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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

Welcome Macy Louise Neish! We love you!!!

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!

Halloween