Halloween 2010

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Owen and Ava were so into it. They counted down before October ever started because they had seen the halloween things in the stores long before hand. It's always fun to be able to do something that makes them so genuinely happy and can put such a smile on their faces.
Presenting The Incredible Hulk! Wow! Was Owen ever excited for this! Since the day we found his costume he wanted to start doing push ups and sit ups just to build his muscles bigger to do his costume justice. He asked every other day how many more days until Halloween. He was SO happy when the day finally arrived.

Here's our little Strawberry Shortcake. She just LOVED herself that day in her cute little get up. She is the most confident person I know. In costume or out, she knows she's awesome.

Here's the busy threesome together.
Nothing to do with halloween, but it was just too cute of a picture to not share. Owen and Ava were very into a night of super hero pretending.

First day of school 2010

This year Owen had his first day of 5 day preschool. With a summer birthday we decided to hold off on Kindergarten for a year, but still wanted something to challenge him. He's LOVING it. Ava started preschool two mornings a week. Also loving it - and so is mom.

BIrthday! Birthday!

This summer has been full of events, vacations, visitors. Three of the big events were the kids birthdays. Most recent first to least recent. Just going through the photos again and writing about them leaves me thinking, "how did we get here?" Do we really have a 5,3, and 1 year old?
The big day. Ruth turned 1. She has been so fun to watch grow. Life never stops moving with three kids and Ruth's first year has flown by. It's been really neat to watch her grow and discover her personality. She's a very sweet one who loves to laugh and will smile at anyone who looks at her. She's very curious and in to everything. She's just on the verge of walking. Her siblings can't get enough of her even from day one. We just love our Ruthie to pieces. Happy birthday baby girl.
The cake. One chocolate bunt cake and a personalized cupcake on top for the birthday girl herself.
And this is Ruth after the cake. Eat it up girl! You only turn one once.
What proud parents we are of our adorable Ruth. I never knew I could love all three so much, but my heart is so full of deep appreciation for each addition to our family.
For Ruth's birthday we were lucky enough to have my oldest brother and his family come for the weekend. He has three girls who are SO great with our kids. We love having them around.
And there we are.
Sweet, sweet Owen turned 5. He continues to be just as busy, caring, inquisitive, and fun-loving as ever. Happy birthday buddy!
Owen is all about super heros lately. Super hero talk all day, all week. Non stop!
Ryan rented a pontoon boat for the big day and we took it out on the lake. Owen was over the moon saying it was the best birthday ever. We were really happy the my sister Jill and her family ended up for the weekend and could come with us. Owen and his cousin Kylie are two peas in a pod.
Here is Owen and Kylie before they had to say their goodbyes.
Ava turned 3 this year. Still hard to believe.
Ava woke up to a set of flowers from her Dad. He was sweet enough to think of this on his own. One rose for every year. Too sweet.
Tah Dah! Ava's 3rd birthday cake. The whole party was a pink party in honor of the birthday girl herself. She LOVES anything pink! She's all girl for sure.
Ava absolutely loves skirts and dresses. It's a big day if I can actually convince her to wear shorts. Ryan's mom sent her the cutes dress and skirt. Ava was hugging them so excited.
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmWyFv18his07cbpkQ1Qzif7rVXBx0s3aVIh7CbPz6nO-xzxoF_v0SjGLwXu-3I__OOmCatrUH54PngNFc-ndTVST3yI6DUJ8ncDPovZuPiz7dZWi9voqCOhCWgsxMApWV7XU8Fgo/s1600/P1000083.JPG"> Ava loves the doll house she got. Kept her busy for days. It was super cute to listen to her pretend with her play family and the things she'd say.

Time for an update. . .FINALLY. I know.

I feel like I've been slacking again in the blog area. The days just go by too fast, and there's always too many other things on the 'to do' list I guess. I hope you enjoy some recent photos of a few happenings in the last couple months with our family.
A new year always brings another birthday. This year was number 31. I still can't believe my 20's are over.
I believe this was Valentines Sunday.

Owen is growing up. He's recently gained interest in learning to ride his bike without training wheels. That's a "Dad job" if you ask me.
Ava and Ruth rode in the stroller.
We went to visit the Easter bunny at the mall, but we didn't go while he was on shift. So, this was the closest we got. Ruth is 6 months here.
Owen started his first soccer season. Sadly, it was bitter cold for the first game.
Ryan had a birthday. This picture speaks volumes. Ava has always had a soft spot for Ryan. The feeling is mutual I believe. Ava was saying adorable things. I wish I had written them down. Ryan was eating it up while Owen was on the side so bugged because he just wanted to blow the candles already and eat some cake.
After dinner one night Owen and Ava left the table and Ryan and I were actually enjoying a peaceful, uninterrupted conversation. Soon we discovered what was keeping the two buddies so busy upstairs. They had gotten into all of the girl's hair bows and had a little fun.
They had to have Dad in on the action.
Another Easter already. I just love to pieces when they match each other. Doesn't happen often with a boy and two girls. Props to Ryan's mom for the outfits.

An overdue update

So, I'm sorry it's been so long again. It seems when life gets stressful, which it has with the juggling act of three kids, the easiest thing to cut out is the blog. So, here is an update from our last few weeks. Most recent pictures come first, then it goes down. So, maybe you want to start from the bottom.
This is our most recent picture of little Ruth. She's three months now. We love her to death. Ava hasn't had one day with out saying, "I think she's pretty cute." She says it atleast 10 times every day as she stands over admiring her. Owen says he's going to marry her when he grows up and that they'll travel in our van together. As for me, I just love all the cuddling at this age.
This is my Grandma who Ruth is named after. So, when we went to Idaho for Thanksgiving it was priceless to see the two Ruth's meet.
We took the kids bowling one night for fun. They loved it! I loved seeing Owen in his miniature size bowling shoes. Too bad Ava's feel were still to small for her own pair too.

Ava had quite a great time. Actually scored an impressive game. She did have the bumpers to help, of course. Atleast I tell myself that to make me feel better. She scored better than I did.
For Halloween this year we had a Bengal's football player and a little fairy. They were pretty cute and had so much fun.

In the first weeks of Ruth's life she often would end up in a little ball when she'd fall asleep on us. Ryan was commenting on her form this day and I told him to imagine that exact thing, but under his skin. It's still hard to believe these babies fit inside somehow. Crazy!
I am soooooo grateful to this man. He delivered Ruth. Moving to a new city three weeks before giving birth was frightening, but I was assured by many that Dr. Hiss was wonderful, and a great surgeon which I needed with my third c-section. I think these OB's have one of the best jobs in the world being an instrument in bringing these little miracles into the world.
These two were having so much fun this night in the bath. I was listening to their giggles and just feeling so thankful they have each other. They often stop to hug each other and say, "You're my best friend." A newborn keeps my arms occupied a lot so I love that Owen and Ava can play and give each other so much attention.
Since Ruth arrived, it's pretty difficult to venture out with the three of them on my own. It's getting better the older Ruth gets, but in the beginning when the weather was still warm we went to a nearby park a lot. It's literally 2 minutes from our house and the kids loved it. So, I could go let them play and it got them out of the house for a while. Oh, the fresh air is so therapeutic!

More Pics

This last Sunday, Ruth was blessed in our church. The beautiful blessing dress was given to us by Ryan's mom. Thank you again Linda! It was a very sweet day to have Ryan's parents here to share it with, and to hear Ryan bless her.