Last year at this time...

I was flipping through some of our self-attempted family photos from last Fall and was noting how much our kiddos have changed this last year...
among other things...

It was a bit of a windy day to say the least so you can see why these didn't quite turn out.

 

I think that the last time we actually had a real photographer do a real family photo was...

hmmm okay maybe never!

Well, besides during Emmie's newborn shoot my friend doing them let us all jump in and she shot 3 or 4 pics of us all. That doesn't really count though. Emmie didn't even have a shirt on...

Every year, I really, really, really want to have them done professionally but if it weren't just so darn expensive. $300-$500 is a LOT to pay when theoretically you are going to (hopefully) get new ones every year! I know it's worth it (by the right photographer)- trust me I am kind of freak when it comes to pictures and how important they are (if you haven't noticed from the billions of very amateur shots I take), but when it comes down to it, Chris and I just have a hard time shelling out the money!

On a side note, Chris had a huge ditch he had to race over and leap across to get back to position after hitting the timer on these ones last year. It was pretty funny watching him race to get into position on time! At least it got the kids smiling, right? Doesn't he look like he just slid into home? And he's SAFE...

Meanwhile, I guess doing our own these last few years with our trusty tripod has worked out for us okay. Not perfect (note P's peekaboo ankles/socks), but regardless I am so glad we have these!

And look what I even came across in one of our attempted picture outtings last Fall -

A WAIST!

Don't mind the crinkled/not so flattering shirt (& nevermind my vain-ness in fantasizing about having a waist again) - but just a year ago, I HAD A WAIST!

How things change in a year's time....

This year in it's place is a 25 lb watermelon....

disguised as a cute baby girl who will be joining us probably within this next week!

So says the doctor anyways. We'll see!

We took these pics a few weeks back (I was 2 days off of being 34 weeks) at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. I didn't have the idea to take pics of the kids until we were all ready to go. So we're dressed totally random and not in what I would have chosen for pics, but let's face it, I don't have any clothese that fit me anways not to mention it was too hot a day for any of the cuter new fall clothes I have waiting in the closet for the kiddos. But whatev, right?

I at least got a few cute shots of the kids for our Fall 2011.

I feel like we'll never be leaving the house again once #3 arrives.
I'm okay with it.

It's a good thing I'm a bit of a homebody.
 I'm just glad I got some satisfactory Fall pics of the kids checked off of my neverending list of things to do.
Next up.... NEWBORN pics! I need a real photographer for that one...;)

We're getting pretty eager to meet this little watermelon and can't wait to welcome her into our home!!!

Three

Dear Emmie,

Three?! Really??? I didn't expect my baby girl to grow up so fast on me! These last three years have flown by and we have been so blessed by your presence in our family.

Here are a few things about you at THREE that we want to remember...

• You have such a contagious smile! Those cute dimples are irresistable and once they reveal themselves, those around you start smiling too, including your mommy. I just love those little impressions in your cheeks.
• You still love to suck your thumb! In fact, you have developed a nice little bump on it from all your suction. Live it up this next year because the doctor said it's a-okay for you to suck away for now, but once you're four - it's time to stop.
• You LOVE princesses! You love to watch them in movies, play with your princess dolls and figures, dress up like them, dance like them, sing like them, and you even love to make your good-sport big brother make believe he's your prince. Believe it or not I have not encouraged this love for "pimpesses", but the love affair got started last Christmas when Grandma and Grandpa H. gave you your first set of princess dress up.  From there there was no stopping you. The other day I even caught you laying down as Sleeping Beauty, pretending to be dead (nice), and telling your Prince - aka Parker - to kiss you and bring you back to life. And yes, the good sport that he is, he kisses you on demand....
• You are very self sufficient. You have been dressing yourself for well over a year and you can entertain yourself for long periods of time. I often look over to see you singing and dancing in the corner, off in your own little world. When you are in these modes it can take quite a while to get your attention!
• You are LEFT HANDED like your daddy! This trait is usually accompanied by an artistic side so I am eager to watch you cultivate your talents!
• You just started a new dance class - ballet, tap and jazz and you are loving it!

• You are super friendly and love to be social. Whenever we are out you love to wave and say "Hi" to all the other kids you see and you call all of them your friends. I hope you will continue this and always strive to be friendly with everyone around you.
• You are a great eater! Your favorites are homemade mac n cheese (or any mac for that matter), pizza, waffles, and Danimals. You also love tacos (made with ground turkey), manicotti, chicken, rice, apples and peanut butter, carrot sticks, corn on the cob, noodles, mandarin oranges, and you love love LOVE bread/rolls and BUTTER. You'd eat a whole cube of butter if I'd let you. And of course, like your brother you love treats and chocolate. You don't get to partake however unless you've eaten your meals and you usually do!
• You are a great sleeper. You are in bed by 7:30ish  and will sleep until 7 or 8 if it's quiet. You refuse to sleep without your lamp on everynight however. It's a ritual and a necessity and you won't have it any other way.You take a nap in the afternoons and are pretty grumpy if you don't get it.
• We are working on potty training. You are getting close but aren't quite there yet! It's mostly my fault... I just couldn't deal with attempting it last spring being so sick with this pregnancy for 22 weeks straight. So we've recently started but you have my same attitude that pull ups are just easier these days! I thought the Dr. would be disappointed, but he said that less than 20% of 3 year olds at their annual appointment are potty trained and said you are closer than most! We are taking it in stride and we'll be there soon.
• You LOVE your nursery class at church. You go happily every time and it's been so nice that you are so well adjusted in that way.
• You are completely in love with your purple blankie (whom we just call Banky). It goes everywhere we do and is an instant source of comfort to you. Because of that special power, I think I love it almost as much as you do and wish we had 4 more of them... :)
• Other things you love these days are being outside with friends, riding your trikes and scooter, coloring, play dough, playing with your babies, swinging, going to the park, changing outfits numerous times a day, the TV shows Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Dora, reading stories, the movies Cinderella, Enchanted, Monsters Inc and Tangled, your dance class, and the color PINK!

You are so excited for your new sister to arrive and I know you will be such a big helper once she is here! I am so grateful that you will have a sister to share your life with. She will be very lucky to have you!

You are a huge blessing in our lives Emmie and we love you to pieces!

XOXO

Love,

Mom

Party on!

And the parties continue... of course! :)
The Saturday before Emmie's big day we had the Hansen fam over for a small birthday party.
Emmie was excited as always to see everyone there and waiting for her celebration upon waking up from her afternoon nap.

The party attendees are above...

This little princess told me weeks prior that she wanted to "wear a cown" for her birthday bash.

This one was a little large but she wore it proudly. 

She was sooo excited to get her own PINK scooter from Grandma and Grandpa, a basket full of art supplies from Aunt B, paper dolls from Gma and Gpa L, and some $ from Uncle Z.

Emmie has a fetish with licking everything these days... most of the times she chooses to stick her tongue to things that make me want to clorox out her mouth, but this time she chose wisely and licked her own birthday cake.

I couldn't blame her. Who doesn't love frosting?! If it weren't for self restraint I'd have lapped up the whole bowl as I was making it (I still owe you Jonesy for the yummy recipe -I always use it!).
PaRtY #2

The Sunday after her birthday, we headed over to my Dad's for yet another celebration.

We played the dart game for prizes.

So the birthday girl cheated a little. I don't think anyone minded.

As you can see, the big 3 year old made quite the haul of fun toys! Her expression pretty much explains it all. Her new hot pink dress up gown even glows with lights and her new little twinsies talk to each other. She has really loved playing with all of her new toys and really, I think we are all set and won't be needing any Christmas presents this year for my kids! Thanks Dad, Mimi, Jamie and Al, and Steve and Kylie for all the fun things!

This was our first time seeing my brother Steven and his wife Kylie since they left for a New Jersey internship last May. It was so fun to see them and so good to have them back. It was also fun to have my California, "Fountain Famous" Uncle Mark in town for the get together!

Thanks to EVERYONE for making Emmie feel so special for her birthday!

And she's THREE!

This cutie patootie turned 3 a few weeks back.

The birthday fairy came as she slept and left her some fun presents for the morning.

Some of them included a new rocking chair to rock, a Dora doll, a baby doll, a Cinderella dress up, some cute necklaces, some jams, books, and Wii Just Dance for kids.

She was a happy girl!

The rocking chair is one of her new favorite things. She likes to drag it from room to room and loves too rock her babies to sleep with it. Even big brother likes to have his turn to rock.

On a side note, I recently started carousing the world of ETSY! I'm hooked! I had her custom birthday shirt made (for a great price!) along with some really cute necklaces. If you want to know the links, let me know and I will look them up for you! There are TONS of choices and I think the jewelry especially would make such cute xmas gifts for little girls. :)

Back to our birthday day....Chris had to leave for work by 7:30 that morning, so we saved half her presents to open when he got home around 4:30. Then we were off to....

You guessed it -- Thanksgiving Point! Her birthday activity was really Cowabunga Bay earlier in the week, but we couldn't help going out to do something fun on her actual day. This little cowgirl LOVES to ride the horses so after her ride and checking out some of the other animals, we went over the Emporium for dinner and closed out the night with ice cream.
We sure adore our sweet 'n (recently) sassy Emmie and can't believe that she is already a big three year old!

Cowabunga

Last year we took the kids to Cowabunga Bay for Emmie's birthday.
Every time we've passed it on the freeway since, they scream out, "Owabunga Bay!", and "Bombay!".
They haven't always had the name right, but they knew where they wanted to go. Even in the middle of December and blizzard-like snowstorms they would beg and plead as we drove by the colorful slides.
So this year, we knew we had to go again.
And once again, we chose the week of Emmie's birthday (and the first day back to school for a lot of kids).

Needless to say, the kids had a ball. I did my best to chase fearless Emmie around with my 32 week prego belly in tow (easier said than done!), and Chris tried to keep up with daring little P-Man, who was able to (and did!) go down every slide this year.
It was a fun, fun day and I think our water lover of a birthday girl had a great time on her birthday activity! :)

Summer 2011

Parker started school last week.
He loves it.
Temperatures are dropping.
We love that.
And while my absolute FAVORITE (favorite, favorite!) time of year, Fall, is fast approaching, I'm still way sad to say goodbye to our summer.
It's truly been a great one and went by far too fast.
Here's a recap of just a few of our
simple favorites from summer 2011...

Popsicles.
What kid doesn't love a popsicle?
Believe me, mine are no exception.

Sandbox fun...

Deserves 2 pics because of how much they love it... especially Emmie... the girl is obsessed with dirt. By day's end she's sure to have dirt grain remnants covering her scalp, invading her pull up, and tracked all over my kitchen floors. This girl is largely responsible for preterm labor issues I experience brought on by the vacuuum...

PARTY PARTY PARTIES!

We end up celebrating all week it seems for birthdays around here but going on a fun family venture for their birthdays as well as their parties with extended family has been a fun tradition this last few years and one we hope to continue!

Our many ventures to Thanksgiving Point... so much fun!
And especially fun that Daddy gets to come!

Bikes, scooters, and more bikes and scooters.

In case you wondered, paranoid  cautious moms post head injury accidents don't take off their 5 year old's training wheels until they're 6 18.

Don't feel bad. He hasn't minded. He just loves to be out there racing with his friends!

Pool trips!

With our fearless, water-obsessed little fish we made numerous Monday night trips to a local community pool. This one has a lazy river, water slides, and pirate ships. The kiddos were in heaven! Also falling under this category are their first swimming lesson adventures through the month of June, as well as their much anticipated trip to Cowabunga Bay for Emmie's birthday (more on that later:).

I was worried that our summer would be slowed and less active this year with end-of-pregnancy issues. And although the contractions were a bit ridiculous there for a while & I feared the worst, having a doctor who doesn't believe in bed rest allowed us to be able to pack a ton of fun in, especially this last month and right in time for the onslaught of the real preterm labor stuff I've been dreading! (Appointment this week showed dilation etc etc...here we go!)It's time to slow down and I think I'm finally ready and okay with doing just that. We've had a great run and now we're ready to welcome Fall and this cute new baby girl into our lives. We'll miss our summer days but we also can't wait for what lies right around the corner for our fam! :)

Farmer P

Is there anything better than fresh, home grown veggies from the garden?
I think not.
Okay so maybe freshly baked homemade cookies from the oven are up there too.
And this little guy would agree on both premises, I assure you.

Chris and Parker started a vegetable garden this year and it's caused a lot of excitement around here.  I don't know that there ever was a little boy so excited to go and not only pick his crops from the garden, but eat them, too!

P-Man probably eats at least 10 grape tomatoes a day. I can't tell you how happy I am to send my little gopher out to the backyard to get them for me rather than buy them at the store!

Needless to say we are eating lots of these these days....:

As of a few months ago Parker wouldn't eat lettuce, but now even he partakes!

We love you, summer!

Please don't leave us too quickly.

We're not done enjoying our salads yet!

A recent discovery

Recently we made a great discovery...

The Discovery Gardens at Thanksgiving Point! How we did not know about this place with having an annual pass is beyond me, but we are loving our recent find!

Not only do they have trails of exploration for the kids, beautiful gardens, a Noahs Ark Splash park, shrub mazes, & bear caves for the kids to play in... but they have story time and crafts once a week (this week they read "Where the Wild things are", hence the kiddo's monster craft above) and even a family activity and picnic night on Mondays! And those are only the areas we have ventured into... I get about ten too many contractions hiking around that place so we haven't even explored it all yet.

Oh but don't worry, we will! :)

 (I am hoping anyways - as long as this baby calms down a bit!:)

The best part is, it's all free with our annual pass. (Normally it's $4 for kids, $6 for adults)

And to think we thought Thanksgiving Point was just a cute farm, some pretty gardens, a golf course and a dinosaur museum.... nah.

Turns out it's way cooler than that! :)

(& if you want to come along with us, our pass will get you in half off...);)

24th of July Parade

Growing up, we frequented the 24th of July Parade on the good old streets of Salt Lake quite often. I have fun memories from those days and I thought that the kiddos were at great ages to attend this year. So we bustled out the door way earlier than we normally are ever ready to hit the highway, and off to the parade we went!

We were even able to coerce Grandma and Grandpa Hansen, and Aunt Bethany to attend with us.  It wasn't as super exciting as I remembered it as a kid, but it was a fun morning and definitely a worthwhile trip! We even got lucky with some nice rain clouds blocking the hot sun for us most of the morning.       

Apparently this is Emmie's new smile...

And in case you missed the big parade or wonder what in the world goes on at this sort of celebration, above is a sampling of the plethora of floats. The police squads also come out in hoards and do synchronized motorcycle dances. I think it must be an exciting day for the cops around our state. Pretty entertaining, actually. :)

But my favorite part of the parade hands down was our cute prophet Thomas S. Monson, riding by! That alone made the trip worth it for sure. It sure made me wish I had brought my nice camera!

I asked Parker what he thought, and he said he wants to go back next year, so I guess that means he liked it.

Maybe it will be a become our new tradition.... :)

Our Big 5 year old

*This is not necessarily meant to entertain blogging audiences... more for the family history book!
But have at it if you're in need of a good nap...;)

Dear Parker,

I can't believe that you are 5! This last 5 years have been some of the BEST and the craziest all because of you! You are such a fun, kind and thoughtful little ball of energy and we sure feel blessed that you are our little boy!
You are so quick to serve your family. Emmie and your newest sister on the way are so blessed to have you as their big brother. When Emmie is upset, you often set out to find and bring her her blanky because you know it will make her feel better. I hope that you will always watch out for your little sisters and continue to make them feel your love for them throughout your life!

You are such an honest little boy. Even though you have access to all the treats, and you have a strong love for them, you always ask permission before having them and never sneak them. Even at such a young age I always feel like I can trust you and I feel that a strong sense of honesty is a quality that you have been blessed with.

You love to have fun and be rambunctious at times but you also have a very soft and gentle side. You are very affectionate and I love that about you!

You have an incessant curiousity about life and your little brain is always cranking with new questions. I am amazed at your depth of understanding new concepts and your ability to retain information after just learning something once or twice. This is such a gift that you did not inherit from me! I hope that you will take advantage of your love for learning and utilize it to it's fullest capacity and use it to make wise education and career choices as you enter adulthood. Don't waste the gift of knowledge that you have been given!

You are such a charismatic and fun little person to be around. You are outgoing and ADORE your friends. They are of utmost importance to you and you are accepting of all kids you come in contact with.

You love to be outside to play with those friends, to swing, play in the sandbox, ride your bike and ride your scooter. And you LOOOVE popsicles! This summer you developed a love for swimming with your first swimming lessons. You were very patient with your teachers and even when you were dunked numerous times, you never broke down crying. You were always happy to be in the water.

You were on your first soccor team this year! You had fun playing and always looked forward to your practices and games.

You love church! Well, at least part of it anyways. It's still hard for you to sit still in sacrament meeting but you LOVE primary and are always happy to go. Your teachers say that you are well-behaved and reverent in class.

You are a great eater! You love pretty much any vegetable I put in front of you including squash, zucchini, carrots, grape tomatoes, pickles, broccoli, corn and corn on the cob... the list goes on. You haven't tried lettuce yet but maybe now that you are 5! You also love any fruit...strawberries have been your #1 favorite food since you could eat them! You will eat a whole pack of strawberries (you usually say "strawbreeze") in one sitting if I will let you. You also LOVE sliced up "orange" cheese as you call it, but you don't care for string cheese.

You phased out of your nap this last year, and in it's place you have "quiet time" in the afternoons. You used to have this in your room, but now have it in the basement as long as you pick up your toys afterwards. You play with toys during this time, color, work on workbooks (which you LOVE!), play your Leapster, and sometimes you get to play the Wii or watch a Netflix show.

I asked you a few questions and here were your answers:

Favorite sport:  Soccor

Favorite toy: Dragons

Favorite animals: Elephants and zebras

Favorite foods: Strawberries, and Beans and rice with cheese

Favorite summertime activities: Play with friends and eat popsicles

Favorite Shows: Little Einsteins and Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Favorite movies: Lion King and Toy Story

What you are afraid of: Bees, spiders and mice

Favorite character: Buzz

Favorite Treat: Chocolate

What you want to be when you grow up: Pharmacist

We LOVE having you in our family Parker.

 You have blessed and changed our lives forever and we adore you!

More birthday celebrations

Yes, there is more.
Parker's birthday extravaganza continues!:)
The day after his actual birthday and Boondocks outing, we took the kids to see Cars 2. We weren't all that impressed with the movie itself but it was still fun to go out with the kiddos.
The next day - Sunday, we went over to the
Hansens to celebrate Parker's birthday with them....

Since he'd already had chocolate cake on his birthday, his requested birthday treat for this night was rice krispie treats (yep I forgot to bring the candle), chocolate chocolate cookies, and ice cream was even thrown into the mix via Grandma and Grandpa.

Chris' parents had just returned from a 3 week vacation to Europe, so we were able to watch a slide show (via the big screen) and hear all about their fun European adventures.

Parker got some fun gifts! His Aunties and uncles gave him a marble madness set, and with his new-found love for "swimming", he is now all set for snorkeling!

We sure miss Grandma Jane & Grandpa Reed's old swimming pool these days! ;)

The following Sunday we were off to celebrate yet again with my Dad and Grandma!

My cute Grandma - Mimi - was in a pretty bad car accident the very beginning of July (thanks to a woman running a stop sign). After surgery and spending several weeks in the hospital, she finally came home recently with a badly broken ankle, a wheelchair, and round the clock nursing care (for 6 more weeks!). We're so glad that she is okay though and grateful we could celebrate Parker's birthday with her! We had a really fun night and the kid's especially loved the traditional candy bar game (go ahead and call it junk food game) and came home with quite the loot. It always takes us months to finish off all the treats when we play this!

(and just FYI that picture is before starting the game, not Parker's winnings!)

As you can see, Parker was really spoiled with all the fun presents! I can honestly say he's loved playing with each and every one of these items this last week!

This little guy is so loved and we sure appreciate everyone making his 5th birthday so special!