Swimming Pool Time!

Here is another extra post for poor Vic who is missing the kiddos like crazy:
I don't know why I haven't done it before now, but I decided to finally put our pool up for the summer. I can already tell it was a great investment with many hours of entertainment ahead! I blew it up while Tommy was napping & let him get in it while I was filling it up. He thought it was the greatest thing ever! As soon as I put him in it he started throwing himself all over in it & is so NOT afraid to put his head under the water. Whenever he fell all the way in he'd come up laughing :)

I don't know what goes through a kids mind, but he thought it was so much fun to fill one side with all of his outdoor toys.

After getting over the joy of having all his toys in there he decided they all needed a ride down the slide. He of course didn't want to go down the slide himself.

Why is it that kids sitting around eating bad food is so much cuter than adults?!?

Tommy loved when Anna got there with her kids. Hank made Tommy laugh & laugh! ...and once he saw the other kids laughing down the slide then he suddenly thought it was great fun too.

Time for otter-pop break number 2! (We were out there for 3 hours before the 2nd break!)

I had to snap a picture when all of these cute little babies clustered together :)

Tommy was sad to see his friends leave & was whimpering in excess so I put him in his pajamas & he kept trying to take them off because he didn't want to go to bed so I took him outside to calm him down & before I could catch him he ran & jumped in the pool fully dressed! So I let him play for another 1/2 hour (at 8:00 at night!) and finally told him that we really did have to go in & I took off his sopping clothes. He didn't like that so he went running into the yard & pouted like this for a good 5 minutes. I just had to run inside & grab the camera again for one more shot! ....haha! It was so funny to see a naked baby sitting in the middle of my lawn :)

A pleasant day at last!

Vic has been gone for 2 weeks now & is still going to be gone for another week so you can imagine that it STRESSES me out to no end to be a single working mom! I am too tired to do anything & poor Tommy is such a Daddy's boy & has been missing his dad like crazy so today was a nice change :)
Today I did my new favorite hike again. I loved doing it once a year the last couple of years & this year I decided to buy a season pass so I didn't have the excuse of not wanting to pay. I just love that the whole way up you can look over & see THIS amazing view of Shoshone Falls! (I wish Vic was in my view today too!) While this hike has a great view, it is really STEEP! I was so happy to finally con a friend into going with me today. She has babies almost the exact same months apart as I do so we were quite the site hauling 4 babies up the hill.
Don't really love this picture of me or Tommy, but I love how pretty the river is down in the canyon. I wish our city would pay to put a walk around it like Boise & Idaho Falls has. (We just have a mile path along the edge of the canyon that makes me totally nervous to have Tommy by as it has no gate seperating the path from the edge!

Since Vic is gone I wanted to fill him in on the details of our day....

Tommy loved this little playhouse at my friend's house... I think we should definitely get one some day... sooner than too much later :)

This is Tommy's new BEST friend Ava! I have never seen him play longer with any kid without getting upset or bored. He was so in love with Miss Ava that he didn't cry for lunch so I finally just fed him at 3! ...and normally he takes a nap around noon, but he was so excited to play with Ava that he never even whimpered. When I got home at 5:30 I set him in his bed & his eyes drooped shut before I could even put the crib rail up!

He was (of course) too scarred to go down the tube slide so he was tickled pink every time Ava went down it. He would get all happy & clap for her!

Tommy kept looking at the bunny in the cage so we decided to get the bunny out to pet & Tommy didn't really care to touch it. He just wanted to sit by Ava...

...and crawl & run circles around her while she held it.

Every time Tommy goes to his cousin's house he is too afraid to jump on the trampoline & I am constantly trying to show him how fun it is to bounce so I was tickled pink to see him finally conquer his fear of it. He bounced away with Ava on there & laughed the whole time!

He was NONSTOP smiles with anything he did with her. They'd run into her room & bounce on the bed together, sit in matching mini chairs & read books at the same time, etc. Ava is only 5 months older so they are pretty much on the same wave length of what activites they like to do & Tommy would just copy everything she did & follow her everywhere. Even when he decided to check out the toy room Ava didn't want to, but she stayed in there anyway to be next to Tommy. It made me so happy to see him this happy & content!

...and I can't forget Miss Whitney! Here she is laying on the grass next to Addie. I always have the longest babies! Addie is 4 months older & Whitney has already caught up to her and if you didn't notice in the pictures Tommy is bigger than Ava too!

Overflowing with LOVE!

Haha! I just swiped this off of Holly's blog. I just thought it was too cute not to share with others! Especially because I have been OVERFLOWING with love for my cute little family lately! I mean look at them... aren't they just SO cute! The water is really high at Shosone Falls this year so there was a ton of people everywhere. The water is just chugging over the sides and you can't even see the bottom because there is so much mist in the air! Even right now I just want to squish that silly boy's cheeks! He has been cracking us up lately because when he runs those chubby cheeks bounce all over, especially when he is pouting about something!

I have been thinking Tommy is so big lately because he is big for his age & because he is way bigger than Whitney, but when we took him to the park this week he looked so tiny next to the big kids, especially when they were calling him a baby. He was funny on the bridge. It must have been scarry to him because he would only crawl on it. I love this picture because it makes him look like a baby which oddly makes me happy. It's nice to think of him as a baby instead of the wild toddler that he is quickly growing into!

...and the other thing that I am CONSTANTLY wanting to squish is Whitney! She is just nonstop looking like the cutest little dolly ever! I couldn't decide which of these two pictures is cuter so I am posting them both!

Whitney's Blessing Day

Here is my little angel on her blessing day! She was really good & Vic gave a sweet blessing. She didn't want to be awake or asleep so here she is making a funny face!
Me & my baby girl.

Whitney & her Daddy Vic.

I meant to get a big group picture of everyone that came to the party, but it seemed like everyone was always scrattered since we did it in our backyard. The weather was perfect and even a little on the warm side which is a miracle for Idaho in the spring!

I am still just LOVING all of that wild hair!

I thought she looked like a little dolly when I took her to a funeral yesterday so I just had to steal another picture :)

You know the best part about this little DOLLY?!? I love dressing her up & all three of these outfits & accessories were 100% FREE by either hand-me-downs, coupons, gifts, or old stuff laying around the house!

1st smile

I just couldn't wait to add this picture onto another post so here is Miss Whitney's adorable smile! She has been very consistant for about a week, but I just thought to pull out the camera this morning so here is her 1st smile caught on camera:

...and yes, she has a bad case of bedhead!

I can hardly believe this little munchkin is 6 weeks old already!! Time flies too fast with 2 kids.

Mr. Copycat

Tommy's latest thing is copying everything Vic or I do. This kid cracks me up all day long, but some things are just WAY funnier than others. My favorite this week was when he saw I diaper I just changed on Whitney & he picked it up and ran off with it. I chased after him & he hurried & threw it down the stairs. At first I wanted to tell him "no!", but then I realized he was just being "helpful"! Haha, I don't trust the diaper genie so whenever one of the kids are poopy & I don't want to haul them all downstairs to throw out a stinky diaper I throw it to the landing in the middle of our stairs so that it doesn't stink up the upstairs, but it is in the way so I don't forget to grab it on my way down. Anyway, funny how they are always watching & ready to copy whatever we do! The pictures below cracked me up so I just HAD to share! Here he is copying Vic/Daddy if you can't tell!
The title of this picture is:

"Excuse me while I text my people."

...make a few phone calls...
...and then do the booty dance because I just realized that mom & dad are laughing at me & I love to put on a show!

...and then later he decided to be like mommy so while I was trying to plant he came & pushed me out of the way so he could dig his own flower holes!

This one doesn't show anything,but Vic took it & I like the angle & pose :)

Whitney's Newborn Pictures

Here is my dear sweet Whitney's announcement. I wish I was organized enough to send them to everyone, but just the grandparents & aunts got them so here it is for everyone else! I was scarred to mess up her newborn pictures since you can't redo them later, but I think they all turned out pretty good & I saved myself lots of $$$! I put the rest of them on my photo blog: clickHERE to see them all :)

UPDATES!

Okay, I haven't posted on here for awhile so I thought I'd do 4 posts at once so be prepared to read, read, read!!!
I thought I'd start off with a few random shots around the house. Here is the sight that we see several times a day at our house. Tommy LOVES his baby sister & every time it gets quiet we know to run & see where Whitney is because Tommy is probably trying to give her loves, pick her up, or kiss her... which is usually smashing her & waking her up!

We have gotten lots of loving gifts for Miss Whitney. Tommy was tickled pink whenever someone gave us a gift for him too or a gift that will be for both of them. Here he is right after opening a book from my Aunt.

I thought I would only dress my girl in all pink all of the time, but after seeing her in this adorable sleep sack my sister-in-law Becky made us & another brown outfit, I've decided that BROWN of all colors is my favorite on her!!

Vic was of course the best husband on Mother's Day. I woke up to him giving me a massage, breakfast in bed, and when I came down to the kitchen this is what was waiting for me:

My card sang a song when you opened it and Tommy thought that was the greatest thing ever. Makes me want to find a singing book! Here he is so happily dancing to the song on top of his "stage" ...aka.. my new outdoor patio swing!

Easter Egg Hunt

HAPPY late EASTER!!! Easter is one of my favorite holidays for several reasons: Christ's sacrifice, spring & everything coming to life, gorgeous little girls dressed up like princesses, candy, chocolate covered rice crispy eggs, egg dying, family gatherings, egg hunts, and presents!
Here is my little Whitney dressed up. I LOVED all of the sweet ruffles on her dress, bloomers, & socks. I never thought I'd be one for so many ruffles, but they are so SWEET on a newborn :) Vic thinks she is making some weird pose, but it's all I got so here you go!
Look at Kara on the right, being a normal kid decorating her boiled egg. Now see what my son does:

He poked his little finger in as far as he could get it on 3 eggs in a row!!!

Then tore them up into shreds!!!

Tommy had a little practice with opening the eggs & finding treats so when he saw all of the eggs out in the yard he ran out there before we said go for all of the kids.

He was so distressed when we pulled him back so that we could get a picture of him & his cousins together! (Hence his happy smiling cousins & his mad little face) I have to add that these girls had absolutely gorgeous Easter dresses, but we had to celebrate a week late so that is why they are wearing jeans!

Since this was their 3rd hunt they were professional egg grabbers!

Here is Tommy & Evie finding their eggs in the "baby eggs" half of the yard. (I put freeze dried yogurt things & puffs in their eggs)

Here is Tommy & his egg bucket. He didn't want to put any eggs in there because he wanted to eat whatever was inside as soon as he found it!

I kept trying to put eggs in his basket & he would carry it for about 30 seconds before dumping it out & trying to open all of the eggs! Here is Tommy meeting his first set of golf clubs....

Who would have thought it would be his favorite gift! We bought these for $5 and a mini baby slide for $100 and what do you think he spends all of his time with?!?.... the $5 clubs of course!
He loves to hit anything around with his new clubs. He has quite the hacking swing, it is hilarious :)

Here is Evie (9 months old) trying to pick up a yogurt that dropped out of her egg. It took quite a bit of effort & eating some grass along with it to finally get it in her mouth!

Tommy was about this same age when he fell in love with suckers (he stole them from our Halloween bowl) so I thought Evie was ready for her first one. Here she is sticking the stick in her mouth....

...but she figured it out what to do with it pretty quick-sucking through the wrapper and all... and I was right-she loved it. (even though her mom & dad probably didn't love it as much!)
The Easter Bunny hid my basket on top of the patio so I made him, I mean Vic, get it down for me!!

Tommy finding one of his presents... my family goes pretty crazy on Easter & it's almost like Christmas!!

I thought Grandpa Miller would be proud to see that all of his grandkids knew exactly what to do with a tool set! ...even Tommy that had never held a screwdriver before!