Letter to Santa

The kids wrote a letter to Santa tonight and here is how it all unfolded. The Gingerbread houses were left for Santa and Mrs. Clause instead of Milk and Cookies along with the following note of sentiments from our kids, with mom acting as the scribe for them.

To: Santa
Dear Santa Clause,
Your coming to town and that's all right! We've been good kids. (Mom as scribe)
Dexter's own writing:
Santa Caluse, Thank you for the presents, I love you.
Lucy's own writing:
I love you Santa Clause, Have a safe flight.

From: Santa
To Dexter, Lucy, and Family
How wonderful it was to be given such a wonderful gift. Those gingerbread houses will be wonderful.
Dexter I am pleased with your progress this year so I have decided to get you what you asked for. You have been a wonderful boy this year. Keep it up.
Lucy, your spirit is strong and so is your will. I am so happy and proud that you have chosen to exercise these traits in righteousness. Your behavior has been wonderful as well. Keep it up.
From the bottom of my and Mrs. Clause's hearts, have a very merry Christmas and I am looking forward to seeing you next year.
Love,
S.C.

Redemption!

From this.... (the horrible Santa and the $15.00 picture)

To this... (a nice Santa, Mrs. Clause & pictures we didn't have to pay for!)

My friends father has a Santa and Mrs. Clause come into his work every year for the employee's kids and grandkids and she invited us to go along. The kids were shy at first but Dexter warmed right up to Santa and Lucy was just in love with Mrs. Clause. On the car ride home Lucy said, "Mrs. Clause is my friend, Mommy!" She was so excited. Dexter said, "Santa talked to us this time." If you read the post below you know that our last Santa encounter was not so good and he didn't talk to the kids AT ALL. I am so thankful that we were able to go (Thanks Michonne!) because Santa is a friend in the Saupe household once again!

Look up Rainbow in the dictionary and it will say: SLACKER!

Since her last post we have had 3 more kids, been to the moon (and back obviously), and vacationed in the Mediterranean. Well maybe not all that, but there has been enough time for all that to happen. Sorry, we will try not to let this happen again. We know the Grandma's really enjoy the updates and pictures. There will be a lot of random pictures so bare with me.





OK let's start off with the kids. My memory is a bit fuzzy because my has wife slacked sooo much and hasn't blogged since before Halloween, so I will start. Our theme for costumes was Grease. Dexter and I were T-Birds (I had the most awesome wig but we don't have a picture- I know bummer). Lucy, Hazel and Mom were the most beautiful pink ladies you ever did see. My wife made the poodle skirts with the help of a friend. We all looked awesome but the camera ran out of battery before we got a family picture. The kids are what matter anyway. I gotta say Dexter looked PERFECT, his hair was all greasy and hung perfectly from his cranium. He even had a little Elvis like stance when he was in costume. I really wish I could have grown up in that era. When we were all dressed up we put on some music and the kids started dancing together. It was super cute. We have pictures. Here are a couple:

I know, I know we have the cutest kids EVER!

Unfortunately, most of November (and right up until now) one or more of the Saupe clan has been sick with the cold or flu. Every single one of us has had both in the last six weeks but in between all that sickness there was some highlights. We celebrated my wife's birthday. Dad and Mom got to go to the Coldplay concert which was extremely good. I was a little annoyed at the sound level, but now that my ears have stopped ringing a month later I can forgive and forget.

Then Thanksgiving was spent with most Rainbow's siblings at Nina & Rett's house and we all had a great time. Thanks, Nina, for hosting. It was great.

The next big thing was that Hazel popped out a couple of teeth. So now she has her two front toofises and just keeps getting cuter. Don't believe me... Well then BAM!

The many faces of Hazel.

She is such a joy. Even teething with a cold and/or flu, horrible diaper rash, immunizations and flu shots she is the sweetest little thing. We are lucky she is ours. At her 6 month check-up (which was really at 7 months) she was 19 lbs 7 oz and 29.75 inches long. A good healthy size but there was a bit of a concern that she went down from the 95% in weight to the 75%. It was most likely that she has just gotten over a very bad case of the stomach bug but it will be monitored because if it continues to go down that could indicate the previously blogged-about heart issues could be an problem. But I am chalking it up to the flu for now. We will see in a few months at her next check-up.


She has also started sitting up and crawling which scares Mom because now she has 3 very mobile children. But it is great to see her grow up. Crawling is still somewhat manageable. When she starts running with the other two, that's when we are in real trouble. And with the way she picks up new skills it will probably be sooner than later. We have started bathing her in the tub with the big kids. She loves it, so do Dex and Lucy. It is cute and much easier to get them all bathed. Aren't they cute in their towels? Have I mentioned how cute our kids are?

The kids are also really enjoying dance parties lately. They like to turn on the music channel on the TV (probably because we actually don't own a stereo) and dance away. Lucy especially. The other day we were in the McDonald's play place and she started dancing around and shouting out, "Look at me guys! Think I'm cute?!" She dances all day long.

I also took my life into my hands by getting up onto the roof and hanging up Christmas lights. They look great. I have a picture of the masterpiece I put together on the lamppost but not the house. You'll just have to imagine the most beautiful and elegant Christmas lights and that is what ours looks like.

In an effort to gear up for Christmas we took the kids to see Santa Claus. This Santa really made me mad because we couldn't take our own pictures because they wanted you to buy theirs. Okay, that is fine but then the Santa better be worth it. But he wasn't!!! The kids were a little scared and shy of Santa but did Santa try and warm them up with some Ho-Ho-Ho's or asking them what they wanted, or even giving me or the kids EYE CONTACT!? No, he was horrible. Didn't even say a word. I was made. So it was a bust. We did get a picture where Dexter looks terrified and Lucy is screaming but we will have to scan it in.

Today we made our 2nd Annual Saupe Gingerbread creation. Last year was a train. This year we had two houses. The kids and I had tons of fun. Lucy took the philosophy of "two for me, one for the house" policy when it came to the candy and ate more than good for her or her teeth. It was great. Hazel had lots of fun watching. Can't wait for next year when she can join in on the fun.

It feels like we are totally unprepared for Christmas. Most likely because everyone has been so sick for so long. It takes a toll on everyone when no one feels well and days on end are filled with diapers, snotty noses and puke (with the occasional snow storm that makes it hard to leave the house). We didn't send out cards this year and Christmas presents will be late this year but to all our loved ones: Please know we LOVE you and think about you all the time and hope that the spirit of Christmas is with you and you can forgive us of our faults and forgetfulness.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Love Songs

Yesterday, as I was working out, there was a 9 year-old guitar playing prodigy on the Today Show. This reminded me of a couple of Sunday's ago when Dexter, Rich and occasionally Lucy were having an awesome jam session. It was really cute. Rich blogged about it on our other website. (http://saupes.spaces.live.com/) I am pretty sure we have a musical genius in our Dexter. He has been grooving with beats from a very young age. Which brings me to the reason for this blog: today I was getting pretty frustrated because as I was elbow deep in dishes when Lucy started throwing a tantrum in her shrill-girl tone which woke Hazel up from a nap, so she started crying too. Dexter came up to me with his little guitar and said, "Mom, I'm going to sing you a love song." He started strumming away singing, "I love you. I love you. I love you..." Too precious. I love HIM. Dexter is awesome. I am pretty lucky lady to have a musical genius write me my very own love song.


And as a side note I meant to do a blog on Sunday but the day(s) have gotten away from me. On that day Rich and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. It seems like much longer because we dated for 4 years prior to getting married. But this has been such an amazing, crazy, wonderful, whirlwind marriage with 3 kids, 3 moves, purchasing our first home and 3 job changes for Rich. I am so happy every day that I was blessed with such a wonderful husband. I love him more than I can even say. (And since Rich has written, composed and recorded a few songs for me as well, I guess I am a EXTREMELY lucky lady.)

Hazel's Heart (an Update)

Today we had our big trip back up to Primary Children's Hospital to have another look at Hazel's heart. For those that don't know or would like a refresher, Hazel was born with 3 holes in her heart causing a significant heart murmur. The doctor described it as "louder than normal". Two of the holes were in the lower chamber called VSD's. One was in the upper chamber called ASD. The VSDs was the most concerning because if they didn't close she would have to have surgery to repair them at one year of age. The ASD could also need surgery but wasn't as concerning at the time.

But at the hospital Hazel was on her best behavior and the nurse just fell in love with her. Apparently she had lots of crying and screaming babies that morning and Hazel was all smiles and giggles. Even during her EKG and while I was peeling those horrible sticky things off her chest she was happy. She passed her EKG with flying colors and then Dr. Gray came in (he is so awesome I wish that ALL pediatricians were as caring as he is...) he listened to her heart and pronounced her VSDs (the 2 holes in the lower chamber of her heart) gone or at least so small they are insignificant and no longer causing a murmur! Hooray!! Dr. Gray said it is likely that her ASD is still there because of its large size just a few months ago and they don't usually cause a murmur. Again, there is an 80% chance that this will clear up on it's own and cause no problems. If it doesn't clear up an ASD causes ones heart to slowly get bigger and bigger because the heart has to work extra hard to pump blood and like any muscle it gets bigger the harder you work it. This usually doesn't cause any problems with the individual until they are at least 20 years old. But they know by the time a child is two or three if the ASD is going to cause problems so they typically try and repair it before a child enters school so sports and etc wouldn't cause undo risk. So she will go back when she is two to repeat the ECHO to see if the hole is still there. The signs for us to look for are rapid heart beats, labored breathing and/or falling off her weight curve. She weighed in at 15 lbs 2 oz today and 27 inches, so for a 5 month old she is HUGE. After the first 2 months which had me pretty stressed (about her lack of weight gain) she has been gaining at a rapid pace so I really don't foresee any problems at all. But it is good to be prepared and informed anyway.

Thank you to Rich for all the wonderful blessings he gave our little girl and for all the prayers of those who knew our situation. We really appreciate them and we want to let you know THEY WORKED!!!

As for my huge mommy blunder today; We got tickets for a Friday matinee at the circus with the Ormonds, so the kids have been super excited to go to the circus with Kaitlyn and Brooklyn. Well all week I was telling them it was this Friday. So on the way to pick up Rich to go to the circus I get a call from Rich telling me the circus is actually NEXT Friday. I said to them as I was driving, "Kids, I am so sorry but Mommy made a mistake. The circus is next week." And Dexter says to me, "Mom, I have a great idea. Why don't you turn left here and drive straight to the North Pole. The circus is there and it won't be a mistake." Umm, that might be a good idea. We could stop by Grandma and Grandpa Wolfe's in the south part of Alaska too! Instead we decided to go see a movie, so we didn't miss out on the fun family outing the kids were promised. We saw Igor, I don't recommend it. But the kids enjoyed it and the popcorn.

I also got new glasses today (eventful day, huh?) because my last ones had chipped lenses and one of the side posts broke off and was being held together with masking tape. The new ones are cute but different then I normally get. I like them. Maybe I'll post pics so my mom and/or Rosemary can give me a thumbs up or down. I hope they don't fall apart in less then a year like these lasts ones did. Sorry for the novel. Enjoy your weekend!

Swim Lessons!

The gym I joined is actually the community recreational center here in West Valley. They have all sorts of programs for kids Rich and I are really excited about. They have soccer which I think I will get both kids involved in next summer, dance, basketball, tae kwan do, musical theater academies and day camps. For now I am focused on swim lessons. Dexter started a two week, four class session today. Lucy starts a Mommy & Me swim lesson on Oct. 4th, which I am excited about too. Dexter also starts a Busy Bee "Edufun" program in October. It is a soft-start to pre-school. Anyway, on to Dexter's swim lesson today. Despite the laxidasical instructor it was pretty awesome, mostly because Dexter had SO much fun. As soon as he stepped in the water he started walking towards the deeper water and got neck deep! I was a little anxious for him but he was so brave (or at least had no fear, which I am not sure is a good thing)! Today's lesson was just about getting in and having fun in the pool but they are supposed to get the hang of blowing bubbles and try to float by the end of the session. Dexter kept looking at the HUGE water slide, pointing to it and asking the instructor if he could slide down it. (That's him in the picture pointing to the slide.) Yeah, I don't think so kid. He kept on asking me, "Can I stay in here for awhile longer, Mommy?" But by the time it was over he came out of the pool and said, "That was a great idea to do swim lessons, Mom. I had fun. Now let's go get Luce. I miss Luce." (She and Hazel were in the daycare still). But what a great brother. So sweet. Doesn't my little man look awesome in goggles?!

Hogle Zoo

Janica, Kaitlyn and Brooklyn invited us to go to the zoo with them a couple weeks ago. It was tons of fun. The kids loved it. Lucy loved the banging on the drums and Dexter enjoyed learning to use the chopsticks in this little hut they had in the Asian Highlands. It was good to get out with all 3 kids. I am finally starting to feel a little independent and am not completely scared to leave the house with all 3 in toe. Enjoy the pics.

P.S. Rich posted some awesome "jam" session pictures on his website. I will blog more on that later too. But check out the pictures there http://saupes.spaces.live.com/

Also, I joined the gym today! They have free daycare for the first hour everyday, so I figured it is a win/win situation. I get some time away from the kids doing something good for myself and the kids have fun playing in their fun little play center. So, with any luck, you will see less and less of me in the coming months (pound-wise, not time-wise).

Nice Work If You Can Get It...

And I have got it! Let me tell you how... (Anyone get the Cybil/Fred Astaire/Ira Gershwin reference? probably not). Anyway, I was giving the big kids a bath the other night and Dexter started pouring water over Lucy's head. To my astonishment Lucy didn't flinch. She sat there patiently letting Dexter do his thing. This is when Dexter looks at me and says, "I'm taking care of Lucy. Taking care of Lucy is a great job." It would do me good to keep this perspective more often. Lucy is pretty wonderful and taking care of her (along with Dexter and Hazel) is a pretty great job. I am a lucky mom.

And on the Hazel front not only is she rolling all around she is so mobile she might as well be crawling. She is doing this thing that resembles doggy paddling on the floor and getting around quite well like that. She can also hold her own bottle, which is interesting because she has only been getting them often recently, but she can also put her binky in her mouth when given to her! She is too young to do that kind of stuff. Can I hire a baby whisperer to come and tell her to stop growing up so fast, PLEASE! She won't listen to me. She just sees her big brother and sister and is too eager to start playing with them. She is so fun though. She just has one smile and it is the "smile as big as half my face" smile. She is such a happy child. This post is helping me to count my blessings. Some days, like when I am sick and want to lay in bed and nurse myself not a baby, it can be hard to remember. I always have Dexter to remind me what a great job I have!

Finally!

These are the pictures from last Tuesday when my brother Ivan, his wife Alexa and their kids, Kara, Patrick and Thomas came to Utah on a 9 hour layover from Alaska back to Texas. So, like last year, I picked them up at the airport for some rest, food and hopefully a little fun. Kara and Lucy became fast friends as Kara became the Fairy Godmother and dressed Lucy up as the princess. Lucy loved it! Dexter was excited for several weeks talking about Kara, Patrick and Thomas. He had a lot of fun playing cars and watching Scooby-Doo with Patrick. Alexa is due with their 4th baby next month and Ivan should be finishing up his dissertation by next summer. Lots of exciting times for their family! We had lots of fun and hope they did too.


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Lucky Guess or Boy Genuis?

I have a lot to blog about and I know my mom is wondering where the pictures from Ivan's visit are but I have had a crazy, busy, long, stressful, fun and sad week, all ending with a head cold. So those pictures will come. But I wanted to blog a few stories about the kids before a forget them. I hope the Grandma's will appreciate hearing them.

Yesterday in loo of Family Home Evening we decided to watch "Jonah- A VeggieTales Movie". My kids love VeggieTales and so do Rich and I. Well, I was talking to Rich (and other ears that may be eavesdropping) saying something like, "the kids who eat their dinner and don't misbehave will get popcorn and C-A-N-D-Y." Dexter got very excited and said, "What, do we get candy?!?!" It isn't like I spell candy out load a lot, or ever actually. Rich and I couldn't believe it. I suppose it must be a lucky guess since he still doesn't recite the alphabet as well as Lucy can. But, for now, I will smile and think of my boy genius. His name is Dexter, after all.


Also, last week we went to Costa Vida for dinner and in walked the missionaries for dinner as well. Of course, these were not the missionaries that go to our ward just random missionaries. Anyway, Dexter's favorite prayer at night it, "Dear Heavenly Father, please bless the missionaries. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen." So I told him that those missionaries were some of missionaries he prays for at night. It was like I could see the light bulb turn on over his head. It was so cute to see. He is also really into to being proud or having someone be proud of him (I think it stemmed from potty training). So after after dinner Dexter and Lucy ran up to their table and said something along the lines of, "Thank you for being missionaries. I am so proud of you." The missionaries looked kind of stunned but I was sure proud. To go along with that, Lucy does not like to pray. Her favorite prayer is, "Heavenly Father, AMEN!" Her arms raised above her head at AMEN. I guess she doesn't have the patience for it. But that night as I put her in bed she said her first real prayer. "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for Hazel, thank you for mommy and dada. Thank you for missionaries. Amen" A day to be proud of my children. And we certainly are grateful for missionaries. Because of SEVERAL sets of loving, kind, and very patient missionaries we are now a Forever Family. My husband was baptised Dec. '05 and we were sealed in the temple for time and all eternity March '07. We are grateful to Elders Holliday, Rambo, Stimpston, Briggs, Morris and many, many others. For that reason, my family will always pray for and be proud of the missionaries. Thank you for your service.

The sad ending to my week was that I was released as the secretary in the Relief Society. I enjoyed my calling very much and appreciate how I was able to get to know the women so well in such a short time. I am very sad to be leaving this calling because I have made some great friends. (post publish edit- forget I mentioned anything past this sentence. I was supposed to have the calling today but I was not called so maybe mum should be the word until I actually called over the pulpit.)

P.S. Mom- I will post the pictures as soon as I get some rest. Sorry!