Long time no post....

Ok. I know i have TONZZZZ to catch up on, but in the meantime, here's a funny little picture of Thomas, taken today.... He's 5 1/2 months old.

Introducing little Thomas!

Here's some recent pics of our newest little guy. He was born on Jan 12th at 9:15pm. He came 3 weeks early! Even so, he still weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.

He's 3 weeks old in the pictures below . . . enjoy!

Big brother, Kimball, needs some camera time too.
He likes to lay next to baby Thomas and share his blanket with him.

My favorite things about Thomas so far:

He's a very happy, easy going baby!
Love the "swirl" growing pattern - right in the front & center of his hairline....so cute!
The squeaking & grunting noises he makes while nursing.

Kimball turns 3!!

Before the main birthday festivities on Sunday evening . . . (dinner with family & cousins, "offical birthday cupcakes" and opening presents), we had a cupcake-eating "dry run" before church . . . eating the cupcakes I scored from the General Relief Society broadcast the night before! Lucky kids!

To help celebrate Kimball's birthday, we invited Uncle Mark & Aunt Melissa and family over for dinner. Kimball was asking for his birthday cake all evening before they came. I kept telling him, "after Rachael gets here . . ." He waited and waited very patiently. Finally, it was time to light the candles on the (cup)cake! He was so excited!

Birthday Boy!

singing, "Happy Birthday to you!" Look at his smile :)

Blowing out the candles . . . (love this picture)

All of the cousins together for a picture with Kimball

Sarah helping Kimball unwrap his cupcake . . .

Kimball, 3, with big sister, Sarah, 5 1/2

Kimball & his best friend (& cousin), Rachael

I just have to insert a picture of the yummy Gourmet (!) cupcakes I made, thanks to a friend's recipe. They were Milky Way Cupcakes: chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling, and Milky Way candy bar icing on top. SOOOOO Good!!!

Opening the present: Buzz Lightyear Delux Wing Pack! Whoo whoo!

Daddy helping Kimball put it on . . .

Lookin' good, buddy!

Family picture with the Birthday Boy (notice that Allison -far left- went and put on the Buzz Lightyear dress-up that Kimball wore LAST YEAR for Halloween! Nice. Very nice :)

Happy Birthday Kimball !!!

Pumpkin Patch -- DewBerry Farms

On Kimball's 3rd birthday, Sept 25th, we went to the local Pumpkin Patch. In addition to the patch, this farm has all kinds of kid-friendly activities.

The farm had this old "thing" (what is it, a horse walker thingy ??) turned into a swing. Before Kimball had a chance to get on, Matt was already swinging the girls around. So when an empty "ball seat" came around, Kimball grabbed onto one and held on for dear life, while he got dragged around in a circle. He did it a couple of times. It was really funny.















Finally, I got on (very uncomfortable, especially for being 6 months pregnant), and let him swing with me.

The giant slide . . .

This horse was very friendly and let the kids pet her for a long time.


Cute picture of Allison, Kimball & Sarah watching the horse.

Duck pond with falling water = instant magnet for Kimball. At least he didn't get attacked by the geese, like Sarah did last year.


The "duck races." Each person picks a duck and then pumps the water to see who's duck gets to the end of the lane first. The kids love this every year.



Riding on the wagon out to the pumpkin patch.
We were all sweating to death! (did I mention that it was 97 degrees outside on this fine "Autumn" day??!) The wagon ride dropped us off right in front of a nice lush patch of big jack-o-lantern sized pumpkins. (which are all VERY expensive) When I asked the driver where the $1 mini pumpkins were, he pointed to the next field over . . . of course they don't drop you off there!!

Allison's picture of us. Nice and close-up. Too bad I was too lazy to put on make-up . . .

3 kiddos in the field.

uh-oh . . . Kimball found a bug . . . so much for the photo op (below)

Allison & Sarah on the "cow train"

Kimball on the "cow train"

Pig races.

School PIcture day

I decided to take my own pictures of Allison & Sarah right before they headed off to the bus stop -- and before their hair gets all messed up and lunch spilled on their clothes . . .

So, here's Allison, (almost 8) in 2nd grade

And Sarah, (5 1/2) in Kindergarten

Just me and the "Bubs"

Well, school started on Monday. Allison started 2nd grade and Sarah started Kindergarten. Sarah couldn't have been more excited.

The preparation for Sarah starting school began at the onset of the summer. Allison would give her a blow by blow account of what to expect during a typical day. I'd reinforce it with things that Sarah could no longer do once she started school . . . . like: burp, fart, use "potty language," throw fits when she gets mad, cry like a baby, get up and walk around when she's supposed to be sitting down eating lunch, being impatient and demanding things . . . You know, stuff like that. Stuff I've been telling her for a looooong time, but that has never seemed to go away. School is going to do WONDERS for Sarah!!! hee hee.

Monday morning, the girls woke up early, got dressed and did all their morning chores (like brushing hair & teeth, practicing piano, getting their bags packed, etc) and were ready to go. I think we were at the bus stop 10 minutes early. I even had a moment of panic that we somehow had missed the bus, because no one was out there. But we were just seriously early.

We made it a family affair at the bus stop. Kimball, Matt and I were all there. We took pictures, talked to the other neighbor kids (once they got there), looked at new backpacks, shoes & haircuts.

When the bus arrived, I snapped my last few shots of the girls getting on the bus . . . and they took off. No one even shed a tear. Not Sarah, and not me. I think that I was finally ready for school to begin, and Sarah was too excited to finally start kindergarten. Well, no one shed tears, except Kimball. He cried and cried that he couldn't get on the bus too! Poor guy.

We tried to console him by telling him we were going to go to the school to see Sarah in her new class, but it took him a while to calm down.

Now that we're on day 4 of the first week of school, it's old hat for him now. This morning he didn't even want to walk to the bus stop. He just stayed back and watched Curious George on tv. (a first . . . he usually really loves the bus stop.)

It's really weird to only have 1 child at home. In a way, it's alot harder for me, because his built-in playmates are all gone. It's just me and Kimball ("Bubs"). So today, I've already played "animals," cars & tractors, laid in my bed together while he ate popcorn and I thought I was going to puke everywhere, worked on puzzles, and now we're playing baby dolls. I figured Kimball could use some pretend play on how to be nice and soft to babies. No harm in that, right? Kimball was eager to feed the baby (doll) a bottle and food. But he didn't get the pretend part, and made me get a bowl of real cereal to feed the babies. (he ended up eating all himself in the end). He likes to hold the baby and then when he gets done with that, he just throws the baby on the floor. But it's still cute. :)

So, from now until February, this is how it's going to be. Then we're in for a BIG change. I hope he adjusts quickly. But I have a feeling it's going to be ugly.

Typical picture of Kimball getting the chips (a diet staple for him),

if the pantry isn't locked.

Here's a bunch of pictures from the First Day of School:

The three kids walking to the bus stop together . . . so cute!

Allison & Sarah . Cute Sisters.

(Allison ran through someone's sprinklers on the way to the

bus stop . . . nice.

Kimball wanted in on the action too.

Me and the 3 kiddos. . . Allison (7), Sarah (5), Kimball (2)

Kimball can't help but want a few pics taken of him.

He's wearing his favorite shirt: Curious George. So fitting for his personality.

Daddy and the kids.

Just Daddy & Sarah.

Getting on the bus!

Allison (left) waving good-bye.

Sarah at her table in her kindergarten classroom.

Helping put on her name tag . . .

One last picture together

Before we left the school, I snuck over to Allison's class

to get a picture of her with her new teacher, Mrs Hansen. She's so nice!