Making Memories

I spent all day painting letters for the girls rooms. I didn't want to say no, but I also wanted them a certain way so we went to the store and I got them each a set of little plaster figures... Mikenna picked cats and dogs, and Adiee picked little monsters. While the big girls were painting, Isla and I were playing/cleaning her room - making more room for all their new toys! I still need to finish Adiee and Isla's names, so I will add those a little later! :)

Here's our busy little bees at work!! :)

Toothfairy Strikes Again!!

This morning we went to breakfast at IHOP with Kyle, Windy, and the kids. Right before the food came out, Mikenna went up to Kasey complaining that her tooth was hurting. She opened her mouth and that little tooth was sticking out, and hanging by a thread. She didn't want anyone to touch it, so Windy gave her a napkin and told her to wiggle it. The very second she touched it, it came out. She was so impressed with herself for "pulling" her own tooth, and was even more excited that she was going to get more money from the toothfairy!! She had plans for it before she even got it... You know that black horse that Adiee had to have, well now Mikenna has to have one - except she wants the white one! So tomorrow we will take the money she gets from the toothfairy, plus the money she has been stashing in her piggy bank, and go get another horse (now hopefully it isn't sold out!) :)

Look at that big hole in her face!!! :) haha!

She is growing up so fast!

A Brown Family Christmas

Well let me just say, this month has just flown by...

The weekend before Christmas, we went to Kasey's company Christmas party. It was a great time, as always. They handed out cards with $100 and held a raffle. The girls won quite a bit - a playdoh set in the shape of a candy cane, Thomas the Train holiday movie and toy, a canister of hershey kisses, and Kasey won some sort of multi-tool and knife set. The big girls had a BLAST running around with all of the other kids. And I know that they had waaay more cookies than they think I know about, that's right girls- you aren't fooling this mama!! Haha! :) Saturday we went to my aunt's house to celebrate my grandpa's birthday. Then on Sunday, we went to Noni's house to bake all of our usual holiday goodies and Kasey wired her surround sound. I don't think anyone will be able to stomach the dipped pretzels because the girls were their sole creators. We are talking white chocolate, peanut butter and more sugar than you would believe... but hey, they were the boss! ;)

Monday, we built a gingerbread house...Isla didn't want to have any part of it, she wanted her dinner...and NOW!! haha :)

And the finished product...

On Tuesday, we were finishing up our gift shopping, and Adiee saw this horse... There's nothing really special about it, but she just HAD to have it!! We grabbed it without her knowing, and I heard about every day leading up to the big day!! :) I wish I could describe how intense her desire...she was in tears!

This year's Santa photo.

Can you believe that we visited Santa the day before Christmas Eve!?! That sure was a crazy day! We started off with the big guy; Mikenna asked for a dollhouse, Adiee asked for a green motorcycle with training wheels (HAHA!! I have no idea where that one came from! She's so funny!) Isla is the only one out of all three to not cry when she sat on Santa's lap at this age, which was unexpected! Afterwards, we went the movie "Where the Wild Things Are" which was good, but was kind of a downer. Isla fell asleep halfway through, and when it ended we were the last ones left to leave so we ran around for a few minutes! It was so much fun! I hid behind the half wall by the entrance, the girls couldn't see me and I got some pretty funny pictures! Adiee was looking right at me, but couldn't see me, and Mikenna ran right by me! Haha! :) When we had left the mall, Adiee started sobbing...she had forgotten to tell Santa about the pretty black horse! As if we weren't exhausted enough, we went to a friend's house to hang out with pals we haven't seen in ages, while the girls played dress up with their little girl.

'Twas the night before Christmas... I got up early to finish wrapping packages for the girls, made them breakfast and then Kasey took the big kids to the Aquatic Center at the rec. for a couple of hours while I cleaned the house and Isla napped. When they got home, we all got dressed up for Christmas dinner. When we got home, the girls sprinkled their reindeer food on the front lawn, put out cookies and milk for Santa Claus, and also opened the last door on our advent calendar to put the last ornaments on the little tree, the poor babies were sooo tired. Noni came over and spent the night, but by the time she got here, the girls were OUT! :)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!

Christmas Day started at 7:20 a.m. Adiee woke me up saying "Mom, I think I hear something... I think it's Santa...I hope he brought me my black horse...I dreamed about it all night!" Adiee isn't the quietest little thing, so her sisters were up minutes after her! :) Santa brought Mikenna a dollhouse, Adiee a Radio Flyer spring horse, and Isla a princess tower that turns into a table and chairs...all of which were a huge hit! We opened presents for about an hour and a half (funny how it takes twice as long to wrap all that! haha!)

We had breakfast and then got dressed and ready for the day's festivities. Mikenna picked her outfit she was wearing from the pile of new clothes, and said, "Mom, this is sooo fashion!" She was tickled pink with her selection: A teal and black checkered sweater, a pink shirt that was a tad too big and said girl power, and a new pair of jeans. I let them wear whatever they want; after all, we were dressed up last night!! :) First we went to Kyle and Windy's (Kasey's brother and his wife)house to exchange presents, then to grandma and grandpa's house to play games and open a couple more presents, and back to Kyle and Windy's to eat dinner and play more games... At one point, Mikenna and Adiee were bickering, and Mikenna said, "Mom, I'm sure glad that it's Christmas morning..." I asked her why, and she replied, "Because Santa already came, no dirty rocks (coal) for me!" Clever little goof! It was super fun, but super busy!! :)

Happy Holidays

from my family to yours!

Christmas Shopping

The girls went Christmas shopping today! Kasey took Mikenna and I took Adiee... With nothing more than a quick discussion that they were picking out gifts for other people, not themselves! Haha! :) Both did really well with it, Mikenna truly got into the true spirit of giving and thought carefully about what to get each person on her list; Adiee did the same, but wanted to include herself in 'her list'! Too sweet!

We gave them their very own roll of wrapping paper, tape, bag of bows, and safety scissors...then let them loose! Mikenna LOVED it, and Adiee needed a little bit of help. :) The result was the best looking wrap-jobs that I have ever seen! An item surrounded by shiny red paper, then rolled in tape! I love it!! :)

They are absolutely precious!!

Kasey's Birthday

First off, I want to wish my one and only a VERY Happy 27th Birthday! We went on a movie date last night, went and saw Zombieland and Twilight: New Moon. For dinner I made pot roast, and had plans to surprise him with a cake that I had ordered... I would have made one had he not been home with me all day. I was pretty bummed that Adiee spilled the beans about the cake, but I did take her with me to pick it up. I thought, okay...hoping, that maybe she would forget to mention it - plus I talked to her for about an hour before heading home about keeping a surprise. But sure enough, right when we walked in the door, "DADDY GUESS WHAT!" And my secret was out! haha :) Little stinker!

Happy Birthday Love!!

It was also parent-participation day for Mikenna's tap class, and she told everyone that it was her daddy's birthday, so the kids and their parents all sang to him and gave him his very own ribbon! ;)

Isla Update

Isla sure has grown up in these last couple months... I love this picture of her in her bath towel, it was taken right before she turned one (2 months ago). Isla sure has grown up in these last couple months... Her spit-fire personality is just blooming!

She is walking (and she is getting quick too!), blowing kisses, waving hello and goodbye, gives loves when you ask (if she's in the mood), likes to color with crayons, plays peek-a-boo, nodds and shakes her head to respond to your questions, and is also saying a few words - dada, mama, cheese, and thank you, she says thank you the most and she mama the least (which comes in handy when the sun isn't quite up yet, and she is, yelling "dad...dada...DAD...DADA!!!" - it's so funny because I tell Kasey "She's asking for you by name!" hehe!) LOVE HER!! She is such a sweet baby!

First Tooth!

Mikenna came home from school today with some BIG news... Not only was she student of the week, she had lost her first tooth!! It's been loose for a while but it's finally gone (the one next to it is already loose as well)! Her teacher had to pull it because it was so wiggly - I asked Mikenna how she did it...

"Mrs. Geise tied a magic invisible string around it and pulled it out! And it didn't even hurt!!"

She was so excited to put it under her pillow she could hardly stand it! She wasn't too happy that the toothfairy was going to TAKE her tooth, but I explained to her that the little fairy was buying her tooth... like at a toy store - you don't give them your money and don't take your shiny new toy! After that, she understood and was fine with it :-)

The toothfairy left her 5 $1 bills...Whoa!! It was the most precious thing - "She gave me a dollar (as she pulls it out of the tooth pillow) OH, SHE GAVE ME MORE THAN ONE!!!" I told her to count them, she was hysterical! I videotaped the whole thing so that Kasey could see her reaction :)

Accident at Work

Last week, November 4, 2009 Kasey got hurt at work. He's been working at the Dave Johnston Power Plant - 30 minutes or so from Casper. They have been installing lights, receptacles, wires, etc... to a new chimney that they are building, a whopping 500 feet in the air.

I had just got home from dropping Mikenna off at school, barely pulled into the driveway, when I got a call from Kasey. He told me that a coworker was taking him to the hospital, and of course I panicked and asked him who, what, when, where, why and how in a matter of minutes! :) He told me that it wasn't serious and to put the baby down for a nap and get Adiee ready for tumbling - which is what was on the agenda for that day, and he would call me when he knew more. He spent about 3 1/2 hours in the ER, while I was running around town doing my errands. We pulled up at the exact same time - weird, haha :-) My poor husband got out of the truck with crutches and a fat lip.

What happened was he and a few coworkers were changing a man climber(?) when it slipped off of a platform 250 feet in the air and fell 10 feet - with Kasey in it. Ugh, it absolutely makes me sick thinking about it - he had fall protection on so if it were to keep going he wouldn't have gone with it, but still!! Yikes!! The bucket fell until the cable caught, jerking his whole body. His foot was badly sprained, he smacked his face on the edge biting through his lip and chipping a tooth. And to top it off, also got whip lash.

Can you all believe that he went to work the next day? I felt so bad for him, when he got home you could just tell he was in immense pain. I told him to call the guys and tell them that he wasn't going to make it in the next day, he needed to rest and get better. My poor hubby!! :-(

Thank goodness he's alright!!! And yes, that makes a second ER trip in a week or two... Jeez!

Halloween '09

This year for Halloween, my girls picked their costumes - this is the first time that I didn't have a hand in what they were.

Mikenna picked a bride costume - which totally suits her because she is obsessed with finding her "prince charming" and getting married. She always asks me if she can marry daddy... It's funny because I say, "No, I am already married to daddy." And she tells me, "Mom, you need to share!" Haha!

Adiee Grace had such a hard time picking just one. She went through all sorts of costumes (I basically followed her and hung up the last costume she was replacing...) until she found an angel costume -complete with a halo and wings. It totally suits her because after all, she is our little angel! :)

Isla was a lady bug. We already had the costume from when Mikenna was little - I wanted to use it again because it was just adorable and more importantly WARM!

Mikenna and Adiee loved their costumes so much that they wore them everyday when we were home, from the time we got them til the big day! The weekend before Halloween, we went to the rec center where they hold an annual carnival with games and a haunted house. Then on Friday, Adiee's preschool had a Halloween Party where they went trick-or-treating through the building, did a couple games and crafts, then had a snack! I felt so bad for Mikenna this year because her school didn't have a party, she couldn't even wear her costume to school which was a major bummer! Poor girl! On Halloween we were quite the busy little family... We stopped at my mom's house to trick-or-treat and then stopped at my grandma's. After we were done there, we went to Kasey's brother's house and went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Although the weather was clear, it was still freezing because the wind was ridiculous. When we decided that enough was enough, we made our last stop at the elk's lodge for some more Halloween fun, my cousin was helping out at the party there and wanted us to stop by. The girls participated in a few games before we went home and then to BED!!

Whew! Why do we do this to ourselves?? :)

Pictures to follow~

Emergency Room

Not only was this Isla's first emergency room trip, it was our first ER trip EVER. We have been very fortunate to have never had to experience it...until now!

We put miss Isla went to bed around 7:30, like every other night; but woke me up around 1 in the morning. She didn't have a fever really so I cuddled her for a couple minutes and layed her back down. She awoke again shortly after I fell back asleep. I figured she was fine so I was going to leave her alone for a while - let her work it out herself. She wasn't going to cooperate and just go back to sleep, so I went and got her from her room. She stopped crying after I picked her up, but her breathing was so labored, and she had developed a cough that was very dry and unproductive...even painful sounding.

Kasey and I had never heard any of our kiddos make such a sound, we weren't sure what it was and it kind of scared us. We didn't want to chance it, so I got dressed and took her in. I called Kasey from the parking garage of the hospital and told him that she seemed better and her breathing was almost back to normal, just a little raspy. But we decided that we better just talk to a nurse or doctor about it anyways. Isla and I waited in a room for an hour and a half, with a nurse checking in on us occasionally. The doctor finally walks in and the first thing he said to me is, "It's croup." It kind of threw me off-guard because he hadn't checked her out at all yet. I asked him how he knew, and he asked if she had a fever - not really, if she was fine before we put her to bed - yes... Then she coughed and he said, "Yep, that's croup." I was satisfied after he heard her cough and I had been asked some questions. We sat in the room for another half hour or so, while they administered a cool-mist nebulizer and steriod treatment, then gave me an antibiotic to take home. Her nurse thought that Isla was the cutest, most well-behaved babies she has seen in a long time if not ever (a direct quote! haha) She was very impressed with how she took medicine without any kind of struggle and her fun personality - she got to experience the finger squeezing frustration look that she does - soooo cute!! And when we were walking out, and she asked me to come show Isla to all the other nurses.

2 hours and $800 dollars later...we were all at home and well! :)

Isn't that the saddest thing?? This breaks my heart, but makes me laugh at the same time! She was actually being goofy - she didn't like the mist in her face so she closed her eyes and was making faces... What a trooper! :)

Isla's ONE!!

It's hard to believe that exactly 1 year ago, Kasey and I headed to the hospital for the birth of our last baby... It's kinda sad, but exciting too! I'm ready for the whole baby stage to be over with, she is getting even more and more fun with every day that passes. Adiee and Isla are closer than ever and Mikenna is lovin' being the boss of both of them! ;)

With Kasey currently working nights for a couple weeks and Mikenna in school during the day, we weren't able to have the usual dinner and cake family party that we usually do. The weekend after her birthday, we went to Worland to visit family, sang happy birthday, and all the kiddos decorated cupcakes at Grandma and Grandpa Brown's with some cousins we haven't seen for far too long. We had full intentions on baking a birthday cake and everything once we got home on Sunday, but it got a little too late because on the way home it started snowing, and the roads got really bad. But we did do presents...

The Birthday Girl!!

Miss Isla with her big sisters :)

The girls were so tired after spending the afternoon in the car!

The very next weekend, we did the cake and icecream bit :) FINALLY!! She was so funny, she didn't want to get dirty, she wouldn't touch the cake until we shoved her hand in it... She wasn't too happy with that so we gave her a spoon - then she dug in. :-) And to those who pay attention to a lot of detail, it wasn't actually 9:40 - the power went out and we didn't reset it until later. :)

I don't think we could have dragged her birthday on any longer if we tried!! :) Whew! How exhausting!! haha

She made out with some great loot. She got a ride-on horsey, sea horse glow worm, a jungle gym toy that came with dare I say a hammer, adorable clothes, and both sweet and funny cards accompanied by moolah... I say all in all she had a great FIRST birthday!

She apparently doesn't need any help! :) HAHA!!

Giddey-Up!!

Adiee had her first preschool field trip this morning. With Mikenna in school along Kasey sleeping and Isla sleeping at home...it was just her and I. I was a volunteer driver, so we took Adiee's friend Sydnie along for the ride. It was a lot colder outside than anyone really expected, but I was prepared (like almost always, hehe), I brought a heavy coat and gloves. So I think she was the warmest one of the bunch, poor kiddos!

Adiee raced to the corral, and knew exactly which horse was 'hers', and made it known. Haha! It was a black one named Sara, she informed everyone that she had a dog that was also named Sara! She was so excited!!! :-)

After waiting for everyone to get a turn to ride, we washed up and had a snack; apples, crackers and cheese with orange juice to drink. After that we sang songs and thanked the owners for letting us ride and play at their ranch. It was such a great time!

To wrap up the field trip, they took a group picture in the carriage. They all got a souvenir horseshoe and Adiee had collected a feather and a branch with yellow leaves on it, on her own. I think I should also add that she got 2 shots yesterday and a wart froze off, no tears!! Our little girls are so tough!!

Me and Mine

Kasey ♥ Krista

Est. 2003

If there is anything better than being loved by you, it is loving you.

Great Job Mikenna!

Mikenna had a doctor appointment early this morning, I didn't tell her about it until we were driving and she said "Mom, this isn't the way to school." I told her that she had the appointment and I told her to try to be tough! She and the new doctor really hit it off, he said that he really liked her 'spunky' personality! The nurse came in and gave her her shots, and NO TEARS!! What a stud!! Though to be honest, I'm not really surprised! haha :)

And today after school, Mrs. Geise made a point to come out and congratulate me on how well Mikenna did on her recitation (a memorized 12-line poem). She said she was very impressed, because not only did she know all the words, but she said it with such character and at a volume that the entire class could enjoy listening to it! Mrs. Geise tried to make an example of Mikenna, tried to get her to do it again, but she got all bashful... She gave Mikenna a sticker for a job well done, she is the only one that got one too! That's my girl!!

And now, Mikenna and her daddy are at her tap dance class...

Mikenna, you never fail to impress!!! We love you so!

Adiee's First Day of Preschool

Sisters Before School

Today was Adiee's first day of preschool at FCC!! She will be gone from 9 to 12. Doesn't she look beautiful, not to mention grown-up!?! She was so excited to go to school 'just like Mikenna does'. She was so happy that she finally got to wear her new Ariel backpack and her pink princess sparkly shoes! Adiee is going to have a blast!!

This picture makes me laugh!! She is so mad at me because I found a tiny dinosaur that she was trying to sneak to school! I made her take it out, and she can have it back after school.

She's ticked! HAHA!! :)

The backpack hooks are a little high.
She had to reach big, but she did it! A is for Adiee... She's looking for her name :)

Well, it's just me and you Miss Isla...

At least until noon that is!

I'm a little bit teary-eyed in this picture, I snapped it right as Isla and I were walking out... I miss her already!

Dance Baby Dance!!

This week we added more (organized) chaos to our schedules! Mikenna is in a tap dance class, and Adiee Grace is in tumbling and a jazz/ballet class. They are so excited, can you tell? :-)

Mikenna showing off her 'clicky' shoes

Adiee looking not so happy about taking yet another picture. We can't help it we are such proud parents!!

I don't know if you can all tell, but Mikenna just loves the camera!

She's happy to show off her new leotard and dance shoes!! :)