Guess who is EIGHT months?!

Miss Molly Mae!!!

I can hardly believe my baby girl is already 8 months old! She has been a busy girl!

She is slowly starting to crawl-- and get from one place to another (without one of the other kids helping),
She is still small for her size, but she can take quite the blow. She has fallen off the bed, the couch, dropped a few times (by all my kids) and her 3 yr. old niece-- and she cries for a min. or two and is over it!! She is one tough baby!


Molly is still the best baby in the world! And lately she has been doing a lot of this




and then appropriately awarded with this!

Back to school, BAAACK to schoooool!

Really?! Is summer already over?? This year it FLEW by-- literally FLEW! Maybe that is because I had a week in Miami and then scout camp - then had a super cool friend come visit from Texas and then Chet's birthday, and then me and the kids went to Texas for a month!! Best month EVER!! (minus Chet missing 3 of those weeks)

And maybe because we had to pack up our whole apartment before leaving for Tx. The apartment we haven't moved into yet! But will get to this weekend-- however- our kids needed to start school- because apparently the one they are zoned to in our new place is year round- and had started July 28th--- WHOOPS!

So- after getting somewhat settled- and moving from a hotel room to a corporate unit-- are kids are now situated and started school today- and they LOVED it!!

Dante is a FOURTH grader!!! Which means- I HAVE A FOURTH GRADER!!
He loved school today- and I really like his teacher and am hoping for the best:)

Erin is going into 2nd grade-- and poor girl has gone to 3 different elementary schools for each grade! She is a champ at making friends though:)

And of course we have Ethan who is starting 1st grade and who can keep up with the best of them! He is also very proud of his old school transformers lunch box! (the one he almost didn't get because he kept setting it down- and forgetting it and when check out time came-- he had left it somewhere else, and I told him if he could RACE to go get it and come back in time- then he could get it- otherwise lesson learned!! Did he make it?? Right after I handed the check over-- so I paid cash instead for his lunch box- because I'm THE best mom in the world like that!:)

And one other funny story that came out of today and me being THE best mom in the world-

Erin got an I-Carly back pack and she told me that almost no one in her class can watch I-Carly- and then she added, and hardly anyone can watch tv-- PERIOD in her class! Then I said-- really? And you say I'm a mean mom (anytime I say no, haha) and she looked at me and smiled! I love it when they realize the little things:)

ps--- I had to use my AMAZING camera phone for the pics- since I have yet to replace the one Ethan busted! But hey-- I blogged:)

Picture Perfect Family.... YES- in pictures ONLY!!:)

The story BEHIND this awesome picture that I'm TOTALLY in love with!

This picture was taken around 4:10 on Saturday afternoon at my moms house. My friend was coming over to take our first professional pictures EVER as a family- and I wanted everyone to look good. i figured this session would go pretty well because if you can have pictures done with 3 kids 3 and under and the pure chaos that comes with it- then you can handle 3 older kids and a newborn............. BUT this time it was the "session" that went chaotic-- it was the "before" the session that went CRAZY!

15 min. before Jen, the photographer, was due at my moms house.

Chet - snoozing on the couch, not dressed in picture attire.

Dante and Ethan- in the pool, swimming!!

Erin- putting make-up on, because she wants to look pretty in the pictures (including hot red lipstick)

Mom- perfectly dressed and running around trying to get kids out of the pool, waking Chet up and rubbing off Erin's lipstick - she got away with the eyeliner as you can see in the picture.

approximately 5 min. before Jen's arrival:

Chet - frantically ironing his shirt and the boys shirts wondering why I didn't wake him earlier (always the wife's fault, huh?):)

Dante and Ethan - STILL swimming in the pool, and slowly making their way to the stairs to get out before I drag them out by their ears.

Erin- all ready for pictures!

Mom- trying to get the boys OUT of the pool and saying- just put your jeans on over your swimsuits-- she is going to be here ANY minute!

Jen arrives:

Chet- ALL dressed- picture perfect

Dante and Ethan- all dressed- picture perfect

Erin- NOW starts to throw a tantrum that she doesn't want to wear jeans but a skirt instead that will not match the pictures in the least. REFUSING to get in the family picture unless she is wearing the skirt.

Mom- thinking- "are you kidding me?"

Molly of course is a rockstar throughout!

And obviously Erin won- because as you can tell Jen strategically placed her behind me and Chet so that her skirt wouldn't show.

Jen worked her magic and we now have picture perfect family portraits!

Moral of the story: No matter how much you stress in life- it will all somehow work out-- so WHY stress?? Just realize whatever happens happens and somehow will all workout for the better:) And sometimes it just takes someone else to work their magic - but it will be worked out!

ps- check out Jen Petty Photography here and I highly recommend her.

If our kids are having a BAD day.........

Then we allow them to stay up a little later then the other siblings AND then...............

In this case-- Ethan was the one having a rough day--- and he got to participate in the nightly ritual of "after bed" torture-- and don't worry- they have their fun with mom and dad too sometimes, because REVENGE is sweet!

Molly Mae at THREE months! (holy cow!)

Molly Mae- March 28th, 2010 - 3 Months

Molly is still such a sweet and good baby! That is why I am posting pics of her crying- because she does it so rarely, I feel I need to remember- "Yep- she cried! "

(or maybe it is because I just have really bad picture taking timing)

She also loves to snuggle! Molly can pretty much sleep anywhere and in any position- but her favorite place is on some one's chest... and my kids LOVE it when she falls asleep on them.

This is one of my all time favorite pictures-- Ethan(5) and Molly:)

SO SWEET!

She is also starting to smile and talk a ton. My favorite alone time with Molly is in the car- while I'm driving, and the radio is off-- and we "chat" back and forth- and she tells me ALL about her morning:)

She really is a "go with the flow" kind of gal.

We love you Molly Mae and couldn't imagine our little family with out you!

Miss Erin aka Er Bear!

One lovely afternoon Erin walked into the office with her hair done like so....... I thought it was very creative!

I exclaimed, "ERIN! Look how cool your hair is! Good job! How did you learn to do that??"

She quickly answered, and was like, "London Tipton, of course!"

OF COURSE-- what was I thinking?

Thank you Disney- I new I could count on you for more than just entertainment for my kids.

What happens when I ask my dearly BELOVED to do something?

Sometimes when I ask

(lazy but INGENIOUS Chet)

to help me out a little- I learn something new!

Like when I asked him to cut up a cantaloupe for Ethan..... because I had to feed Molly.

I meant into little squares like I usually do-- but instead he cut it in half, scooped out the seeds and handed Ethan the cantaloupe with a spoon. Dante thought it looked like fun and dug in too!

This made my life easier! Ethan could eat cantaloupe all day long- and now this "new" way of "cutting" cantaloupe has saved me time! :) INGENIOUS!

And other times when I ask

(lazy but NOT ingenious)

to help... like put away the refrigerated stuff so I can feed Molly- and then going to the fridge to grab something and finding all my groceries put away like "this"

Still in their bags(this was a re-acted photo- instead picture a fridge with 20 bags full of groceries stuck in the fridge)! Which isn't quite "easier" for me to find things in the fridge. Something I will NOT start doing:)

You learn some and then sometimes you laugh REALLY hard- because you are like, "What?! Who does that?!" But you love him NO matter what!

What has been happening at the Ranger house?

I always sit down to update my blog-- and then something happens and then I never get back around to it- or I forget what I was going to say, or I get tired of the interruptions or I remember I have something else more pressing, etc... Do the excuses really ever end???:)

Anyways-- I thought I might as well hurry up and update while 3 out of 4 kids are sleeping, and while Chet is having father/son time with Dante.

First we will start with sweet little Molly Mae! I cannot believe she will be THREE months in a week! That is just crazy talk!

But seriously- how cute is SHE?!

At her ten week appt. her stats were:

weight: 9.5 lbs. - 10th %
height: 22 1/2 in. - 50th %
head: 38 cm 10th %

She is a happy and healthy GROWING baby. She is still small- but SO cute! She has really started to smile a lot and she is experimenting with her voice ALL the time. It is too, too, too CUTE! We are all just so in love with her!

Ethan--- lost his FIRST tooth!! He was SO excited!
Funny story though- he lost it while I was shopping at Nordstrom Rack... and then he REALLY lost, lost, LOST it- at Nordstrom Rack. Luckily Chet was able to find it near the Men's shoe section because it fell on dark carpet. He told Ethan he was going to hold on to it, just so that he doesn't lose it again and keep it safe for the tooth fairy. Ethan starts screaming his head off-- and after about 15 min. of this- Chet gave him the tooth back AND of course-- Ethan dropped it again- but this time on white tile. Chet looked and looked and they couldn't find it - so Chet takes Ethan to the car since he is causing such a scene in the store. I check out- get into the car- Ethan is still screaming. I try to calm him down by getting him to tell me the story and reassuring him that the tooth fairy will still come to our house, etc... Nothing is working- so since I'm SO quick on my feet - I make a "fake" phone call on my cell to Nordstrom Rack-- embellish the story and saying- if your clean up crew finds the tooth tonight- or sees the tooth fairy- will you have them send her our way. AND he finally calmed down--- and was SO very happy the next morning to have money under his pillow! Seriously- that was a FUN night! :) And my baby is growing UP!! (well my 2nd baby)


Erin--- has been having so much fun playing big sister to little Molly! It is the sweetest thing. She is such a big help to me- and would hold Molly ALL day if I let her:)
Sad day yesterday though- Erin accidentally dropped Molly in my bathroom while she was trying to get Molly to look at herself in the mirror. Poor Molly did have a nice goose egg on her noggin, but she didn't fall too far-- and is completely fine. But- Erin was SO torn up about it and felt really bad! I told her that things happen like this- and that we all just need to be more careful with her. I then told her that I probably dropped Elizabeth and Emily when they were little too- in fact- I did accidentally push Emily over a cliff when she was 2-- SORRY EM!-- and luckily her life jacket pretty much saved her life- or from getting hurt. Then I put Molly on my lap in a sitting position with her back up against my stomach-- and not 2 seconds later did she "flail" and almost fall off my lap and out of the chair-- I caught her with my ninja reflexes-- but BOY did it make Erin feel better. She was like "mom- almost dropped Molly too!"
Kind of reminds me of when I was a teenager and I would get a speeding ticket- and it seemed to workout EVERY TIME- that my dad would get one either same day, or day after-- and so he couldn't really punish me! HAHA. That was pretty awesome:)

And we did all have the talk with still needing to be SUPER careful with Molly.

Dante has actually been able to enjoy scouts this year- because it is at night- and he doesn't have any sports during that time. This was his first blue and gold banquet and I was going to try and copy my super cool friends genius idea of a cake here.... BUT- we had to go with the theme- and I decided to take the easy way out. His cake- was a series of Math facts that equaled 100. He had fun thinking of all the different possibilities!! Ps- that is HIS handwriting, not mine:) How handsome is he in his little scout uniform?!
I got some super cute Miss Me jeans-- but I'm really posting this picture- because I had Erin take it-- and this is what she said after she took it and saw the "preview". "Um-- MOM-- I don't think you are going to want to use this picture-- it makes your butt look big!" The honesty of children:) But maybe I should stop my obsession with making these... if I want my butt to look smaller in pictures!

Chocolate chip ice-cream sandwich cookies!! (homemade)

And another new fav--- is double-stuff oreos with mint chocolate chip ice-cream sandwiched in between. I also will sometime just pull apart one oreo-- and put the ice-cream on top of the cream, and then put the other top on. SO GOOD!!!

And as for Mr. Chester!

He is FINALLY taking improv classes! Everyone knows he is a super funny dude-- and now he is out to show everyone else:) He is ready to make the world roll laughing with his funny faces, his extremely good looks, and his ability to think quick on his feet! (I give him good practice) I can't wait for him to actually start doing some shows and show the world what he is made of! He has made me laugh from day one (why I fell in love with him) and hasn't stopped yet! Hahahahahahahaha- SEE!

That is it for now-- I will try to post more regularly -- and I do update my facebook ALL the time- so if you are not my friend- but follow my blog-- friend me on there, and you will see more "ranger action" LIVE! -- Just search Bertie Ranger-- sometimes known as Bertie "awesome" Ranger, or Bertie "Superfly" Ranger.. you get the picture!

One month FREE on-line personal training FOR....

EVERYONE!!!

I know that I need to update my blog with normal family stuff- and I will.... soon! But right now I have to promote my one free month of on-line personal training to see if it is right for you.... So go to:

http://bertie411.blogspot.com/2010/02/spreading-loooovvvveeeeee.html

I'm doing it through Feb. 14th- and it is my Valentines gift to YOU!!:)

Athlete in TRAINING

All the kids bikes have been fixed and their tires have been pumped. So, when Chet told all of them excitedly he would be taking them on a bike ride... they all disappeared to get "ready" and Ethan came out of his room looking like this

Is he my little athlete in training or WHAT?!?!

Usually he will also wear his gloves to go bike riding... one time he was only wearing one, and I asked him who he thought he was, Michael Jackson?

At that point he looked at me very matter of fact and proceeded to tell me, "No Mom! ALL bike riders wear these!!"
(duh to me! What was I thinking?)

How little Miss Molly entered the world......

Miss Molly was born at 1:07 pm on Dec. 28, 2009. Due to the single umbilical artery, my doctor wouldn't let me go past 38 weeks, so I was induced on Dec. 28th. It was my first time being induced- and that was pretty cool. At first it was weird to think I knew the date that she was going to be born and that everything was set and ready to go.

I went in at 7 AM that morning to get admitted and hooked up to all the cool, fun beeping machines- especially the blood pressure one- that would squeeze the life out of my arm every 5 seconds!! When I got there I was practically a 5... so the baby was coming close to the 28th no matter what, and not really waiting til' her due date on the 10th of Jan. At 8 AM the dr. came in and broke my water. I told the nurse I was ready for an epidural ASAP! I prefer not to feel ANY pain-- and she said that she wanted me to feel contractions to make sure that I'm moving along before the epidural guy came in. I was like-- ok.... she came back a little bit later and the contractions were getting pretty strong-- and so the epidural man came in and hooked me up to good medicine, and gave me an EXCELLENT epidural according to the nurses standards- but not according to mine! So, the epidural starts to work fairly quickly. The nurse has me lying on my right side and I start to feel this TERRIBLE pain- or what I thought was pain- but was "pressure" which I have NEVER felt before... EVER! So, whatever this "pressure/pain" was-- was REALLY bothering me- so I call the nurse back in, and was like, "I feel like I have to go to the bathroom REALLY bad! Like I'm about to poop on the bed!" She said- oh- that pressure may be a really big baby... let me check you.... she checks me- and I'm at a nine and the baby is close- but she wants me to wait a little longer because she doesn't want me pushing for long because the baby can go into distress due to the umbilical cord situation, so she wants the baby to drop further down.....

I said, "Yeah-- but it is SO uncomfortable, and it really hurts!!" So, she gave me my pain med button and said- click this and it will help take away the pain-- NOT the pressure just the pain.... so I started clicking away and switched over to my left side to see if that would help as well.

It eased it a little and the pressure then started moving towards the front of my body. Again- I have never felt what "pressure" is, so it was REALLY annoying! I hadn't seen my dr. since she broke my water and the nurse was out of my room more than in it- and had only checked me twice total! I kept feeling more and more pressure and the pressure started moving back towards the back-- (I hate feeling like I have to go to the bathroom but can't!) But- I wasn't thinking it was the baby-- then my body just kind of starts pushing, and the nurse comes back in- and I said- I feel like I have to push... and she is like- well, lets push then... and she checks me- and the baby is close-- and so I start pushing and I'm pretty sure you are supposed to count to 10-- but this is how it went.... READY push-- 1....2.....3.....4.... STOP!!! You can't push anymore! The dr. will be here any minute. I'm like what?? Don't push--- how am I supposed to just all of a sudden stop, when I HAVE to push?? So- the nurse leaves the room--- to go find my dr. because she is taking a little longer then expected to get to me. Meantime-- I'm left in the room and I'm looking at Chet like--- what the heck? This baby is coming!! I mean- I'm hurting BAD!! (again- not really pain- just pressure... but it HURT!) I've practically been asked to just hold that baby in... don't let it out... well Molly had a mind of her own.... the nurse for the baby came in to start setting up the baby station ... and that is when I felt Molly sliding out on her own-- and I'm TRYING SO HARD to not let her out because I don't want her coming out and flying onto the floor! But- she is just coming without me pushing-- and I started yelling, " Oh my gosh! This baby is coming! I'm NOT even pushing she is just coming! Then MY nurse runs back in and is like DR. RAMIREZ!!!!! The baby is coming and the dr. literally runs in the room- almost doesn't have time to put on her smock and the baby just pops out- one push and the baby was out! The head came out by itself-- and one push the rest of her was out!! They didn't have time to even prep the floor or anything for easy cleanup before Molly decided to make her entrance.

She was not happy about waiting that extra 20-30 min. either!! She came out screaming! No- need to suction out her mouth or anything and she didn't stop screaming until she had her bath and was nice and warm!! She was letting everyone know what she thought about her delivery!

AND that was the first time I EVER cried after delivering because it had been SO uncomfortable. Usually I'm in heaven after my epidural-- but that lasted for like 5 min. before I started to feel "pressure". I don't know how you women who can do it with feeling the pain AND the pressure at the same time do it!

Apparently all my other epidurals were not good one's because I had never felt the pressure before. I would have totally been in ignorant bliss if I had never felt the pressure- but I guess that just wasn't in the cards this time. :)

So, I rank my deliveries as Erin and Ethan tied for first (both in Utah and I said it then and I'll say it now--- I would fly back to Utah to have my babies... that is how awesome my deliveries were:)) Molly, and then Dante's delivery still ranks last- mainly due to the mean anesthesiologist who told me she would practically skin me alive if I moved while she was trying to put my epidural in and then she would leave and NEVER come back (talk about this lady having a bad day and taking it out on me- a first time mom to be- who is already scared enough about labor and doubling over in pain from my contractions!) Scariest day of MY life! (both Molly and Dante were born in Cali.)

But of course- every minute of pain or "pressure" was worth it to now have such sweet children in my life-- especially little Molly Mae (I gave her a Texas name- since she wasn't born in Texas:( )

Molly is such a good baby! She squawks instead of cries, eats like a champ, and is just perfect in every way and we all love her to pieces!!

Molly Mae - 5 lbs. 14 oz. 17 1/2 in.




Molly Mae- 1 week old!!

Molly Mae- 2 weeks old 5 lbs. 15 oz. 19 in. (below the 5th percentile)

And one of our favorite faces to laugh at and kiss!!!

WE LOVE YOU MOLLY MAE

and we are so glad you chose our family to come to:)

What would we do without DANTE???

Dante!

Our space case!

He knows how to make us laugh (mainly AFTER the fact) without even trying.

These are just a couple stories that I'm mainly sharing- so that when I go back through my blog and read, I will remember the silly things he does. (and maybe to embarrass him a little when he is older)

1. Pretty much EVERY morning (and you will think I'm kidding but I'm TOTALLY not)- but pretty much EVERY morning, Dante comes out of his room, ready for school with his shirt on BACKWARDS! Now, I can see how this can happen every once in a while- especially if the t-shirt is all one color with no logos, etc... but these t-shirts are NOT t-shirts, but polo's AND every morning?? C'mon NOW! Seriously- NOT kidding! That is old by now--- so to my COMPLETE surprise- a couple Sunday's ago- I give Dante his Sunday clothes to put on-- and when I see him 20 min. later (because this is how long it takes him to get dressed) do I see his shirt on backwards?? NOPE! Hallelujah- right?? Until I finish inspecting him and his PANTS are totally on BACKWARDS?? How in the heck does someone do that and NOT notice?? I dunno how it was done- but it was DONE-- and that is our Dante... the space case... who we love every so dearly:)


2. This last July- after the swim team season was over-- they had a big party for all the kids! This year it was cut short due to an out of no where "Texas Thunderstorm". Anyone who knows Dante knows he can pound down food with the BEST of them. He will go back for seconds, thirds, fourths and even eat everyone else's plates of food if they let him.

After Dante's first go around of food- we told him to go play for a little bit, swim, etc... and then if he wanted more he could have more. He went and played in the "broken" sprinklers OUTSIDE the pool area with some of his teammates- when we noticed some dark clouds rolling in. We didn't mind them-- they gave us some much needed relief from the hot Houston sun. Then the thunder starts CLAPPING and Chet and I look at each other like- "we have about .2 seconds before it starts storming- lets head to the car kind of look" As we are walking out- I yell to Dante to come on and go get in the car- it is going to start POURING any minute! Everyone else is doing the same and rushing to their cars, or under cover. We all make it to the car and hop in and I notice Dante isn't there yet... but he should have been the first since he was closest. SO-- I hop out of the car and start looking for him and calling out his name-- and where do I find him???? That's right- he went back by the pool and was sitting in our same eating spot before chowing down on a HOT DOG.... IN THE RAIN!!! WHAT?!?! Who does that?? That would be my space case... DANTE:)

AND YES WE WOULDN'T TRADE HIM FOR THE WORLD!