mo)
Mitchell    43rd/63rd    69th/78th     55th/66th     (2yr11mo to 4yr11mo)
Kiersten    6th/31st       11th/15th     15th/17th     (12mo to 3yr)

Now my analysis:  Keith is actually growing!  He was BELOW the charts for a long time, so seeing him grow like this is great!  He's turning out to be on the small side of average!  Mitchell has always been my little football player, and that just hasn't changed!  Kiersten's height is increasing quite a bit while her weight is down.  She's just such a squeaker!

As for Emmalyn, it's hard to figure out her percentages at 6 weeks because it's the graph instead of a digital output calculator.  However, as best I can figure it, her 23" puts her around the 93rd percentile for height, and 9.4 lbs puts her around the 25th percentile for weight.  I'm AMAZED that she's grown 2" in just 6 weeks!  She's a tall girl!

Anyway, so that's the yearly update.  Aren't they just adorable?!

I AM THE COOLEST MOM EVER!

See what I did today?  Well, in the last HOUR!!

I am going to Comic Con tomorrow and taking some kiddos with me.  Keith was Obe-Wan for Halloween one year, and then Darth Maul another year.  Plus I just bought a Worf costume for him, too... just in case I could talk him into it (take off the sash and it is a Star Trek TNG engineering/science officer uniform... no Klingon makeup required).  So the boys have those costumes to choose from if they'd like to dress up tomorrow.  But little K2 had nothing to wear that showed our family's geek side.  Of course that didn't stop ME though!

While at Wal-Mart, I saw the Men sized geek shirts.  There was Sheldon saying Bazinga! or Green Lantern or Batman (which of course my little Superhero wanted desperately).  I love blue so I was drawn to the Superman shirt.  I bought it for a mere $7.50 in a Men's Small.  Then I came home and got to work.

I found THIS BLOG about how to make an old shirt into a toddler dress, looked it over, and realized that I could do this REALLY easily!

I found a dress of K2's that I really liked, though it's getting a little small.  But I liked the lines of it.

Next, I folded both the shirt and the dress in half.  I lined things up so that the front collar of the blue shirt could be used on the dress, and made sure I got ALL of the Superman emblem.

Then, I got out a dry erase marker and a ruler, then started drawing my cut lines on the blue shirt.  There needs to be enough space for a 1/4" seam PLUS, since the dress I'm patterning it from is a little snug, I gave it some extra space, too.  And I wanted it a little longer, so I did that, too.

I cut it out and began sewing.  Oddly enough, once I opened up the shirt, it sewed together nearly the same as the Taylor Gown that we just posted about!

I cut off some of the back collar from the blue shirt's scraps and sewed it onto the shirt.  I could have just left it on to begin with, but this was my first attempt at making an adult shirt into a kid dress.

Next, with right sides together (shirt inside out), I sewed the shoulder hem, followed by the sleeve hem (easier to do when you can still lay it flat).

Then, still inside out, I sewed the side seam.  Then I hemmed the bottom.

Turn it back right side out and this is what I had:

The fabric makes it look kind of like a night gown, but once I get some red tights under it and fix her hair so it isn't "I just woke up" hair, it's going to be PERFECT!!

So, yes, I am the coolest mom EVER!  I just made a dress for my toddler out of a men's shirt so that she could go to Comic Con with me!!

Growing Sprouts - Take 2

Last year, I took the kids' heights and weights to see how much they grew throughout 2012.  Here is their growth from the first of the year to the end of the year:

Keith (5 yrs 11 months)                              (6 years 11 months)
37.6 lbs - 6th percentile for weight              43.4 lbs - 12th percentile for weight
42.5" - 7th percentile for height                   46" - 19th percentile for height

Mitchell (2 years 11 months)                      (3 years 11 months)
32.6 lbs - 63rd percentile for weight            39.2 lbs - 78th percentile for weight
37" - 43rd percentile for height                    41" - 69th percentile for height

Kiersten (12 months)                                  (2 years)
20.2 lbs - 31st percentile for weight            24 lbs - 15th percentile for weight
27.5" - 6th percentile for height                   32" - 11th percentile for height (chart ages 2-20 yrs)
                                                                             - 8th percentile for height (chart birth to 36 months)


Oh, and here is our Christmas!!

I loved that we set out milk and cookies for Santa.  I love that, as we read about Christ's birth from Luke, we were able to use the nativity set to make the scene.  I love that we were able to include Taylor & Seth in our celebration through stockings, ornaments, and our Molly Bears.

I love that Kiersten enjoyed every Cinderella (tag, shirt, futon, blanket, etc) that she saw.  I love that the boys picked out gifts for each other.  I love that they could all lay down together with their new blankets to watch a movie together.  I love that we could all eat at the table together.  I love that I had most of the food prepared so I didn't have to spend half my day in the kitchen while the kids played joyfully.

Christmas was wonderful!!

More Summer Fun

In June, we bought an elliptical.  We had been after one for a while (a couple years actually) but finally got around to getting one.  I'm not posting a picture of that, though.  Who cares?  It's a typical elliptical.  What was fun was that I made Ben keep the box inside, hoping the kids would find joy in it.  It took about two days, but they finally did!!  They wanted a space ship, so Ben cut three windows in it and the kids had an absolute blast for a good three days!

Mitchell wearing Mr. Potato Head glasses upside down

Kiersten trying to make her way to the window through all the sleeping bags and pillows

Keith, raring to go!

Mitchell: Ahhhhh!  It's shaking!

Kiersten - started with her mouth on it.  Then a lip.  Then her lip scrunched up to her nose.  Finally she laid down!

Next up is the 4th of July!  I love Independence Day!  It's not just another holiday off work or day to spend with family or friends, but it's the celebration of the birth of this great nation!  Even with the crappy political climate that we're in, we're still somehow hanging on as the best country in the world.  As jacked up as our healthcare system is, and it definitely needs help, foreign doctors and upper class people still come HERE for treatment and care.  Even though we've got a crappy socialist president, he's still someone that the people elected (and will be able to replace) and he doesn't go around stoning or hanging us for speaking out against him.  Although our freedoms are being further limited, we still enjoy more than the average country does.  We are getting farther and farther away from perfection as we attempt to model ourselves after other countries, but right now, we're still better than anywhere else, we are still great.  I just hope we can reverse some damage and get back to the Constitution that made the 4th of July a day to celebrate!  Enough with politics, here's some cute kids!

Kiersten

Mitchell

Keith under the flag in our yard

Kiersten

Little Personalities

More Personalities

Wall-worthy photo

Cutie Patooties

Mitchel's got his tongue out, but it's hard to get all 3 kids looking nicely at the same time.

Summer - The first update

I was reading another blog the other day, and she said that she had been feeling like they hadn't been very active this summer, until she went through pictures and realized they'd done more than she thought.  I COMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD!!  Here I am going through our pictures and I realized, wow!  We actually HAVE done some stuff this summer!  So, let's start at Memorial Day.  That week, of course no school on Monday but then Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were the last days of school.  But c'mon, summer "actually" begins with Memorial Day, right?!

Mitchell loved the swings at the park in Heber (where we go each year).  Any time he was missing, he could typically be found on the swings.

This was Kiersten's first time in a swing.  Cute little thing.

Ben fed her Cool Whip.  She LOVED it!

May 28, 2012 - The Harvey Family

Had to show one with Mitchell's attitude.  He's so funny!

 Next, let's go on to Keith's KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION!!

Keith really was among the smallest in the class.  There was only one kid noticeably smaller.  

 Up next:  The Pony Express Days Parade, followed by swimming at the pool at Aunt Kathryn's condo.

We went swimming again another day, but no pictures from that one.  However, that was also the same day as I got my first ultrasound done!  One healthy little baby in there!  ALSO that day, between the prenatal and swimming, I was at the mall with all 3 kids without a stroller or sling, was carrying Kiersten and 4 bags plus holding hands with Mitchell and trying to keep track of Keith.  I was headed to the Food Court to rearrange everything when I slipped in some soda on the floor, one leg went sliding ahead while the other stayed in place.  The knee of the planted leg slammed into the ground and bruised quite a bit.  The other knee, I sprained my MCL and am supposed to be wearing a brace for a good 6 weeks.  I keep forgetting to put it on though, and the next day I always pay for it.  OUCH!  Anyway, here is my happy ultrasound picture:

While the mountain "in our backyard" burned for several days, we went camping!!  The wind happened to blow the fire back over the top of the mountain and onto the other side, so our home did not end up in danger.  Just in case, we packed up a few suitcases of things (extra clothes, social security cards, birth certificates, scriptures, disks of pictures, etc) and took pictures of our furniture and other pricey items for insurance purposes, packed them into Ben's car, and then parked it a safe distance away... just in case the wind switched directions and put our home in danger while we were gone.  All turned out well though, and about 4 days after it started and over 5,000 burned acres later, the 390 fire fighters contained the fire.  But, we were up at Trial Lake the whole time, 30 minutes away from cell phone reception.  It was such a great trip!  Here are some pics:

Keith's CARS sleeping bag and Mitchell's SPIDERMAN sleeping bag.  They LOVE sleeping in them!

Don't see ME on here much!  In fact, you rarely EVER see an actual picture of me. 
But did you notice my awesome FORKS sweatshirt that I got in FORKS, WA earlier this year?

Ben had the hardest time with making a fire instead of a lot of smoke.  The kids all loved their chairs (which just happen to match their sleeping bag colors).

Ben gave Mitchell a gooey marshmallow.  This is what happened to it.  Eventually, he brought his hands to me telling me to eat the marshmallow.  Silly boy.  So I took a bite and he said "thanks" each time.  It was SO FUNNY!

Day 2 lunch - also Kiersten's nap time.  I gave her a slice of bread, she tore it in two (one for each hand of course) and she was passed out within 3 minutes!

Mitchell, Kiersten, and Keith with his big stick that he carried around everywhere.

Isn't she just so stinkin' cute being so tiny in her little chair?!  The chair made her so happy!

See?!  HAPPY GIRL!  Ignore the hair.  It was all greased up from sunscreen and bug spray. 

Well, that's it for now!  Next up, I'm sure, will be the 4th of July, another prenatal, and the 24th of July (a Utah holiday).  We are hoping for another camping trip, too!  Not sure what else the summer will bring us, but I'm so happy to be out doing things with the kids!

OR Trip - Friday

Friday, we started by going to Astoria to see the GOONIE house!  We ended up going on the Trolly and they pointed it out.  However, it was such a busy day and we wanted to get back "home" to pack, so we didn't go UP TO the house.  It really does have a zipline in the backyard, and the lady who lives there... she was a Goonie fan and came to see Astoria because of The Goonies.  She got there, saw that the house was for sale, BOUGHT IT, went home to sell her house, and then moved in to her new place.  She thinks it is so cool that she invites people to come check it out!  Isn't that awesome?!  Now... if you're young and haven't seen it, GO WATCH IT NOW!!!

Aren't Josh & Kiersten totally adorable?!  Yes, of course the girls posed them. 
Okay, okay, and then Alicia and I thought it was adorable enough
that we joined in, trying to pose them just right.  But they're so darn CUTE!

Kiersten with Lillian, her new BFF.

Keith got to ring the trolly bell.

Have I mentioned that Kiersten was like a shiny new toy for the 4 teenage girls?
That's okay, they were the newest novelties for my kids to play with too.
And they were all so cute together.  All of them.  Age 15 months to 17 years!!
See how sweet they were with Kiersten?
ADORABLE!

Mitchell, Kiersten, and Keith - LOVING the beach!

Kiersten was super cuddly because it was very COLD

After we took the kids to touch the water the first time,
Mitchell ran back to the stroller and covered himself in
blankets, refusing to get out again.

Keith LOVED the water and wanted to be more daring
than I would allow him to be.  It was hard to manage taking
him to the water while cuddling Kiersten and also
making sure Mitchell was taken care of back in the stroller,
far away from the water line.  They warned us of the tides sweeping kids
into the ocean, so I was a bit nervous to let him go alone or with the other kids.

Alicia's little Josh did much better than Kiersten.
He ran all over the place and really enjoyed the beach!