That First Month

Happy Easter!

It has been a fun 4 weeks since the arrival of baby number three! Brooklyn (one month old) is a great sleeper - which works out well for her. She even sleeps while Taylor and Cam argue about who gets to hold her first. They love her so much. The kids are still adjusting to our new addition and loving every moment! She is such a blessing.










We are so thankful for all of the meals from family and amazing friends. That was extremely generous and helpful.
The kids are still enjoying all of the yummy food.

In this photo, you will notice that Cam is attempting to make a tomato sandwich

Such a perfectionist

Mini Pizzas

More Olives please!

Yes, we love food.


One of our recent outings was a photo shoot with Alicen Lum - a University Place photographer. Her son Hayden is in preschool with Camden so the kids had a great time playing with all of the toys. Her in-home studio almost felt like a spa. A very soothing environment for the kids (especially babies) and she has tons of great props to work with. We had a great time and I love these photos. I highly recommend Alicen. Here is her website: www.alicenlumphotography.com. (206) 484-7677











Thank you Alicen for a fun afternoon!


Another fun adventure: ANDERSON ISLAND! Here are a few of my favorite pics from Brooklyn's first vacation with us to our beach house on Anderson Island last weekend with my family (Brian stayed home sick)...


Me and the kids on the private road to our property



Mud Puddle Pies

Cams "Puddle Pie"





Taylor in one of her silliest moments

Grandma Nettie gets a lesson about mud puddles

The beach house

A glimpse of those baby blue eyes

Just waking up

Breakfast

Down on the beach

Hunting for sand dollars

Taylor eating her S'more

Auntie Marian reading a bedtime story

Last but not least - a special THANK YOU to all of our parents and grandparents for helping with the kids this month. You have all supported us and loved us more than we can ever thank you for. We are blessed to have all of you here with us. We love you!













Nancy

Taylor turns four...

We decided to have Taylor's birthday party at Odyssey One this year.

We managed to fill the party room with 35 adults and about 10 children. Kids are the life of the party so might as well make them the focus this time! They are so cute anyway...here are the pictures!


I forced these very excited girls to sit down and smile. Then they disappeared into a sea of children.


I am amazed by this picture...mostly because I got a clear shot of Taylor's face through the net. If you could see how fast she was moving, you would be amazed too!


Cute baby alert! Kristina and Jay's baby girl, Gracelynn is 4 months.


Love those Odyssey scooters! Chase conquered the scooter after an older, more experienced toddler gave him a training session.


Back in the party room, we tried several times to get Taylor to stop blowing her party noisemaker for this photo, with no luck. I don't think she could hear us shouting at her anyway.


Daddy got hit in the face with several noisemakers at once. I think he might have been asking for it.


Pizza time at Odyssey after an hour of playing...I have never seen pizza disappear so fast in my life. It was quite possibly the best pizza ever! Maybe that was due to the fact that I am very pregnant.


Layla and Carter eating pizza


The Happy Birthday song and CAKE.


"Another present mommy!" Taylor was very grateful and excited about EVERY gift. She LOVED them all. Did you know that Barbies can swim in the bath tub now? I have never seen anything like it!


What better to do than to pose with an umbrella? My lovely sister found such a great umbrella for Miss Taylor that I wanted to show it off.


Miss Nora and her balloon sword...by the way, these things POP. They pop a lot and they're LOUD.


Johnny and his pretty mama watching the events unfold...


Cam and Layla are WAY too excited about chocolate cake. I admit, IT WAS GOOD.


The final step of the day was the "birthday machine" for a chance to catch flying tickets! Then the kids played games with special birthday tokens until they were gone. Birthday tokens turn into tickets and tickets turn into prizes! I even saw Chase leave with cotton candy in his hand. Yum.

Waiting for Baby...

We are settling into the New Year, waiting for baby Brooklyn to arrive. Every weekend passes by just a little bit faster these days.
The nursery is almost done, baby clothes neatly organized...how did that happen? We are waiting patiently for the big day.

nancy

Fall Happenings

It's been a while since my last post! Life has been very busy. It seems like we're always on the go.
What's new? Well, both kids attend Sunset Christian Preschool (UPPC), (it's quite nice to be working upstairs while they are happily learning and playing downstairs)...new job opportunities for Brian...he is currently at home with the kids and recently accepted a position at Finn Media Company (cutting edge graphic design firm) working as an account manager to win big clients. He will be working from home, so a new home office is essential! We have plans to start on the nursery as soon as we find out if our baby is a boy or girl. (November 5th - stay tuned). We will be busy organizing our home in the near future. Baby is due around March 24th.

Camden (age 2) is a real character lately. He's all boy. Such a flirt. He is really getting into sports and climbing. I can hardly keep up! It seems like every time I turn around he is jumping off the couch, the dog kennel, the bed, you name it. He has bruises from head to toe from all of the crashing he does throughout the day. He's really attached to me, and wants mama to do everything. He clings to my leg like a monkey sometimes. He knows how to push my buttons - but daddy puts him in his place. His favorite food lately is candy corn and chocolate, his favorite show is Barney, he LOVES basketball, baths, washing hands, (being clean) playing with trucks, pigs, praying, snuggling on the couch and hide and seek. He can sing "Jesus Loves Me" perfectly. We're potty training and our latest battle is getting him to put his diaper on (and make it to the toilet). He thinks he is a "big boy" and he runs as fast as he can when I pull the diapers out. He runs away from us quite often - mostly at meal time and bed time! Lately, he sneaks into bed at night or tries to stall for a few hours.

Taylor is almost 4 (in January) and she is so darn silly and smart. She can sit and color all day long. It's her outlet. She takes care of her little brother Cam, always grabbing the hood of his jacket when he runs away. She likes Dora, all sorts of dolls, puzzles, butterflies, getting dressed all by herself, pretending to be a princess, classical music, soccer and cooking (she recently got pepper in her eyes during a pasta lesson). She really enjoys "stirring" when we bake. She is a sensitive child and very caring, and tells me she wants to be a doctor someday. (She also wants to be a race car driver). Her laugh is contagious and I am constantly amazed at the things that come out of her mouth! (such as the entire "pledge of allegiance") or "Mommy, am I cute?" She also likes to borrow my camera and shoot pictures of our family. I recently bought the Canon PowerShot A495 at Target for $99. It's great for kids to use because you just point and shoot. One of her favorite past times is to take pictures of herself making funny faces. She will sit and laugh at each photo like it's the funniest thing she has ever seen. She is making great friends in preschool and even has her eyes on a few boys! Oh no. Tonight she actually asked me how babies are made...don't worry. I didn't tell her. Why do they grow up so fast???

I love our growing family. Feeling blessed and content. Can't wait to meet our third baby! March can't come soon enough. Happy fall everyone!

Blessings,
Nancy