pics

Adeline's 2 year old photo shoot #1. We've done a couple. Still not happy with the results. Will try again soon. But I love this set of pics. It just captures her.


Summer fun at the pool and the splash pad.



Is it pathetic that my favorite accessory right now is this stroller? Here are the kids right before our maiden voyage around the block -- with Tyler at the helm.

addie's birthday

I feel so bad that I didn't get these pictures posted closer to her birthday, but oh well. At least they're posted now! Adeline turned 2 this year, and she definitely acts her age!

Addie's favorite food is rice. So I made a simple chicken and rice dinner with veggies. She ate it right up.

Opening presents. Our family gave Adeline items to go in her purses -- sunglasses, a coin purse, keys, a phone, and tissues. She opened our gift first, and she didn't take off the glasses or put down the phone for the rest of the time.


After my life had settled down a bit we had a birthday play date with Adeline's friends, B, D, and N. These are her nursery friends from church. They are the only friends her age we know and they all live about 25 - 30 minutes away. :( But we love when we get to do things with them!

We had lunch of Mac & Cheese with hotdogs, and then we headed over to a local park that has a splash pad, a playground, and a petting zoo.





I just thought Tyler looked like a Super Spiderman or something with his towel on his head while climbing. My little super hero!

grandma ensign's visit

We didn't take very many pictures the week my mom came out to help after McKay was born. But these are the pictures we did get. I was so grateful to have my mom there to help out. 3 is definitely HARD!

the doctor and a couple shots

McKay had a doctor's appointment Tuesday. He is about 12 lbs. 5 oz. and 24 inches. He is now about 9 inches shorter than Adeline, and more than 1/2 her weight.

McKay and Adeline both had shots scheduled at the county clinic Tuesday afternoon. Adeline had been talking about getting shots all morning, and was acting rather excited and proud that she was getting them. She had that same look on her face until the first shot. She had a look of betrayal on her face until all 3 shots were done. Once the tears were dry -- which only took a couple of minutes -- she was excited and proud again that she got her shots. She told everyone we saw that day that she had owies and band-aids on her legs from shots. McKay was great! He was dead asleep when we got there. In fact, we had to wake him up to get him to take his rotovirus immunization -- it's one they have to swallow. He got all of that down, and cried through the shots until the last of the 3 was given. I put him back in his car seat as we were leaving, and before we had left the office he was asleep again.

first day of school

Monday, Tyler and I went to the elementary school and met with his teacher. He found his locker, his seat in the classroom, and his teacher, Miss Gruber, gave him a tour of the classroom and the school. I think this really helped his nerves. Even though he knows Miss Gruber -- his preschool class was right next to her classroom, and Adeline helps us to meet everyone -- and he knows the school, it was still scary for him to start kindergarten. Until we got home from meeting with Miss Gruber I was still hearing, "Mom, I don't want to go to kindergarten. I want to still be in preschool." or "I want you to teach me at home, Mom." He also has a boy from his primary class in the same school class. I think this has really helped both of them adjust.

Wednesday Tyler started Kindergarten. I still can't believe he's already so grown up! I was proud of myself that I didn't cry -- although I think it helped that he was in preschool last year. These first couple of days I've been going into the school with him to help him get his things in his locker and get to class. I told him today that I think today was my last day for doing that. He so does not need me! Adeline cried the first day we left him. And she cried Thursday morning as well because Tyler didn't give her a hug. So this morning I followed him into his classroom and asked him to give Adeline a hug. He came right over, picked her up and gave her the biggest hug ever. He then bent down into the car seat and kissed McKay, and then gave me a big squeeze around the knees. He was totally unashamed in his public showing of affection to his family. I know there will come a day when he won't want to do that anymore, so I take pure joy in seeing it now.

news

We have had so many little things happen in the last couple of weeks. I don't have any pictures posted to accompany any of this because our computer is still dying a slow and painful death, so it shuts down on me whenever we're on it for too long or try to do too much "fancy" stuff like edit pictures and what not. Here's some more of what's going on.

*Tomorrow (Thursday) we are getting a new furnace and air conditioner -- both of our current units are 20+ years old. It is not going to be cheap, but we were quoted a price thousands less than what we had anticipated. We're also hoping that by doing it now we will lower the risk of having the furnace die in the middle of winter. This should also help lower our energy costs as well.

*Speaking of air conditioners, we haven't had to turn ours on for more than a couple weeks all summer! Yippee!

*Adeline had her 2nd birthday this month. We celebrated with Grandma Ensign while she was here. Addie doesn't like cake -- only the frosting like her Aunt Melanie -- so she just had birthday ice cream. She also received a lot of fun girly toys like a play cell phone, pretend car keys, sunglasses, a stroller for her baby doll, a new swimsuit, a Tinkerbell nightgown, and a new doll.

*While Adeline does her "girly" thing with the purse and all the stuff, and she likes getting "dolled" up, she still enjoys playing with Tyler's trains, Transformers and cars.

*I bought Adeline some Hello, Kitty bandaids and bought some Transformer bandaids for Tyler. The other day Addie fell and scraped her knee in 2 places -- not uncommon for her -- and she requested a Kitty bandaid and a Transformer bandaid.

*Adeline had her 2 year old check up this week. She is 24 lbs. and 33 1/2 inches tall. She is my little peanut -- who eats like a horse -- she grazes all day. She also inherited her mother's sweet tooth. Poor girl.

*Tyler starts Kindergarten in just a few weeks! I can't believe the summer is almost over!

*Tyler's latest thing to do is watch the old Transformer cartoons on You Tube -- not so great for the computer -- and when he asks to watch it he informs us that he still has so much to learn about Transformers and so must watch the show to learn about them. He is also determined to learn the theme song -- he's just about got it down.

*Tyler is our little social butterfly. He is always at someone's house or bringing someone home to play with. Some of his friends we enjoy, and some of them we wish would move away. We can always tell what kind of an evening we will have based on who he has played with the most that day.

*We're still trying to get Tyler to use his words with his sister instead on automatically man-handling her.

*Tyler also loves the Legos Grandma Eggett sent him, and he and Dallin literally spend hours building things!

*McKay is growing like a weed! At his 1 month appointment he weighed 10 lbs. and was about 21 inches. That's 4 lbs. and 2 inches in 4 weeks!

*McKay still does not sleep more than a couple hours at a time. Every once in a while he'll surprise us and sleep from one feeding to another, but that is RARE.

*McKay is just now starting to sleep well in his bed. We usually have him sleep in the swing. I'm so glad he likes the swing. It is such a life saver!

*McKay is such a good baby. He is definitely a mellow baby -- like Tyler was. I think I was given 2 mellow boys to balance out my Diva of a daughter.

*Dallin is finishing up his summer classes.

*He starts coaching middle school football -- at a school an hour away -- this fall. I think his stipend is going to pay for the gas!

*Dallin has been a big help at home. He takes 2 of the kids at a time so that I have a chance to spend one-on-one time with each of the kids.

*Dallin also FULLY understands what it's like to be the only one to get up with Tyler and Addie in the mornings. You're exhausted by the time the dishes are cleared from the table.

*I am doing well. I'm really tired all the time regardless of how much I sleep.

*I had some issues with drainage from my incision, but the dr. put me on antibiotics and it has healed nicely.

*I am working on writing the primary program for this year -- with the help of my counselors, but still I'm feeling the pressure.

*I've gotten a lot of reading done since McKay was born. I listen to books on CD when I get up with McKay during the night, and during the day I read as well. LOVE the library!

I think that is all for now. I will try to get pictures posted soon.

pictures

Here are pictures of our newest addition:

It's a boy!

I know Dallin sent out an email, but he doesn't have email to everyone I know. I thought I'd get on and give you the baby update. We have another boy! His name is McKay Henry. He was 6 lbs. 1 1/2 oz. and 19 in. He had the cord around his neck 5 times -- which makes me very grateful that I opted for a repeat c-section with baby #2. We are doing well -- and am very tired. I will post pictures on our blog soon.

weekend in review

Dallin decided it was time he took charge and made an appointment for Addie to get her first hair cut. I've been dragging my feet about it because I was so afraid that if we cut off her curls they'd never come back. :( But it needed to be done because it was looking really thin and straggly on the bottom.

The wife of Dallin's principal works at the beauty college in town so on Thursday he called her and asked for a recommendation on who would do the best job on Addie's hair. Then we called and made an appointment with that girl. I thought she did a very nice job.

We took a trip to Dolliver Memorial State Park on Saturday. The kids thought it was great to throw rocks in this creek. The creek feeds right into the Des Moines river -- not too far from where we were here.

This is the best way to enjoy watering the lawn!

mark your calendars

It's official. My c-section date has been moved to June 18. That's only 2 1/2 weeks away! I can't believe it's already here. I feel like I've pregnant forever, but at the same time, it feels as if the months have just flown by! I'm nervous about wrestling with 3 children, but I am more than ready to see my toes again, bend down without feeling a baby in the way, roll over without having to swing my entire body over...you get the idea. I'm ready to have my body back!

primary talent show, the last soccer game, memorial day, and preschool graduation

Last weekend we had our Primary Talent Show. Tyler did some "scooter tricks" and played "Pop Goes the Weasel" on the piano. I had a video of his piano, but it's too large to post here. Blast. I need a video camera.

Tyler had his last game last Saturday. It was our family's turn to help ref. so Dallin reffed the 1st half of the game.

Tyler & his participation medal.

After the game the team, coaches and parents went out for pizza.

But I'm wondering, why can I never get a "normal" smile from this kid? Maybe he's just grown up with a camera in his face too much.

For memorial day we had a bbq at some friends' home, and then played at the park behind their house. It was a lot of fun, and we actually had beautiful weather!

The park we played at had this slide. It was steep and very slick. Tyler loved it!

Adeline climbed the ladder by herself, but then wouldn't go down the slide. She hung like this forever, it seemed like, until we finally convinced her to let go. She did not like the slide -- at all!

Dallin decided to have a go. Anyone else thinking of a certain Tommy Boy scene right now?

What?!?! I was hungry!

Okay, really it was called their "Moving On Ceremony" because not all the kids are "graduating" from preschool.

I learned one of the disadvantages of having a child who is one of the taller kids in class -- I can never get a good picture of him! There was ALWAYS another kid in the way!

just your typical Sunday

Earlier this week I saw the Primary pianist at the grocery store, and she let me know that she would be out of town today. That was not a problem because I was not conducting or doing Sharing Time today so I could play the piano today -- and just for the record, the other people in the ward who can play the piano are, the R.S. Pres., the R.S. 1st Counselor, the YW Pres., and the YW 2nd Counselor.

This morning my 1st Counselor called and said she had had an allergic reaction and her eyes were swollen shut. She would not be there today. She was supposed to teach Sharing Time. She had everything prepared, fortunately, and she sent all of her lesson material with her husband. So, since I knew my 2nd Counselor would be completely uncomfortable winging it, I decided I would teach Sharing Time.

About 10 minutes before Sacrament Mtg. I was told that the Stk. Pres. would be visiting during the 2nd hour block today to do temple recommend interviews. When your Stake is 1 hour away, this is a big deal. Well, I still needed a Bishopric interview, and so talked to the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric and told him I needed to meet with someone for my interview and that if I got someone else to play the piano during 2nd hour I would have 20 minutes at the beginning of the block to do both interviews. He told me that was possible.

Right after this conversation someone asked me if I knew who was playing for Sister Dillon today -- she is the ward organist, the R.S. 1st Counselor and wife of our Bishop -- both of whom were out of town today. I said I wasn't sure, but I had heard Sister Steele -- the YW Pres. & choir director -- practicing some hymns on the piano earlier (she doesn't play the organ, but plays the piano during the meeting) and so I said I thought maybe she was going to do it. Sister Steele was nowhere to be found so I asked her husband if he knew if she was playing. He said she wasn't. I then asked him if he could mention to her that I needed her to play during Primary 2nd hour. So then it was left to me to play the organ. I looked at the songs we were to sing today, and asked if it would be okay if I played them on the piano instead. I was not familiar with them on the organ enough to not butcher them to pieces. So I played the piano today for Sacrament Mtg. And Dallin had to help bless the Sacrament today as well -- he does this just about every week -- so our children were farmed out for the 1st 1/2 hour of the meeting.

After Sacrament Mtg. I had to make sure all the kids got to their classes. My Sunbeam teacher had let me know she was going to be out of town today, which wasn't a problem because her 1 Sunbeam was not there as well because his older sister had H.S. graduation today. However, my 5 & 6 yr old teacher was not there -- unexpectedly, so I put them with the 7 & 8 year olds, which turned out to be okay because only one of the 2 kids in that class was there today. So, we had 4 out of 9 active children in Jr. Primary today. Once I got that settled, I headed down to the Bishop's office, and Dallin met me 1/2 way and told me that they were letting me go first, and so everyone was waiting for me.

I passed my interview (phew!) with the Bishopric member and then waited a couple minutes for the Stake Pres. to get back from an assignment he had had. During our interview he sat and chatted with me for awhile, which I was okay with because I had just met the man. He also allowed me to keep my old recommend, which was totally awesome because Dad happened to be the Bishopric member who interviewed me for my last recommend. So his signature is on it. I thought that was cool. It will definitely be kept in a safe place.

After meeting with the Stake President I went into the Primary room, and singing time was running over -- completely okay by me -- and I ended up having only about 5 minutes for Sharing Time. I think we should have 5 minute Sharing Times more often. ;-)

After sending Jr. Primary to their class, we got ready for Sr. Primary. There were 7 of our 10 active kids in Sr. Primary -- 6 boys and 1 girl (she's the only girl in Sr. Primary). We have 2 boys who can be very defiant, and both of them were there today. Singing Time and Sharing Time went very well -- minus the 2 trouble makers.

The rest of Primary went well, and we had our ward 4th Sunday potluck after church -- yum! After getting home I crashed on the couch and had a much needed nap.

One of the things I have learned in this ward is to expect the unexpected, and how to just roll with the punches and not stress out so easily when things are thrown in my face!

just for fun

Just some fun pictures from the last week.