AnnMarie

Papa & Nana Come to Visit!

2009-11-03T08:29:00.003-05:00

Andersen's parents were finally able to come out and visit us just before Halloween. They were here for a week and I think we did a pretty good job of packing in a lot of fun stuff. Andersen had the whole week off, too! Here is everyone having a gooey time carving pumpkins.

Coolidge LOVES anything that has to do with getting dirty!

Hooray for Waverly's first Halloween!

This picture just melts my heart. We just can't get enough of that little smile of hers, tongue and all! Papa did a good job of making her smile.

And of course Grandparents always come bearing gifts. They brought Campbell a new book called, "Sloppy Joe" for his birthday.

This book is PERFECT for boys and reminds me SOOOOO much of Campbell! We read it to him just about every night :o)
And the boys LOVED that Papa and Nana were willing to play games with them. LOTS of games!

And since it was their first time here in Lexington we took them to Keenland to see the track and watch the horses practicing.

There are some beautiful horses here in Kentucky.

These little statues show the various colors of the horse farms around Kentucky and what famous horses come from each farm.

Rubbing the horseshoes for luck!

There is this great little bakery in Lexington called Spalding's Bakery where you can buy these delicious doughnuts and pastries, but you have to get there early because it closes whenever they run out of stuff to sell (usually by 11am).

Campbell is enjoying his Long John? I think that's what it was called. Basically a pastry filled with frosting. Nothing like a sugar boost to get things started in the morning! Like Campbell ever needs a boost, though.

We also took the boys to the Lexington Explorium. It's a kids museum with hands on science activities and displays. Inside this cave were a bunch of rocks that glowed in the dark. Don't forget your hard hat!

This display showed how water flows and what happens when you block it and how a ferry works.

Then the boys were able to dress up like cowboys and learn how to put a saddle and reins on a horse.

Coolidge really enjoyed just playing in the water.

This is the bubble room where you can make insanely big bubbles. Porter got really good at it. There was even a spot where you stand on this platform and pull on a rope and hula hoop pulls a bubble up around you.

Look at my little astronauts!

Who knew craters made such good chairs!

We were so glad to have Papa and Nana visit. We love you both and can't wait to see you again. We miss you!

Waverly's Blessing

2009-11-01T19:54:00.002-05:00

We were finally able to bless Waverly at church last Sunday, October 25th. It turned out to be a great weekend and lots of family were able to come. Here is our little sweetie in her gorgeous blessing dress. My parents picked it out and sent it which was a great blessing for me because I didn't know how I was going to talk Andersen into spending that much money on a one-time dress :o) Thank you Dad and Mom! She was getting compliments on it all day long!
Andersen did a great job on the blessing, although it started out a little rocky. You may remember that Andersen and I had a hard time deciding on what to call our little girl. I liked the name Waverly (keeping with the last name for first name theme) and Andersen really liked Alivia. The compromise was, name her Waverly Alivia and call her whatever you want. So I call her Waverly, and all the women in the ward know her as Waverly. And Andersen calls her Alivia, and all the Men in the ward know her as Alivia. That's not confusing right? There are two reasons for the blessing of a baby. The most obvious is a blessing where you bless them with health and a desire to follow Jesus Christ and the principles of the gospel through out their life, but the other reason is to give them a name. Andersen had jokingly told me that maybe he would just change her name while he was blessing her and there would be nothing I could do about it. Joke right? Well, from all the months of saying Alivia that's exactly what he started to say. Luckily he changed mid-name and did bless her as Waverly Alivia. Whew! Although a few of the men in the circle helping bless Waverly did find this quite amusing and you could hear them snickering over the microphone. Coolidge has now nicknamed her Lily because he can't quite say 'Waverly,' so who knows what she'll go by?

Andersen's parents and his brother Will and his family were able to come. We love finally being able to spend more time with Will and Christy and their girls. Andersen's parents were able to stay a whole week with us which was a blast. I'll be posting soon about their visit.

And we were even able to get a pretty good picture of our whole family. This has Christmas card quality don't you think? Thanks Lora for taking pictures for us!

Just a few days before the blessing I got a call from my Grandma Iris (my mom's mom) who said that she was planning on coming out to Kentucky that week on a genealogy trip and wanted to stop by for a visit. What timing! My Uncle Tony and his family actually live in Kentucky just south of Louisville and she and my Aunt LaDeene were planning on staying with them. So they were all able to come to the blessing. I hadn't seen my cousin Xavier and Aunt Jennie since I was 10 yrs old so it was great getting to visit with them again.

Here is my Grandma Iris and little Waverly.

Here is Christy trying to get her baby fill before heading home :o)

Porter and Kaylee saying good-bye.

And I had to post this one because I love catching Andersen's goofy side. He "claims" that his mom told him that he needed to move in because he wasn't in the picture. Looks like he had plenty of room to me. Sure Andersen, and that's not a ram apron you're wearing either!

He Passed!!

2009-10-24T20:59:00.000-04:00

Remember me complaining about Andersen having to go to Miami for a "Physics Review" right before Waverly was born and then spending all of his "Maternity leave" studying for his Physics Board Exam? Well he took the Exam the middle of September and finally got the results back and he PASSED! To celebrate, we went out to eat at IHOP. The boys love the idea of eating breakfast for dinner. I'm not quite sure if this is a relieved look or a shocked look on Andersen's face. And I always enjoy not having to cook!

Now that Andersen has passed this first exam he is one test closer to becoming a certified radiologist. I think he was truly scared that he had failed and would have to spend a whole other year studying for the test again, but I know he's smarter than he gives himself credit for.

Congratulations Andersen! We love you and are so proud of all your hard work!

Campbell's 6th Birthday

2009-10-18T19:16:00.004-04:00

Campbell's birthday happens to fall on "Fall Break" here in Kentucky so we were able to party all day with Campbell. Waffles in the morning and Campbell's choice for lunch? McDonald's of course! The last few months I have been training to run a half-marathon with 5 other ladies from my ward and we all decided that we should have a little BBQ get together. But it just so happened to fall on Campbell's birthday so we ended up celebrating the night before. 6 years old!

We made the mistake of letting the boys watch the new Wolverine movie that's out now. So of course that's what Campbell wanted for his birthday cake. He actually asked us for a white tank top for his birthday (because that's what Logan, aka Wolverine, wears in the movie) but luckily we talked him into an action figure instead. Andersen said he never thought the day would come that his son would ask him for a 'wife-beater' while we lived in Kentucky! By the way, he has taken up weight lifting so he can "get big muscles."

I had to post this picture because I caught Porter mesmerized by the match he just used to light the candles. Nothing better than a birthday and playing with fire!

By the end of the night Campbell made out with a newly re-sewn Wolverine costume, a new Spiderman costume, and a Batman costume. My parents sent the Batman costume and I think they totally out-did themselves with this one.

MY favorite part of the costume? This warning label on the inside of the wing pack.

We'll see about that! Here is a video of Campbell demonstrating the costume features.

Pumpkin Pie

2009-10-08T21:44:00.001-04:00

I made my very first pumpkin pie today and it was delicious! When Andersen was little he asked his mom one year to make him a pumpkin pie for his birthday instead of cake and every year after that, that's what he got for his birthday. He never told his mom that he didn't care for pumpkin pie that much anymore! Totally his own fault. It makes me laugh because she even made little pumpkin pies for our reception in New Mexico. So, since we've been married Andersen has NEVER asked for pumpkin pie until today. For some reason he was craving it and I think we did a good job. The boys even asked for seconds and thirds. Campbell took this picture of us and our first pumpkin pie!

2 Months Old

2009-10-04T10:52:00.001-04:00

Waverly is 2 months old today! She is so much a part of our family now it is hard to remember what life was like before she came. Waverly is now 11lbs 7oz and 24 inches long. That means she is 75% in weight and 95% in height. I would have to say that she is growing exceptionally well.

She is just smiling up a storm now and the boys love it! Andersen likes putting Waverly in her car seat like this. She does like being a part of the action and this way she can get a pretty good view of what's going on. It reminds me of Porter.

We used to walk all around BYU's campus with Porter hanging over his car seat like that. It was the only way we could keep him quiet. He HATED being on his back!

I had to take this picture of Coolidge. I don't know where his clothes went, but socks and shoes were good enough for him! He always knows when I've got the camera out and is ready to ham it up.

He kept distracting Waverly while I was trying to take a picture of her smiling. She wasn't quite sure who was touching her.

Coolidge In the Hospital

2009-09-27T21:07:00.001-04:00

Remember Campbell coming home sick from school? Well, it was inevitable that some one, if not every one would get it. So far only Mason and Coolidge have gotten it with fevers, coughing, and runny noses. And the coughing was bad. Last Sunday afternoon Coolidge started wheezing when he would breath and at night he was really having a hard time. We were up all night with him Monday night just trying to calm down his breathing and when he didn't sound any better Tuesday morning I took him in to see our Pediatrician. I was hoping the doctor could just prescribe a cough medicine with codeine or something, but after he listened to Coolidge they did a nebulizer treatment in the office and when that didn't help his breathing he told me that we needed to admit him into the ED at the hospital! The whole time I was just thinking, "REALLY? Is it THAT bad?"

I paged Andersen at the hospital and he was able to meet us outside and since I had Campbell (home from school sick), Mason and Waverly, Andersen just took him in and stayed with him the whole time he was in the hospital. I wanted to go in with them so badly, but with breast feeding Waverly I didn't want to pass it on to her. So we went home and waited.

Thankfully Andersen kept calling with updates. They x-rayed Coolidge and took him to the OR. They thought they needed to intubate him to help him breath, but after scoping his airways they decided just to do a steroid treatment to help them open up. Our home teachers were able to go up to the hospital and help Andersen give him a blessing and he finally started reacting to the treatments. By Wednesday evening he was breathing normal again and we were able to pick him and Andersen up from the hospital. I think Andersen and Coolidge had some good bonding time in the hospital because ever since he's been home he will only go to Andersen and not to me, which is probably a good thing since my arms are usually full of Waverly.

Thank you so so much Ashlee and Lora for bringing in dinners. It was a huge relief for me. And the boys thank you for the cookies and ice cream sandwiches ;o)

There's a happy Coolidge again! But you can still see the glue marks from the EKG leads they had on him in the hospital to monitor his vitals. These marks were all over his body and impossible to get off!

Now, you may be wondering what an emergency stay in the hospital for a 2 year old would cost, well, feast your eyes on this...

Thankfully we pay monthly for some good insurance and we only had to pay $150 of this bill. Hallelujah for insurance!

Camping in the Sandbox

2009-09-20T20:40:00.000-04:00

We had planned on going camping with Will & Christy this last weekend, but because Campbell came home sick and there was serious rain in the forecast we decided to cancel our camping trip. The boys were VERY disappointed so Andersen came up with the perfect solution - just build a campfire in the sandbox! It was a huge hit for ALL the kids in the neighborhood.
We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and played with fire, who could ask for more?

The boys even took a hike down by the creek and Andersen brought me back these flowers. I had been wanting to pick some of these flowers for weeks and I loved them!

I am so lucky to have such a sweet husband. He always makes me feel special. I love you Andersen!

Cooley's 2nd Birthday

2009-09-19T17:03:00.000-04:00

As is tradition in the Grigg house, birthdays always start off with a waffle breakfast. I was pretty proud of my self for getting up early (or rather, staying up from Waverly's last feeding) and having breakfast ready by 7am so that Porter and Campbell could have waffles, too, before school. Here is the birthday boy, sharing his waffles with his stuffed turtle. Campbell wanted me to take a picture of him wearing this moustache that he made. My little man of a thousand disguises!

Campbell ended up coming home from school sick after he threw up in the library. Poor guy! He had to wait in the nurse's office for a few hours before the school was finally able to get a hold of Andersen at the hospital. I had taken Coolidge, Mason and Waverly to McDonald's for lunch and then gone grocery shopping so by the time we got home Andersen was pulling in right behind us.

Now, like I said, we had gone grocery shopping and decided to pick up a cake for Cooley's birthday, but in all of the excitement of Dad being home early, Mason stepped on the cake, smashing the "Happy Birthday Coolidge" to the top of the lid! Luckily Coolidge didn't care.

Here is Cooley afraid to blow out his candles.

Ahhh, the much anticipated dollar from Great Grandma Adams! The boys love getting their birthday dollar.

Birthday books from Papa and Nana, "I'm Going to be an Astronaut" and "I'm a Big Brother!"

It's still hard to think of Coolidge as BIG of anything, my little 4lb wonder! Look at him swimming in that preemie diaper!

A new Geo Trax train from Grandpa and Grandma.

All aboard! Next stop, Cakeville!

And what ever you do, don't touch Cooley's toys!

Campbell MUST have been sick to sleep through the entire party. It wasn't until the next morning that Campbell asked if we had had cake yet.

The Boys Showing Off For Waverly

2009-09-07T20:00:00.001-04:00

Grandma Adams

2009-09-06T09:59:00.001-04:00

Once again, my angel mother was able to come and help us in our time of need. She came the last week of August and worked her magic, cooking, cleaning, playing with the boys, taking care of baby, and babying me. It was perfect timing, too, because I had just gotten a cold and hardly felt like doing anything, Andersen was on night shift (8pm-10am) at the hospital and spending every spare second studying for his boards in a few weeks.
Waverly even started smiling while she was here. There's nothing like Grandma's love to make you smile :o)
We even got to spend a whole day canning peaches. I used to help my mom every summer can peaches, pears, and green beans so I was way excited when she suggested we do some canning. I love having peaches during the winter. We borrowed a steam canner from my friend Joy (thank you Joy!) and I already had 2 cases of jars, but we ended up buying too many peaches so I had to go out and buy 2 more cases. Darn! More peaches! The boys love these peaches and always ask, "Can we have some of Grandma's peaches?"
It's always nice to have reinforcements when Andersen is at the hospital and not able to make it to church with us. And we even managed to get pictures with the boys. Although, we couldn't talk them out of eating their suckers from the Bishop.
Coolidge refused to sit with everyone else so we all had to move to where he decided to sit. Did you notice Mason's haircut? He tried to cut his bangs, but he only cut the middle and I didn't have time to fix it.
And of course, Waverly is always the center of attention.
Thank you so much Mom for coming and helping. And thank you Dad for letting her come. We missed having you and we miss you both!

2 Weeks Old

2009-08-18T21:54:00.000-04:00

Waverly's 1st Bath

2009-08-17T21:21:00.000-04:00

Here we are getting Waverly's bath ready. The boys thought it was pretty funny that we would give her a bath in the kitchen sink. But it is the perfect size for her. Waverly LOVED the water and just sat like this the whole time.

Coolidge thought he needed to help, too. Mostly by dumping cup-fulls of water on her head. What a good big brother!

Campbell's First Day of School

2009-08-16T20:57:00.000-04:00

School started August 12th just the week after Waverly was born. This is an exciting school year because Campbell is starting Kindergarten!! Luckily Andersen had a few weeks off of work for Waverly so he was able to get the boys up and ready for their first day of school and he even took pictures for me! Apparently Mason and Coolidge thought they were going to school too. Don't my boys look handsome?
Here is Campbell standing in front of his name on the bulletin board in the hallway. This is where they display their work. Nice cheeser smile Campbell!

Campbell is already hard at work! I have been so worried about Campbell starting school, but I guess it was just what he needed. He loves going to school and his teacher has even called to tell me how well he is doing and how creative and fun he is to have in class. That phone call made my day :o)

Porter is doing great in 3rd grade and all of his hard summer work is paying off. A lot less traumatic than last year. It is so nice having Porter and Campbell back in school. Unfortunately, Mason has taken on Porter's role as the house tease. There isn't an hour that goes by that he isn't making Coolidge scream! Hopefully they will be able to work things out before I resort to locking Mason in his room all day.

Waverly Alivia

2009-08-14T21:42:00.000-04:00

She is finally here! Waverly Alivia Grigg was born August 4th just a little after midnight. She was 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 21 inches long. She is so beautiful and already has us all wrapped around her little finger.

So, how did it all go down? Well, my due date, Monday, Aug 3rd finally came and not much seemed to be happening, but I still had a few errands I needed to get done before I felt ready to have her. My sister Amelia was able to stop off here on her way home from Washington D.C. to help out whenever the baby decided to come. So, with her help we loaded up all the boys to go run errands and after making stops at some of my friends' houses, the library, and Lowe's we finally ended up at Wal-Mart for some much needed food shopping. For some reason I can never run errands without ending up at Wal-Mart. By the time we got to the check out line I was starting to feel some mild contractions. When we got home, we made dinner and I mentioned to Andersen that we might be going into the hospital that night. I have found recently that Andersen does not take me very seriously. So, because it was Monday night we decided to go on a walk down by the creek that runs through our back yard for Family Home Evening. The boys wanted to show Amelia the cool trails by the creek. About half way through our walk the contractions start getting more consistent so I tell everyone that I need to head back.

Here we all are on our walk. Porter took the picture for us.
So I start walking back as fast as I can, not caring if anyone is following or not, because I start to loose my vision which is the first indicator that I have a migraine coming on. So the whole way back I'm imagining myself in labor trying to push with a migraine and having my head explode. When I got home I grabbed some Excedrin Migraine and headed for the shower to try to relax a little and see if the headache would kick in or not. While in the shower I realize that the contractions are not going to subside and that this was it. Andersen came in to check on me and see if I was alright. I told him that we needed to go. He kind of laughed and said, "are you sure?" And I told him that he needed to call our friend Lisa to see if she could come and watch the boys so that Amelia could come with us. "When should I tell her to come?" he asked. I told him "right now" and I think it finally sunk in. Lisa was awesome and was there right away and we were off to the hospital. We drove both the van and truck so that Amelia could get home after the delivery. After a few short detours we finally decided where we were going and made it to the hospital. Thanks for the fun ride to the hospital Amelia :o)

We got to the hospital about 10:30 pm and the 20 questions start. The hospital is a University hospital so there was a medical student his attending and the real doctor all asking me the same stupid questions like, "when was the start of your last menstrual cycle?" or "how much did your other children weigh?" "When are their birthdays?" or my favorite, "do you plan on using birth control after your delivery?" I think that is the worst time to ask that question if you don't want a skewed answer. And each one of them asked the same questions so it ended up being 60 questions. Couldn't they just cheat off of each other? Not like I'm going to be changing my answers! And all the while I kept trying to tell them that once I'm at the hospital I go REALLY fast. Example: Coolidge was born just a half hour after we got to the hospital. But of course no one ever believes me. Do I not come across as a serious person?

We even left for the hospital much sooner than we have in the past because I had decided that with a possible migraine and being sick a few days before I might need that epidural. So, we're sitting there waiting for them to finish all their admitting paperwork and the contractions are getting stronger and closer together. Finally they wheel me into a birthing room and get me all hooked up to their monitors and the anesthesiologist comes in. Excited at the thought of sweet relief I "sit perfectly still" even through the body-shaking contractions and fore go the deep breathing, but the Dr. cannot seem to find the right spot. He keeps hitting a nerve on my left and then on my right and then on the left again and again. My water even breaks while he's trying to get the epidural in. My water has never broken on its own. Just when I'm about to tell the guy to forget it, the baby is coming, he says, "it's in!" Yay! All the pain of getting the epidural and none of its benefits. I sit right back on the bed and give two good pushes and she was out!
And she was totally worth it! I still can't believe we have a little girl. She is much more dainty than the boys were, with long beautiful fingers and LOTS of dark hair.
Although, Campbell did ask me why she looked like a boy. Maybe once her hair grows longer he'll be able to see the difference.

When the boys came to the hospital to meet her for the first time they were all mesmerized by her. And they all wanted to hold her. And they couldn't stop rubbing her hair. I'm afraid that she is going to go bald.

I was so glad that Amelia got to be in the delivery room with us when Waverly was born. You did a great job cooling me off and cheering me on Amelia! I love you!

Our first family photo!

I think Mason is the most smitten with Waverly. He tells me about 5o times a day, "the baby is so cute!" He loves holding her and rubbing her hair. And he's always the first to notice when her eyes are open. He's always talking to her and getting her toys to play with. He is going to be the best big brother.

Andersen stayed with us that first night in the hospital, but the second night he sent Amelia to fill in for him. Which worked out great for me. Amelia brought her laptop and some DVD's and we both sat in the hospital bed watching movies having our own little girl's night with Waverly. That made the hospital stay a little bit more bearable. I don't know what I would have done without Amelia.

On Wednesday the 5th we were able to bring her home. It was a great Anniversary present to be able to sleep in my own bed without a nurse or doctor coming in every few hours. The boys were all ready to welcome her home.

Here are all the kids with their Aunt Amelia. I love this picture. We miss you Amelia!

Baby Shower

2009-08-03T11:49:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, while Andersen was in Miami at a "Physics Review" for his first board exam in September, a few of my friends put together a baby shower for me and the baby. I know a lot of people brought food, but I'd especially like to thank Angela and Nancy for putting it all together. It was a great success!

Here are my friends Jacklyn and Ashlee. Looking good girls!

It was a great turn out and I had so much fun visiting with everyone. I LOVE having a full kitchen. There's Allyson, Karen, Tricia, Aubrey, and Lisa.

Joy and Mindy.

Here's Angela N., Nancy, Jessica, Tressa, and baby Maryann (Allyson's little one) just kicking back and relaxing.

And Kristen, Jennilyn, and Angela. Sorry Angela! I thought you were looking at the camera. Kristen is due just 2 days after me with their first.

I think Nancy is getting a reputation for making awesome cakes (she made the flag cake on my 4th of July post). You just can't go wrong with fruit and white chocolate. It was delicious!

And I got to use these cute dessert plates that my sister Joann and my Mom had gotten me for my birthday. Joann always gets me exactly what I never knew I wanted. I love them!

It was hard keeping the boys away from the dessert table, but fortunately Nancy brought her daughter Maddy to watch them for me during the shower. Thank you so much Maddy! You're a life saver.

Here are few shots of me opening presents. This baby is going to be one well dressed little girl. I loved all the pink and the little dresses. Everyone was so generous, I am so grateful to have such good friends.

Coolidge especially loved opening the presents. He didn't really care to much for what was inside, but the tissue paper was fascinating!

Well, there were a few things he had his eye on.

Angela and Nancy, you really know how to throw a party! I know I wasn't the only one exhausted by the end of the night ;o)

Porter's Baptism

2009-07-31T16:54:00.001-04:00

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we believe that when a person reaches the age of 8 that they are old enough to distinguish between right and wrong and are therefore accountable for their decisions.

"Baptism by immersion in water by one having authority is the first saving ordinance of the gospel and is necessary for an individual to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to receive eternal salvation. All who seek eternal life must follow the example of the Savior by being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost." http://www.lds.org/

We are so proud of Porter and his decision to take this first step in following our Savior Jesus Christ.
Andersen and Porter all dressed in white.
We were so lucky to be able to share this day with the Jackson family. Matt and Josh Jackson were also baptized that day. What handsome young men! Cheryl Jackson did an amazing job organizing everything and putting the program together, I don't know what we would have done without her!

My Dad gave an amazing talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He really had the boys captivated. We were so glad that my parents were able to be apart of such an important day in Porter's life.

And thank you to Bishop Blodgett for re-arranging his flights from the Philippines and travelling all day and all night to make it to the boys' baptism (straight from the airport). It meant so much to have you there! I'd also like to thank Porter's primary teacher Sister Sakamaki and Sister Wilbur from the primary presidency for being there. And thank you to all our friends who were able to share in this special event with us.

And what's better than a cookie buffet after being spiritually nourished? Here is Cheryl and Ashlee getting everything put together.

So, I had seen this cookie on a stick idea online and had to try it out. Luckily my mom was there to help me with my crazy scheme. Although we probably stayed up way to late making them I think they turned out pretty fun.

At least Campbell thought they were fun :o) What's better than a chocolate chip cookie on a stick?

We tried taking pictures outside after the baptism and this is the best one of our family. Not too bad. I have no idea what Mason is yelling about. I think the church does a wonderful job of landscaping, at least the backdrop was pretty.

And here we all are with Grandpa and Grandma Adams.

Afterwards we all went out to eat for dinner at the Olive Garden. Love that place. I think my Dad was asking my Mom if she had taken enough pictures already.

It was such a nice day that we were able to eat out on the patio, which works best for our spill-pron boys. What a great way to end a special day, no cooking for me!

Visit from Grandpa and Grandma

2009-07-31T11:31:00.000-04:00

A few weekends ago my parents were able to fly out from Spokane for Porter's baptism. It was so wonderful to have them out here again and I know the boys had a blast. Everything from Grandpa and Grandma's early morning wake up calls to the traditional trip to Toys R Us. At Toys R Us Campbell picked out this Spiderman swim gear so we HAD to go and try it out. And what better place than a pirate's lagoon?

Here are Grandpa and Grandma Adams with the boys at the Woodland pool in downtown Lexington.
Coolidge was already pooped out by the time we got to the pool :o)

The baby is still growing!

This summer we were finally able to get the boys into swim lessons and it really helped Porter and Campbell. Mason...not so much, oh well. Here is Porter showing no fear on the high diving board.

And Campbell practicing floating on his back. He used to hate getting his head wet, now he tolerates it.

This pool had just about everything including a slide. Unfortunately it started to rain otherwise I think the boys would have wanted to stay all day.

Hooray for swimming!

Here is our Wolverine/Spiderman. It always amazes me how much Campbell likes to dress up.

We also took Grandpa and Grandma to the "Castle" park. Here are the boys just monkeying around. Porter looks like he's the only one having fun. I think Mason was having the least fun, he was holding on for his little life.

Campbell is actually quite good at the rings and kept going back and forth.

I love this picture of the boys being all cute with each other and I am surprised that my Mom was able to get them to sit still long enough on a slide to take the picture.

Cheese!!!

I thought everyone was having a good time at the park, but I guess I was wrong. Nice Andersen! Always playing it up for the camera.

Well, I know that my Mom and I were having fun. Love you Mom!

4th of July Birthday!

2009-07-09T22:39:00.000-04:00

Porter is 8! His birthday was on Friday, but I think the whole weekend was one big party for him. Friday afternoon after swim lessons, Will and Christy (Andersen's brother) and their two girls came to celebrate the 4th of July weekend with us. After Friday Night Pizza, it was PARTY TIME!
Porter was pretty specific on how he wanted his cake to look this year. He even drew me this diagram of what the cake should look like.

He seemed pretty satisfied with how it turned out, so I guess I came close enough :0) It is supposed to be a scene of the Goo Lagoon from the cartoon Spongebob Squarepants, in case you were wondering.

Porter took a few weeks to compile this huge list of possible presents and it was up to Andersen and I to narrow it down. We finally decided on a Pirate Lego set. Porter loves Legos and put the whole thing together himself.

Porter got some paints and "project" supplies along with some books from Nana and Papa Grigg.

Here is Will trying to hold back the masses who thought they needed to "help" Porter open his presents.

Explosives! Will and Christy, you know the way to an 8-year-old's heart.

Grandpa and Grandma Adams sent these cool hover cars that got ALL the boys excited.

The paints were a huge hit with everyone. We have quite a family of artists.

On the 4th we had invited a bunch of friends from our ward over for desert and fireworks, but were a little nervous when it ended up raining most the afternoon. Luckily the rain broke long enough to break open a pinata and shoot off some fireworks. I loved this cake that Nancy brought. It doesn't get more patriotic than that!

Here is Coolidge taking the first swing at the pinata. We decided youngest to oldest would be the most fair.

Christy and Cambri trying to take a whack at the swinging pinata.

It was a lot more hilarious once we started blind folding the kids.

Unfortunately, there were a few who just couldn't keep out of the way of the swinging bat.

Mason learned this lesson the hard way. I can't believe I actually got this picture of Kaylee connecting with Mason's head instead of the pinata. Honestly, she didn't even see him there. Mason had gone in to grab a piece of the pinata that Kaylee had just knocked off and, wham! Home run! I love Christy's reaction the best in the background.

Don't worry, Mason is fine and the bump is almost gone already, although at the time it was pretty impressive.

Here's Porter trying to get his hits in. Too bad the pinata was nowhere close.

The pinata put up a good fight...

But in the end, the kids won. Here's the race for the candy. Sweet success!

It turned out to be a great 4th inspite of the rain. Thanks to all who were able to make it and celebrate with us!

Sock Puppets

2009-06-09T19:21:00.000-04:00

Right before school let out for the summer, Porter's teacher decided that the kids needed one more project, a book report. Yep, a tradition at his school I later found out. After a few books his teacher finally approved Cam Jansen, The Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds by David A. Adler. So the assignment was to read the book, write a short report, and then prepare some kind of diorama, song, video, etc. to help them with their presentation in front of the class. Porter's choice -puppets. So here are the puppets that Porter and I made of various characters in the book. Luckily they were a great hit and Porter passed the assignment. The boys still love playing with them.

Kentucky's Natural Bridge Park

2009-05-28T10:18:00.000-04:00

I just have to start off this post by giving props to my little Mason. A few weeks ago we were starting to run out of Mason-sized diapers when I had the brilliant idea, "why not just potty train instead?" He turned 3 in March and at the time I just wasn't feeling up to the whole pooping and peeing all over the house (can't imagine why). But, with a new baby on the way it was now or never? Thankfully Mason was totally on board and after only a handful of accidents and less than a week he was using the toilet like he'd been born using it! I was and still am completely amazed at my little super hero potty trainer. No more diapers! Not even at night (he hasn't had a single accident at night and even gets up in the middle of the night if he has to go)! He even uses the bathroom at the store and made me laugh my head off when he made it to the bathroom at Macy's just in time and while he was sitting on the toilet, threw a fist in the air like Superman and yelled out "YAY." My feelings EXACTLY. Don't worry, he was well rewarded with a shopping spree at Toys 'R' Us. Thank you Mason for being the most incredible little guy!

For Memorial Day weekend Andersen was informed that he had 2 vacation days left (how he missed that I don't know) that he needed to use so not only did he have Memorial Day off he also got the Thursday and Friday before off. On Friday we decided to check out some of the National Parks around here and ended up at the Natural Bridge Park in the Daniel Boone National Forest. Here are the boys at the bottom of the trail, only 0.75 miles to the top!

ALL the boys did a great job hiking up and back down, but Coolidge did get a few free rides just so we could move faster. Otherwise, I think he would have hiked the whole thing.
O.K. So the bow in these pictures were made by the boys themselves. We rented Robin Hood from the library last week and the boys have been re-enacting it ever since. Being in the woods on a hike seemed like a perfect time to use their bows and arrows. It is amazing what a stick and a few rubber bands can launch. Luckily Andersen found some light weight sticks to use as arrows and no one has poked their eye out...yet.
Coolidge and I were good hiking buddies, our paces were evenly matched :0)
This is just under the natural bridge. It makes me laugh how well these guys can play it up for the camera!

To get on top of the bridge you have to climb up these narrow stairs...
Squeeze through this long crevice between these two huge rocks...
And then you're finally on top.

This is what Mason calls his "angry face." As soon as he showed it to me he started laughing, he really wasn't angry.
It was a gorgeous day so we could see quite a ways from up there. Campbell was disappointed we wouldn't let him "shoot" anything off the bridge, but he's got his bow ready.
Once you're on top you can hike around to this viewing spot so you can see the bridge. The bridge is right by my head in this picture. Porter wanted to run back and stand on the bridge while we took a picture from here, but Andersen or I didn't feel much like running at that point.
We all made it safely back down and were rewarded with over-priced popsicles. Hey, we figured we'd saved quite a bit of money by spending the day on a FREE hike instead of going to the Zoo. Here we are enjoying the popsicles while watching some fish in this pond. Mason is obsessed with fish so I think it was the highlight of his day.

My Head Was Hot, So I Cut My Hair

2009-05-10T17:53:00.001-04:00

Pedro: "Well, when I came home from school my head started to get really hot. So I drank some cold water, but it didn't do nothing. So I laid in the bathtub for a while, but then I realized that it was my hair that was making my head hot. So I went into my kitchen and I shaved it all off."

This is exactly what Campbell told us yesterday when we asked why he cut his hair. Campbell:"My head was hot so I cut my hair!"

As you can see he was quite proud of himself and was pretty upset when we decided to shave his head to "even" things out.

I don't even know how he was able to cut the back!?! But now ALL the boys have summer hair cuts. Among other news, we decided to plant a garden in our back yard this year which we were really excited about until we started digging up the spot for the garden and found that under the top layer of grass was a layer of rock! This is a picture of all the rock we dug up out of the garden. A few of the rocks were so big that Andersen had to break them up into fourths so that we could lift them.

So Friday, Campbell, Mason, Coolidge and I were finally able to plant the garden. Campbell was a huge help and did at least 3 rows all by himself. I think I have a natural born gardener (as long as there are plenty of popsicles around). Here is Campbell spacing out the seeds.

It's not a very big garden, but hopefully it will do. Porter got home from school just in time to put the last cucumber seeds in the ground and then it promptly started to rain. Talk about good timing!

And for our final news, for those who haven't heard yet, we are expecting a GIRL August 3rd. Here is a picture of the growing belly. I'm just glad that she isn't here yet and that Campbell decided to practice cutting his OWN hair :0)

House No Longer Under Construction.......for now

2008-12-22T15:15:00.000-05:00

I know I posted back in July about our house remodel project. Now, 5 months later I think we're ALMOST finished. We still have a little trim work to do, but the bulk of the work is over! Here are a few before and after pictures of our last 5 months.

It was ALOT of hard work, and looking back now, Andersen and I both think we were totally insane, but I LOVE my new kitchen. And we had a lot of fun along the way. Here are a few pictures of our house under construction:

Here is Andersen building cabinets in the place of the old dishwasher since we had decided to keep the existing cabinets. Let me just say, it is NOT fun to sand, wipe, prime, sand, wipe, paint, sand, wipe, and paint two walls worth of cabinets!

Here we are in the kitchen laying down tar paper before we could put in the hardwood floors.

Steven and Jerusha came to visit while we were putting in the floors and we were EXTREMELY grateful for all their hard work. Nice form Jerusha!

Oh yeah, I love my hardwood floors too!

Andersen surprised me time and time again with his handy-man abilities. I think I WILL keep him around :0)

Although...I am glad that the granite guys talked him out of installing our countertops himself.

Will and Christy came to visit too and of course we put them to work. Will and Andersen trimmed up our tree out front and it is the perfect climbing tree. Good work Will!

Of course all the stuff we ripped out of our house had to go somewhere.

Luckily we were able to rent this huge dumpster for $30 and the city hauled our mountain away.

Ahh, nothing like a job well done! At least we think so.

Christmas Packages From Grandpa and Grandma Adams

2008-12-07T19:27:00.000-05:00

Sorry Mom and Dad this took awhile to post. I had to teach myself how to use the movie maker so I could split up the video. The whole thing was too big to upload all together. I hope you enjoy the videos. The boys were all really excited so I think you accomplished your goal. We love you!

I Have a Date

2008-11-12T19:50:00.000-05:00

So, this morning when I opened the door to my bedroom I ran into a rose hanging from the ceiling in our hallway. Andersen had hung 2 dozen roses from the ceiling while I was sleeping all the way into the kitchen and on the last rose there was...

this note:
And two tickets to see Twilight next Friday. Not only that, he cleaned our bathroom and did the dishes last night. I'm definitely feeling special right now.