Thanks Aunt Emmie & Uncle Gary

Heidi LOVES her new doll stroller. Thanks to Aunt Emmie and Uncle Gary for picking out a great gift for her. Here are some pictures of her enjoying her new stroller. She loads it up and pushes it around the house in her high heel princess shoes from Grandma & Grandpa. I am amazed at how fast she can go in those shoes!!!

Thank you TT

TT (Aunt Toni) loves our kids so much and is always thinking of them. She finds the most beautiful dresses for little Heidi. This is her latest find....I think it is so cute and it totally fits Heidi's personality. She added her own touch with a white shirt underneath, her snow white shoes (at least they match), a headband, and then Ben's baseball glove and his tennis shoes. She's a crack up! She loves her dress though. I had to pry it off her before bed!!! Thank you TT for Heidi's darling dress!!!

Ben meets his teacher

This morning Ben and I went to meet his teacher for this year. Her name is Mrs. Fritz and she already knew Ben because last year her class and Ben's class had recess together all year. His new classroom is right next to his classroom from last year, so we stopped to say hi to Mrs. Velez. It was fun to see the difference between last year and this year- he walked in and knew exactly what to do. This year he signed in, found his cubby, answered the question of the day and sat down at a table to color with some paint markers. He built blocks and palyed in the sand table with a few of the boys, and I was glad to see him interacting already. He is a little sad though because his buddies from last year are in a different class on different days, so we've been encouraging him about making new friends. I can't believe how much he has changed from the start of preschool last year. When we stopped in his old room, he looked so big next to the 3 year olds!

Kate gets her "Sherman Baby Buzz"

All 3 of our children were born with a lot of hair, and now all 3 have had their "Sherman Baby Buzz" from dad. Kate definitely had the most hair, but over the last couple of weeks it has started falling out and looking patchy. John has been bugging me to buzz it, and I was resistent because there was still so much on top. I finally gave in yesterday because I had to agree that it was really looking bad. Ben was very excited about helping with the haircut and even passed up playing with his new friends down the street to help. Kate sat in the highchair and did great! She looks so different, and it's taken me awhile to get used to it- she's still darling though. Her hair is very blond underneath. Here's some pictures of Kate's first haircut and her new buzz!!

Kate is 3 months old!

Kate is 3 months old already. She is very sweet and very expressive. She is really starting to talk and coo a lot. She loves it when people talk to her, her bath, cuddling, her swing and her sister and brother. She gives them lots of smiles. We love her!

Trying to get a good picture.......

It's so difficult to get a good picture of 3 little ones together. I am always trying and it usually doesn't turn out too well. This was my attempt today.... Ben was really trying to help me out.

More pictures of Heidi's Birthday

Guess what the best part of the gift was???

Heidi picking out her balloon

I love this picture!

Heidi's 2nd Birthday

Heidi turned 2 on Sunday! On Saturday we night we went to Red Robin with the kids for her birthday. (Thanks Aunt Jamey for the coupons for free kids' meals :) She had her favorite, Mac & Cheese, they sang Happy Birthday to her and she got her own ice cream Sunday, which Ben was happy to finish after he had Mud Pie. When they brought it Ben says, "Heidi, if you're not going to eat that, I'll take it!" When we got home, Ben gave her the special presents he picked out for her at garage sales (of course): a princess piggy bank, a little blue princess purse and a Barbie. He used his own money from his piggy bank to buy them, cleaned them himself, and was very proud of his gifts. He got out his tweezers and showed her how to open the piggy bank and close it and where to put the money. Her real birthday was on Sunday and Luke brought her a special basket of purple presents he picked out for her himself at the Dollar Store. He was so cute when he brought it over, and Heidi loved it when she got up from her nap! Grandma T also brought her a box of princess shoes, which she LOVES!!! She had a great day- it's hard to believe she is two already! She is such a special part of our family. We love you Heidi-pop!

Heidi & Kate

Heidi thinks Kate is one of her dolls. She always covers her with all the blankets she can find and brings handfuls of burp cloths to her. Here she had gone to Kate's room and brought her a few blankets and burp cloths which she carefully covered her with, and then put a little toy by her head while Kate was swinging. It was 85 degrees in the house while we were waiting for the air conditioner to be fixed! It's so cute because she always says, "Here Baby Kate" .

Ben & his Baby Sister

Ben loves his baby sister Kate. He always wants to hold her and help me with her. After I fed her the other day he wanted to burp her for me. He was so cute holding her and talking to her. It was funny to hear him repeat the way we talk to her.

Silly Kids

So the other day I was feeding Kate and I couldn't see what was going on behind me. Ben and Heidi were giggling which then turned into yelling. I turned around and saw the two of them crammed into Kate's car seat. Heidi could not figure out how to get out so she resorted to her "I'm 2 and frustrated" yelling. Ben in his "I always know what to do and I'll tell you how" voice was trying to explain to her how to get out, but was quickly getting frustrated because she wasn't listening. I was laughing because they looked so funny in there and instead of helping them, what did I do? Went for the camera! I thought I'd share it because it gave me a good laugh! And then I got them out!

John turns 31

John's birthday fell on a Sunday, the first Sunday of softball, so after the game we went to BJ's Pizza with our family and our parents to celebrate. It was kind of late and last minute, but the kids did well and we had a nice time celebrating John turning 31!!!