October

 In October I tried to take the kids to Sears for a photoshoot for their 1st and 3rd birthdays. Between ornery children and a horrible photographer I left, holding back tears. We came home, kids went to bed and I laid on the hammock. When they woke up I set up a background on Sophie's crib and shot a couple pictures. Then my friend Nicole went with us to the park and we took a few more (on a different day). These were the best we could get! I think they are pretty cute. 

We invited Dami (one of the residents) over to help us carve pumpkins. She had never carved a pumpkin before so it was pretty fun for all. Sophie made a princess castle and Liam made Lightening McQueen. I like how they turned out. Dami said she would have to continue to carve pumpkins so i guess she had fun. 

We also went down to Brett and Nancy's house the last weekend in October. Nancy works at a pumpkin patch so she got us tickets to go. It was huge! There was a fairy tale land, petting zoo, train, petal cars, corn kernel pit, air bubble jumper thing, and I'm sure plenty more. Sophie still talks about it. She always says, Have fun at the pumpkin patch!

Great Wolfe Lodge

In July we met Tj's brothers Travis and Brett and their families in Kansas City, Kansas for a little vacation to the Great Wolfe Lodge. It is an indoor water park. We had a great time! 

Sophie is 3!

Or 8 if you ask her. Not sure where she got that from. Sophie is stubborn and inquisitive, caring and helpful, a limit pusher, a picky eater (we're talking her diet consists of noodles and beans), a good big sister, loves attention, a little jealous, and getting more and more brave each day. We were at the Wilford's on August 21st and the kids were out playing in the backyard. I was checking on them every few minutes and when I went out to check on them once Sophie had climbed the ladder that was laying against a tree, had both feet on a tree branch and her arms stretched high above on another. I had a minor heart attack and yelled for her to get down. Well, she was stuck. So I ran over, barefoot, and tried to climb the ladder while trying to get her down. This wasn't gonna happen so I climbed down and reached up grabbing her around the waist and she just fell back. I caught her but hurt my back in the process. The next time we went over there she found a stump and starting climbing another tree. I am so not ready for these types of adventures!

Her favorite thing of all time right now is Sleeping Beauty. She wakes up singing/screaming "I know you..." She constantly wants to dress up in her pink Sleeping Beauty dress. She loves to read. She loves to do school (workbook pages, but hey, she asks for it all the time!) She wears dresses everyday. She started a tumbling class the day before her birthday with her friend Rilea. She was so good her first class! She sat quietly, listened and participated. TJ even made it to watch. It was a proud parent moment!

Her 3 year stats:
33 lbs
39.5 inches

Liam is 1!

I really can't believe it. Though I look back at his baby pictures and can't believe he was ever that tiny (if you can call it that!) He is such a big boy now. He started crawling April 16th. Pulled himself to standing on May 7th. Climbed stairs on May 12th. Stood for 20 seconds by himself on May 23rd. Took 4 consecutive steps on July 3 and is now walking, practically running, all the time. He is learning new things and words everyday. He signs "more" and "all done", he points to things that he wants or finds interesting. He babbles constantly, especially while he points. You know he knows what he is saying and that it is VERY important, but you just listen and enjoy the sounds because you have no idea what that little mouth is saying. His first word, after mama and dada, was uh-oh on August 13th. He also said ow at some point. Then cracker and out on August 22nd. He is lost without his sister. If he wakes up before she does from nap he just kinda walks around, unsure of what to do until she gets up. Then they play and laugh and dance and sing. Most of the time. There are definitely times when she gets annoyed with him and he gets annoyed with her. Total siblings : D

We had a little birthday party for him at the park. Some of the residents came. Friends from church and of course Travis and Hayley. Even TJ's best friend Isaac was here. It was a perfect evening. The kids all played while the adults got to talk. Then we had cupcakes. Liam had his own special 1 year old cake. He was pretty hesitant to get into it but sister helped him out :) He ended up needing a bath right there at the park with the doggie water faucet!

Field Trip

A few months ago our church play group took a field trip to Heartland Ranch. I didn't know much about it but turns out it is owned by a minister and was designed to help recovering addicts and people who needed help. These people work on the farm in various capacities. While an overall cool idea, there were some things that just didn't sit well with me. Like a group of teenage girls who lived with the minister and his wife. Anyway, we did have a fun day and Sophie was in her element. We got to ride a bus around the facilities and to the goat house and cow house. There were hundreds of baby goats that just licked and nibbled little fingers. All the kids loved it! We got to see cows being milked. Then had a picnic at a local park. It was a fun day. 

being silly on the bus

Easter 2012

We woke up a little early so we could open presents and do the egg hunt before church. This year Sophie was old enough to enjoy the egg hunt and really got into it. The Easter Bunny had a great time hiding the eggs and he sure knows the kids well :)

Sophie's new trains that talk

New princess jammies

starting the hunt

loving it

her new dress and her full basket

Liam opening his basket

toothbrushes and jammies!

what, there's stuff outside too?

a purple hippopotamus pool!!! 

bunny mask :)

TJ's 30th!

TJ turned 30 in March. He was a little anxious about this number. Something about leaving his 20's. I figure life can only get better! In one year he will be done with his residency and actually making some money! We will have a better idea where life is taking us, hopefully more children, fun, and laughs. Yes, life will be good in our 30's (let's see what I say in 9 months)! Any, I wanted to do something special for TJ. That was going to be trying to find his favorite car to rent for an hour but that didn't pan out. So, when my friend Nicole asked me what he likes to do we decided to throw him a surprise party outdoors. When he lived in Utah his favorite thing to do was to be in the mountains. Since we don't exactly have mountains out here we settled for a bbq and campfire. It's kind of funny because like a week before the party we were talking and he told me he doesn't like parties cuz he hates to be the center of attention. Well, it was too late and he was only the center for about 5 minutes! He was completely surprised, though even I almost blew it a couple times. And his brother Brett happened to be in town for the occasion and helped pull it off. We had a great time with friends and family. I hope he felt special and loved, because he truly is!

Sophie playing "heavy heavy hangover"

her tissue paper bonnet

walking out

realizing what is happening

the boys roasting some dogs