Vance has graduated to a Big Boy Bed! He wouldn't stay in his crib anymore. Every night he would say "Mother and Father, being trapped in this cage is an insult to my intelligence" and would promptly climb out of his crib and fall asleep in Jaxson's bed. (yes, we have very smart children) :>) So we graduated him to his own bed, and he now stays in his bed all night long!
Ellie is now a big four year old! We had a nice birthday for her with a pretty flower cake and nice presents from everyone. Her present from Mommy and Daddy was.... a bike! She loves it and is doing very well learning to ride...but she doesn't like to go too fast.
Last weekend we had a fun day and took the kids to the park by our house to ride bikes and run in the grass. Then we came home and made snacks and played board games until bedtime. It was a fun day!
Brady has been telling me that I'm terrible at blogging lately and I'm afraid he's probably correct. We've been very busy with school, Dr's appointments, dentist appointments etc. etc. etc.....
Ellie is going to have some dental surgery....yikes! One of her top, front teeth needs a baby root canal! The dentist said that she either fell and hit her tooth and broke the root, or her aggressive thumb sucking has broken the root, therefore causing her tooth to decay. No cavities though, so that's good. :>) Anyway, she has an appointment next week with the pediatric dentist who will be doing the surgery. Poor girl.....
I am doing well and so is baby. Honestly this pregnancy seems to be flying by. We will be finding out the sex of the baby in about three weeks!
Brady and I are getting ready for a quick weekend trip North. Brady has a couple of jobs there and we are picking up a minivan that we bought from Kevin Earnest and driving it back down. The kids will be staying here with grandma and papa. It should be an adventure.
Signing off now so I can fix dinner!
You probably wouldn't know it, but it was 105 degrees during this photo shoot. We were sweating miserably and the kids were being chaotic. That's what makes the end product so nice. It just makes it hard for people to believe how hard I actually work during a session when they haven't seen me photograph children, especially my own. And no, these aren't their graduation portraits, but they are growing up so fast. We just started the project of creating a movie out of all of our video footage and we are discovering how fast time really goes. At least it's a good reminder not to take any day with your kids for granted.
Brady
Yes, I do realize that Jaxson's birthday was over a month ago, but I'm a little slow on these things...... :>)
He had a great time, we spent the morning in the pool and then had some cake and icecream and presents. I can't believe he's six years old. Wasn't he 1 just yesterday? Time goes by so quickly. He's a great kid!!
Well, we are back from our trip up north and now it's time to play catch up on everything, including blogging! I have quite a bit to get organized and caught up on before I start school with Jaxson on Monday!
Today I had an OB appointment to check on the pregnancy and baby. All seems to be going well, we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat with the doppler. I also got to have another ultrasound and it was amazing to see how much the baby has grown and changed in just four weeks! You can even see arms!
ATTENTION: PLEASE DO NOT READ ON IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH ABOUT HEARING PREGNANCY RELATED WORDING......
(yes, this warning is for the benefit of the male members of the family who read my blog and who squirm when you even say the work "pregnant") :>)
The doctor did the U/S because I had some spotting on saturday and he was concerned that I may have another Subchorionic Hematoma, a complication that I had with Ellie that put me on bedrest for a while. It's basically a blood clot behind the placenta. I also took a lovely fall while at my sister's house, down the stairs, and bruised up my legs beautifully---so the spotting may have been due to some trauma. Anyhoo, the scan didn't show any obvious hematoma, but he did see a dark spot behind the placenta which could be a clot, or could be blood vessals, he couldn't really tell without a better machine. Basically I've been told to take it very easy, get extra rest and NO heavy lifting, carrying or anything straining. If I have ANY more bleeding my OB has warned me that he will put me on strict bedrest because of my history.
Please pray with me that this doesn't happen because there is simply no way I can run my life and home from a bed.
MOVING ALONG......
We had a wonderful visit with family, it was fun and relaxing and we loved seeing all of you! Holly's wedding was beautiful and it was so nice to see everyone at the wedding as well. It was so nice to stay with Shannon and Marcus, we worked our way through the extended versions of two of the Lord of the Rings movies, which was fun. I will admit that I slept through parts of them as well......I'm worthless when it comes to movies and staying awake. :>)
We can't wait to come up again..... hopefully soon?
Love to all,
Lani and The Fam
Here is a picture of our little bean! Okay, I know it doesn't look like much..... but give it a few more months and he/she will be just a beautiful as our other three children!
Brady had a great time on his trip up north, although he wishes he could have seen more people. And two weeks from today...it's the kids and my turn! We're so excited. I can't wait for the Huckleberries and Icecream that Shannon has for me!
Can't wait to see all of you!
Yes...it is true. I hadn't been baptized before this day of July 19th, 2007 at La Jolla Shores. I have been waiting for the perfect magical moment to do it my whole life, but of course, every situation fell short of my expectations. I felt that the Lord wanted me to do it at the next opportunity, whatever it may be, and that is just what I did. I wish you could have all been there. I hope these photos give you the feeling you were.
Much has been happening here. Brady has decided to no longer work at Litton Financial. He can obviously explain things much better than I can, he just felt like it was time for him to move on. It wasn't a financial decision so much as just a feeling that he was supposed to be elsewhere.
The other big new around here is that yes, we are expecting our fourth (count them, fourth) child! Completely unplanned, but we are excited. Well, I'm as excited as I can be while dealing with constant "morning" sickness. I was trying to keep it quiet for another few weeks, but I'm sure that Brady has already told most of you. He doesn't do secrets. :>)
At the moment the kids are napping, Brady is at lunch with Bill and I am choking down a salad and watching "The Two Mrs. Carrolls". Humphrey Bogart plays a husband turned derainged killer very convincingly!
And now I think I will sign off and take a nap.... Love to all!
Yes, I finally did it. After lots of convincing by Jerry and Brady, I finally cut Vance's hair. His beautiful baby curls are gone!
Mommy is sad, everyone else is happy. He does look much better...here's a picture of him giving his VERY best "Cheese!".
I know it looks as though the daddy photographer didn't get any swimming time, but he gets his fair share. We just need to catch him on candid camera. Just click the photo to see it in full size.
Well, when you have 18 children (it feels like it sometimes), and you have no money, is there really a better way to spend an afternoon than at the beach? Sure you could get stung by a jellyfish, eaten by a shark, or pulled out to sea by the rip tide. But let's face it...we have become beach bums to the core and are loving every minute of it. We head out to Torrey Pines Beach any chance we get. None of us have picked up surfing, but we can get tossed around on a boogy board with the best of them. At some point, I will invest in a sports lens for my camera and get you all some action pictures of Jaxson riding the waves. He is growing up faster than I know how to deal with. Here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasure...and yes...they do speak louder than my poor grammer. Enjoy!
