Easter 2011

We got to do 2 different Easter egg hunts this year. The first was with our play group friends.

Avery had it all figured out this year and got quite a few eggs in her basket before the bigger kids came out to hunt.

Sophie loved finding the big eggs in our friend's yard.

A little checking out and comparing of baskets going on after.

I think it's safe to say they both got enough candy to rot their teeth right out of their mouths. Good thing I confiscate most of it after they eat a few eggs' worth.

We love our play group friends!

We also dyed eggs for FHE one night.

The girls had a blast, and I think Dad did too. :)

Our second egg hunt was with our OC cousins and our cousins' cousins.

Grandma Lamb helped William find his first egg. He is grabbing everything that's within a 10 foot radius of him these days so it wasn't surprising to see him hanging onto this basket with a steel grip.

I honestly wondered if Avery would find one egg and sit down to enjoy what was inside, but she was the Energizer bunny and kept searching until every last egg had been found.

She did pause long enough for a photo opp, though.

The girls were so excited when they realized that not only was there candy in the eggs, but some had cash!

And here is the whole fam in our Easter Sunday outfits.

Strawberry Spring

We returned to our favorite strawberry fields this spring to gorge ourselves on the delicious fruit. We love Tanaka Farms!

There is nothing better than a strawberry kissed and warmed by the sun, straight out of the ground and into your mouth. We couldn't get enough of them.

We went once again with our cousins and some friends. William wishes he could have eaten some too, but he still had a good time on the wagon ride.

And since we hadn't had enough adventures for the day, we decided to make a stop at Disneyland on the way home too. The girls' favorite ride right now is of course Small World, even if the song does play about 1,389 times too many for me.

"Strange Things Are Afoot at the Circle-K"

We have some exciting news to share. After many months of searching, we're buying a home!

And in case you're familiar with this area, the above quote ("Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K") should give you an idea of where the home is located. It's from the movie "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." Any guesses? Here's another quote from the same movie that might help: "San Dimas High School football rules!"

Yes, we bought a home in San Dimas, CA, about 10 minutes from where we currently live in Glendora. If you'd have told Joseph 20 years ago that he'd ever own a home in San Dimas he would've never believed you, but I secretly think that it's one of the reasons he agreed to buy this particular house. As you can see, it's pretty cute and we're really excited. We'll be in it by June! We'll post pics of it once we've gotten all moved in. Yay!

Will's First Solids

We decided to try out some solid food on William when he was about 4 1/2 months. We've started at that age with all our kids and the girls both took to it pretty well, so we hoped Will would too.

This is the same bouncer chair all 3 of our kids have been sitting in when they've first tried solids.

"I don't know about this, Mom!"

"Whadd'ya think about rice cereal, kiddo?" See his reaction below...

Not a fan. Every single bite came right back out. I have since tried oatmeal, mashed bananas, and mashed peaches as well, and he didn't like any of them. Only this last week has he started swallowing a little oatmeal, so at least we're making some progress. If it can get him to sleeping all night long like it did with his sisters, I will be one happy mama!

Princess Avery

Avery went to her first princess birthday party with just her 2 and 3-yr. old friends. It was for her friend Mia.

She was so sweet in her fancy dress and all on her own she crossed her legs and clasped her hands like a true princess. Princess Kate ain't got nothin' on her!

She was in heaven when she got to color and play with stickers, two of her very most favorite things.

The girls had their tea and crumpets (or something like that) and it was so fun to watch them.

They each were given a cupcake with a candle to blow out after singing "Happy Birthday" which I thought was so smart so that they didn't blow out the birthday girl's candle for her.

Seeing Green

We were seeing green on St. Patrick's Day this year. For dinner we had green jello, green milk, and pesto pasta. And yes, that's a pot sitting on my table, but it's green so I let it stay. Nobody got pinched this year but we still had a fun day!

I {Heart} These Three

We've been up to a lot lately that I will post later, but for now here are some pictures of the kiddos since this is what I've really been up to lately.

This is such a happy little guy. He makes me smile so much and I can't get enough of him. His Uncle Geoff gave him this little cow outfit and when Sophie saw him in it she said, "Look, Mom, he's a cow boy!" I love when they start getting funny!

In our pj's, all ready for bed.

At 4 months old William is 17 lbs. and over 25 inches long. He is trying to roll over but hasn't quite gotten it yet. But he loves to kick his feet wherever we are, in the bath, on the couch, when I'm holding him--they're always pedaling.

William doesn't love tummy time, but none of my kids have. And you'll notice I finally finished his baby blanket. I hope he loves it as much as his sisters have loved theirs.

Usually William looks like Avery, but sometimes he resembles Sophie, too. I don't know if it's because it's a weird angle and he's right next to her here, but in this picture he looks a lot like Sophie to me. And that's spaghetti sauce on Avery's face.

We had a string of hot days last week so we finally broke out the swim suits to do more than just go in the hot tub. The pool was still cold but that didn't deter the girls. William wasn't a big fan, but he will be. And I have to mention that Avery is potty trained! I am so excited to only have one in diapers again (though Avery still wears one at night, and probably will for a while.) I love that she's in big girl underwear except for when we go to the park and the pool. Then it gets a lot more annoying, but I'll take the inconvenience any day. Way to go, Aves!

Superhero Princesses

Sophie went to a fun super hero birthday party a couple weeks ago. She was so excited to see that the cape that everyone got had an "S" on it. I don't know if she realized the "S" was for Superhero, but I'm not going to tell her it didn't mean Sophie.

The girls were getting antsy one Sunday afternoon so Joseph created a spider's web on the stairs with some yarn. The girls had to try to get down the stairs without touching the web. This entertained them for quite a long time. I have such a creative husband!

Avery loves to color and spends many an hour in this spot coloring not just pages but also the counter and her whole body with her markers. She has stopped taking naps during the day but has a hard time making it through the whole day until her 7:30 bedtime without falling asleep for a few minutes around 4 or 5. It was so cute to watch her fall asleep on her books this day. I especially love the blue marker on her forehead.

Sophie got to take home Mr. Froggy from school one day to document what he got to spend the day doing with us. Here he is watching a little Word World or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with the girls.

We often meet up with our friends the Hyers at the park and one day I commented to Shannon when the dreaded ice cream truck pulled into the parking lot that my kids still didn't know what that truck was and I hoped we could keep them in the dark as long as possible. So I had to laugh when I got a text and this picture from her one Saturday when Joseph had taken Sophie and Avery to the park and seen the Hyers there that, "They know what the ice cream truck is now! Those dang Hyers are such a bad influence!" She bought them ice cream, and now they ask me for it whenever we see the truck. Dang Hyers indeed--hahahaha.

And to close, here's a video of the girls meeting Princess Tiana at Disneyland. I love her southern accent. And I love Sophie's backpack that she insisted on taking with her, packed full of activities to keep her busy in the car, as well as a burp rag for William. Such a mamacita.

A Little of Everyone

A few weeks ago I left Joseph at home with Sophie and Avery and traveled with William for his first plane ride ever. Thank goodness he did pretty well.

We went to Utah to be with my family as my sister Julie went for her first time through the temple.

She is going to be married this summer to a great guy, Leo, and since she is the last of my siblings to be able to go through the temple, my parents wanted all their kids there for this special event.

I truly wish Joseph and my girls could have also come, as well as Peter's family. They were greatly missed. But it was an awesome experience to be there with all these wonderful people, and I'm just excited for the wedding this summer in which we all will be there together!

I missed both my girls, including this little Peanut and all her antics. She's a funny, independent, spit-fire of a 2-year old and I love her. (Those are hair bands on her fingers, fyi.)

Alright, who puts rubber bands on this boy's thighs and wrists every night?

Somebody's a little milk drunk I think.

Sophie rode in her school's bike-a-thon a couple weeks ago. She's riding Avery's bike here because she's got a better handle on it than her big one, and she rode very cautiously. Sophie likes preschool a lot and has had a fun year. We've recently decided to let her do one more year of it instead of sending her to Kindergarten at the age of 4 (though it was not an easy decision), and she's excited to go another year.

William is starting to look more like his daddy every day. We have two models of children we've decided. William and Avery fall into one model with Joseph, and Sophie's in my model.

See what I mean? A lot of it is the eyes. :)

Little Ballerinas

It's time for ballerinas and tutus once again!

The girls are taking the class together this time and couldn't be happier about it.

Avery couldn't take a serious picture. She spent the entire photo shoot trying to pull Sophie down to the ground with her. Do you love the incongruity between the pretty clothes and the scraped up nose on Avery? She's a tomboy in a tutu.

This is Avery's first dance class but Sophie's second. Avery couldn't wait to be old enough to dance like Sophie did last year.

Here they all are on their first day. Is that Sophie picking her nose? Why yes, I think it is. (sigh) Oh well, they had a blast and Avery is spending less and less time sprawled out on the floor goofing off each time, so mommy's happy.