4th of July Visitors

We were pleased to have some visitors this week! My brother and his family came out to DC for the week of the 4th of July. What a great way to celebrate my birthday! Again! (They also visited us in Ohio over my birthday). We had so much fun seeing the sights and having late night conversations.

The kids got along great! I seriously think our house was calmer with them here since their girls helped mellow out our boys. There weren't nearly as many kung fu fights as normal. Thanks Sarah and Whitney!

The two cousins chillin' in the stroller

We enjoyed the temple grounds....

...got caught in a storm...

...and, of course, ate yummy cake courtesy of Paul, Tim, Liz, and the kids.

Thanks for coming guys. We had so much fun with you! Thank you for making my birthday special. We love you!

Brothers are Great

I recently spent some time in the boy's bedroom cleaning and sorting and such. I put Isaac on the bed just like in the picture below...

When I looked over to check on him, this is what I found...

Aaron had "tucked Isaac in." He even shared his own blankie and his favorite stuffed lion. I thought that was just the sweetest thing, so I caught in on camera.

This is our "tummy time" spot. Under our coffee table. It keeps him from getting stepped on by his big brothers.

Big brothers are the best!

Catch-Up

Now that I am finally feeling a little more up-to-speed, it's about time I filled everyone in on what has been going on. Here is our pictoral timeline....

Isaac's blessing day. He was only two weeks old at the time, but that is when the most family would be here. He was very cooperative, snoozing through the whole thing.

Paul's folks came out to help with the baby...

...as did my mom. My mom stayed for three weeks while Paul was at a military EFMB course (expert field medical badge, for those who don't know the lingo). I don't know what I would have done without all of the help. Probably would have sworn off having ANY more children! :-)

Army Paul, with his characteristic grin.

We celebrated Logan's 4th birthday! Happy birthday buddy! We are so lucky to be your parents. We love you!

Showing off his birthday shades.

And of course, the blog would not be complete without more pics of the new baby.

Yes, he is in a laundry basket. I couldn't pass up the photo op, where he still fits in it.

Paul and the new munchkin, getting to know each other.

Spread eagle. He was so relaxed, it was comical!

My three sons

One Week Old

Isaac is now a week old! I wish time would slow down and that he would stay this tiny forever! He is such a precious little guy, and a wonderful addition to our family.

Doesn't he have an awesome daddy! And he just keeps getting better with every year and with every child. What a lucky lady I am to have snatched him.

And here's the mama, looking fresh and cute right after delivery. *ahem*

And here he is, our feature attraction, showing you what he does all day long.

I love newborn drowsiness. It makes them so cute and cuddly! They also make for a great sedative. Get one of these guys in your arms and I guarantee it will promote sleepiness in moments.

Isaac Stevenson Rose

Well, it finally happened... Rebecca had the baby.

Friday morning Rebecca went to her appointment with the doctor, and when they checked her they found that she was already dialated to a seven. There response was, "Honey, your not going anywhere but up to labor and delivery." It was a good thing that both of the other boys were at our friends house. Rebecca then called me up at work and I rode the metro over to the hospital. After breaking her water, a big boy was born. He was 9 lbs 3 oz and 22 inches long! Our biggest baby yet!

This is one of the few times Logan will actually sit still, to hold his new baby brother. He does such a good job, and loves him very much.

I am not sure what Aaron's face is saying; probably that there is someone else to blame things on. It is always good to have someone to pass the buck onto.

Flying Buzz

Today I am going to tell you a story about Logan and his kite. You will notice that the kite has Logan's favorite character on it.....Buzz Lightyear. Note the tree in the background, it comes into play. This picture was taken after this story.

Last weekend Logan, Aaron, myself(Daddy) and Buzz decided to go to the Iwo Jima Memorial to fly around enjoying the great windy weather while mom was in class. Aaron picked up sticks and ran around like a crazy man, when Logan would yell, "To infinity and beyond,"
at which time Daddy would let go of Buzz and he would leap into the sky truly looking for infinity.

According to Aaron's extensive vocabulary he informed Daddy that "Buzz fly good." Definitely Daddy should have taken note, because after pulling on a string for a while, and knowing that watching a kite for a while is fun, a three year old does get bored. So, what does the three year old do? He desides to give Buzz a little more freedom and let go of the kite handle. Buzz definitely fly good!!! Daddy drops the camera and it is a race.... where too, we are not sure, but Buzz moves much faster than Daddy does.

Thankfully after several hundred yards, Buzz doesn't pay very good attention and runs into this tree. (You will note that this tree had already claimed another victim). Buzz's handle barely caugth on one of the lower branches and Daddy was able to catch him.

Buzz is grounded!!

For how long you may ask? Indefinitly!!

Or until Logan better understands you can't give Buzz too much freedom.

Our Sweet Sons

With the imminent arrival of our third son, I feel a such a great love for him already! It is amazing how much you can love someone you have never even met. And the love just grows, because I have the same love for his older brothers as well. We are so fortunate to be their parents. What sweet little guys...

The poor kids have had pink eye and ear infections this week. Logan looked absolutely miserable. It made my own eyes water just looking at his.

The countdown is on! 20 days left!!! I can't wait!

P.S. I finished my last class yesterday! I can't believe I am already done with the coursework of my Master's program! Thanks Paul for all of your support. I couldn't have done it without you. I love you, hon!

Aaron's Birthday

Time seems to pass by so quickly. Aarons birthday was this last week; he is now two years old. Rebecca made a nice cake for his birthday, and we opened presents.

Of course it was nice to see the cake, but so much better to eat the cake. As you can see, Logan is a much faster eater than Aaron, hence Logan is oogling Aarons piece as well.

Aaron has such a fun personality. He loves to hold small objects in his hand and try on the Mr. Potatoe Head glasses.

We sure love these little boys, and are looking forward to having the next one. One month and counting!!

Our House

We spent this weekend back at our house in Cleveland. What a bitter-sweet experience. It was nice to be back where we spent four of the six years of our married lives, yet sad that we were there to fix the damage others inflicted on our house in our absence. We are posting pics of what our house looked like before and after we rented it out to give you an idea....

The pictures don't capture the essence of the filth that was our home after our renters left. The smell of rotting food and booze was overwhelming! We hired someone to get rid of all of the stuff, but the grunge leftover was horrendous. We woke up at about 7:00 am on Saturday, and worked until midnight cleaning and scrubbing and fixing. We got a ton accomplished, and our house looks so much better. The kitchen floor is a lost cause, and the basement and yard still need a lot of work, but the rest looks pretty good again. At least we don't feel the need to cry whenever we walk through the doors anymore.

So we had quite the whirlwind of a weekend. We send a great big thanks to the Wilde's for their help and support! You guys were awesome! Logan wants to go back to play with Lincoln some more. :-) Hopefully now we are closer to getting our house back on the market.