T-Minus 3 days and counting....

Until DaCiE AnN SoReNsEn turns 1!!!!!

Dacie's first birthday is this Friday the 25th of January!!

Sooo guess who got to bow making?

You may have to wait for the details as we are following daddy to a conference in Burbank and going to be partying with cousins!!!! (that is if we can all get well-Colton threw up what little he had in him after 3 days of 103 fever and being unresponsive, and is borderline dehydrated --no strep and no kidney problems as we can see w/ tests from the drs.--so lets hope we can escape with only one casualty this time!)
Dacie IS a SORENSEN--She LoVes that pizza!
I have the perfect little outfit to go with this bow. I am excited to take pictures at the zoo and gourmet cupcake shop!!!! AAAh LOVE having a GiRl!!!!

I HOPe ThEy CaLL Me oN A mIsSiOn!

So awhile ago Grandpa Sorensen gave us this water bottle painted with 'mission money' written on the front. He told us about someone he had heard about, who threw in all their spare change and by the time it came for their son to serve a mission, they had enough to pay for his mission. We thought with 3 boys in a row THIS would be a GREAT start. So it has sat in our kitchen and has been slowly collecting.

Lately, I have been hearing Sterling playing with his bank allot and hearing allot of deposits into the mission money bottle. One day I finally asked him what he was doing, thinking he liked hearing the clanking change sound or something. Sterling turned to me and then said very excitedly, pointing to the jar-- " I am going on a mission mom, see! Look how many money's are in there." I asked him where he was getting the money, and I realized that he had almost cleared out everything from his spending money in his bank. Colton told him that he was not going to have any money to buy anything, and Sterling told him he didn't care. I was so touched at Sterling's desire to go on a mission.

I think the mission jar money may go towards Sterling's mission instead of Colton's! ha ha

Sterling has also been spending some time in his kitchen lately, and I kept hearing him tell his brothers, "Hurry, the missionaries are coming." When I ask them what they are doing they tell me that they are making dinner for the missionaries (as a family we try to feed the missionaries serving in our area dinner when we can)! The other day Ryland and him made a meal, and then last night Colton helped~ Last nights dinner was allot LARGER than normal (Colton may have helped in that). So here is a picture of the missionaries dinner. I hope their hungry! (it brought back fond memories of dinner appointments on my mission where we were fed VERY well).

Another Peaceful Sunday Evening?

I don't know what it is about Sunday evenings that brings out the 'dancers' in my children! BUT they somehow manage to dance, run, twirl, pillow dance(Dacie), ball bounce (Sterling) to even the calmest of music!
You would have NEVER guessed that Colton had been running 102-103 fevers for two days and had been flat in bed-we even had to wake him up to give him medicine all day. I guess the meds had kicked in at this point, because he is right back on the couch this morning with no energy!

Dacie was rockin' out- head banging and everything (which even solicited a smile from her rocker Dad). I wish I knew how to do the video clips on my computer HOWEVER I have been having the hardest time accessing my friends videos on their blogs (it always says buffering for loads of minutes and then goes black) ~ So one less thing to worry about I guess!
At least, the day of rest ended in some scripture study. I am so grateful for Dan for doing this, he is vigilant about teaching our children the scriptures.

Some Dacie side notes for ya:

*Dacie and I officially stopped nursing this week! It was her 1st year b-day gift to me. I enjoy having my body back, and she had no more interest!

*As some of you might know I have an obsessive compulsive disorder about towels being hung straight (in kitchens and bathrooms). Children are here to teach us right? So Dacie's new fixation is ripping ALL the towels down in ANY room she enters and then leaves them on the floor in rumpled messes. Soon as I go in and fix it, the next time I go in the room it is down again! aaah! Stinker

Can Someone Get That?!!!

As some of you might know I answer phones on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons for a local family owned trash business. They transfer the calls to my cell phone. It has been such a blessing for us to support some extra expenses and save. Anyways-yesterday 1/16 was a typical answering the phones kind of day. The nice thing is I can let the answering machine get the calls and I can return the calls when I am NOT kid occupied. Well, Colton was doing his homework next to me and it was time to lay Dacie down for a nap, so her and I took a trip to her room with bottle in tote. I have fans blowing in all my kids room while they sleep to block out the phone ringing, neighbor banter, brother fighting, doorbell ringing noise that takes place during their sleep. So while I was in her room laying Dacie down I could not hear when the phone was ringing. Colton thought he would be helpful and answered the phone for me while I was in the room. I have NO IDEA what kind of conversations he had with some of the customers, but he did mention that he told one lady I was laying down the baby and would be back in 12 minutes. I am not sure where he got that number from but I have to laugh. 12 minutes then eh? Maybe I should time it to see if he is keenly aware of time without me knowing it! Later on he said, "oh yeah, I told the other lady five minutes because you had been there in awhile!" I guess some customers got a 6-year-old treat to break up the monotony of their construction trashy days! Thanks Colton for being a great helper...I think!

Isn't It IRONIC!

Dan now works 4 ten-hour days at work, which gives him one day during the week off at home! We were not sure about this new schedule, BUT I am not gonna lie, we get sooo much done on those days.

This last Tuesday was no exception. Dan was able to take Colton down to Phoenix to the pediatric dentist to get his cap and spacer put back in, after it falling out during school. Dan's mom works for this dentist, so he squeezes in her kids as well (that includes Dan and I).

Since it has been over two years since Dan has been to the dentist AND since he has complained in the past, that his teeth hurt~ I was pretty certain that he had some cavities AND was, at least, due for a cleaning. Sooo while Dan took Colton we squeezed Dan in on the schedule as well.

I usually do not let you in on our hygiene habits BUT this one is to prove a point. My husband only brushes his teeth once a day IF that, on weekends (thank heavens he does not have bad breathe problems). On the other hand, I, at least, brush mine twice a day ( I LOVE clean teeth) and at other random times during the day (like after exercising). I also get flossing in a WHOLE lot more than he does. I am also the one who uses the whitening strips! So it would make sense that my teeth would be the better and prettier of the two and a whole lot healthier. NOT TRUE!

After two years of avoiding the dentist he does not have ONE cavity. Not even a 'watch' this spot one! I, on the other hand in the past two years have had: more than 5 cavities filled, two unsuccessful root canals, a tooth pulled and then immediately put back in, AS WELL as expensive trips to the endodontist and implant specialist, a few pain meds and being sedated.

Go FIGURE! stinkin'GENETICS ~Sorry Dad ( and Colton is on my path!)

Genetics, genetics, genetics!

Crazy Cottonwood Kids!

We got a NEW CompUter FINALLY....and after having an anxiety attack about transferring pictures and figuring out how to download them onto a new computer so I can Blog, email and print. Dan came and helped me for two hours to figure it out. So I thought I would pull up some of the cute picts. we were working with of the silly kiddos, to show for some of the fruits of our two-hour labor.

Oh, what do you do with a baby that puts everything in her mouth and crawls?...take pictures(ha ha) and KEEP a close eye on her (she has only gagged and had to be finger swiped twice, so far) A sweet tid bit: Dacie now gives kisses when asked. They are the cute, lean-in open-mouthed ones~ I LoVe first baby kisses
Tonight (1/13/08) Dacie was in HeAvEn Johnny jumping in the doorway! She LoVeD it-she could stand, jump and be near her family without getting into some kind of trouble (the boys toys they are playing with, trashcans, computer printer, etc.) Check out her wild hair after I pulled out her two pigtails!
We are growing out Sterling and Ryland's hair again~and that always makes after shower hair fantastic! (Sterling was being grumpy and told me to stop taking silly pictures of him)
Ryland's hair is typically VERY flat and Very Thin. After naps one day he awoke with such volume in it, it made his head look like and alien's--HUGE! The boys and I could not stop laughing (you can't get the best height angle from this picture, but it works). So there you have it IF you are having a flat hair day...take a nap Ryland style!

*Dan and I got a little break last night from the crazy kiddos, when we got a babysitter and played games at a friends house. We have not had that much fun playing games in a LONG time. There was some serious mafia, getting to know you better, Mr. Green and signs GAMES going on! Aaah to be a teenager again!

And Her FIRST Word is....

Nigh- Nigh (nigh-night). I was not sure she was making the connection at first BUT after her saying it the last couple days as she is laying down for naps and getting ready for bed (the making of the bottle usually solicits it) and waving and kissing to everyone as she does it. It is OFFICIAL! It is NOT mama or dada. It is Nigh-nigh

Can something so sick look so cute?!!! (She actually is doing allot better-we have removed the humidifier oxygen tent) That orange/ red thing behind her hat is NOT a feather- ha ha ha That would be a little too extreme (it is daddy's x-mas present hoody) I'm not gonna lie~ I have TOO much FUN dressing Dacie up in clothes and bows! We are getting down to the last of the baby shower presents, BUT here is a dress I got at her shower over a year ago! I could never have pictured how cute she would be in it. I couldn't even imagine a GIRL for that matter! She now has all four of her molars (that makes 12 teeth) and one more tooth working its way in to fill in the gap-thus the SUPER short naps and early morning wake ups ( I hope) Who would have thought teething could be so hard!