January Adventures

The month of January was a whole lot of adventure. The kids had the first 3 weeks of the month off track and so we needed to keep them busy after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Dave's sister Beth invited us to go bowling with them one day so we were so excited. The kids loved being able to bowl with their cousins and Grandpa and Gramz Newman. We indulged in Pizza Factory pizza and loved every minute of the afternoon. Tanner became quite the pro at chucking the bowling ball down the lane even without the ramp.

The next week we decided to take the kids ice skating at the Olympic Oval. It was all of their first time. They were such good sports. We couldn't keep up with Cole. He loved the little walker and he just cruised around everywhere alone. I even pushed Max around in the stroller. It was great fun.
















Our last big adventure of the month was that we took Kaya and Tanner skiing for their first time. We had some free passes for us to Snowbird and the kids were free so it was awesome. Dave and I had not been to Snowbird and so we didn't know all of the hills and ended up taking them on an intermediate run the first time. That was a huge mistake and took us over an hour to get down. We were so relieved when we found the bunny hill and so were the kids. Tanner was such a daredevil. He got the hang of it so fast and so when we would get off the lift he would just ask if he could go and he would take off down the hill. Kaya being a little taller and a little more fearful struggled a little but she was such a good sport and never gave up. It was such a fun day and hopefully we will be able to go a lot more in the future.

Christmas Day '10

Christmas morning was so much fun this year. The kids were great and were so excited to see what Santa brought. They didn't ask for a lot this year so they were able to get pretty much everything they wanted from Santa. It was great having the basement done so that Santa could come down there and set up this year.

They really loved their pillow pets that Grandma & Grandpa Jolley gave them.

That afternoon we went over to Auntie M and Unc's for Christmas Dinner. The kids got to exchange more presents with their cousins and got sleds from Grandma and Grandpa Newman. What a great year!! We have so much to be grateful for and to have such great family and friends around us.

We love this special time of year when we can celebrate our Savior's birth and feel of His love! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and will have a great New Year!!

Newman Christmas Eve Party

Christmas Eve we headed over to grandma and grandpa Newman's house for a little party. We enjoyed yummy food and white elephant exchange. The kids had fun playing out the Nativity and getting more new jammies from Grandma Newman.
Then Kaya played a bunch of Christmas songs on the piano while we all sang along. Tanner even played his first song in front of people "Jolly Old St. Nicholas." It was a great night to feel the Christmas spirit and get ready for Santa to come.

Jolley Christmas

We had our annual Jolley Family Christmas party. The kids had so much fun exchanging presents with their cousins, getting their jammies from grandma, hearing the story of christmas told by grandpa, and having santa surprise them. We always have such a great time.
Kaya asked Santa for a craft set, Tanner a DS, and Cole a GeoTrax train.

Thumb Sucker?

So during this past month Max has been figuring out his hands and in this process he found his thumb. He still loves his binky but every once in a while I catch him chewing on or sucking his thumb.

Another attempt to catch a smile but not fully successful.

Santa!!!

Kaya's gymnastics group was able to do an extra performance this year at a Christmas boutique. It was great to be able to have another chance to have others be able to see her. She was lucky to have supporters like her Auntie M and Unc and also her 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Goodman come and watch her. Santa was there too which was great to save us from waiting in the mall lines!!

Kaya's Christmas Performance '10

Kaya had yet another gymnastics performance. We are so proud of her and how she continues to progress. She was able to do her side aerials and roundoff back handspring backtucks at this performance. We love you Kaya!! Keep up the hard work!

Max - 3 MoNtHs

It's hard to believe that little Max is already 3 months old. We had his baby blessing on Nov. 7th. There were a total of 4 blessings and Max was the only boy in the mix. Dave did such a great job on his blessing. Max is starting to smile a little bit more but he's still struggling with his tummy and so he still fusses. He is so sweet though and is starting to coo and make cute little sounds. We love him and just hope he starts to feel better soon. I realized that I don't have very many pictures so I need to be better at that. 4 kids is quite busy!!!

Tanner's Fall Soccer

Fall Soccer came and went so fast this year. It was fun to go to Tanner's games though and watch how much better he is this year. He had a great coach that really taught them well. Tanner made at least one goal each game but he was really good at defense. He runs so fast he was able to run after that ball and stop the other team from scoring. Great season Tanner! Can't wait until Spring!!!

Happy Halloween!!

We had a fun Halloween this year. We took the kids to the pumpkin patch and let them each pick out their own pumpkin. Then we went over to our good friends, The Francoms, and ate soup and helped the kids carve the pumpkins. The had a really good time.
The kids loved being able to dress up in their costumes. Cole of course was Buzz Lightyear and wore his costume almost everyday for the month leading up to Halloween. Kaya was a witch and Tanner was a vampire. The school carnival is always a big hit with the kids and they of course loved going our trick or treating. Even though it rained on them most of the time. Grandma Newman had a fun party for them on Halloween where they got to go down a spook alley and get treats with their cousins. Too much fun. Can't wait until next year with Max running around.

Max - 2 Months

The kids absolutely love Max. They are always wanting to hold him and play with him. He has had a rough start to life. He hasn't been the happiest little guy and is collicky. He is so sweet though and the kids don't seem to care one bit when he's crying. Kaya is such a big help and I use her all the time to help hold or feed him. Tanner is actually a good helper too when he wants to be. Cole loves him and just wants to poke at him alot. He smiles a little but not too often. Breaks my heart to know he just hurts. He is starting to sleep better though which makes a world of difference in how I can deal with the fussiness.

Cole's 1st Field Trip

Cole had his 1st field trip with his preschool to the fire station. He was a little nervous at first being around those big trucks but he got over that pretty fast. He was excited to be able to get up in the seat and pretend he was driving it. The firemen were really good with these little kiddos and gave them their own hat before they left.

Cole Starts Preschool

Cole started Preschool. I am getting all my kids in school and I'm not going to know what to do with myself. We put Cole in a preschool here in the neighborhood rather than taking him to the same one as Kaya and Tanner. It is so nice to have it so close and convenient especially having little Max. Cole was so excited to go to school like his big brother and sister do.

Our Little Man

Our little man has finally arrived. We are so happy he is here and part of our little family. I went in to be induced at 8:30 that morning and had him at 1:21 that afternoon. It was such a great labor. They started my petocin and when I was just starting to have a little pain from contractions the anesthesiologist showed up to give me my epidural. I labored slowly until 1 when the Dr. came and broke my water and shortly after I felt lots of pain and pressure. They called the Dr. back. He sat down, told me to push, and by the time I had counted to 5 he was telling me to stop because the baby was already coming out. One more little push and out he came. It took us a while to decide for sure what to name him but ended up what we had originally planned on 4 months prior. Max Walker Newman. He is perfect in every way.

Cole's Surgery

So I took Cole in for his 3 year old checkup and I asked them a question about his little boy parts and when he checked them he told me had a hole that should have closed up on its own but didn't and so fluid was getting in areas where it shouldn't. So he referred us to a urologist and sure enough he needed surgery otherwise later in life he would get hernias that would be painful. So we hurried and made his appointment before the baby came. Cole was such a good sport when we got to the hospital and was so happy. They were so fast at taking him back to the operating room though that he didn't get to play with the toys in the waiting room before he went back. So he was a little disappointed over that. He did great through the surgery but when he woke up he was so mad at us. As you can tell by the after surgery picture he just puckered his lips up and wouldn't talk to us. He did like getting his root beer slushy fed to him though while he was in recovery. He got to ride out to the car in the wagon and was disappointed when we couldn't take that home with us.

For 2 weeks after we had to keep him off of the tramp and his bike, but he was such a good kid and was good about it. I'm so glad we had it taken care of before he got any older so that he doesn't remember too much.