zinnias popping up

o.k. I know this is kind of a stupid thing to be excited about, but I saw a few little zinnia flowers that have popped up through the ground today. :) WAHOOO!!! I love watching them grow. :) I can't wait to see how many more pop through tomorrow! :)

summer days. . . oops, It's still spring!

Today was a beautiful day. well, it was a bit hot for my liking while pregnant, but I better get use to it. :) J and L had soccer games this morning, and after that, it was play, play, play. :) D mowed the lawn and L's new thing these days is to help mow the lawn. He's such a manly man. :)

Z-man LOVES being outside and if anyone goes out the door and doesn't let him out, he isn't a happy camper. :) It's amazing how little he is and yet how much he understands.

Overall, it was a hot, sweaty, busy day of projects. :)

J loves being on the balance beam D made her. She's starting to do some tricks on it. ZOIKS!

ummm, genie in a bottle??? not sure--just the pose she wanted. :) This girl cracks me up. she's GREAT!

Oh, the love of digging!! :)

my manly men mowing the green!

One of my favorites--tulip trees. D had one in his back yard growing up and they get soo big and beautiful. I absolutely LOVE the shape of the leaves!! :) Unfortunately, this tree is about 12 inches high right now, but hopefully it will grow fast!! :) We cleared out space below the new trees and put mulch today. I also planted my zinnia flowers yesterday, so hopefully they will start popping up in the next few days. :) I just hope I survive the heat. :) I think I'm sleeping in the unfinished basement tonight!! :) LOL.

Spring pictures

We finally had a nice enough day to take spring pictures. :)

There are more pics of J simply because she is more tolerant of picture taking. :) the boys aren't too into it. :) LOL But for 3 little kids, I think they turned out o.k. :)


J: 5 yrs 10 mo. old
L: 3 yrs 9 mo. old
Z: 1 yr old.

First steps

Today Z-man officially took his first steps by himself. :) You should have seen the smile on his face as well as his daddy's. :) He had a much happier day today. I did give him soy milk today, but I'm not sure it would work that fast. Sooo, not quite sure, but I'm glad he was happy today. :)

Good job, z-man. we love you!

update

So we haven't really been doing anything that is picture worthy, but here's a bit of an update on our fam.

J and L had their first soccer games of the season last Saturday. All other games and practices have been rained out--note to self. NO MORE SPRING SOCCER. It rains too much here in the spring. They both did awesome and really had a lot of fun. D plays soccer with them a lot because it's something he enjoys.

We have been working a little bit on mudding/taping the basement. We have about 2-3 walls done and ready for sanding. It's coming along.. slowly. Hopefully we will have everything done by the time baby M comes.

In a few more days I will be officially in my 3rd trimester. :) wahoo. Things have been CRAZY around here with 3 kids lately, so I'm a bit nervous with throwing a fourth into the picture, but I'm sure it will all work out... ..eventually :) I'm excited to meet baby M and find out what she looks like, acts like, etc.

J is still loving school and is happy that she can now wear shorts to school again. Her school recently had a walk-athon that we all participated in--Some of us more willing than others. :) I had to bribe L with ice cream if he would walk and not cry. :) Nice, huh? a walk-athon to promote healthiness and we hit wendy's for some frosty's afterward. . :) J loved seeing her friends and teachers and showing me her school. She is growing up sooooo fast. It's crazy.

L loves preschool as well. He always tells me how much fun he has. L is starting to get the concept of reading. He can say the sounds of the letters, but has a hard time meshing them enough to hear the word, but he is getting so close. It's pretty cool. His recent love is to dig in the dirt and ride his toy 4-wheeler. He's such a little man.

Z-man has been a bit grumpy lately, and we're not quite sure. We wonder sometimes if he is lactose intolerant because it runs in both families, but we don't know if that's even possible in a baby. He just got teeth in and we thought that would cure the problem, but it didn't. He is normally such a happy little guy, so we're not quite sure what's going on--he just acts uncomfortable. He just got over a cold, so maybe he had some fluid in his ears.. hmm? Not sure, but we are trying some soy milk and different things to see if it helps. He is soooo close to walking. He will stand on his own now, and will walk if he holds onto someone's hand (even if it's just ONE hand), but he won't totally let go. I'm sure he could do it if he wanted. He is a speed crawler though and probably gets to where he wants faster by crawling. :)

D and I are just pluggin' along. It seems like the days all run together. Mostly we are trying to get the basement done. There are so many other things that need done too, but they have been put on the back burner until the basement is done. I can't wait to have it finished, it will be so nice to have a play room and an extra bedroom, etc. ;)

Well, that's really it for us for now.

Easter Weekend

We had such a great Easter Weekend. :) Of course all these pictures are backwards, but you get the idea anyway. D's family came in and helped us drywall our basement. It looks sooo awesome. It makes my heart feel so happy and loved that everyone would travel and sacrifice a weekend for us. They are amazing and I'm happy to be apart of their family. . even if it's through marriage. :)

While the drywalling was going on, we were able to take time out for an easter hunt, some Egg coloring, and fun festivities.

Thanks again everyone that came. We don't know how to thank you, but we really really appreciate it and are soooo excited and happy!! :)

this is Easter morning finding the hidden easter baskets. :)

Easter egg hunt with the little cousins. :)

Isn't this a cool looking egg. L did this. :)

S and boys R and A colored eggs with us. :) so fun!

I love these two!!!!! :)

R showing me his egg. :) Cool stickers, bud!

A is amazed and trying to figure it all out!

L loved doing it all by himself.

J loves anything that is project oriented. She had a blast too.

And here are the real workers. I'm sure they loved me taking pictures. . :) But it was awesome.

D's Dad!!!

D's Brother, J.

D's brother, D!!

D's brother, B

D!!!!!!! Isn't he handsome!!! :)

D's brother, B again. :)

I'm going to have to go take pictures of it all drywalled. It's AWESOME!! Thanks again everyone. :)

another project.

Ok, so with this being baby #4, we definitely have enough receiving blankets and baby blankets of all kinds. HOWEVER, when I'm pregnant I find myself doing more sewing projects than anything else. As mentioned earlier, J and I did kniffty knitters over conference and this is what I finished up yesterday. I used super soft yarn, and I think it will be comfy for baby M. :) Plus it made me feel like I was being productive when I was just sitting around. :) LOL!