Picture catch-up :)

Merry Christmas

Life seems only to get crazier these days. The girls are almost 7 months and want to be held more often so they keep us on our toes. Add in the winter flus (colds and stomach), all the Christmas stuff, and the fact that I have to compete with my mother-in-law for computer time and VOILA...you have no posts from us. So...I will quickly post an edited version of our Christmas letter. We didn't have all the e-mail addresses we wanted to send it to so rest assured that you were probably not forgotten, we just couldn't contact you. Merry Christmas to everyone.

We can't believe another year has passed by so quickly! We hope you and your family are doing well and have been blessed this year. In an effort to minimize the number of times you have to look at us on the fridge, or more realistically, smile up at you from the trash can, we have decided to email you the "Christmas letter".

For starters, this year has been one of many tender blessings for us. We knew Kim was pregnant with twin girls last year. Well, everything went well and they were born on May 22. We now have six children--Boy sometimes that is easy to say and other times it is hard to believe. It has also been difficult for others we meet to believe we have six kids. :) It has been and will continue to be a wonderful experience, although very difficult at times, to raise them all. Starting from the oldest and the tallest and working through to the youngest and the shortest:

Nate, age 7, entered the 2nd grade this year. He doesn't like Math (he takes after his dad), but he tells us that he likes recess and art. He is getting ready to get baptized and is excited about it. Nate is really into reading, he just finished the first Harry Potter and is excited about seeing the movie. He does not like it when mom & dad "embarrass" him, which seems to happen even when we don't open our mouths.

Next, Gabby, now 6, is really going on 15 or 16! She started kindergarten this year and loves school (she is her mother's daughter). Gabby is constantly telling us about the boys who are cute and telling us that when girls get married they get that boy's last name--Josh has become progressively more uneasy and has been talking more and more about purchasing a gun; I am not sure if there is a connection. She has been such a big help around the house and has become a shadow to Kim and especially anytime her mom is taking care of the twins. She doesn't want to miss a thing! Following his sister is Mr. Chatterbox, a.k.a. James, who is 4. He just keeps talking to whomever about whatever and has a tendency to monologue. Since Nate and Gabby are gone during the day it has given he and Andrew time to spend together. They have become good friends, unless of course "Andrew took one of my special toys, and didn't ask, and he hit me and...AHHHHHH!!! (tears and moaning)" He is our soldier/army guy, noting of course that he does need to toughen up a bit. :)

Andrew, age 2 1/2, is always watching what his siblings are doing and taking notes. For example, he will hit James with something in anger and in the same moment he changes his expression to the "Mother Teresa face" and says sorry and lays kisses on the injured and then acts like an innocent bystander. Not so fast Andrew, we have our eyes on you! He is also very sweet, especially with the twins. He can be in the worst mood, pass by the twins, become happy and kiss them, and then return to the bad mood after he passes.

With the twins, you can't talk about one without talking about the other, they are identical and were both born with DS. Abigail and Natasha, born in that order, are almost 7 months now. They weigh about 11 pounds and are starting to smile and giggle. They have brought a new spirit and perspective to our family. The twins have busy schedules, even at their age! Three days a week they juggle physical, occupational, and speech therapy. We have to be careful not to put them down too close to each other or one of them will start sucking on the other's face, hair, hand, fingers or forehead--It is pretty funny.

Kim and Josh are just along for the ride. We try to find humor in our journey and we try to get to bed before midnight. We have become better friends this year as we have had to lean on each other more because it is just us. I just hope she can hold me up!

We are very excited that we are moving in May 2009 to a wonderful vacation destination. We hold our doors open and would love visits from you while we are there. Just call before you show up! :) Love, The Tillotsons

We are freezing...

I forgot how cold winter was until now. The kids (Josh included) had a great time making a snowman. Nate made his own. He is starting to assert his independence. It is a bittersweet time. I enjoy it when he still needs me sometimes. He also just finished the 1st Harry Potter. He read it pretty fast and is so proud of himself. I told him he couldn't watch the movies until he finished the books thinking I would be safe. The 1st Harry Potter is PG, but the rest are PG-13. I am going to have to back track on my movie rule because he is way too young for the later movies. He is waiting for book 2 to be transferred to our library branch. Until then he is just having to entertain himself with the Star Wars Jedi series. I wish he put this much energy into some of his other school subjects.

A Quick funny

Tonight I took James on a date to get a Target icee (we need a 7-11 here). We had only been there a few minutes when James said, "Do you know why everyone is looking at me?...because I am soooooo handsome." He just cracks me up. I think I posted last spring that this kid just seems to have all this confidence even thought his social skills often lack. Such a fun boy to have around.

Praise to my man

Since I can't download the pictures from Thanksgiving for some reason, I will just comment quickly on what I am grateful for. I have fantastic friends and a wonderful family, but what I am most thankful for is Josh. I was almost 26 when we met and with 2 exceptions I had had a series of 2-3 week boyfriends. I no longer believed that I could really have something that lasted. He knew that if we ever got together it would be serious. I have no idea how he knew. He just did. My dad wasn't so sure after Josh tried to hold his hand within a few minutes of meeting him (funny story). We will be married 9 years in January and I still really like him. I want to go everywhere and be with him all the time. It's like an addiction. He has been so good to me over the years. There has been a lot he has put up with. I would say that 5 pregnancies and 6 kids is a challenge for any husband! He just got up at 3:30 this morning so that I would not be shopping alone in the wee hours of the morning. In our first apartment we were about 100 yards from the parking but he would get up early and go out to heat up my car for me so I could teach at 7 am. I have never forgotten this first in a series of self-sacrifices for me. He has gone without so many things for the kids and me (most recently decent shoes but I finally fixed that). His talents are quiet ones that are not obvious until you know him well, but they amaze me constantly and suit our simple lifestyle. His sense of humor and humble ways make my imperfections more bearable and make me want to be better for him. Since it is too cold to shout it from the rooftops, I will shout it from my blog: I LOVE YOU JOSH AND YOU ARE THE VERY BEST PART OF MY LIFE!

6 Months Today!

I thought I would post one photo from each month of their lives after their birth. What did we do before we had these angels in our family?

Grandma's Fashion Show

IOU

I love to read how my friends & family are doing on their blogs. I have really tried to keep mine updated for friends & family as well. Unfortunately, things are changing for us. The blog is getting a bit harder to update due to an increasing number of appointments. Nate has his regular appts for a social worker & psychiatrist for the ADD, plus school things and karate. Gabby takes gymnastics and tends to take up a lot of time with all of her dramatic licence. James has gymnastics, preschool 2 days a week and a special Friday lunch class to prepare him for school next year. In addition to his demanding personality, Andrew now has a Thursday class through the Early Intervention program for the girls. They want to make sure that he progresses also, but he has to attend with the twins. The girls have PT at the hospital on Mondays, a Wednesday visit with the physical, occupational and speech therapists (all at once), and the Thursday classes with Andrew where they have their own teacher there. In addition to that, we have things like regular doctor and dental appts., hearing tests, eye exams, parent teacher conferences, play dates and regular dates with our kids. I volunteer at the schools on Friday mornings for 2 hours. Josh is usually gone studying 12 hours a day during the week and about 8-10 on Saturdays. He is also gone on Wed. for Young Mens and every 3rd Sunday for most of the day for meetings and Bishop's Youth Discussion. I am so glad I have my Sat. water aerobics class and an occasional girl's night. My mother-in-law recently moved in with us and it has been so valuable to have help with the kids. I am so glad I am not chasing down baby sitters for all these activities. I would never leave my car or the phone. When I just had a few toddlers I never really appreciated how people would tell me they were so busy with their older kids. Driving around to activities never seemed quite as chaotic as chasing little ones. Now I just do both, and I have to get up at 6 if I want to shower before noon! Consider this my I.O.U. for the next few weeks until I can get better at juggling things. I am already up way past my bedtime just to type this.

On another note, Gabby & I went on a date to the play Rapunzel on Sat. The theatre "modernized" it and I think we were both quite a bit disappointed. Luckily it was only 45 min long and the ice cream we went for afterward was good.

Funny: Nate had a friend over from his class on Saturday. It was like a "Pat" thing because this child wore boys clothes, but had the name of Anna (pronounced "AH-na"). The family was Italian and when Gabby said it was a girl's name, the child replied, "not everywhere". The hair was long and shaggy for a boy but lacked any style at all for a girl. The face and voice were generic. We spent an hour arguing whether Anna was a girl (me & Connie) or a boy (Josh & Gabby). I am sure Nate and Anna knew she was a girl but I finally settled the argument by chatting for a while with Anna's mom over the phone and listening carefully until I heard the pronoun "she". Gabby will be keeping her long hair with pretty bows for a while. It was kind of a disturbing event. I wish I could have taken a photo so you wouldn't think I was nuts. She was a sweet and very quiet little girl. I can see how she & Naters get along. I hope this story doesn't come across as me being rude. We liked her, we just had a hard time defining her gender. It was so odd.

The hair is Genetic

Here is James at 5 1/2 months. His hair was thicker and curlier than the twins but it still sticks up!! I know it seems like I just don't comb it down, but it just cannot be helped!

October...

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from our band of pirates to yours!

A little modeling...

It breaks my heart that my girls are outgrowing some of their clothes, or that winter has come when they are finally starting to fit well. Here are my girls in my favorite 0-3 month dresses with bonnets. Josh hates the bonnets and I LOVE them! Abigail is wearing green and Natasha is in the pink. Abigirl is such a riot. She is more advanced in most of the physical therapy skills because she is so fiesty. She is energetic and has been since the womb. She generally sleeps less and has a very SHORT fuse. When she is done--she's done. Natasha is more easy going in nature. She is larger and stronger in general but is less likely to work at something. She would rather just relax. Tasha is the ticklish one. Neither would really smile for the pictures, but we have discovered that our Tasha bear has a very ticklish belly.

Army guy stuff

This is Nate's newest drawing. Josh and I are really encouraging him to work on his artistic talents. He is really into aircraft and tanks now. It is so fun to see how he focuses so much better when he is doing something he loves.

Gabby's Party

Saturday was Gabby's 6th birthday party with her friends. They played games, made pizzas, and just goofed around. It was exhausting for Josh & I but the kids had a great time. One thing that I love about living here is that my kids think nothing of being friends with kids from all different cultures and backgrounds. I am so grateful that they have had this exposure and that it is really something that they barely notice. Huda's mom and Vyamika's mother stayed at the party and helped out. It was so nice to get to know them better too.

Sheer Delight

Tasha giggled for the 1st time today. I love that I get to be their mother.

6 Already!

It is hard to believe that Gabrielle is 6 years old already. I knew she was coming to our family when Nate was only 6 weeks old. I looked at Josh and told him that our next one was a girl. He just laughed and said "whatever". When I knew I was pregnant I started buying girl's clothes long before I knew the sex. Josh freaked but I knew my baby girl was on the way. She was my fastest labor and my smallest baby until the twins at 6lbs. 11oz. She had a head full of hair as a newborn and it just keeps growing (it's a Tillotson thing). Over the last 6 years I have watched her grow and develop into an amazing little girl. She is such a big help to me and is always willing and excited to help with any cooking or dish-related chore. She loves her baby sisters and dotes on them constantly. Andrew regards her as his best friend and she is very patient with him. James has been lost this last month that she has been in school all day. She and Nate still play together well when they can find an idea that they both like. Gabby is a great artist and loves to "create". She tries to display all of her work everywhere in the house with Scotch tape. She whines with the best of them, but she is the most likely to complete any chore first. We have a "Good Habits" list that she remembers to do even if I don't. Her bed is made more often then mine. She loves to organize things and she often rearranges the nursery when she thinks it looks messy. I miss her every day that she is in school. I wish she could stay this young and innocent forever.