Growing and Growing....

Baby boy is almost 6 months along. I am LOVING that I can somewhat enjoy this pregnany now. The food adversions, nausea, irritability, lack of energy, etc. has gone out the window. Of course there are the aches, cramps, and nerve pinching stuff that occurs, but I am feeling great. In fact my house is super clean and organized and I just keep wanting to go through things and get rid of stuff. Yup...nesting!! Now getting through the summer with a big 'Ole belly of warmth.....we will see about that! I have only had Fall, Winter, and Spring pregnancies. As of right now AC is real nice!!!

We are so excited to have this little boy join our family. He loves to move around a lot(not sure if that's a sign of whats to come). I think he just doesn't want to be forgotten being the fourth child!!

No cravings really. In the beginning it was a hour to hour basis on what I could eat. One day I craved a pickle(first time in any pregnancy) but that lasted an hour and I wanted to never eat one again. I kinda like eating whatever I want again. I must say I have found an ice cream that I crave. It's called New England Crumberry pie. Yum! Anyways, enough about food..Here's another pic of the growing babe for memories sake! Again another side shot in the mirror. I really need to hire Eric or Avery but I never have them around when I think to update!!

I kinda blend in with the surroundings. Follow the arrow to find the growing bump! Ha!

We got some really cute photos of the kids this week that I will try and post later. Brynnley was so awesome at the photo shoot that the photographer was amazed. She actually followed direction, didn't jump around everywhere, and kept saying cheese in every photo he took. After he shot each photo she would say, "I did a cheese." Eric and I were pretty amazed too at how well she did. I had the hardest time not wanting to buy all the pictures. I typically don't look forward to taking pictures with three kids but it was pretty painless and the pictures are priceless!

Fathers Day 2012.....

The loves of Dads life(minus his loving wife of course....since we aren't celebrating couples day, I am only mentioning the little people in his life)....taken before church on Father's Day.

Avery Elise....Age 6
"I love Dad because he plays with me"



Best buds!!

Brynnley Jean....Age 2 (going on 8)
"I love Dad because he gives me treats whenever I want and spoils me rotten" (Mom helped a little bit with my quote)

I didn't get as many photos of this little lady.....always on the go!! She's so cute and LOVES her Dad. She light up and jumps to get him everyday when he gets home from work. I almost want to go to work to come home to that. I kinda enjoy watching it too though! I finally snapped a shot of her face (instead of the back of her hair) when she was begging me to take the camera so she could be the photographer.

Thomas James....Age 5 (Who is now a man!!)
"I love Dad because he is nice to me"

Thomas was soooo cute on Father's day. He wore a suit and wanted to make sure Dad did too. He was beyond proud to be dressed like Dad. This little boy looks up to his Dad so much.

Dad helping him tie his shoes.


Mini me....Oh I how I love my boys!!!

Beaming....Handsome like his Dad!

The three amigos!!! And amigos they are. Thomas's posing cracks me up in every photo!! Eveyone of them has him doing something different.

And this sweet bunch gives us the opportunity to celebrate this special day! What a lucky Dad and what lucky kids to have such an amazing father. Thomas is also posing for a Mr. Mac ad! I think he might just get the job with that face!!!

Brynn is thinking, "Alright Mom I will give you what you want and let you take a picture of me.....but just this once!"

Can you tell we had a great day! We got Dad all his favorite things, let him sleep in(best gift ever), made him a yummy dinner, and just made sure we smothered him with love!!! With these three that's pretty easy to do.

And there's a little guy who is rapidly taking up space in my belly that can't wait to meet you too! I'm sure he can't wait to get his turn to be tossed up high in the air.

All 5 of us love you to pieces Daddio! You are the best dad in the world.

Thank you Dad for playing games with us even if you come home tired. Thank you for taking us out for ice cream often, playing outside with us in the hot or cold, throwing us high up in the air, making us laugh, working so hard to provide for us, showing us you love our Mom, fixing the chains on our bikes, putting band-aids on our scrapes and comforting us when we are sad. You teach us so many things. It's the reason we ask you everyday if you have to work the next day. We just love being around you. We love you so much!

Love,
Avery, Thomas, Brynnley, and lil' bro.

Happy Birthday Thomas James(6-14-07)!!!

My sweet boy turned 5 on Thursday. We had such a great day as a family. I asked Thomas what he wanted to do and right away he told me he wanted to be with his family.

The birthday festivities began on Wednesday night. Thomas wanted to have a sleep over with his best friend Avery. The kids came up with a great idea. They just needed a little help from Mom to fully execute the great idea.

Best Buds!!!

They had so much fun. I told them they could play for a few minutes and talk and then it was time for them to go to bed. I went to check up on them 15 min. later and they were both fast asleep. So I got my partner in crime and we left our mark on the main floor.


As for the birthday cake....well I love to be creative and make my kids birthday cakes for their birthday with their requests. This year(even with half of my stuff packed up) I had it all figured out. Thomas wanted an airplane cake. Thomas doesn't love cake, so I was going to make a fudge chocolate cake with oreo ice cream etc. I was ready for the task. We headed out to pick up supplies/food and at one of the stores, Thomas ran into a bubble gum cake. He was so excited about this cake and that's all that mattered to me. My ideas washed away a lot quicker than they appeared and I was glad that I now had extra time to play with the kids instead of creating his cake. So that is how the bubble gum cake came to celebrate the big occasion with us. I added candles and a number "5" sparkler. You can see that Thomas wasn't expecting fireworks on his cake when I lite everything up.

Love his face!!! It was pretty awesome and boy did it light up his cake! I was hoping it wouldn;t light up the table as well. Here's is a better look at the infamous dreamy bubblicious cake........

When the sparkler went out, he felt much more comfortable blowing out the 5 candles awaiting him. Shock still hadn't worn off though.....

Really in that picture his eyes were saying let's do a little less picture taking and a lot more gum chewing! The whole reason he wanted the cake in the first place! He did like the cake, but he was all about the gum!

Dad got off work early so the party started pretty early. We went to Target to spend his birthday money from Grammy and Grandpa(the kids so look forward to this). Our tradition is to let the birthday child pick whoever they want to take them out for a special outing. Typically Avery wants me to take her and Thomas wants Eric. This year Thomas wanted the whole family to go. We had a good time as he searched for the perfect present to take home and love. His Dad was proud and excited he chose a lego air shuttle for he and Dad to build together that evening.

We also went to the restaurant of his choice as a family. The infamous Red Robin. They sang Happy Birthday and gave him his own ice cream sundae. You can't have enough sugar on your birthday! Here are a picture from the phone camera since I left the other one home.

I wonder if I have a picture of Thomas not making a face?? We will have fun looking back on these someday!

After dinner, we went home to open up his birthday presents. The moment he had been waiting for.

It was a pretty awesome day! We all had so much fun celebrating this awesome little man! We always love being together as a family so I was glad Thomas wanted to do everything together.

I love you Thomas James so much! You are the best kind of boy and have a heart of gold. You are such a joy to have in our home and hold a BIG key to my heart.

There are so many things I love about you Thomas. I love that little mind of yours that doesn't seem to stop thinking. You love to learn. You want to know about everything. You making me laugh all the time. I love your facial expressions. I love how much you love your sisters. You will stick up for them any day. I also love your excitement and desire to have a little brother. I know you will be the best example and you love him to pieces already! I love your sense of adventure. I love your creativity and imagination. I love your laugh. You ability to make friends. You are very athletic and active. It will be fun to see what your interests are in the future. You are almost always up for trying out new things. I love how you look up to your Dad. He could do no wrong in your eyes and you love to tell him all about your day when he comes in the door from work. You are compassionate to those in need. The other day out of the blue, you wanted to buy Grandpa a card cause you thought it would make him feel better.

I could go on and on for a long time as there are so many things I cherish about you. You truly make our home so much fun. I am not sure what your sisters would do without you. I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with a choice son like you. I love love love you!!!

Just one of the many questions Thomas asked Dad the other day when they ran an errand together.

Thomas: "Dad do you have a girlfriend"
Dad: "Yes son, your Mom is my girlfriend forever"
Thomas: "Oh, so Mom's your BFF?"

I catch him all the time saying to Avery, "we are best friends forever." Apparently he even knows what "BFF" stands for.

Happy 5th birthday to the strongest, fastest, funnest, most lovable 5 year old in the world!!! We love you buddy!!

Potty time.......or NOT!?!?

Brynnley tells me all the time that she wants to go to the potty. Eric was home all morning so he took it upon himself to take on her request. She sat there with Avery for quite some time. They had a great time together and Avery was her positive cheerleader telling her to go to the bathroom. In the end it was super cute to see the sisters interact and laugh together but no "deed" was done. Hence why I am just not quite ready to tackle potty training just yet. Maybe before baby come though. I think with her sister there to entertain her when the time comes it could possibly come sooner than I expected. As I have said before though, I think this is a case of wanting to do everything her siblings do. She is definitely a natural on the potty though. Ha! No inserts or training potties necessary!

These two are the cutest! They love each other so much. I think there was too big of a gap to enjoy times like these with my sisters when we were younger(not the hanging out by the toilet thing, but just hanging out) we are all super close now though. I am glad I can capture these sweet moments now just in case these two forget when they become teenagers!



I must say I am LOVING having the kids home with a schedule of our own. They get to play together for hours without having to pause to take Thomas to school. I am grateful they can all get along and play so well. Don't get me wrong, they do have their moments as all kids do, but for the most part they just love having each other to play with. I may be a pregnant nut case if it weren't so! Patience can be slim some days!! And who doesn't love a slower morning on occasion.

Besides our big trip west this summer, we have loved seeing our friends, going to the park, playing with the neighborhood kids, eating lunch outside, doing errands, cleaning(kids are learning the summer work before play rules), and they play a lot together so I can slowly prepare for all the upcoming events soon to come. We also plan on doing some summer movies and exploring some new things with friends too. Oh and here's to black dirty feet and hands! Gone are the every other day showers. The kids live outside and it shows at the end of the day.........Ahhhh summer! I love it.

It may not be potty time just yet around here, but we are excited to have party time tomorrow!!!

Big T is going to be 5. He is so excited. We will be having lot's of family fun tomorrow to celebrate the sweetest 5 year old boy I know! More on my awesome little birthday man soon!

There once was a villain and two superheroes........

Brynnley is Miss personality. She is just so stinkin cute! She loves to count, sing, make funny faces, jump, talk(a lot), and pretty much mimics everything that her siblings do and say. Yesterday she came downstairs in a batman mask. She started something with the other kids as you can see in these photos.


Don't be too scared....little bat-woman is really quite harmless......unless you are holding candy....in that case watch out!

Then came Spiderman.....

Look how quickly he transforms into full armor....


And soon after Skeletor came into play......

Check that out.....evidence that it is possible for a Villain and a Superhero to get along!

There came a friendly battle between Spiderman and Skeletor......

And then we made chocolate chip cookies!

Oh and I cut off 5 inches from Avery's hair. It grows like a weed. I just kept cutting away. She still has it almost to the middle of her back though.

Well to end the story, I love my villain and superheroes!!

And. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We can't wait to add another cast member to the crew in October. I didn't want to find out, but in the end Eric just had to know. He thought it would be fun if he found out and kept it a secret from everyone(myself included). Yeah right!!!! I am glad we did though. It's always a great surprise no matter when you find out. Thomas is beyond excited to have a little brother. His reaction to the news was better than Christmas morning!

Self portrait in the mirror with a very busy boy inside!

It was fun to see him on the ultra sound. He gave us a straight shot right off the bat(within the first 2 seconds). There is no mistaking his gender. I need to scan them in and get them on the blog. Been kinda busy lately but there will be more on baby boy soon. Like i said I have a lot to catch up on. I am sure with 4 kids soon it will get even easier, right?? There will always be goals. Thank goodness I have an amazingly supportive husband! In fact I cried today as we all picked out Fathers Day cards for Eric. I cried at all the ones that had a Dad with a kid on his shoulders even more. I tried to hide it from the kids so they wouldn't get concerned. They don't quite understand pregnancy hormones yet.

Super quick recap of the last few weeks!!

Warning this is a quick journal entry of the past few weeks. I am way far behind, so when I say quick recap, I mean quick!! No pics this round. I took very few pictures and the ones I have are on three different cell phones(one being Moms. Say no more! I don;t have the time right now to tackle that.

May brought a lot of fun and like most days lately, went by in a blink of an eye. It went a little something like this.......

*Fly to Denver to drop kids off for the week.

*Kids had soooo much fun with Grandma and Grandpa James, cousins, candy, hamburgers and french fries, huge water/equipment park(amazingly big and new to Denver), more time with cousins, feeding packs of ducks(I hear they were surrounded by them), lot's of love from grandparents, going to see a new batch of white fluffy puppies(thanks Mom for putting ideas in the kids heads....I love you!!), feeding the friendly neighborhood bunny, swim lessons, swimming, and much more that I can't remember. Let's just say the kids had a great time. They all were well behaved and were very good while we were gone which always makes me happy! Way to go kid-lets. Meanwhile.....

*Mom and Dad fly off to Atlanta Georgia and got a free convertible upgrade on our car rental and headed off to Hilton Head S. Carolina. We were off driving the streets of S. Carolina in our white convertible and got an up close look at the beauty around us while in the car. The view was billions of trees all along the freeway until we would hit water. How did they know it was our Anniversary week! Mom and Dad had the best time. Dad had to spend some of the time at an Orthopedic event, but not too bad at all. While Dad was gone in the mornings Mom slept in until at least 9 and maybe got out of bed around 10 to shower. Mom shopped the outlets with a friend who was also there. Mom and Dad ate lunch while watching dolphins swim close by(WAY cool), ate at delicious restaurants(all lunches were by the water), took long walks on the beach(saw a guy catch a baby shark and lot's of sand crabs(kinda yuck....looked like big spiders which Mom doesn't dig too much), talked lot's about all the exciting happenings of the next few months, heard about all the alligators and poisonous snakes but kinda glad we never ran into one(those things come with luscious trees and lot's of water), and to end the week, Mom got spoiled with fine dining by my best friend and most handsome, kind, loving husband in the world for our 9th Anniversary. I LoVe you more than I can express. You weren't kidding when you told me you wanted to live your life to make me happy 9 years ago when you proposed. You have always put me and the kids 2nd with God being first, even in residency whenever possible. You never cease to amaze me. Here's to the next chapter of our life together!!.....okay back to earth now.......5 day getaway sans kids is now over.......

*Fly back to Denver........

*After a wonderful getaway together we did miss our munchkins and were so excited to get home to see them. It's just not the same hearing their little innocent voices over the phone. I needed to squeeze them and kiss their sweet faces.

*Next morning we hauled the kids and Grandma in the car and were off to Scottsbluff NE to check out the home we bought and meet with builders to finish the basement and paint the upstairs. The kids loved the home and area so much. They are so excited. I must say I love the place too. I think it could very well be a good fit for our family. It is definitely a family friendly town. We have neighbors that each have 6 kids. One family(our friends we have gotten to know well from multiple visits)have 4 boys and 2 girls. I think our kids might be in heaven! They can't wait to get there now. We explored our little town, looked into schools, swam a ton at the hotel, ate at Culver's(I still can't believe Scottsbluff has a Culver's), and took Mom to our favorite restaurant there(they have the best roasted brussel sprouts and I got a delish steak too). Mom had a great time and we loved having her there with us. I think she likes it there too and wants to visit us!! She also just couldn't get enough of the kiddos!! 5 days being Mom just wasn't enough !! Who can't get enough of those kids anyways!!

*Back to Denver(only a 3 hour drive which is so easy from Scottsbluff.....we cant wait to be closer and could do it in a day if needed....YAY!!!)

*Next day Eric took car rental back while Brynn and I went with Grandma and Grandpa to our newest nieces blessing. We left right after the blessing to meet Eric and the other kids at the airport. It was still so good to see my awesome family and sweet new niece even though it was short.

*Fly back to Cincinnati. Kids were amazing on both flights. Even with that though I am done flying for a bit. It might have something to do with 4 flights in 10 days??

Okay wallah! So to others that quick recap may have seemed like a novel(Ha!) but with all that has gone on I feel like it would take forever if I gave more details! I am leaving stuff out but reading this will bring it all back to the noggin someday. That is what is most important to me. Still some good updating to come and a whole lot going on. Life is pretty busy right now but we are so blessed and doing great.

Thanks fam for all your help in making the trips all possible. We love you all so much and are so grateful for the amazing families that we have!