BOY oh BOY

Well I have been so busy trying to play catch up that I have neglected to post a pretty important one. This one is an addition to the family.  We are having a baby BOY!!!!  He will join us in January and can't wait!  We are very excited and Brody can't wait to have a brother.  Camilla just likes the the thought of there being a baby in mommy's tummy.  

Both of the kids want to name the baby... Some of the names that they came up with were Brody, Camilla, lake, park and we could go on with the wonderful names they want.  We are not sure if they are going to have the final say of the name.  But they thought their names were great.  

I have been doing really great this pregnancy, I really think it helped that I was working all the first trimester and it kept me busy and staying on my toes.  Everything went by so fast I cannot believe I'm already 6 and 1/2 months.  We are very happy for this fun time in our lives.  

School started...

Brody started his second year of preschool and still loves school.  He has the same teacher and a different.  He loves them both. He has some of the same kids in his class as last year so that made it nice for him to have some of his same friends.  He also talks about all of his new friends that he has so much fun playing with. 
I love that he is able to tell me what he is learning in school and that he just loves school.  He even loves homework, which is great.  I know that he is only in preschool and he only has homework on Mondays but I hope that he continues to love it... I know one can only hope.  He is getting so good at writing and can almost write his name perfectly legable.  He is coloring much better in the lines and he does not fight me to color anymore.  He loves to write letters to people that are just long squibbles across the paper, but he can tell you what he wrote.  He always wants to count things and make sure he and Camilla have the same amount to make sure it is fare.

 First day of school

 Ready to go

Looking for the bus

Sitting and waiting with Camilla to get on the bus.

Back Yard Camping

We had so much fun camping out in the back yard with our cousins.  Back yard camping is the best, we have everything that we need with out the planning and packing.  We should have done this more often this summer.  But we did not, we only did it as the last hoorah before school. We still had fun!!!  We told stories and read, played in the dark and just were crazy for way past bedtime. 

Just a fun night!

Summer...

Well summer has come and gone...  It has seemed to be a pretty uneventful summer.  Just a few things here and there.  Which has been nice.  We have seen some more family and have been able to get out and do a few things.  Which has been fun!

I have been working full time running a summer day camp for children with disabilities. What a great experience this was for me.  I have always enjoyed working with the kids as a director and working one on one with them.  It has always brought so much joy to me.  So to be in a different role as the coordinator over all of the camps was totally different.  I was able to learn so much and see the camps at a different perspective.  I loved it.  I loved being able to see all the camps run and how all the staff worked together.  It was a fun summer job.  And now I have the opportunity to work a little with the aqua rehab classes that is totally different then summer camps, but so much fun...

Mike is working down in Pueblo as a financial counselor.  The commute is a little crazy due to the road construction.  So him coming home can take a while.  Not so fun.  He is learning to keep himself busy by being apart of different committees.  He is enjoying meeting new people and learning new things.  He is busy with his ward calling also, but loves being involved and getting to organize lots of different projects. 

Brody
Brody is getting so big and is talking so much better.  We love being able to talk with him and understand him. This summer he was able to be in T-ball, this was not the most enjoyable thing Brody every participated in.  He absolutely loved the practice, but the games he really disliked. During the practices the coaches were able to play games and have so much fun, games he had to do a lot of waiting and he did not do very well with that.  Although now that it is all over and he is not playing anymore he swears it was the best thing ever.

 Camilla

Camilla is such a big girl and just loved to be able to go and do what ever she could.  She was Brodys favorite cheerleader at all of his t-ball games and practices.  She loves to be busy and keeps everyone around her busy also. She is so talkative if she is comfortable and knows you, if she doesn't know you she will be shy and you wouldn't know that she could even talk.  She loves to sing at the top of her lungs and I mean top of her lungs, you can hear her all through the house.  It is so cute hearing her sing "Tinkle Tinkle Wittle Star" or "Swimming, Swimming in the swimming pool, oh wouldn't be nice if we had nothing else to do".  She loves her chocolate and will do anything to get it. 

Miles, Tam and family came to visit

We had so much fun when we got to see Aunt Tam and Uncle Miles along with cousins Maddie, Emma, Ellie, and Lizzie.  We had fun swimming with them and hiking with them and even being able to go up to the top of Pikes Peak.  We also were able to just have a nice "calm" or should I say uneventful days to just play with all of our cousins.  It was very nice to have 4 of the 6 siblings together all at once.  We as in all the families that were here hiked Helen Hunt Falls. Camilla and I were even able to make it with the both of us being sick.  Camilla did not want to be out done by her cousins.  It took us a little longer than it should have but we made it.  Brody and daddy practically raced up the hill.  But Mike loved taking all the pictures also...

We all made it to the top and had fun...  I am sure everyone that saw our crowd thought we were crazy.

It was also a very beautiful ride to the top of Pikes Peak.  We thought going on a holiday we would be good to not have a busy day up there but oh my goodness the summit was soooo busy.  So after the long drive up and it being so busy we did not end up staying up there for very long.  

Thanks for coming Uncle Miles and Aunt Tam and family we had so much fun being together. Can't wait to see you guys again.

To Short a visit with Aunt Heidi and Uncle Jon

We were pretty lucky to that Aunt Heidi and Uncle Jon won tickets to a concert out here in Denver.  We were able to go up to Denver and visit with them and have some fun, to bad it was not longer.  We got to play in their hotel room and also visit the temple with them.  We went to a park to play and run and then ate out with them. It was way to short of time with them! Hope they come back soon!

Dinosaur Museum

We took a weekend and had a little staycation with just our little family.  We ended up just staying close to home and having fun as a family. We went to Canyon City to the dinosaur museum over there.  It was a tiny museum but had a great activity room for the kids to play in and that was worth the drive.  The kids absolutely loved being able to play and dig for bones.

 Well I think I am all caught up!!!!  We really had a fun summer even with Mike and I working.  We just love getting out as a family and staying busy.  We also love having family around and getting to visit with those that are not near by.

Brody had a birthday...

A few months ago, as in May Brody had his 4th birthday and I never posted anything... So I am going to get something little out. I can say that even he will tell random strangers that he just had a birthday and it has been a few months. So I don't feel as bad because it seems just like yesterday that he had it, because he is always saying he had his birthday yesterday.  

I love that my giant of a boy loves people and is so willing to talk and have fun with new "best friends" as he calls everyone he meets.  

He is getting so much better at talking and enjoying being understood.  There are still plenty of times that no one understands anything he is saying which he has learned to just grab our hand and take us to what he needs or turns a way and says never mind.  Usually when he says never mind he will come back a little later and has thought about what he wanted to say and says it clearly, or explains it more clearly.  

He is getting to be such a big helper and can do errands for mommy when she asks him too.  He loves to help clean and is always willing to work when asked, even if he is doing something he is really enjoying.  He is just a big help.  

Brody is so willing to be affectionate, kind and sympathetic.  He loves to give hugs and kisses when ever needed or when ever he can.  He really understands when someone is upset and needs a little more comfort and love and will freely give it.  I just hope he never changes his tenderness.  He also loves making people laugh, and keeps us all on our toes.

His birthday fell on Memorial day this year and we had family and friends over for a BBQ and playing in water.  We had lots of fun and enjoyed being together.  I need to take more pictures, I just get busy and forget.  I need to be better.

Here is his cake and him helping me with the cupcakes.  Like I said he loves to help.  And he had so much fun helping with the cupcakes.

Well we love you our growing boy and are so glad you are in our lives... Sorry about the picture of him it would not change directions.

SERENA

Serena came for the weekend!!!

We just love it when Serena comes... We have so much fun. Brody loves her and calls her his girlfriend.  She had a shadow all weekend long, he never wanted to leave her side.  It was really cute.  Even though it was such a short visit  we loved just being together.  Friday we spent the day hanging out and playing in the backyard, because it was such a wonderfully beautiful day.  

Saturday we went to the Manitou Springs Cliff Dwellings and had fun climbing around with the kids.  They love anything they can climb on and get dirty.  And they sure wanted Serena to do the same and as the awesome person she is she did.  We had fun!!!  We also had a BBQ with the rest of the family that live in town at Janette's house that afternoon.  I forgot the camera and didn't get any pictures either.  I suck at remembering the camera.

Sunday was a little crazy being we had stake conference and Mike and I were singing in the stake choir.  So    Serena and the parents and Janette and her family got to take care of our kids.  Brody loved that he got Serena all to himself...  We went back home and got ready for Serena to fly back home.  Brody was not happy about this, he kept saying that he wanted to go home with her.  When we dropped her off he cried so hard and just kept wanting to go and get on the plane. It broke my heart.  So we had to take a picture that we had of him and her and frame it and put it on his dresser by his bed.  Some mornings I find it in his bed with him.  I am so glad he loves her cause we all love her too.

We love and miss you "Rena". Thanks for coming to visit us!!!!

Spring Break

What we got to do for spring break and who we got to see...

Spring break came and went and we had a great time!  Alyssa and her family came up and we had so much fun.  We had a lot of fun just seeing each other and catching up.We were able to take some family photos and just have fun together.

Since it has been long to finish this post I really don't remember what I can put.  We just loved being together and having fun.  Glad Brody and Camilla were able to see their aunt and uncle and cousins from Arizona. Hope at least the pictures are fun to look at!!!

Personalize your own free picture collage

St. Patty's Day

This digital greeting personalized with Smilebox

Well we had fun on St Patricks Day! It was such a beautiful day we just wanted to get out and enjoy it. We decided to go hiking and went to Graffiti Falls in Manitou Springs. We brought our friend Tara and her kids.

I am grateful that our kids love to be outside. It is getting easier now that Camilla can walk more and longer, but as you can tell she has to have her monkey on her back. I have to have something to grab onto when she decides to go running off. Brody does great listening and following the path, he is just so clumsy that he falls all the time or thinks he can jump off of a rock he is standing on and land on his feet. So he is always on the ground. But they love to explore and be out in the open.

Is it true?

Is it true that kids say the darnedest things? I am afraid so... I have of late really come to believe this and have really wanted to write them down so I don't forget them. So I hope that I don't bore you with these kinds of post. I am really doing it for more of a type of journaling. So I really do hope you enjoy!!!

Brody talking on a play phone..."Hello, how are you? Yes, yes I know you! You are Jesus I know you love me, I love you too, bye! This one made my heart jump that he wants to talk to Jesus.

To give a little background, Camilla has been in nursery with me since before she was one and I just recently got a new calling and I'm not in the nursery any more.... Let me tell you she is not loving nursery any more. She loves to cry all the time....

Ok so at a ward activity Camilla saw her nursery leader and gives her high five and did not cry at first, I was getting excited thinking yay she is coming a long. Then she realized what just happened. She came running back to me in tears. "Mommy I don't want to play! I NO PLAY! Mommy, no make me play!" She cried for a few long minutes saying these things over and over. Guess she didn't want to "go play in nursery"

In the car watching a train go by Brody points and says "look fwain" Camilla copies and says "look ayne" Brody "no Millie moo fwain" she tries again "ayne" He kept trying to teach her how to say train for a good 5 minutes and she went with it and tried to say it better. I finally said "Brody, Camilla is still learning to talk it is ok if she cannot say train very well. A few minutes later she said a word wrong again and he went to correct her and said... "oh ya Millie moo is small she can't say it!" I do love that he is trying to correct her in how she says it and he can't say it correctly either. And me being mom of the year, let him!!!

Brody talking on the play phone he started dancing around like he needed to go potty. I told him to go and he said "my phone come?" I said his phone could go. He went in and went to the bathroom and I heard him talking the entire time. He came out, I asked if he washed his hands he stuck his finger up at me and shook it and pointed to the phone and said "sshhh I'm on the phone" and walked away. I couldn't laughing. I promise I have never done this to him.

I just love that my children are getting so big and are communicating so well. I love that they keep me on my toes. I love them soooo much....

Camilla's 2

Our little girl is 2! She is getting so big, and she is so much fun. She has gone from this adorable little baby to a beautiful little girl!

Just leaving the Hospial!

On her birthday 2012!
I love that she is holding that money like she is already thinking about what to buy!

We had a blast with family and friends at her birthday party. She loved having all the attention. We just did a few things that she enjoys to do like crafts and being outside. We had the first letter of their names printed on paper and the kids were able to decorate them how they wanted. We had noodles, yarn, sickers, foam shapes, pipecleaners and more. They all loved it.

We then went out side and did diet coke and mentos "fireworks". They loved it! But really they were just so happy that they were able to play outside because for a February day it was beautiful!!! They had said that it was going to snow, I'm so glad that it didn't because they all just had so much fun playing outside.

Camilla is getting so big. She is talking more and is very clear. We never worry about what is on her mind because she will always let us know. She is still our shy child and gives the glare when new people come around her. It takes a long time for her to feel comfortable around new people. She has the cutest smile that can make most anyone do anything for her even the ones that she is glaring at. And she will still glare! We as parents think that we are not taken by that smile, but the truth is we are. She has us wrapped around that little finger of hers.
Camilla is very independent and wants to do what the big kids are doing. She loves to run and play and tries so hard to keep up with her brother. She has quick little legs and is always running around. She loves to be outside and playing. But at the same time she is a girlie girl! She loves her dolls and and purses, that is why I made her purse cakes for her birthday... She loves to talk on the phone and has conversations with who ever is on the phone, even if the phone is her fake phone. She is still always wanting to help clean and make things "better". If you can say a 2 year old cleaning makes everything spotless and "better"! She as of late has been very interested in going potty in the toilet, this is great for me! She has gone potty in the toilet, and was so excited. But really she has figured out that she gets her "treats" or "candy" when she tries to go potty. So I am not very sure how into the potty thing she really is or if she is just into the candy thing.

We are so happy that she is a part of our lives and are excited to see her keep growing.

Just a picture of her cakes I almost forgot to post!