If I had written a Christmas Letter...

Tadj is working for the same company, has the same job, and the same long hours. In November we were introduced to a medical condition called Bell's Palsy. Tadj's first symptoms were a loss of taste and numb lips. The doctor was finally able to diagnose the issue when it was discovered Tadj couldn't fully close his right eye. Within a couple days he had total facial paralysis on the right side. He had to tape his eye closed at night, couldn't drink out of a glass without a straw (even that was difficult) and the prednizone caused him extreme grouchiness and sleepiness (I called it Tadj's roid rage). It was a long few weeks but he is 99% recovered.

In the spring we had a wind storm and one of the large trees in the backyard came crashing down onto our back fence. This was a major "I told you so" moment since I spent the last couple years trying to convince Tadj to have them removed. So I hired a professional to take down the one and a half remaining trees and Tadj built us a beautiful deck. I'll post pictures in the spring when we finally stain it. But as 2010 comes to a close I am happy to not be pregnant and thankful that Lincoln arrived here safe and healthy.





Hayden is in 2nd grade and still wakes up everyday excited to go to school. He loves all things Lego: Lego Wii games, Lego Universe (thanks to the best Uncle in the world!), and he attended his first ever Lego club meeting in October. He just started his second season of basketball and is enjoying it. Hayden still loves the water and even learned to knee board last August.

Last spring Kendall broke her elbow and wore a bright pink cast for a couple weeks. She loved all of the attention and questions about the incident (a fall that happened while hopping between two stools). She started Kindergarten in the fall and just finished her first tap and ballet class. She was great at memorizing the routines but seemed to do everything in hyper-speed. She is looking forward to swimming in the spring and gymnastics next fall. Kendall learned to ride her bike without training wheels last summer and wants to go riding whenever she can.

Trevor is our mischievous child and keeps us on our toes. He has several nicknames: "The Tornado", "Trouble", and more recently, "Stitch", after a stocking hanger came falling down on his face and left a huge gash that required 4 stitches. He is also our little comedian and keeps us laughing when he mimics the kids by singing songs into a microphone or walking around with a pretend blackberry next to his ear. He still eats everything he finds and really enjoys dog food. I am surprised he is still on the small size (except for his gigantic head!)

Lincoln is 2 months old and has an awesome birthday: 10.10.10. He is a really happy baby and we love his smiles and coos. It won't be long until Lincoln and Trevor are the same size. At Lincoln's 2 month check-up he weighed 13.3 pounds (90th percentile), is average height and, of course, has a huge head.

The year 2010 was full of happy surprises and lots of fun and love for our family. Even though I foresee 2011 as a year of exhaustion chasing around 2 babies we are looking forward to the adventures ahead.

He is HERE!!!

As you all probably know by now Krista and I were very lucky to welcome our fourth (and last) baby into our family on 10/10/10 weighing in at 7 lbs 5oz and 19.5 inches long. We have named him Lincoln John. The labor and delivery went very smooth and quick when compared to the other kids (I think it has to do mainly with the other kids’ giant melons compared to Lincoln’s.)

You might be asking yourself, "Didn't they just have a kid not that long ago?" Well yes we did, Trevor just turned a year old at the end of September so my amazing wife has her hands full with these two the next few years.
Again we had a hard time agreeing upon a name until Kendall and Hayden came to visit us in the hospital and they started to call the new baby Lincoln and I finally agreed and actually like the name more and more.

Lincoln is so small when compared to the rest of our kids. Our newborn hats must have all been stretched out by his older brothers because he still seems like he is swimming in everything he wears. He is also our only baby born with hair, in fact he has a lot more hair then Trevor who just celebrated his first birthday a few weeks ago.

I have been lucky enough to spend the last week at home with Krista and the baby (babies) but am going to give work a try tomorrow morning so the test will really begin for Krista and I will miss my morning nap. I realized that Krista has not posted anything for quite a while and I do not anticapate a lot of free time over the next little while so I should post a couple pictures of our new addition before returning to the never-ending work rut. Hope you are all doing well and enjoying life, I know I am one lucky man to have this amazing family. I dont know how to add lots of fun pictures to this blog so I have added more pictures on facebook.

Now to try to get this baby to go to sleep so I can take a nap…

The Results Are In

And I was wrong....Tadj, Hayden, and Kendall, were also wrong. We wrote down our guesses last night-will we be having a new baby boy or a baby girl? We all guessed girl but without a doubt, as seen in picture #2 below, we are having another little boy join our family. Kendall handled the news surprisingly well since she REALLY wanted a baby sister. Tadj and I are excited for another boy but I am dreading picking out the name!

Our April Fool's "Joke"

On April Fool's Day Tadj sent out an e-mail. Some people read this:

"Krista is pregnant with #4!"

and responded with this:

"number 7 [grandkid] on the way, congratulations"
"Congrats....wow..you guys work fast!"

Others read this:

"Krista is pregnant with #4!
....
Happy April Fools Day"

and responded like this:

"April fools!"
"Me too! Twins!"

Some read this:

"Krista is pregnant with #4!
....
Happy April Fools Day
....
Just Kidding
....
About the April Fools part"

and the responses were:

"Ha Ha...I thought Krista was the smart one in the family" (thanks sis)
"Is this for real?"
"Ok ok so I am sooo very confused...I still think this is an April fools joke...but now i dont know. Wow if it is true..congrats!!!! You are in for some real fun now."
"This is so exciting, Krista."

We didn't leave our parents and siblings in too much suspense and sent out the following picture the next day.

Yes, it is real. Yes, I used to be the smart one. Yes, we are excited about this big surprise. Yes, we know it is going to be a lot of work.

Baby is expected to arrive October 16 but that date may change based on the last ultra sound. Fortunate for my dad who said:

"Sorry Krista, you cannot have a baby on October 16, that is the opening day of hunting season." Oh to be in a family of hunters.

Four Months Old

Trevor is the center of our world at the moment and such a delight! At his four month appointment he was in the 25th percentile for height and in the 50th percentile for weight. I'm not used to having a small baby (well, small compared to my other two!) He can roll over from his front to back, is really ticklish, and loves to smile and laugh. Except for when I am taking his picture. His latest trick is to push himself off of his diaper just as I get it under him and then laugh and laugh. I can only imagine the fun it will be to change his clothes as a two year old since he can hardly stand for me to touch his under arms. He loves peek-a-boo, patty cake, and his teething toy, Sophie the Giraffe. We just noticed that he already has a tooth coming in on the bottom. He is now sleeping through the night or just waking up once. A couple of weeks ago he was waking up 5 times a night! We hope the good sleep continues.

He loves his brother and sister. Although I think he is a bit fearful of Kendall at times. She gets right in his face to talk to him so Trevor opens his mouth really big like he wants to eat her. It must be a defense mechanism. Hayden loves having someone in the family that looks almost identical to him. And we all just love Trevor so much.

First Lost Tooth

Last Thursday Kendall told me that two of her bottom teeth were wiggly. I didn't believe her until I tested the teeth myself. Sure enough, they were REALLY loose. On Friday we had a short photo shoot so I could capture one last picture of Kendall with all of her baby teeth.

On Saturday night, right before bed, her tooth looked like it would fall out any minute. If we left it there I thought she might swallow or choke on it during the night. With one small push the tooth fell right out. But there was a small problem. The tooth fairy didn't have any cash. There were quarters but someone set a precedent of giving $5 for the first lost tooth. I won't name names but it wasn't me. So Tadj was sent to the grocery store for the money. Meanwhile, Kendall wrote a cute note to the tooth fairy asking if she could keep her first tooth. Here she is examining the tooth.

The tooth fairy wrote back, "Of course" and left the tooth along with $5. As I write this, Kendall is laying in bed waiting for the tooth fairy again ,with the loss of her second tooth today. She bit into a peach and the tooth came right now. Fortunately, the tooth fairy wised up and she will be getting $2.50 for the second tooth (and $1 for each tooth thereafter).