Sorry for the delays in posting- I had some issues with getting the pictures onto the computer- but all is well now!

We had a wild day yesterday!
First, I have been THINKING about beginning potty training. Anna has shown a lot of interest, is constantly taking off her diaper and pants, and we would save so much money being done with diapers!! So I have started reading some on it, etc... and yesterday I just brought up a potty to show it to the girls... no big deal. While I was making dinner I peek out and this is what I see:














Anna had taken it upon herself to take the potty out into the living room, took off her diaper and and pants and sat down. She was SO proud of herself. After I snapped the picture she stood up, pointed down and said "peepee" and sure enough she had gone peepee in the potty! This morning she went again 3 times in the potty. I don't know if mommy is ready for this. The other girls don't seem ready so I might just give it a run with Anna and see how it goes. They are still young so I'm not going to push it.

Yesterday, also, Natalie figured out how to climb out of her pack and play and when I moved her back into her crib she promptly climbed right out of it, too. I had just told Chris it was so easy with them in cribs I'd be happy to keep them there until they are 3! Oh well...
I ended up moving her mattress down to the floor inside the crib and it seemed to work last night and so far today. We'll see how long that lasts- and I'm sure Elisabeth isn't far behind on climbing out.

Speaking of climbing- here is what I found after I went to the bathroom a few weeks ago.














They broke down the gate into the kitchen and up they all went. Fortunately they only found Alex's chocolate wafers and not all the other things on the table they shouldn't have (salt, pepper, scissors, antibacterial wipes, wii remote...). And yes, I did leave them there for a moment while I got the camera :)

Other things we've been up to the last month or so:
Alex had a Valentines Day performance at school one night and so we took the girls with us for the first time. It went well- they love singing, etc.. so they were entertained.






























Alex also had his pinewood derby car race for cub scouts. He came in second out of 6! He had a great time.
















































Hiking with the kids














Chris enjoys showing everyone stuff along the trail. I'm glad we have kids that all love to be outside and hiking as much as their mom and dad! When the weather is nice we go every weekend.















Elisabeth and Natalie are really into puzzles right now. From the moment they wake up that is almost all they want to do.
















Elisabeth















Cute Natalie

Happy Adoption Day Alex!















We just celebrated Alex's 4th Adoption Day! He really wanted to go to the restaurant "where you can throw peanuts on the ground" so Chris and I took him to Logan's. He had a great time! We looked again at his adoption scrapbook and gave him a small gift. He still doesn't ask too much about adoption, but we always want to make sure he feels free to talk about it and how special he is!

This has been a great year for Alex. We think repeating first grade was the best thing for him and his confidence. Now he is on grade level in most things and excels in reading! He is better at making friends and learning to do things he never would do before- riding a bike, riding his scooter, etc... He has a neighbor friend he does things with now and that has been great for him. Being an older brother has been good for him, too. He has never been jealous at all of the girls- and is always eager to help with them. He still has his struggles, but overall he is doing very well.

Thought I would share a little more about the girls and their personalities too:

Anna definitely acts the oldest- she is the little mother. She loves to help me work- clean up, put the laundry away. She also takes care of the other girls- when they cry she tells them "sshh", when they get hurt she runs over to kiss and comfort them, when they drop things she picks them up for them, she also checks their diapers for poops! She says the most words and seems to comprehend everything!

Natalie and Elisabeth play together often- they chase each other and wrestle. Natalie enjoys playing the most. She loves to put on her necklaces and play with the Little People characters or her horse. She is the best with her fine motor/hand-eye coordination- she loves and is very good at puzzles and shape sorters and throwing and catching balls (Chris likes that part). She loves to sing and dance and you can't resist her when she asks for something with "pees" (please)!

Elisabeth still loves to climb and climb and climb. She can be a challenge to keep up with! If we are in the kitchen I just turn my head and she is on the table! Her favorite thing to do is read books. She always wants you to read with her, but she is very content to sit and look at books by herself, too. She is very attached to her "baby" right now and the other girls love to get Elisabeth to scream by stealing her baby or the baby's bottle. And Elisabeth can scream! She also loves to sing. Both her and Nat can sing the whole tune and get some words right to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!

The girls are a challenge right now as they can break through/climb over all of their gates and anything else I might try to block them in with. They aren't climbing out of their cribs yet, but I'm sure they could if they were ever left in there when they didn't want to be!

We have a crazy and fun house!!

Snowstorm 2011

We had 8.5" of snow last night! Lots of fun today!







































































































And a cute video of the girls playing

Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
We had a great few weeks. The week of Christmas my brother and his family came in from Oklahoma so we had a great time visiting with them. They have two girls (4 and 2) and a new baby boy! Christmas was so much fun with all the kids and we enjoyed getting the 4 inches of snow on Christmas day!
We have a lot of pictures- I had a hard time narrowing down what to blog!
We went to Rock City's Enchanted Lights one night (a Rabus tradition). The kids all enjoyed it, but we did forget how many stairs there are to climb!
The whole Rabus clan




















































The kids at the dinner table- Alex and all the girls!















Thanks goodness there is another boy in the family-
Alex and baby Gage















One baby to feed- a piece of cake!!




















We had Mike's family over for dinner one night- and put the kids to bed so us grownups could hang out.
Cute girls















Anna was very interested in the baby! She was giving him a hug in this picture.
















Sophie and Alex were so excited to sleep in the bunk bed together. Alex read to Sophie before bed. They didn't last too long in the room together, though, as they wouldn't go to sleep!















Christmas Eve

































Grammy and Pop and their 8 grand kids. 8 grand kids within 4 years- pretty amazing. And there is soon to be 9 as my sister is expecting her second girl in April.















Aunt Susie, Alex, and little elf Gage









































































Christmas Morning






























Look how deep the snow is!















Chris and Alex's giant snowman. They were hoping he would last for a long time since he was so big!















Some cute pics of the kids and their new toys

The girls love their new jewelry (Natalie puts on the necklaces when she wakes up and doesn't take them off all day).

Elisabeth















Their favorite gifts have been their dolls, though. They never seemed to care much about dolls before, but they are crazy about them now!
Natalie and her new dolly





















Anna and her doll















Elisabeth and her doll















Alex's favorite gift was a magic trick set. He is trying out the head turner trick on his friend Hannah.















Happy 2011!

Funny scenes around our house as we prepare for Christmas!
















Our Rudolph is a hit with the kids-
Elisabeth















Natalie















Anna






























Alex and Anna dressing up





























Ho, Ho, Ho, What do you want for Christmas Elisabeth?

Anna says a lot of words, and can call us all by name, but she is so funny when she tries to say "Elisabeth"- it comes out "Eblehblehbleh"