Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Has it been a month?

I'm back!!! Yes, I know it has been a long time and you are all getting sick of seeing "Happy Birthday, baby girl!" But, it has been a very busy and eventful month for the Tueller Family. Let's start at the beginning....
We found out the Blake has a peanut, nut, and egg allergy. I realized that he might be allergic to peanuts when I gave him his first peanut butter sandwich. His eyes started to get puffy and he kept itching them. He had only had 3 small bites. I took him to the allergist and they confirmed my suspicions. They also let me know that he is allergic to all tree nuts and eggs. Lovely!!! I am not sure I am mature enough to have a child with allergies of this nature. But, I am trying to be on top of it so that he doesn't go into anaphylaxic shock.

On Nicole's birthday, we took her to get her ears pieced. She has been asking us, wait, BEGGING us to get her ears "pursed" since she could barely talk. I am not sure where she gets this girly girly attitude. Definitely not her mother. Anyway, as she was sitting in the chair waiting for them to poke a hole through her flesh, she was cool as a cucumber. I on the other hand was getting hot and sweaty. Good thing it was her and not me.

Football has started! Usually this is a major imposition for our family, because Brendon has to be at practice everyday at 6pm. Which means, that either one or all of us have to drive him to practice and either wait for it to be over or come back and pick him up. None of this is convenient when you have three other children, one being a baby. But, this year, this Momma got smart! I merely suggested to the coach that there is a large park in our neighborhood that would be perfect for a practice location. He agreed, and Brendon rides his bike to practice every day! It is fabulous. He had his first game on Saturday, and they lost! :(
We swam a lot towards the end of summer. Blake even got in the pool.
Nicole had a swim party for her birthday at the pool.
We went boating with our friends and had a great time. Here is my first attempt at surfing. I did let go of the rope, but was only able to stay up a few seconds.
Thought I would throw in this picture of my baby. He is getting so close to walking. He walks around furniture, and will occasionally let go and stand before he drops to his knees. He is so fun right now and we are head over heels for him!
School started on Aug. 25th. Everyone take a collective sigh!!! It was a wonderful day. Brendon and Nicole started a brand new school in our neighborhood. They can walk to school in about 3 min. Brendon is in 5th grade and Nicole is in 3rd grade. Both kids really like their teacher and are enjoying not having to deal with Martha the bus driver!

Hayden started preschool this year. He could not have been more excited. He goes to school on Monday and Wednesday mornings. On the first day of school, he kept saying "Bye, Mom" before we even got to the parking lot. Then as we drove in, he tried to open the door and jump out while the car was still moving. He was definitely not one of those kids missing their mom on the first day!
Brendon was thrilled when he found out that he would have a locker this year. Too cool!
Over Labor Day, we drove up to Redfish Lake near Stanley, Idaho! We recently bought a small pop up trailer that is a major fixer upper! The tent needs to be replaced, but there wasn't enough time before the camping trip. So, like the white trash people that we are, we took a nice roll of duct tape and went to work on the tent. It really looked cool! :) We camped with 5 other families and had a great time. Three of the other families took their boats and the kids had a great time playing on the beach and tubing. This picture was taken at the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery. Notice that a family member is missing? We decided to leave our little Blakey home with a babysitter. When we realized that the overnight temperatures would be in the 30's, we thought Blake might be more comfortable in his warm bed at home. OK, who am I kidding, I really just wanted to enjoy myself and be able to eat s'mores without a 1 year old crawling in the dirt and being cranky because he didn't get a nap. I didn't want to deal with diapers, bottles, pack and plays, high chairs, baby food and crying. It turned out to be a great decision. I think we were all happier. The last night we were there, rain was in the forecast. Joey did a little extra duct taping and we hoped for the best. I woke up at 3am to pouring rain and realized that I was still dry. I was thrilled. The kids woke us up in the morning and said that they were wet. I went to their side of the trailer, and their whole bed was soaking. I have no idea how they slept, because Brendon's pillow was so wet, we could have wrung it out. I opened the door, and saw snow dropping from the sky and snow on the ground. Are you kidding me? August in Idaho and it is snowing! The kids were cold and crying and I was right there with them. Not the crying part, but the cold part. We packed up everything and left. Everything that we had was soaking wet. I guess we will always remember that camping trip.


Finally, we are getting close to the end. Hang in there with me. We are almost done. Last weekend, Nicole was baptized. It was a great weekend. Tom, Jodi and their family drove up from St. George. What a sacrifice. Ten hours in the car with 3 kids under the age of 4. I don't know how you did it, but you guys are awesome. Thanks for coming and sharing.
My parents also flew up for the weekend, and we had a great time with them. It is so fun to have supportive families. Karl and Mary Ann, Mike, Aubrey and Family, and Snyders and George Huff also attended the baptism. Joey baptized and confirmed her and she felt very special. This is her good friend Brooklyn Hunt. She was also baptized on September 6th.
For some reason, my camera setting must have gotten switched between these pictures, because all of the individual pictures of Nicole are really grainy. Lovely!
Well, that is it. Why I haven't blogged in so long. We have been super busy and having a great time. Everyone is healthy and happy. Joey and I feel very blessed to have such great friends and a wonderful family.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Well, I guess she isn't my baby anymore. But, she is my only girl, so I can call her my baby girl!

Nicole turns 8 yrs old today. She has a very unique personality and we feel very blessed to have her in our family.

August 7, 2000






Happy Birthday, Nicole! We Love You!!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

He's Home!!!

Joey came home last Friday, and what a reunion we had at the Boise Airport! I got there a little early, to make sure that we didn't miss the all important greeting at the door. Due to our promptness, the kids took the opportunity to ask me one million questions and basically drive me and every other person in the waiting area insane. Here's is a sampling of what I heard... Do you think his plane has landed? What does his plane look like? What seat was he sitting in?

Do you think Dad will come home with a goatee? What present do you think he brought us?
Do you think he will remember Blake? Has his plane landed yet? How much longer?
Are those people coming out the door from Dad's plane? Do I have time to go to the bathroom?
Let me run this stroller all over the airport!!!! Has his plane landed yet?
I'm starving!!! I don't have any food! But I am really starving!!! Mom, I am so starving!!!!!
Mom can I see your new phone? Can I take 120 pictures and use up all of your memory?
What happened to my phone? Oh, I think I left it on that chair way over there! Has Dad's plane landed yet!!! Oh, wait, there he is!!! Let's all yell and run and be totally crazy in front of 100 people!!!!






Daddy's home and we couldn't be happier. It is so nice to be together and have a regular family meal and do regular family activities. And, I haven't even had to rock in the fetal position in the corner once since he has been home! Hurray for me! Now all I have to worry about is repairing the damage I have done to my children's psyche (sp?) for the last 8 weeks.
And, by the way, his plane did finally land, we got Hayden some food, they did get some presents, and he didn't come home with a goatee! I couldn't be happier!



Wednesday, July 23, 2008

2 days and 12 hrs......

I am not counting down or anything. But, I CAN'T WAIT for this whole experience to be over. I can't say it has been entirely horrible, but it hasn't been the easiest thing I have ever done. Here is a rundown of the highlights and low lights of my summer vacation...

The Highs:
Camping in McCall with friends
Celebrating Brendon turning 10 and Blake turning 1
Enjoying a relaxing week in Heber with Karen, Steven's family, April and Mom & Poppy of course
REALLY relaxing in San Diego for a weekend
Tuesday lunches with my girlfriends
Reading 4 books and counting..
Staying up late to read or blog or just catch up on "Days of Our Lives"
Switched Blake from formula to milk!


The Lows:
Blake having 3 ear infections in 6 weeks and a fever of 105 that lasted for days
The most miserable 6 hour car ride home from Heber. (Still brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.)
Hayden throwing up all over the hallway at 2am the night we got home from Heber (a few hours after the miserable car ride)
Bedtime being a nightmare, so I took beds apart and moved Hayden into the nursery and Blake with Brendon.
Making sure the yard gets mowed every week. (Thanks Brendon)
Feeding kids 25 times a day and them cleaning up after them.
Giving all baths by myself and changing a million diapers by myself
Dealing with the messiest house I have ever seen (I don't have enough energy or time to do it all)


All in all, I guess you can say we survived. It has been a long 8 weeks, and we are Soooooo excited for Joey to get home. We just are not complete without him.

Here are a few pictures from Blake's B-day. (Note to self, too much light right near the sliding glass door for a good picture.)


Saturday, July 19, 2008

My Baby is ONE!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Blake!!!Born July 20, 2007



We love you!



Friday, July 18, 2008

Heber City, Utah/ July 2008

The kids and I headed to Heber for the 4th of July. We had such a great time playing with cousins, talking, eating, drinking and relaxing. The kids had fun on the four wheelers, the water slide and on the electric cars. The crew- Brendon, Summer, Parker, Steven, Marmie and Hayden
Wow, look at that crazy hair. Time for a hair cut!
I love this picture. Nicole is always taking care of Blake.
Too cute.
Hi, Baby!

Aubrey's dimples are just too much. Also, love the earrings!
Hayden's one and only time down the slide.
There is that one piece again!
"Summer, is that a Diet Coke? Did your mom say you could have that?"
Hey, a normal picture of Hayden.
Mr. Blue Eyes!
Karen and little Paigey!
She is solving world hunger!
Macy and Zack.


The girls gymnastic show. Nicole was the commentator. Now tricks for her!

Aubrey's hand stand.
There is that Hayden again!
What in the world has gotten into these two boys. They head off on a nice four wheeler ride with Steven and come back looking like this. They said something about Steven burning rubber and yelling, "Eat my Dust!!!!" I guess they did.

That looks like a mustache, but make no mistake, it's dirt. Aren't those ski goggles?



Hayden decided to be a dare devil. He would start at the top of the hill and come flying down on his scooter.

Fireworks.
Cousins, Nicole, Summer and Aubrey
The only one token picture of myself from the whole trip.


Well, there you have it. We had a great trip. Thanks Marmie and Poppy for the fabulous hospitality. Can't wait to come again!