Father's & Sons 2014

Favorite campout all year--the Father's & Sons. My boys really love each other and love spending time together. It rained the entire drive up, but stopped when they arrived. Thank goodness there were no soggy s'mores. They got a slower start than hoped for, which meant dinner was pretty late . . . and there was rain as Nathan went to bed, but they stayed dry in the tent. The suburban definitely needed a car wash when they got back, so that equates to a success?
I think so.

So excited to haul around the backpack while getting ready to go

Ladderball and my favorite boys. The setting isn't bad either, is it?

Close friends

Nathan really loves cooking on a campout. While many of the dads are content with hot dogs (not to mention their sons), he wants to eat a real meal and goes the extra mile to make a tin foil dinner happen. I don't think the boys appreciate it now very much, but they might some day in the future.

We were camera-free, but I took the girls out to dinner and we got the "Muppets Most Wanted" from Red Box. Then in the morning we went to Hobby Lobby. I am used to going with Ed and trying to get out of there as quickly as possible, and without breaking anything. They, however, loved it and we stayed for well over an hour, walking up and down most every aisle just to see what was for sale.

Peach season

One on one time is so nice.

We ate some, gave away some, and put 5 quarts in the freezer.
One week later, our 40 lbs of peaches is gone. More are coming next week.

Oatmeal + half & half + peaches + almonds = Breakfast of champions

You've had a

birthday, shout HOORAY!

I went shopping for Ed's cake supplies with all 5 children, since they were home for Christmas break. Before we went he said he wanted yellow cake with strawberry frosting. I tried multiple times to talk him into something else, but you can see I wasn't successful.
(I think it's a side effect of following 3 girls).
He didn't care one lick that it was pink, but someday perhaps he'll get a good laugh out of it.
My parents, sister, and cousins came to go to the newly opened children's discovery center to celebrate a few days earlier. It was packed and lots of fun--we will go back again and again.

Ed and Grandma trying out the same instrument. They had mouthpieces you could try with different shapes to blow into. (It tested my germ sharing limits). Each person got their own mouthpiece . . . . supposedly.

b-day cake for Eddie made by Bryn

I asked for a cute face

The kids were home from school on his birthday so we celebrated with a little playdough, gifted from a close friend, and I let them watch Ice Age: The Meltdown. Ed missed his nap, in honor of siblings home from school.
That night was his first night in his big boy bed, and our home is cribless. (Hard to believe).

We love Edwin!

Best birthday gift

For anyone ages 4 and under??

  

He jumped up and down when he saw it.

Ed loves coleslaw . . . so we had some for dinner, along with Homemade Chicken Nuggets (the best), Potato Pearls, and cucumbers. He didn't pick all his meals like the other kids, we helped him out. My choice was the Yellow cake with cream cheese frosting, but he asked "cupcakes," and he wanted them green.

He doesn't stop moving for anything. The best photos I got were when I laid him down on the ground and he looked up at the balloon. Check out those lashes, little girls.

 

One more = One less

I loved the first idea in this article:
"Find one less thing to do."
It resonated with me, since I discovered it a few weeks before in the grocery store.
I had been purchasing three types of milk: whole, for Eddie, 1% for everyone else, and Skim, for me.
One day, exasperated by the thought of how many each I could fit in the fridge, I decided it was too much.

EXP 1/10/2012

I dropped the skim: the only one I could at the time.
It would not be long before Ed turned 2 and I could stop buying whole milk. Then I would continue buying skim milk for me again.

This idea really worked. I didn't have to juggle them anymore in the fridge just to get to the open one I was searching for. Two was much simpler than 3.

Do you measure the passage of time by the expiration dates on gallons of milk?

"This one expires in December, is it that close already? Past Bryn's birthday. This one expires the day the kids get out for Christmas break. Now, it's after Christmas. Next year??"

Ed turned two.
Out with the whole, in with the skim.
Some daughters will be sad they can't ask for some of his whole milk anymore, but I am glad to have one more, and one less.

the aftermath of 41 attempts at a family photo for Christmas cards

I think we got a good one.
(And this is not it, even though it is a good one).

Nursery novice

Today was the day.

 
Background info: Our ward has two nurseries.

Ed ran out of the chapel and down the hall with his sisters once Sacrament meeting was over. Like mother hens they tried herding him in and were disappointed to find out they were in the wrong nursery. He finally got to the right one and stayed there the whole time--without motherly or fatherly assistance.

What's on your kitchen table?

Or who?
Ed's learned how to climb the chairs, and thus scale the kitchen table.
He's got the bruises on his face to prove it, too.
Although I think he's only fallen from the kitchen chair, and these bruises he got elsewhere.
He brings me his shoes and jacket in the morning so he can take the kids to the bus.
His intelligible words are: cracker, shoe, mmmmm--which means milk, and ball.
He wants to drop his morning nap.
He doesn't sit still for the camera.
He likes to dance. 

Sunday Best

My talented friend Katie made Edwin this cute outfit.
Today he wore his first tie.

He's doing really well.

Meet Edwin

The most thoughtful gesture during my delivery was when my OB told everyone in the room, "Since they don't know the baby's gender, let's have Dad tell mom what it is."
That detail meant so much to us--and she let us share it. Thanks, Dr. P!

Nathan and I both preferred a boy this time, but didn't realize just how much until he was born.
(We are both pleased Andrew has a brother).

When we called my mom to tell her the baby had arrived, we didn't tell her the gender until she got to the hospital. She picked up Andrew and Bryn from school, and had been home with Caitlin and Diana.

When they walked in, I said, "Andrew, do you want to be the first to hold your new BROTHER?"

I love the moment when siblings meet. It is quiet, loving, and feels like sacred ground.

 

Edwin means "wealthy friend." I call him Ed.

"True wealth is really the love of our families, the confidence of friends and neighbors, and faith in God.
The poorest Saint in the Church who possesses loved ones and is following the Savior's path is incomparably more wealthy than the one who has untold wealth."            Joseph F. Smith

babE Hunt

We are home!
We will be adding more blues and greens to our laundry loads.

Born TH, 8:38 a.m., 8 pounds, 4 oz, 20.5 inches
Both mom and baby are healthy and tired. More photos to come and more info, later!