Baby Katelyn Amelia

Sorry this is going to be short, sweet and to the point. It hurts to sit in hard chairs and I have been on it for a half an hour! This is for all of our fans!

Katelyn and I the night before delivery modeling the nursery!

Katelyn Amelia was born at 7:55am and weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces (my biggest baby yet by a pound!) and is 21 1/2 inches long! How did she fit?! Check out all of her hair! Here is crossing our fingers that she doesn't lose it all!

Katelyn's crazy sisters!

Tori thinks baby Katelyn is the best! My favorite picture is of Jason and all 3 girls! All of our visitors in the hospital. Not pictured the Alvi ladies who brought me homemade chocolates and Ursula and Stacy! Thanks for coming to visit Katelyn and me!

Coming Home! They always look so small in their carrier the first time! Tori and Brooke made us some pretty posters to welcome us home. I am glad to be home, but I am SO TIRED!!!! Katelyn is a doll and has a really sweet temprement. I can't wait for you all to meet her!

"Mommy, You're My Best Cousin"

The girls hopped into our bed on Sunday after their alarm went off and Tori curls up to me and says, "Mommy, I love you so much! You're my best cousin." Ahhh! I thought it was so cute...I am sure that I would have cried had it not been 7 am and I was barely awake!
Then during church she is rubbing Jason's hands and says, "Daddy, you have big, big, big, fur!" We got a quiet giggle out of that one!
So...there are only 6 more days until baby girl #3 joins our family and we are almost done with both of the bedroom makeovers. I promise pictures! Brooke is now officially sleeping in her toddler bed and hasn't had too much trouble. The first night she was a little scared, but she was great during her nap the next day and hasn't had too much trouble (except last night she did end up in the middle of the LuvSac that is now located at the end of her bed!).
Tori is enjoying the countdown for Grandma and Grandpa's arrival and the baby. Anyone she talks to she says, "Guess what?! Grandma and Grandpa are coming today, in (fill in the #) days!" and then she goes on to say, "Guess what?! The baby comes in 1 week! A baby, a baby, a baby!" (The last phrase I believe she got from an episode of Dora the Explorer). This phrase is then repeated at least 100 times in a day! (You think that I am exaggerating, but I am not!)
Right now Tori is sitting behind me brushing my hair and saying, "Mom, you have Pocahontas hair! You are a princess. When you are done you can have a crown!" I can hear Brooke in the background banging on our Rock Band drums! My girls are so cute! **After a short break consisting of putting away dishes, putting the clothes in the dryer, making Macaroni and Cheese, and eating, blogging may again commence!**


Here is proof of our silliness! Brooke is all scrunched up in one of the baby boxes that I put burp clothes and blankets in. Tori took a pair of Jason's socks out of the laundry and slid them on. What a silly goose!

We decided to play in the sprinklers...don't ask me why we haven't done this before, it just didn't occur to me...or maybe I am just lazy?! After watering the garden, the girls whipped on their swimsuits and were in the water. They were both a little skeptical at first, but they both got into it. Brooke had enough after she was soaked, but Tori was in the sprinkler on and off for about an hour!

Can you tell that she LOVED it?! What a stinking cutie! And the towel picture...priceless!

Well, our little water princess dried off by running around the lawn, playing on the trike, swinging, eating a Popsicle, and dancing like a butterfly. I think that my girls are so BEAUTIFUL! I cannot wait to see what baby girl #3 looks like! Only 6 more days!

A 33rd Birthday, Chores & Other Random Things

HaPpY BiRtHdAy To mE!

I am officially 33! We actually celebrated on Saturday. We splurged and Jason and I went on a real date! We got a babysitter and saw Harry Potter (our babysitter actually cost more than our movie! and we probably paid her pretty cheaply too! YIKES!). The movie was better than I thought it would be and it was fun to see one more movie on the big screen and have a real date before we have baby #3. Later we took the kids to Tucanos and celebrated with a free dinner for me and the girls. We just had to pay for Jason's dinner and our desserts! Great deal when each dinner is $20!
Sunday (my actual birthday) was like any other Sunday, but with a little bit of funfetti cake and candles! Jason and Tori made me a cake and the girls LOVED singing and blowing the candles out with me! I love how Brooke looks like a ghost in most of the pictures! My birthday present was actually Wicked tickets, so I just got cards from Jason and the girls. Tori picked out a musical card that plays the song "Celebration". She loves to play the card and watch us dance (in fact I hear her opening it right now!) I have to write down Jason's cute card he gave me...it is a tender poem...most of the time he gets me silly funny cards so this is extra special!
My Heart Belongs to You
Whether it's your birthday or just any ordinary so-luck-you're-in-my-life-day...
Whether we're laughing together or talking about our worries and frustrations...
Whether we're being moody or sensitive, maddening, or romantic...
The truth is, it doesn't matter what or when or how or why...
Every day, in every way-I love sharing life with you.
Isn't that so TENDER?!

Ok...to the kids...Brooke LOVES the computer, so I got a few pictures of her and her favorite toy. Anywhere we go (the library, Walmart, other people's houses, stores...etc.) she hones in on a computer and pretends to type. Today while I was talking to Lora on the phone she turned the direction of our laptop screen a different direction and opened 23 Word windows! I still have no idea how to change the direction of the screen!
Tori has been on a Dora & Diego kick (complete with Spanish words and all...it is quite cute to hear her count and say words in Spanish!) so she likes to travel with a backpack everywhere. I got this one for her about a year ago at Goodwill for $.50. She has it packed with all kids of Princesses!

Monday, Monday.
Monday is always filled with chores and is usually spent at home all day (except for my non-stress tests for baby #3). So I thought I would take a few pictures of the girls helping me out with the chores.

Tori LOVES to help with laundry. Her jobs include: pouring in the soap, helping to load the clothes in the washer, loading the clothes in the dryer, and then putting the clothes from the dryer to the basket.
Brooke's job is to hand me the clothes from the basket. Clothes are all over the laundry room by the time she unloads the basket, but she has a lot of fun doing it!
They both love to sit on the washer once it starts because they like the vibration and they like to kick the washer to make it sound like a drum. And who doesn't like to play in an empty laundry basket?!


Oh how I really DO NOT like to put away (or wash) the dishes! Tori LOVES to put away the silverware, so that is her job. Brooke just likes to think of ways to get the dishes without me taking them away! Here she is contemplating the task ahead!


Another thing Tori LOVES to do is help make her lunch (and participate in any cooking or baking that she can). Today our menu was: Macaroni & Cheese with Chicken Nuggets. I love her macaroni & cheese grin! She pours, stirs, waits, stirs, then adds all the ingredients to make the sauce and stirs some more. Then she gets off the counter and picks bowls for herself and for Brooke. Mmmm.... and it was DELECTABLE!

A Work of Art

Well, I will end this magnificent post with the painting that I just finished for the girls' room! They are acrylic on canvas. I got the idea from a rug that we purchased for the girls' room a few months ago. It took me about 3 months to finish them (not necessarily because I worked on them every day), but I finally got them done! We have to redecorate their room because we are taking out all of the nursery stuff for the baby room. So I will post pictures of both rooms when they are all done.
That is all for now! Until next time!

What are we up to?

Well, July is finally gone and it is August! My FAVORITE month! I will be 33 in 6 days and baby girl #3 should be here soon...well, at least by August 23rd (here's for hoping that she is early!). The summer hasn't been all that bad...it is the regular prego stuff that is killing me (the horrid sleep, heartburn and the fact that sitting for longer than an hour kills my well padded butt!)!
Well, enough complaining and on to what you really care about...the girlies!
Tori and Brooke like each other more and more each day. Sometimes they even play together (GASP!) and it is really fun to watch. They both LOVE to play outside in our massive backyard. They are both old enough that I can just let them go out and have fun without me having to be out there to watch them all the time.
Tori is getting much more helpful and more stubborn. She has chores like putting away the silverware and cleaning her toy messes and at times she enjoys it, and then other times...it is like pulling teeth.
Brooke is talking more and more each day (she parrots just about anything we ask her to say) and she just started saying "Tori"! Brooke is also pretend playing more. It is fun to see her imagination at work.
Anyway, on to the pictures!

These were taken last Sunday! Sooo cute in their Sunday dresses.


Tori LOVES Sunday...she loves to go to church and be with all of her friends in Nursery. Sometimes she cries when we have to go home! She is developing quite the sense of humor too... she is so FUN! (PS don't you just LOVE that picture with her hands under her chin...boredom? I'm not quite sure.)


Brooke loves to get into things that she shouldn't and quickly finds those things in any room. Although she likes to wear dresses on Sunday, she wishes that Nursery didn't exist. She is still in the mother clingy stage, which means there is no way that she will stay in that Nursery room by herself. It doesn't help that there are 12 (yes 12!) other kids in there with her below the age of 2 and only 2 Nursery leaders...oh and there will be more kids turning 18 months before the end of the year! YIKES...it is complete chaos! So it just means that Jason or I have to stay in there with her the whole time (or I just give up and take her with me to Young Women).
On Friday I made peanut butter bars and to Brooke's joy, Tori was sleeping so she got to lick BOTH of the frosting spoons! Pure JOY!


Here are some fun times...Jason built the girls a movie fort and they watched a show under the tent! And good ol' Cami kitty taking a snooze and a stroll in the play stroller.
I will try and take more pictures...it was a pretty sad day that I only took a smattering of pictures from the 4th until now. I will try harder!

The Dinger 4th of July Clelebration (Including the Cul-De-Sac of Fire!)

Alright...here is the 4th of July edition of the blog. I know you have all been on the edge of your seats waiting for this, so now I will indulge you!

OK...so these pictures have nothing to do with the 4th, but Tori finished her first puzzle all by herself (24 pieces) and she was quite excited (as you can tell by the kissing of the caterpillar). We celebrated with some delicious Popsicles.

This little number...Could Brooke be any cuter?! She loves to lay with phones, so this series is of her talking on Auntie Marie's phone. A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!
The Dinger 4th of July Celebration
The Parade

Well, what would the 4th of July be without family?! Auntie Marie (who is probably the most patriotic person I know) and Gwennis brought the 4th of July party to Boise! Our first 4th of July activities started on the 3rd (we like to elongate holiday celebrations in this family!). We (meaning Jason and I) are not so much big fans of parades, so Auntie Marie brought the parade to us. We put on some patriotic kids music and marched around our front room! Tori chose high heels and her cape as a costume and Brooke went with a poofy skirt. Please note the we did have a horse in our parade...his name is Loco and is a hobby horse that Gwen made for Tori for Christmas. I am still not sure if he is a toy or a weapon of mass destruction, but he proved useful in our parade! It was a fabulous parade!
Decorations

Later that night we decorated the house. sparkly stars on the window, strategically placed by two little munchkins. A large "Happy 4th of July" sign for the wall. Oh and the magnificent hand wreath crafted by Auntie Marie using all of our hands and different scrapbook papers! It turned out super cute!
The Costumes

On the actual 4th we all dressed up in our Red, White and Blue! We looked fabulous and festive.
The Breakfast

Our ward throws a breakfast every 4th of July and it is fabulous. The menu: made to order omelets, pancakes, hash-browns, sausage and juice! Delicious, although there were no pictures taken of the food, believe me when I say we stuffed ourselves. The kids ran around and played like little banshees. There were two jungle gyms, swings, hula hoops, a trampoline, a variety of balls and a porch swing. Kid heaven!
The BBQ

We had a BBQ (duh...isn't that a given on the 4th?)...the usual, but Auntie Marie made some delicious veggie kabobs! Mmmmm! Jason was our grill master. The other pictures are of the girls anxiously awaiting food and Gwen as the 2nd parade MC. (Yes...there were two 4th of July parades!)
The 1st Annual Dinger "Chalk It Up" Festival

Apparently Boise has a sidewalk chalk festival and since Brooke napped through the afternoon we decided to have our own chalk festival in our backyard instead of hauling downtown to see the art. It was fun! Gwen made Brookie, Dennis made a cruise ship, Jason made a Lego man, Brooke smeared a flower, I made Belle and Ariel for Tori, Marie made a flag and Jason made a ladybug.
The Cul-De-Sac of Fire
Poppy Things

Dressed in some serious 4th of July garb (princess meets rock star meets super hero?), we set out for our Cul-de-sac of fire! First the girls enjoyed 4 boxes of those poppy things (they scare me like popping balloons, but the girls enjoyed them). They learned the art of throwing them and stomping on them.

We all pitched in to get a box of fireworks for the kids to watch. Mind you that the sun does not set here until 10:30 so we opted for a lighter show in the shade at 8:30...there is no way Tori and Brooke would make it until that late! They enjoyed some patriotic suckers and sang along to patriotic music while we lit our Cul-De-Sac on fire! Please note their faces in the lower left corner! SO CUTE!

Our last firework of the night was appropriately called "THE BIG DINGER!" (it was $10 but had to be purchased)! It was a good firework to end with because it was long, bright and flashy! Our neighbors actually set the cul-de-sac on fire after it was dark. Our neighborhood was filled with illegal fireworks that boomed into the night. It was F-U-N!
We had a GREAT time! Thanks for coming up and bringing our celebration Dingers! We miss you!

Oregon From Lora's Point of View

Here is a preview of what Lora's Blog holds! :) Go to her latest posting here to see what she has to day and the amazing pictures that she took of our family!

A Zoo Visit on a Monday?! (June 20th)

The day after we got back from Oregon Jason had the day off, so we took the munchkins to the zoo! They LOVED it! It was a beautiful day and we even stayed for lunch!

Brooke's favorite thing to do at the zoo is run around like a banshee. She was wearing some really cute sandals that she ran out of about a half a dozen times! She isn't quite into the animals yet, but she loves to climb on everything and go down the giraffe slide.

Tori, on the other hand, LOVES all of the animals and climbing on everything. This time we visited the new Pampa exhibit. It has a beautiful butterfly exhibit that we didn't pay to get into, but we will the next time. We could see all of the butterflies flying all over in their habitat and you can just walk around in the habitat. We did see a really big wolf fox (?) and anteater. Tori thought that was pretty cool. Tori was also very brave and actually pet and fed the goats. Tori and I also pet the hedgehog. It is quite an adorable creature. All in all we had a fabulous time!

A Summer Vacation in Oregon!

Our Summer trip to Oregon every year is always a barrel of fun. It is a mix of keeping kids under control and parents (and grandparents) sane. But, for the most part, this year was great! The kids were old enough to play with each other and fend for themselves. Why then was I so exhausted at the end of the day? Oh, because they (meaning mostly all 3 girls) got up at the butt crack of dawn with the sun! YIKES! It was either that my children didn't get the whole time change thing, or they just couldn't wait to play with each other. My sister brought her amazing camera, so I am sure in the future I will post some of the amazing pictures that she took of my family and such...hopefully sooner than later (hint hint to you Lora). Well, I will let the pictures lead the way.

I only got one really good picture of the Oscar man. (Lora got a handful too, so I am sure you will see him in a future OR blog). Oscar LOVES Brookie...they are kindred spirits (except that Brooke thinks that he is a bit overwhelming at this moment in time). He made this amazing space ship with his legos. He is really creative. He also made some amazing pictures for Jason and I that I will also post on a later blog. I think he will be artistic like my sister. Livy is getting so big! She LOVES to be the babysitter and would follow Brooke all around the house. It was fabulous not to have to worry about Brooke the whole trip. We nicknamed her "The Wanderer" because she just wandered all around my parent's 2200 square foot house and mastered the stairs with ease. Tori and Livy were besties the WHOLE time we were there. They played all day long together. It was adorable. It just made me want to live closer to Lora so that our kids would know each other better. SAD DAY!


On Monday we took the kids to this inflatable gym. Last time Tori was a little bit skeptical of it all (like Brooke was this time) and wouldn't go on hardly any of the inflatables (although Brooke is a little bit more adventurous and tried out just about everything appropriate for her age). This time Tori was all over it (except for the gargantuan slide). I took a lot of pictures of Tori conquering this big inflatable obstacle course. She finally did it all by herself (even climbing the 12 foot wall). Later that day we went on a walk by Fanno Creek (a walk that Lora and I would take quite frequently when we were younger). Another fun little outing all photographed by Lora and will be seen in the future.
The next day we went to the park near the Rose Garden. We packed a picnic for the munchkins and off we went. They played for about an hour and then we had a picnic. Needless to say they had a blast. This was another outing photographed by Lora. (Did I mention that Lora is taking photography lessons and that she is getting good...and that she took like 1000 pictures of all of us while we were in Oregon!)

What is a visit to Portland without a little Voodoo? We had a sampling of six different donuts on Friday morning. (Jason and Jake joined the entourage on Thursday night). Friday morning Jake went and bought us some Voodoo doughnuts. YUMMY! I didn't get a picture of all of the doughnuts, but here are the girls devouring theirs!


Friday morning we went to the beach. It was a magnificent day. Sunny and in the upper 60's! It was a dream! Our first stop, of course, was the Tillamook Cheese Factory for some lunch and ice cream. YUMMY! The bottom picture looks like Brooke is taking a bite of my ice cream, but she was just pretending!
Rockaway Beach, OR

Did I not tell you this was the most beautiful day for the beach?! It was clear and gorgeous! This was Brooke's first visit to the ocean and she went right to the water with Uncle Jake. She wasn't scared at all and the water was freezing! (Make sure you click on the pictures so you can see them bigger!) Tori was all about the water and the waves to this time and like a crazy little girl she wanted her swim suit on!


Brooke got soaked by the waves, but of course we brought a change of clothes. She warmed up with Uncle Jake and in about 15 minutes she was in the water again and soaked up to her thighs! (Lora took a million pictures at the beach too, so you will see those in the future).


This was Tori's first sand castle making adventure. She was all over it. Uncle Jake dug a huge hole and the girls filled it with water to make a swimming pool! Jason and Oscar were on the architecture of the whole thing. They had a blast and they got sand in all of the crevices of their body! YIKES!


While the older kids were making sand castles Brookie roamed around and played in the water with Grandpa Lee. She picked up about a dozen little rocks. We kept one that she picked out with Jason so that she could remember her first trip to the ocean.
As always...all good things must come to an end. I really miss Lora and I really hope that we will live next to each other in the near future. I really want my kids to know their cousins. It was so wonderful to spend time with family! I cannot wait until September when Lora will come and visit our little new munchkin and take pictures of her! Thanks Mom and Dad for sharing your home and we will see you in August!