Minion Party

This wasn't the best summer for us with getting out and doing stuff. Between having a fussy baby and having to deal with getting the house ready to show and showing it, we didn't do much. I really feel bad about it, but the kids overall were really good sports. We were really glad that a lot of our cousins from the Hansen side came and stayed with us when Uncle Joe got married. It was pretty soon after Jack and Matthews birthdays so the big girls decided that they needed to throw them a birthday party. I think I might have some serious party planners on my hands becuase I can't count how many hours they spent on it. The girls even came to Kevin and I with a list of estimated costs. It ended up being about right on!! They spent countless hours making up games and decorating signs. They even drew the cutest minion for pin the hair on the minion. It ended up being one of the things we did that was the most fun. Eveyone had a blast. I think I'm going to put the girls in chaged of my party planning from now on becuase I loathe it, and they love it!

You can see it the picture the poster of the minion that they drew for the game, I got a picture of it and accidentIy deleted it which was so sad because it was the cutest thing ever!!

This group was so cute! They looked so funny as minions.

I think this was one of Russy's first experiences with a piñata and he liked it.

The cutest minion there!!

My sweet baby, with her daddy

Funny faces!!

Clara - 3 Months

Sweet little Clara, I almost didn't think I was going to make it through the first few months of her life. It was truely one of the most difficult things I have ever gone through. Starting at around two weeks she got really colicky. Every night was so challenging because for hours she would cry and there didn't seem to be anything I could do about it. But then she started getting fussy during the day too and she started refusing to be put down. I had to wear her in a sling constantly, just so I could get anything done.

But then when six weeks rolled around, the time that everything is supposed to get better it started to get worse. She stopped nursing. Like refused to even latch on at all. I was so stressed because I knew that she was really small and she needed to eat, so I started pumping and trying to feed her that way. She took bottles of breast milk really well but then I started to dry up. So I knew I needed to start switching her over to formula. She started to refuse the bottles of formula. This was around her two month check up and of course right when she started eating a little bit better we all got sick with the stomach flu, including her and we had to start all over at square one with the formula. When I took her in for her 2 month check up she was only at 7 lbs. 12 oz. That was only one pound exactly, more than at birth. My babies are tiny, but this was beyond tiny. Of course to compound the problem our regular great doctor wasn't in and the doctor we saw was a woman that pretty much started freaking out about it. Just what I needed as a completely stressed out mom!! And things really didn't get better for a while. For the next couple of weeks she would eat good on and off. I didn't know from one feeding to the next if she was going to refuse to eat or eat good.

During this whole time we were having to get my parents house that we live in ready to show becuase they decided to sell it. To say I was under a lot of stress was an understatement. The great thing is though, she did eventually figure it all out! She is now a really sweet baby. She eats really well and has put on some good weight. She is still tiny, but it is a healthy tiny, not a scary one.

This picture she had fallen asleep crying becuase I just had to put her down to get a few things done.

This was after she started getting much easier. I had to take a picture of this because she is still really funny, she has to have everything be exactly right to fall asleep. She has sto be swaddled with a paci and I have to hold her just right on one side and rock her and pat her back. It is kind of ridiculous really. But since she has gotten so much easier than she was before, we forgive her. So it was very odd for her to fall asleep under here. She does love her playmat though. It is her favorite thing to do and she will play for a long time under there.

 

She likes her bumbo chair too!

We went for a bike ride and I figured out a way to get her in the trailer. She really liked it too.

She has gotten really smiley, although I haven't gotten too many pictures of it. She also is starting to giggle and really has started to try and grab things like toys and hair. It's so fun to watch her becoming more of a little person.

 

 

The kids just love her to pieces, and now she actually will let them get near her. She used to scream her brains out if any of them got near her. She loves the attention now.

This was quite an interesting picture because she usually wakes herself right up if she gets her arms out of the blanket.

We sure love this sweet girl!!

 

Wake Island

A few days after school got out Amy Wright, a good friend of mine invited me and the kids to go with her and her kids to a place called Wake Island. It is actually only about ten minutes from where we live and it is a really cool place that we had never been and had always wanted to go. It's a water park, although not in the traditional sense. They have a cable system for wake boarding and they also have a water park kindof like the stuff you see on wipe out. But we were only going for the free beach because let's face it, I am a cheapskate. We only do expensive stuff every once in a while. I feel like it is important to show the kids we can have fun without spending a lot of money, and that they will appreciate stuff more if they are not handed it all the time.

The kids got right in and were having a blast wading around in the wateruntilthey realized that there were really big catfish and they were notshy either!! They would swim right up to the kids and rub up against them. Mykids are really not into animals of any kind but especially not into fish!! They were not very excited about the water after that and stayed mostly inthe sand.

Annie pretty much just stayed on the side and stuffed her face with snacks. It said no outside food or drink but come on I have little kids who aren't going to wait until we get home.

Russ had fun with his buddy Peter. I am loving watching Russ become a big boy! He now has little friends and they actually play together rather than playing around each other. It is really fun because Peter has become his really good friend and I have become such good friends with Amy, Peter's mom.

Jane buried herself and Lizzy worked on making a river that flowed all the way back to the lake.

More snacks! I am going to lose it lately with my kids and the snacks, they seem to want to eat twenty four hours a day. It drives me nuts, I hear all day long, "I'm hungry mom! What can I eat?"

 

 

 

Nellie was one of the few kids that did play in the water most of the time. All in al it was a fun day and a great way to start off the summer!

 

Jane's Graduation

 

Janie is graduated from kindergarten and will be in first grade next year. How is that possible? My baby Jane can't possibly be that old!! She did so amazing though at school this year. It wasn't even a problem for her. She did so well learning everything. She picked up reading so quickly. She did awesome!! I am so proud of her and how grown up she is getting!

Jane loved her teacher Miss Ray. She loved being in the owl class too. I remember how when she found out she was going to have miss Ray and be in the owl class she was jumping up and down she was so excited, and now here we are, it's the end of the year.

I had to get one more of Janie and Maxim because they are just too cute together, and who knows with moving if we will even be back here in the fall.

 

Primary Temple Day

The primary had a special temple trip for the kids where we got to go and tour the grounds and learn more about the temple. Of course it had to be at 9:00 on a Saturday morning do we had to leave the house pretty early, but it all worked out. It was really neat becuase we got to learn some special things we didn't know about the Sacramento temple in particular. It is always such a special thing to go and spend some time at the temple and feel the spirit and espcially as a family to get to take the kids and help them to develop a love of going to the temple and appreciating the gift that it is to have nearby.

I love those smiles!

Nellie is getting so grownup!!

Lizzy is too! How did my girls get so big!!!

I love how Russy was holding Janie's hand. So cute. He did really well and was such a good boy for the tour.

I love this Eternal Family of mine! I am so very blessed and so grateful for the blessing of all of them in my life!