Ryann's Birth Announcement...

Thanks to my sister Katie for making this announcement. I wasn't getting around to it. Needless to say, it's been a challenge juggling three kids and everything else. Kudos to those who do well with 3+ kids...How do you get things done?

Ryann has been a new experience! My other two kids spoiled me when they were babies! The first few weeks I was only managing two-three hours of sleep a night (she definitely had her days and nights mixed up). She also is a little colicky (sp?) and likes to be held ALL day long! Lately, though, this seems to be easing up. She is going to sleep better at nights, and earlier (she goes to sleep around 10 p.m. instead of 11:30 or later). She will stay in her bouncer chair now that she is a little more interested in looking at her environment and when Brooke plays with her.

Ryann is getting to the fun stage where she is starting to laugh and socialize a lot. It is fun watching her try to "talk" to you. The girls love having a baby sister. Brooke especially. I can't believe she is almost three months old! Crazy how time flies.

I have more pictures of Ryann and what our family has been up to this summer, but that is going to have to wait for another post!

She's Here!!!...

Ryann Danielle Stoeber made her debut early Sunday morning (May 2nd)! She weighed in at 6 lbs. 13 oz. and 20 inches long! She has lots of dark hair (like both her sisters did when they were born)!


Ryann has two sisters that absolutely love her! Brooke has been getting up at the crack of dawn (literally) and going in to watch her sister. Everytime Ryann cries, Emily says to go get her and do something with her! We are grateful that Ryann is here and that everything went well! Now, if only I could get her to straighten out her days vs. her nights...sigh...!

M.I.A....

I know, I know, I have been out of the blogging world for far too long. My sister has informed me that I have gone M.I.A., but I am still here and I do still check in on a lot of you, but haven't updated my blog forever. Not to disappoint you, but this is going to be a quick blog w/out pics. Mike has my camera connection to the computer, so I will try and post pics in the near future.

A quick update on the Stoebers:

~ Brooke is loving Kindergarten and doing very well. Just yesterday she passed off the list of things they'd like the kids to do before they finish with kindergarten! She was super proud of herself, as were her parents! She is loving learning to read, and she is picking up more and more words all the time. It is amazing to see her progress and the books she can read now. She also can not wait for warm weather! (Not that I blame her much, there, either.)

~ Emily is three now! She is such a fun kid to be around. She is so sincere at times, and then quick as can be, she will pull a funny face at you! She is learning so quickly, too. It must help to have an older sister in school! She is also becoming more and more independent. She loves to play outside! She will don her coat and boots and head outside without a word! It is great, except for when I don't know where she is, or where she's gone. But she is learning the boundaries of where she may and may not play (the road). The other morning I was in the shower and she informed me she was heading outside to play! At least she told me, right!?!

~ I guess our big secret (that is really not a big secret to most) that I failed to mention earlier is I am expecting. And I have only six weeks left! (See what happens when you fail to blog, you don't update people on very important things!) We are expecting another girl the beginning of May...Cinco de Mayo! And no, we haven't settled on a name, so if you have a girl's name that you'd be willing to share, I'd love you to share it with me!

~ Mike is busy with work, especially now that spring is just around the corner. He is also busy trying to get our basement finished. He says I have my heel in his back to get it done! It is hard for him to find the time to get down there when he has so many other things going on (like two little girls who demand dad's attention when he gets home). But the basement is coming along and it will be nice to have it finished (which won't be for awhile, since we are determined to pay as we go, but little by little...).

~ I have been busy with the girls. I go in to help with Brooke's class doing centers once a week. I swap watching kids with another mom that is a neighbor, so I watch her kids when she goes in and she watches Emily when I go in to help. Relief Society keeps me going, too (I'm the secretary). And did I mention I was pregnant? so that adds to everything else that is going on.

So that about sums us up in a nutshell. Sorry for procrastinating. Hopefully I can get some long overdue pics posted soon, too.

Now a quick side note. A while ago, I remember reading on someone's blog a cute definition for family. Does anyone have this still? I think it was on a header or maybe the side bar. Anyway, I really liked it, but never wrote it down and now I can't find it. Can anyone help me out here?

We're Off to See the Lizard....

When we lived in Miles City, a family gave us a Dorothy costume. It finally fits Brooke this year and she decided this is what she wanted to be for Halloween, but she didn't really know who Dorothy was. So, we went to the library and checked out the movie, The Wizard of Oz. After Brooke watched the movie, she kept singing, "We're off to see the lizard...!" I tried to tell her it was wizard and not lizard, but she would turn around and sing it the same way. Finally, after a few weeks, I think she's got it right!

The ruby red shoes that came with the costume were too small, though, so we improvised. (My sister gave me the idea.) I went to the good ol' Deseret Industries and bought a pair of shoes (they were black) and had Mike spray paint them red. Then I had some acrylic glitter paint I painted on top. I think they turned out okay, and Brooke absolutley loved them...so I guess goal accomplished!

Brooke was able to wear her costume to school, to the school carnival, and then trick or treating on Halloween night. She loved her costume. When we were outside trick or treating, she didn't want to wear her jacket because she didn't want to hide her dress! I finally convinced her that she could still wear her jacket, just leave it unzipped.

I think she makes a cute Dorothy, but then I may be biased, too....

Emily on the otherhand, didn't want to be anything for Halloween. She just wanted to be Emily. I had a witch costume that would fit her, but she didn't want to be a witch, she wanted to be Emily. She loves to dress up as a princess, so I thought maybe we could get away with just putting her in her dress up clothes. So that's what we ended up doing--Emily was a pretty princess for Halloween.

Emily, Brooke, Leslie, and Adam (Jill's kids)

A few weeks ago we had some friends come to visit. We met them while living in Helena. They were a great match for our family. They had a girl one month older than Brooke (who, by the way, loves to play animals, too!) and a girl a year older than Emily, but they are now the same size! They had another baby girl shortly before they moved from Helena, too. Anyway, they came to visit for a weekend and it was so nice to see them again. It was fun to see the girls play together...just like old times! As for the parents, we got in a game of Settlers of Catan, too!

Fun times!

Emily, Brooke, and Taylor


Claire...she is such a cute kid!




Emily and Jane (Emily has grown 4 inches since we've moved here!)


At the beginning of October, we got a little snowstorm. Brooke was so excited for the snow! Emily soon joined in on the excitement. They wanted to go play before breakfast, so I tracked down the winter clothes and off they went...It was fun to watch them play. After awhile, they came in and had breakfast and then went out later in the morning and built a snowman. Not bad for a morning's work for just the two of them!

I added a link to my sister's new website, Kate's Craft Corner. She enjoys making crafts and has graciously added a tutorial on some of the things she makes. If you have a quick minute, click on her link and check out what she's been up to!

http://katescraftcorner.blogspot.com
I hope all is going well and you all have an enjoyable Thanksgiving. Eat lots of turkey!