Other May Photos

What else did we do in May?

We hung out at home a lot - snuggling out little brother.

Got sick with colds a few times and spent the day laying on our pillow with our binkies and watched movies.

Typed on the computer.

(One of Isaac's all time favorite - and frequently begged for - activities)

Danced like a ballerina in our tutus.

Did laundry.

Lived with an eternal pile of clean laundry on our couch because we could never seem to finish folding laundry because we  kept stopping to cuddle babies, dance with cute ballerinas in tutus, and read stories...

Were just darn cute...

So cute that multiple pictures had to be taken.

(check out Cub's chunkiness!)

Built really cool structures out of blocks.

Were served lunch in our very own "restaurant" with our very own handsome waiter!

Snuggled and cuddled and kissed and loved each other!

Reaching for Toys

While we have been busy moving and getting settled our little man has been busy growing up fast!!  He is loving his bouncer and play gym lately - as he is finally noticing the toys and reaching for them and touching them and beginning to PLAY with them.  It's always fun to watch him learning and discovering.  Here are some photos of him in his bouncer (which we now keep in our master bathroom and mostly use to put him in while we are getting ready for the day).  Watch his right hand touching the toys in the photos.

He also love the play gym - which we keep in the playroom.  Not the greatest picture... but you get the idea.

Bumbo Time!

Caleb has been holding his head up really well, so we decided to bust out the bumbo so that he could give it a try.  He seemed to think that it was okay... but when we interacted with him when he was in it - his face lit up and he was just happy to be closer to us all.  He sat on the kitchen table in the bumbo while we ate dinner one night and everyone seemed to think that was cool (p.s.  don't worry!  we do NOT leave him up there unattended... we are always right there with him).  We also use the bumbo on the floor.  He is just growing up so fast!  I can't believe how big he is already.  Sheesh.... before I blink he is going to be walking and talking and running around after Isaac and Elise!

Memorial Day

Since we moved the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend... we were VERY grateful that Jeremy had another day off of work so that we could get a little more settled.  Here's the kids in our new kitcehn - eating their gourmet cereal and milk breakfast. 
(We moved into a HOME!  So exciting.  We are currently sub-leasing the home from some friends of ours.  It is a month-to-month situation for us.  We can stay as long or as little as we need to - until they come back in March of next year.  This is perfect for us while house hunting, which is why we moved here.  We were going to get locked into another 1 year lease at our duplex and we wanted the freedom to look for our own home and buy it when we were ready.  Also, our friends gave us a GREAT deal on rent, so we are able to save more money while living here. Bonus!  Not to mention that there is so much more space.  A living room and a play room, 3 big bedrooms, a huge (to us!) kitchen, and did I mention the MASTER bathroom?) 

After breakfast I headed over to our old duplex to clean it.  I was there with 3 friends for 2 hours and it is now one SPARKLING clean duplex.  After that Jeremy and I just did our best to clean up and get settled.  I will be honest.  The kids watched a little (a LOT) more tv than usual that day.  We borrowed a DVD from Brent and Michelle so that they would have something new to watch  - and that worked out great - and now they officially love Dora the Explorer. :)

Brent and Michelle invited us to their home that evening for dinner.  We were so grateful!  It was delicious and relaxing and for an hour or two it actually felt like a holiday!!!  We ate yummy BBQ chicken, corn on the cobb, watermelon, rolls, chips, salad.  Yum.  Afterwards we played outside, roasted marshmallows and ate s'mores.  Yay for family!  Happy Memorial Day!

I am blessed.

I am blessed to have tender moments with my family on a daily basis.

Those moment when my soft baby is curled up, breathing softly, asleep on my chest.

The moment when I look up to see my husband and sweet girl singing "I am a Child of God" to my baby.

 The moment when all 3 of my kids are cuddled up on a toddler bed laughing and happy to be close to one another.  The moments when heaven is "not too far from here".

"Just Look Normal"

My kids were just hanging out so cute on the couch after a morning adventure out - that I just had to take some photos.  I want to squish all of their cheeks!  They are so cute!!  And these photos make me laugh.

At this point I had taken lots of pictures to try to get a good one and someone (ISAAC) kept making silly faces - he's REALLY into that lately.  It's hard to get a normal looking photo.  So I said something like "okay - everybody just smile and look normal".

"No - just look NORMAL"

But I REALLY wanted a cute picture of the threesome... so I busted out the big guns, "If you just smile and look normal I will give you some fruit snacks after lunch!"

And this is what I got.  HA!  He was trying so hard to look normal.  He got the fruit snacks - but these photos just crack me up.

Kansas City Temple Run 2012

I was a LOT hesitant about running in the Temple 5K this year.  I hadn't been training consistently and I was nervous about it.  Luckily, Jeremy knew how I felt about it deep DEEP inside and the morning of the race he encouraged me (practically pushed me!) into going.  

And, of course, I am SO glad that he did!

We were running a little late so he dropped me off close to the starting line and then went to find a parking spot and bring the kids up in time to watch a bit of the race and be there when I crossed the finish line.  As always, his support meant the WORLD to me.  So grateful.

(And we determined afterwards that even though I was the one that ran the 5K - he got the better workout by hiking all three of these kiddos from our parking spot (over 1/2 a mile away and up a MAMMOTH hill) to the finish line.  So - GO JEREMY.)

I showed up at the race with plenty of time to stretch, put on my racing bib, and find Brent, Michelle, and Michayla.  We headed to the starting line and I was lucky enough to be able to run the WHOLE race with Michelle and Michayla by my side.  I could not have done it without them!  The distraction of talking with them (and my pride that just wouldn't let me be left in the dust!) helped me accomplish my goal!   We ran the whole way and even sprinted to the finish.  Our chip time was just under 33 minutes (and while that's not my best time - I did just have a baby 3 months ago... so I still felt great about it.)

When we made it to the finish line - I was so happy to see Jeremy and the kids! They had been sitting right there on the curb (with our friendly babysitter Hanna helping to keep track of them) watching and cheering.

It felt great to run in a race again and reminded me of not only how out of shape I am... but also how much I love running.  And it was great to run in a race surrounded by family, friends, and ward members.  The weather was overcast and just perfect for the race and the temple looked amazing and inspiring as always!  Yay for the Kansas City Temple Run!