Baby Connor

My youngest brother and his wife just had their first baby a couple of weeks ago. Leanna is such a big girl holding cousin Connor. We're all very excited to have our new addition join our family next year. I'm due June 20th. I found a group of midwives in our area and this group also has their own birthing inn located in the same building. I feel so good having a midwife deliver our baby. My last experience with Brandon was exceptional.

Merry Christmas everyone! 

It was meant to be.

Fall time is here and it is so beautiful with the leaves changing colors. Leanna is happy learning art, songs, crafts and whatnot with her small preschool class. Joshua, who is born with infinite amounts of energy is always busy fixing, building, cleaning or vacuuming. Brandon is so easy-going, and happy playing with big brother and big sister.

Well the biggest news of the season is here! I'm expecting our fourth child! I knew I wasn't done at three, and I think Jeff wasn't either, but he just had a harder time admitting it. We're very excited and the kids are happy to have another playmate too. Looks like we'll be having another summer baby. I can't wait to meet our new little one next year. 

Sippy cup break!

Two happy and busy weeks in August were spent in Sacramento, CA to visit Grandma & Grandpa (Jeff's folks). We always have a wonderful time visiting everyone there. We celebrated Grandpa's 70th birthday, we went swimming, we went hiking at the Calaveras Big Trees park, we spent 3 nights in a cabin up in the Sierras, and we went to Fairytale Town!

All of these activities were spent with the kids' cousins Logan (3yrs) and Miya (2yrs). The picture above is at Fairytale Town which the kids just loved! We really enjoyed watching the kids interact with their cousins. They already have such a good relationship with each other. It's great to see them enjoy each others company. 

Helping Daddy fix the car!

Before we head on down to California to visit Jeff's parents and family we needed to change the brakes in our minivan. Joshua was so excited to help!

Now as a side note, Joshua loves to "fix" things. He loves his tools and he takes his screwdriver all around the house and unscrews everything he can find (i.e. door hinges and such). Josh doesn't care to watch cartoons like his sister. His favorite show is Trucks which is a guy show about fixing and installing things on various types of trucks. He loves this show and is glued to the tv when it's on. He actually gets annoyed when there's a commercial break.

So yesterday he was so excited to "help Daddy fix the car" as he repeated to us all day long. Of course little Brandon had to join in on the fun too. He observes and copies everything his siblings do. Sometimes funny, sometimes not.

It made changing the brakes take twice as long, but hey, the boys had a great time! 

Our Brandon Baby Boy is 1 year old!

Brandon turned 1 year old on July 14th. He's modelling his birthday outfit given to him from his Po-Po and Gong-Gong (my parents). Yes, he is preppie and I love it! Brandon is such a good natured little one. He's quiet and is content playing with his toys. He wrestles with Joshua all the time and with Daddy too. The only time we hear him is when he gets excited and wants something, whether it be a toy or some food. He'll let out this distinct baby scream and it's so funny. Brandon is also our biggest cuddle bug. He loves to be held and snuggled with. He'll lay his head down on you and just hold on. He's so cute. We're so blessed to have him in our family. Love you Brandon Baby Boy! 

Olympic National Park

A couple of weeks ago we took a day trip out to Olympic National Park and we were completely amazed at how beautiful Washington State is. We drove up to Hurricane Ridge and for fun we decided to hike up this trail which was about a mile, and hey, everyone else was doing it. Normally a quick short hike on a trail wouldn't be such a challenge to me, but let me tell you, every step was a struggle.

Earlier that morning I had climbed up the kids' bunkbed to grab a blanket and on the last step down I put all of my weight onto a darn Happy Meal toy! It totally stabbed me in the foot! As I fell to the ground, through cursings and whimpers of pain, I told Jeff that I swore I wasn't going to be one of those families that had toys everywhere and that we inevitably became one of them! I was a gimp all day. Hence my struggle hiking and having baby on my back too.

We had a great time nonetheless. We love living here in Washington and enjoy being surrounded by mountains, ocean and trees. 

I 'm hungry too Mom!

In the hustle of getting Mommy, Daddy and our 3 little pidgeons fed in the morning, I had apparantly taken too long for our growing 2 yr old to wait. Instead of waiting for a couple of slices of banana bread, he reached up and grabbed half the loaf and sat himself down on the couch to eat. Josh's expression clearly says "What's so funny mom? I was just hungry." 

When you're tired....you're tired...zzzzzz

Leanna sometimes says she's tired around dinnertime, but usually so she can keep playing or watch a little tv. After all of us finished our dinner, I told her she needed to take 5 bites and then she can be all done. We all left the dinner table and went about our activities and after 5 or so minutes I went to check on her and this is what I found. A very tired girl who pulled another chair to lay down on. She was sound asleep when I took this picture. I thought this was so funny!