Stoic in the Face of Chickens

Ethan's kindergarten program was tonight, and it was a blast. He didn't smile, he did minimal actions, but he knew every word, and sang all the songs. I don't think I'd ever seen anyone pull off the Chicken Dance with dignity, but Ethan was surprisingly debonair while preforming one of the silliest dances known to man. The only time in the entire show he showed emotion is at the end of this clip, on the way out!

Ethan is the one on the back row in the white shirt with a red vest. Or just look for the child with minimal movement.

Little Green Balls of Poison

My Dad hates peas. He calls them "little green balls of poison (or death)." Both Ethan and Ella have HATED peas. The first time Ethan had them he refused to put his tongue back in his mouth and sat there with it hanging out until I scraped the peas off (amazing control for a 6 month old, but true). Ella spit them all over me. Surprise, surprise, we get Olivia:



As we pointed out she's been drinking the Nutrimagen formula, so ANYTHING would taste like ambrosia after that. Still, it was more than a surprise that she loved the peas, ate half the container, and started helping the spoon into her mouth!

3-2-1 Implosion

Well, we had 3 ER visits, 1 rush to urgent care, and trip to the regular doctors office in the last week. All three kids have major colds, all three kids have ear-infections, and Ethan has asthma triggered by croup. My poor kids have been so crabby and exhausted all week. The girls and I went out to lunch with Eric yesterday after preschool, and it wore them both out. This is what I saw when I turned around in the car (note the little mirror too).

The Big 3-0

So Eric is the big 3-0. 30 years old. Wow. I guess we are adults. Poor Eric is the only one of us who is not sick, so his birthday was more low key than I would have liked (I normally LOVE to do birthdays). We made his favorite, chicken enchiladas, and had white cupcakes with chocolate icing. We all got up late so Eric decided to open gifts after dinner, which scandalized the kids. Ella actually cried because she was sad FOR Eric that he couldn't open his gifts until after dinner. I guess to a little kid that is the ultimate in tragedies.

The New Beauty Treatment

We are redoing our bathroom, and last night I laid the grout for the tiles. Unfortuanately I didn't really think about what went into grout until after I started using my fingernail to clean up certain places. For those of you not in the know, sand is a big component. My fingernail was basically filed down on one whole side, 50% of the nail, to the quick. Not the most comfortable feeling, but it had me thinking that we could rent our house out as a spa. We could have people doing various home improvement projects and charge them for spa treatments. Grout clean up = mani/pedi. Paint the house = "special" facial (it always gets all over my face). Remove old varnish on wood = chemical peel, etc.

A Taste

Well, Livi finally ate cereal for the first time. This is more a post for the grandparents who actually might want to see her first taste. She does make some weird faces, but for the most part she loves it. I guess cereal isn't a far stretch from formula, but I can tell she's going to make awesome faces when she gets to eat peas!

Sick of being sick

Well, we've been to the ER twice this week. On Monday night I went with Ethan to the ER after he woke up with croup and couldn't breathe. Last night he developed a fever and wouldn't get out of bed, so again we got to visit the ER. Luckily it was not pneumonia, but an ear infection. This poor guy is on 6 medications. After giving them to him last night I had to pray that his poor little body could handle all that medicine. I have never been scared of medicine, in fact I love it, but after the 3rd dose last night I started getting a little scared. He's so little still.
He made it through the night, and seems to be feeling much better. Although most of the medicines taste like they were made in the Candyland sewer, he takes them like a pro. I just hope the girls make it through this cold without the complications that have plagued Ethan.

Liitle Laughing Liv

I just love having Livi in our lives. She is such a joy. She is quick to smile, and easy to make laugh. She really has a sunny disposition, and I am loving spending time with her. If only all babies were like this (expect for the $300 dollars a month we spend on fancy formula and Prevacid for her sensitive stomach).
Enjoy this super sweet video of Ethan and Ella entertaining Olivia.

Stotts On Rye, with a side of chips.

This morning all the kids woke up a little early, so we piled into our bed to have a family cuddle. Ella was on the edge and wanted to get in the middle by Livi. One of us mentioned Livi was "sandwiched:" between us. Ella immediately exclaimed "I'm the Ham!!!!" After we stopped laughing she went on to say Livi was the cheese, and Ethan, who wanted to stay on the side, was the pickle (Eric and I were the bread if anyone didn't get that). What a funny way to think of our family. We are finally a complete Ham and Cheese sandwich.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling, Keep that baby rolling.

I thought it was a fluke, but Livi can definitely roll from front to back!



One of our friends, who will remain nameless, stated he hated big giant flowers and bows on babies. Well after the lady at the mall called Livi "Benito" I ran home and ordered the cutest, girliest, biggest bows I could find. I went to the mall yesterday and EVERY SINGLE PERSON who saw her stopped and commented on what a cute little GIRL I had. I may agree it looks like a spot light on her head, but no one thinks she's a boy. Well worth it!

My Idol, Aunt Diane

My wonderful Aunt Diane took some fabulous pictures of my kids this summer. I just got Ella's and as you can see they are amazing. I can't wait to see the rest of them. I got interested in photography after seeing Diane's talent with photos, and only hope that I can be half as good as her someday. This is a picture of my cousin (yes mine! My cool Aunt Christy, whom I've always adored, had a little girl two months after I had Ella) Anna and Ella. Good thing my kids have second cousins and first cousins once removed to play with.
Scary. I can tell she is going to be too beautiful for her own good as a teenager, and I'm not looking forward to that time.
My beautiful little girl. So quick to laugh, loves to sing, and always tries to spread sunshine everywhere she goes. I'm so lucky.

Oh, and yeah, I lost a tooth today

Ethan came home from school on Tuesday so excited to watch the new "Space Buddies" movie that, that was all he could talk about. The second he got home he and Ella ran in and watched the movie. Eric got home shortly after they finished and asked a simple question that I had asked several times that day "Ethan, what happened at school today?" To my surprise the answer was "I lost a tooth." I was shocked and amazed. This was the first tooth he had lost, and he had talked about how loose it was for days. He even had Eric try and pull it out, he was so excited about it. It turns out the tooth started to bug him and he pulled it out in P.E. He was sent to the office and they gave him a special box to keep the tooth in until he got home. I thought for sure it would have been the first thing he would say to me, but the thought of 5 talking puppies in space was more important, I guess.

Dancing Queen

Ella is so funny. Every time she hears music she starts bobbing her head, moving her arms, and if there is enough room, full on dancing. I love to watch her, with all her enthusiasm and lack of self-consciousness. Oh to be 3 again.

Help, my face is eating my binkie!

As my chubbiest baby, Olivia is just so fun to kiss! Ethan was SOOO skinny and Ella didn't get chubby until she was 6 months old, so this has been a real treat. Livi's face is so round her cheeks start to hang over the edge of her binkie and threaten to envelop it all. Her legs need no comment, they are just awesome!

Livi Speaks

Jealous Much?

Who doesn't love 16 inches of snow? They had to cancel school (snow days are rare in Nebraska since our buses have huge snow tires), so the kids are having a blast playing together and drinking all my hot chocolate. I bet you all wish you could visit and make snow angels in my yard.

Failure is My Option

I guess it's because I have two parents who never seem to fail at anything that makes me feel so horrible when I have to give up on something. I realized 2 weeks ago that I was failing at everything. Ethan was crabby all the time, Ella was acting out, I was stressed beyond belief, my house was a mess, and I had primary teachers letting me know what a bad job I was doing. I always thought failing was not an option for church callings, but I decided better to fail at that, than everything in my life, so I asked to be released as Primary President. I have never asked to be released before, and it was humiliating, but now that it's all over I feel awesome. The Bishopric was very understanding since one of my counselors never showed up and the other is pregnant with her 6th child (and is the Bishops wife). With Olivia being my little tumor (permanently attached to my side) I just couldn't pull the extra weight.
I didn't get off scott free, though. I was called to be the Achievement Day leader for the 8-11 year old girls, which is the calling I had when I first moved here and LOVED it. I was also called to be a Relief Society instructor. Some of my friends think this isn't much of a break, but 3 days a month is WAY better than everyday as Primary President (because of all the craziness here). When you have a ward as small as ours every person has to do double duty, even crazy, overstressed mothers and fathers (Eric is 11 year old scouts leader, and ward emergency preparedness coordinator).

One of the thing that cheered me up this week was this picture. Iwas finally cleaning up and pulled this stuffed animal out from under the table. I guess it was jail, and this poor bunny had broken the law. One of Ethan' favorite games is to have his stuffed animals break the law, and then he is the cop and prosecutor and Eric plays the judge. Ethan laughs so hard when bunnies and bears are sentenced to hard labor making Easter eggs, or collecting honey.
The picture at the top is from the mall. Ella wanted to ride the horse and Ethan tried to ride on the back, but kept sliding off. This is why I am a Mom, I love how silly my kids are.
Another fun thing for me is to look over and see Eric holding Livi. My heart melts evertime I see her tiny body cuddled up in his big strong arms.

The Pirate Ship That Wasn't Meant to be.

Ethan really wanted a pirate themed birthday party this year. It is the first time we have had a "friend" party and I really wanted everything to be special for him. I decided to build a 3-D pirate ship for the cake. I had it all figured out, but forgot about gravity. The sides where too heavy and the ship split into pieces. After a frantic call home, my Dad calmed me down enough I could think about the problem and after consulting my vast cake knowledge (from watching Food Networks "Ace of Cakes") I fixed the problem by tearing the layers apart and putting in platforms. Crisis averted, or so I thought.
I guess this cake offended someone in another life. Maybe it was a rich man, like Mister Burns, and Karma felt that he should be reincarnated as a doomed cake. Maybe I took on too big a project. Maybe life just happens. Whatever it was, this cake had a contract out on its short life. Enjoy watching our disaster.


I have a few more fun pics to add for this birthday post.
Yes, Ella did wear a princess dress to the pirate party. Ethan was less than thrilled, but I had to explain he couldn't dictate what she wore.
We went to Pizza Hut for Ethan's birthday dinner. I was trying to get a nice picture of Eric with the girls, but somebody thought this was the funniest thing ever and did it to 3 more pictures.
The picture I finally got.

Me and the birthday boy. This is my tired face from waiting 45 minutes to order, trying to take pictures that he blocks, and trying to get him to smile. This was the closest thing to a smile we could get, but you know what, I love it.

What a difference 2 months make

I can't believe my baby is 2 months old. Not only is she rounder, longer and just bigger in general, she is so alert, smiley, and fun to be with.

0 and 1,758

We were lucky enough to spend Christmas in California with our families. The video is Ella rocking out with Grandma Joan's dancing/singing reindeer. I think we listened to this song for a total of 28 hours on our trip (okay maybe only 24). The kids had such a great time, and if I had stuck to my goal of not making a single one of my family members cry, I would have had a great time too. I almost made it the whole trip! Oh well, there's always next year.
We made our annual Christmas trip to Disneyland, which the kids were ecstatic about. It rained the whole morning, but after our annual buying of new wardrobes for wet kids, we enjoyed the lack of people in the park. Olivia was a real trouper and got to experience Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Jungle Cruise, to name a few. If any of you go with babies, check out the Baby Care Center. It is the best kept secret in Disneyland. There are private areas to nurse or pump, a great changing area, a stocked kitchen, and the nicest ladies in the world to help you. GOOOOO Disney!!!
Here we are waiting for the Christmas parade to start. It's amazing that in all the years of going to Disneyland I avoided parades and the Tiki Room. Having little kids makes you do things you thought you would never do, but just seeing their joy makes it fun (almost). Ella's face when Princess Aurora waved to her made sitting on the cold ground worth it.
We were also so lucky that we could bless Livi with our Dads and brothers. Olivia Love Stott was official blessed on Christmas Eve. She cried through the whole thing, I peaked and the guys were bouncing her to no avail. Eric could barely think, but it was still beautiful.
Christmas morning was awesome. Here we all are (except Dad) in our new pajamas. Santa came, and brought exactly what we all wanted, and the kids were spoiled beyond belief from Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, and us. That wasn't the best part though. The best part was talking to our brothers on missions, James and Kyle. Kyle comes home on January 2nd, and it was fun to get to say hi knowing we would see him soon. James was his usual fun self and it was cool that his girlfriend, Jes, came to stay with us after Christmas. She is such a neat person and I loved getting to know her better. Hopefully she doesn't Dear John him after spending time with us (we can be a little...overwhelming, when we are all together).
All in all it was a great trip, and hopefully I'll be able to have a new record of not making a family member cry and get to 1 and 1,758 next year.