Meet our newest family member!

Meet Chomp Kame Tortuga. We found each other at the Magnolia Festival. Evan has been asking for a turtle for quite awhile and this little guy was the right size for our family! Evan named him Chomp, but Eric decided it needed a full name. For those who aren't familiar with the foreign languages: Kame is Japanese for turtle and Tortuga is Spanish.

Our random week

Wow. Having a job can really make the week fly by. That's right. I have a job. Doing the thing I love most. Watching kids! I know most of you are thinking: Tricia already watches kids, she has three. That is true, but we have added an extra little one that I actually get paid to watch! This week was extra hectic because I also watched another friends kids. It was so much fun and work all rolled into one. The little girl we watch regularly is Lana. We usually watch her 3 times a week, which is perfect. She is 16 months old and weighs 2 or 3 lbs. more than Reid. She is not walking yet so that makes it difficult to run errands, but otherwise we get along great!

Anyway, here are our favorite pics of the week. Enjoy!
Reid is 7 months old now! It is going too fast!
We made tacos the other night. Don't they look good?

Lorelai was picking "flowers" in the backyard.

Remember when?

I thought it would be fun to compile a slide show of each of my beautiful babies so everyone could see how far they've come. In the process I got to see how far I've come too. I love my family and I know how lucky I am to have had so many precious moments with my kids. Some of the pictures took a some time to load and it kept repeating the same 3 or 4 pictures over again. If this happens to you, be patient. They will all load in a minute. I don't know if I did something weird or if it is just my computer. Hope you enjoy the pics as much as I did!

Evan is my little (okay, maybe not so little), sweet boy. He knows just when I need a hug and he is very tenderhearted. He can play with almost anyone and gets along very well with cute little girls. Playing soccer has been a great way for him to get out on the field and flex those muscles! He is growing up to be a great older brother. He is a good leader and a good example to his little brother and sister. Evan can reach all my hiding places so he helps Lorelai get in lots of fun trouble. He gave the talk in Primary on Easter Sunday and I just couldn't believe how much he understands. He knows that the Savior loves him and it's so great watching his little testimony start to grow.

What can I say about Lorelai? She is her own woman. She knows what she wants and she is learning very quickly how to get it. She is so sweet and protective of her family and friends. She is always there to lend a helping hand and a pat on the back. She is very good at helping Evan and cooking up schemes. If stirring kool-aid is any indicator, Lorelai is going to be a great cook. She is my princess and my angel. Lorelai is finally getting to the age where we can have conversations and I am loving it. She is a good friend and when she grows up she will be my little gal pal. She is very good at her ABC's and she LOVES artwork (especially when I let her use the scissors)!

My baby Reid. I can't imagine life without him. He is so quick and eager to learn. He is not content with regular baby food and wants to eat whatever we are eating! I finally relented and gave him a few Cheerios. He is almost crawling and he is trying his hardest to start sitting up by himself. I'm afraid he will become a toddler if I blink! I'm glad I am still a picture freak because I heard that most people stop taking as many pictures with each additional child. This is a true, but for me it just means I am starting to take an appropriate number of pictures (2 or 3 instead of 10+). Reid gets plenty of camera time and he usually makes it worthwhile. I love him more than chocolate and I am so grateful he's mine!

Being southern

As a southerner who was raised in Utah, it seems appropriate that I would start this blog in April. Most people make New Years resolutions and start the year off with a bang. That's not how it works in the South. Things take time. You need to think about things and let them grow until you decide you have waited long enough and it might be time to start acting on that thing you've been thinking about. I believe this tradition started a long time ago.

Alabama is HOT. In the summer it gets so hot and humid that you don't want to do anything except sit next to your air conditioner. I love the line from To Kill a Mockingbird that says "Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum." Obviously, air conditioning has helped the South quite a bit. If you don't go outside you don't have to shower three times a day; however, you still sweat like crazy the second you step outside. Because of the heat, people from the south had to do everything very slowly. I believe that is why southerners are considered slow in other parts of the country. I think time has been great for the south. I live in a beautiful little city that has been protected by Baptists for years. This means no bars, no bowling alleys, no movie theaters, and a nice safe place to raise your family. The most negative thing you can say about the city is that they don’t have sidewalks. Apparently this is a southern tradition too. Maybe if they think about it they will install sidewalks in a few years. From the time we moved here three years ago there has been talk of putting in a movie theater. We have not seen it yet, but they did clear some land for one about 6 months ago!

These, my friends, are the reasons why I am truly southern. I believe the art of procrastination has been practiced and honed to the point of near perfection (I say “near” because there is always room for improvement in our lives).