Tractor Ride

The kids looooove the tractor Nana got them for Christmas! Derek has figured out how to pedal the tractor in a circle around the patio. Bryce has yet to figure out the pedals as well as Derek has, so he usually climbs into the trailer and lets Derek do all the work. :) The boys have a blast racing fast around the patio and yelling with delight.

Got a quick cheese from Derek before he tore off again

Chauffeur Derek does a good job driving Bryce around

 

*screeching brakes* Derek always makes the sound effects for the brakes.

Happy faces!

Goodbye Cook Children's

We loved Dr. Lizzy Varughese (VAR-geese)! We are sad to leave, but our new pediatrician is just down the road instead of all the way out in Lewisville. We are so grateful for the wonderful care we received from all the staff at Cook Children's. The nurses there almost always took Derek and Bryce to the nurses's station to color while Clara got her shots. We rotated them through so they didn't have to be distressed watching their siblings get shots. What seriously awesome people. We wish them all the very best!

Thank you Dr. Varughese!

Family Pictures!

The lovely and talented Kim Rose from our ward was kind enough to take our family photos today. I am so excited! We haven't taken professional pictures since Derek was about a year old. The kids weren't very cooperative, but I was so grateful for her commitment to getting good shots. It was so fun to pick coordinating outfits and have a reason to buy new shoes! I love how they turned out, too.

 We are a happy fam-i-ly!

 We see this cute little tongue a lot! Clara still doesn't have even a hint of teeth.

 Another cute family pose

 Love this one

 Six and a half years, and still going strong!

Mitchell and Derek - Derek loves to watch Mitchell play/paint Warhammer and  he especially loves to "play" video games with Mitchell. It's sweet to see him so excited when Daddy comes home.

 Mitchell and Bryce - this kid is a Daddy's boy through and through. He loves to wrestle with Mitchell and usually can be heard yelling, "Daddy!" and running from wherever he is in the house the minute Mitchell walks in the door.

 Mitchell and Clara - she loves her Daddy. He flips her upside down and tickles her neck to hear her sweet giggles. Her first babbles have been "da-da-da."

 When did my boy get so big?!

 My second-favorite shot! My very favorite is the picture behind the blog title. :)

 Look at these cuties!

 Oh, how I love being Mommy to these three wonderful blessings!

 Curly hair never looked so cute

My sweet Derek - he is my right-hand at home. He's always ready and wiling to help with anything and he loves to play with his siblings. I love my Derek!

 My Brycie Bryce! He loves to read and read and read. He loves to cuddle with me on the couch while he cuddles a stuffed animal. He and Derek have a blast running and chasing and playing together.

 The best surprise of my life. We are so glad to have this sweet little girl in our family. She loves to hold my hand and walk around the house in circle after circle. Clara is a pretty picky eater and prefers a peanut butter sandwich to anything else. She also loves to play with and chew on her baby dolls. 

Birthday Letter to Clara

 

Happy birthday sweet princess pea! You are still so petite and tiny that some of your 3-6 month pants fit like capris! You still wear mostly 6-9 month clothes. Your brothers love to bring you little treasures like cars, pieces of food or anything they think you'll like. You're usually pretty picky about what you accept from them, haha! Derek loves to pick you up and jog around the living room to make you laugh, but I don't let him do that often. Bryce tries to tickle your belly, but he's pretty rough and you don't always like it. Occasionally, you have tender moments when he wanders over to lay down next to while I'm changing your diaper and you reach up to tenderly touch his face.... and pinch his nose or cheeks. :) You don't like to share the limelight (as evidenced by that picture of you and Bryce, haha!) You have your own little bubble and you don't often deign to share space with others. I'm sure you'll get better with sharing as you get older. :) Your hair is so beautiful and curly. Grandma is constantly commenting on it and telling you not to complain about bad hair days. I rarely have to to do anything special and your father loves it when I put it half up into waterspout on top of your head. You mostly wear a flower clip to one side though. I'm so glad you never showed much interest or opposition to wearing them!

You don't really like to cuddle, but you do like to look at books. You don't have much patience for reading them yet, but I hope we get to that point soon! You don't really have any favorite toys or blankets, but you insist on having a binkie at night and you bang your head on your crib until you go to sleep. You're pulling out some of the hair on top of your head because of it, but your side part helps cover it. :) You don't have any words, or any teeth, but you are starting to imitate grunting sounds back and forth with me. You LOVE peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Oh my goodness, you prefer that to pretty much anything I try to feed you. On the other end, you HATE eggs. I've tried so many different ways to get you to eat them, but you refuse. You love milk and you'll eat almost any pureed vegetable or fruit combo without complaint.

You're tottering after your brothers with a definite (and vocal!) disapproval for being left behind. All the more motivation for you to progress quicker, haha. Some nights I can hear the three of you giggling and jabbering in your room and I hope you remember how much you love each other. I'm so excited to see what you do this next year and I know you'll keep growing and discovering all the wonderful things Heavenly Father has created for us. He loves you so much, Clara. We can't imagine our family without you and I'm so glad you couldn't wait to get here. :) We love you, princess!!!

Clara's First Birthday!

Happy birthday Clara! I can't believe my baby girl is already a year old! You've been getting the hang of walking and you want to be in the thick of everything. You don't particularly like to cuddle but you like to be held so you can see what the big people are doing and try to get your share of the action. Everyone comments on how pretty your hair is (and how much you have!) and you hate wearing hair bows or headbands to your mother's extreme disappointment, haha. You like to hold my finger with your tiny hand when you walk around and melt my heart. Your favorite anything is whatever your brothers have at the moment and you love to waltz over and grab one of the toys they're playing with. They're usually good sports and let you sit with them while you inspect whatever toy you snagged, turning it over and using your teeny tiny little fingers to explore different shapes and textures. You still make me nervous because you're so tiny and I'm definitely (a little) more overprotective with you than your brothers. I'll try to keep that in check, but no promises. ;) 

Tammy made an adorable little smash cake for Clara's first ever birthday cake and we had a veritable feast to share with all the family who came over to celebrate "Daddy's Princess Pie." Apparently that's what Jeff used to call Lanae, so Mitchell has excitedly and enthusiastically adopted that little moniker for Clara. She's got him thoroughly wrapped around her teeny little fingers. Oh, is she going to be spoiled rotten, haha.

Nana, Aunt Amy and Aunt Val brought presents for Clara to open and she was more fascinated with the wrapping paper than with the presents, til Nana got the Minnie Mouse push toy open and ready for Clara. All the cousins thought it was awesome (though the nephews were admittedly more interested in the little truck that randomly spit balls as you pushed it) and everyone had a turn.

Here's to hoping that the next year brings some babbling and maybe a "Mama" or "Dada!"

*Miracle of miracles! These photos were accidentally deleted from my computer and thankfully I found a post draft on my blog. Hallelujah!!!*

The Feast

One Year Old!!! :D

Oooo... fire...

Derek jumped in to help Clara blow out her candle

"Hmm.... I think that looks interesting..."

Yum!

Unfortunately we forgot to request a full size cake to share with everyone else, so the disappointed cousins looked on jealously as Clara dug in with relish

Bryce thought Clara using her hands to grab cake was the funniest thing.

"All mine!"

Oh yeah... Grandma's cakes are the best!

She's certainly not afraid to get her hands dirty, haha!

Aunt Amy teaching Bryce how to do "duck face."

Yay, messy face!

Aunt Val and Clara getting ready to open presents

Clara was moving too slow unwrapping her presents so Emeri and Bryce happily jumped in to help her out.

Oooo... presents! Happy birthday sweet girl!

Gingerbread Houses

Grandma baked and assembled three gingerbread houses for Derek, Bryce and the cousins to decorate. Aunt Lizzie and I had a fun time picking out candy for the kids to use as decoration. :) Bryce and Derek were pretty picky about where they wanted to put the candy on the house, so they had a lot of bare gingerbread compared to the cousins, but they sure loved decorating their very own house (and eating a LOT of the decorations, haha!).

Ready and raring to go!

They wanted one row of "windows" on each side of the house

Brothers!

Bryce got caught trying to put that candy in his mouth...stinker! Derek was very precise and attentive to detail. :)

Good job, boys!

Tin Boys

Dorothy would've had a lot more fun with these Tin Boys in Oz!

All Four on the Floor

Mitchell is a great dad and he loves spending time playing with the kids! They sure do love their Daddy!

Playing Ball in the Hall

 Silly boys playing roll-the-ball-in-the-hallway

Photobombing Clara wants to play, too!

Writing Milestone!

Derek wrote his first name (copying my letters above) for the first time without help! We are so proud of you, Derek!