Busy with Three

I am a terrible blogger, but Lizzie and Jonathan would like to introduce their new baby sister, Hannah. She arrived 3 and a half weeks early, but still weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces. Jonathan was a week early, and he was 7 pounds 10 ounces, so perhaps our original date was wrong. We love her and are trying to adjust to three little ones. I have yet to venture out on any errands by myself with three, so any tips or advice are welcome.

Lizzie

Jonathan saying Happy Birthday to his big sister Lizzie.

Better late than never, Halloween Pictures

Family Pictures

So, two years ago we joined the JCPenny portrait club in order to save money on sitting fees. In order to make the most of the club membership, I figured that we needed to have 3 years worth of family pictures. So here are the results of the latest family pictures. Usually, Jonathan is all smiles, but on this particular day, he was all stares, except when he decided to stick out his tongue. On the flip side, Lizzie was ALL smiles. This is by far the best "real" smile pictures that have been taken of her. The images are kind of digitized so that we can't reprint them, but you can get a general idea of how they looked.

Jonathan

Cute Jono turned 1! I can't believe that a year has already come and gone. Here he is just posing after finishing his morning milk. What a cute happy boy he is, especially if he has been fed. He army crawls all around the house and pulls himself up to everything. I think he'll be walking soon, and then I know I'll be in trouble. I thought that Lizzie was a bit of a busy body, but Jonathan is FAST and INTO EVERYTHING. He does love his sister and loves to follow her wherever she goes.

He is always smiling. He smiles when he wakes up and you walk in to pick him up. He smiles when Darren comes home from work. He smiles when Lizzie uses him as a hurdle and jumps over him. He smiles when he stands up by Lizzie's kitchen and starts cooking. He smiles when he sees food coming his way. The only time he really has issues is when he is tired, hungry, in the car too long, but he has been better since he has been able to sit forward. I think he just didn't like not knowing where he was going. He is a curious kid. His only other issue is when he is trying to follow Lizzie and she shuts the door and he can't keep up. He is a sweet boy and we just love him so much. So Happy Birthday little Jonathan.



For Jonathan's birthday, both grandparents came up for a visit. The kids LOVE having grandparents come and visit and having both of them on the same night is an extra special treat.


Thank you to Grandma Cole who brought this nice delicious cake for Jonathan. Lizzie was so excited for Jonathan's birthday. She taught him how to blow out the candles and enjoyed eating his cake too. I am holding his hands so that we didn't get too messy, like I said he is fast and INTO everything. Don't worry, he had his chance to explore his own piece of cake and frosting. It was a mess, but he was happy.

Darren worked extra hard for Lizzie to put together her swingset. It took a couple of weeks and so Lizzie was sooo excited for it to be done. She would live out here on this swing as long as someone is there to give her a push.

A big THANK YOU to Devon who helped finish putting the swingset together and for the MANY trips in un-airconditioned old Brown to get the wood chips. We sure love you and just had so much fun while you were here.

Emily came into town so the whole family was together for the 4th of July. We went for a perfect picnic in the canyon. The kids are so lucky to have such awesome Uncles and Aunties that take such good care of them.

Nauvoo

We went to Nauvoo with Grandma and Grandpa Cole, Uncle Fonzy, Aunt Sonia, Faye, Grace, and Andrew. Aren't these kids so cute? Lizzie had a blast following Faye and Gracie and laughing at funny Andrew.

My cute little pioneers! I know I wouldn't have been tough enough to be a pioneer, but I think that Jonathan and Lizzie would have looked pretty cute and had a lot of fun as pioneer children. They had all kinds of games for the kids to play and let them dress up with fun hats and dresses. We LOVED Nauvoo and came home with a greater appreciation for the pioneers and their sacrifice. We will have to go back when the kids are a little older so they can remember and feel the special spirit that surrounds Nauvoo.


Here is Lizzie and the bubble maker that Auntie Katy and Uncle Chris gave her for her birthday. She had so much fun making the bubbles, and then I would make the bubbles and she would chase them around. She is wearing a cute outfit that Auntie Emily gave her too. Auntie Emily knows that Mommy isn't the best shopper, but I am getting better at shopping, at least for the kids.

Spring and Summertime

Sorry, we've been busy with summer, but just a couple of updates, more for my record these last three posts will be out of order, but they show what we have been up to.

It's snowing! Our neighbor has a couple of HUGE cotton trees and in the spring it covers the lawn almost like a blanket of snow! Lizzie had so much fun running around the yard and Darren used his blower to blow things all around for even more fun. These trees provided perfect shade for Lizzie's play area, but sadly the trees have now come down and so this is our last springtime snow.


We love our cousins. Uncle Fonzy and the kids, Faye, Andrew and Grace came up to go camping in our backyard. Here they are still in their pajamas eating a nice breakfast.