Family Updates

It seems like things are at a standstill...January and February are always slow months around here. Don't get me wrong we are still busy and  seem to not have enough hours in the day.  However that time has not been spent camping, or being outdoors doing the things we love. 

My kids are growing up faster than I would like. We keep entering new phases and new challenges. But with that comes more fun and new adventures. 

BRAD:
Brad will be turning 9 on Sunday. I can't believe it has been a whole year since his baptism. I know this is a cliché  but he has changed so much in the last few months.

We moved him to his own room downstairs shortly after Christmas. He gets a later bedtime than Claire which he was so excited about. He gets to have more free time to himself. It has also made reading and homework easier. Plus he can actually have a quiet place to read his scriptures and write in his journal. He seems to act more grown up since the change. He is responsible to get himself ready and keep his room clean. The other day he asked me if he could do his own hair. I had to go buy him a blow-dryer, comb, gel and give him his own drawer in the bathroom.

We got him this arcade basketball game last year and now he has a place to keep it and actually get to play it.

Brad just finished up playing winter basketball. Randy and Uncle Matt got to coach the team. Brad played so good this year. They only lost 2 of their games. It has been fun to watch his game develop. Before it always seemed like organized chaos but now they boys can run offensive plays and defend the ball. With some really awesome coaching Brad was one of the best defenders. He would shut down some of the other teams best players. No one intimidated him. He also learned to jump this year to rebound the ball which helped him score on the rebound. Brad's friend Caleb Miller across the street was on his team and they had an awesome pick and roll play that they scored with on multiple occasions. I was sad to see the season end. Their last game was AMAZING!!! We had to take brad to Maverick to get a treat to celebrate the win. Nanny and Papa liked the games so much they drove up for almost all of them.

Brad has been breezing through 3rd grade. His teacher Mr. Nebeker has been such a good teacher. Last week we got a phone call from Mr. Nebeker that brad was the only one in the class by a long shot to get 100% on his math test. He has also scored 95-100% on the last several spelling tests. We are so happy with him. I got to help with his class Valentine party. It was fun to be a fly on the wall. He is NOT a shy kid. He is still very energetic and I'm sure a distraction in class some of the time but that is just a part of having Fischer genes. He is just like his dad and uncles.

CLAIRE: 

Claire has changed so much in the past few months. She is so funny and full of life. She is maturing right before our eyes. Learning comes so easy for her. She counts and reads everything she sets her eyes on. She loves preschool but can't wait to start Kindergarten in the fall. She had her well child check with Dr. Shakula a few weeks ago and she is still WAY off the charts in  height and 75th percent in weight. She loves playing dress up, dolls, puppies,  house, and school. Pretty much anything that mimics what a mommy would do. She is such a good helper around the house. 

Some of her highlights of the week are dance class, and Wacky Wednesdays at the Smithfield Sinclair. Drinks are only $0.50 so I buy her one after dance then take one to Aunt Tori's work. In fact she wakes up on Wednesdays and exclaims "Yea!!! It's drink day!!" without fail.  

She has been learning how to make simple meals. She is right by my side when I cook and loves to help crack eggs, mix things, and measure. 

She was invited to a Fancy Nancy Birthday party for her friend Kiera. She got to wear her fanciest clothes. She was so excited to get all dressed up. 

All set with dress, crown, white gloves...

hint of make-up...

...and an updo!

Every day she begs to have a friend over. Her good friend Allee Brown recently moved away. We spent about a week straight crying trying to get used to the idea of Allee being so far away. It was a hard life lesson at such a young age. 

She spends a lot of time with Blyss Miller and Kiera Godfrey. She has to wait so patiently all morning waiting for them to get home from Kindergarten.

Claire's new obsession has been the Gangnam Style dance. I don't know which is worse that or the Macarena when we were kids.

She is pretty good at it and has the shimmy down perfect.

She stole my camera the other day. She took about 200 pictures of random things around the house. This picture made me laugh.

This one did too. I love self portraits.

She said something to me the other day that cracked me up. I was driving home from pre-school and she said in a very serious voice. "Mom, I think I am going to start calling you BIG instead of FAT so I don't hurt your feelings. Does that sound like a good idea?" I was dying. I had to call my Mom right away so she could laugh too. 

HARRISON:
Harrison will be 17 months on the 6th of March. He has been the best baby. He is so chill and goes with the flow of things most of the time.

At his last well baby with Dr. Shakula he finally made it on the chart with his size. He is on the 45th percentile in height and 5th percentile in weight. He is having major growth spurts. I'm glad he is still growing!!! He has mastered the art of walking and is now into running. About a month ago he came running around the kitchen counter as I was empting the dishwasher and crashed into a drawer. It gave him a nasty shiner. In fact it lingered for about 3 weeks poor kid. 

He is lucky to have an older brother and sister to play with. He loves to be right in the middle of everything. He mimics everything they do. His first few words have been: mom, da, no, go and poop (can you tell this is not my first rodeo??? I am trying to get a head start on potty training.) 

He has the brightest blue eyes and the longest lady killer eyelashes. 

The other day I was trying to get a picture of his black eye. I said his name over and over again. I took his picture a million times in his crib...

...then out of the crib. He started yelling at me. He didn't appreciate it.

Yelling at me didn't make enough of a point for him. He tugged at my heart strings and started crying. I got the hint and stopped the photo shoot. 

We are still working on his ears. His ENT Dr. Blotter thinks he may have either infected tubes or mastoiditits. We are still battling gooey glopy drainage from his ears. We are tying to do a few more aggressive antibiotic treatments. If that doesn't work we may have to do a little more surgery to replace the tubes or drain the mastoid bone behind his ear. 

I can't wait to watch him over the next few months. His personality is so different than Brad and Claire's. He is so mellow. He loves to people watch. He is very observant. His giggle is contagious. We love our little man.

DAD:

Dad has been super busy!!!
He started a new job 3 weeks ago. He was doing such a good job at the Providence Zion's they asked him to be the manager at the City Center Zion's branch. It has been a great promotion. The branch's portfolio is huge and he will have an even bigger clientele. It will be a good experience for him and he will get to learn a lot more commercial lending and do more small business loans. We are so proud of all his hard work.

Randy finished the basement right after Christmas. We have fallen in love with our house all over again. I have loved having a new living room with a fireplace, kitchenette and lots of space.

We saved so much on sweat and recruitment from Matt and Todd we were able to use granite for the counter tops  YEA!!!

I love this fireplace. I could sit here all day!!! The boys did ALL of this! They even poured the concrete for my stamped hearth. I was so impressed with their skills.

He also put in a doll house for Claire under the stairs.

Even Brad plays in there when he thinks we are not looking.

Randy just got called to be the Young Men's president. He is really looking forward to getting to know the Young Men in our ward. He will do such a great job.




MOM:
Things are back to normal for me in the foot department. I got the okay to take off my boot and have have little trouble or pain. I still can't put my full weight on the balls of my feet since my toes are still not strong enough but I can still jump on my elliptical and chase Harrison around. I will take it.

Now that my feet are fixed, and I am done having babies it is time for me to get rid of all the "extra" parts of me. I have started eating healthier and exercising. I have run out of excuses and it's time. My Mom has been my super hero example. She lost 40 pounds last year and looks amazing. She is my safety net. I call her when I want fries. I will admit...it has been super hard. I have a horrible food addiction. I love every aspect of food. The smell, taste, look or even the thought. I love to cook, I love the social part of meals and entertaining with food.  I don't have a problem feeling hungry just very intense cravings. My body thinks it needs to have a treat ALL the time. I am hoping that with time that will pass and I will be able to control my thoughts and especially my actions. I have set some reasonable goals and I really hope I can achieve them.

I have really enjoyed spending time with Tori over the last several months. Matt and Tori moved to Logan last summer and we love it. It has been so great getting to know her even better. I love having someone over to tolerate the Jazz games with. I love having my kids run to the door every time they come over. She is such an amazing woman and I'm glad Matt has her. Tim and Kamie just bought a house in Clifton ID. They are moving next week. It will be so nice to have all of us so close together. I have needed some family close.

I am still the Primary President in our ward. It is such a rewarding calling. The kids bring the spirit every week and I still love to soak up their strong testimonies. Plus it is fun to be there with my kids. I made this bulletin board for our primary room and I am kinda proud of it. I am not a super crafty person so I surprise myself when I so something crafty.

Life is good. Life is REALLY good. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. I have a fantastic husband who loves and supports me. We are blessed beyond measure.