A week in review

Baylor has been getting quite confident with his sitting up skills. He just needed to work on his balance a little more. a friend of mine suggested I put him in the laundry basket, that way if he tipped over, he could catch himself and push back up, vs. slamming to the ground. He loves sitting in the basket, and will play very happily for 30 min. or so :o).

Hollen 3

On Sunday May 18th the boys were invited to a Birthday party for 5 children at our church. They all have Birthdays around the same time, so their parents decided to all throw a joint party since they would all be inviting the same kids anyways.

Hannah 3 (she and Hollen are twins) Claire 4 Will 4, this is Brayden's buddy! Keenan 5, he and Bennett are great friends from Sunday school

Bennett swinging at the pinata Brayden swinging at the pinata Brayden enjoying the cake yum... yum... slurp... slurp... as he would say! Bennett and blue teeth from the frosting :o).

On Monday May 19th we had our last Mommy and Me gathering until school starts back up in the fall. This is Baylor definitely enjoying the party showing his sweet gummy grin. I know it won't be to much longer before he gets some pearly whites, so I'm enjoying his gummy smiles as much as I can for now!!! This is Brayden and some of his friends. From Left to Right: Logan, Issac, Sadie, Will, Lucy, and Brayden. They were all laying there getting tickles from Logan's mommy, Mary.

When we got home from Mommy and Me, Uncle Danny and Aunt April were here for the day. They were in Tucson for a long weekend for April's grandfather's 90th B-day, so they came to spend a day with us. It also happened to be Bennett's graduation from pre-school. We went out to Red Robin's per Bennett's request for lunch. You see, we watch Jon and Kate plus 8 and on one episode they took Madi to Red Robin's on her special day and he had been wanting to go ever since for his special day. When I asked where he wanted to go, I knew he would pick there :o). The food was good, but the company was even better. Thanks Danny and April for coming to visit us.

At 4:30 that afternoon, Bennett had his promotion to Kindergarten. He is when they called his name and said, "Bennett said when he grows up he wants to be a Pastor." He has been saying this for nearly 2 yrs. now, and of course he melted all the hearts of everyone in the audience. He was the only child to pick Pastor for his future profession. It's so neat to think about what he and his brothers will become one day. Bennett and his best friend from pre-school, Owen. Owen will also be going to the same Kindergarten as Bennett. They are 2 peas in a pod :o).

This is the cake that his teachers had for the kids on their last day Wednesday May 21st. Mrs. Terre reading to the class for the last time. It was a book about going to Kindergarten. sniff sniff. That was such an emotional day for me. I could not stop crying. He has had an amazing year and has grown and learned so much. The teachers put together a video for each child which started at the beginning of the school year to the end with various activities they did. The last part was a picture of each child on their first day and a picture of them in a little cap and gown on one of their last days. It was so amazing to see how each child had grown and transformed over the last 9 months. I'll try to scan in the pictures for you all to see. We again are reminded of how blessed we are!

Bennett enjoying cake at his last day of pre-school.

Bennett with Mrs. Terre

Bennett with Mrs. Ali

Here is Baylor at the end of the week after 5 days in the laundry basket. He is now sitting well on his own. Yeah such a big boy!!!

Here is another funny picture of Baylor. He for the last 8 1/2 months has always been in the same spot I put him when I come back. The other day I came back after just a few minutes and he managed to roll and move off the blanket and was laying on the floor just looking at me, saying look what I did! I was shocked at first and then realized well big bubba, it's about time you decided to get moving :o). He is so content to just sit and watch all the activity around him.

Also notice the little burp cloth on top of him. He takes these things everywhere. I guess they are his security blanket, now he chews on a corner, so they are nice and soggy :o). He also loves the little bunny above him, he chews on the bumpy feet.

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Well that's all for now, sorry to take so long updating, I had so much to upload and knew it would take forever and had to wait until I had lots of time to do it!

A Mother's Love

Mother's Day 2008 My boys and me just prior to church on Mother's Day. I told each of them how special they are to me and that the three of them plus daddy gave me the best Mother's Day so far. They hand made me several cards and gifts from school, picked out the perfect cards at the store, showered me in very thoughtful gifts: necklace, bullet blender, Hello Sugar lotions and bath gels from Bath and Body Works(my new favorite), made me a girly Build-A-Bear workshop bear dressed so cute named Bella, and took me to lunch at Paradise Bakery Cafe'. We also went for a get together in the evening with our small group, and the men cooked us Italian themed foods as well.

A funny picture of the four of us. Look at the expression on Baylor's face. He's like, "Oh my, these brothers of mine have lost their minds!!!"

Brayden and Bennett looking like they are having a stand off or something. These two are BEST friends and they will stick up for each other like you would not believe, and then turn around and let the other have it.

Mommy and Bennett. You are my first born and the leader of all the little boys. You have such a giving and loving heart and delight in making others happy. You are so creative and don't give up very easily. You are also very curious and have been since day one. You are my little shopping buddy, I can always count on you to go store hopping and deal finding. You are about to finish pre-school in a few days and move on to formal school. My heart is so happy in some ways and yet very sad in others to see you move on and be away from me all day 5 days a week. I wish I could have you here with me for a few more years. You are so excited about all the new things you will be learning and all the new friends you will be making. You will always be my baby and I love you so much with every ounce of my being. Thank you for being such a wonderful son!

Mommy and Brayden. You are my feisty second born baby boy. You are the middle child and fill that roll very well. You make your presence know each and every day and make me bring my "A" game. For that I thank you. You keep my on my toes :o). You are such a funny little monkey and have us laughing at your funny ways. You are also very creative and enjoy building little creations with legos and are very good at coloring. You have a great imagination and love to play pretend. You have recently become comfortable with going off and playing with friends and having little conversations with them, it's so cute to watch you interact. You are very friendly and make friends pretty easily. You will be entering into pre-school this fall 3 days a week and it will be so fun to watch you mature into an independent little boy. Brayden you are my second baby boy and I love you so much from your head to your toes, I could not imagine my life without you in it. Your hugs and cuddles are my favorite.

Mommy and Baylor. You are my third born baby boy. Wow I never imagined I could continue to love each of you my precious children with the same amount of intensity, but yet I continue to have yet more love. You are my lover baby affectionately called, "Big Sexy." You have the most easy going laid back personality. You are my little flirt and love to make eye contact. You have the warmest smile that just melts my heart. I know all you will have to do it flash those big eyes and grin and it will be hard for me to say no. You will always be the "baby" no matter how big you get and I thank you for all the joy you bring my heart. Thank you for making me a Mother of Three boys!

Needless to say I am the mother I am today because of the role model of my own mother. She was the rock of our family and taught me so many valuable things. This was my 6th Mother's Day with out her physical presence, but not a day goes by without her in my thoughts. I miss her so much and so desperately wish she could have been here to see my kids. I know she knows them, and is their gauarding angel, but I still miss her.

Free Day Continues

Today only you can get a free 8x10 print at Walgreens here is the link: http://photo.walgreens.com/storepage?storePageId=Print+Offer&ec=hn532p_getafreeprint

This is a picture of us from Easter that I ordered.

Water boys

This is a picture of Baylor I took on Sunday May 4th. He is only about 7 weeks into his band, but I can tell a huge difference with his head shape. I think his eyes look so sweet in this picture.

My little ham just after bath, before we put his band back on. The red spot on his forehead is from the pressure the band puts on his head. The tech. said it was basically heat rash.

No worries. My sweet boy. He has recently discovered his voice! My once quiet sleeping little babe, has now turned into an ear piercing babbler. Geesh, I thought maybe one of our three kids would be quiet, but it seems no such luck.

About 3 weeks ago we took on the daunting task of emptying our pool of 18,000 gallons of water, pressure washing the pool, and refilling. We had several pumps go bad, as well as needing to replace 4 filters, and replace all of the heads. Luckily all but the filters were under warranty. We had a real bad storm in the late summer of '07 which blew tons of dirt into the pool and it was so stained. The water levels were also way off, so the only way to prevent having to throw in tons of chemicals all summer is to start fresh.

These two pictures are of the pool about half empty taken from each end of the pool.

This picture was taken the following day after we cleaned and pressure washed the pool. As you can see, we refilled it the good old fashion way, two garden hoses :o). It took about 24 hrs. to add 18,000 gallons of water back in the pool. The boys played on the steps, they thought that was lots of fun.

Bennett with the pressure washer, and yes the water was turned off to it :o). Remember I am a mother of boys!!!

Excuse the oreo cookies on Brayden's mouth, I still thought it was a cute picture.

The last two pictures I took this past Sunday of the boys in the pool. Notice now how great the color of the water is. The levels are perfect, now it just needs to warm up about 10 more degrees before this mama gets in :o). This will be our third summer in Arizona, and the boys had always gotten in the pool in April regardless of the temperature.

I got some great shots of the boys mid air. They were having a blast as you can tell by the expressions on their faces.