2010 Gingerbread House

Nathan is getting us started on our gingerbread house. The boys really enjoy doing this each year for Christmas. From the moment we buy it and bring it home, they are constantly asking when they can do. That's all we heard for a week until we finally had a night to do it.




This is what Audrey was up to while we worked. She really wasn't happy that she wasn't a part of the sticky fun.




The Finished product. Danny made me be in the photo since I helped. I really didn't want my shot taken but he was relentless.


I looked over and found Colton like this, he's a silly boy.


Then Josh wanted to do the same thing.


And finally they all wanted to have their picture taken pretending to eat it. Well fast forward 2 days.....

2 DAYS LATER

This time they were pretending. They actually had all the candy eaten 2 -3 days later. Oh, well, it was their house and they got their enjoyment out of it. Now they have to wait another year to make another one.

Sunday's at our house

This is what is usually happening at our house on a Sunday evening after church. Once Nate has changed out of his church clothes he heads straight to the computer until dinner is ready.


Josh is helping set the table. He's typically just running around, jumping from wall to wall, or bugging one of his siblings. He's just a spaz!



Church is right during Colton's nap time so he's normally conked out like this when we get home or he ends up falling asleep during dinner.



And Audrey girl is always so happy to be home and crawling around. I had left the cupboard open and she found something in there (I didn't realize it was so disgustingly dirty, I'll be cleaning that now very soon) so she decided to get it.

And as you can see, she found it!


And as for Danny and I? I'd like to say that we were able to take a nap, oh how I miss Sunday naps, maybe next year at the 9am block schedule. But alas that isn't the case, we, or rather I am making dinner, sometimes Danny helps but usually he's keeping Audrey out of the way. And then we all gather at 6pm for an hour of AFV (America's Funniest Video's). And you thought we were going to say scriptures or FHE or something like that! We're good but not that good! So, now you can see what the Fritz house is really like on a Sunday evening.

7 Years Ago

My life was forever changed 7 years ago. November 20, 2003 we brought Nathan Christopher into this world. We were induced early, and let me tell you, he didn't want to come. He was my longest delivery and he barely made it on the 20th. It was 11:50pm when he finally emerged. Crying. Lots of crying. It was the most amazing sound I had ever heard. I remember laying there enthralled with his crying simply because it meant he was breathing. He was very much wanted and loved from the minute we knew we were having him. I knew he'd be a boy and that he was to be our little Nathan. He was held a lot! He was kissed a lot! He was spoiled with gifts alot! He was my baby, my first baby. Being a mom is work but being his mom was easy. Nathan was such a fun, happy, outgoing baby that he wasn't hard at all. He would go to anyone and loved all the attention they would give him. He was so giggly and easy going. Little did we know that would be his personality. He is still the same today. He is our socialite boy. Only know he's a little more opinionated and know-it-all, I'm just hoping that it's a 7 year old syndrome and that it's not going to last until he's 17. Even still, I love this boy. He's a very good boy. He's growing up so fast. So, I found some fun and cute pictures of him in his first year of life. It was fun looking back at him and hating that it went by way, way, way too fast. I hope he has had a great 7 years in our family cause I know we've enjoyed having him here, life would not be the same with out our Nate.


At birth, California



Syracuse, Utah Spring time



Bear Lake, summertime



Syracuse, Utah Midsummer



Connecticut early Fall



Syracuse, Utah Fall



Syracuse, Utah Late fall

Family Pictures

While we were in Utah we had family pictures taken. It was well, rather cold. The kids were not having a good time at all. But that being said, I think we got some rather cute shots. Colton being the only exception, he was soooooo cranky, tired, cold, hungry, etc, we just didn't get much out of him at all. So, here are a few shots of everyone.


Our sweet little princess.



We call him Lil Griz. (short for little grizzly bear)



Danny Jr or cute little Josh



Handsome Nate.



Us, after 9 1/2 years of marriage!



Our eternal family.



The whole family on my side.

Still Alive

Ok, so we are still alive. We're just pretty busy. We had a wonderful time up in Utah the week before Halloween. It went to fast, it just wasn't long enough. Kellen and Holli's wedding was beautiful. I wish I could say that I had pictures to post but sadly our camera wasn't working. We thought it was dead batteries but it turns out that it died on us completely. I hate not having a camera because I feel like I'm not capturing some of their childhood moments and I'll never get them again. So, it's a good thing there is Black Friday sales coming I should be able to get a good deal on one. Anyways, it was a fun dinner, a beautiful sealing and reception. We had a great time. Congratulations to the newest couple in the family. We enjoyed our halloween party with all the cousins- it was a lot of fun. The boys absolutely loved the treasure hunt grandma and grandpa created for them. They carry their treasure chests everywhere, filled with all sorts of odds and ends. I enjoyed just chatting with mom in the hot tub. And a big thanks to mom and pop for babysitting for us for a much needed date night. SLC's art museum was really bad but we had a good time getting out anyway. We enjoyed hanging out with everyone, too many things too mention in this post but we really enjoyed being there with everyone. I do have to mention that Colton really enjoyed playing with Sofie, just tonight we were talking about him missing EVERYONE and when I mentioned Sofie he said, 'bye' he remembered having to tell her bye and it was a LOOOONG bye. She's his friend. One day we'll live closer.

So, now we're home and in the daily grind of life again. Danny is busy with work, guard, school, school and more school. It takes up a lot of time. Nate had a eye appt today. His vision was up to 20/25 which is fabulous from were we started at like 20/400 when he was 3. We're very happy with his progress. So the Dr wants to keep him patching 4 hrs a day and see him in a month and if there is no more improvement then we'll drop to just 2 hrs a day until we are finally weaned from the patching. But we're thrilled with his vision at this point. Josh is doing well in school. We are working on his alphabet and him recognizing his letters. He doesn't tell me a lot of what he learns at school because he says it's a secret. You'd think that would raise some red flags but he tells me that about his church lessons too. He's just a stinker, super stubborn boy. Colton is working on his speech. It really has come ten fold since this summer. He's trying really hard to say things. We have flash cards with the alphabet on one side and pictures on the other. So, we go through the alphabet with Josh and then we do the same with Colton on the pictures. He really has a desire and thirst for words right now and we are super excited. Next on the agenda is going to be potty training. We want him trained by June for our trip to Yellowstone. Audrey has mastered her army crawl; she has now moved onto trying to stand. She wants so badly to pull herself up onto things. Currently she has a big scrap on her cheek because of her efforts to stand. She loves our piano, she will sit there and "sing" while she plays. It's so adorable, she's so adorable. And well, me, you can sum it all up in one word: mom. Whatever mom's do, that's what I'm doing. My work never ends. But I'm trying to find little treasures in life. I've been spending more time on the floor with the kids just playing and laughing. My house has suffered from it but my kids seem a little happier. Just this afternoon, we were geocaching in the woods and all 3 boys were running a head of us into an open meadow. I watched as they ran and marveled at the sight. It was a moment in my life that I wish I had had a camera to capture the image of them in the beautuful fall scene as they then stopped to look at a ditch. It was a picture that could have summed up my boys' curiosity, innocence, vivaciousness for life all in one. It's just hard to explain what I was feeling. And of course my Audrey girl was happily playing in the stroller as I pushed her. I guess it was a moment in my life of quiet contentment and joy. So, with that, I think it catches everyone one for now.

Here are some pictures that I took of the kids before our camera went on the fritz- (hehehe, like the pun there?) I just needed a new post to look at.


I wanted one of all the kids lined up like this but notice we have no Nate.

Oh, wait there he is. What's he doing over there? He's mad at us. He's refusing to get in our picture because something was said to tick him off. I begged and pleaded for him to join us to no avail. Only when the other kids had enough pictures and the camera put up did he want to take a picture.



Josh loving his "gull"


Colton loves his little sissy.


She's the light of her daddy's eye's. Daddy love's tickle time.


My Josh and me. I love that little boy's smile.

Bedtime

So it's come to my attention that I haven't blog for a while and they're tired of seeing the damaged tree. And quite frankly I am sick of seeing it too. I've wanted to blog and update but it takes a little effort and we've been pretty busy so I've been to worn out to do it. I should be getting a few more minutes now that we are getting into cooler weather. We've finished up football with Josh, soccer with Nate, had our primary program last Sunday, and plenty of hair appointments to keep me busy. Of course Nate has school and Josh has his preschool and now Danny has just returned to school so we have plenty to keep us busy. And Audrey and Colton keep my days and nights occupied.

So, let me just start by saying that I love my kids. But I also really love bedtime! I really, really enjoy that quiet, peaceful sound when they are fast asleep. They just have so much energy during the day that by the end of the day I'm ready for some relaxing moments. A little bit of my own time to watch some grown-up shows and not Qubo. So when it's their bedtime a give a sigh of relief. I will also admit that I stay up too late because I'm enjoying my "me" time a little too much- that and Audrey is also a night owl that doesn't go to bed until I do with her in my arms. And although I enjoy this bedtime quiet and them slumbering away, I also equally love watching my children sleep. I love seeing the peace on their faces when they are deep in sleep. I love seeing all their little features that I'm seldom able to examine when they're awake and moving. There is just something so enjoyable to me to see them sleep. No matter what has happened during the day, what wrongs they have done or I have done, it's at night when they're laying their still, I know that none of it matters at all. They are mine. My sleeping angels!!!!!

Nate

Josh


Colton


Audrey

The Storm

Late Saturday night we had a massive storm hit. It was a HUGE storm. One of those storms that all you can say is: WOW! The winds were coming in sideways. The hail was hitting hard, I thought it would crack our patio door. Our power went out just after midnight. Then we heard an alarm. With the power out, our sump pump wasn't working. The alarm was in there alerting us that the water levels were near flooding. So Danny had to get 5 gallon buckets and dump the water out. He set his phone on an alarm for every 15 minutes so he could dump the water out. I felt so bad for him being up all night. But with out him doing it, our basement would have flooded, so grateful that he was willing to do that. We were lucky and our power finally came back on about 4:30am.






This is the extent of our damage. This huge branch fell of our tree. It didn't do any damage, our pool deck was completely fine. It did look like a war zone around our house and surrounding area. It was amazing the damage that the winds did. There were so many trees up-rooted all around us. Our church was even out of power so it was canceled. It was one crazy storm that left us with lots of clean up to do

Half a Year

(If you look closely, you can see the 2 teeth she has on the bottom gums)

Where has the last 6 months gone? I can't believe she's already 6 months old. She's been with us for half a year. She has been so fun to have in our family. I just can't stop kissing her and squeezing her. She is one of the happiest- smiliest babies ever. Now at 6 months she is rolling over everywhere and I mean everywhere. She gets up on all 4's but she's a little to chunky to crawl so she'll do a army crawl and lots of rolling to get places. She plays with toys, attacks your face-she really loves faces. She laughs and giggles, can sit up on her own for short periods of time. Loves the exersaucer, loves to nurse and hates food. She has not taken to eating food yet, she prefers to just nurse, which clearly she's getting enough. We haven't taken her in for her 6 month appt yet so we don't know what she weighs yet but we know we love this little chunky princess. I took a few pics of her to share of what she's up to at her 6 month milestone.


(Such a pretty girl)


(I'm a happy girl)


(I see you mommy)


(Audrey has another love, grabbing her toes and sucking on them.)

Happy 6 month Birthday Audrey!!!