I don't really have any news to report as of late, but I do have a picture. I have a friend who just recently posted some similar pics on her site, and it made me remember this one and want to post it. Beware- it is not for the faint of heart, or weak of stomach :) Well, it's not really that bad, but just wanted to give everyone fair warning. It is a picture Travis took (SO proud of him for being able to take this picture- he didn't even think was going to be able to stay upright during my first delivery) of Alexandra seconds after birth. It's an amazing picture of her birth... without being too graphic. I love it:

We loaded up the kids and made the drive up to the gravel pit yesterday for some sledding. Rogue once again proved himself the daredevil of the family and wouldn't stop flying down the hills. Elijah, also his predictable self, preferred the level ground on which to build a snowman. Fun was had by all- including Alex, who also took a few trips down the hill with Mommy. Perhaps we can go again next weekend, because the kids had a great time. We will definitely be doing some major league sledding the following weekend in sunrivier with the Mitzels and Andersens... well, sledding AND snowman building (Eli would be devistated if we left that part out). I can't wait.

I really need to get photo shop.... and maybe a publishing program. All I've got is the very basics that came with my computer, and it's so limited. I used to not access the programs all that much, so it was no big deal, but now I use them all of the time, and they just aren't sufficient. I've been making a lot of flyers for my brother Eric's band lately. I have to create them in Word, which will only save projects as documents, not pictures, so to get them into picture format, I have to print them out, then scan them back into the computer. That will make the computer recognize them as an images, which I can then post on the internet. And look at my header. I have to, again, create it in Word, then copy and paste it into a paint program that will then save it as an image. It's not a great paint program though, so the picture is not crisp and clear. Anyway, hopefully I will be able to start taking classes on the subject in school, and therefore make the excuse to myself that it's for school so that I don't feel guilty about spending the money for the programs.

I always have and probably always will love longer hair on guys. Not freakishly waist long hair, but a little longer that the average Joe. But, for any of you who know Travis, that bit of info might come as a bit of a shock, since I married a man that cuts his hair every week to keep it from getting any longer than 1/2 and inch. What can I say? The hair came with the man I love. Anywho, the only oppurtunity I get now is with my sons' hair. Until now, everyone (by "everyone", I mean every single family member on both sides including my hubby- aside from maybe my brother Eric) has gotten on my case whenever their hair starts to get any longer than about 1 inch. And, I have always given in. WELL NO MORE! Lucky for me, Elijah hates getting his hair cut, so he's on my side. The only reason I really gave in before was because Eli would never let me do anything cool with it anyway. But the other day, Travis and I gave him a choice (I'm sure Travis only went along with it, because he thought the outcome would be in his favor): get a haircut or let me fix it every day. He decided that the lesser of the 2 evils was to let me style his hair each day. I have also had a talk with him about how noone is allowed to cut his hair- again, he is in agreement with me- because with all of the hounding from family I am getting, I am afraid that someone will take advantage of their babysitting and cut his hair behind my back. I mean, he's my son. I can have his hair anyway that (he &) I please, right? Plus, it just looks sooooo cute. Here's a couple of recent pics that I luv!

No, I didn't tell him to do this.... He loves to do his own little poses. :)

ok, so here's some pics from Eli's birthday:
His name on the reader board @ Papa's Pizza
Eating some pizza with his friends- they're all so cute :)
Blowing out the candles on his Curious George cupcake (George got a little burnt in this process, but made it through the tramatic event okay)
Getting a birthday hug from Hannah
Working off some energy

Little Elijah Rhodes just had his 4th birthday on Sunday. His party with his friends was on Saturday, though. He was invited to his first real big birthday party with friends this year, and wanted to do the same for his birthday. So, it was his first time having a "friends" party instead of a "family" party. I took him with me to Party Depot to pick out the decorations. He had changed his mind a few times on what theme he wanted, but once at the store, decided on Curious George. The party was at Papa's Pizza in Salem. It's cool there, because they have a room with a huge play structure that all of the kids can go play on together while waiting for the pizza. So- they played, ate pizza, opened presents, had cupcakes, and played some more. They all had a great time, and it was fun to see him with all of the little friends he's made in preschool. He got lots of toys, of course, but one of his favorite presents was a scarf and sweater from my parents. He's been asking for a scarf for a while now, and loves his new one. He had to wear it church the next day- his first day of primary. He's so excited to be a "sunbeam", and I can't wait until he gets to line up at the front of church with the other kids and sing Mother's Day songs :) He's growing up pretty fast! Blogspot's not letting me post pics right now, so I'll post again later....

Things are getting back to normal. I'm getting over my sickliness, thank goodness. I hate being sick. Elijah is back in school, and loving it. I'm so glad he loves school so much. He was excited that his little cousin, Emily, started school today in the younger class right next to his. He's been asking to start up gymnastics classes again for a long time now, and with the holidays over, I'm going to sign him up tomorrow. He's been going so good lately. For a long time, he went through a really difficult stage- a lot of yelling, hitting, fit throwing, etc.- but now I think he's coming out of it. It makes it so fun to do things with him and spend time with him when he's always in such a good mood. He still has his moments, of course, like any 3 year old would, but overall he has just really improved in the last few months.
Rogue? Well, that rugrat is just in the beginnings of his terrible twos. He's so funny, but that boy is trouble too. Already having gone through it all once though, it's easier this time around. I've learned little tricks to try to pull him out of a bad mood, and I know he'll eventually grow out of it all. I'll tell ya, I honestly do not think that a bigger Thomas the Tank Engine fan exists out there. I thought Elijah was a huge fan, but that was NOTHING compared to Rogue! He carries an arm load of trains around with him all day, sleeps with them, dreams about them (I know- he talks in his sleep), and "Thomas" is the first word out of his mouth the second he wakes up. That boy it completely obsessed. I've never seen anything like it. It's all I can do to get him to put them down to eat his meals.
Alexandra has gotten better. She no longer fits the definition of colic. She sleeps through the entire night at less than 3 months old, and when she's awake, she smiles like crazy... especially after meals :). She is a very happy baby. She's still working on playing on her own- she insists on being held most of the day, and doesn't last too long in the swing, bouncer, or on her playmat. And she HATES her carseat. She cries in it all of the time. I thought that was strange, but I just talked to a couple of moms today that said they both had a child that would always cry in the carseat and in the car. So, at least it's normal. I'm enjoying having a little girl the 3rd time around. I'm glad I had 2 boys first, but now our family finally feels complete with our little princess.
Travis and I don't plan to have anymore kids at this point. We feel like we're complete, and feel happy and blessed to have been given 3 healthy children. I don't know what this year ahead will bring for us, but I just hope it's filled with a whole lot of love and memories with our family....