Welcome to the world!

We are happy to have our sweet Elle Liesl here. She was born November 28th and weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces. She was 18 1/2 inches long. She came very fast, so fast that I did not even have time to get an epidural. But, who needs one of those, right? She is an angel baby, sleeps six hours at night and loves her brother and sister. Anderson and Adalayde have been so great with her. I was really worried about Adalayde but she has been so amazing. I guess what Addy needed was a little sister! I agree with her I know I could not be happy with out my sisters so I guess Addy is the same way.

We love our little baby and are adjusting to life as a family of five. It has been a little crazy but only because we all got sick and Justin had a tough week at week the work after she was born. Anderson is still sick and will be for a little longer. Yes, my three year old caught mono! Other than that the adjustment from two to three kids had been pretty smooth. I think that is because my first two were 16 months apart and to go from that to an almost 2 1/2 year space seems easier. Anderson and Adalayde are really good friends and entertain each other when I am busy with Elle. I overheard Adalayde tell Anderson that he is her best friend! So cute, for sure makes a mother smile.

All those cute little bottoms!

Hailey and Beza

I know Erin will not love this picture but I had to have one of her with Addy. Adalayde is a big fan of her Aunt Erin and her Uncle Shannon.

Adalayde asleep in her orange bed, luckily she was kind enough to share it with Noel. Good thing since it is Noel's room and all.

Anderson and Solomon showing off their matching Duke jerseys. So cute!

I sure do love Noel!

Solomon helping Anderson boogie board. Anderson was in heaven with all of his cousins!

We loved being at the ocean with all of our cousins who learn about all the ocean animals at school. They taught us lots and found lots of cool little creatures to show us.

It is hard to see but in Anderson's left hand he is holding a dead fish. He held that fish in his hand for over two hours. He was talking about how he was going to take it back and put it in a bowl. Finally I told him that it was dead, he looked at it and threw it back in the ocean. Honestly if I had know he was going to take it so well I would have told him two hours earlier!

Thanks again to the White family, we had a great trip!

Blog slacker

Justin has been on me about updating the blog but we have not had a computer for the last couple of weeks. We now have a computer but being the computer genius that I am I still need to figure out how to do pictures on it. So this post will not have any pictures, just an update. Sorry!

We have been busy since our last post. The kids are both back in Kindermusik and swim lessons. Anderson now goes to his own Kindermusik class and Adalayde and I go together. They are both loving swim lessons and think their teachers are fantastic.

Anderson also started preschool. I can not believe that my baby boy is old enough to go to preschool but, he is and he loves it. On his first day of school he was so excited, he is in a carpool with two little girls from our ward but I insisted on driving them all to his first day. We got to his school and I could feel the tears welling up. I had promised myself that I would not cry but I am pregnant and all. So I get him out of the car and am trying so hard not to cry, lucky for me his teacher is all business. I love her but she was not going to give us much mommy sheds a few tears time. She has a schedule to follow, so she took and Anderson and Daisy's hands and just like that my baby was gone. So, I did not even have time to cry. I got back in the car and started to drive away. Well, that is when Adalayde figured out exactly what had happened. Her brother left her to play with other kids and she did not get to go. Adalayde proceeded to cry tears for both of us. Poor girl cried for twenty minutes straight. She is adjusting to him being gone but we have to go shopping/ run errands while he is gone. She is not a fan of being home without her brother, and even though I think she enjoys our time together she is always very excited to pick him up.

We took one last family vacation before the arrival of baby number three. We went to North Carolina to visit some of our most favorite people in the world. We had so much Fun! My kids were in absolute heaven. I mean what could be better than having six loving cousins to play with and a house full of balls. It was seriously the most relaxing trip I have been on since I had children. My kids were entertained by cousins twenty four seven. Well not really twenty four seven but during all hours they were awake. I knew that not only were they being entertained but they were being watched and loved. The White kids know exactly what my kids like and before bed they read books to my kids like WALTER THE FARTING DOG and EVERYBODY POOPS. Yes, the White kids really know my kids!

My kids are typically home bodies and when we are on vacation they always say they want to go home. Not on this trip, Adalayde specifically made herself right at home by declaring that Noel's bedroom was her new room. She would willingly go to bed and take naps as long as she was in her orange room. Noel was so nice to share with her. Anderson consumed the other kids time by playing pin ball basketball and hing hong (ping pong) anytime we were at the house. Shannon and Erin took us to a little beach that you could only get to with a boat. It was so fun to let the kids swim in the shallow water and explore and find all kinds of sea creature. We also saw tons of Dolphins, Adalayde was so excited about the dolphins she was shaking. Justin enjoyed spending time watching sports with other guys who appreciate sports as much as he does and I enjoyed not even noticing the game was on because I had Erin and the girls to talk too. As we drove back to the airport we laughed about how much fun we had and I cried because I wish we lived closer and we talked about our next trip, which we hope will be very soon! It was so much fun I would even brave the flight with three kids!! The kids were great on the flight, especially on the way home. For Anderson it was complete exaushtion having had so much fun. When we landed in SLC and got off the plane Anderson lost it. He was screaming at the top of his lungs that he did not want to come back that he wanted to go back to North Carolina. Then he tried to run back on the plane. Luckily it was pretty late so the airport was not very busy because trust me he made a scene. People were laughing saying well, I guess he had a good trip. Yes, indeed he did, we all did. Thank you White family for welcoming us into your home and making us feel right at home. We miss you all so much and Can't wait to come back soon! Pictures will be coming soon!

As for baby number three, she is making me fatter everyday. Actually this is the best I have felt during my pregnancies. I guess that might have something to do with the fact that I have only gained about 25 pounds this time verses the nearly forty with my other two, imagine that? We fully expect that in less than six weeks we will have another baby in our home to love and cherish. No, we are not ready but will be soon. We are excited to have a baby girl and that we will soon be a family of five.

Cute kids!

A little something to make you Smile!
Poor Adalayde, I feel the same way sometimes when daddy is driving!

Anderson

This is a long story but since I use the blog as our journal we need to write it. It is one of those things that you think you will remember but you forget. So here is the story:
Anderson and Adalayde were outside playing together very nicely the other night. Justin and I had been watching them out the window and laughing at them. All of the sudden Anderson came running inside and started pushing a chair up to the sink and told me he needed to wash his mouth out with soap. On a side note, I have washed Anderson's mouth out with soap on a few occasions. The first time because he was telling us he hated us, which is for sure not allowed in our house. The second time was for calling me a stubborn jack@$%, after watching shrek with his dad, also not allowed. The soap works wonders too!

So, we asked him why he had to wash his mouth out with soap and he said "I said a bad word." My next mistake was asking what it was. He told me 'Jack" you can fill in the blank. I was trying so hard not to laugh, Justin on the other hand did not laugh at all which was really surprising to me. I went to get the camera and Justin helped him give himself his punishment.

Getting the soap on his hand.

Spitting after he had rubbed it in his mouth.

It is a good thing he is so dang cute and that we love him lots and lots!

I forgot this one of Bear Lake. They set up an outdoor movie screen for all the kids Friday night. Here is Anderson with some of the other boys watching it. He had so much fun on our little trip!

Bear Lake

The last two years our neighborhood has gone together camping to Bear Lake. Some of my favorite memories with my dad when I was younger were camping at the lake. Justin on the other hand is not really a big camper but, since Anderson has been asking to go camping Justin has warmed up to the idea. So at the last moment I decided that we should go. I called my mom and she had camping gear so we decided that we would borrow her tent and sleeping bags and see how it went.

Justin could not leave on Thursday so I asked my Friend Ange if we could follow her up. The day before we were leaving she told me that they had an extra pop up trailer we could use. How awesome is that! So we headed out of town on Thursday for a little two hour drive. Thursday it is raining actually pouring but we are packed, the kids are already in their swimsuits so we decide to go.

Because of the rain and the fact that we are both pulling trailers our trip is taking a little longer. Pulling the trailer in my big old car is no big deal, in fact I could not even tell I was pulling anything. Well, about 15 minutes away from our destination this couple flags me down to tell me that the trailer has blown a tire. As I pull over I can feel it! It turns out I had been driving for a while on the rim so it is all bent. Poor Jeff, he comes to the rescue but the rim is really bent. I called Justin he said to call a tow truck but Jeff refused. He was determined to do it. After about an hour another family from the neighborhood saw us on the side of the road and came to our rescue. We are so lucky to have such great neighbors and friends!
The entire process took about two hours. Luckily the kids all 5 of them 5 and under were troopers!

All that was left of the tire!

We decided that we were for sure on a Griswold family vacation but, lucky for us this was the only trouble we had.

Adalayde and Jack enjoying breakfast camping.

Adalayde loved the sand and the water.

Anderson and Daisy. My hope is that she is his future wife! They have a love hate relationship so it is looking pretty good!

Check out Anderson's tan line.

Lots of neighborhood kids. We took up a good portion of the beach. We had toys all over the place and all the kids were loving it.

Anderson with a frog on his shoulder.

Showing the frog again. We had such a great time. We owe the Schroepfer's and the Wiscomb's dinner for all their help and for putting up with us. Jeff and Ange especially made our camping trip very enjoyable. My kids were good little campers and loved it. We feel so lucky to live in such a great neighborhood. Thanks to everyone who shared toys, boats, jet skies and food with everyone. We live in in a neighborhood with very generous people who are raising great kids and we are looking forward to more camping trips as a family and with friends!

Happy Birthday Adalayde

Happy birthday to our very precious baby girl. I can not believe that you are two years old.
Adalayde loves to sleep with lots of her babies, blankets and her many stuffed animals.

When I asked Adalayde what she wanted for her birthday dinner she said salads. So that is what we had! A few days before her birthday our friends brought us this zucchini from their garden. When I came into the kitchen Adalayde had gone to town on it. Yes, she is our little vegetarian.

Opening gifts while enjoying the worlds largest candy Necklace. Thank you Drew and Camille, I am still finding pieces of it on her face! Actually in all honesty she loved it and while it did make her one sticky mess you two made her very happy. Liz and Creighton also got her a candy necklace. So to the the four of you , I can not wait until you have kids!

She was a big fan of the birthday song!

Adalayde did not want to have her picture taken on her birthday so Aunt Hilary did the best she could to get a few pictures. She had a wonderful birthday and she loved every minute of it. She of course was very spoiled but has loved all of her gifts! Thank you to everyone who came and for all of the very thoughtful gifts ( even the candy)! My kids are so lucky to have so many people who love them so much.

A few things about Adalayde:

Today you weight 19 pounds. You are in the first percent for you weight and 62 percent for you height.

You love to eat veggies and fruit

You could be toilet trained but you have a lazy mom who wanted to enjoy summer. You frequently tell me when you want to go and always do. We will work on that soon.

You know the alphabet and can count to at least thirty. You know your birthday and your brothers birthday.

You talk very well, sometimes a little to well.

You think that you are going to preschool this fall with your brother and I am afraid you will be very disappointed when you do not get to go.

You still love to play with my hair.

You make us laugh even when you are a little bit naughty.

Your brother loves you and wakes you up from your nap everyday because he misses you.

You are a joy to have in our family. While it is hard to believe that you are two already, we can not imagine our life with out you. You have brought us so much love and joy and we are so thankful that you are a part of our little family. We love you Addy!

Cooper's Run

Our family has a new tradition on July 31st, we run in Cooper'r Run. It was such a fun experience for us to all get together and remember sweet Cooper and to raise money for scholarships. It was so neat to see so many people come together to support the run. Yes, it was sad but it was also lots of fun. Cooper would have loved it!

This one is for Noel. You have been asking to see my baby bump so here it is. All 5 1/2 months of our newest addition!

Kent, LaRae, and Creighton all came to run. It meant a lot to have so much support. My amazing friend Ange also drove down with her three kids to come for the run. You know you have a good friend when they are willing to do that!

Before the race started! The race started with White doves and balloons flying in the sky and Coopers favorite song. Watching the doves fly was really neat.

Anderson and Adalayde ran the last part of the race. Anderson was so cute he was running so hard. When he got to the finish line he told me he ran fast for Cooper.

All of the kids had a ton of fun but Pierce especially loved it. I have no idea how many otter pops were eaten but I can tell you that Pierce had no less that 15. The kids loved getting in the life flight helicopter and getting sprayed by the fire truck hose.

We miss and love you Cooper. Thanks for helping us be better people and teaching us to love a little more and cherish our time together however long it may be!