Let's see since July, we have been moving right along. I was extremely hot and sick and miserable till about the end of August. Chris finished up his Imed rotation and started on Surgery. All in all 3rd year has been a piece of cake. Surgery was probably the hardest, but just because 4 O'clock in the morning did not suit my sleeping habits. As usual Chris can keep going on little to no sleep, but I have a harder time with it. I would get woken up with him at 4 and then be just dosing off when I would have to get Benny up. Then just crawling back in bed when the Littles would wake up. Tough Life I know. Ha. Overall though I think we handled it like a pro. Chris did great on both rotations and got really good marks and excellent letters of recommendation lined up. I think it would have been easier if I hadn't been pregnant. The kids did great and all thought they are all going through different adolescent attitude changes, I survived somehow. Chris is in his Physic rotation right now and the 8-5 is awesome. Don't get me wrong I had plenty of crazy days and crying and stress, but nothing compared to what I was expecting. They say Imed and surgery are the hardest. Well in that case, it should be smooth sailing from here on out, LOL, till 4th year. Chris's top choice as of now is Anesthesiology and ER is coming in second. We shall see. At the end, of September we found out that we are having a baby Girl. I had really mixed emotions about this. I mean girls are great and I have always wanted to have both, but I sure do love my boys and would have totally welcomed another little man to our family. It will be a lot of fun to figure out how to raise a girl though, and now I won't get left out of all the fun bow and tutu making parties, my friends have, LOL. She will definitely be spoiled. All my boys seem to think that girls are soft ad delicate. I am not sure how much of a chance she has of that, but hopefully she will be treated as sweetly as they treat me. Benjamin started first grade and is getting much better at his reading and writing. He still hates it and I have to struggle every day to get him to do his homework, but it is much better. He loves math and science and thinks his teacher Mr. G is smarter than daddy and has a better Ho Ho Ho. I am not sure about the smarter part, but he does have a bigger bowl full of jelly for being Santa. He still loves super heroes and is getting into Legos. He still loves to snuggle and give me hugs and loves to talk to the baby and give her hugs too. Caleb started pre-school and made it a whole month and a half before dropping out, LOL. It was a public Pre-k and was half day everyday. The main reason we took him out was finances, but he had started complaining and not wanting to go and since I don't think pre-school is important I didn't care too much when it worked out better. I have loved having him here to play with Joshua. I will miss him next year when he starts Kindergarten. But I still miss Benny everyday, so that is just normal for me. Joshua is growing like a weed and is 3 weeks from turning 3. I will just post a little on him since he will have a birthday post in a little bit. HE IS POTTY TRAINED! My earliest one to get potty trained and y most stubborn one. The only method that worked, was letting him go naked for a couple of weeks. He loves to ask questions, tons and tons of questions. I have to say I am probably not as patient as I could be with his curiosity, but I try to answer as many as possible, before I cut him off. Halloween was fun. Benjamin went as a Ninja, Caleb as Robin, and Joshua as Superman. I tried my hardest to get him to go as batman, but he wouldn't have it. In Benjamin's words, I went as a big fat Jack-O-Lantern, and Chris went as the Most Interesting Man in the World, from the Dos Equis commercials. I did actually get into the Halloween spirit a few ties and we made mummy pizzas, and spider cookies, but other than that I wasn't in my usual Halloween crazed mood. I blame it on the pregnancy, which is what I blame everything on.

We spent a nice peaceful thanksgiving right here and just enjoyed getting Chris all to ourselves for a week. We had steak and baked potato and fried pies and watched lots of movies. We played at the park and road bikes and slept in and went to bed late. I think it was probably my most favorite Thanksgiving ever. Then we decorated for Christmas and have been moving right along. I now have about 9 weeks till baby girl gets here and am getting nervous, due to the lack of pink in our house, but I guess it won't hurt her to wear some blue, LOL. I have been able to work out this whole pregnancy and kept my weight gain down to a minimum, but still have to deal with Gestational diabetes. Oh well its not like the diet isn't good for me. I am glad it is almost over though and can tell that I am not cut out for more than one more pregnancy after this one. I am feeling my age. How the Duggars do it I don't know, but I don't want to find out. Well, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and remembers the reason we celebrate. Christ should always be the center of our lives, but especially this time of year let's remember to celebrate his life ad everything that we have been blessed with because of his great sacrifice. I have a testimony that he lives and loves each and every one of us. I know that we can return to our Heavenly Father through him. Merry Christmas!

A little on Joshua at 2 and a 1/2

Joshua is the such a good boy. I couldn't ask for a better 2 year old. Needless to say he is my most stubborn. He is super grumpy if you wake him up to early (gets that from me I am afraid). But all in all he is a pretty good sport. He is easy going and can go a whole day of running errands with out a tantrum.

Joshua can fall asleep anywhere. I find this rather interesting since the first 10 months of his life he couldn't. He gave me crap if I tried to put him to bed anywhere except his crib. Now he will pass out under the church pew, in the grocery cart, on a roller coaster, or anywhere he may be when he is ready for a nap. He is generally a good sport about naps too, and if I tell him to go get his rainbow blanket, he says, "okay" and heads for his bed.

Joshua is learning all kinds of thing to say. He has been talking for quite a while, but the last 6 months or so he has started saying pretty much everything. He does have a cute little speech impediment right now. Most stuff he will add a bl in front of. My favorite things he says like that are "blamma" for grandma, "blandad" for grandad, and "Blebus Blist" for Jesus Christ, when he prays. He adds the "bl" for lots of foods and stuff too, and I find my self teasing him sometimes. He will say, "Can I have some blocolate milk?" And when I say blocolate milk back, he will get all mad and correct me, "no blocolate milk". So he knows how it is supposed to be said he just can't quite get it. I love it though and although naturally I want him to learn how to speak properly, I will miss this phase.

I also find, that he copies a lot of stuff Caleb says. The other day sitting at the table, he just busts out with, "What the Helmet". He loves to tell me "NO WAY" or if he wants something he'll say, "tan we, tan we, tan we", for can we. And of course he loves to give kisses and play the I love you more game.

Joshua has the greatest belly laugh and loves to be tickled. He will always come back for more. He loves to sing along with Caleb at the top of his lungs and sometimes they get into a who can sing the loudest competition. Most the time those two get along pretty well, but they can get in some pretty mean fights too. Usually both end up running to me in tears trying to tell me their side first, which I of course can't understand a word of till they calm down.

I love that Joshua just fits right in with our crazy family. He is all boy and keeps up just fine with his older siblings. He does have a hard time playing alone, but after awhile he will go on his own and play. He would be happy staying out doors all day if he could.

What a fun kid we have. He makes us laugh and smile almost everyday. I can't wait to see how he reacts to the new baby when it gets here. It will either be a total disaster or he will take right to it. Either way, having a new baby will be an adjustment for all of us, since Joshua has been all of us's baby for so long.

Caleb's Turn

Caleb Atticus Lee turned 4 this summer! I can not believe he is 4 already. He wanted an ironman birthday. I bought Iron man plates and napkins and goody bags. Then I started feeling awful that week and totally weinered out on the cake. I tried to find an Iron man one at the local bakery, but all they had was Spiderman.
Lucky at 4 you still don't care and he was just as excited about it. I on the other hand felt awful about it. This was the first store bought cake I have ever bought for one of my boys birthday's and I felt I had let him down. Oh well, i will just have to make his 5th birthday cake even cooler.


I absolutely can't get enough of my Caleb. He has the sweetest little high pitched voice. His giant blue eyes and big ears give him his nickname "Dobby". Right now he loves being called Dobby and tells everyone his nickname. We will see how he feels as he gets older and realizes why he is called that. LOL! For the longest time that is all Joshua would call him, cause he couldn't say Caleb.

Caleb is a tiny little guy and his younger brother is quickly passing him up. I think he must take after my side of the family.


He loves to cuddle and snuggle. He tells me he loves me and I am his favorite or his best friend atleast 3 times a day (mostly when he is tired). Caleb loves to ride his bike and was riding circles around Benny while Benny was still a little scared. He loves to play and climb and scare me to death. Caleb is a little dare devil and I pray for his safety more than the other boys.

Caleb has a smile that can light up a room and he loves to sing all kinds of music. His favorite song right now is "Sister Christian". BUt he also sings "I am A Child of God" and "We will Rock You".

He makes a great younger borther, cause he is very independent and can play for hours on his own. He can go from smiles to giant ears in about a half a second, but those are the only two moods he has, so he is easy to read. Happy or Mad.

We love Caleb every one of us, and don't know what we would do with out his bright personality.




Before Caleb's birthday we celebrated the 4th of July. We had a ward pancake breakfast and a bike parade. Benny was so excired and really wanted to go and ride his bike, all though at this point he was still terrified to ride it a pace faster than a snail. Well Chris had to work and I debated and debated with myself whether I should go or not with out Chris. I was still feeling pretty rotten and it was already over ninety at 8 o'clock in the morning.

I decided to not disappoint Benny. Bad Decision!

I loaded up the van and we got there in plenty of time to find a table. Pancakes were served and after 3 drops on the floor and 2 orange juice spills we were able to make it back to the table. Within 5 minutes of sitting down 2 kids were already crying . Benny cause I hadn't gotten him as much cantaloupe as Caleb and Joshua because I cut his pancake, although he specifically said to cut it. AHH! we made it through breakfast and went to decorate our bikes. That went over ok, but when it was time to ride Benjamin freaked out of course and had to have one of the YW walk along with him way behind everyone else. Caleb took off like a maniac and crashed into a little girl traumatizing her for life and Joshua trailed behind mad because I didn't bring his bike (he doesn't have a bike). I was sweating like a stuck pig and on the verge of tears and nauseated.

Conclusion: I will never go to another activity with out my husband till my children are old enough to carry their own food. I will also feed my family before an activity. Box pancake mix and bananas is not worth the effort.

Chris asked, "weren't there any other mom's there without husbands you could have sat with for help?"
I thought about it, and no. Out of an entire ward of Residents and students, there was not one other wife there with out her husband.

Maybe she was just smart enough not to come!

AHHH! I am so behind!

I have so many posts to catch up on. First, off I will cover the future Lee baby. I am about 15 weeks along now and feeling much better. This pregnancy has been really hard on me. I don't know if it was the summer heat or the fact that I am getting older, but I had a rough 3 months. I was nauseated, dizzy and just plain tired all the time.

I haven't made it to the doctor yet due to my crazy summer, but I have an appointment on Monday and hope to get a little better estimate of my due date and how far along I am. Right now I am thinking mid February- first of March.

We are all excited, but Benny is really excited. He prays every night that the baby will be a girl. He says he already has brothers and he really needs a sister. I have started adding a P.S. to my prayers that it is a boy, just to razz him a little bit. Benny says God will answer his prayer over mine. Guess we shall see in a few weeks, LOL. Chris keeps praying for the baby to have super powers. I really don't have a preference. A boy would fit right in with our crew and would be cheaper, but a girl would be a fun adventure too. I just want a healthy baby.

Now, on to Benny's 6th Birthday Party. I can't believe he is six years old. We had a few friends over and made a Justice League cake. Chris did a great job on the super hero emblems. I think Benny had a fun time and got some fun summer toys to enjoy.





A little about Benny at six. Benny lost two teeth this summer and has really made great progress trying things he is scared of. At the beginning of the summer we could barely get him on his bike, but now he can ride really fast and loves to go on walks with us. He has also learned how to swim in the deep end and can swim from one side of the pool to the other.

He is such a little helper. He will help me with any of my chores (as long as I try to mix it up with new things on a regular basis. Benny loves to help out with Joshua. Mostly he likes to help him get dressed and put his shoes on. He hates cleaning his room, but loves messing it up.

He has finally started caring about the things he wears. For some reason he has an aversion to shorts. This actually started back when he was about 4 and has carried on. Jeans are pretty much the only thing I can get him to wear, even in this 100+ weather.

He has figured out the difference between girl and boy shows and tries to act like he doesn't want to watch Care Bears or Tangled, but whenever we have a girl friend over he sure is glued to the screen LOL.

I absolutely love My Benny. He is so sweet and gentle. He is sensitive and caring. He has his little quirks like any kid, but overall he is a great big brother. I know that God knew what he as doing when he sent Benny to us first. He is super smart and teaches me new things every day. He hates to write, but loves science and can memorize pretty much anything he learns about bugs and things. He has a hard time reading, but is slowly getting better. I know that our family wouldn't be the same without him. I definitely would be a lot more stressed out with out my little helper around.

3 Easter Baskets, 2 t-ballers, 1 Birthday and a Graduation

Okay this is one mega post so I will do little typing and lots of pictures.
First we had a fun Easter just hanging out here at home.







The weekend after easter we celebrated Chris's 30th Birthday and had a half way done party. Chris is officially a 3rd year now and we are so proud of him. He has worked so hard to get where he is and he deserved a bigger party, but our budget was tight. We still had fun hanging out with all our wonderful friends that we have met along the way.






Soon after that Benjamin started playing T-ball for the Temple Rangers




and Caleb started Pre T with the Temple Red Sox
.


They look so grown up in their uniforms.

We also now have a First grader in our house.
Benjamin graduated from Kindergarten on thursday. We are so proud of him.



He loves school and is going miss his teacher Mrs. Rhoades. She was a perfect fit for Benny and really worked hard to make it fun.

We are excited about our summer break though and have lots of fun stuff planned so I will keep you updated.

Catch-Up

So I just realized I hadn't blogged since my birthday. Shame on me.

Chris had his last spring break ever a few weeks ago and Benny's happened to be the same week, so we decided to head down to San Antonio and visit the sites. we got a great deal on a hotel room and stayed right downtown by the Alamo. So the first day we visited the Alamo, which is probably one of the biggest disappointments ever. if you know anything about Texas history, you would know that we Texans memorialize all of our great battles, even the ones we lose. So I have been listening to the story of the Alamo since I was a little girl. Well let me tell you. It is a wall. That's it one wall is left standing. There was a gift shop and some old rifles. Boring! worst of all I had to stand in line for 30 minutes to see it. At least I can mark that off my list. And yes it was on my list of to-dos. Now I am wondering why.

That evening we had dinner with my cousins who live there. It was so fun catching up with Jon and Gracie and there families. hopefully we will be back soon to hang out again. Then we walked around the Rive- walk after dark. It was very pretty. The kids had a blast running up and down and giving me a heart attack every time they got too close to the edge. There is a beautiful waterfall built into the wall somewhere in the middle. That was probably my favorite part.

The next day we headed to Sea-World.

We had a great time. The weather was perfect and the lines weren't too terribly long. The kids had a blast watching all the shows,







feeding the dolphins,



playing in the splash pad,



riding the rides,

and best of all getting lost. Yes you read right. I lost two of my children in Sea World over Spring break. Two separate times at that. I didn't think it was even possible for a mom to be that reckless, but it is.

First we lost Benny. we decide to take a family potty break and Chris took all the boys to the men's room whileI went to the ladies. Well I guess Benny got confused and thought he was supposed to go out of the bathroom and find me when he was done. I was still in the ladies, so he panicked and ran off. Luckily he was old enough to panic and when someone saw he was scared they asked if he needed help and a worker. But for about ten minutes I was in a panic. I was trying to keep cool while the security guard was walking around with me. I just kept praying and praying. Ten minutes felt like an hour.

After that we kept a tight watch on all the kids and we were getting ready to head out later that afternoon, when we ran in to some friends from our ward. They have 3 little boys about the same age, so we started chit chatting and letting the boys run around us while we talked. well I thought Joshua was strapped in to his stroller, but when I looked down to check it was Caleb strapped in. AHHH panic. Joshua is way too young to even realize he is lost and panic. We quickly split up and started looking. I prayed that the same security guard from earlier didn't show-up and tote me away to CPS. LOL! Luckily Chris found him pretty quick standing in line for a corn dog. HAHA guess he was hungry and we weren't listening so he took matters into his own hands. well after that we decided we had had enough Sea World for one day so we headed out.

On the way out of town we made one last stop by the famous restaurant Lu Lu's. There cinnamon roll and chicken Fried steak were featured on Man vs. Food. It was everything we hoped it would be. absolutely delicious. if you are ever in San Antonio it is totally worth it to stop by. we left with enough leftovers for two more meals.
We had a great weekend and it was fun just hanging out with Chris and the kids. Hopefully we will be able to find some time this summer to go back and cover the rest of the park.

This weekend I got to get all dressed up and go to the Cadaver Ball with my Loverboy. It is a ball that honors all the people who donated their bodies to science. The first years throw it for the second years. So we got to go for free and have a great meal with dancing. I may be fat but I am still hot. LOL. I thought we cleaned up pretty good.