TY's Birthday

I can hardly believe my baby is 2 years old already. He is such a sweet heart. This picture is my favorite with his tongue out. It take's a lot of concentration when your 2 to open big present.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the Ball Popper. It has been a hit for all of my boys. It's funny how you can never go wrong with ball toys and boys.

Ty loves balls! And if you could here him say "basitball." You would make him a basketball cake to just to hear him say it all day. Notice the black on his lips; yes he is 2 and took a taste before we cut the cake, the question is how many??

Our sweet messy boy who is so easy to love. His "MAMA" shouts and spitting when he doesn't get his way could stop anytime soon, but he will still let me snuggle him when he is tired. He gives the best squeezes, which are so much better then his normal hugs. We put him in his big boy bed last week, and it has been no big deal. He was by far the easiest to transition, hopefully it will be that way when he is ready for potty training. For some reason I doubt I'll have that much luck.

ALEC-O's Birthday

Alec's has been counting down for weeks to turn 4 years old. Birthdays take forever to arrive when your that age. Here is the arctic cake he wanted after reading the book "Arctic Waters" Unfortunately we couldn't find any seals and walruses to go on the iceberg in the middle, but he mainly just wanted to the whales.

We had Alec's cousins over for a little party. He loves playing with them, and wanted them over to help him break his whale pinnate.

Here is the pinnate Alec has talked about having for his birthday since Christmas. He is just a candy-aholic, and looks for any opportunity to get treats. We had fun all taking a whack at it, but it never broke. Someone finally knocked it off the string, so we dumped the candy out.

The camera ended up being a hit for this birthday. We looked at getting him a kid camera since he is always taking my phone to take pictures of his toys. After reading bad reviews and checking prices, we decide to buy a used one off Craig's List. If it breaks then it was fun while it lasted, and we didn't spend a lot for it. A week later and it is still intact. He has taken a lot of picture in the last few days along with the other boys, and so far so good.

IT'S A GIRL!!

Finally some pink in my house!!

We had our ultrasound last week, and our little 20 week old baby is doing great. And much to our surprise we are having a GIRL!! I'm sure you are as shocked as we are. Truthfully I didn't think we were capable of having a girl, but the doctor gives me a 95 % guarantee that it is in fact female. I told him that wasn't good enough, so next month he will do a quick ultrasound to check the gender again, and hopefully she won't have her legs crossed this time. This pregnancy has been like all the rest, so I was convinced it was a boy, and we already had a boy name ready to go. Thank goodness things don't always go as we plan, and miracles do happen. I would love to hear any of your favorite girl names that you don't plan on using yourself. (I know this isn't the best picture, but it was better than any of our ultrasound shots).

HALLOWEEN

Ben the scary Snake!

Alec the green Turtle.

Ty the cute Chicken.

The kids were so excited for Halloween this year. Ben unfortunately really wanted to be a King Cobra Snake. I convinced him that a black snake would be just as cool, and he was my good helper stuffing the tights. They loved trick-or-treating, and even Ty got into it. He would not let anyone carry his pumpkin of treats. After about of week of endless candy and begging for treats. We found a Wii game on Craigslist for cheap and had them trade in all their candy for the game. It was the best thing!! Next year I'll attempt that sooner after Halloween.

Pumpkin Picking

The Berry Ranch Pumpkin Picking and Hay Ride

Last night for family night, our little family went to a farm to pick our pumpkins for the season. The pumpkins in our garden failed miserably this year, so we had to go elsewhere. It was nice to be in the country though with a fun farm atmosphere. The pumpkin patch was huge, and had the biggest pumpkins I've seen in along time. Ty really loved the little petting zoo with the sheep, cows, chickens, pigs, and sheep. However the animals were so dirty it was more of a looking zoo then a petting zoo. The smell brought back quick memories of growing up on a farm. There are somethings not missed, and other things I hate living without.

Here is Ben in one of the old tractors they had displayed.

The kids had to be able to carry the pumpkin they picked. It was difficult though to find one small enough for Alec to carry. We finally resorted to just being able to pick it up for a short time.

Ty spent more time climbing on pumpkins or laying on the ground from tripping on the vines, then he did standing. He loved the farm!! From animals to throwing hay, it was his perfect little place.

We just got back from a fun family vacation to Seattle. Two of Luke's good friends, Kevin & Shaun, live there and were kind enough to show us the sights. The children loved the ocean and anything to do with it. We now have a lovely bowl of sea shells. We spent some time at Pt. Defiance Zoo where the hight lights consisted of the amazing aquarium and the huge walruses. The Pike Place Market was a lot of fun. I loved the beautiful flower shops and the big city. The boys loved watching the sales men throw fish for customers. We then shared figs and a pomegranate from the market under the Space Needle. Riding the Ferry to Vashon Island was a fun new thing for the boys. While we were there we had a picnic, hunted for sea shells, and viewed the light house. The Seattle Temple was beautiful! Krissy gave us a fun scavenger hunt to do with the boys while we were there, and minus the rain it was worth the trip in itself. One of my favorite things about the trip was dining at the restaurant "Anthony's" on my birthday. There was babysitter for all the kids and the adults enjoyed a seafood meal overlooking the ocean. Thanks Shaun and Kevin or a great weekend. It was so fun hanging out with good friends. We now know that an 8 hour drive is very long, but due-able with the kids. Alec's funny line during the drive, "Ben you make me sad on the inside and angry on my face."

First day of

PRESCHOOL

Play Group

Alec started his first day of a play group Preschool today. It consists of 7 children all 2 years away from Kindergarten. Each Mom takes a turn teaching a day, and my first day will be next week. We'll see how it goes. Alec is so excited he could hardly stand waiting. He had his back pack on way in advance so I had to get his picture.

Ty of course would not be left out. As soon as he saw Alec with a backpack, he then proceeded to pull the small kid coat rack on himself trying to get a backpack. I found a little bag that could fit on his shoulders and he was so excited. As soon as Alec's picture was over, Ty then took his spot and said "cheese." I couldn't resist taking the picture. The bag had to stay on during the drive to drop Alec off at preschool. Poor Ty really thought he was going to, and he cried the entire way home. His little whimpers didn't stop until he finally fell asleep for his nap. For a kid who is short on words, he sure knows what is going on.