Logan is Here!

We welcomed baby Logan into the world yesterday! He was 9 lbs. 14 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. W e grow them big! I had at least 3 seperate nurses assume that he was C-section. When I told them no they were very shocked and impressed. I am fairly impressive:)! So far Logan is a very laid back baby. We have had to basically torture him to get him alert enough to eat. His big brothers think that he is the cutest thing that they have ever seen. Andrew said we should have named him Cutie Pie. We are tired but happy. We are so glad that Logan is here! Welcome to the family!

My Big Boy

It seems impossible, but Andrew turned 6 last week. He still loves animals, as you can tell. In fact he told my parents and Reed and I that instead of presents for his birthday he wanted money to donate to the NWF to "adopt" an animal. He also made cookies a couple of weeks ago

and sold them at our garage sale. We were so proud of him. He stayed out there all day. In fact when we were cleaning up he kept asking for more time. He made almost $13. In the end he got enough money to "adopt" two wild animals. After MUCH deliberation he decided on 2 birds. A robin and a cardinal. We are so grateful for Andrew. We are so glad he is so sensitive and so giving. We love you Andrew!

Fall Fun

Doesn't Eric make a beautiful women? My friend is actually holding Eric up because he was way to short to be seen. This was a fun little trip to a place called Oil Ranch. The kids got to ride horses, milk a cow (Eric opted out of that one), see lots of animals, go on a hay ride, a train ride, bounce in a bouncy house, and get a pumpkin. They had so much fun. Mama was completely worn out. Even the bouncy hay and train rides didn't make the baby come out though.

Such good looking cowboys!!!

For Halloween Eric decided that he wanted to be "Green Thunder" or Chick Hicks from the movie "Cars." Yes, that is the mean car that crashes all of the other cars. Oh well. Reed was the master mind behind the cardboard box construction, I spray painted, and Andrew and Eric covered it with stickers. Eric also helped do a lot of the decorating. He did a great job. He actually has planned out what he wants to be for the next 5 Halloweens. "For this Halloween I want to be Green Thunder, then the next one I want to be a superhero, then a ducky, and then a really big Thomas the Train," Okay so I exagerated, 4 Halloweens. Anyway, so after the ward Trunk-or-Treat he was ready for his superhero costume. Reed and I were like, "Yeah...that's not going to happen."

Andrew wanted to be a superhero, "Super Andrew!" It is embarassing to admit how late Reed and I stayed up on Friday night sewing Andrew's costume. But what is even more embarrassing is how much tape and safety pins were still required to achieve the right look. On the way to the Trunk-or-Treat Andrew listed off all of his powers. They were pretty impressive. He can fly, run faster then Dash, and is stronger then Superman. "If glass hits me it will break into 109 pieces." He also said that his wristbands are shields and that there is only one thing that can get through his shields. He wanted a lot of input from us as to what this might be, but he finally came up with something...the name of which I can't remember right now. Let's just say that Andrew's kryptonite is something like "Wukenite."

Andrew chose out the deisgns that he wanted for his cape, belt, wristbands, and badge. Super Andrew is one cool superhero!

Here I am with all 3 of my boys. We decided the baby needed to have a costume too, so he went as a Jack-o-latern.

Updates from September

We started the month off by purchasing a minivan to make room for Tank. Yes, we are now minivan people! Andrew and Eric think that it is just about the coolest thing ever. It is so much bigger than our other cars, they feel like we are so high up. Even if we are next to a huge truck they say, "Look, we are as tall as that truck."

This is Eric's self portrait. He took several, but this is the one that allows you to actually see his cute face. So before I tell this story I have to confess something...we read in the bathroom. Gasp! So every time Eric walks in on one of us we are holding a book or magazine. The other day he ran in to go potty. He grabbed a crossword puzzle book that was on the floor, put the seat up, opened the book and stood there doing his business while perusing the book. Since he was standing up, he was done in about 5 seconds. It seriously was one of the cutest things that I have ever seen.

Andrew has now lost 2 teeth. This is his self portrait to show off his new grin. Eric thinks it is so cool that Andrew has lost teeth, and received money under his pillow, that now he is always showing us his "loose" tooth.

The count is up to around 10 people now who have asked me if I am having twins. I carry out and down! It is not my fault! Sorry there is no photo to go along with this update. Maybe I'll be bold and let Reed shoot one right before I pop.

Vacations are Awesome--Sickness...Not so Much

We went to Yellowstone while we were out west. Here is Andrew at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.


Andrew, Eric, and their cousin Jonas spent the whole time that we were in Yellowstone climbing. Everytime we got out of the car we had little boys climbing half way up a cliff. Here is a "cave" that Andrew and Eric found.

Here we are at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.


We wore Eric out while we were walking around Old Faithful.


We had a great time while we were on vacation. Unfortunately at least one of us was sick the entire time that we were there. That part really stunk. But we really did have a great time. We miss everyone a lot!

And Baby "Tank" Makes 5!

Here he is lying on his side.


Here is the proof that he is a boy.


Here is his foot.

Yes world. We are expecting baby number 3...and boy number 3! We are so excited! Andrew wants to name the baby "Tank," so we told him that we can call him that while he is still in my belly. Eric wants to name the baby "Boy." So those are our 2 options: Tank and Boy! What do you think?

The baby is due December 4th. We are about 21 weeks along. So we are past the halfway point. I definitely look further along then 21 weeks though. I guess the 3rd time around my body is not putting up any resistance to stretching. At this rate I won't be able to move by December! Oh well. It is worth it!

Our Bird Sanctuary

Andrew is so excited about birds right now. He and the neighbor set up a bird sanctuary in the front yard. Most of the time we have 10-30 birds in the front yard. Andrew and the neighbor made habitats for birds, frogs, rabbits, and lizards. They set up buckets with a sign next to them asking for donations for the SPCA and the Giant Panda. They also both called family members asking for donations. They ended up raising around $80. We are so proud of him. Reed and I have learned a lot about birds in the past couple of months. Andrew has a list on the door with all the birds that we have seen. Everytime we see a new bird he gets so excited. We love his enthusiasm. What a good boy!

Andrew's Big Day!

Andrew graduated from preschool last week. I figure if he looks this cute in cap and gown in 13 years, we will have to beat the girls away with a stick! He is a crazy man. For most of the year, he was nervous to downright terrified to go to school. Then about 2 weeks ago I told him he only had 2 weeks left and he said, "I wish I had 900 left because I love school now." In fact he cried for 2 days after this graduation because he was so sad that preschool was over. He just refuses to be satisfied!!!

Our camera was acting up during the ceremony. It decided to not focus and go as slow as molasses. So that is why I missed the first part of this song. Then, since Andrew uses our camera and fills up the memory card with his animal/nature pictures, we ran out of room before the song was done. So anyway, here is the middle part of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Andrew is the 3rd from the left, holding a yellow bell. I really wish we had gotten the whole song because after the bell part was done, then the kids sang the song. It was hilarious. There were about 3 different tempos going. Andrew and his friend Jacob finished a whole line before the last group finished singing.

Eric is 3!

How did our baby turn 3? He won't even let us call him baby anymore. He says, "I not a baby mama, I a big boy." But like I tell Andrew, both of them will always be my babies. Even when they're 50. Andrew doesn't seem to think this is very cool.


For Reed's birthday, we put a car on top of his birthday cake. So ever since then Eric told us about 50 things that he wanted for his birthday, and then he would say, "And I want it on my birthday cake". Seriously, if we would have put everything on his cake that he wanted, that cake would have had to be HUGE. One of the things he asked us to put on his cake was a full size basketball! The thing that he talked about the very most though, was blue Thunder. Thunder is a character from the movie Cars. In the movie, Thunder is green so we didn't think that they made a blue one. But Eric never lost faith. Whenever he talked about his birthday he would talk about his blue Thunder, and how Grandma was looking for it for him. Ah, the faith of a child. Grandma did not find it (though she gave a very good effort), Reed found it. It ended up being the only thing that we put on his birthday cake, but he didn't seem to care. He was so excited.

Eric caught on pretty quickly that he was now 3 instead of 2, but it is pretty hard to learn to hold up 3 fingers as opposed to 2. Especially if your fingers are short and chubby. So cute!

Wild Flowers

Andrew found a few wild flowers (aka weeds) growing in our backyard the day before we mowed. He picked them and brought them inside for me. He got really excited when I put them in a vase. Later we went on a bike ride. Well, Andrew and Eric rode while Reed and I walked. Well there were a lot of "wild flowers" along our route, so every 30 seconds or so, Andrew would screech to a halt to pick more. This usually caused Eric to ram into the back of him but no one was seriously injured. When it started to get dark Reed and I finally had to say, "Okay, I think we have enough flowers." When we got home and put them all in the vase, my boys were so proud. It was very sweet. They both gave me great big hugs.

From Ahh to AUGGHHH!

So often our boys go from something that is so cute and awesome and quickly it turns to something crazy. The other day we decided to do pillowcase races. The boys thought that this was just the funnest thing ever. Andrew was a lot faster then Eric, so he would wait for Eric at the end and then shout, "It's a tie!" and they would both laugh and laugh. As shown in the following videos, this game quickly digressed.

One day we were outside cleaning up bikes, balls, etc. and Eric went into the house. When I went in, I said "Eric, where are you?" He said, "I going poops." I was so proud. I hear the toilet flush and then I hear Eric's sweet voice saying, "It's cold." Yup, he stuck his foot in the toilet. My one consolation is that he flushed first.

Again with the potty. I was trying to make dinner and Eric had to go potty. I usually stay in there while he washes his hands, but this time I was in a hurry so I left. I said, "Can you wash your hands by yourself today?" He says "Yes Mama." Well he's in there singing and talking and generally sounding very cute. Then I hear, "I can't turn it off." I ran in and Eric had plugged up the sink and flooded the bathroom! As I was cleaning Eric just kept saying, "Mama I sorry I did dat. I sorry I ruined the band aids."

Eric and Andrew wanted to be my chefs for lunch one day. So cute. I had bread, apples, carrots, an entire dinner plate filled with crackers, a whole gallon of milk and a whole container of apple juice...and a HUGE mess to clean up afterwards.

I'm Lame...Who's With Me?

I love watching the Olympics. But there is a drawback. It really makes me feel like a loser. Chelsea and I talked about this extensively after the summer Olympics. We both loved them so much but then we were like, "Oh man, why can't we be cool too?" Being a glutton for punishment, I watched the Winter Olympics too. Just when I was getting over my feelings of inadequacy, 5 time medalist speed skater Chad Hedrick comes to a Verizon store near our house. Reed and Andrew went to see him and had him sign our Salt Lake City Olympics banner. He wasn't in those Olympics, but it was the only Olympics thing we had. Reed and Andrew said it was really neat. They got to see all of his medals. He has 2 bronze, 2 silver, and 1 gold. They were excited that they got to meet him. Oh and don't worry, in a couple of days I will be okay with being mediocre again.

Quirky Boys

Our sweet boys sure do love each other.


Andrew took this picture of Eric. I thought he did a pretty good job.


A couple of weeks ago, Reed and the boys decided that they wanted to go camping. They decided to "camp out" in Eric's room. Andrew was so excited. He helped Reed make a list of everything that they would need. Then as we were saying family prayer that night Andrew prayed that I, mama, would not get scared out there by myself. It was awesome and sweet. Reed tells me that Eric woke up screaming in the middle of the night. When he finally settled down enough to talk he sobbed out "Mama drank my chocolate milk." All I can say is that I wish my nightmares were this mild. Speaking of nightmares...

...Eric's been potty training for the past few weeks. It actually hasn't been a nightmare. It was even his idea. He was helping me get Andrew's clothes one morning and he saw Andrew's Lightning McQueen underwear and said "I want to wear Lightning McQueen on my bum bum." Well I would have been officially a fool if I hadn't jumped on that opportunity. He caught on really quickly. We did have some poop issues at first, so we had to bribe him with Lightning McQueen cars. We finally told him he could get a Mac if he went poops in the toilet for a week. All we had to do was say "Mac" and he would run to the toilet. It really does help that he is obsessed with the movie "Cars." Ask him what any of the cars in the movie say and he will blast your eardrum with his response. The night that he earned Mac he wanted to sleep with it in his bed. He was so excited. He just kept calling us into his room to talk about playing with Mac the next morning. It wasn't until about 10:30 that he finally stopped calling us in. Pure excitement!

The boys were sitting on the hood of the car and wanted me to take a video, and this is what they came up with. Eric is in the mode where he copies almost everything that Andrew says. But this time, Eric can't get a word in. That is actually pretty typical. Maybe that's why Eric talks so loud...hmmm.

Cute and Talented...Some People Have All the Luck

First off, I do not know how to turn these video's. I'm sure someone smarter and more technologically savvy then I could do it easily, but alas...I am what I am. So that being said, you are just going to have to tilt either your head or your computer to get the full effect. Next time I will remember to take the video's horizontal.

So one of the drawers in the toy room was empty (because the contents were scattered to the 4 corners of the room) and Eric decided that if he turned it upside down it made a great stage for him to do some musical performances on. He did about 7-10 performances. He wanted me to film each one. After each one he would jump off and say, "I see it now." Then he would watch himself, get very excited and say, "I do 'nother one." This particular song is "Jack and Jill."

While Eric was performing, Andrew was in the bathroom getting ready for bed. He could hear what was going on though, and he decided to hurry it up because he definitely wanted in on it. So then they had to take turns performing, watching their video, and then performing again. Don't even ask what song Andrew is singing. It is one he made up right on the spot. And yes, he is crazy!

Favorite Holiday Moments

We had a great Christmas. A lot of family was able to come to visit us. Aunt Mer came and was a total hit with both the boys. Andrew wanted her to do everything with him. He thinks she is pretty COOL.

My mom and dad came too. It was great. Andrew and Eric always had someone willing to read to them. When it was time for them to go home, Andrew asked if everyone could just live with us. The day we took everyone back to the airport, he just cried and cried. It was so sad.

We had a great Christmas. Here Andrew and Eric are giving each other a hug to thank each other for their presents.

Me and Mer. Don't you love these pictures where you just hold the camera out in front of you and click. I love my sisters!!! Mer is awesome. She and I started the Jilian Michaels "30-day Shred" workout DVD while she was here. I'm not sure I would have had the courage to start this by myself. We had a good time laughing with each other as our weak, pathetic arms shook as we raised our little 3-5 pound weights in the air. It is just way more fun to work out with someone joining you in begging the TV for mercy.

Mom and Dad got this little 12 inch bike for Eric. He was the only child in the cul-de-sac without a big bike, and he just could not keep up on his little tricycle. So what he would do is just push Andrew's bike around the cul-de-sac. It was cute, but sad. He was so excited when he opened this. He has had tons of fun keeping up with the big kids. He calls it his "new, new bike."

My favorite holiday memory from this year is from Eric. He went with Reed to get a present for me. When he got back I said, "Eric, did you go shopping with Daddy?" And he said, "We bought you pretty, pretty necklace. I not tell you. It's a surprise." It was so cute. Everytime I wear that necklace Eric looks at it and says, "Eric and Daddy buy you pretty, pretty necklace. I not tell you. It's a surprise."