Blessed, So Blessed

Expecting our fourth Baby has been fun so far.  Ya know, other than the nausea and those other little annoyances.  My morning sickness lasted longer than it has in the past and was a bit worse.  But that's just a memory now.  So many things are different this time around.  I don't have a real baby to care for, for one thing.  Nora is three and while she still doesn't sleep well, she doesn't require the same care a baby or even a toddler does.  And I have two kids in school.  The house is so quiet for part of the day.  The best difference is the way that the kids are taking ownership of this Baby.  They are ALL so excited.  They talk about how life will change for the better.  They each describe, in detail, the many ways they will help us with the Baby.  And their help will actually be helpful this time : )  They discuss things like whether they want to find out the sex of the Baby at the ultrasound or wait and be surprised.  They fight over who will be the 3rd to hold this Baby (Mommy and Daddy being the first and second).  They discuss who will bring them to the hospital to meet the Baby.  They give name suggestions--other than weird ones like "Wall" or "Curious George".  I am really enjoying this different experience! 

 Living near a city like Seattle makes it interesting to be having a fourth child.  Some people take it in stride.  Others make a big deal out of it.  I've caught myself almost feeling guilty...but then I remember that I'm NOT guilty and I AM excited and the Lord ALLOWED it!  I'm really not too worried about our carbon foot print changing the world.  With that said, 4th Babies really have everything they need in the form of hand me downs--especially since we already have a boy and two girls--we have some of everything.  Yet--I've already been given gifts by sweet friends who are so excited for us that they wanted to surprise us with congratulations gifts.  The little sleepers and leg warmers and a new fresh diaper bag remind me just how sweet and tiiiiiiny our Baby will be.  We love to look at the little sleeper and think about the chubby hands that will be sticking out of the arm holes...and wonder what color hair will be on the head up at the top.  Will it be a he or a she?  Either way he/she will be warm and soft and lovely to hold. 

 And--he/she will already be tagged as an Idaho Vandal.  Thanks, Uncle Jeffrey. 

Be he a he or be she a she we are blessed, so blessed! 

3 Years and 1 Month Old

 One month ago this little munchkin turned three!  She requested a pizza and bubble gum party. 

 Caroline wrote the place cards for everyone.

 We had a make your own pizza bar.  I was introduced to Trader Joe's refrigerated pizza dough.  Cheap, easy and delish! 

 I didn't take a single picture, so these are all from Daddy's phone.  He was trying to get shots of all the place cards, I believe : )

I had grand plans for that there cake you see.  It was four tiers.  Each tier was going to be beautiful.  I was going to write a big post about it.  Well, each tier was just sort of "eh".  And then I went upstairs to take a quick nap with Nora after I had all 4 tiers stacked on top of each other--complete with two skewers stuck down the middle.  When I came downstairs my mom informed me something very sad had happened and I looked at the counter.....my whole cake had tipped over onto the counter.  Yep--that there white ball on the white cake plate used to be on top of the other cake on the pink cake plate.  It was quite a bit too heavy.  Nora didn't care, though. 

 She had her parents, her siblings, her Grandparents, an Uncle and her Bestie and his family to help her celebrate.

 And bubble gum.  Lots of bubble gum.  We chewed and spit out and grabbed a new piece over and over again.

 And to top it all off she got presents.  What more could a girl want? 

 Oh yes, a little Pookie Puddin' Pie to help her open the gifts.  Her birthday was truly complete!  And now she's three and oh-so-grown-up. 

 Love you, my  Norrie Porrie Puddin' Pie!

THE Backyard

We tried our very best to soak up every. last. second. of our California vacation.  So, on our last afternoon--the kids jumped in the hot tub and Tadd played life guard.  I sat up on the hill and snapped pictures of the beauty all around me.

 Let's go down into the yard and check a few things out closer up.  Here we have Tebow and Marble--the resident Guinea Pigs.  They are noisy.  I had no idea.  I can't tell you if they are soft--because I'm just now realizing that I never did pet or hold them.  Hmmm...that must be where my kids get their "love" of animals. 

 This guy is soft though : ) 

 There were beautiful succulents all around.  I sure wish I could grow them in my yard! 

 The apple tree was pushing out pretty new blossoms.  And the lemons hung lovely on the branches. 

 The kids turned the slide into a water slide with water and dish soap.  Wheeeee....

 Ezra joined the Polar Bear Club a few days before and had so much fun he decided to do it once more before heading for home.

 He didn't stay in very long, though. 

 Lucas declined swimming this particular afternoon.

 My little monkey.

 

This is not in the backyard--but I'm tacking it onto the end of this post.  The day after we arrived was Nora's third birthday.  Aunt Megan was ready for it.  She had a Birthday Banner hanging in the dining room and a delicious cake all ready.

 We celebrated with cake and singing. 

 Nora loved it!  Nora says " I didn't sing, I chose to just eat cake". 

 Aunt Megan even invited birthday company.  Nora's friend Ember came for dinner and the party.  She was IN LOVE with the Guinea Pigs.  Here she is saying "He's just so cute!"  We had fun watching and listening to Ember.  I wish I could see her more often,  because let me tell you--"personality" does not even describe this little Darling! 

And that's the end of our California Dreamin'.  We had a blast.  Thanks, thanks, thanks Uncle Nathan, Aunt Megan, Lucas, Jill and Mia for all you did for us.  You know how to do up hospitality right! 

Biking

 Near Uncle Nathan and Aunt Megan's house is an empty lot next door to a Care Facility. 

 Because they know the maintenance man, they turned the empty lot into a bike path/jump course.  Oh wait, I think I know that maintenance man too : )  I guess they just maintain it themselves. 

 Anyhow--the course is called "The Old Folks Home" and Lucas, Jill and Mia had a lot of fun introducing Ezra and Caroline to their bike track.

 On our last day in town, us Mom's ventured up the hill to The Old Folks Home to watch the action.  It was sunny and lovely.

 And there was free entertainment.

 There were even some crashes to watch.

 Jumps were increased in size.

 And slivers attained.

 Don't worry, this young man didn't crash--he's just resting in the sun after laying down a super fast time.

 The Dads and the Boys loaded into the surfing van (which doubles as a biking van) and drove to some other bike trails throughout the week.

 They had lots of fun and all came home tired out.  Except Uncle Nathan who is a pro.

 And then there was one of us who didn't set "foot" on a bike and stayed rather sedentary all week.  I mean me, by the way.  Boy, did that feel nice!  I just realized that Mia is MIA in this post--she was with us--she was just busy running around out of view of my lens. 

Biking in the warm sun in February--not something we get to do too often!