Oh, and one other *little* thing...

So I realized last night that I probably left out the BIGGEST *little* thing going on lately...we're expecting baby #4 in February! We find out next Thursday if it'll be a little brother or little sister, and we all couldn't be more excited! This is the last one (at least coming out of ME!), and I have mixed feelings...I definitely won't miss the morning sickness, the weight gain/struggle to lose, and all the pregnancy pains that go with having a baby. BUT...it makes me a little sad that this is the last time I'll be creating a little human. That in February, it'll be the last time of my own new baby excitement. But, with a myriad of cousins and plenty of friends who just started on the "baby train", I'll be able to cuddle little ones for years to come :) I'll make sure to update next week and let you know if the boys won out (George, Brady, and Koda all want a boy), or if the girls won out (Kylee and I want a girl)! In reality, I don't think Kylee even knows what's going on, and I could care less if it's a girl or boy...it'd just be easy for the 2 boys to share a room and the 2 girls to share a room instead of having to cram 3 boys in a room later on! Plus, I really want to do the whole frilly, frufru, pink and purple stuff all over again!!

Updates of the last 9 months!

Woah....again, sorry for the blogging hiatus. Since my last post (which I belive was about Christmas 2011!), plenty has happened! Here's a quick "bullet point" type abbreviation of the last 9 months:

• Koda's 2nd semester of 2nd grade went WAY better. A couple of the "problem" children were not in his class anymore, and he made some new friends!
• We went snowboaring/skiing a few times, and had a blast...including one late-season day that was so insanely wet that we only held out for about 2 hours before we were all SOAKED to the bone! Pictures in the next post.
• Organic Chemistry kicked my butt last fall, so I had the *pleasure* of doing it all over again starting in January. It went much better this time. While it still totally sucked, I ended it with a "B". I'll take it thank-you-very-much.
• Since I only had that one class, there were plenty of days I substitute taught for the high schools. I filled in for about a week as the choir teacher at Hanshew and Mears for the teacher who broke her foot, as well as the last 3 weeks of school for my dad up at Service, who was the lucky winner of the jury pool and ended up on a high-profile case!
• We went down to Phoenix for a week over Spring Break and had some fun in the sun. We stayed at my parent's "vacation" home down there, so that was nice! We spent time with our brother and sister-in-law Alvin and Eleanor. George's parents were staying with them at that time also, so we got to spend some time with them also! Probably the highlight of the trip for the kids was the little water-sprinkler splash park thing at the mall!
• The weekend after Spring Break, we spent a few days up in Fairbanks visiting Lizzie and Alan and the boys. We sure do miss them!!
• February through April was overrun with Koda's wrestling! 3 days per week, at 1.5 hours per day, plus most Saturdays (for meets)=one tired family! Koda did amazing this year and really stepped his "game" up. He medaled in every meet after this 2nd meet! He even came in 6th in his weight division at State out of somewhere around 40 kids! His weight division (and the one directly below it) were arguably the toughest in the meet, with the most kids, and the most diciplined 5-7 year olds out there! We were pretty darned proud of him! As a team, the Battle Cats made history, becoming the first (and only) team to sweep the state tournament with championships in all three divisions: Freestyle, Greco, and Folkstyle! We even had a couple older ones who took 1st in their weight divisions in ALL three divisions!
• We spent Memorial Day weekend up at the cabin near King River, as usual. This was Scott, Heather, and the boys' last campout with us :( We had a blast, though, staying up late, roasting marshmallows, and playing cards together!
• Dakota chipped a big chunk of a bottom tooth off chewing gum (?!), and ended up having to get a "silver tooth" (ie: stainless steel cap). He thinks it's pretty cool and we all call it his pirate tooth. Thankfully, his front teeth have fully grown back, so he doesn't look *too* goofy anymore.
• We held Brayden's birthday party a few weeks early so that Koda and the twins could be there (it would have been a pretty lame bday party without anyone there!). Brady decided on a "Mater-McQueen" franken cake, and it turned out pretty good!
• Koda left for Kodiak the beginning of June :(
• Scott, Heather, and the boys left for New Jersey (Heather and the boys) and Spain (Scott) the middle of June. We sure do miss them tons! They spent a couple weeks driving to New Jersey, making some fun stops along the way. Scott got the family settled into a nice townhouse before heading off to Moron Air Base, Spain for 15 months. He ended up with a really nice condo with a pool and tons of ammenities, so don't feel *too* bad for him!
• Brady had his first full dental checkup, including XRays, a polishing, and flouride, around his birthday in June. He did awesome, had no cavities, and actually thought the dentist's office was pretty cool.
• I took a 5 week (full semester) intensive Physics class this summer out in Wasilla. 6 hours a day, three days a week was rough, but I made it through!
• Brayden, Kylee, and I were able to go out and enjoy the little baby pygmy goats that my cousin, Amy's, goats had this summer. They were adorable, and so playful! Brayden couldn't get enough of them!
• Kylee has turned into a full-fledged diva. She loves everything girly and frilly. She's become picky about her clothing, and often won't let me put pants on her....it has to be a dress. She also loves shoes, and has a solid opinion on which ones she wants to wear on any particular day. Her favorites are probably her hot pink patent leather danskos.
• My best friend, Lucy, is due to have a baby girl next month...Tina held a gender reveal party in May for her, and I got to make the cake. Hahaha....I was the only one to know the sex for a whole WEEK!! I told her she couldn't call or talk to me once I knew because I would probably slip up! We had her official baby shower in August, and was able to make all the cupcakes also!
• George and I celbrated our 4th wedding anniversary August 2nd!
• Koda came home the 16th of August. After flights being cancelled all day in and out of Kodiak, Keller came to the rescue as Ryan and Koda showed up to the harbor with dinner for him (and a hefty amount of $$) for him to fly them (and a few others) up to Anchorage in his Beaver. 3 hours later, with a stuffed plane (Koda and Keller were the only ones under 300 lbs!), and they peeled themselves out onto the dock!
• Koda got his preferred teacher for 3rd grade, and he was SO excited! He loves going to school everyday, which is such a change from last year.
• We spent 2 days at the state fair this year, and got thoroughly rained on the first day. It was pretty miserable. The 2nd day ws insanely crowded, but sunny, so we had some fun :)
• Labor day was spent up at the cabin as usual, but George had to work, so it was just my parents, the kids, and I. Pretty quiet compared to the normal!
• We had a massive windstorm (hurricane force category 3 winds) here in Anchorage the night of the 4th (September), which cancelled school the next day. On Wednesday, I took the kids on a drive to check out all of the downed trees. There was a lot of damage-trees falling on houses, cars, etc. As well as the power outage. We lost power for about a day, and my parents lost power for a few days!
• Last Sunday, we took the kids up to Flattop to go hiking. We ended up doing Blueberry Loop, and were able to pick quite a few blueberries! The only downside was the wind, which made it a little chilly.
• I started Organic Chemistry 2 plus the lab a couple weeks ago. My very LAST class for medical school prerequisites, and I can't be any more excited to get this class over with! I'll be done in December. Then I have about 4 months to study for the MCAT, which I will take in April.

In all, that's a quick rundown of our lives! I'll get on and post some pictures of our winter/spring/summer/fall adventures later!

Christmas 2011

This post really is about 2 things: the annual Alaska Airlines Kids Christmas Party, and Christmas. As usual, "Santa" and "Mrs. Claus" didn't disappoint, and made their usual enterance into the party in a Boeing 737. Koda was excited to tell Santa what he wanted, Brady had plenty of curiousity mixed with excitement mixed with aprehensiveness, and Kylee truely wanted nothing to do with the dude. The kids had a blast playing in the bouncy houses, eating pizza, decorating cookies, and the like.

Now....on to the "real' Christmas:

This year, Koda had to be in Kodiak for Christmas AND we took a trip up to Santa's House/Chena Hot Springs before he left, so Santa came about a week early to our house, and he definitely didn't dissappoint! The "big" presents consisted of an electric blue mustang (hot wheels), and a play kitchen. Granted, the kitchen didn't interest Koda *much*, but he really, really loved the mustang, even if he can't hardly get in it. In all honesty, both presents were pretty much for Brady and Kylee, but Koda ended up with a few more "larger" presents than they did :)

Caveat: we finally got the car out last month and they love taking it for a spin around the driveway! While Koda can technically drive it, he really is too big for it. He is literally eating his knees, as they don't fit under the dash! But, he loves it none-the-less***

Kylee got plenty of little girlie things: dresses, other clothes, hair accessories, shoes, books, baby dolls, etc. I seriously LOVE having a little girl! After all the boy stuff the past 7 years, it's nice to be able to shop for frilly, cutsey stuff!

Both Brady and Koda also got a menagerie of things, including books, clothing, legos galore, and a geotrax "Cars 2" set, which really is Brady's favorite!

With all the hustle and bustle around the holidays, sometimes it gets stressful. BUT....when I really sit down a think about it, those are my favorite times of the year. I love to shop, and the holidays give me excuses to shop for the kids :)

Mommy and Kylee chillin' at the party

Letting Santa know their wishes :)

Santa and Mrs. Claus in their traditional enterance!

Ky having fun at the party!

Christmas at Scott and Heather's

Ky opening her presents from Auntie and Uncle

Brady was so excited about his remote controlled car!

Brady showing off his Toy Story Lego Train set

Ky and one of her twin dollies. A total girl through and through.

The boys with their new Mustang Convertable!

Kylee and Brady's kitchen set

Our 3 little goobers on Christmas morning!

Pictures from Chena Hot Springs

Ky and Gma

Daddy and his little girlie

Getting ready to hit the pool the first day!

She had such a blast....despite her unimpressed facial expression here.

Tyler and Alan

My little waterbug

Lizzie and Luke

The "other" Skinners :)

Us in the outdoor pool.....at around 15-ish degrees!

Enjoying the pool

My parents.

That's how REAL Alaskans get from our room to the springs!

Best buddies for life

Gma and her boys

Wouldn't be complete without rolling the kids in the snow!

At the outdoor rock pool....George, my Dad, Scott and I had a pretty awesome snowball fight!

My little "rudolph" nosed lady!

The best of buddies!

Whirlwind trip North

Before Christmas, the "Oberg" brood took a quick trip up to Fairbanks, North Pole, and Chena. My parents, Scott, Heather and the boys, and our family all went up for a weekend of fun! We drove up because we knew we'd stay a little longer than everyone else to spend a couple days with Lizzie, Alan, and their boys. They flew in first thing Saturday morning, we went to breakfast, then drove out to see Santa's House in North Pole. Unfortunately, Santa took a day off (seriously though, what kind of Santa AT THE NORTH POLE takes a day off the Saturday before Christmas?!), but the kids got to check out his house, the gift shop, and his reindeer. Right next door to Santa's House was a kid's ice park, complete with igloos, slides, sculptures, "ice bowls", etc. The kiddos had a BLAST there! Koda felt sick about halfway through, though and ended up spending part of the afternoon with his head laying on a table in the "warmup" room. Poor thing! The adults had fun on the slides and the maze as well. BUT....probably the best time we had was spinning the boys around in the ice bowls until they walked loopy! Too fun! We had lunch at Pagoda, which is basically THE BEST asian food in the state, as well as about the ONLY good place in North Pole! I pretty much make George take me every trip up North.

After gorging ourselves, we drove to Chena Hot Springs, where we all checked into our hotel rooms, got dressed in our swimsuits, and hit the pool! The indoor pool is like lukewarm bathwater, and the kids (with the exception of a sick Koda man) loved it. They were also allowed in the outdoor hot tub, which was fun for the adults as well, as we could pelt them with snow :) My mom, George, and Scott took turns terrorizing the boys by snatching them out of the hot tub and rolling them in snow before they could escape and jump back in the hot tub! Kids weren't allowed in the outdoor rock pool, which really was a bummer. The natural rock pool really is the best feature of Chena. My dad, Scott, George, and I had one heck of a snowball fight in it (we pretended we didn't notice the "this is a place for relaxation, please be quiet" sign....there was nobody else in the pool-oit was fair game!). The water, in some places, was literally TOO hot. Anyone who knows me, knows that I like my baths so hot I look like a lobster when I get out, so.....suffice it to say that the springs where the water comes INTO the pool is really, really hot! We had a decent dinner at the restaurant there, and then got the kids to bed before we put a few bedside stands together to play cards. We woke up, had breakfast, and hopped back into the pool for just a couple hours before we had to pack up our rooms and check out.

My parents, Scott, Heather, and the boys (including Koda-he had to head down to Kodiak for Christmas this year) flew out that afternoon. We stayed a couple extra days and hung out with Lizzie, Alan, and the boys before driving back home.

Ky and I-through a block of ice!

All the boys at the enterance of the Ice Park

George and Brady racing Koda down the ice slide

Probably the hilite of the trip for the adults-Brady LOVED spinning, and we LOVED watching him try to walk afterwards!

At Santa's House.

We teased my dad that he was training for his retirement job as an elf. It beats being a WalMart greeter.

Ky chillin' in the ice bowl

Not so sure about Santa.

***So after experiencing some technical difficulties, I will add a post of pictures taken at Chena Hot Springs later. My computer hates me right now.

What a Wednesday evening...

So it doesn't need MUCH explanation, except it was a very anticlimactic trip over his own feet, onto the pavement! We spent a couple of hours with Brady at Regionals emergency department. Thankfully, they were able to forgo stitches and just glue his little noggin back together!