Stocking Stuffer....

I had a friend suggest that I should post a few things about toys on my blog. For some reason I know a lot about the toys that we have purchased for Porter and Carlee. Money has always been tight for us, so when we buy something it has to be good and it has to last. So tonight when I was giving the kids a bath I decided to act on my friends suggestion and share one of my favorite stocking stuffer ideas with all of you.

When Porter and Carlee take a bath one of their favorite things to do is to put on their goggles and become "scuba divers". I think every kid should have a pair of goggles for the bath. Who says you have to be in swimming lessons to have goggles, no one!! The great thing about them is that they are cheap (you can probably find them on clearance at Target right now because it is the end of summer), they are fun for the tub, and they fit great in the stocking.

So there you have it, my first toy suggestion. Now that fall is fast approaching us and so is the wonderful holiday season, I will try to post more of my favorite toys. Happy shopping!!

Tessa's Blessing Day

Yesterday was such a special day for us as a family and espeically for Tessa. Andy blessed Tessa that she would feel the love of her brother and sister, to learn right and wrong and be willing to choose the right, to be strong, healthy, and wise, and to be a shining example to all around her. It was such a wonderful blessing, Andy is a wonderful father. It was amazing to me when Andy walked up to the stand with her that Tessa is our daugther. She is so sweet, precious, and happy, she is truly a blessing in our lives, we are so lucky to have her.

After church we came home and got things ready for the bar-b-que. We invited some friends over to celebrate Tessa's special day.

Carlee loving on Tessa, again.

Andy holding Porter while we waited for everyone to come over.

Carlee was laughing so hard because she did not want me to take her picture, so I had to trick her.

Andy was so excited to use his new birthday bar-b-que, and he did a great job cooking the chicken and the hamburgers.

I promise, nothing was burned.

Devin pushing Carlee, Sadee, and Cam on the swings.

Piper, Porter, and Sadee "eating" dinner at the kids table.

Andy set out a bowl of mini marshmallows for the kids and they devoured it! A little sugar doesn't hurt right????

Andrea and Candace talking.

The Lemon family, Lauralee, Barak, and Caleb.

Baby Hank, he's just 3 weeks younger than Tessa.

Devin holding Tessa.

We had such a great day with everyone and we are so grateful to have made such wonderful friends here. We miss all of our family and friends wherever you may be and want you to know how much we love you. Thank you to everyone who has supported us on this crazy journey and been a part of our lives.

The lady at the park

Today I took the kids to the park and we met a few of our friends there. We decided to go to the Elmwood park in Rocky River because it is at the end of a street and not a lot of people go there, which today that was not the case. There were so many mom's there with their kids, I could not believe it. I have never seen so many mom's and young kids at a park before, and believe me, we have been to our fair share of parks.

Of course as I took Tessa out of the baby sling to hold her, is when Carlee decided that she wanted to swing in the baby swing. I walked up to the swing, and not paying attention to anything else except for my three children, I attempted to lift Carlee with one hand up into the swing while still holding Tessa with my other. I noticed then that there was a child in the swing next to Carlee and just as Carlee was about to sit down, the mother of the child asked me if I needed help.

I laughed and say no thank you, but thought to myself how crazy I must have looked trying to put Carlee into the swing. I told the mother that I didn't know what I was doing with three kids. She said that it looked like I was doing a good job and that she had five children herself. I was very surprised. It just doesn't seem like a lot of people outside of Utah have more than two kids.

Then we were talking about how the first child is a total life change and the second child is just a minor re-adjustment. I told her I felt like Tessa was the easiest for me and she agreed about her third and then she continued on to say that she felt that the third child is always easy because it is God's way of saying thank you for having more children and for giving them the opportunity to come to earth.

As she said that I had one of those moments where I felt so good about being a mother of three children and everything that she said just made perfect sense!! I know that there are other mothers out there who feel ashamed sometimes when they tell people they are pregnant with their thrid and fourth child. For example the frist child is always so exciting, then with the second everyone is waiting and wondering when you are going to be pregnant with number two. Child number three is oh wow, okay, really, has it been almost three years since you had your second. Then child number four, people start to freak out and wonder if you are going to produce your own sports team.

Anyway, we should never be or feel ashamed about having children. I too agree with the lady at the park, and no, Andy and I are not pregnant with child number four.

I am waiting....

Today as I was thinking about being so excited for the fall and all of the fun holidays that are coming up, I remembered one of my most favorite things that happens this time of year, new episodes of The Office. And for all of those people that are out there that do not watch, you should really give it a shot. This is one of my favorite Dwight clips that I saw during the Olympics.

Take me out to the ballgame....

Friday night was our first ever Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball Game. I surprised Andy for his bithday. Actually his birthday is not for a few more weeks, but the Indians season ends next week, so this was the only time that we could go. I told Andy about the game when he came home and was asking what we had going on because he really wanted to go to the father/son campout and he proceeded to get things ready for the campout, finally I just handed him his new Indians shirt that I just bought him and said "this is what we have going on." He said thanks and put the shirt in his dresser. I had to point out that I gave him the shirt because we were going to a game. He finally caught on. So, our friends Devin, Andrea, Andin, Cambira, Dave, Anne, Ellie, and Hank came with us. It was so neat to walk into the ballpark with all of the lights and fans cheering, it really puts you in the mood to cheer too.

The whole crew right when we got there, from left: Anne and Hank, Dave, Ellie, Shay and Tessa, Andy, Porter, Carlee, Andrea and Cam, Devin and Andin.

Carlee, Ellie, Cam, Porter, and Andin checking out the action while the parents tried to find the seats.

Tessa chillin' in the "granola crunchie" baby sling.

I loved being at this baseball field. It was so neat to be right in the middle of the city surrounded by all of the tall buildings.

The fam watching the game.

Porter and Andin eating peanuts.

The girls Carlee, Ellie, and Cam "watching" the game.

Daddy and Porter cheering after a home run.

A shot of the field, I love how amazing the grass is, it's soooo green!

Tessa smiling big showing off her dimple.

After each home run they do fireworks, it is so exciting and the kids loved it.

I think that my favorite moment of the game was when they played the song "Take me out to the ballgame". Andy and I would sing that to Porter so much when he would take a bath when he was a baby. So as soon as I heard the music and everyone started singing, I immediatley looked over at him to see if he would catch on. Porter and I made eye contact and saw the twinkle, he knew the song. I jumped up out of my seat and grabbed him and we sang it at thr top of our lungs! We almost didn't go to the game that night because it was raining all day long, but we went anyway and we were rewarded, it was a beautiful night.

Brush and Floss, Brush and Floss

This morning Porter and Carlee had a dentist appointment, it was Carlee's first time, so we were really excited. We went to a pediatric office in Avon that was totally amazing, I could not believe the waiting room. It had a huge television for the kids to watch, a puzzle table, rocking horse, touch screen games for toddlers, and seperate room with four tv's hooked up to video games!! Hello, what makes people think that kids need this while they wait to see the dentist. Anyway, the crazy thing about their appointments today is this new test called the CariScreen 1 minute test. This new test detects the level of decay-causing bacterias in the mouth. They just have a long cotton swab thing and rub it on the tooth, put it in a tube with a water solution, and then bam, you get a magic number. Here is the number scale: 1-1500 low, 1501-3500 moderate, 3501-9999 high. Porter's number was in the 700's, yea!! Carlee's number was 5000, so the doctor did the test again, with a new cotton because she did not believe it. Carlee's second number 4500!!! Hello, this just shows again how completley different Porter and Carlee are. Andy and I have concluded that Porter will have my teeth with few cavities, and poor Carlee has Andy's teeth and is just doomed. This is what Porter and Carlee were watching when they were in the chairs, a nice flat screen tv.
Carlee with Dr. Ramirez after Carlee was all done. They have all the kids take pictures with the dentist and then give them a picture frame magnet to put on the fridge.

Porter with the dentist after his cleaning. You can tell from his face that he was not so sure about the sticky flouride treatment that was painted on his teeth. Carlee after she chose her Nemo fish toy that swims in the tub.Porter and Carlee finding what they got in their take home bag. This is in the waiting room where they were escorted by the assistant while I stayed back in the room and talked with the dentist. Oh, another thing that I like about this experience was that the dentist cleaned the kids teeth, not the assistant. We have had that in the past where the assistant cleans, and then the dentist just comes to check over. Overall we had a great experience and the kids are looking forward to going to the dentist again.

Little Girls Bonding

A couple of days ago Andrea stopped by with the kids and Andrea and I were sitting on the couch when it suddenly became quite. Everyone with kids knows that when it becomes quite is when you should start getting concerned. A few minutes later Andy walked into the room and I asked him if he knew what Carlee and Cambria were doing, he just laughed, so I took that as him knowing and they were fine. Again, a few minutes later he walked into the room and handed the camera to Andrea and I to see what the girls were doing. Here is what I saw......... Yes, they had colored all over each other. It was on their backs, necks, faces, arms, hands, and even inside their bellybuttons and ears!! I just wonder what the conversation was between them while this was happening. This coloring incident reminds me of a few years ago in Maine when Porter and his friend Miaja colored on eachother.

Maybe coloring on a friend is a childhood requirement these days and I just missed the memo.

Tessa's Photo Shoot

I had my friend Andrea come over to take some pictures of Tessa for me and they turned out great. Andrea is amazing with the camera and has an eye for things that I never see. As you can see from these pictures, she always gets the best shot.

Pre-school, here he comes!

P-man had his first day of pre-school this morning, yes, I was trying not to cry. He is so amazing, he was not concerned at all. As we were getting ready this morning he was singing a song he learned at church called "I love to see the temple". He knew all of the words, which made me even more sad, but in a happy way. As we were getting ready to go outside so that I could torture him with the camera he asked me if I was going to leave him there at the school. I said yes, but only for a short while. He looked down at the ground and said "but what if I get lost in the halls walking to my class?" Porter thought I was just going to dump him off at the curb, NEVER!! Anyway, Porter walked right in and went and found his name on the rug and sat down. One of his teachers noticed him and went right over and gave him a big hug, I had to take a deep breath, just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. After they went in to the class and shut the door Carlee and I stood there and watched. They have the one way glass (I think that is what it's called), so we can see them but the kids cannot see us, pretty neat. As Carlee and I were walking out, she said "mom, let's go get Porter." She was missing him already.

We love the things they say.......

Another Chunky Monkey

Tessa had her one month appointment this morning, even though she is 6 and a half weeks (our dr. was out of town). Tessa weighs 12 lbs. 1 oz. and is in the 95% for her weight. She is 23 in long now and in the 90% for her length. I love to see her grow and to see all of her rolls, but that is causing an issue in the clothes department. I feel like I just got out all of her newborn stuff and I am already having to put it all away, it's time for the 3-6 month clothes. If things continue going this way we will have another chunky monkey on our hands!

Out with the old, in with the new

For my birthday in July Kay Lee bought me two hydrangea plants and I loved them so much we went and bought another one and we also got another tree thing called a rosebud azalea, to go in between the hydrangea's. We planted all of the plants in the front of our house which used to have these horrible holly bushes that were pokie and grew out of control. Andy pulled the holly bushes out and planted the new tree thing.

For those who don't know much about azalea's or hydrangea's: hydrangea's change color according to the acidity in the soil. The plant that Kay Lee first got for me was bright purple and is now changing to pink (I think). Azalea's just look like a tree but they bloom pink rose-like flowers in the spring that I am so excited to see.

This is the first plant I have that is changing to pink.

The other plant that I got in July that just bloomed the flower on the top and the little green flower towards the bottom of the picture is what is looks like right before they flower.

This is my brand new hydragea with a bright blue flower.

The colors of the flowers are so beautiful!!

The azalea bush is in the middle of this picture.