It's all good . . .

Something Missing

Derek is getting more grown up every day.  It amazes me, and it makes me both excited and sad.  The other day, he lost one of his top teeth.  Now, whenever I look at him, I have a constant reminder of old he is.  He is such a wonderful boy and a great brother to Lily and Arthur.  We love him so much, and can't imagine life without him.

A Wonderful Visit

The start of our spring break was pretty crazy.  It started with a terrible blizzard that started Friday night and didn't stop until Sunday morning.  The snow was so deep in our driveway that when I went out for a bit on Saturday afternoon, I couldn't get back in the garage.  We had to cancel all our plans for that night and hunker down to wait out the storm.

Luckily, the storm did end, and because it did, on Monday, our friends Marilyn and Stephen Jones were able to come visit from Utah for a few days. (Sadly, Brent couldn't get off work to come with them.) 

 

They arrived just in time for dinner, and then we spent the rest of the night catching up.  They were even here for Family Home Evening.  Because the kids knew the Jones would be here, they put together an amazing activity for it.  Lily and Derek spent all day Saturday creating a Price is Right game. 

It was so much fun, and I cannot believe what a great job they did. 

Derek was the announcer and Lily was the host. 

It was so awesome, that we want them to do it again when my parents get here on Friday.

It was so fun to get to show Arthur to Marilyn, and she got in plenty of time cuddling and playing with him. He made sure to give her plenty of his smiles :).

Marilyn was so great - she helped me scrub out all my kitchen cabinets, just because she wanted to help me out.  And Lily and Derek had so much fun playing games with her, reading with her, and showing her all their fun tricks.  Lily even gave her a pedicure.

While they were here, I was able to take Stephen's senior portraits and missionary pictures.  The weather was nice enough to be beautiful for us :).  I love how they turned out.

We had such a fantastic time with them, it was very hard to say goodbye.  Hopefully, it won't be too long before we are together again.

Two Chubby Months

Our sweet Arthur is two months old, and as fun as ever.  He is getting chubby and has grown so big.  In fact, he is already 13.5 lbs - almost double his birth weight.  He is full of personality, and shows us all sorts of funny faces.

We still love to watch him sleep, and cuddle him while he sleeps.  The other day, I cuddled with him for two hours while he slept, letting everything else go.  I just couldn't resist :).  You see, he is only this small for a tiny bit of time.

He has become very aware of what is going on around him, and he loves to face out and see the world.  If he hears our voice, he will track us as we walk around the room.

Lily and Derek are still completely in love with Arthur.  In fact, Derek has become even more taken with him now that he responds more to him.  They are such cute brothers :).

One of our favorite new developments is that he has started smiling all the time.  Even giggling and laughing.  It just melts our hearts.  Who can resist that silly smile?

It is hard to believe two months have already come and gone.  What would we do without this amazing boy?!  (Here's a cute little video of Arthur, in all of his adorableness.)

Playing Together

We have been getting in a lot of family time the past few weekends.  I am not sure if it is because we get all our work done really fast and so then are free to play, or if we just have kept our weekends more open lately.  Whatever the reason, we have been having lots of fun together as a family.

This weekend, we took the kids our to a special celebratory lunch at Texas Roadhouse to celebrate their fantastic report cards.  We are so proud of them, and they deserved something special. 

After lunch, we went to the mall and played GloGolf, which was a blast - even if it makes my eyes go al weird because of the neon lights.  The kids just loved it!

As usual, Kevin won, but this time he won playing one handed with a baby strapped to him.  Even with the handicap, he was awesome, although I did give him a run for his money :).

That afternoon, we kept the fun going by playing a little Just Dance 4 - Lily and Derek love it, and it is such good exercise, who can complain if they play it?  Here's a little video to give you a taste of the fun :).

And, because we didn't have enough yummy treats from my party the night before, Kevin had brought us chocolate croissants - one of my true weaknesses :).  Just one more thing to make it a fantastic weekend.

A Birthday Tradition

Two years in a row, Kevin was gone for my birthday, and so I threw myself a big party with my friends.  Well, I guess I started a tradition, because the month before my birthday, people kept coming up to me and asking if I was having a party again this year.  I hadn't thought about it, since by some miracle, Kevin was actually around for my birthday this year, but they got the wheels turning, and with Kevin's permission, I threw another birthday bash :).

I tried to keep the party a lot more simple this year, since I had a new baby and would not be able to make all the food and things I normally do.  It's all good though, because my friends all helped out with the food and it was perfect.  (I did made these amazing cheesecake stuffed strawberries though - so delicious!  Thank you pintrest.)

We had such a wonderful time talking, laughing, and playing games.  I laughed so hard my face hurt - especially during the "Word Association Game".  And Arthur was the star of the party, and was never set down the whole night :).

And we had to play our traditional game of Just Dance - so much fun, and a fantastic workout to burn some of the calories we ate at the party.  We also broke out my new karaoke machine and got some singing in as well.

It was a fantastic night, and I think I might just have to keep having a party every year - we have too much fun not to :).

A Fun Family Weekend

We had a fantastic weekend, made better because Kevin had Friday off.  He was wonderful enough to fore go playing golf, to go to Denver with me.  My best friend, Pamela, who lives in Tennesse, was in Colorado for the weekend to go skiing, and so we met up in Denver for a late lunch. 

It was so wonderful to catch up, especially since we had both had a baby since we had seen each other last :).  We tried to get a picture of us, but with three squirmy boys, it was quite the adventure.  I am so glad it worked out for us to get together!

We got back from Denver just in time for a big storm to hit.  It was a crazy blizzard, and so on Saturday we hunkered down and stayed inside.  Lily and I decided to have a tea party, and it was very fun.  We had little bread and butter sandwiches and chocolate covered strawberries.  I sure love getting to do fun girly things with my sweet Lily.

We also took advantage of our time at home to play with my new toy - the karaoke machine.  Lily and Derek love it even more than I do :).  We all sang some songs.  Kevin even busted out a little "Master of Puppets."  Fun times!

Here is a little video of the kids - I love it!

We also took the time to cuddle up on the couch and watch a few movies.  Friday night was "Hotel Transalvania," and Saturday night was "Wreck it Ralph."  Both were really fun, and it was wonderful to just cuddle together as a family and watch a movie.

We had some yummy treats during the weekend, inspired by watching different shows about food.  One night, we decided to make churros - which we had never made before.  They were so yummy!  Then Kevin decided to make cream puffs, and they were amazing!  Light and fluffy, and perfect.

It was a wonderful weekend, and I am so glad we got to spend it together as a family.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

On Friday, Lily came home with a kite.  She had won it in a praize drawing after they finished their TCAP's - the state standardized test.  She was so excited about it, and that we had wind, and so she put it together and had Kevin help her fly it.

It started out great, but sadly, the wind died - which was highly unusual for this area.  We always have wind.  Regardless, she had a great time with her dad, and I loved watching the two of them out there together :).

You've Had a Bithday, Shout Hooray!

That is how I prefer to think of my birthday - as a celebration.  Back when I turned 30, I decided that I can either dread getting older, or celebrate.  And celebrate, I do. 

This year I turned 35, which for some odd reason, sounds significantly older than 34, but whatever.  Maybe it is because I am now in a new age bracket.  You know, the box you check on all the forms or surveys you fill out - 34 is the cutoff for the younger bracket.  It's all good.  I still have five siblings that are older than me, and so now I am in the same bracket with them, along with more than half of my friends :).

But enough about age, and more about the celebrating.  My day started off nicely, with Derek wanting to make me breakfast.  I didn't mind that all he was capable of was toasting me a toasters struedel, it was so sweet of him.

The next part of my day was the only hard part of the day, as I had to visit the Tricare office, and Arthur had a blowout on the way there.  Oh well. It all worked out fine, and I was able to finish up just in time to meet some friends for lunch.

I would have met Kevin for lunch, but he wasn't going to be able to get away, because he is in a class this month, and so instead I got to play with my friends.  We went to Olive Garden and had a fun, leisurely lunch.  (I wish I had taken a picture of all of us.)  They even brought me a cute little dessert :).  And my friend, Terrie, held Arthur the whole meal - she was having so much fun, she didn't want to give him up. 

Later on, after the kids got out of school, we went to Red Robin as a family for dinner.  We had a great time, and it was wonderful to celebrate with all of us, since the year before, Kevin was gone, and so Lily and Derek were the only ones with me.

When we got home, we had cake and presents.  It was red velvet cake - my favorite :).

All of my presents had a common theme, and Lily and Derek were so excited to give them to me.  Kevin and the kids gave me a karaoke machine, along with quite a few CD's to use with it :).  So much fun! 

After presents, I got to go to book club and play with my friends some more.  I had a wonderful time, but I made sure to leave early so I could come home and spend some time with Kevin.  We watched "American Idol," and it was the perfect way to end my day of celebrations.

*This year was only the second time in five years that Kevin was with me for my birthday, and so having him around made it fantastic.

Super Baby & Other Arthur Moments

This little baby boy of ours is always making us laugh.  His newest thing is how he loves to do "super baby."  I am not sure if the pressure on his belly just feels good, or he really likes the view, but he loves for us to do this.  And he looks pretty adorable - I think it accentuates his cheeks :).

And over the past week, he has started really smiling all the time.  It is the sweetest thing!

And on Sunday, he got to go on his very first walk.  It was sunny and 50 degrees, so we had to take him out to enjoy the outdoors.  He really liked it too, that is, until the wind picked up and bothered him.  It was a very nice family outing and good for him to get out of the house.

He even went on a walk with me to pick up the kids from school one day, which he slept though for the most part.  It was just such a beautiful day, I had to get us out of the house and the car.

And I just love all the different facial expressions he makes.  Even when he cries, his face is adorable :).

We just love this little guy, and are excited for each day and the personality he shows us.  I can't believe how fast he is growing up and changing, and am trying to enjoy every minute.