A Rapunzel party...

Our sweet Kaitlyn is now 5! The day she turned 5 she kept asking "do I look bigger" or "do I look like I'm 5 now"? Katy loves art, music, dance, books and bugs. Every teacher she's had so far has commented on what a good artist she is and how good she is for her age. Maybe this will be her talent (she's about as talented at sports as I am). She also loves picking out her clothes and telling me how to fix her hair. I really need to learn some cool hair styles, because she's getting bored with the 3 hair do's I know. This year Kaitlyn requested a Rapunzel birthday party. We're just a little obsessed with the movie over here =) Here are some pics from her party.

Rapunzel's braid was hanging on our front door (I had to crop the picture so it wouldn't show our address)

Each kid got to take a picture in Rapunzel's tower. Nana painted it just for the party =)

Lexie just got up from her nap and wasn't quite ready to smile yet

We made Pascal party blowers. This is the best picture I have of the finished product.

Here's one of the sun banners I made.

Katy and I made the cupcake toppers. It was so easy and the kids liked picking out who they got to eat.We played pin the nose on Flynn Rider. Jared made a whole bunch of funny noses so each kid had a different silly nose to "pin" on Flynn.

Florida...

We spent a wonderful week at the beach in Florida. It was our first time to Destin and it was BEAUTIFUL! They definitely call it the Emerald Coast for a reason. Kaitlyn and Alexis loved playing in the sand and jumping in the waves. Greyson pretty much chilled under the umbrella and took naps. He was a trooper though. On Sunday we decided to go to church and eat all of our meals at the hotel and maybe play at the beach for a bit. Well, we all got up early, showered, put on our nice clothes and headed to 9:00 am church. When we got there nobody was in sight and there was a sign on the door saying it was stake conference. There was no reference to where conference was or what time. Jared and I looked at each other, smiled and headed straight to the beach! At least we tried, right?

The girls loved playing in the white, powdery sand

Greyson taking a little snooze

Jared, Katy and Lulu are in the middle of the picture

We also went to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. It was AWESOME!

I have a horrible fear of bridges and had a panic attack walking across this bridge with my kids. I think it's gotten worse with age, considering I once jumped out of a plane, but now cannot walk across a two story bridge =)

He's such a smiler.

The kiddos...

I haven't blogged in forever! We just got back from vacation a few days ago (more on that to come), but here's what's new with the kiddos!

Greyson is exactly 6 months old in this picture. He's always smiling =)

At his 6 month checkup he weighed 18 pounds 5 ounces and was 27.5 inches long. He's rolling and scooting all over the place. He is a champ at eating solids. By far the best appetite of all my children. He'll sit on his own for a minute or so before toppling over.

Lexie is so stinkin cute she gets away with everything. Definitely a mama's girl. She's speaking a lot more clearly and really learning a lot. She starts mother's day out in the fall - we'll see how that goes!

Kaitlyn finished out the school year with her dance recital. She took tap and ballet lessons all year and liked it okay, but when she found out she got to wear this cute outfit and dance on a stage she suddenly fell in love with dance. My oh my was she adorable to watch!

I can't believe my little Katy will start Kindergarten in the Fall. She's definitely ready for it, but I don't know if I am. There's just something more official about Kindergarten then pre-k. I guess they have to grow up sometime =(

Pictures...

We had pictures done a few weeks ago. Here are some of my faves...

The bubs...

Our little bubs is already 3 months old! He's finally growing out of the brand new newborn stage and filling out. His 3 month check up is tomorrow, but we weighed him on our scale and it says he's 15.5 pounds! Greyson has a pretty good sleep schedule at night. He goes to bed around 8:00 pm wakes up around 3:00 or 4:00 am and then sleeps until 7:00-ish. For now, that's awesome. He's such a good baby and I've caught myself thinking several times that if I could have another one just like him I would!

Last Sunday we were able to bless our little man. Jared's mom, dad, aunt and uncle were all able to fly in for the event. It was such a special day and he was a little angel. We pressed record on Jared's iPhone and stuck it in his coat pocket and were able to record the whole blessing. My friend Erika (DRY Ink) snapped these photos after the blessing.

The new bed...

*After reading this post several people have asked if we got the plans off of Ana White's website and yes we did. We love it! Check it out here.

Just like any other manly man, Jared has been wanting to build something for a long time. We've just never had the tools or a garage. Well we've had a garage for a couple of years now so finally Jared invested in some new tools this past black Friday. He decided his first project was to build a bed for Alexis. I was a little hesitant at first, because I had never seen Jared build anything before and our child would be sleeping on this bed. Needless to say he did an awesome job and it turned out really cute. I've already got his next 5 furniture building projects lined up!

The Birth Story...

I can't believe Greyson is already 2 months old! Finally, the Lord listened to my prayers and gave me a good new born! He's so laid back and puts up with so much from his emotional, but well intentioned big sisters.

I wanted to record Greyson's birth story before he got any older. WARNING: if you have suffered from a hard labor and delivery you may not want to read this because you will be extremely jealous!

On December 6th I woke up and got ready just like any other day (I'm still cursing myself for not washing my hair that morning). My due date wasn't for 3 more weeks so I definitely wasn't expecting the crazy day to come. I dropped Kaitlyn off at pre-school, ran over to walmart to pick up a site to store order and then headed off to the doctor for my 37 week checkup. I had to schedule this checkup a day earlier than usual because she happened to be booked on my normal day. While waiting in the waiting room I kept having my normal uncomfortable Braxton Hicks contractions, but I definitely was not in labor. I kept saying "I've had two kids, I know what a contraction feels like". Finally, after waiting for an hour I was called back. I brought Lexie with me to my appointment - again not thinking I was going to give birth in the next couple of hours. My doctor starting discussing moving my induction date up a day or so and then she checked me to see how dilated I was. All I remember was looking at her face between my legs and seeing a look of surprise on it. She says to me, "uh, you're 6 centimeters dilated. You're not going home today". I looked at Lexie and started to cry. My first thought was, "you're not going to be my baby anymore". Then, my second thought was, "man, I knew I should have washed my hair"!

I told my doctor to please let me go home and I promised to be back in one hour. She said it was up to me, but if my water broke I probably wouldn't make it back to the hospital. I was determined to go home and make sure the kids were taken care of and get my hospital bag. We have no family in the area, or on this side of the country, so my best friend met me at my house and picked up Lex, while Jared and I headed to the hospital. When I got to the hospital an hour later I still wasn't in labor, but I was dilated to a 7. My doctor wanted to break my water so I told her to give me an epidural. A short while later they gave me the epidural even though I wasn't having any painful contractions. Then, she broke my water and 30 minutes and 3 pushes later Greyson was born. 7 lbs 11 ounces and the sweetest little guy in the world. The BEST labor EVER! It only took a couple of hours, I never felt a thing and I didn't tear.

8 weeks old in his swing

7 weeks old. The tail end of a smile.

I love when he puckers up for a big kiss. Did I mention that I love having a boy?