Birthday party!

Last night my camera died. I was so sad. I don't know what's wrong with it! Luckily I have a very dear friend who was kind enough to bring her camera and camcorder. Sherilyn also watched my kids for me yesterday so I could clean. I'm thinking of nominating her as a Saint. Thanks Sherilyn!

The party was awesome. We went on a treasure hunt and then the kids made necklaces with pearls and shells. Here are all the pics I could fit in a post! Enjoy!

Pre-party entertainment? Tackle the Daddy!
Lorelai put all the beads and shells on her necklace!
The other kids did great too. (So did the Mommy's)
The Cake.
The other girls like it too!
We have such cute friends!
From left on couch: Sadie, Evan Lorelai, Leila, and John
On the floor: Ashlie, Cali, the back of Lana's head, Bella, and Adam
Eric made all the girls Mermaids and Adam a Motorcycle.

Such cute girls!

Happy Birthday Lorelai!

Lorelai turned three on Tuesday, July 22. Where did my baby girl go? She is a ray of sunshine in our lives and we love her so much. She is a sweetheart and a princess all rolled into one. Lorelai loves chocolate in almost any form (she is definitely my daughter). Lorelai is also very smart and quick. She catches on quickly to most games and I think Candy Land is her favorite right now. I am so proud to be her mother.

Having said that I will also say that Lorelai has a mischievous streak about a mile long and she likes to do things her way. For example, the morning of Lorelai's birthday. I went to take a shower. What can happen in the time it takes for Tricia to take a shower?
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I should have hid them when I had the chance! Oh, well! She hadn't quite managed to open everything (there were 2 left). So Eric and I got to watch her open a couple at least! She loved all her presents and once I got things cleaned up I took a couple of her opening the last presents.

Happy Birthday Lorelai! We love you!

McWane Science Center

Since Lorelai wasn't having her party until Saturday she decided she wanted to go to the McWane Center on her birthday. For those who've never been, it's AWESOME! The kids have a blast and we do something different every time we go.

Here is my "Fancy Nancy" ready for a day of birthday fun!
I think this is the only time you'll see the notice: Please walk on the piano keys.
OOH! Pretty lights!
Lorelai's going to fly us to Utah! It's nice to have a pilot in the fam.
It's hard to get a picture of Evan at the McWane Center. He rarely holds still!

Sunday Best

For some reason I thought of my brother Jay after I took this. This looks like something he would do.


Lore wasn't interested in being photographed in her Sunday best.


That's better! She just needed to change out of that itchy dress (I think Eric holding a Popsicle may have had something to do with it too :-)

Evan's Punishment

The hairstyle (not the clothes) was Evan's punishment for squirting my whole bottle of Conditioner into his bath. Let the punishment fit the crime right? He messed with my hair so I messed with his. If you don't know Evan you may not think this punishment is very severe, but for those that know his hairstyle preference you might think I was a little harsh. (Trust me, he thought it was very harsh.) I love Evan, and I think he looks adorable.

Caught You!

I finally caught Reid standing! No walking yet, but I'm afraid it's coming soon!

10 Months old!

The time is going by too fast! My baby is almost a toddler! Here are some of the milestones we've reached:
Crawling
Sitting
Standing
Clapping (that's a new one)
Laughing mischievously
Signing more
Eating finger food
He has a curl on the back of his head
Two teeth
Fights when we try to change his diaper (he is really strong)
And he's very good at waking Mommy up nicely in the morning. After he nurses, he sits up and starts laughing and poking until I open an eye and look at him. Then he grins and starts crawling all over. It makes me laugh (almost) every morning. I love my Baby Reid.

Also, he somehow managed to catch Xander's cold (from Idaho). I don't know how he did it, but he did!

Signing time

Reid learned his first official sign yesterday! The most important one for a hungry boy like Reid, "more". We can never tell when Reid is done eating! One day he will eat half a jar and be done while other days he can down 2 or 3 jars of food and some cheerios. If you are interested in signing with your child, feel free to use the same method I use (shown below)



All you have to do is get a cute two year old, set her to "repeat after me," and watch how quickly a baby can sign! Reid's reward for signing? Ramen Noodles. Yum.

We are loved

I think the Grandmas could sense us getting a little homesick lately. Grandma Olsen sent us money to go see WALL-E (an awesome movie) and Grandma Tucker sent a care package for the kiddos. Grandma "found" the blue monkey monster truck that Evan has been talking about for 9 months now and sent it our way.

This truck is actually called King Carnivore. Click on the link to see the demo of all the cool stuff it can do. I understand why Evan wanted it so bad. He is having TONS of fun with it. He actually has some smaller "Carnivores" that he has had for awhile so the day after he got his King Carnivore he lined them up in a semi-circle around the King Carnivore and said "Shark Car, Snake Car, Tiger Car; I've got somebody new for you guys to meet." Then he pressed the GO APE button so the cars could see what their new friend could do.
Evan had to call and ask where Grandpa and Grandma found his blue monkey monster truck.

Lore got a Little Mermaid doll. Lorelai said "Wow!"

Reid is happy no matter what, but a new toy always helps the teeth come in a little easier.

More balloons

Here's another balloon collage. This one shows a few of Eric's originals and some of his favorites. I Love Eric Week has been fun. I love him 365 days of the year, but it's nice to remind myself just how much I love him. I doubt I'll be leaving this earth anytime soon, but I hope when I do I'll be able to say "I laughed often and loved much." With Eric around I'm sure that won't be problem. :-)

On this day 6 years ago I had my first date with Eric. I really had no idea how he would affect my life. I realized what a great guy he was from the first time he opened a door for me.

Balloon Animals

If you live in Gardendale you have probably seen Eric's balloon animals. He is getting very good and he can do over 40 different kinds. He has learned a lot online and even created a few of his own balloon animals. Here is quick look at some of the things he can do.

Evan's squeaky toy

Today I was giving Evan a shoulder ride (I can't seem to sit down without someone climbing on me). As we were walking around Evan looked down into one of our tall lamps and noticed a toy he had lost mysteriously (he was throwing it all over the room, when it suddenly disappeared). He retrieved the toy and then said "Mom! I found my green squeaky toy. You better blog about it." Kids sure are fun, aren't they?

Eric's Autobiography

Eric has started school again! He had to write an autobiography for one of his classes and I wanted to share part of it. I should note that I did not help him write it. I just saw it afterward. I love my husband. Here it is:

Eric was born on a cold winter day in Salt Lake City, Utah. That was many years ago. Since then he has done many things. Today you will hear about a few of them.

When Eric was in high school he loved water polo with all his heart. This sport took over his life and he played it with a passion. When he was a junior he was voted captain of the team and started showing what he had. . . He did well in school and played with friends during the off season. When the time came to graduate he didn’t even come close to valedictorian but did graduate with a 3.7 GPA.

After school he worked a little here and there then he served a full time mission for his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In Tokyo, Japan he learned Japanese well enough to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. This two years of service was enjoyable, and a time of learning.

Not long after getting home Eric was married. His new bride made him the happiest man in the world. Eleven months later came the first of three children. The kids are still little and they have given him a few premature gray hairs but he loves them and would do anything in the world for them.

I Love Eric Week

Many of you know the story of how Eric and I met. (He came into my bookstore, saw me, and you all know the rest). What some of you may not know is that when I gave Eric my number, I gave him the wrong one. OK, I actually gave him the right number, but I didn't include the area code and as a result Eric THOUGHT I gave him the wrong number. So Eric decided to come back in and ask me for my number again. How gutsy is that? If it were me I would have never gone back to the store again! I'm still not sure why he did it. He probably knew he was way to good looking to get shot down. :-) Anyway, I'm glad he came back or who knows where I'd be! That's why this week is I Love Eric Week. Hopefully you'll learn some new things about Eric and the great guy he is.

Family Home Evening

I love Family Home Evening. When I was a kid we usually held a traditional family home evening save for about once a month when my parents would let us go out and do a fun activity. For example, we would go out to eat, go skating, bowling, play ball at a park, etc. At our house we kind of have a similar tradition, but for us the fun thing almost always ends up being the kids tackling daddy. Mayhem ensues and while we don’t necessarily have a reverent spirit in the home, we definitely have a joyful spirit. Here are a few pictures from last week’s FHE for your viewing pleasure.

"New" Piano

Here it is. My beautiful (old, but new to me) piano. I love it. It needs a little TLC, but it's actually in great condition. I am so thankful for the music and fun that it has brought into our home. I am also very grateful for charitable friends that gave us the piano and some strong men that helped Eric move it. I have been missing having a piano ever since we moved to AL and I am so glad Eric wanted one in the house too.

Reid was the first one to try it out. He had a blast pounding on it until I made hime stop so we could get it the rest of the way in the house.












Lorelai snuck in the picture. (See the mischievous look). It makes our living room look even smaller, but it fits perfectly. Maybe we can just get rid of the TV now, huh Eric? That would free up some space :-)

Mini Anniversary

Just a little side note. On this day 6 years ago I met my husband. Wow. He is as good looking now as he was then. To be continued . . .

First tooth

That's right! My baby got his first tooth. No, you can't really see it yet. I can see the top of the tooth, but it's going to be awhile before it's visible in a photo. Reid has been chewing on everything for about a week now and I barely noticed! Congrats kiddo!