Three Months and Growing

Our Mr. Drew is three months old today. It's hard to believe that our little guy is growing up and becoming more of a baby than a newborn. Everyone in the house absolutely adores him - he is such a welcome addition.

Some fun facts about Drew:

• He loves his diaper or clothes changed! He will smile and sometimes even giggle with a little sparkle in his eye. It is such a delight.
• He started rolling over from his back to his tummy, but then gets really upset once he finds himself eating carpet!
• He sleeps 8-10 hours at night - yeah for mommy!
• He likes to suck his thumb just like Emma, but only uses the left thumb.
• He prefers a sitting up position to discover his world, but still enjoys laying under ceiling fans too.

Here are a few more pictures from our 3-month photo shoot

Summer Lovin'

We're all trying to enjoy the hot hot summer around here by doing some fun things. Of course with having sick kids on and off for the past two weeks, we're trying hard to get out all that we can. We like summer storytime at our library, home-made activities and crafts, family trips to the park, and backyard swimming.

Sarah was really sad to have Dennis go to work one morning, so he promised her a park outing after dinner. She talked about it ALL day... "After we eat lunch, we take a nap, after we eat dinner, we go the the PARK!"

Emma in the Peek-A-Boo tunnel

Sarah - "I see you too!"

Sitting poolside with our friend Addicus (he and Emma are only a few weeks apart in age)

Our little fishies

Green Thumbs?

It seems like we have yard work to do all the time here! Whoever lived in our house before us must have really enjoyed gardening, because there are flower beds everywhere with different plants and bushes in each one. We spend a lot of time (unsuccessfully) weeding and just trying to make it all look decent. A couple weeks ago, the girls were in the mood to help out a little...

I love how Sarah completely models what she sees

Seriously... could this be cuter?

Watching and learning

Reflections Tag

I've seen this on a few different blogs, so I thought I'd join the fun!

20 years ago...
I was 5 years old and just about ready for kindergarten. I was so excited to go to school like all the rest of my siblings. I'm the youngest, so I always wanted to be doing what the older kids were doing. I remember playing a lot with my cousin, Krystle. My mom and her mom are sisters, and we are less than a year apart in age. We'd either all go out for the day and go to Chick-fil-A at the mall, or we would play at each other's houses a lot. I specifically remember those afternoons when I played over at Krystle's house. Her mom would have us each take a nap in a different room... Krystle would always wake up before me, even though I'm older. She'd sleep for probably an hour, and I was out for three hours! I always felt like I was missing out on the fun while I slept.

10 years ago...
I was 15 years old and had just finished 9th grade at SJH. Go Sundevils!!! I was so excited for high school, and driving, and dating. I was obsessed with volleyball, and I was going to conditioning for the high school team and getting ready to try out to make the team (which I did). I didn't really have any close friends because my two best friends were starting to make some pretty dumb decisions... I ended up meeting such amazing friends in high school, though!

5 years ago...
I had just moved to Iowa after getting married. Dennis and I had our second wedding reception (this one in Iowa), and my whole family minus my sister had driven out for it. We went to Nauvoo and Carthage that week, and then they all headed back to Utah. I cried so hard when they left. I'm pretty sure I scared Dennis that I was going to run away after them! Dennis and I had a week of fun at the beginning of June before he started working at the university hospital and I started summer classes. It was fun to have no responsibility for a week or two after we got married.

3 years ago...
Sarah was our little newborn. She was only about 5 or 6 weeks old at this point. We lived in Utah. I remember wondering if I was ever going to be skinny again, so my sister and I would wake up at 5:45 each morning and go walking together. That summer was so fun for Dennis and I because we were in a new house and had our new little baby. We spent a lot of time hanging out with my parents or with Dennis's sister and her family.

1 year ago...
I was just starting to experience my first Oklahoma summer - hot and humid! Sarah wanted to go swimming in our kiddie pool outside every day. Emma was really fun and smiley all the time. We were beginning the long process of remodeling parts of our house. The kitchen was all torn up and some of it was open to the attic!

So far this year...
We've almost completed the remodeling on our house (as soon as we get new kitchen cabinets - hopefully in the next few weeks)! We welcomed little Andrew to our family in March, and he is getting to be super fun. He smiles soooo much and just loves his parents and sisters. We've had a lot of family come visit, which has been really fun for all of us.

Yesterday...
The girls and I just stayed home and did some things around the house. Sarah and Emma have been sick, especially Sarah. She doesn't even have much of a voice. After she coughs, she always says "I feel so sick," in her sad little way. Dennis and I also talked about our kitchen cabinets and counter tops, and we watched CSI:Miami together so that we could make fun of it the whole time.

Today...
We're going to run a couple errands and play. We might even make a homemade volcano with some old playdough (thanks for the idea, Melissa).

Tomorrow...
The kids and I will go to storytime at the library, and probably go to WalMart for groceries and diapers (the necessities). Dennis will go play basketball with some friends tomorrow night, and I'll have my weekly at-home pedicure!

Is this Heaven?

No... it's Iowa! (from the movie: Field of Dreams)

We went to Iowa for a long Memorial Day weekend last week. It was a really quick trip, but - as always - worth it.

We headed out Friday and stayed the night at Dennis's grandmother's farm. Within the first five minutes of the drive, Sarah had made up a song..."We're going to the farm. We're going to the farm!" Very cute, but it got old after a half hour. The kids all did amazingly well on the way there. Then with only 30 minutes before we arrived, I was looking for a certain toy for Sarah when I heard a THUD! A poor deer gave up his life to damage our Tahoe. The head hit the front corner and headlight, and the body swung around to the driver's side door. Now that door won't open, so Dennis had a great time crawling over the seats all weekend! Luckily, that was the worst of our luck for the trip.

Saturday we spent the morning at the farm, and then celebrated Dennis's other grandma's 90th birthday that afternoon. It was fun to show off Andrew to everyone and spend the day with the whole extended family.

Sunday, we went to church and played and chatted with all the fam. Our newest niece (10 days younger than Drew) was blessed, so it was wonderful to get to be there for that.

Monday, we went to the park where Sarah and Emma got to ride the merry-go-round and some other kiddie rides. Sarah loved it as long as Emma was with her. If we tried to have her go on a ride alone, she would start to panic. So silly! There was also a great playground and lots of grass, so we played frisbee, baseball, and bocce ball.

Sadly, Tuesday it was time to head home. Fortunately, we didn't have anything eventful happen. We arrived safely home (after a few temper tantrums...and some chocolate to keep kids happy)!

Five years... and eternity to go!

Five years ago today, Dennis and I were sealed in the Logan LDS temple. It was one of the most amazing days of my life (along with the days each of our children were born). I remember knowing then - as I do now - that he is who I want to stand with throughout all eternity.

The top 5 reasons I love Dennis:

1. He is my best friend. Growing up, I always wanted to be married to my best friend. That's what my parents always said they had. I am sooo happy to say that is exactly what I have. Whenever one of the kids does something new, or I have exciting news, or even when something sad has happened, Dennis is the first one I want to share it with. I found a quote that I love: "A happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short." This is exactly how I feel. I always wish we had more time to talk.

2. He is very fun to be around. It doesn't matter how sad or discouraged I am, Dennis can make me smile. When he is relentlessly teasing me, he says, "You'd be bored without me!" He is 100% right! Eternity is a long time if you don't have someone by your side to make you smile.

3. He'll give the shirt off his back... and he has literally. A couple of years ago, Dennis and I went to the temple together. It was in the winter, so he was wearing a wool dress coat over his white shirt and tie. As we met going out, I realized I couldn't see his shirt collar under the coat. When we got to the car, I asked him about it. In usual Dennis fashion, he avoided my curiosity until I dragged it out of him. He noticed another guy there whose shirt was getting pretty ragged, so Dennis gave him his and zipped his coat up tight!

4. He is a hard worker. Dennis grew up on a farm, and loved it! To me that shows what a hard worker he is. You can't love farming if you can't work with the best of them. He always puts his heart into whatever he's doing, and I'm so grateful that he supports our family so that I can be a mom.

5. He is an absolutely wonderful father. When Dennis first visited me in Utah, I realized how good he was with kids. I added that to my growing list of qualities he had that I admired. He hasn't disappointed as we've had kids either! It's obvious that Sarah and Emma adore him, and it's only a matter of time before Andrew becomes his little shadow. Dennis can make the girls laugh like I only wish I could.

I wish it were our ten year anniversary because I could list so many more reasons why I love this guy.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Let's Go Swimming!

It's getting pretty warm around here, so Dennis broke out the pool for the girls on Saturday as he was mowing the lawn. You'll see him in the background of some of the shots.

And here is my very favorite of all. Candid shots are the best because they truly catch the moment and personality of the subject!