Independence Day 2013

Auntie Kris, Grandpa and Grandma.  Lillie was Kris' biggest fan this trip.  She was even calling her Nana just like her granddaughters.  Kris took them on scavenger hunts in the forest and had little necklaces for them, which Lillie loves and protects with her life.  haha

A shot of some of the boat parade.  There was a really cool boat that the owners had turned into a pirate ship.  Seriously cool.  And the guy with the water rocket shoes would tricks like diving under the water and then shooting straight up into the air.  He was a brave soul.

The pirate ship threw out little duckies to the kids, but some of the ducks didn't make it onto the dock and so Phil being the incredibly nice Dad that he is, dove in to save the ducks.  That way every kid had a new toy.

We did sparklers and small fireworks back at the cabin.  The kids were a bit unsure in the beginning but warmed up quickly and enjoyed it.

Most of the adults finished off the night by heading out to watch the big fireworks by the lakeside lodge. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.  We were lucky to even get to do any of it, because there was a big thunderstorm in the early afternoon, which we were grateful for, because it cooled us down, and the rain had stopped before the boat parade.

Saturday, before we got on the road to head to WA, we decorated the trailer to join the Bill's Island 4th of July parade.  The kids and adults threw candy and necklaces off the back while Eric and I drove the truck.  The kids really enjoyed this and probably ate as much candy as they threw out.

Bill's Island July 2013

After a couple days in UT, we headed up to Eric's parent's cabin in Island Park for the week.  On our way, we stopped in Idaho Falls to briefly visit with a good friend from dental school who was in town visiting her family.  We had a good little chat while our kiddos played, so glad we got to catch up. Really wish Desi was still my neighbor!  Love that girl!
At the cabin, we immediately headed down to the water with the kayak to get the first rides out of the way.  Eric's family joined us on Tuesday and we spent the rest of the week playing in the water, floating the river at Mack's Inn, visiting the Discovery Center and shopping in West Yellowstone, and culminating with the 4th of July celebrations: fireworks and a parade.  It was so relaxing being up in the mountains, we loved it, the kids loved it, and I didn't hear "I'm bored" once!

I spotted this Momma Moose and her baby on our first drive onto the island.  We also saw another Mother/Baby Combo on our float down the river.  Both seen by me, call me Eagle Eyes.

Some of the beach next to the water was straight mud.  The kids LOVED to squish around in it.  It was almost like quick sand, you'd get sucked in up to your shins and have to dig your feet out.

Grandpa and the kids.  He gave lots of kayak rides.

This was our first visit to the new cabin in the summer.  We had been up here after Christmas, which was fun and beautiful, but we loved it even more in the summer.

Eric and the kids spent plenty time fishing and even though they didn't catch much, I was impressed with their tenacity.  I would have lasted 5 minutes.

Chloee caught the only trout big enough to keep.  I heard it was really yummy.

One day Eric created his own boat to join us out on the lake.  It was a plastic chair inside a floatie inside an innertube.  Oh and he finished it off with a driftwood paddle.  Truly white trash!

Eric and his dad in a riveting game of jenga.  We played lots of Bananagrams and Blokus on the trip too.

Riverton Rodeo

Our family has been away on vacation for the past three weeks!! We had such a fun time, we are so glad that we bit the bullet and traveled all over the west. We left CA, drove through NV, AZ, UT, ID, MT, WA, OR and finally back to CA. I haven't done the calculations on how many miles it was, but I know it was a lot. Our first destination was UT for a couple days and while we were there, we went to the rodeo! It was a really, really fun time in spite of the HOT (over 100 degrees) weather. Lillie was able to go to down to chase a cow for money and she came back with half of a dollar! I guess at the end, one of the cowboys pulled the torn dollar off the cow and gave it to her. Then Grandpa Lyle traded her for a whole one :). The kids LOVED the rodeo and were really well behaved the entire time.

Baby Blue

So I guess I never wrote on my blog, but at our last dr. appt, we found out that we're probably having a boy!  The baby wasn't in the best position and honestly, the ultrasound picture was the worst one I'd ever seen (SO DISAPPOINTING), so I'll have to take the doc's word for it, because the couple of pictures that he printed out do not look like anything.  And he wasn't even sure about the gender, so he said he'd try again in 5 weeks at our next appointment.  I've debated getting an ultrasound done at a company that will do 2D or 3D if we wanted.  It's not terribly expensive to get a 2D ultrasound done, like $70, but I just feel like that would buy a decent amount of diapers and Eric is pretty sure of what he saw.  Eric thinks that I want to get another ultrasound done because I'm holding on to a glimmer of hope that it might be a girl.  But really, I just wish we had better pictures in utero for a keepsake.  We never saw a face profile or hands or feet.  I saw a beating heart, abdomen and a femur.  Not exactly the sweet family moment that I had pictured us having.  The kids couldn't tell what was going on and were completely disinterested and bored.  Oh and the doc thought he was making a dvd of the ultrasound but when we got it home, there was nothing on it.  So we've got nothing to document it.  Writing this is bringing up all those frustrating feelings again.  I just want a good picture, dang it.
I've already pulled out all of Henry's little baby clothes, of which he didn't have much because I had borrowed stuff from my sister, so we need to get basics like pajamas, onesies, gowns, etc.  A lot of his small clothing is short sleeves and shorts since Henry was born in June, so we're completely off on the seasons, but we'll work it out.  It's fun to see all the cute little boy clothing.  It's all in perfect condition since Henry flew out of anything below size 6-12 mos. before he was 3 months old.  He was seriously such a chunk the first 5 months of his life.  I'm assuming we'll probably have another like him.  In my wisdom of now having a third child, I will be looking to buy one piece outfits that don't cover feet so that they will look more appropriate than pj's during the day but will be comfortable and could work as pajamas at night.  No more baby jeans, shoes, or button ups until my kid is over 6 months... except Sunday.
It's so funny that you realize more and more with each child that you really need less and less.  Lillie had so much clothing and stuff that she probably didn't wear more than once.  And we had every gadget imaginable.  It will not be the same this go around.
I've bought a pattern for a baby quilt and will hopefully get a chance to look for fabrics soon.  I'm not going baby in the fabric choices, there will be greens, blues and greys in modern fabrics.  It's gonna be awesome and will be more involved than any quilt I've made thus far, so I'm nervous/excited about that.
I still cannot believe that the number of boys will outnumber the girls in our family.  I grew up surrounded by 5 sisters and one brother who was the oldest, so I'm not sure I'm going to know what to do with these boys.  Boys are foreign to me.  I know girl drama.  I know cutesy.  But I guess I'm going to find out!

Kids Stats

Today we took Henry in for his 3 year well visit and while we were there, we also did another round of freeze-off-the-wart on Lillie's knee.  It was traumatic for all of us as Lillie screamed and screamed, they were both crying and I was just trying to hold her still.  But, we were able to get it done and able to get both of their heights and weights, so here we go:

Henry at 3 years old:
Weight: 30 lbs-- 30th percentile
Height:  39 inches--80th percentile
BMI: 5%, which is a little low (he's super active and a picky eater)

Lillie at 5 1/2 years old:
Weight: 35.5 lbs-- 12th percentile
Height: 43 1/2 inches-- 35th percentile
BMI: 8% WNL... Barely

Happy Father's Day

We have been so very blessed with amazing fathers in our lives.  We are grateful to have this day to recognize and celebrate them. 

Pregnancy Update

Well, I think it's time to check in with what's going on with baby #3.  It's been a LONG pregnancy thus far and I'm not even half way, but things have been changing as of late and so it's time to update it all.  The morning sickness has slowly but definitely improved and I can finally function to a pretty much near normal-for-pregnancy pace.  I don't feel like my nausea medication's improvements are worth the side effects, and so I've stopped taking it.  This is a major plus! 
I've also felt like my stomach has popped out the past week and I can't really hide that I'm pregnant anymore.  I've also started to feel the baby move more and more the past two weeks, although it isn't strong enough for Eric to feel it yet.  The baby is supposedly the size of a bell pepper and in a week and a half we'll find out the gender.  I am very impatient to find out, I want to start organizing baby clothes, making clothes and a quilt and planning out the nursery décor. 
If it's a girl, we've already got a list of possible names, but if it's a boy, we're in trouble.  There just aren't that many names that we like, even less that we agree on, and even less that "go" with our other kid's names and our last name.  It's a tricky thing, picking out a name, I already Lillie and Henry's names picked out for years and years, so this is a new experience for me.
I'm hoping for a girl but Eric thinks it's a boy.  In truth, I don't really care either way, I just really like making little dresses and accessories and would really miss out if I didn't get to do it for our pretty-sure-our-last kid.  A healthy baby would make me a happy mom.
So...that's pretty much it.  The halfway update will include a photo, probably the only pregnancy photo I will post.  Pregnancy is such a weird thing, I already look in the mirror and shocked that the person that I see doesn't look like me.  I vaguely remember that from the pregnancies before, but still it's surprising!  Can't wait to get back to looking like "me" even though it's a really long way off.

Chuck E. Cheese Birthday Party

We celebrated Henry's birthday with just our family at Chuck E. Cheese! The kids played games like crazy until their tokens ran out, ate cheese pizza and finished off the event with chocolate cake.  It was a weak attempt by me to celebrate, but Henry didn't notice, he and Lillie loved it.  The only thing he wanted to do all day was have cake and ice cream, poor boy had to wait all the way till dinner time.  He's getting so big!

Can It Be? Henry's Turning 3!

THE DAY

 UNO

DOS

TRES

 

 

My sweet baby is a baby no more.  Henry has really transformed the past six months into a big boy and tomorrow it will be official as he will turn 3!  We have really loved getting to spend our time with this little guy, he is sweet and polite and creative and silly and rambunctious, all at the same time. 

 

Special Things About Henry:

-He doesn't like to be called Hank or anything else other than a "big boy"

-Loves cars, monster trucks and super heroes

-Loves to wear the superman cape that was Eric's as a boy

-Gets aggressive when killing "bad guys" and turns everything into a sword

- Says "thank you" all the time!

-Still naps and has to snuggle with Mom after waking up

-Loves to jump off of everything

-Particular about eating: Takes him about three tries to finish dinner, but he always will...eventually.

-Has been talking about his monster truck bday party for at least 6 months

-Fave food: Pizza, Fave color: Green, Fave Show: Bubble Guppies, Fave Superhero: Spiderman

-Usually gets along pretty well with his sister, I love it when they play well together

 

I did not know what to expect, having a boy, but I have been surprised and delighted by how fun and different it is.  I love that little guy.  I wish I could freeze him and keep him this age forever.  But I am still excited to see what the future holds for him.  Can't wait to see him in the big brother role.

 

Happy Birthday, Henry!!!!

Family Disneyland Trip

We had one day left on our 3 day military passes and with Henry is turning 3 this week, we wanted to visit before we would have to buy him a ticket. We finally made that happen on Saturday. We hit the park right as it opened and stayed for about twelve hours. I was so exhausted by the time we left, but we had a blast! It had been two years since the kids had last been there and neither of them really remembered it. The highlights of the trip included Cars Land, especially Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Toon Town's Gadget's Go-Coaster, and the Aladdin show. Lillie also got to go on Splash Mountain and Soarin Over California, which she loved! The excitement and joy on their faces the whole day made it SOO worth it. We enjoyed going without our kids the other week, but it was equally as awesome with them. They could have gone till the closing of the park, but Eric and I could not. Lillie even asked if we could move down to Anaheim so that we could go every day. I wish, Baby, I wish.

Henry was in heaven walking around Cars Land and enjoyed his time hanging out with his pal, Lightning McQueen. He loves Lightning!

Lillie loved Soarin' even though she was a little nervous before it began.  She wanted to hold my hand the whole time, which was nice.  I loved hearing her little shrieks of joy during the ride.

Visited Mickey and got one terrible picture out of it.  Thanks, photographer, for making us stand right under the red light.  Very flattering.  Ugh.  Henry loved hugging and talking to Mickey though.

Lillie and Eric got soaked in Splash Mountain, but dried quickly in the warm sunny weather.

Waiting in line at the Jungle Cruise.  We felt like Saturdays weren't nearly as bad as we thought it would be.  We avoided the busy rides and didn't wait longer than ten minutes for a ride.  I think that's the key to keeping kids happy all day long.  No body likes waiting in lines and pretty much no ride is worth waiting forever for.

The Mater ride in action.  Eric said it was like being pulled behind a boat on an inner tube.  Lots of fun!

I think the ice cream bars were as good as any other part of the day for these two.

Couldn't make it through the day at the Happiest Place on Earth without a fit or two.  Lillie had to spend some time in Time Out.

List of Rides/Things we Did: Luigi Flying Tires, Soarin' over California, Redwood Creek Trails, Train at Disneyland, Gadget Go Coaster, Mickey's House, It's a Small World, Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladdin Show, Turtle Talk with Crush, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Monster's Inc., Flik's Flying Ride, Play Parade, Little Mermaid, and probably a bit more that I can't remember