Smiley Claire!!

I am so blessed to have this happy baby in our family. She loves her siblings and smiles at every new face. Each of us loves to entertain her to get her to giggle and smile at us. She is now 5 months and is grasping at anything in her reach. She is not a fan of food yet but we keep testing her everyday. Here are some of her cute faces.

First Day of School

I really love when the first day of school comes around. I felt that way as a kid and even now as a mom. My kids soak up everything that their parents teach them and have a thirst for knowledge (and useless info like Guiness Book). This year Tait started preschool and is completely loving his teacher. She also happened to be his Nursery leader for most of his young life and he adores her. Here are the delayed pics of these kiddos on their first day!!

Claire's Baby Blessing

I am playing catch-up for the last month and have to share more of this cute little girl. We blessed Claire on August 1st. All of our family was able to be there except my sis n bro-inlaws. They just had twins and were on recovery time. We had a quick BBQ the night before and swimming with cousins. We also had to check out Aggie Ice Cream for some indulgence as well. :) Now for some cute pics...

Claire and Tait were both tired and hungry. So we have sad faces.

Random Claire

Our little girl is growing faster than I want. She already seems too long. Here are a few pictures of her. These pics don't quite do her justice, she is so much cuter in real life. Most of these are taken on cell phone so they are a little grainy.

The one and only time she was willing to sleep on her tummy

Dreaming of riding the roller coaster at Lagoon.

Claire is expressing herself to dad.

This is one of Claire's first smiles. Her smiles are always big!

Cute Claire on her first trip to the cousins.

Claire trying to talk to Colton.

Taking my zoo to the zoo.

I was soo looking forward to our annual trip to the zoo with my family this year. I don't know if it is because I had been cooped up with the kids all summer or if I was going to hang out with my adult siblings and mom. It is probably a combination of both. It was super hot and so Claire and I strolled from one shady spot to the other while Trent took the kids to get up close and personal with the animals. This is Makenzie's favorite place to be and keeps telling me that she wants to be a zoo keeper. There goes my dream of her being a vet out the window. ;) This year the biggest event was seeing the baby elephant.

Tait is in love with the train so that is what he begged to see the whole time we were at the zoo. After the zoo we headed over to the Kangaroo Zoo for air conditioned fun! The adults sat back and let the kids roam. We ended the day with a softball tournement back in Logan.

I had to add this picture of the grandkids minus Tait. He was afraid of the elephant spraying water...but we still got a picture of him :)

Colton's Birthday

While we were in Richfield for the 4th of July, Colton wanted to celebrate his birthday so all his cousins could share it with him. He likes to think that the fireworks are for his birthday as well!! Here are a few pics of the cake that Grandma and Aunt Sheri made for him.

Colton is now 6 yrs old and still my little sweetheart. He is a pro at video games and loves collecting Star Wars objects. His favorite right now are the lego sets. He is excited to be in all day school and have lunch in the cafeteria. I don't know if he even eats everything, he is kindof picky. He loves playing with Tait (most of the time) and is a huge help with Claire. He spends a lot of time holding Claire's hand and trying to get her to smile. I think he will be her protector (or she his :) when she grows up.

This summer we did a Harry Potter movie marathon and now he and Tait think that they are wizards. Here is Colton (eyes closed) and his wand "Expelliarmus"

Spring/Summer Update

I finally got all of the pictures downloaded from our phones and thought that I would share what a fun spring/summer our kids have had.

It starts with Soccer. This was Colton's first go at the sport. He was more of a cheerleader for the others on his team than actually going after the ball, but we got some good pics of him. :)

Makenzie really impressed us with how well she did. I think that the rules and the idea of the game are finally sinking in and we REALLY enjoyed watching her play. We also started her in coaches pitch this year and did great. She may have inherited more of her dad's athleticism than we first thought. :)

Tait is our little goofball who likes to ham it up for the pictures. We love his little personality and polite words to us.

The summer has been all about the Rowley family.

After Claire was born, our kids were whisked away by G & G Rowley for a few days. We sure missed them but knew that they were having a blast with them. Trent and I got some rest and are so thankful for their thoughtfulness.
A few weeks later my sis-in-law took on the Rowley cousins at her house with the help of Grandma. My kids had SOOOOOOO much fun spending so much time with their cousins. This was the highlight of the summer so far (Trent and I can't top that;)

Our family spent the 4th of July weekend in Richfield with the Rowley clan. We enjoyed the kids parade, the grownup parade, BBQ's, finding old friends at the park and fireworks.

Sleeping Baby

I wish that I had been blessed with a little more talent in creativity. I think that the Lord gave me my friend Jen to make up for that lack of talent. She loves babies and has been close to all of mine so what better way for her to get cozy with Claire than to take her picture. She is such a pro at handling a camera and didn't even blink an eye when Claire peed all over her prop blanket. ;o) Thank you Jen for these gorgeous pics of Claire! I had a hard time choosing which to use. Thanks too, for being such a wonderful friend and "auntie".

Newborns

Can you tell who is who? These little munchkins look alike as newborns but definately look different as big kids.

Makenzie's Baptism

I'm afraid that in all the busyness of the last couple of months I have slacked off on sharing Makenzie's special day.

Makenzie was baptized on May 1st. She was able to share the event with her cousin who happens to live in the ward and was born a week after Makenzie. These girls are totally different but are such great friends. Trent's mom and dad were there along with 4 of his siblings with spouses and children. In fact I think that Makenzie spent more time with her cousins than her parents :) My family was all able to be there and we ended up having quite a group after including Angela's in laws as well.

Makenzie has been really interested in reading her scriptures. We are surprised with how much she already knows about being baptized. She loves asking us questions about things that she reads about and pictures in the gospel kit. We are so proud of her and think she is a pretty special girl.

Here are some pictures of Makenzie before the baptism (I feel bad that we didnt get any with Grandma Armstrong or me for that matter)

And this makes 4!

Today, May 24th, 2010, we added our 4th child to our family. Introducing Claire.

Our Bathroom Is Finished!!

Here is Trent's video on our new bathroom. He really did a good job considering this was his first handyman project. Now I can give him the honey-do list. :)

Makenzies' Adventures

My Oldest is 8!

Makenzie has been so excited to turn eight. We can't believe that she is that old. We love her curious mind and her love of animals. She loves playing with her brothers, especially teasing Tait. She is sensitive but at the same time pretty tough. She loves to read and always asks if what she is reading is real. Makenzie has never been a girly girl but we see a few signs of a little lady shining through. We sure love every little thing about her and are excited to see how she continues to grow. She is going to be baptized this month along with her best cousin since they were born the same month and live in the same ward. She is so excited about that and we love teaching her how this decision with bless her life.

Current Pastimes

Obviously my current pastimes don't include blogging :)



While cleaning out my moms house last month my sister came across a ton of old puzzles that we used to do during Christmas vacation as kids. We were going to DI them all but Trent grabbed a few to try out at home. Trent and I have never done an adult puzzle since we have been married so we thought "let's pull it out". So after church a couple weeks ago we got started. We discovered that a couple pieces were missing,(what you get when putting together a used puzzle)but kept trucking despite that. We would put it together while dinner was cooking or during lunch breaks, and mostly when laundry and bathroom building needed to be done. We loved spending the time together though and just finished our second one.


Another thing that has occupied our time is finishing the only unfinished thing in our basement, the bathroom. Yep we have shared one bathroom since moving in 3 years ago and realized with Tait on his way to potty training we would need to get that second one finished. So after a contractor put up the framing and the shower, Trent got to work on dry wall and painting. Most of it was done at night after work so the light was not the best and there are a few imperfections that show up after painting, but I have to give props for Trent learning on his own and working so hard. Thank Heavens for Bob Villa and You Tube.

As for the new baby, we have clothes put away and cribs set up. My sister loaned me her girls clothes and it was hard to pick out the ones that would fit in dressers out of all the cute stuff!! The baby has her crib set up and the kids are already getting used to the thought of a new one in the house. I have about 8 weeks left and am starting to feel big and heavy. I'm nervous about the summer and having all 4 kids home and doing the new mom thing as well but I keep reminding them that they are going to have to be my helpers!!

We Love Little Girls

We (especially Colton) are so excited to be welcoming a little girl into our family! They love their little cousin (Ashwy)and think that they are getting a baby just like her. :o) (or maybe a dark haired beauty like Colton) It has been crazy but fun to pack up those boys clothes and clean out Tait's closets in anticipation for those baby clothes. Life is still busy in our house with school for the kids and work for Trent and I. It is moving so fast that I have to enjoy these moments in fast motion. I have been feeling good except that my tummy keeps telling me that I am eating things that are a little to spicy for it. And though orange juice is my biggest craving, my tummy doesn't think I need it.:) The energy has kicked in and the hunt is on for some names. Girl names are still eluding us (actually Trent). He must know a lot of girls and doesn't want our children named after any of them :) I have a couple in mind and am slowly wearing Trent down to pick one of them. So hopefully before we hit the hospital we will have one in place!