the first half of May

Brooklyn doesn't undress herself quite as much as she used to, but I still find her like this every so often...

35 weeks

I finally got a new phone!  I dropped my phone back in February in the library parking lot and it completely shattered the screen.  3 months later...finally can get rid of it!  Glass chunks were starting to fall out - it was time.

The kids have loved eating their lunch/dinner outside lately.  We are taking advantage of it while we can before the heat hits.

I laid down to nap one day and woke up finding Brooklyn next to me like this :)

My friend Mandy made this darling quilt for me!  I love it!  It matches perfectly with the girls room...I have done teal and purple for them (more on that later).  It was a surprise and so sweet of her to do.

Mother's Day

Brooklyn insisted on a picture with her 'My Little Ponies' - her most recent favorite toy.

For Mother's Day dinner we met a bunch of friends at the park and had a potluck.  We had pulled pork sandwiches and everyone brought a side to share.  Once again, perfect weather, and so fun to be with all these people.  This is a shot of the girls.  There are quite a few kids between us and several of us with one on the way.   I'm so thankful for such a great group of friends!

We went to the Desert Ridge splash pad with some friends and ate at Zupas after.  Jake loved the splash pad and entertained himself the whole time we were there.

Reese, Lexi, and Brooklyn

April randoms

These are all the random pictures from April off my phone.  I really need to get my camera fixed so I can take better pictures.

Some friends and I have been making file folder games...I've made about 15 so far...I'm such a nerd and love to color.  My kids have had a lot of fun with them though and they have been especially useful during sacrament meeting.

swimming in the backyard with Reese

31 weeks

Brooklyn's first stick figure drawing - she did our family.  I thought it was pretty good!  

Some friends and I took our kids to see Disney on Ice (again).  I took just Brooklyn back in January when it was all the princesses, but this one was celebrating 100 years of Disney, so there were TONS of characters that came out.   The kids loved it!  I only got 2 pictures and they aren't very good.

We watched Vinnie for 1 1/2 days the weekend before Easter.  He was such a good little boy and loved following my kids around.

We took dinner to John one night and let the kids run around and play on campus.

Brooklyn was my big helper all weekend.  Here she is "reading" Vinnie books before bed.

breakfast :)  Vinnie was always watching either Jake or Brooklyn.

I took the kids to Wal Mart...and fit right in....3 kids 3 and under and one on the way :)

Jake threw up in the middle of the night a couple of times on Sunday.  I was so glad he didn't pass anything on to Vinnie.  It was so sad to see him so sick.  He didn't understand why I wouldn't let him each much.  Anything I gave him, food or drink, he would throw up.  

By Wednesday he was still sick and throwing up just as much.  I decided to take him in to the doctor.  He gave me a prescription to help with the nausea and he didn't throw up again after that, thank heavens!  I was so sick of changing his clothes multiple times a day, washing his sheets, and cleaning up puke everywhere - our couch, carpet floors, his bed, yuck!  

Here he is on the way to the doctor.  I was driving and could hear him throwing up over and over again.  I felt pretty helpless, as I was driving, and could only listen.  I snapped this picture when we got there - he was so sad.  I caught the bug on Wednesday and was throwing up all day....NOT fun to be pregnant and have the flu, plus have to take care of 2 kids.  I called my mom a lot that week for reassurance that things would get better :)  Thankfully by Friday we were all better and able to participate in activities we had planned for Easter.

33 weeks

My friends threw me a birthday party/baby shower the night of my birthday.  It was so fun to get together and everyone was so generous.  I felt a little dumb having people give me presents for this baby because it is my 3rd and I already have a girl.  But ALL of Brooklyn's NB-3 month clothes are fleece, long sleeved shirts, pants, etc. because she is a January baby and born in Utah.  So it was actually very helpful to get some NB-3 month summer stuff!  My talented friend Kandas made Brooklyn this cute maxi chevron skirt (she has it pulled up really high) and a matching dress for the baby.  I am a little excited about matching my girls every now and then :)  

passed out Cinderella

We finally went and saw the Gilbert temple.  It is huge and so pretty!  We treated ourselves to Cafe Rio after.

Easter weekend

We had a really nice Easter weekend.  Thankfully Jake and I were feeling better (more on that next post) by the end of the week, when the festivities started.  I love that there are so many family oriented activities around us each holiday.

A few wards combined for play group and did a big Easter egg hunt for the kids.  I took 20 eggs earlier in the week (10 for each kid) to my friend and then each kid was allowed to find 10 eggs.  Brooklyn "got it" this year and quickly ran and found her 10.  Jake on the other hand would pick up one, open it, want to eat it, and get mad when I would pull him to find another :)

Reese and Brooklyn

Reese, Lexi, and Brooklyn after they found all their eggs.

The Saturday before Easter, Midwestern does a big Easter egg hunt (divided by age group).  They also have bounce houses, food, Easter crafts, and the Easter bunny comes.  This and Halloween are probably by two favorite holidays that Midwestern puts on for families. 

same thing here...Jake would open each one before moving on to the next.  I liked in his age group they didn't put any candy in their eggs...just little toys.

Brooklyn waiting patiently for her age group to go.

Brooklyn was so excited to see the Easter bunny and gave him a big hug when she sat down.  Jake, NOT a fan!  :)  John was trying to hold him down so I could grab a quick picture, but Jake fought and was outta there!! 

We dyed Easter eggs that night.  The kids loved it!  I love that they are old enough, especially Brooklyn, to get excited about traditions we do and remember them.

I love Jake's face - pure happiness.

The Easter bunny left them new pajamas on their beds (same as last year).

The kids were excited about their baskets and goodies the Easter bunny left them the next morning.  We have 9 o'clock church so it was a rushed morning, but they got to enjoy their stuff more once we got home.

These are the best before church pictures we could get...

My mom sent a little Easter egg hunt for the kids in the mail to do.  John hid them in our backyard and they loved finding them.  It made me laugh that they were disappointed when there was a dollar in the egg instead of candy....so I gladly took those :) 

We had friends and the sister missionaries over that night for dinner.  It was perfect weather so we ate in our backyard.  I did the ham, rolls, and deviled eggs...so only about 1/3 of the meal which was nice!