I love these boys!!

I wanted to write down some of the things the boys have said lately that are so cute.

On Monday Jack came to me and told me he wanted to build his horse bed again with his daddy (the boys helped Jake put the bunk beds together the day before) Jack told me he wanted daddy to break his horse bed so that he could build it again.

The boys like the movie Sleeping Beauty and they especially like to sing and dance to the song "I know you I walked with you once upon a dream." They hold hands, dance around in circles while singing the song. I think it is sooo cute to watch them play together all the while using their imagination. (Jake tells me I can't let them watch all the girl movies anymore like sleeping beauty, little mermaid, beauty and the beast.)

Yesterday I was listening to the boys and they were pretending to go camping. They had all of their pillows and blankets out on the floor in the hall pretending to be camping. They were roasting marshmallows on their pretend fire and eating them. Jack even was nice enough to share his marshmallows with me!

Sometimes Sam will just come up to me and say "you're smart mom" I am sure he has heard us tell him he is a smart kid so he then tells it to us!

I'm sure all of you know now that Jack has a fascination with horses. We have little horse figures, horse books, horse movies, 2 stick riding horses and a rocking horse! We just about have it all except for the real thing! Jack will run around the house pretending to be a horse. He has gotten good at making horse noises! Jake tells me we are going to have to buy horse property and a horse someday!

Samuel loves to make up songs and stories.....He usually does this when he is happy and excited about something. He starts singing and dancing as he is making up the words to his own songs! He gets this from his dad as Jake makes up songs about anything and sings them aloud.

It is so fun to just sit back and watch/listen to your kids. They are actually pretty intelligent. I love that I get to be their mom and watch them play and grow everyday!

Love those eyes!

I just wanted to post a picture of Ava I took today. I was trying to get her to smile as I have yet to get a great picture of her smiling. She is just so adorable and we feel so blessed to have her in our family!

Ava's stats at 2 months

For my personal journal here are Ava's stats at 2 months:

Weight: 9lbs 10th%
Height : 23 inches 50th%
Head Circumference: 37 cm 10th%

I was surprised that she was actually 9lbs.......our kids are just so petite!

No more Crib!!

We decided it was time to take Jack out of the crib and put him in a big boy bed. We wanted to get bunk beds for the boys.......we found a great bunk bed at Costco that you can use as two twin beds. We decided to use them as twin beds for now while Sam is still too young to sleep on the top bunk. The boys love there new beds and Jack is enjoying being out of the crib and in a bed! Jack has now been in his big boy bed for two days and is doing great. He has only gotten out of bed when it is time to get up! Sam is also doing great.......no more rails on the side of his bed.....and so far he has not fallen out!

Can she really be two months?!!

I can't believe my sweet Ava turned two months old on Saturday! Time just goes by way too fast.....does anyone know how I can stop my children from growing up?! Ava has been a wonderful addition to our family. She just absolutely loves her brothers and they just adore her!

Here is what Ava has been up to the past month. Ava has found her hands and loves to stare at them and try to stuff them in her mouth. She is smiling all the time now and loves to have conversations with us. She still sleeps great and is only waking up once or twice a night. Her reflux is starting to get under control with the medicines.......it breaks my heart to see her in such pain. She loves to be carried around in the sling.....I never had one with the boys and I don't know what I did without it. She calms down almost immediately when you put her in the sling. She can sleep in there for hours and it is one of the only times we can get her to take a pacifier. She is starting to get into a napping and eating routine which helps her and me! She still loves to sleep in her swing swaddled up tight. She isn't very fond of her tummy and can only be on it a few minutes before she starts to cry to be picked up. She is a pretty strong girl and is getting better at holding her head up. She is still wearing newborn diapers but I'm sure not too much longer and she will outgrow them. She is finally starting to fit into her 3 month clothes. We go to the doctor tomorrow for her 2 month well visit and to begin immunizations......it always makes me sad to see them get shots!

I feel so blessed to be a mother to this very special daughter of our Heavenly Father. I remember a blessing Jake gave me when I was pregnant with Ava. In the blessing I was told that my Heavenly Father wanted to send Ava to me and that he trusted me with one of his precious daughters. At that moment I knew how truly special Ava was going to be. We love you Ava!

Christmas Pictures.......Finally!

Samuel opening up food for their new kitchen

Jack and his new rocking horse.......this kid loves horses!!

Jack discovers a new horse in his stocking......we now have about 20 horses in our house!

Samuel and his dragon.....he has been into dragons and dinosaurs lately

Sam and Jack playing with their new kitchen Santa brought them......Jake had a hard time letting the boys play with a kitchen but he couldn't say no when they told him over and over thats what they wanted for Christmas!

Coming down the stairs checking out what Santa brought them!

Making cookies for Santa

Testing out the cookies to see if they are just right for Santa!

I wanted to put Christmas pictures up for the longest time but due to not being in our own home......we don't have the computer set up or the internet. So I use Jake's laptop and someones unsecured wireless internet while I can! We had a great Christmas.....the boys enjoyed every minute of it. We spent Christmas Eve morning making cookies for Santa.......Christmas Eve with my family.......spent Christmas morning at home and that afternoon we went to Jake's family. Here are some pictures of our Christmas!

Our little girl is a month old!!

I love this picture of Sam.....it captures his personality so well!

Ava loving her bath time!

Sam loving his little sister

Our little Ava a few days old

Our little Ava is a month old today!! I can't believe how fast the past month has flown by. The past month has been quite busy getting into a routine again. Ava is doing great.....at her two week appointment she weighed 6lbs 9 oz.....2 oz shy from her birth weight. She eats great and sleeps great at night. She eats before bed at around 10:00......sleeps until 2 or 3......eats at that time and then sleeps until 5 or 6......I am up by that time anyways because Jack still is getting up early. Ava is waking up for longer periods of time during the day and is becoming more alert. She loves to look at faces....especially those of her family. It even appears that she is starting to smile and coo at us! We love our little girl and feel so blessed to have her in our lives. She is so perfect and such a great addition to our family. I can't even imagine our lives without her!

She gets a whole lot of attention from her brothers......they love to kiss her and talk to her. My favorite is to hear them talk to her in a sweet voice and say....... it's ok sweetie......you're ok baby Ava. They are great helpers.....they love to help hold her, burp her and clean her up when she spits up. They always tell me that their baby Ava is a cutie and a sweetie! It has been so great for me to see my boys interact with their sister.

I can't believe that a month has passed already......we look forward to what the next month may bring us!