Easter!

The kids and I colored eggs on Friday. Brian was really busy trying to get a paper done for a class so he missed out this year. It was fun and no one ate any dye tablets this year!

We had an Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch in our backyard(s) and had lots of friends over and had a great time! It actually stopped raining and although it was muddy and wet and Miles went through 4 pairs of clothes before lunch it was a super fun day.

Maddie and Nora

On Sunday we had some more friends come over for a glorious Easter dinner (potluck style with ham, roast beef, rolls, au gratin potatoes, beans, fruit, jell-o and carrot cake). It was a perfect afternoon and I ate so much!! I wish we could have an Easter dinner every Sunday.

This is Miles and his BFF Zach. They have become such good buddies lately it makes me even sadder that we'll be moving in a few months!

Here's the group of kids (minus 2) eating dinner downstairs at the craft table.

Sophie made a little centerpiece with our colored eggs and some paper. After she had it all arranged I moved it to make room for the food and all of her eggs rolled off and broke. Oops! She was sad, but kindly forgave me and picked some new eggs.

Miles had a bit of a tough day because he took a couple of rough falls, one of them led to some road rash on his forehead. Then later he was jumping off the table to the couch and cut his lip.

And here are the kids in their Easter clothes. I had been planning on making the bowties for a few months and of course made them Saturday night at midnight. They all looked so darn cute. How I love these kids!

...and a few days ago Wesley started pulling himself up on a few pieces of furniture. He's barely army crawling but can stand up if something is just the right size. Dangerous since he can't lower himself down slowly! He's quite proud of himself.

Four Years!?

It has been almost four years since my family has been able to get together. Crazy! There's not that many of us - but we are pretty spread out in Northern Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Michigan and Georgia! My brother Aaron is graduating from the University of Idaho with his Masters of Fine Arts Degree and my mom flew me and my sister out so we could see his Art Show. Since Wesley is under two, he got to come along! It was so fun to be with my family. I hope we never have to go 4 years without seeing each other again! Thanks mom!

This is Ruby. She is a month older than Wesley and totally winning in the chubby thigh department. This girl has got some delicious chub. You know what they say, "Fat bottom girls make the rockin' world go round!" She put my chubby Wesley to shame. So cute!

Me and cute Ruby. Her face is as cute as her chubby bottom half.

Corey was so cute with Wesley. He is such a cute kid. He was holding a small fabric butterfly at a store and said to me, "Hmmmm.... this butterfly weighs as much as.... 4 tissue papers!"

We went to McDonald's and had to get a chocolate dipped cone - yum!

Aaron and mama checking out the show one last time before we left. Aaron sold about 11 paintings at the show. He worked hard and it paid off. I know my dad would be so proud.

Me and Wes outside the building where the show was held in downtown Moscow.

We got to go behind the scenes to Aaron's art studio and see all his work that didn't get put in the show. It was fun and brought back so many memories of being in my dad's art room as a kid.

We went on a walk to a pretty spot where you could see for miles around. Grandpa gave Chloe a ride for some of it. Chloe is such a cutie with an adorable voice and adorable spunk.

The whole group - minus me and Wesley.

I love my family!

Grandpa and the girls. I can't believe Madeleine is 10. She is such a sweetie, I can't wait for her and Sophie to get together this summer (hopefully).

Aaron and Wesley.

Me and my sis Emily. She is tough (although apparently my brother still beat her in an arm wrestle though I wasn't there to see it. I wish they would have waited for me to be there!) I went to the gym with her one morning and I have never felt so white and flabby in all my life. It was fun to have my own personal trainer for an hour, though! :)

This is the first plane home. On the way there I flew from Detroit to Denver and then got a flight with my mom and John from Denver to Spokane (then did the same thing on the way home). It was awesome to have two more people to entertain him for one of the flights. Flying is a lot of work. Thanks to my good husband who kept the other three kiddos so I could go. And to my awesome neighbors who watched Miles when Brian needed to get some work done. It was a great trip and I loved it! I can't wait for us all to get together again - with all the rest of the fam. Thanks Aaron and Hannah and fam for letting us come and stay - and thanks again mom!

Spring Break!!

The girls were on Spring Break this past week and Brian was in California for a conference so me and the kids had a great time together. I had them help me do some Spring cleaning on Monday and Tuesday and then I decided I was sick of cleaning and wanted to just play. So that's what we did! We made cupcakes:

Had friends over to play:Played outside when it was nice enough:

Went to the park:

Sophie had a sleepover with her friend Ellie, then Ellie spent the next day at our house. They wanted to put make-up on each other just for fun and here are the results:

Brian has been gone three times in the last few months and started taking the kids to the gas station for a treat when he gets home instead of bringing them something back. He got home on Saturday and the kids were excited for the trip to the gas station!

Sometimes when the kids have a long break I am ready for school to start, but this time I wasn't. And with Brian being gone most of the week and the cold weather there was definite potential to have a looong week at home. But it was a great week and I was sad to send the girls off to school today, although it will be nice to get back into our normal routines. I sure love my sweet kids!

6 months!!

Is there anything more lovable or adorable than a baby? Looking at these pictures almost makes me want to run upstairs and wake him up from his nap just to hold him!

This little man is the perfect addition to our family (of course). He is beloved by all and none of us can get quite enough of his chubby smiles and slobbery loves.

Wesley has a calm and content personality right now and he's just so darn happy almost all of the time. He loves ripping up newspapers or magazines, his binky, eating sweet potato baby food, and being talked to and held.

How can you look at that smile and not feel happy inside?

Or that one?

Wesley is sitting up and getting very interested in figuring out how to crawl. It will be awhile yet (thankfully - I am not ready to commit to keeping my floors clean enough for him) but he likes to rock back and forth and usually lands on his face - he doesn't like that part.

He is a such a sweet baby boy. Although, I would trade a bit of his sweetness during the day for a little better sleeping at night if I could! We just started letting him cry it out at night because for a whole week he had the most bizarre schedule and was up every 1/2 hour until 1am and then back up to eat at 2 and 4.... so we decided to see how he does. The first night he cried for about 20 minutes and then woke up an hour later and cried again for 15 minutes, but then slept until 5am! The second night he cried for about 2 minutes again and slept until 4am. Luckily his crying hasn't been too intense, but I did have to stay in the bathroom last night with the fan on so I couldn't hear him. It stinks to hear him crying but I keep telling myself he's learning and it will be worth it in the end. And he doesn't seem to be mad at me in the day. :)

We sure love this boy and are so glad he's ours! He weighs in at 17 pounds these days. You may remember the nurse told me at his 4 month check up he weighed 16 pounds 16 ounces. When I took him in for his check-up they weighed him and I said it was weird that he hadn't gained any weight. The nurse looked at his chart and at his 4
month check up he actually weighed 16 pounds even, the nurse had just told me wrong.