Coming Soon...

We had a very enjoyable trip to the beach. Details and plenty more pictures to come.

Farewells

It's hard to believe that Emily's first year of school has already come and gone. Last Thursday was her last day of preschool. I co-oped that day and was there to snap some pics. The kids were so cute and Emily has learned so much this year. I'm excited for the break this summer and for all the fun things we get to do. I'm grateful for what a wonderful teacher she had and for the great friends we've made.
Last week we also had another goodbye. My little sister, Lisa, and her husband, Spencer, have now officially left the state of Utah and are trekking across the country to their new home in New Hampshire. It was an emotional week for us all. We had our last Sunday dinner together (at least for the next 5 years) last week. We got together again Wednesday night for a final goodbye. To help them on the road we gave them lots of snacks and to help them with moving so far away we put together two books. Jenn made herself sick by practically staying up all night two nights in a row to finish putting together a book of letters and memories that we had all sent her; and a second book of pictures. They were both so nice and were perfect gifts to help Spence and Lis remember all the little kids (and the rest of us).

The girls - oh, we have so much fun. It's going to be so hard to not have Lisa here with us. Thank heavens it's not a permanent move - right Spencer???

I love you guys and will miss you terribly. We can't wait to come see you!

5 Months

Jacob's monthly post is again late. Life has gotten pretty hectic but I wanted to post his accomplishments so I'd remember them. He is growing up so fast! He's getting closer and closer to sitting every day. He is still loving food and growing like a weed. He completely adores his big sister and watches whatever she does. Emily can always make him smile. For the most part he's napping well and still sleeping through the night. He got sick and was really stuffy and just wasn't sleeping as well a little bit ago. It reminded me what it was like to have a newborn and man, I'm glad we're past that stage. Although I didn't mind all the extra cuddle time.

I Do...

Well, it's wedding season and to kick it all off I had two family weddings a week apart. Jeff's cousin, Sarah, got married the end of April. Sarah lucked out and had the one gorgeous day that was sandwiched between numerous days of rain. Everything turned out beautiful. We're so excited for Garrett and Sarah. They're perfect for each other. Congrats you guys!May 1st Jeff's sister, Niki, got married - and I was a lot more invovled with this one. The day was pretty much non-stop for me. Actually, everything started on Friday when I went and picked up the flowers, then I squished in a wedding dinner, and topped the night off with staying up till 1am finishing everything. Thanks heavens we didn't have to get to the temple till 10 the next morning. Saturday we dropped the kids off at my parents - again - and attended the ceremony downtown. Niki looked beautiful. I love seeing how happy Niki and Mike are together. Niki & Mike with all of the nieces... and the one nephew

After the temple I briefly stopped home to load up my car and headed off to the Alumni House to get ready for the reception. It was a whirlwind of a night and I've decided that next time a sibling gets married I'm having a babysitter come to help with the kids. I was so busy with everything I didn't take any pictures of the flowers. Thank heavens the photographer will share with me. I snapped just a couple during a 10 minute period and then didn't touch my camera the rest of the night. I didn't even get one of my two cute kids together. Oh well. It all turned out beautifully and we're so happy to have Mike in the family. He's a great brother-in-law and an even better uncle. Congrats Mike & Niki!

Playdates

We've done a lot of fun outings the last little bit - I just haven't had the time to post about them. A while ago we went up to Jenn's house and had lunch, played, and went on a walk to see the baby sheep. The kids fed the sheep and some ducks.

We also all met up at the Children's Museum one day too. It was extremely crowded so we didn't stick around too long. But it was so much fun to spend time together. The girls had a blast together - as always. I sure love getting together with my sisters.

Brad & Heather came into town a while back so we got to see a lot of Ella. While they were house hunting in Albuquerque, Gma & Gpa Holbrook met us at the park so Emily and Ella could play. We had pizza and played soccer. I love the video of the girls seeing each other for the first time in a long time.

Then for FHE a couple of days later we had a scavenger hunt that ended at Gma & Gpa Holbrook's house. Emily got to see Ella and Maggie and play around for a bit. We also had yummy ice cream before heading home to bed.

The next couple of days Ella came to preschool with us. I co-oped so while Gma Holbrook watched Jacob and Maggie, I took Ella and Emily to preschool. The girls loved it. Then the following Thursday we had a field trip to the Children's Museum and Heather and Ella joined us. These girls sure love each other and have a lot of fun.

Before leaving town Maggie had her 1st birthday!

With Ella back in Virginia we started playing with the Newman cousins again. We got together on Cinco de Mayo for some yummy cafe rio. The kids ran around outside in the warm weather for a long time. Emily, to no one's surprise, became the ring leader and put the other three in jail. What was surprising was that all three totally listend and didn't everything she told them to.

They all sure love aunt Lisa!

4 Months

So as I went to make this post I realized that I've taken more video than pictures lately. Oops. They don't scrapbook as well, but they sure a fun to watch. Jacob has now hit what I refer to as "the fun stage." He is all smiles and has been laughing quite a bit. I love it. There is nothing like a baby's laugh. He can hold his toys pretty well now and seems to try and get as much drool on me and his toys as possible. A major change the past month has been that Jacob is now napping in his bed!!! I absolutely love my new found freedom and wonder how I ever got anything done before. But oh do I miss all that snuggle time! He is so yummy and if I could I would hug and kiss him for hours.

Emily continues to be a great big sister and adore her little brother. Jacob is now taking a bigger interest in his sister and loves to watch her run around and play. Emily is pretty good at getting him to smile and laugh. She is also an awesome helper. If I turn my back for a second she is right there with his bottle or a spoon to feed him. She's also very good at racing for a burp cloth when she sees him drooling... and it happens a lot!

We had his 4 month check up on the 12th. Jacob's happy and healthy and continuing to grow like a weed. He's still 75% in height (25") and is now 90% in weight - coming in at 16 lbs 1 oz. After hitting a growth spurt at about 3 1/2 months we started him on rice cereal.

I LOVE it when he sticks out his lips! It's my favorite.

He's now happily enjoying sweet potatoes, squash, applesauce, pears, and oatmeal. He is not a fan of peas however. And I think I have to agree with Jeff on this one - I don't blame him.

We still don't see much interest in rolling and I'm wondering if he's going to master sitting first. He LOVES it and is always pulling himself up straighter. He doesn't have all the trunk coordination and balance yet, but he's getting there. He also loves to talk - especially when it nears bedtime. I love listening to him go on and on. He still has such a little husky voice.

Why does life get so busy?

Every time I turn around I see something that needs to be done. I'm exhausted just looking at how long my checklist is becoming. I had to get out of bed twice last night to write things down so I wouldn't forget them. Am I the only one that is this busy??? Or do I just not handle it as well everyone else? How do you do it?

Easter, Conference & a Birthday

The past few days have been quite busy. Easter was fun - but a bit hectic. I'm not sure if I like having it on conference Sunday or not. It was so nice to not have to worry about getting up and getting ready for church and dealing with primary, but the day still seemed pretty crammed. As any 3 year old would be, Emily was so excited for her basket and an Easter egg hunt. We've been playing egg hunt and taking turns being the Easter bunny and the little girl for the past week and a half. The Easter bunny left some good spoils again this year. We got "The Princess and the Frog", a Mickey Mouse movie, a coloring book and a puzzle, a new toy for Jacob and of course plenty of candy. Emily also got a new swimming suit - the shorts and shirt kind - and when she saw it she said, "Mom, look! It's modest!" She's such a good girl!

Emily was very happy about her chocolate bunny

Jacob was all smiles all day

He was really liking Spencer

Sunday night we went up to my sisters house for a yummy dinner and another egg hunt. Ally got the golden egg this year - with $10 in it. The kids all loved it and thank heavens it was ok weather. I don't know how we would have hid 90 eggs inside. We decided to try something new this year - an adult egg hunt. Sam hid one egg with $16 (and a free burger coupon) and he did an excellent job. It took quite a bit of searching and a couple hints on which room and then what area of said room before it was finally found. It was really funny to see so many adults frantically ransacking Jenny's basement. And the winner was... Lisa! I love Spencer's winning smile as well and Matthew's pouty face that he didn't win.

Saturday and Sunday's conference sessions were awesome. Luckily Jacob pretty much slept through all of them so we were able to watch a lot of it. And thank you sugardoodle and the internet for helping me keep Emily occupied. She had fun gluing the first presidency and apostles pictures on papers, coloring their ties, and posting their pictures on our 'conference wall'. She colored A LOT of pictures and did several mazes.
Of course I think Jeff and Emily's favorite session was when I had bowls set out with different words taped to them and every time they heard that word they could eat what was in that bowl.

Playing with balloons that were in Easter eggs and

having a picnic lunch between sessions

I loved all the talks about family. I especially enjoyed Sister Beck's talk on mothers and personal revelation. And I so love listening to Elder Holland. He is such a good speaker and so passionate. I can't wait till my Ensign comes and I can read all the talks.

I had a bridal bouquet to do on Monday (my birthday), but other than that, I basically did nothing. It was so nice. The house was a mess, as it usually is after a holiday and a weekend spent running around. But I decided it could wait one more day - who wants to clean on their birthday? I played with the kids, talked on the phone and I think fell asleep watching Tigger and Pooh with Emily.
That night we had a fancy dinner - wendy's on the china. Emily was SO excited. She loves any reason to celebrate.

Then Jeff and Emily sang happy birthday and I opened presents. Emily had packed up a bunch of Jacob's toys and books and a package of wipes in her suitcase as one of my presents. I also got some stackable cooling racks, a rice cooker and an awesome set of pans (it counts as mother's day too). Oh, and I can't forget the sweet notes (and pictures) they all wrote and colored for me.

Jeff and I also went out to celebrate last Friday. We had an amazing dinner at Tucanos. Yum. I don't like pineapple, but I could eat a whole one if it was grilled like that. We then went to see Blindside. Oh so good. I love Sandra Bullock. A huge thanks to my mom and dad for watching the kids for us for several hours. I don't remember the last time Jeff and I went on a real date - meaning more than just dinner. I wish we had something to celebrate (and babysitters) so we could go out every weekend. Thanks to everyone for the birthday phone calls, emails, texts and wishes. It's always nice to be remembered.