woohoo!!

we're pregnant with our fourth little monkey!! we are so excited for our new addition. this baby will be about 15 months apart from sammy, which is a lot for our family:) hopefully, the due date is accurate this time- july 18!

family visits

nana, aunt judy, and uncle richard came for a visit over thanksgiving...the kids had soooo much fun!! they took to everyone faster than we thought they would, but they looooooovvveeed uncle richard- especially jack. that was due to the fact that uncle richard not only let jack play with his laptop, but also handed jack his cellphone to play with. then he found some wiggles' videos for jack to watch. in jack's mind, uncle richard is the coolest person in the whole world. audrey was so infatuated with him, that on the last day, she only wanted uncle richard to take her out of the carseat and hold her hand while walking:) after everyone left, audrey told me to go to the airport and get "nana, aun ju, and unc rich" so they could come and play:) i think audrey wanted to walk with nana to the mall again- she suckered nana into buying everything she asked for:) i'd say the visit was a HUGE success considering uncle richard was on his mission when jack and sammy were born:)

sammy and aunt judy

celebrating nana's birthday- the kids were overly excited for the cake- they love birthday cakes:) jack started eating the cake before it was cut:)

playing with uncle richard's computer

making gingerbread houses with aunt judy- it was pretty for about 5 seconds. then the kids ate it:)

"helping" nana open her birthday presents- jack found where i hid them and kept asking to open them the entire week before nana came. when the time came to finally open them, he was all over it. christmas is going to be epic.

my boys!

here are some of my favorite pics of the boys:)

sammy and jack...they figured out what to do:)

jack really likes when sammy pushes him in the wagon:)

he was sooooo mad at me for taking this picture instead of picking him up:)

sammy's first real food- the kids gave it to him:) at least they like to share!

bookworms

this is where i found jack and audrey one morning. they had been in their room for about an hour, just laughing and playing. i wasn't allowed in:) when things quieted down, i poked my head in and this is what they were doing...

potty training success

audrey's finally thoroughly potty trained!! yea!!! it's such a relief to not have to remind her to use the potty or bribe her with chocolates and stickers:) she loves the "baby potty" more than the "daddy potty", but as long as she's not having accidents, we're happy with whatever she's more comfortable with! she's also completely trained through the night! that happened first, surprisingly:) we're so happy for our big girl!

we're ready for christmas!!

we've had our christmas tree up for a few weeks now, but the novelty of it still hasn't worn off. everyday, i find audrey, jack, and sammy rearranging the ornaments:) thank goodness everything is child- friendly! sammy's already knocked the tree over trying to get to the star, but it's a fake tree, so no harm done:) we also made gingerbread houses that didn't last the decorating process- the kids, of course, ate all the candy once they "decorated" the houses:) audrey used a spoon- how ladylike:)- while jack opted for his fingers- that's my boy:) poor sammy didn't get to enjoy the frosting, but he did have a wonderful time scouring the floor under jack for sprinkles and gumdrops!

he's a goof

jack's such a goofy little boy...we just crack up watching him:)

this is him sneezing into a napkin. he just learned how to actually blow his nose, and for some reason, he finds it incredibley funny:)

this one is of him laughing himself silly while taking a bath. he always says no if you ask him to take a bath, but he loves it once he's in the tub with all the bubbles:)

they're my little buddies!

here are some video clips of the kids' recent activities..it's just an inkling of all the cute stuff they do on a minute- by- minute basis;)

jack dancing and singing to the opening song in wall-e:)

this is audrey wiggling her tail like a puppy:)

jack helping feed sammy

jack and the cake

we had jack's family celebration the day before his actual birthday since the kids were so excited prospect of another birthday cake, they couldn't wait:) we went to the bakery and jack pointed and said very confidently, "my birthday cake"!! we barely finished singing happy birthday to him before he and audrey dove in:)






this is where jack took his 18" Buzz toy so audrey and sammy couldn't get it:)


jack with his birthday stash!

halloween 2009

this halloween was the first where the kids actually got to eat their candy. we took them to the mall because the stores hand out TONS of candy. after about an hour, they were finished:) they had walked around the entire mall collecting candy along with a lollipop that never came out of their mouths:) jack was buzz lightyear, of course, and audrey was batman;) sammy was the cutest little teddy bear around:) by the time we left the mall, they were so hopped up on sugar, they couldn't sit still. and jack's mouth, chin, and cheeks were permenantly purple from this lollipop:) he also wouldn't let us take off his buzz costume. audrey just ran around pushing her dolly stroller until she decided she was tired enough to sit in it and make goofy faces at us. oh the wonderous invention of a holiday where the entire purpose is to look cute and eat as much candy as humanly possible!

this is jack after we cleaned him up:)

of course she's happy- she just ate her weight in chocolate! definitely my girl:)

sammy stood up

i came out of the bathroom and this is where i found sammy! he had the biggest smile on his cute little face! ever since, he's been pulling himself up onto things. the only problem is that he can't get back down:) we keep telling him to slow down a bit since sammy can't even crawl yet, aside from his gi joe body roll manuever:)

sunday afternoon

this is how i found jacob and the kids sunday afternoon:)

jack's birthday party

jack's 2nd birthday party was so much fun! jack and audrey "helped" me make the cupcakes for the party...we had a decorate your cupcake party to use up all the toppings from the ice cream party. i think they had more fun licking the bowl of batter than actually decorating the cupcakes:) jack was so over stimulated at his party he fell asleep before the guests left:) now that's a good party!

my little men

i love this pic...they're my little men! right after i took this picture jack gave sammy a huge hug and kiss...then sammy fell backwards. i didn't know what to do- comfort sammy or congratulate jack on being such a nice big brother. it was one of the many times i wished there were more of me:)

sammy

sammy's getting more mobile by the minute. i lose him all the time! the other day i couldn't find him and he wasn't making any sounds so i had audrey and jack be super quiet. turns out, he was in the foyer, playing with shoes! we never know where we'll find him next! i guess we can always follow the trail of drool:)

isn't he a cutie? this smile is infectious, especially at church!

they're playing choo choo train. i have no idea how this game even started:)

he's sitting in the tub!! bathing him is soooo much easier now!
this is where sammy waits for jack to drop food...he's like a puppy dog! i found cheese in his mouth one day! audrey's response was, "sammy need teeth"

we have no idea how he gets up here or how he gets down. he's just suddenly there and then he's not. it's magic:)

my big man in training

jack's just a cutie. he's picked up so many words and phrases from audrey, but at the same time, he's really starting to make up his own catch phrases:) it's hard not to hug him all the time because he's just sooooo squeezable!

this is jack's "funny face":)

this tie gets picked every sunday for daddy to wear. jacob's getting pretty tired of it, but the kids love it!:)

jack and his "cowboy hat"- it's the hat that started everything for me and jacob

he's a hoarder...he'll just walk around the house picking things up and carry them. everyday he collects new items.

they discovered the pockets in their pants. i think audrey's hands are stuck

audrey's 3rd b-day bash

audrey's finally three!!! we always have to birthday celebrations- a party for friends and one for the family, with cake and presents. jacob's big on milking the one day a kid can be selfish:) we had a "scream for ice cream" party where five little kids made their own ice cream sundaes. in lieu of gifts, we had each child bring their favorite ice cream topping- there was a HUGE assortment. of course the most popular were the sprinkles;) afterwards, the kids ran out their energy with a round of head-shoulders-knees-and-toes, all the while unable to focus due to the mass amounts of sugar coursing through their little bodies! jacob and i were pretty disappointed when all the parents showed up on time to pick up their kids. we all had a fantastic time!

audrey with her sundae- she opted for every topping!

left- right- jack, audrey, morgan, eddie, and cole

audrey with her cake:) in our home, the b-day kid gets the remainder of the cake after everyone has a slice:) yum!

audrey with her presents- she's nutso for wall-e, so we gave her her three favorite characters. she also got a baby alive with a doctor's kit, so she spent a week playing doctor:)

he's growing up!!

sammy's sitting up all by himself!! i just sat him up on day, just to see if he could, and he stayed!! and he's eating cheerios, bread, and yummy mushy baby food:) it's a good thing too because he was getting tired of eating bland oat cereal. audrey and jack were like that too- they get it from their dad:) no bland food allowed in our home!:) sammy's also been doing this little tummy scootch around the house. he's pretty fast now and there have been times when i turn around and sammy's not where i left him:) he's catching up to audrey and jack pretty quickly, especially when it comes to playing with toys:)

i love this pic- they talked for about fifteen minutes and jack was showing sammy his lion, or "rar":)