It's Summer Time!!!

Dallin finished his first year of school. He loved going to preschool, and he is really going to miss his friends. Here is Dallin with his teacher and best friend in his class, Bryce.

Dallin on the tire swing with some friends at school.

Dallin finally learned to swing by himself! He is so proud, and we are so excited! My arms were getting tired pushing both kids :) This is a video of him doing it the very first time!

Our playset finally arrived! It took Jeff awhile to build it because he was busy at work. As soon as he would walk in the door, Dallin would be waiting with tools in his hands. The kids were such a big help...

 Here it is! It isn't quite done yet. There are little things like the chimney, steering wheel, rope ladder, etc., but the kids are excited about everything else so it might be awhile before it is finished :)The kids really wanted 2 slides AND a bouncy bridge, so they are pretty excited.

They want to swing ALL the time.

We had a really hot day, and the kids wanted to play in their sprinkler. Alyssa is really scared of the sprinklers when we water the yard, but she likes hers. I was surprised at how brave she was.

And here is a picture of Brooke :) She is now 6 weeks old! She has found a new favorite spot, which is the corner of the couch. This was Dallin's favorite position too.This is the only picture I have taken recently of her. I need to be better about taking pictures.

One Month Old

I really should be doing something more productive, but I don't really feel like it. Brooke is actually sleeping while not being held, but we will see how long that actually lasts. She turned a month old this past Sunday, and it really has gone by way to fast. She is a very pleasant baby for the most part. For the last week she has had a crying time between 7 and 9 at night. She REALLY likes to be held all the time, so I don't get a whole lot done. I do like my little cuddler though :) The kids are still obsessed with her, and run to see where she is 1st thing every morning. Then they fight over who gets to hold her first. 

We have done a lot in the past month though. We celebrated Jeff's 29th birthday and our 7th anniversary. We have painted 3 bathrooms, and we are finally done with all the major painting!!! YAY! We are very sick of painting. Lots of other random projects have been done, and now we have our playset to build. It never ends with your own home I guess. 

 

 

Dallin and Alyssa really aren't sleeping well lately. Alyssa fell asleep like this for nap the other day. She only slept for about a 1/2 hour, so probably not the most comfortable position. 

Alyssa loves to wear her purple snow boots that we bought for her to use next year. She wears them all the time. Dallin went through the same phase. Silly kids. 

Brooke really likes Dallin. He is so cute and good with her.

Dallin and Alyssa have been good buddies lately. They still love to just sit and watch them work on the house behind us.

Our Garden

We planted our garden last night. The kids were very excited to get to help us out. We planted some green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, lettuce, and cucumbers. When the kids woke up this morning, they ran to the window to see if it had grown yet. They were a little disappointed. This will be our first garden, and I'm excited to see if we can actually grow anything or if it will just be a learning year :) 

Brooke wanted to join us outside...not really, but she came outside with us and fell asleep for a few minutes.

Two Weeks Old!

Brooke is now a little over two weeks old. I can't believe it's gone by so fast. She had her 2 week appointment on Thursday, and the doctor said she looks great. Brooke was up to 7 lbs 14 oz (37%), so they were happy she had gone up 10 oz past her birth weight.  She was 20.25 inches (51%) and her head was 13.5 inches (15%). All my kids have small heads. She has been a very good baby so far. She is much more cuddly than our others, so I end up holding her A LOT. My first week by myself with all 3 went much better than I thought it would. Hopefully this week is the same :)

 

Alyssa likes holding her a little more. The kids fight over who gets to hold Brooke first. 

Dallin has been a great help. He holds her quite a bit, especially when I'm making breakfast and dinner.

Alyssa's First Haircut

Alyssa got her first haircut. Grandma Petersen cut it while she was out here for the baby. She really didn't want it, but after giving her some PEZ candy she didn't care what was happening to her hair. I was afraid she would lose all her curls, but her hair still curled a little. I think she looks pretty cute :)

The before:

 

Getting it cut: 

 

The after:

Sister bonding!

Alyssa has finally warmed up to Brooke. She held her for the first time yesterday, and she loved it. She now wants to be by her a lot of the time. She is always very concerned about where she is. Alyssa picked out Brooke's outfit yesterday, and it was purple (her favorite color so they would match). I hope this is the beginning of a great sister relationship :)

And here is Big Brother looking after his sister. He will be such a good and protective older brother :)

Brooke

Brooke Olivia has joined our family. She was due on the 16th, and I really didn't want her to come on Friday the 13th :) Well, on Friday the 13th at 2:50 I woke up to some contractions. After the 2nd one, which was about 6 minutes apart I told Jeff he wasn't going to work today. We timed them for about an hour and they were anywhere from 4-8 minutes. I finally decided to get up at 4 and shower. Well, I stood up and they started coming every 2 minutes. So my wonderful sister in law came over around 4 to stay with the kids. Thanks again!

We got checked in and into the room at the hospital at 4:55, and I was a 7. Brooke was born at 6:09 am, so another quick birth. She was 7 lbs 3.8 oz and was 20 inches long. I guess my kids are all going to be about the same :) The first night was rough. Jeff and I got about an hour of sleep each. The 2nd night the nurses took her and we got 4 hours of wonderful sleep. We are very excited to have her in our family.


Brooke is great at finding her thumb...hope she is not a thumb sucker!
The kids were very excited and came to see her later in the day. Dallin was very excited to see her and wanted to hold her immediately. He held her several times.
Alyssa was content to just look at her. She finally said she wanted to hold her. I attempted to put Brooke on her lap and she decided quickly she did not.

We came home today, and Dallin immediately wanted to hold her again. Alyssa not so much. I am very glad to be home.