Merry Christmas

I know that I am a little late with this but I hope that everyone had a spectacular christmas! We had a nice quiet christmas it seemed like this year. I don't know what it was but we seemed to avoid a lot of the stress that the holidays ushually bring. Heck, Preston didn't even understand the whole santa/present thing since we never really talked about it. I tried to keep the holidays centered more around the birth of our savior and why that is the greatest gift that we could ever get. I think that it worked pretty well, even for an eight and five year old. Kendra turned eight on December 21 and so she was able to experience one of the most important days in her life. She was Baptized on Saturday, December 27 by her father. I am still in shock that my daughter is old enough to take this step. It was a very simple and wonderful baptism and both her grandma and grandpa Card were able to speak. She wanted me to give the talk on baptism but I knew that there was just no way that I would have been able to get through it. Grandma did a wonderful job! I know that having her baptism right after christmas was helpful to keep me focused on what is really important. She was really excited and afterwards we came back to our house for lunch and cake to celebrate both her and Preston's birthdays. Preston turned two years old yesterday and pretty much didn't even realize it. We sang to him a couple of times and he seemed to like that but other than that it was just another day for him. Oh and he got to go to the doctor, what better way to celebrate than getting a shot huh? The doctor did say that he is catching up in his weight. He is in the 50th percentile for both height and weight now which is actually a big relief. Preston has always been super skinny and at his last well baby check-up the doctor was a little bit concerned so he was pleased with his weight gain yesterday but he is still a little stick!

This is Ethan with his big Santa present as well as his new christmas PJ's. Santa brought both Ethan and Preston Imaginext sets, but Ethan had really wanted this one called "Gorilla Mountain" all three kids love playing with imaginext they get out their Littlest Pet Shops and Kendra's Polly Pockets and have a blast, and lately they add hot wheels cars to the mix. I could just listen to them play for hours, the imagination of little kids is so sweet.

Here is Kendra opening what I think was her very first Christmas present. It always boggles my mind how much fun the week of christmas must be for her between her birthday and christmas at all of her grandparents houses and then at home she opens presents for an entire week sometimes!

Here we are showing off our slippers that we all got for Christmas. Daddy is the only one missing out on the slipper action this year, I guess we are going to have to get him some! And those huge bunny slippers are Kendra's not mine. Josh is enjoying his last days of freedom before he has to start his day job and the kids are enjoying their christmas break. I don't know if I am going to be ready for the fifth, the kids go back to school and Josh starts his job, I also happen to have a doctor's appointment that day. I guess Preston and I are going to have some quiet days around the house until Aubrey decides to join us and mix things up a bit.

Some pictures

If you can get past the nasty PB&J face isn't he adorable? He loves to rock, he is my first child to actually want to rock. In fact every night when we tuck him in he say, mama rock mama rock. It breaks my heart and I ushually give in, but he just does it so he doesn't have to lay down. He has me wrapped around his finger that is for sure. I wasn't sure if Kendra had enough pillows or not. She barely had room for herself on the couch after she did this with all of the pillows.

Preston insisted on wearing his hat the other day, he loves this silly little hat and it barely even fits on his head!

This is now my favorite hairdo for Kendra, it is super easy and looks cool. I call it the worm ponytail, I can't really take credit for it, I stole it off a website as ushual. The only problem is that it doesn't seem to stay for an entire day, I got new bobby pins and everything but I can seem to get them in tight enough to hold all day.

Josh has learned very quickly that he is bored to death without school during the day. A day job isn't sounding so bad these days :)

An Update

I have been meaning to post an update for awhile now, we have had quite a bit happening. First and foremost Josh got a job, WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He got hired on with a logistics firm here in Billings and will start the first Monday in January. We are all very relieved and I am looking forward to some extended time home with my family. It has worked out for the best as far as I am concerned but I don't think Josh would say the same thing. He has quite a full semester ahead of him now with a full time day job, but hopefully he won't work more than three nights a week and that will all be to save up for next year's college expenses.
Josh finished his finals this week and I think that I was as stressed as he was! I will admit, I help my husband with his schoolwork. I don't DO it, but I help him. He told me that it has made a big difference though and it is like having a personal tutor. I don't mind at all and I have noticed a HUGE difference from the beginning of the semester until now so I think it has been worth it. The kids are all looking forward to Christmas but can't seem to come up with any good ideas about what they want. I still have plenty of Christmas shopping to do but can now focus on that while the kids are in school since Josh has some time before he starts work. I am feeling good and getting bigger and bigger, I am now at the point where I can't really get comfortable so I know that I am at the end.

Thanksgiving fun

We had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed some fun times this past weekend. The kids were able to spend some much needed time with their cousins goofing off and being very VERY loud! I am suprised my dad made it through. Amy and her fam came up from Utah along with Julie and her boyfriend. It was nice to have everyone together and we wish that Darren and his fam could have joined us to make it complete, maybe next year. Dinner was delicious and we played Apples to Apples afterward with all of us kids and our spouses. Let's just say that we were actually louder than all of the little kids for a couple of hours. I LOVE THAT GAME!
Josh went out early on Friday and braved the crowds to pick up a few things. He stood in line for an entire hour at Toys R Us! I LOVE YOU JOSHUA!!! Later that day I went out with my Mom and sister to hit up the big sales but only came home with a few things. Amy and I both found some awesome coats at Old Navy for half off but restrained ourselves, I have to say I was pretty proud that I was able to say no. My attitude towards spending is definitely changing, and in a good way. Josh and I were also able to go and see Twilight during the day on Friday and really enjoyed it. Movies that are made from books never live up to expectations but it was still fun to see it and spend time with my Husband. Josh and I couldn't remember the last time the two of us went out to a movie!
We were extra motivated on Saturday and got our Christmas tree up and decorated, that never happens this early but it is up and Preston is LOVING it. He was much better with the tree last year than this. He keeps wanted to touch and play with the ornaments, we will have to see how many casualties we end up with.

The Big Layoff

Well as many of you know if you live in the area Stillwater Mining Company just had a pretty big layoff which included closing down the East Boulder Mine completely. Well Most of the miners were brought back on at our Nye minesite due to the fact that we had been cancelling many of our labor contracts in the previous weeks. But as for the support staff, they were cut dramatically. The department that I worked in started out with six plus the manager and is now down to two plus the manager. They are actually bringing in someone from the Nye site to take over my job. It all really sucks but what can ya do. We knew it was coming. Seeing as how metel prices have dropped to practically nothing and all of our contracts are with the car industry it was bound to happen. I just hope that they don't end up closing the entire mine. So I am now officially unemployed.
Seeing as how I am twelve weeks away from my due date I have a few complications when it comes to finding a job. Like, NO ONE HIRES A PREGNANT PERSON WHO IS THIS CLOSE TO THEIR MATERNITY LEAVE! So Josh is looking for a day job and has been able to switch all of his classes around for next semester so that they are all online. We are really lucky that he was able to do that so we don't fall behind when it comes to school. He is actually at an interview right now so I am super nervous and hope that it goes well. In the meantime everyone is adjusting to having me home, especially Preston. He has been fighting a cold all of last week so I am sure that hasn't helped but Kendra and Ethan have told me many times how much they like that I get to take them to school and pick them up. I have enjoyed having so much time in my day! I have been able to get laundry done and a few other things that had been piling up for months. I will keep everyone posted on how the job hunting goes and hopefully it won't last too long.

Curly Q

I have always wanted one of my children to have curly hair, and Preston has pulled through on that wish. His hair astonishes me sometimes it is so curly. The only thing is that it is super thin, both Kendra and Ethan had super thin baby hair at first and now they have very VERY grown up hair. I even have to use mommy and daddy shampoo on Ethan's hair or it smells that is how thick it is. So I have hope that Preston's hair will fill in. His uncle Devin even asked with concern last Sunday if Preston's hair was going to be curly and stay that thin, I almost had to laugh out loud with the seriousness of Devin's tone. For now we are enjoying the curls and I try to keep him from looking like a clown. The only thing is that after a nap his hair gets pretty crazy and by the next day it is practically flat. My fear is that those curls aren't going to stick around so we just take advantage of them while we can.

I thought that I would share a picture from actual Halloween night. It was plenty nice out for a Montana Halloween and that hood on Ethan's head didn't stay on for long. We put Preston in his stroller and he was perfectly content with only going up to every couple of doors. Kendra and Ethan started out in a full out RUN but Ethan didn't last too long. Kendra on the other hand had Josh take her back out with our next door neighbor while the boys and I stayed home to hand out the candy. She came back with half a pillowcase full. Yes I said pillowcase, Josh and I made the mistake of telling the kids that we used pillowcases when we were young. No pumpkins for our kiddos :)

Since it was so nice out there was no way I could talk Ethan into being Elmo, but that is ok he enjoyed being dash. We have recently been watching the Star War's movies with Kendra and Ethan so we already have next years costumes picked out. Preston is going to be Yoda, Kendra Princess Lea and Ethan will be Luke Skywalker. And if we feel up to it Josh can be Darth Vader and I can be Padme. Little Aubrey will have to be an Ewok. LOL!

Double Digits!

I have been watching and waiting patiently for my counter to get below 100 days left until my due date and it is finally here, YAY ONLY 98 DAYS LEFT!!! We are getting very excited for baby girl to join our family. I have been busy finding some great deals on baby girl clothes and organizing my boxes and boxes of baby stuff. I have even ventured onto Ebay to sell some of my baby boy clothes and it has gone great! I have actually gotten rid of a lot of stuff and made way more money than I ever would have selling it at a garage sale or on cosignment so it has been pretty fun and I can do it in my spare time and ushually after the kids have gone to bed. And I still have two rubbermaids full of stuff left to sell. I started with the stuff that Preston just grew out of and have been working my way down so I still have newborn to 12 months and WOW I had a lot of boy clothes! I am going to use the money I make on ebay for my diaper fund. I have never had two kids in Diapers at once and HOLY COW I am NOT looking forward to it. Although Preston has been showing us a few signs that he is ready so I definitely won't be postponing that step any longer than necessary. But Ethan does still wear Pull-ups to bed. He sleeps like a log and just can't seem to stay dry so any helpful hints there are greatly appreciated. (We did try the banana thing and that didn't work.)
We had parent-teacher confrences last week and they went wonderful, I keep asking myself how long this can last, but like my mom pointed out to me last night, she was blessed with never really having to worry too much about her kids and school. I am praying that I can follow in her footsteps. I am glad that Halloween is over and we can look forward to Thanksgiving, I LOVE Thanksgiving. You just can't beat the food and I love seeing my brothers and sisters and spending the day with them and watching those cousins have such a blast together. I started Christmas shopping this weekend and it seems like I have a mountain in front of me with three kids and a ton of extended family to shop for, not to mention Kendra's Eighth birthday (which also means baptism) and Preston's second birthday all within days of Christmas. I am sure that I will survive and at least I won't be expecting to go into labor at any point like with Kendra and Preston. We tried to space this one a little better :D

Fun at home

A few weeks ago we had the most awesome snowstorm, it just kept coming and coming! This is the pile that Josh shoveled off the driveway, it was so tall that Preston was afraid to be sitting on the top. Josh enjoyed jumping into it! I just couldn't resist taking this picture, Ethan is so sweet and loves his build-a-bears, he sleeps with them every night!

So the other morning Josh found Preston this way. Apparently he had discovered how to unzip his pajamas. He was just hanging out on the couch watching his daily dose of sesame street, sucking his thumb, with his clothes halway off.

Trunk or Treat

On Friday we had our Trunk or Treat for church. As of that afternoon we still didn't have a costume for Kendra so I came right home and got to work, by the time I had all of the kids ready and fed it was time to go. When we got there the place was PACKED, apparently the trunk or treat/carnival was for all three of the wards in our building. I knew a lot of people from over the years and when I got home and looked in the mirror I was so embarassed, talk about having an off day. I had decided to use "Casual" friday to the fullest extent. I told Josh that he could have said something to me but he just shrugged it off. Needless to say I spend a little extra time getting ready for the next couple of days to make up for it :) We talked Ethan into being Elmo so that he would stay warmer and also in hopes of saving the Dash costume for next year since it is still pretty big on him, (it was Kendra's costume a few years ago)

Here is our little cowboy, Preston.

I had this old dress from a Texas Roadhouse Costume party a few years ago so Idid a few modifications and added a pretty hairdo and make-up and we had a movie star in our midst.

Isn't this the perfect cowboy face?

My kiddos are such posers! Kendra had no problem playing the part of a movie star, can ya tell?

Fall Fun

We have so many leaves! For the past eight years we have either not had a yard or the trees that we did have had like five leaves on it. Now we have more leaves than we had ever dreamed of. Josh has raked one bag, yup ONE, so we have a long way to go. In the meantime the kids are having a blast.

ITS A GIRL

Well, I didn't think that it was possible but we will be welcoming a little girl into our family in febuary. She is growing good and everything looks to be just perfect. The kids all went with us to the ultrasound appointment and were so excited. (We had been talking about it for a while) They all wanted a baby sister and their wish was granted. Kendra kept asking lots of questions and was genuinely interested. Ethan was excited and paid attention as well but that didn't last and Preston was good and kept saying sissy, baby, sissy. I had snuck a few candies into my purse before we went just in case and boy was I glad that I did. The baby was curled up in a ball and so it was very hard to get the pictures and measurements that the ultrasound tech wanted so it took quite a bit of time.

My mom thinks that she might look like Ethan, I told her that I couldn't tell and that all the kids look alike anyways.
The only fun thing she did for us was she finally moved her hands so that we could count those little fingers and she gave us a thumbs up.The name that we have picked out is Aubrey Michele Wynia.

The snow has finally arrived!

Winter has come to the great state of Montana and the ground is now covered with a wonderful white stuff called snow. I love these early snow storms, when the snow is wet and heavy and the roads stay clear or at worst a little slushy, pretty much like spring storms It isn't too cold out but it is cold enough to light a fire in the fireplace and have a wonderful excuse to make some hot chocholate and curl up watching a good movie and just be lazy. We have settled into the routine around the Wynia house. Josh is about midway through the semester and even has two of his midterms under his belt and he is doing amazing. We were a little worried since Josh hadn't been to school in so many years and when he did go to school.... well let's just say that going to class and doing his homework were at the bottom of his priority list. So we are pleased and relieved at the same time. Kendra and Ethan are still loving school and are making many new friends. Kendra even had a birthday party last night and now another one today. Things are so different when she is gone because Ethan just doesn't know what to do with himself. Let's just say that he is getting quite a bit of practice time on the Wii.
Preston is enjoying spending time over at papa's house even though he mostly just takes his naps there because Josh only has one class on campus, but he always has a story to tell me about papa's house. That little boy jabbers and jabbers but can hardly get an understandable word out. One of these days he is going to amaze us and start talking so that we can actually understand.
I am enjoying work a little more these days and I feel good. My ultrasound is Monday so we have been counting down for it. I can't wait to find out if this baby is a boy or girl, lets just hope that the baby cooperates.

The Wii

As I was downloading the pictures to the computer I saw some from my company picnic last month. I had been meaning to share this story but had forgotten too. When we got home from the picnic Josh even said, "man you need to blog about this!" So here goes.

I work for Stillwate Mining Company, it is great company that does a lot for it's employees and the community. They are a big part of Zoo Montana and so the Company picnic was held there. I had never been to our zoo before and Josh kept telling me how lame it was but I figured it couldn't be that bad. Well it was! It looks like the zoo has been abandoned for years. The place was covered in dead leaves. The animal habitats were a mess, some animals had watering holes in their areas and the watering holes were halfway dried up and full of mud and nastyness. It was not what I had even thought a zoo could possibly look like.

There was a lot for the kids to do, slides and bounce houses and of course food. They had a treasure hunt set up for the kids to hunt through straw for quarters and gold dollars. We had finished doing some activies and they were giving away prizes. There were all kinds of prizes from TV's to flashlights. They got through about a third of the prizes and said that they were going to do more in about an hour. I wanted to walk through the zoo since I hadn't done that yet and I was hoping that Preston would go to sleep in his stroller. It was super hot and miserable out and the zoo wasn't much to look at. Preston did fall asleep and I was more than ready to get back and it was almost time for more prizes. When we finally headed back Josh heard them calling numbers. Very distantly he heard them call HIS number. We were still far away but he kicked off his flip flops and started running down the trail and yelling that was his number. I love my husband very much, but sometimes I will say he is just a tad bit embarassing out in public. I didn't want all 600 of those people knowing that it was my crazy husband running and yelling through the zoo with no shoes on. So I took my time making it back to the crowd.

Apparently when he finally made it they had just called another number and they had gotten the phone. The guy that was drawing the tickets could tell that Josh had ran and that his face was all red. He made a deal with him, the next prize that didn't get claimed he could have. I was still wary of associating with him after his little stunt so I took Kendra to the bathroom and to get a sno-cone. On our way back they were giving away the final prize of the group, the Wii. They called out the number and all that was heard was groans. They called the number for what seemed like forever. The guy reminded everyone of the deal that he had made with Josh and gave it the final going once, twice, gone! They handed us the Wii! Josh was so excited and everyone else in the crowd was....not so excited. I could just see everyone watching us, I told Josh that it was time to get out of there. So Josh ran and put the Wii in the car and we headed over to the climbing wall for one last activity.

Kendra had been asking to do the climbing wall while we were at the fair so this was perfect, hardly any line and FREE! She was doing really well and got about halfway up when she started to hesitate. She went a little further and then she was in tears! She wouldn't let go of the wall so that we could get her down and she was just out of our reach. I had to explain what all of the ropes were for and finally convinced that she could just let go and they would slowly pull her down. So the company picnic was VERY eventful, Kendra ended it in tears of fear and Josh ended it in tears of joy, well not really but pretty close. Ethan loves the Wii and Kendra could care less. I really enjoy it and after the first weekend my arms were pretty sore. So if anyone ever wants to come on over and play, let us know, we are now the proud owners of a Wii.

I Just Can't Seem to Pull it Together

Every night as I head home from work I tell myself that I am going to blog! Then I get the kids, get home, go to soccer, get dinner, try and get caught up on laundry or dishes, bathe the kids and get them in bed. (Josh is almost always at work) By then I seem to be finding myself completely exhausted! I have even gone to bed as early as 8:30 once this week. I am feeling better and last night I even cleaned the entire kitchen, something I hadn't done in far too long. :) So I am going to recap and hopefully add pictures at some point.

Kendra and Ethan have both started school, HORRAY!!! Last week Ethan's teacher told Josh how smart Ethan is and how great he is doing. I wondered how long it would take before she said something, Ethan was overly prepared for School by his wonderful older sister. That same day Kendra's teacher pulled Josh aside and told him that she had been caught starting her math before the teacher said go. So we had to have the cheating talk with her that night. I will say that I am suprised that Ethan doesn't crash when he gets home at night since they go to school all day every day even in kindergarden, but he is like the energizer bunny, as soon as he gets home he is out the door to play with his friends.

Over labor day we went to Boise Idaho for a visit. We went to the Zoo, the Discovery Center, visited my cousin Rhonda and her family, and saw some friends of ours. Amy and her family also came up from Utah so we got to see them so that was awesome. I also did a bit of shopping. Ok a lot of shopping! We had a really good time and enjoyed the trip. Josh and I each celebrated a birthday while we were on vacation. Man we seem to be getting old, ok not really, but time really does fly by.

Josh started his first full semester back as a college student! It has been a wee bit stressful, but seems to be going good. Josh is still trying to fall into a routine. I told him that probably won't happen until he has finished the first test in each of his classes. I know that is about how long it took for me each semester and after that test you kind of know what to expect and how to best prepare. We are very excited to be starting this part of our lives, even if we are doing it completely backwards from most people.

Kendra and Ethan are both in soccer and have had their first games. Kendra scored a goal in the very beginning of the game and ended the game in tears. I warned the coach that she is a very emotional little girl and that we try to ignore it. Ethan did well and was so fun to watch, at one point he was throwing the ball in from the sidelines and his teamate caught it, TOO FUNNY!

So that is what we have been up to these days. Hope everyone is enjoying the start of their fall as much as we are. Let's just say that my life right now is like a new adventure every day! I guess I should get back to work, my lunch time is over. And maybe tonight will be the night and I can actually post some picutres.

How does this even happen?

I went to the doctor today and I got to hear the heartbeat, which was awesome! My doctor is so funny, with both Preston and this one he has said, "Well you are doing great, your body knows just what to do." Which I interpret as, man you are already huge! Anyways, when I walked in the door Josh infoms me that Preston has just had some yogurt. I turn around to see Preston and this is what I find....








Our kids love yogurt so much that we just buy the big tubs of it and put it in a bowl. Well apparently Preston decided to try out the bowl on his head. He thought it was quite comical and was playing with it and then licking his hands, GROSS! Needless to say I made Josh take him straight to the bathtub and as I was washing his hair I had to pick out pieces of strawberries. OH MAN!

The last days of freedom

We went to the fair last weekend and had a great time, ate some wonderful food, and took some silly pictures. I just had to laugh when Kendra looked at the pictures and asked, "which one is me and which one is Ethan?" Even she couldn't tell, man my kids look a lot alike.




Josh took Ethan to get his hair cut for school. Ethan does pretty well getting his hair cut as long as they don't raise the chair too high, he says he is afraid of heights. He came home, I told him how handsome he was and asked him how it went. He told me, "she was afraid of heights and afraid of water!" Apparently the gal that cut her hair was very open with him.

Lazy Days of Summer

It is amazing to me how much kids Preston's age learn each day. He is always discovering something new, saying a new word, or getting into something new. As I watch Preston's personality grow and develop I see once again how different we each are and how different my children each are. We each have something different that we bring to this world and we all have our own strengths and weaknesses. Preston is definitely testing my patience, he is into everything, always moving, and demands attention. He wants to be with his brother and sister all of the time and he loves to make messes. These are pictures that I took of him after he discovered how to open some lip gloss of mine. It was the kind that has a wand in it with a fuzzy type end. Preton thought he would use it not only as make-up but also like a q-tip! HE HAD IT EVERYWHERE!



The worst was when I actually used a q-tip to clean up his ears and the q-tip ended up bright pink!

I wonder if Preston will be as smart as his brother and sister? He definitely loves to read, even if it is one of my books. I couldn't help but to take his picture, he was using a pillow, his blanket from his crib, and has a doll on his belly that he was snuggling up with too. SO SWEET!


Well summer is quickly drawing to a close. We celebrated Ethan's birthday about a month ago but here are some pictures from the event. Ethan insisted on having a "Bowling Party" so we went to sunset bowl and had a blast. And I have to add that they are the best place to have a party. They charge per lane per hour so you can put as many people on a lane as you want and if the kids don't finish the game or start a second one it doesn't matter. So for those of you around Billings I highly recommend Sunset bowl, especially if you have a lot of people attending. Everyone got to bowl and it was fun for the kids and adults!




This is Justin, Josh's younger brother. Can ya tell they are related?

Always posing!

The birthday boy

This is Amy sporting our dad's stylin socks. She didn't think that she would bowl, but once she got there she couldn't say no. For once we were grateful that my dad wore socks with his sandels :)

Aunt Julie Helped Preston to bowl. He wouldn't stay back, he always has to be in the middle of everything.

Sweet as Pie

Preston is always into everything. Apparently he didn't like the cool whip.

This one is a classic Preston mess. Apparently he loves the oatmeal. He carries all around the kitchen and front room. Occassionaly he gets a measuring cup and bowl and "measures" himself out a bowl of oatmeal. But it eventually all ends up on the floor.

This is Preston with his little cousin Presleigh. Amy was able to come and visit for a week. We had such a good time and the kids loved their aunt and cousin. I have a few more pictures that I will try and post.