30, Flirty and Fabulous!

My baby turned 30 today! Well, yesterday... as it is already after midnight and I have not gotten her birthday blog up yet. Arrgh! Not only did she have her 30^th birthday on Friday the 13^th but she had it on the opening night of Nutcracker! So the chances of getting a timely birthday blog were cursed. Kacey, please excuse my tardiness!

It’s really hard to believe my firstborn is 30!

I swear she was this size about 5 minutes ago!

 

But now she is this boy’s mother!

 

And she has 3 more little cutie pies!!

  

She is the best sister ever!

And she makes the cutest grandkids!

I feel like I won the mother lottery when I got Kacey as my firstborn. I respect her and I admire her and I love hanging out with her!

Happy Birthday, Kacey! Thanks for bringing us 30 years of pure joy!!

Look who's feeling 22!

This is Kylie right around 2nd grade... and now she is teaching 2nd graders. Oh my! I am so proud of her. She's so grown up! It makes me feel old but it also delights me to see her have such an impact on her students. I have no doubt that these kids will never forget their 2nd grade teacher!

And I bet future Claudio will thank his favorite teacher, Miss Earl, for believing in him when he receives the Tony Award for his one man play "All Things Mario!!"

I love you, Kylie! Happy 22nd birthday!!

Happy Birthday, Brad!

Well it's birthday blog time again and I find that I have a tendency to use pictures from the same age period for the blog. Kids are just so darn cute when they are babies and toddlers! So I thought I would find a picture from an age that I hadn't posted before. So I found a couple of gems but then I couldn't decide whether to go with the embarrassing Halloween photo or the cool snowboarder dude? So I did both!..



Any boy who is willing to dress up like a grandma just to get free candy is my kinda kid!

Okay so here he is around the same age looking a tad bit cooler...




But the funny thing about this picture is that I'm pretty sure this is Kristy's old snowboard outfit. I was smart enough to not buy pink so that snow clothes could be passed down regardless of gender. But, then again, Brad probably would have worn it if it was pink anyway because he was that kind of boy! No, not THAT kind of boy! Not that there is anything wrong with that... (Seinfeld reference for those who missed it) I meant he was easygoing!!

Brad is just an all round gem!

And he has great taste in women!

Update: Brad and Julianna are living in Phoenix, AZ where Brad is getting a Masters in Bio-medical Sciences and Jules is working at an orthodontist office.

Happy 26th Birthday, Brad! You are the best son ever!!

(Yes, I realize that I have two sons and I just called one of them the best. But I think even Bryan would agree that a post mission son is way better than a pre-mission son! In a few years, when Bryan has learned to pick up after himself and would rather converse with people rather than play video games... he will be right back up on the top of the list alongside Brad!! Haha. The best thing is that I think Bryan is going to turn out just like Brad so I am on proud mama!!!)

Guess who's 18???

 From this:

To this:

















To this:














To this:

I can't think of a better family caboose than Bryan! Oh, how I adore this boy!! While it's true that I am ready to have his future mission president whip him into shape for me... I also think he's pretty outstanding just the way he is!

Happy 18th birthday, Bryan! We love you!!!

Waiting for Nielsen baby #4 - Day 5 aka The Due Date!

The dreaded due date has come and gone. Well, there is still an hour left but its not looking good. Barnacles!

Kacey to her kids at dinner: Well if the baby doesn't come tonight, maybe we can go to the water park tomorrow? (They have a pass so they have gone quite a bit this summer.)
6 yr. old Scarlet: Or... if the baby does come, dad can hold it while you go on the big slides!

Waiting for arrival of Baby Nielsen #4 - Day 4

 Disclaimer - The only pictures I have today are from my cell phone. Today included more driving of kids and a little bit of shopping. The boys actually did pretty well shopping today. We actually got some purchases made. A new stroller and some other baby stuff. Here is Asher's new shirt which I just love...



Now, he is definitely a little stud but he may sound less studly when you hear about why he got a new shirt... We were at the library returning books and cds and dvds and getting new ones. (Have I told you how awesome of a mom Kacey is? She's really awesome. She takes her kids to the library and it is so cute. We live in such an online world that I didn't know they still had libraries? But they do and they are the same magical places that I thought they were as a kid - only better! They have dvd's and music cd's you can check out for free - it's amazing!!)

Anyway... we were at the library and suddenly Rhode says, in a very loud voice for all to hear, "Mom, Asher peed his pants and he got it on the floor too!" So off to the store we go because we were only on errand #1 for the day. And so that is why Asher got his new outfit. I guess he really is a game changer!

I got to take Scarlet to dance and stay and watch her and it was so much fun to be on that side of things again. It was pretty fun to just be able to enjoy watching her and let other people scurry around taking care of the details! Although, truth is I took my computer with me so that I could handle dance matters remotely while I was there but their internet was overloaded so it wouldn't let me on. So, I made the most of it and just stood with my nose pressed against the window watching Scarlet's every move. (Okay, so my nose wasn't pressed against the window but I was watching!) It was so fun. Oh how I wish she danced for TG!

I, myself, posted the recent article on FB about the bad effects of electronics on kids. But when they are used in moderation, they are pretty awesome. Scarlet, Rhode and Asher are big fans of my Ipad. I got a new Planes game that needed a little help from dad to unlock some cool stuff. They were all pretty enthralled. Kacey's kids don't watch television. They only watch shows or movies on DVD on occasion. (Have I mentioned that she is super mom? Okay, just wanted to be sure.) Anyway, this cute little family moment was brought to you by... Ipad.

Did I mention that our day started out with a 2 mile walk with Kacey pushing the 2 boys in a stroller? And still no baby! Geesh. I hope this full moon does the trick tonight. Due date tomorrow. She's never gone overdue before so we are praying this is not a first! We are all ready for the new baby to come!!

Waiting for arrival of Nielsen Baby #4 - Day 3

 Day #3 was extremely similar to the previous 2 days with the biggest similarity being - no baby was arriving! Kacey had an uneventful doctor's appointment at 1:00 and the doctor said if she didn't have it by Monday, they would talk about induction. Darn. I really thought today was the day. Mostly based on the fact that I wanted it to be today. Plus, Kacey is really waddling. I mean big time waddle. Don't worry - she agrees!

 

We went back to the awesome sprinkler park in Henderson for soccer practice for both Rhode and Scarlet. Scarlet got to splash with Asher while Rhode practiced and vice versa.

 Scarlet loved cooling off before soccer!



 The next picture is Asher doing an impromptu ninja dance all by himself on this little stage they have at the park. He LOVES Power Rangers. It was so funny!

 He also tried to karate kick several fountains.

J

 

And then the lone Power Ranger found a friend!

Could this be the pink Power Ranger he has been searching for his whole life???

Still hoping for baby to come tonight!

Waiting for Nielsen Baby #4 - Day 2

 Waiting for Baby day #2 involved lots of kids, a trip to the mall and an attack by some adorable ninjas!

Kacey and I headed to the mall hoping to walk her way into labor with Rhode (5) and Asher (2) and Sydney (3 months). Sydney is the baby that Kacey watches 2 days a week for a friend of hers. Seriously! She's a sweet baby but that's a lot of kids!

But we stumbled upon a clown show in the mall who was looking for a kid who had a birthday and Rhode was the most recent so he was serenaded by a clown and he got a balloon clown and he got to pick a present... all for free. That was cool!

This was Rhode's birthday gift from the clown - a puzzle!

 The mall walking did not do the trick but the 3 small kids kept me from doing any major shopping damage so we will just call that a wash!

Then I picked up Scarlet from school and took her to dance which takes an hour - people in Moses Lake are so lucky to have everything close by!

Then there was a little pre-dinner entertainment with Grammy's Ipad which is against almost everything Kacey believes in - there is no tv around here! - but we snuck it in when mom wasn't looking.

Then one of Rhode's presents arrived that he had bought with his birthday money. Oh yes... it's a ninja suit! Best purchase ever!!

 Asher already had a tiny ninja suit so life is complete in the Nielsen household!

See, it says Tiny Ninja so it is clearly a tiny ninja suit!

 Still no baby. Maybe tonight?

Waiting for arrival of Nielsen baby #4 - Day 1

 

 

 

 

 

 I arrived in Vegas on Sunday to await the arrival of Baby Nielsen #4! Not much happened that day so I am not counting in my arrival countdown. The baby (gender unknown) is due on Sept. 20th which is Great Grandpa Knudson's birthday. We are hoping for a slightly early arrival, though. Nothing much happened on Sunday. Then Monday brought school for Scarlet (1st grade) and Rhode (preschool) plus piano and soccer for Scarlet. Rhode and Asher got to play at the splash park during practice. Busy day full of running around but no sign of baby yet. Dang

Asher aka Monkey Boy because he swings and climbs everywhere!

A brotherly hug or a friendly strangle?

Coolest splash park! Henderson, NV

Look at that face!

Beautiful boy, beautiful view!

The boys splashed while Scarlet was a practice.

Scarlet spots Grammy taking pictures. Busted!

I don't know who this kid is but Scarlet was talking to him every second she wasn't kicking the ball or running.

That's my sassy soccer girl!

I wonder if Scarlet's "friend" is bothered by the fact that she is faster than he is?

Voting for soccer team name.

 The first choice for Scarlet's team name was Fireballs and the second choice was Dragons. So team naming has not evolved one iota in the last 25 years - in case anyone was wondering.

Asher doesn't like it when we take his finger out of this mouth, thus the scowl.

Asher's going to drive home!

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