Happy Birthday to Gem! (and Tyler)

Before I start this post, let me just say that looking at all the pictures from yesterday, Tyler and I have been wondering why Levi always wants to lay his head on us. Now I think it must be genetic.

Also let me preface this post by saying that I am tired. So if this post (or any in the near future) seems odd or is riddled with errors, it is the fault of the babies. June is sleeping as well as can be expected but unfortunately she is not the only child in the house. And making it to bed between ten and eleven, then getting up for forty minutes sometime in the night, and then being awake again between five thirty and six is beginning to take a toll on the sanity of this household. I am not complaining, we love our babies (and Gem), I am just explaining that for the time being you can just assume that Tyler and I are only about half here, if that makes any sense.

Anyway onto the post. Saturday was Tyler's birthday so to celebrate we threw Gem a birthday party. Tyler is always very concerned that our daughter has a birthday party, so this is the second year I have consented to let him have a party. We just invited the family, which was still a living room full of people.

The party began with a treasure hunt for Gem and her cousin. We had put clues in envelopes through the house and they ran from clue to clue, until they found the "treasure". Which was Gem's cake.

Neither of them were to concerned about the cake but they both wanted to play the "envelope" game again.

So then we ate the treasure cake and then it was time to open presents. Tyler and I being the incredibly generous parents we are gave Gem a potato head that we have had in our closet for the last two years and a five dollar set of pirate accessories. Luckily Gem loves the pirate stuff, she asks us all the time if we will play "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" with her. Also she wears her hook around and follows Levi calling him a "scurvy brat". I am going to let that go for now since Levi seems unaffected by the taunting.

She also got some flashcards and workbooks from her Grandma Joe, and Tyler has put her on a strict regime of 4 or 5 adding flashcards per night. It seems to be going ok. She really enjoys using her brain.

She also got some fun crafty things from her grandma Ross. She got some big Dora coloring pages, which I have been letting her watercolor. I took a picture of this one because I wanted to show that she has begun putting certain colors in certain parts of the picture. She painted the characters in this one all by herself (I helped with the leaves and the sky).

Also she got some little sun catchers to put in her window. She painted two on Sunday morning, but we still have a few more to keep her busy when she gets bored.

Has it been 5 years already?

Where does the time go? I love you Tara. I have everything I want in life.

A Snot Sucker

I am rather obsessive compulsive about getting the boogers out of my kids noses. Sometimes I feel like the "sucker" is my best friend.

Why June is a Prisoner in her own Home

His name is Levi. And now that we have another baby to watch over lets just say that the elder baby is no longer under adequate adult supervision. He has learned to climb onto my computer chair. So yesterday morning Tyler took them downstairs while he was working in his office. When he came out of his office to check on them he found Levi standing on the drawers beating on the computer. He had climbed onto the chair and over his elder sister who was sitting on the chair onto the computer desk and then over to the drawers. I don't know about you but I feel this is slightly unsafe, but at the same time amazing.

June Dawn Ross

Here she is. What a cutie.... June Dawn Ross. Born Friday 17 June 2011. 7 pounds 2 ounces and 19.5 inches long. We typically don't go for the "shove the camera in the 4-hour-old's scrunched-up face and pretend it's cute" pictures, but the price was right for this one (free!).


Here's Tara. What a cutie.... As usual, she looks more like she just watched a mediocre movie than having just had a baby.

A proud Daddy.

A proud sister/playmate/overlord/friend.

We don't have a picture of Levi together with June. We still aren't sure if he'll try to eat her. He's a cutie too, in his own way.

Everyone is happy and healthy. We can't ask for more.

Coolest Thing Ever!! Numero Dos

I guess making mobiles is how I prepare for babies to come. For anyone who can't remember Coolest Thing Ever!! Numero Uno click here.

All I have to say is that Tyler and I are pretty darn amazing at making mobiles. Though I will admit that this took us over two hours to make and used eleven dollars worth of glitter. But it was totally worth it.

What a Cute Baby!

We just can't get enough of Levi around here.

Stage Final

We finally did it. On Thursday last week we had a guy come out and he used his preseeder tractor to level the yard, pull out all the rocks and weeds, and fluff up the top inch of soil. That way we were ready for Saturday when the hydroseed guy came and sprayed the hydroseed into the yard. I got a finished picture of the front yard and we got a picture of the hydroseeding in action in the back yard. Now we just water it, sit back, and watch it grow.

Talented Kids

Here we have Levi's talent of bouncing.

Here we have Gem's new talent of the piano. Everyday she has four "jobs" to do, and one of her jobs is to play the piano with me. So this is the first song she learned. But this week we have been practicing following the numbers in a book instead of memorizing. She likes it so far.