Welcome Baby Carter!

Carter Lee arrived July 3rd weighing in at 8 lbs 15 oz, 21 inches long. That was a bit of a shock to his parents (especially mom) since our biggest before him was 7 lbs. He was in NICU for a while with blood sugar regulation issues but quickly overcame and got to come home on time. Since then he's done fantastic with being loved by his siblings (mauled?) and was able to meet additional family who came up over the 4th. Big thanks to Granny and Grandpa Powell who have survived the fires and 116 heat to take care of Carter's parents!

Here are a couple of pictures and I know there will be lots more to follow when I've got more oomph!

Fun in the Sun

First off, no baby yet. 3 weeks to go and counting! Here's a picture for your belly-viewing pleasure.

Summer kicked off with a bang. The most exciting thing so far is our new dough-boy pool. It is our sanity so far and is so awesome to just go in the back yard and hop in when it's 100 degrees outside. The kids are getting to be great little tan swimmers.


We've been to the Strawberry Festival in Happy Valley (yes, the town is really called Happy Valley), to the coast this week where we froze (from 100 degrees to 56 is quite a shock to the system) but it was beautiful. Now we're just waiting for Junior to arrive to take the next step of this summer!

Ty's Birthday

As you can tell all my babies (until now) are spring babies. They all have birthdays within weeks of each other which makes it fun but also a little crazy!

Tyler's 7th birthday was the end of May. He also got a "family party" because it's an odd year for him. He chose to go mini-golfing for the first time. We were fortunate to have great weather over Memorial Day so we went then. Again the techniques to get the ball to the hole were interesting and pretty funny. The older two were pretty good and Ellie had the hack it to the hole approach.

It was an optimistic game, even if it was pretty high scoring. Tyler would often shout "I got a hole in 6!" and Ellie jumped up and down cheering no matter how many strokes it took. I think golfing is too quiet a game for our family but we sure had a good time then!

Ty had a great birthday and I can't believe he's 7!

Ellie's Birthday/Mother's Day

Ellie's 4th birthday came and went. She got a party this year and wanted a "Dora party." There was a bunch of 4 year olds and we did a lot of free play (they loved chasing McKenna around), pin the boots on Boots and a pinata (no injuries, thank you very much...) and of course cake, ice cream and presents. She had a great time which is what we wanted most of all!

For Mother's Day my wonderful husband surprised me with flying my mom out for a visit. I've been homesick not to mention very pregnant. She was able to come out for four days and was able to be here for two baseball games, a soccer game, Ellie's party, Mother's Day and great weather on top of it. It was just what I needed and we had a great time. Even after (almost) 12 years of marriage he still surprises me!

Tagged!

ABC Tag

A - Attached or Single: Attached
B - Best Friend(s): Dee, sisters & mom
C - Cake or Pie: Cake, but as Grandpa said, "There's only two kinds of pie I like...hot and cold"
D - Day of Choice: Friday
E - Essential Item: Peppermint gum, cell phone, camera and IPod
F - Favorite Color(s): Purple
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Worms
H - Hometown: West Valley City, Utah but have grown awfully attached to Anderson
I - Indulgence(s): Reeses peanut butter cups and B&J Ice Cream and a good night sleep
J - January or July:- I'd have to say July but not because of the heat. I like the summer visiting family and not running like crazy!
K - Kids: 3 and 3/4
L - Life is incomplete without: My family and beautiful things God created to see
M - Marriage Date: July 13th, 1996
N - Number of Siblings: 1 Brother and 2 sisters
O - Oranges or Apples: Fuji apples daily or oranges if they are right off the tree
P- Phobias or Fears: Something wrong with my kids and clowns of course
Q - Quote: "Simplify"
R- Ring size: 7
S - Season: Fall, if we can survive the hot summer fall is always the best!
T- Tag 3 Friends: Amber, Suzanne, Heather
U - Unknown fact about me: My eyes change color when I'm upset or sick
V - Very favorite stores: Walmart (I know I know) and Trader Joe's
W - Worst Habit: Worrying and popping bubbles with my gum
X-ray or Ultrasound: Baby Ultrasounds
Y - Your Favorite Food(s): I love fresh fruit and the strawberries are on right now so I'll pick them!
Z- Zodiac: Scorpio

Birthday Bowling

McKenna had her big 9th birthday last week. We do "family parties" on the odd years and she chose to go bowling. (Actually 3rd choice, she wanted to go horseback riding but that fell through then skating was her 2nd choice and the rink was closed that weekend.) We ended up having a great time. It was funny seeing the different ways they chose to get the ball down the alley. McKenna had kind of a hold it over your head and launch it approach which worked pretty well except the two times it went into the next lane. Luckily nobody was there but she got embarrassed. Tyler's approach was a double hand roll, no casualties. Ellie ran it up to the line, dropped it on the floor, bent over it and rolled it. That basically meant a few times we weren't sure if it would get to the end of the lane much less hit any pins. She loved the suspense of it though and had a couple of groups cheering for her because she was so dang cute. Their favorite part was the magic ball return. Dee and I tied with him winning a game and me winning a game and we both realized we're not the bowlers we once were. After bowling we went to IHOP for dinner to celebrate and just had a great time being together! My baby is nine!

Sports days of Spring

Well, we are onto the next stage of parenting. After the baby days of no adult/person contact and staying home all the time we've hit warp-speed to the "we're never home on the weekends!" Spring has sprung with all the activities it has. McKenna is playing soccer with Dee as her coach. She's loving it so far and is much better this year than in the past. Dee loves it too, although he occasionally comes home with a hoarse voice.

Tyler is playing coach-pitch baseball and loves that too. His favorite position is catcher, but I think it's because he likes wearing the extra gear. The weather has been cooperating nicely and we're all getting a bit of a tan (except me who likes to turn red instead!) Both kids are also doing piano lessons and McKenna is in a children's chorus group, which I think is her favorite.

Ellie is un-official cheerleader for all of them and her favorite activity while at the games is playing in the dirt from gopher-hills. Dirty is her sport, I think. So far we're enjoying the chaos that comes from driving from place to place, cheering and playing but I think when
Summer gets here we'll be looking forward to doing...nothing!