Well I've finally set this thing up.  Bryan's on call tonight and is sleeping in the call room.  So I finally have some time to myself now that all the kids are in bed.

Just to fill you in on our lives here in Maine.  We've been here for almost 6 years now.  Bryan is in his 2nd year of residency.  We have a little over 2 years left until we are finished and are out of here.  We love it and we hate it here in Maine.  Right now we really hate it.  It's still pretty much winter here.  But, ask me in a few months and I'll say I love it.  Cause I'll be sitting my big butt on the beach all day soakin up the sun!  The beach is about 10 minutes from us and provides hours of free entertainment in the summer time.   

This winter we've gotten like 115 inches of snow.  That's a whole lotta shoveling.  So we're definitely ready for some warmer weather.  But it really doesn't start to get warm here until July.  Ok, we have a few good days in June if we're lucky. (You can tell I love the weather.)  But I really do love it here.  We have met so many great people, many who have moved away.  The lifestyle here is really laid back.  We bought a house two years ago and are loving it.  Much better than our 755 sq ft condo we lived in before.  

The kids are great.  Alissa's 8 and is in 2nd grade.  She just got baptized in our church.  She was very excited.  She's giving a talk in Sacrament meeting next Sunday.  She's such a smart girl.  She gets that from her dad (amongst other traits).  She reads like crazy-in her bed at night, and 1st thing in the morning.  She's always in the middle of a book.  She's very independent.  I never have to worry about her homework, she always makes sure it's all done the minute she walks in the door.  And she's always reminding me of events coming up.  She's my little calendar.  She's about a foot taller than all the kids in her grade- about 2 feet taller than all the boys.  She doesn't seem to mind yet.  She loves to dance and play soccer.

Hannah's 6 and is in 1st grade.  She's a dinky little thing.  She's a very obedient little girl.  She's quick to do what I ask, which is really really really nice- especially cause Alissa's the opposite.  She's very happy and pleasant almost all the time.  She's always sharing everything she has.  And even though she's the youngest in her class, she's excelling, earning student of the month awards.  She likes to read as well and went from only being able to read the word "the" at the beginning of the year, to now reading chapter books.  She also loves soccer and dance.

Ella is 4 now.  She still sucks her finger and sleeps with her blanket. She still feels like my baby, probably cause she was for so long.  She is an awesome big sister.  Julia loves her!  She's constantly making Julia crack up.  Ella's always been really easy going.  And now it's just turned into pure laziness.  She doesn't want to do anything that involves work. She loves to help me in the kitchen.  Just the other day she dumped a whole bowl of flour and sugar  all over the floor- twice.  She is so excited to start preschool next year.  She also loves to dance.

Julia is now 6 months and is such a sweet, happy little baby.  She still never sleeps.  She's been doing better at night, but hardly takes any naps during the day. She doesn't want to miss a thing.  She gets up on her hands and knees and does the rocking thing now.  She'll be all over the place soon and I have a feeling she's going to be into everything.  She's a lot of fun and the girls all love her!

Bryan's always busy of course.  He's not especially enjoying his job.  He can't wait until he's done with residency and can do what he wants.  He's looking forward to the summer when he can go fishing and catch us some delicious bass.  And he got a surfboard last year (thanks to Cyrus) and is dying to get out there and catch some waves.  Some huge 2 foot waves.

I'm still trying to recover from this 4th kid.  It's been a killer.  I don't think my brain will ever be right again.  But I love being a mom.  I'm so happy and so blessed!   I'm so thankful for this opportunity to be here, although it is difficult sometimes.  It's really hard being so far from family.  I look forward to moving to San Diego in 2 years.  I need some sun.  I'm lookin old and worked.:)