Our Happy Family...

Can I hold Ryder?

A little Father and Son bonding...

Mommy loves Ryder...

Kendyl's turn...

Brityn's turn...

There seems to be a lot of competition to hold this little guy. He is the most popular person in the house right now. He has been a great eater and sleeper and quite a pleasant baby. He doesn't seem to fuss until he's hungry or needs a diaper change (which he cries through until he's changed). He loves a fresh diaper...meaning, he will wait until changed and then promptly poop or pee in the clean diaper...our kids are three for three in this trait!

Welcome Ryder!

Our beautiful, BIG, baby boy was born a week early and it's a good thing he was...he weighed in at 8 lbs. 9 oz.! I was completely shocked considering the girls weighed only 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 7 lbs. 6 oz. I am really glad he didn't wait another week or two before making his debut! Steve was especially happy to be invited to get gowned and gloved to help with the delivery...a lot more exciting than just cutting the cord!


The girls have been so excited about Ryder being born. They couldn't wait to meet him and shower him with hugs and kisses. I'm sure I will have two very eager helpers at home.

Pretty Easter Dresses...

What would Easter Sunday be without a pretty dress? My very girly girls could not wait to wear their new dresses this morning. Aren't they so cute!

Easter Egg Hunt...

 

This is Kendyl and Brityn getting ready to find all the eggs the Easter Bunny left for them. If you peek at their baskets, you can see that they couldn't wait for Mom to get the camera out!

 

Brityn got so excited everytime she found an egg that she had to shake it and open it to see what was inside!

 

The Easter Bunny left really good treats and some money in the eggs!

 

Kendyl sporting her bunny ears which she wore all day and to the ward easter egg hunt. Brityn, of course, refused to wear hers!

Coloring Easter Eggs

The girls were very anxious to color their easter eggs before "baby brother" makes his arrival, so here are a few pictures of the event. Brityn had the biggest grin on her face the whole time and kept saying, "I having fun!" Kendyl got very creative and everyone was disappointed when there were no more eggs to be colored. Fortunately, we only had one "egg casualty". :)

Wii Bowling

We got a Wii system for my birthday and the girls had a blast playing it. We thought it might be too complicated for them, but no--they are outplaying us! They were just so funny to watch!

Are you wearing green?

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day we made our own version of green eggs and ham. They were tasty if you could get past the color. Of course neither of the girls would have anything to do with the green eggs.

Happy Birthday to Suzie!

I came home from my doctor's appointment to a lovely surprise...


Steve and the girls had decorated for my birthday, complete with cake and presents!

Things that smell good...

I don't know if it is just because I'm pregnant that my nose is more sensitive, but I was really enjoying the Downy fabric softener I used yesterday. It's the Cashmere and Silk Fresh Ultra Downy and I found myself sniffing (or inhaling) my laundry all afternoon--it smelled that good! It is not just the laundry though, I love to use Fabreeze on my carpets and upholstered furniture, I use Scentsy candle warmers upstairs and down, I have Glade plugins in all the bathrooms, I love Bath & Body works soaps and lotions (my favs are Brown Sugar & Fig and Mango Mandarin), my shampoo, soap, deoderant, lotions and perfumes all must smell good too. And just last week I put a new air freshener in my car. Am I obsessed or does everybody like to have things that smell good around them? By the way, I have banana bread baking in the oven right now so my house not only smells good, it smells delicious!

Baby's Room After...

Last night we finally hung the last couple of wall decorations for the baby's room, so now we can reveal the after pictures, drum roll please...




We went with a train theme, NOT Thomas the Tank, Steve was very specific about that, (don't ask me why, I have no idea) but I thought it turned out very cute. It has been hard to shift from girl stuff to boy stuff, but I really liked the way the baby's room came together.

Baby Shower

On Thursday, they had a baby shower at the office for me and one of the assistants that is due about a week after me. It was fun, even though I hate to be the center of attention. They ordered lunch for us, we opened gifts, and got a bunch of cute boy clothes. Thankfully everyone had really good taste! I shudder sometimes at the things people give...I know, I know...I do appreciate the thought and generosity of others, but sometimes it is hard to be gracious when something is just so, well, you know. Kendyl and Brityn had fun opening up the presents and enjoyed picking out their own gifts for "baby brother".

The question is...

can we fit three carseats in the backseat of our car?

The answer is...YES!!!



We have a third row in our SUV, but it would be difficult to access if we had two carseats in the second row, so we decided to see if we couldn't get all three kids in the same row. Hurray we did! After we figured out the best seat locations for everyone we did a little test drive just for practice. :)



We borrowed one of Brityn's babies, but had to dress the doll in boy clothes to make it authentic! I did unbuckle the doll out of the carseat when we stopped at the store so no one would think we left the baby in the car!

Baby's Room Before...

We've been busy getting ready for the arrival of "baby brother". His room finally got cleaned out and prepped for painting--no more pink curtains or flowers on the wall. :) As you might guess, Steve did most of the work (thanks big daddy!), with the assistance of two little helpers!