BRANDENISE

Pictures

2010-11-28T21:55:00.000-08:00

Recent pictures - post 3.

Pictures

2010-11-28T21:51:00.000-08:00

Recent pictures - post 2.

New Pics

2010-11-28T21:48:00.000-08:00

Recent pictures - post 1.

"Maxee" as Lily calls him all day long!

2010-10-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

Carefree Max!

2010-10-11T22:06:00.000-07:00

Max is a bit of a loner when he plays. He would be perfectly happy living naked in the back yard exploring by himself. But when we go out he is the friendliest of all our kids. He smiles and says hi to everyone several times. He blows kisses and makes sure that whoever he is saying "hi" and "bye" to has heard him! Lily is our outgoing one at home with our family, but she clams up and Max turns on the charm when we are in public.

Macy is 9 months and sweet as pie!

2010-10-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

2010-09-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

Lily talks to me all day long in a loud voice. She is not one to be ignored! Her vocabulary is amazing, and she wants to use it. Lily and Max are best of buddies most of the time. They play all day and sometimes end up laughing in a tangled heap on the floor together. Of course they still bite or pull eachother's hair occasionally if necessary! Lily also still loves her blanket and her baby, Gina, (her doll) a lot. She is very motherly to Max and to Macy. We are potty- training this week and she has gone two days in a row without an accident, so I am excited to have only two in diapers soon instead of three!!

Cool big brother Alec

2010-09-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

Alec is in 2nd grade now. He had a fun summer with all these babies, but now he is ready to go back to school and have some friends his own age!! Alec has been taking karate this summer and loves it! He will be testing for his junior yellow belt on Saturday. Alec also spends a lot of time drawing. He earned some money this summer doing chores and got some Heely's (shoes with a wheel in it). He also got some roller blades for finishing a math program that he has been working on for over a year now almost every day. He takes to all wheeled things quickly and has had a lot of fun with his new toys. Okay, this first picture is not the best of him, but he loves holding Macy and sharing a room with her. He confessed to me recently that Macy was his favorite one. I was surprised and asked him why Macy was his favorite. He shrugged as if it was an easy decision and said, "Well, she's the softest and the cutest, and she always smiles at me whenever she sees me." I guess that's a good enough reason!

And the REAL baby!

2010-02-26T14:38:00.000-08:00

Macy is a very good baby. She usually sleeps through the night now, or just wakes up once. She has started smiling, which is soooo adorable. She had her baby blessing at church a couple of weeks ago, and her beautiful dress is from my mom. It was a little big, but she sure looked pretty in it! Macy had her 8-week doctor's appointment just yesterday, and she is already 12 pounds and 3 ounces, and is 24 inches long. She is in the 90th percentile for weight, and in the 97th percentile for height. She will definitely be bigger than Lily. The doctor said that in a couple of years everyone will probably think that Lily and Macy are the twins since Max is so much bigger than Lily, and Macy will quickly catch up! Macy is very alert and attentive when looking at people. She is also pretty resiliant when it comes to all the "love" that she recieves from her siblings!!!

Max

2010-02-26T14:25:00.000-08:00

Max would like to still be our baby! He loves his bottle, his binky, and is a bit of a loner. He loves to cuddle, and is such a little ladies-man!! Max almost always has a smile on his face. He is mostly very easy-going, but he gets very upset when anyone leaves to go someplace without him. He will throw himself on the floor, and is completely inconsolable for a few minutes every morning when Branden leaves for work. Max makes a fishy-mouth everytime he kisses, which is frequently. If he gets hurt, I will feel someone by my leg, and I look down and he kisses me, and then walks away like he is all better now. Max loves nature! He would live outside if he could, and when he is outside, it's all about the leaves, flowers, and the dirt. He LOVES dirt!! He still loves to create messes, and loves to climb into any little hole or cupboard or tunnel-like thing that he can find! Max is in the 95th percentile for his height and weight, and shows no sign of slowing down on his growth. But oh, how he loves to be held! Max is wimpier than Lily, for sure, but also definitely sweeter. We love our sweet Max!!

Alec

2010-02-26T14:02:00.000-08:00

Alec is enjoying 1rst grade. He lost one of his front teeth, and he is often concerned about his hair. Alec has entered that slightly obnoxious 7-12 year-old boy phase where he is frequently loud, doesn't always think before he acts, and goes back and forth from being a cuddly sweet little boy, to a cool, video game playing, tough guy. He is a great reader himself, but mostly loves our reading time together when I read something to him. Currently we are reading "The Magician's nephew" for the second time. It is the first Chronicles of Narnia book.

He had fun imagining giving a secret Valentine to a cute girl in his class, but chickened out at the last minute! He has lots of friends, but not one really close friend. He has playdates with friends a few times each week, and it's usually a different kid each time. Alec recently finished up basketball and is now taking swimming lessons. He really loves his swimming class. We expect a lot of Alec, and he does a great job helping at home. He picks up all the toys each night, holds Macy when I need him to, and keeps Max and Lily entertained so I can occasionally get a shower in or get dinner on. We got a Wii for Christmas, and he knows how to get it all set up better than I do! He is up to my shoulders now, but his feet are about the same size as mine. Alec has always been a very good boy, and we are so glad he is our oldest!!

Lily

2010-02-26T13:01:00.000-08:00

Lily is daring, smart as can be, funny, a bully, silly, organized, a sweetheart, and a good little mommy to Max, Macy, and her "baby" whom she named Gina. She loves learning knew things, and focuses intently until she has it figured out! She loves to get wipes and clean the floor, wipe her face, and Maxes face, and anything else she could possibly clean. She adores Alec, and isn't intimidated by him at all even if he is playing kind of rough with her. She definitely loves it when Branden comes home and throws her up in the air or hangs her upside down. Her vocabulary is increasing rapidly, and she can tell you all the sounds that the letters make. She loves making animal sounds, naming everybody's various body parts, and hiding from me when I tell her to come!! She loves her blanky, her thumb, her baby (Gina), and spinning in circles until she gets so dizzy she falls down! She will jump off of anything, and will attempt anything she sees bigger people doing. She is fearless and a thrill seeker!! Oh yeah, and she is gorgeous!!

Siblings

2010-02-26T12:43:00.000-08:00

Everyone is trying to get to know Macy. When Lily first got to "hold" Macy on my lap, I told her to give Macy a kiss and she licked her instead! Max and Lily love to give her her binky or hug and kiss Macy. Lily is always wanting to hold her. She also stuck a pretzel in Macy's mouth to share with her the other day. Lily frequently gives Macy her special blanky and is very sweet to Macy. Max is sometimes jealous when I am holding her, but he seems to love her too. Alec is delighted to have a new little sister and in his prayers the other night he asked for mom to have ANOTHER baby! I just started laughing during the prayer and told Alec to have mercy on me!! Isn't three babies at once in our family enough right now?!! Apparently not for Alec!

Photo Shoot of Macy

2010-01-22T13:43:00.000-08:00

Welcome Macy Louise Neish! We love you!!!

2010-01-08T15:00:00.000-08:00

Last week, on December 29th, at 9:52AM, Macy Louise Neish was born. She was 8 pounds even, and was 21 inches long. I had C-section, and we stayed in the hosital for 3 days. Alec and Max and Lily were not allowed to visit us at the hospital due to new rules because of the H1N1 virus this year, so I missed them a lot. Branden's mom and dad came through for us and watched the kids during that time, and then my niece, Fenja, came and has been here for the past week since we came home. Truly, I would not have survived without their help!!!
We love Macy so much already, and she is doing really well at home. Her brothers and sisters are adjusting well to having her here too!

Cute Kids!

2009-11-10T16:04:00.000-08:00

Halloween

2009-11-10T15:58:00.000-08:00

Family

2009-11-06T20:36:00.000-08:00

More summer and fall pictures

2009-10-26T14:29:00.001-07:00

We're Back!

2009-10-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

For some reason I have just taken a long break from blogging! Life has been busy, but mostly, I just got out of the habit of posting some pictures occasionally. We had a fun summer, and Alec is now enjoying first grade. He is doing really well in school, and will be starting basketball next week.
Lily is running all over the place and is still our little firecracker. She is fun, full of energy, and definitely a character. Oh, and did I mention that she is a little bit feisty?!!
Max is the layed back, easy-going, friendly little boy still. The twins are almost 18 months, and he still prefers to crawl everywhere, although he can take some steps if we force him to! He loves to just roll around on his back and laugh, makes a lot of big messes, and smiles at all the pretty women and girls he can. (Just like Alec always did at his age!)
Branden is still working hard, but enjoys his job, and enjoys it even more when he can come home!
I am getting bigger and more pregnant all the time. Our little girl, who is due at the end of December, seems to be growing well and kicking a lot. She may be a feisty one too! We broke down and decided to get a triple stroller, so now I know that I will be able to get out with all three of the babies if I really dare to!
I will post more soon. Here are a few pictures from the summer and fall 2009.

Hangin in Cedar City with my girl

2009-07-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

Branden took the week off work last week and we went to Cedar City, Utah to hang out with Branden's parents and attend a few plays at the Shakespearean Festival. It was great! We also got to see my sister, Chris, and her family in St. George for a couple of days. It was so hot the whole time, but we loved being able to see everyone. Alec had a lot of fun seeing cousins and his Nanna Nan and Grandpa Rob. Max and Lily probably had fun too, but they cried so much for every nap and wouldn't go to sleep each night in the hotel, that we decided we will not be traveling again for a while. Besides, we have baby #4 on the way now, and it's not going to get any easier to travel for a while. I guess this is my official announcement to my blog that we are having a baby at the beginning of January. The twins will be 20 months old, so it will be quite the party here! Just a few days ago we got to have an ultra-sound, and it looks like we will be having a girl!! YAY!! We were totally surprised to be having another baby, and then we were surprised that it was a girl. I'm so glad that Lily will get to have a sister, and grateful that we get to have another little girl in our family!

Splish Splash!

2009-07-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Still crawling!

2009-07-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Max and Lily are almost 15 months now, and Max still is content to crawl. Lily has been walking for months now and can even run a little. But Max is the fastest crawler I've ever seen! Lily is going to be surprised at how much bigger Max is than she is when he finally does decide to walk! For now she just pats him on the head like a dog every time she passes him by.

Peeking in our back door

2009-07-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

What an adorable picture of Alec!

Piggy Tails!

2009-07-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

I think Lily is starting to know that she's cute!

Babies' First Birthday

2009-06-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

On May 2, Max and Lily turned 1!! I can't believe they are so old!! It seems like I just brought my two little babies home and laid them side by side in the little pack-n-play in Boston. We were in St. George for their birthday party, at my sister's house. My mom was also able to come, so it was nice to have family there for the occasion. Max played with the cake more than eating it, and made a bigger mess! Lily was dainty about the whole thing, but she got more cake in her mouth!

Lily . . .

2009-05-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

Recently Lily has . . . perfected her walking skills, . . . had numerous bad hair days, . . . had some sweet moments, . . . and has had some time to ponder her life and where it is headed. Lily has become quite the character lately. She is so expressive when she waves, blows kisses, or just bounces along to the beat! She is a daredevil too. She recently learned to climb up to a slide and go down all by herself with reckless abandon!

Max . . .

2009-05-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Recently Max . . . learned to climb onto the couch and thinks he's big stuff when he is perched high on his throne, . . . practiced playing Mom's new electric piano that Dad got her for Mother's Day, . . . splashed naked in a stream at a park, . . . had fun being twins with Alec, . . . . and had a better hair day than Lily!

Recently Max . . .

Alec

2009-05-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

Recently Alec . . . lost his first tooth, was the best pig in a play at school, and made a really long snake out of play-do!

Fun times at the beach!

2009-05-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

This was just a fun day at the beach. Alec had a blast "surfing" in this little channel of water off of the ocean that had a strong current. That was the hot spot for all the kids about his age because they could just get on their boogie boards and ride!

Easter Pictures

2009-05-27T20:15:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm finally posting Easter pictures! Alec and Max and Lily had fun finding Easter candy and some new church clothes on Easter morning. The pictures were taken after church in our back yard.

Max playing cars

2009-04-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

He has a bit of a cold, as you can probably tell by his red eyes, but he has just discovered cars, and he reminds me so much of Alec at his age!!

Go Lily Go!!

2009-04-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

Lily Walking!

2009-04-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

More Beach Pics

2009-03-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

A Cloudy Day at the Beach

2009-03-18T21:05:00.000-07:00

It was 80 degrees and beautiful today, and Nancy (Branden's mom) was visiting, so we got Alec out of school early, bought new swimsuits and hats for the babies, and headed out to beat the crowd that would certainly be heading toward the beach today. We got loaded up with shovels and buckets,sunscreen, and a beach umbrella. When we rounded the bend to park our car near the beach, we were in a complete haze. A thick layer of low lying clouds surrounded us, but we did find a great parking spot! Lily and Max had so much fun crawling around in the sand. Alec loved digging "like a dog" to make a deep hole all the way to the center of the earth. We found some cool rocks and shells, and had a great time, but we didn't need the sunscreen or umbrella!

She Can Stand!!!

2009-03-02T21:38:00.000-08:00

Lily turned 10 months today, but she has been able to stand for about 2-3 weeks now. I just finally got it recorded. She gets really happy and excited when she stands and usually claps for herself while she's standing.

A Day at the Park

2009-03-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

T-Ball

2009-03-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

Alec had his first T-ball game on Saturday. He looked so cute in his uniform! He has been very excited to tell everyone that he is in t-ball now. He is also so excited that Branden is one of the many volunteer assistant coaches. Of course he can only help with the Saturday games since he works so much during the week. I had fun watching the game with Max and Lily while they crawled around finding sticks and rocks to put in their mouths.

Visitors

2009-03-02T21:14:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago Sarah, Evan and Dane came for a visit. It was sooo great to hang out with them. Alec even introduced Evan to his kindergarten class. I wish they lived closer, but at least they come to San Diego once in a while!
Last week my mom came for a visit. It was her first visit to California in her life! She said that it will not be her last.