My monkeys

We borrowed a friends camera at church the other day and walked around taking some cute pictures of the kids by the different decorated areas. They thought it was a great adventure! I couldn't believe how hard it was to get 3 kids to all look the same way and smile (nicely) at the same time! This picture is one of the few we got without goofy faces or poses! I wish we would of had a video camera as well to capture the whole process! I can't even imagine what it is going to be like when we have 4 to photograph!
The kids are growing so fast and changing by the minute! Bekah is 7 going on 17! She has already started to act like a teenager. I am hoping she will get it out of her system now and be a perfect teenager! Hey I can dream can't I?! Bobby is 5 and loving school. He has made a best friend and is learning things faster then I can keep track of! Zachary is 3 and all boy! He is enjoying his "speech school". He is making great progress with speech. He has all of a sudden lost the toddler look and is an official big kid! He is almost as tall as Bobby and only 2 pounds lighter! Our baby is growing fast and will soon make her apperance! We are eagerly awaiting her birth. We have for the time being decided on the name Madison. We thought Bekah, Bobby, Zachy, and Madie sounded cute together! We still have 8 weeks (give or take) to change our minds again, but for now she is Madie. I will keep you posted to the new arrivial to our zoo!

My Hubby is 32 today!

Today is Jason's 32nd birthday! We went out last night with a few friends to his favorite restaurent, BD's Mongolian Barbeque. We arranged for a sitter and went out just the adults. It was fun to be able to sit around and talk and not have to worry about entertaining kids! Today Jason is coaching a soccer game for Bekah and then he heads to church to get ready for Elevate tonight. I am glad we were able to celebrate last night! Last night everyone said one of their favorite things about Jason, here are a few of mine...I love his love for our family! I love watching him with the kids! I love how hard he works to take care of us and make sure we have the things we need and want! I love when he comes up and hugs and kisses me just to say he loves me! I love his comforting arms when I am upset! I love his smile! I love being his wife and the mother of his kids and am blessed to have him in my life!

The Score is Tied!

We went for our 20 week ultrasound this past week and everything looks great! We weren't going to find out the sex of the baby, but in the waiting room my family out voted me 4-1! The kids and Jay all wanted to find out so I caved and we found out it is a girl! Bekah was very excited to find out she will finally have her sister! She has been praying for a sister since Bobby was born! I am excited for her! Having 3 sisters I know how fun they can be! Of course I also know the struggles and fights you can have with a sister too! I am hoping she adjusts to not being the only princess though! Now she is the only daughter and the only granddaughter on both sides and has enjoyed all that comes with being the only girl! We now have to come up with a name we all agree on! I like Winona Mae (after my grandmas), Jason likes Emma Lynn, Bekah likes Hannah Montanah, Bobby likes Maxo or Leo ( I think he is still hoping for another brother!), and Zach likes Stella (after a friends Baby he loves!). We have a few other names we are tosing around but those are everyones favorites. Well we have a few more months to figure out her name! In the meantime Bekah is busy picking out all the pink and purple stuff for her she can!

It was a Penny!

So Zach came up to me on friday in a panic, grabbing at his tounge and crying....My first thought was what did he spray in his mouth?! He was finally able to tell me while still crying "Me swallow Quarter". Now I am in a panic! Do I call the doctor do I take him in? I have never had to deal with a child swallowing anythig before! I opted to google "child swallowing coins" and see what it said. It basically said if they didn't appear to be in pain or distress it had probably passed through to the stomache and would pass naturally in 24-48 hours. Now Zach is potty trained and very independent about it so I don't always know when he goes to see if the Quarter passed or not! I had already decided he couldn't have swallowed a quarter so, I got a hand full of the differetn types of coins and asked him which he put in his mouth and he pointed to a dime. I felt a little better knowing it wasn't a quarter, but by tuesday with no sign og the coin I was a bit worried. Jay called the peditriction and they said as long as he wasn't in pain or had no fever he was fine. So figuring he had already passed it, I was even more relieved to find a penny in the toilet today after he went! I am relieved this adventure with Zach ended as it did and I am left wondering what he has next in mind to discover! He is a naturally curious little boy and has landed himself in more trouble than his sister and brother combined!

My Boy is in Kindergarten!!

Bobby started Kindergartenn today! I can't believe he is already old enough for school! Where does the time go? He was alittle nervous right before we went outside to wait for the bus, but was all smiles as he got on the bus. He even gave me the thumbs up after he buckled his seatbelt. He was waving with a big smile as the bus pulled away! I wanted to cry but he was so brave! I am so proud of him! Now I am left to count the hours till he gets off the bus after school to find out how the rest of his day went! I have about 2 1/2 hours before he gets off and I can't wait to hear all about his first day of school!

Bobby is 5!!

Five years ago today we were blessed with Robert Jason! I can't even begin to describe how much joy this little guy brings to our lives! He is such a sweet boy! He loves to play with his transformers, power rangers, put together puzzles, and bug his sister! He is my hugger! Every morning he finds me as soon as he wakes up and gives me a big hug! I look forward to those hugs so much! This fall he will start Kindergarten and he will ride a bus to and from school! I am having a hard time admitting to myself that he is big enough for school let alone a bus! Happy Birthday Buddy!

And Baby makes 4 Raitz Kids!

This is the newest picture of our new addition! I am 12 weeks pregnant with baby #4. Bekah is hoping and praying for her sister and the boys keep changing their minds! I would be happy with either and Jay thinks it is another girl because I have been having strong aversions to most meats. Which I did while pregnant with Bekah. Though he was convinced Bobby was a girl until they said "it's a boy"! We will just have to wait until this little one makes his or her appearance. Until then we are discussing names and looking at some baby equipment we will need for this new bundle!

Bobby Jay

This is my Bobby in his soccer outfit. He has been on a tots team this past 6 weeks. I was a little nervouse at first if he was going to play but he went right out on the field and has had a great time! HE gets very excited when it is time to play for soccer and I can't wait to put him on a kindergarten team where he will play 3 on 3 games! He will start Kindergarten in the fall and I can't believe he is old enough! I think it was easier to let Bekah go cause she started talking about going to school when she was 2. But Bobby even now says he is not going to go! He wants to stay home! Well I have a few months to prepare him (and me) for school starting! Hopefully the idea of staying with soccer will help!

My Baby is officially a big boy

Zachary James is an official big boy now! For the last week and a half he has been wearing underware during the day with no accidents! He came home from Promise Towne about a month ago and decided he needed to wear underware. I was not ready and thought it would lead to many accidents and me getting frustrated, but he surprised me and had very few! He sarted wearing pull-ups during the day and was doing great in those so this past week I got a litttle braver and let him wear underware to Promise Towne. He is doing great and I am proud and sad at the same time! Proud that he has reached yet another milestone, but sad that he is no longer my little baby! He no longer lets me call him my little baby, he is quick to correct me that he is "up" now. (He has trouble saying big so anythig big is referred to as up!)

My Little Soccer Star

Bekah is in Soccer this spring and is doing great! She has scored her teams first goals both games! Last game she was goalie first quarter and was able to stop all attemps at goal! She is having fun and we are very proud!

My musician

Zach is our little musician. He loves anythig to do with music! He is always playing his guitar, drums or dancing to the music on the raido((or ipod)! If he sees you watching him dance he will stop and give you his charming little smile. His love of music is just another way he is taking after his Daddy! He is now trying to sing along to songs he hears and even trying to make up a few on his own!

My Baby girl turned 7!

Bekah turned 7 on February 22. It seems like only yesterday I was being handed the most beautiful baby girl in the hospital and now we are having school conferences and talks about why we don't chase boys on the playground! Bekah is a wonderful little girl and continues to be a delight! She is a fun, bright, happy little girl and I am blessed to have her for a daughter! We had her friend party a week ago. She decided to have a Luau dance party with her friends from school. She had 7 friends and they had a ball learning some hula dance moves and trying to do the limbo! She received some really nice gifts and had fun celebrating with her friends! She has decided it was so fun she wants to have another hula party next year!

"Something big and heavy just fell on it"

Yesterday late afternoon Jason, James and I were sitting in the living room when Bekah came in to inform us that "something big and heavy just fell on Zach's bed". Lets back up a bit to set the stage for you....James moved in with us a few weeks back and we moved Bekah into the boys room. Bekah is on the top bunk, Bobby on the bottom and Zach in his new toddler bed. We are going to paint in the near future so no pictures or shelves have been put on the walls just yet. Now back to Bekah's comment "something big and heavy just fell on it"...at the time of the crime Bekah and Bobby were playing in their bedroom and Zach was sitting on the couch with Jason. Now I am not a detective or anything, but I used my super mom skills and sorted out the facts...1. older kids in bedroom alone, 2 no heavy objects in said room except older kids, 3. one of the house rules no jumping on beds. After carefully examining the facts (and the guilty look on older kids faces) I came to the conclusion that the "something big and heavy" was in fact my older two children! When they realized they were busted they confessed to jumping on Zachs bed. Not only did they jump on his bed, they broke all but 2 of the boards used to hold his mattress in place! Zach ended up sleeping on his mattress on the floor last night and the judge( Mom and Dad) is still coming up wih the sentence for the two convicted liers! Any suggestions?

My Wonderful Hubby

Yesterday was my birthday and since this is the first one away from family, my hubby invited our friends from the Elevate team to dinner. He made my favorite, his chicken alfradeo! It was delicious and I really enjoyed visiting with everyone! They blessed me with some great birthday gifts as well. They have all made this time of transition great for me and my family and we are blessed to have them all in our lives!

My Little man

I can't begin to tell you how much this little guy means to me! Every morning when he wakes me up he finds me and gives me a hug. He is the only one of my kids to do this every morning! It has got to be one of the best parts of my day! He has not been feeling well the past couple days and finally today he was his happy old self (as demonstrated in the picture!). I hate when the kids are sick and they have all taken turns since before christmas! Bobby is the last to get the bug and hopefully it will stop with him.