Me

Ok this is for everyone who gets mad at me for not posting pics of myself. I cut my hair yesterday and wanted to show off the new style. Here ya go!

I will have more to post later this week, but wanted to get this one up. Thanks for stopping by!

Update, lots of photos

Ok wow I seriously did not realize that it has been a month since I last posted. Wow time flies. Life just seemed to explode this past month and all that time just got away from me.
So I guess I will start from the beginning of the month:
We had been spending as much time as possible out doors before it got to hot. So I have lots of pictures from the park. (For more pictures click here) One of my good friends and I would go walk while the kids played. We also tried to get some more formal shots of the two little ones, but Erika was not happy being put down that day... it was actually pretty funny. I love the expression on Caleb's face.

Erika has had some firsts this last month: Her first graham cracker and her first time in a swing at the park. She seemed to like both a lot. We are beginning to think she is a lot like her sister in that she seems to have the same daredevil tendencies Alexa always possessed. Boy are we in trouble!

Mother's day was nice. We spent it with my family. My folks church had a Mother/Daughter tea. It was fun. My aunt and cousin also came down to spend some time with my grandma. My cousin is pregnant and expecting a boy the end of the summer, so she was getting in lots of practice holding Erika. We had 4 generations on both sides there so it was especially meaningful. My mom, mom-in-law and grandmothers are a tremendous example of what a good mother should be. They all set the standard high for the rest of us. "Thank you!"

No I did not forget about Erika's 7 month pictures either... I had just not got around to posting them. She would not cooperate and put both her legs down, so all we managed was this shot and some of her sitting with the bear. LOL She is now sitting up on her own, trying to feed herself, and just trying to be more independent in general. She is babbling, but all she says is dadadadada... I keep telling Mike it does not count if you don't know what you are saying. heh.

My (step) neice graduated from high school last night. So the night before they had a graduation/ birthday party for her. It was a lot of fun and a chance to reconnect with some family I had not seen in a very long time. We are so happy and proud that Katalena is part of our lives and that she is embarking on a new and wonderful phase in her life. We have no doubts she will do great things and go far in life.

While we had family here we spent some time at the aquarium/zoo. It was a lot of fun. The kids are always fascinated by the fish and they love being so closeup to the animals. (For more pics from the aquarium click here)

So wow we have had one busy month. June is starting to stack up as well with VBS at my folks church, several appointments and hopefully some time to play in the water as the weather is heating up fast here in the desert. Hopefully it will not take me another month to update, so make sure to check back soon!
Thanks for stopping by.

The clothes make the person

The shirt says it all:

Another beautiful day...

Well the weather has just been beautiful here. So we have been taking full advantage of it. We spent another afternoon at the zoo. This time we actually managed to see some of the animals this time. The kids were in pose mode so we managed to get in some really great photos.
Can anyone guess what Alexa's favorite animal is at the zoo... The flamingos of course... Anyone want to venture a guess why... They are pink!
We even managed to make friends with a chipmunk... for a price... LOL
This is how Erika spent most of the afternoon... just looking around and sucking her fingers... until we got on the train. Then she got all excited.
Anyway just thought I'd share (and brag a bit as I know there is a winter storm in the east). Hope you like it... take care and thanks for stopping by!

Growing up

Well Erika is now officially 4 months old. I cannot believe it has only been 4 months. Erika is growing like a weed... or rather a flower that is beginning to unfurl it's petals.
Her list of new things this month:
✿She can now hold her bottle all by herself for extended periods.
✿She is very vocal and will let you know when she likes something by smiling and giggling.
✿She will let you know when she does not like something by looking at you like you are crazy and then crying.
✿She likes tummy time and is already tying to get her knees up underneath her so she can try and crawl.
✿She has now turned into "Ms. GrabbyHands" and grabs everything in site, which then is promptly put in her mouth.

So, just when we thought it was safe to let Tim and Lex have little toys, they are now banned from the living room, and we are trying to figure out what to do about the girls room. Lex is at the stage where she like Barbie and princess... and ALL the little pieces that come with those.

I wanted to post her monthly teddy pics:

Enjoy!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Photos

Usually this is the time I would post photos from our monthly trip to the Space museum, but Alexa was sick, so we did make this months class. So here are some random photos from this last week:
Enjoy!
P.S. for more cute shots of Lenny our guinea pig click here! Thanks

Birthday Presents

I think their Uncle Jesse has figured out what to get them as presents... He nailed both kids right on. Actually the gloves Tim is wearing were a Christmas present, but he finished off the look for his birthday with the mask. Lex is still walking around here this morning cuddling her new baby girl. LOL
I think we will all go to Jess for suggestions on what to get the kids from now on. :)

Growing up

Well not only is my son growing up... my youngest daughter seems to be in warp speed to catch up with her brother and sister. We discovered this past weekend that she likes to stand in the exersaucer at our church. At three months you think she would sit there and just chew on things... not this girl. She fully figured out how to spin herself around. I have a feeling Lex is going to have some competition in the daredevil category.

Where's the shotgun!

Well apparently my almost 4 year old daughter decided that she was going to date this past Friday. No only that, after just one date, they decided they wanted to get married (on Saturday). Wait... there's more. Apparently they also decided they were ready to be parents and they had a baby girl (also on Saturday). All within a 24 hour period. (In all honesty my daughter has had a "thing" for her friend Jacob for over a year now, so I guess I should not be surprised.)
It was so funny Mike and I attended a conference this weekend, so since we were carpooling we all used the same sitter. Our kids are all best buds anyway so it was no big deal. When we came back after the Saturday session and the sitter was telling us all this we were practically rolling on the floor laughing. Apparently they walked down the isle (sidewalk) and had the sitter help them say their vows. The baby was a plastic (naked) baby from the nursery. It was really cute. But for me at least it begged the question... "Where did they get the idea to do that?" I mean we have talked about marriage, and how mommy and daddy are married or when anniversaries come up we explain how a couple is married. But I am not really sure we ever went into the details of a wedding... although my kids have been to a couple of weddings, I thought they were to young to pay attention to what was going on... I guess not! It just goes to show children pay attention to more things than we think. So now where's that shotgun...

I just thought this was to cute to not pass on. Hope you got as much of a kick out of it as we did! Happy Monday!

Playing around with photos

I was playing around with some of the photos I took recently and here are the results:

Anyway I hope you like them!

3 months old and more pics

Well Erika is 3 months old today. She changes almost every day it seems. She can now sit up (with a little help) and she is much more alert and awake these days. She has also discovered her voice in recent days and she loves practicing using it. We have also discovered she loves to look at books. She studies each page intently. (Mike loves it, although I think some of the books he wants to buy for HER are still a little over her head at the moment).
Anyway here are her monthly teddy pics. She still loves to share lots with him, and now that she has discovered her voice her secrets are no longer secret... LOL:
We have been spending a lot of time outside these last few days. The weather here has just been too nice to be indoors. Here are a few shots of Tim and Lex from a recent outing:

Kids

The kids were being so cute tonight playing on the big dog Erika got for Christmas. I snapped some really good photos and could not resist sharing. Enjoy!

To Cute!

Here are some photos Alexa and her friend playing dress up: