Merry Christmas

Request Granted

I've had a request for a halloween costume picture so here it is. Also a picture of Ciara at her ballet class. Ciara was a unicorn, Dalin was a robot, and Jace was a candy corn. I wasn't willing to dish out money on a costume for Jace, I couldn't find one for less that $20 that was decent so I bought some fabric and made his costume. I couldn't even find a robot costume, closest thing was a transformer and he wasn't interested so Zane and I put together his costume as well. We went trick-or-treating on Main St. in the afternoon to the different businesses (organized by the city) and everyone commented on his costume, we actually had one lady ask to take a picture of him. He was more than willing to say cheese for the camera!

Ciara had so much fun at her ballet class. She's not the most graceful swan but maybe with more lessons and some practice she'll be dancing to swan lake, who knows?!

Family Pictures

We went over to the BYU campus last week and had my sister-in-law, Jenise, take some family pictures of us. All of the kids cooperated... just not at the same time. I think I'm going to be doing a little photo shop on a few of these and switching some faces around. I will be sending some of these out in the mail along with Ciara's 1st grade school pictures.

Happy Halloween

Pictures of the kids' pumpkins, and when I say kids I mean they picked the design and Zane and I carved them. Jace wasn't thrilled with our way of including him in the festivities.

Sweet Baby Jace

Love you Mom!!

When all else fails, get creative

So, Ciara and I went on a wild goose chase this last week looking for a jean skirt for school. We couldn't find one that was long enough but also small enough in the waist so I improvised. She has about 5 pairs of jeans that all have holes in the knees but they still fit so this is what I came up with. What do you think??

Before... Meet After

Randomness

My mom's been bugging me to get her some new pics of the kids up so she can see them. I don't blame her. It must be hard going from seeing her grand babies almost every day to never. I love you mom. Wish we were closer. I hope you and Nikkie can come and stay for a while in Sept!! Here are a few random pictures of the kids.

So tired

Ciara on her first day of first grade!

He really enjoyed the rice cereal, he kept grabbing my hand trying to shove it in his mouth

Dalin... being Dalin

Major Updates

I guess the biggest update to give is the fact that we've moved. We are now in UT. We're still waiting for our house in Billings to sell so we are living in Zane's parents' basement apartment. It's nice that we have our own kitchen, laundry and entrance to our place. Zane is really enjoying his new job and his new toys. We had to buy a new Truck for him for work and he also got a new cell phone, a Droid. He's had fun downloading new apps. He is working for Darci's husband Ryan estimating drywall, so if you or anyone you know is looking for a drywall company let me know :) He's been trying to get a few builders so that he'll have a continual flow of houses but it's hard to get you foot in the door sometimes.
Ciara is enjoyed her new school. She has made quite a few friends that she plays with on a regular basis. I can't believe my little girl graduated from Kindergarten! She is going to be a 1st grader in just a short while. We celebrated her 6th birthday not to long ago. We had 18, yes 18, kids at our house for a chaotic 2 hours of good old fashioned birthday fun. Of course we had the traditional birthday girl melt down but all in all the kids were great. It was so fun to see so many kids come to her party. We had a treasure hunt for a "dinosaur" egg, pin the horn on the unicorn, a TP mummy wrap up competion, and cake and ice cream. It was fun and Ciara LOVED all the attention.
Jace is growing like a weed. We had his blessing on the 16th of May. My mom and good friend Nikkie were able to come down for that but George, Matt, Jasmine, and Chantile weren't able to come, we missed you guys! While they were here we were able to go to Temple Square and also the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was so much fun to have them here, I miss my family! It seems like that was so long ago. Jace wasn't quite 2 months yet and now he is almost 4 months. Where does the time go?
Dalin... is being Dalin. I've decided he's not going to be the class clown. He's going to be the mischevious kid that causes all the problems but somehow never gets blamed for it. That little boy is sneaking and so dang cute! He gets this glint in his eyes and I just know he's about to do something he knows he shouldn't. He's 2 and a half now and is talking like crazy. He loves all things boy. Cars, motorcycles, trucks, superheroes. The other day we were at a baseball game for Jared and there were a couple of guys in a UTV waiting for the game to end so they could groom the diamond and Dalin walks up to Zane and says, "Dad I go say hi." He wanted to go talk to the guys to see if they'd give him a ride. That kid cracks me up. His favorite thing to do at dinner is tell knock knock jokes. If no one responds with "who's there?" he'll answer himself then laugh at his own joke!
I'm doing alright, all things considered. I'd be doing better if our house would sell. The market in Billings is just so dead right now I don't know what to do, any suggestions? It's been interesting adjusting to have 3 kids in the house. I don't think it would be as hard if Jace liked his carseat a little more but every time we get in the car he screams the whole time. I kind of feel imprisoned in the house a lot of the time because I can't stand the crying. Just going to Walmart just about puts me in the loony bin! Hopefully he'll grow out of it but for now we're homebodies. He is really a mommy's boy too. If I can be seen or heard by him, having someone else hold him just doesn't cut it, he gets fussy till I take him back or pick him up... can you just imagine what my house looks like?:) Well I've put together a couple of slide shows, mostly for my mom. She's been bugging me about putting up new pictures of the kids, especially Jace, since he's changed so much! So, here they are.

Jace's Blessing Day

Family Fun

Ciara's Party/Kindergarten Graduation

I'm getting around to it

Soooo.... I'm working on some updates but they're pretty extensive so to appease my mother until they're done here is a picture of Jace. The rest of the updates and plethora of pictures should be up shortly.

New pictures of Jace

Here's a slide show of a few new pictures of Jace... Hope you enjoy

Jace Marohi Kotter

Jace made his arrival, safe and sound, Sunday March 21st at 3:03 p.m. he was 8lbs. and 20 1/4 in. He's been a good baby so far... as long as we don't put him in his bassinet. He loves to sleep in his boppy bouncy chair. I say as long as he's sleeping I don't really care where! Big Sister and Brother love him very much and fight over who's turn it is to hold him. Jace is a trooper when it comes to getting "loves" from his siblings! I am doing well. Jace's delivery was my easiest of the three and I am feeling really good. Thank you to everyone who has given us gifts, made us dinner, or done anything to help us out in this new adventure. We love you all!

For my Birthday...

For my birthday I got...

volunteered to feed the missionaries

severe steam burns while cooking dinner for said missionaries
a trip to the hospital, after the missionaries left, to treat the severe burns

shot full of morphine to dull the pain of those burns

sent home bandaged, wrapped, and completely out of it due to the morphine

Don't you just love birthdays!

He's coming whether he wants to or not!

Well, I've done what some may say is the impossible... I've convinced my doctor to induce me a week early. If all goes as planned, and let's all pray it does, I will be induced on the 21st of this month!!! My mom says I'm spoiled becasue not only do I know when I'm having the baby but I'm also having him 8 days early. My response to that is that Ciara and Dalin were 11 days late between the two of them so in my mind it all kind of evens out... doesn't it? What do you think?

Hospital Vacation??

Don't get me wrong, I'm not really looking forward to the whole labor and deliver thing, and the recover afterwards. Can I tell you what I am looking forward to... aside from the new little bundle?! Two days in a place where I can watch whatever I want, when I want. I can read all day if I feel like it. I can shower when I feel like it and not have to worry about anyone coloring on my walls or computer screen. Two days of no cleaning, cooking, or laundry. Nobody saying, "what's for dinner, I don't want that." Two days of being able to eat in quiet without having my 2 yr. old thowing something or spilling something. I'll actually get through a meal and it'll still be hot when I take the last bite. I can order anything I want and it's brought right to my room. I can eat in bed. I can nap without fear of small children escaping, or worse, destroying something. The only thing I have to worry about is feeding the new little baby and changing him every once in a while. Those first few days when they sleep 24 hrs. (even when they're eating) is wonderful. Two days of peace before I have to go home to the chaos. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids but... how does that saying go... distance makes the heart grow fonder?? Is it strange that I'm looking forward to staying in the hospital??

New Blog

I've got a favor to ask everyone. Zane and I have listed our house and I'm trying to do anything I can to further our chances of selling. I've created a new blog that is devoted to the house. It's got pictures and features of the home and contact information. I'm asking if everyone would post the link to their blog even if you're not in the Billings area, or even in MT. Who knows who will see it or is looking for a place in Billings. I would really appreciate all of your help!!
Here is the link to the blog:
http://5237sacagawea.blogspot.com/

Ciara's Christmas Concert

I forgot to add some pictures of Ciara at her first Christmas concert. Coming from a completely unbiased party, the kindergartners were the best. They were so cute and all of them sang their hearts out. It's been so fun to watch Ciara this school year at all of these milestones. She's growing up so fast!

A Wonderful Christmas

I'm finally getting around to posting about our wonderful Christmas. It started a little early. Since we were going to UT for Christmas we had an early celebration with my family on the 20th. We had a wonderful steak dinner, provided by Matt, and opened presents! On the 22rd we headed down to UT to join in the chaos and fun of Zane's family. We stopped in Whitehall and were able to visit with Zane's grandparents, which was nice. It's great to see them and to be able to break up our trip into two days! Christmas was chaos as usual, it was GREAT! All of the cousins ripping open paper, the adults trying to keep up with the piles of presents and who they belong to. Ciara got the barbie she wanted, Dalin got a huge dump truck, Zane got his seat belts, and I got the cricut cutter I've been pining after for months! It was great to be able to spend time relaxing with the family. We sat around and ate, went to a movie, and took the kids to Discovery Gateway. Here's some pictures of our family that Mom took for our cards and some of the pictures from our trip.

fun at the children's Museum

While we were in UT we had the chance to take the kids to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum. If you're in Salt Lake and have little ones it is well worth the time and money to stop by. Everything is geared towards kids and EVERYTHING is to be touched and played on. They have a whole floor devoted to "play house" areas. There's a construction zone, a house, a farm, and a grocery store, all equipped with toys and fun things to play with. On the next level there's a news anchor desk with an actual camera so the kids can see themselves on TV, a weather station, sound room and so much more. They even have a real helicopter out on a terrace that's been grounded that the kids can climb into and push buttons. Here's a slide of our adventures at the "museum".

Love It!

If you click on the video it will take you to you tube so you can see the whole video. Blogger cuts one side of partially, enjoy!