Olivia's 1st Birthday

Olivia's first birthday was great. Since it's so close to the Fourth of July we made it a week long event. We had our annual Fourth of July fireworks in the culdesac with our friend, went swimming, and saw two kids movies. 

(Picture was on the 4th)

Olivia's big present was a new playset with a sand box that Kurt put together. What he won't do for his baby!

Then on Sunday we had cake with Nana. Olivia loved it! Sometimes hands just weren't fast enough so she just dug in with her mouth. After a few minutes she had her hand full and her feet up in total enjoyment! We love our little Livi!

Livi stats:

She weights 19lbs 10oz and is 28 inches long (30% and 14%) bigger than Hazel but smaller than the boys.

She is walking around furniture but can't stand or walk on her own

She says dada, josh, and nana, but only says mama when she's mad or sad

She loves playing outside and is a independent player (love!)

She stays close by when playing so I can take her outside and she doesn't wonder off. 

She usually takes the path of most resistance which means she doesn't go around things just over them.

She is a studier and tends not to smile right away unless your josh, nana, mom, or dad.

She's a very easy baby. 

She has only her two front bottom teeth but her top two aren't far behind. 

Her best feature is still her dark blue eyes. They have flecks of silver so they look like a stary night. 

Michael turns 6

My baby boy turned 6 yesterday. This year has been a big one for Mikey. He started school and grew up a lot. My favorite memory this year was when his teacher, Mr. Durand told us he narrates his life at school. He said he quietly has a running commentary about what he's doing. He's still a spunky, fun and creative little boy. He loves school, Pokemon, Star Wars, and playing video games. He loves pizza, bacon, eggs, chicken, tacos, but not soup! 

 For his birthday Kurt and I took him and his friend Ethan to the Mall of America for a day of rides, Legos, and lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Ethan had so much fun he did the same thing for his birthday and invited Michael.

Bath time

Bath time can be crazy around here. Now Olivia has joined the bunch and loves it. Welcome to the money house!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was wonderful this year. The kids gave me breakfast in bed (bagels and fresh fruit), Kurt got all the kids ready for church and kept Olivia with him the whole time at church. All the kids gave me    cards and sang to me in church. After a 3 hour nap we headed to the park since it was beautiful outside today. Then we came home to a delicious dinner of bulgoi, brown rice, and grilled asparagus that everyone ate without much complaint! The icing on the cake was Kurt ordered me the mother's ring I've wanted since I had Michael. What a great day!

(Below) a picture of the ring . The stones are; blue (josh), gray (Michael), white (hazel), red (Olivia). 

Moxie

A few months ago Josh decided he had a great idea for the new Star Wars movie. So he made a manuscript and even made a cover letter and asked me to send it to Star Wars. It was so cutie and I loved that he was totally confident that Star Wars would love his idea and make it into a movie. That kid has moxie!

New Curtains

For my birthday one of my presents was new curtains and rods. My curtains were too small for the window so I added some brown panels and raised the rods. It makes the windows look bigger and the room feels more balanced.

Pinewood Derby

This year the pinewood derby was a little different. I was called as the Cub Scout Committee Chair in November and so did all the other cubs out leaders but the one. So we were not ready at all for the pinewood derby in jan so we moved it to march. The sad thing was that Kurt was out of town a lot of march including the derby. Josh had my dad help him cut out the car and Kurt helped him paint it. He painted ninja turtles on it. The night was great but hectic because I was running around helping but Josh had fun and my parents came to watch and help with kids. Josh didn't win but there's always next year!

Olivia is 9 months

My baby is 9 months, time has flown by. Olivia is a great baby. She doesn't give smiles freely to adults but she loves kids. She is starting to crawl forwards but crawls backwards and rolls everywhere. She loves food and can feed herself Cheerios and other baby food. She says Dada. Olivia is a great sleeper. Her eyes are my favorite feature, they are navy blue with flecks of silver so it looks like looking into the night sky. She is now 17.5 lbs and 26 inches.

Hazel's 3rd Birthday

My spunky girl turned 3 this week. Kurt and I were talking and can't believe that it's been only 3 years because it feels like she's been in our family forever. Hazel is a lot like the month of March, she came in like a lamb and now she is now like a lion. I remember when she was a baby she was so calm and easy going, sometimes I would even forget she was in the room because she was so content. Now she is still independent and plays by herself but she is not quiet! She is constantly singing or talking. There is no mute or quiet setting. Hazel has the best prayers. She thanks Heavenly Father for everything, she even tells jokes and laughs. She is a girly girl and loves to dress up, wears heels, jewelry. But she also has a strong tomboy side. She will wrestle with the boys and loves to play in the mud and get dirty. Hazel is very opinionated and will tell you exactly how she feels. We joke that we're glad she wasn't the oldest kid because she would have been a dictator instead or a diplomat. She is also really sweet when she wants to be, she loves to cuddle. She calls herself Hazel the girl, Kurt is Kurt the dad, and I am mommy Jes. She is still our tiny little girl weighing in at only 26.5 lbs and is exactly 3 feet tall. We love having her in our family, it wouldn't be as fun or exciting without her.

Her favorite things are:
Dora the explorer
Doc Mcstuffins
Lalaloopsies
Princesses
Fairies
Dress up
Her friends (Kaitlyn, Elinor, Avery, Johanna)
Food (she eats everything)
Pretend (she talks on her play phone all the time)
Singing (she sounds like an opera singer, she uses bravado)
Riding her trike