Babies Babies!!!

On Saturday we were invited to Tom's parent's house to swim and have a back to school dinner. Drew is in Kindergarten this year! Time sure flies. The kids had a great time in the pool with Tom. Ben was enjoying a ride on daddy's back.
Elizabeth is being thrown across the pool by daddy. Such a daddy thing to do!

Amelia, isn't she gorgeous?! She's so alert, smiley, and reactive. What a difference 7 weeks makes!

Ben loves to hold babies and brother, Zach, was getting in on the action.

This was on Thursday morning, after Jackson was born. Cooper stayed the night at our house and in the morning opened a present that baby Jackson gave him - some walkie talkies.

This is at the hospital after Cooper met Jackson for the first time. Don't you love their shirts?! They say Little Bro and Big Bro.

I think Cooper is ready to be done holding his brother now. :)

Ben wanted a turn with Jackson. I just can't wait to see these 3 boys playing together. They will be wild - I can see it now!

Elizabeth is our best baby holder. She would do it all day if she could.



We went to Jessica's house on Sunday and did a photo shoot with Jackson. I took pictures on Jessica's camera so she has most of those. Jessica took a few on my camera and here is a couple of them. Doesn't he look precious? I can't wait to see the rest of them!
We are so blessed to have these 2 beautiful babies in our family. I'm sure you'll see many many more pictures of them!

Jackson Is Here!!!!

Yesterday, August 19th, Jessica started feeling contractions and her water was leaking a little bit, so she headed to the hospital at about 1pm with Ryan. This was taken as she was headed out the door - doesn't she look so cute?! Not like someone who is in labor, that's for sure! At 8:10 pm Jackson arrived (they are still thinking about that middle name) He was 9 pounds 2 ounces and 22 inches long. He already has chub on him!

He loved being swaddled up but had a good set of lungs on him when he was unhappy.

He was so calm during his bath! Most babies scream their heads off it seems, but he was starting to go into la la land I think and was just in a daze.

Isn't he big? He doesn't seem like such a newborn to me because he is so big!!
Jessica was doing great when I saw her. I think it was much better this second time around :)
Congratulations, Jessica! We can't wait to bring Cooper up to meet his baby brother today!

Birthday Party and the Circus!

Tom, Elizabeth, Janet and Drew all went to the circus this week. We decided not to take Ben because I thought they would be home too late. Thank goodness they didn't bring him - they got home at 10:30 pm! They had such a good time - Elizabeth thought it was so fun to see the clowns and acrobats. I think she looks so grown up in this picture! None of the pictures really showed up - but it sure looks like a ton of fun.
Enjoying the show.

On Monday we went to Chuck E Cheese for a friend's birthday party. The kids had a fun time on the horse.

Elizabeth and Josh played air hockey together.

Elizabeth bucking the bronco! :)

Ben driving the monster truck. Chuck E Cheese is a great place for us to go on a hot summer day. We were very busy and worn out by the end of the party!

House for Sale!!

Anybody need a new house?!

I am going to be so sad to leave this house - but I guess I don't need to worry about it just yet. They aren't selling too quickly in our neighborhood!

Our bedroom - all ready to be shown. We had our first showing this morning!

Elizabeth's room. One of my favorites in the house.

Ben's room. Love this one too!

Our family room. I hope it sells, but I will miss this place! The first home Tom and I bought together, and the only home our children have known. I'm looking forward to something different and larger though!

I Believe I Can Fly!

Our new favorite thing to do in Grandma's pool is to jump off the side, swim to the steps, get out and do it all over again. Elizabeth has turned her jumps into kind of dives, kind of jumps. This one looks like its moving towards a potential painful move :)!
That's some great kicking guys!

Whew - she's white!!!

Cooper having a great time swimming with me and Grandma. Jessica was taking a little nap - one of her last since the baby is coming any day now!

Hey there cutie!

Thanks for letting us swim, Grandma! It's the only way to survive our 100 degree heat summers!

Amelia's Baptism

Our niece, Amelia, was baptised on Sunday. Janet and Chris are the godparents.

Victoria and her beautiful baby.

The boys - hanging out waiting for pictures to be over.

Elizabeth and Benjamin love to hold Amelia. They think it is so much fun.

On Tom's side - all the cousins who live here in Texas. Drew, Josh, Zach, Ben, Elizabeth, and Amelia. Elizabeth finally got a girl cousin!!

I had to add this picture - the cake was very cute but guess who's finger is in the picture? Oh yeah, my Ben. He kept swiping icing!! Naughty boy.

Before the baptism I attended a baby shower for my friend, Kristi. She's due a month after Jessica.

The 2 pregnant girls - so cute!!

Been Gone So Long

So this past week we have been incredibly busy because we decided to put our house on the market. We packed up a ton of our stuff (mostly from our really crowded closets!), put it in storage, and we are trying to touch up paint etc...

Then, my computer got a virus! So, we finally got it back today and it seems to be working fine. I'm keeping my fingers crossed :)

Over the weekend we were invited to a friend's swimming birthday party. The kids always love a pool party!

This is Gavin, the birthday boy, and his mom, Katherine.

Ben was enjoying the water. We got a lot of laughs from people when they saw my kids walking to the water. My kids were well protected from the sun. Long sleeved shirts, both in shorts, and hats with brims and flaps. It was a little funny I guess - I'm just so used to seeing them like that!

Why do I have this picture on here? Ben wore underwear for the first time over the weekend! He wore them all morning with no accidents. The problem is we had so many things going on that we weren't home much, so we haven't tried again. Maybe this week (if I'm feeling brave)!

Surprise Party and a Wedding??

On Saturday my parents had a surprise party for me and Jessica! It was fabulous and such a surprise! Unfortunately I had no camera with me (I thought we were just going over to swim and have dinner with my parents) but I think most of you read Jessica's blog as well, so you've probably already seen all the pictures! If not - here is the link - Jessica's Family Blog.

I was going through my closet and I found my wedding veil. Elizabeth wasn't napping at the time so she had a great time trying it on and playing around.
She called me into her room for her "wedding" where she had all her babies sitting in a row, watching her. It was so funny! I asked her where her husband was and she said Ben was sleeping - and then she asked, "Can I marry my brother?" Of course I said yes! :)

This morning before Tom went to work the kids were hanging out in our bedroom watching him get ready. I came in there and Ben was all tucked into the bed and E had the doctor's kit out working on him. She said he was sick. I just love it when they play so well together! Luckily Ben is great about doing what his sister says so they get along pretty well. Once Ben gets a little older and has some more opinions, I have a feeling we'll have a lot more fights going on!

The Tooth Fairy Came!

Sorry the picture is sideways! So, when we got home from my mom's house after Elizabeth lost her tooth she immediately wanted to write the tooth fairy a note. On one side she drew a picture and on the other side Tom dictated for her. It's kind of long but I think it's funny so I wanted to write it out for you.

Dear Tooth Fairy

I love you. I'm sorry I don't have a tooth for you to get . Hey tooth fairy. My name is Elizabeth. Why do you always come at night time? We don't know where you are. Dear tooth fairy. Did you know that I lost a tooth? I'm 4 years old and 4 year olds are supposed to lose a tooth. My dentist's name is Victoria. Victoria is a mom. Her kids are Zachary and Amelia Lauren.
Love, Elizabeth

Elizabeth is a very literal child. When she was thinking about the tooth fairy coming she decided she didn't want this strange flying thing to come in her bedroom so she asked if we could put the letter in the hallway. After Elizabeth went to bed she must have been laying there worrying about it because she called me in and told me she didn't want to tooth fairy to come at all. I told her that was fine, but she was pretty excited to find out she really did come today!

Just rolled out of bed! She found that the tooth fairy left her a pack of gum (a very special treat) and 4 quarters. She felt very lucky.

Ben is showing the glitter that the tooth fairy left behind. It was a fun way to wake up this morning!

Big News for Elizabeth...

Can you see anything? Look closely at the bottom row...

(please ignore the crazy expression) but yes - she lost her tooth! I noticed it was loose last week and she was a little nervous about this whole loosing her tooth thing. She witnessed a friend pull her tooth out at the pool and saw the blood, and ever since then really wanted nothing to do with losing a tooth. I explained that it didn't happen until you were 5 (whoops - made a mistake there) and she was fine. We were at my mom's house today having lunch. I looked over at Elizabeth and noticed her tooth was gone. She must have swallowed it with her food. She was very relieved to realize she didn't even feel it come out and is now very excited to see what the tooth fairy is bringing her.

I had to take this picture. E didn't want to nap today so I told her to go hang out with daddy in our room. I glanced in and they were both asleep! She still sucks her fingers and twirls her hair while she is sleeping, so it makes her seem so young to me when I see her like this.

But then she goes and loses a tooth! My baby is growing up so fast!!