easter

For Easter we were all sick. We didn't hunt for eggs. We didn't have Easter baskets. We didn't go to church. We didn't get new clothes. The end.

good news!

So, today Gray crawled like a big boy, for about 5 paces. But still! Way to go, son! Keep on keepin' on.

guess I haven't blogged for a month

My bad.

I get busy!

Here is Kate making a kissing face. Or a fish face. Or a surprised face. I'm not sure.

She sure is cute, despite her rather unfortunate hairstyle.

Nate on the ground. He probably won't be happy that I posted this.

The kids were so excited to play outside the beginning of March. The weather warmed up and the bikes came out. Colin is getting pretty good at riding his big boy bike.

Nice outfit, Kate. Who dresses this kid? (Not me.)

Colin loves hats. And sticks.

Ha. He can't take his helmet off by himself.

On the 9th a friend from high school took some pictures of my kids at the Provo City Library. Brie Pinales is starting up her own photography business, and she took pictures of the kids for free in exchange for me allowing her to use the images for her business. The kids weren't super cooperative, but we did get some cute pictures. She mostly just followed them around while they played and ran. Gray is super handsome. This first one is my favorite.

Pretty, pretty Kate. she was sporting her favorite outfit—pink pants and a pink shirt. Then she added some of her favorite accessories—pink skirt, pink heels, pink headband, pink beads. You go, girl.

Family Movie Night! Every Saturday night we watch a show together as a family after dinner. We all cram on the bean bag and share special treats. The kids love it. I like it because when they ask to watch a show during the week I can say, "Not today, but tomorrow is Family Movie Night, okay? We'll watch a show then." It makes it so I don't have to just say, "No" so often.

Nate was doing a sit up and Colin flung himself onto Nate's lap. He thought it was fun to exercise with dad.

The middle of March sometime. I was trying to get some weeding/planting done in the planters near the house, so I stuck Gray out on a blanket. Kate and Colin were kind enough to keep him company for a few minutes.

DeAnna and Lenna (my sisters-in-law) and their kids drove out from Iowa for a week at the end of March. We had cousin pictures taken one afternoon, and we had dinner at my house afterward. Nate smoked a turkey. It was awesome.

Rach rockin' the hula hoop.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the cousin photo shoot. You might be surprised to hear that it is really hard to get a good picture of 13 kids under 10 and under (with the bulk of them being 4 and under).

Kate giving Gray some love.

Heather's big girls with Addi.

My kids!

DeAnna's kids.

Kaylee peeking at Chamae.

Lenna's kids.

Heather's kids.

Kate and Gray enjoying some bonding time while Colin was at Joy School. Gray would only crawl through the tunnel if he could see Kate peeking at the other end.

Gray is no longer happy unless he is pulling himself up to stand on something. This is one of his new favorite spots, under the kitchen table. He loves to climb and stand, but he's not too good with getting down yet.

Another classic of Gray standing. This time he's sporting one of his sweet pink diapers. Work it, bro!

I walked the kids down to our lame neighborhood park and let them run for a while. I thought we would stay longer, but a certain 2-year-old decided to poop her pants, so we went home. Also, the park bathrooms were locked up. Awesome.

I loved this outfit on Colin. Gray is so much bigger! He barely fits into it now.

What a tease.

In other news, all the kids have croup. Gray spent a few hours in the ER Monday evening. He was fine all morning, and then when he woke up from his afternoon nap he was having difficulty breathing. I didn't know what the problem was, so I tried looking in his mouth for something he could have put in there. I whacked him on the back a few times. I tried to get him to clear his throat. Nothing worked. So after 10 minutes or so I asked my mom if I could borrow her car and take him to the doctor. I drove over and the receptionist told me the doctor said to take him straight to the ER. I freaked right out. I drove to the hospital in tears, yelling at every red light and moron on the road. Granny watched the other kids, Nate met me at the hospital, and my mom dropped off a diaper bag on her way to work. The respiratory therapist gave him albuterol (didn't help), steroids (I guess they helped, but they took several hours to kick in), and finally epinephrin (dramatic difference). Four hours later we brought him home, breathing just fine. Needless to say, that was a pretty scary day for me. Colin and Gray have had yucky coughs, and none of the kids are sleeping well. I really dislike that part. I don't do well without sleep. I think everyone is getting better now, thankfully.

Nate and I went to a local nursery last weekend and bought some raspberry starts, grape starts, two peach trees, and a pear tree (no partridge—please stop asking about the blasted partridge!). Nate has been looking at plans online to build a grape arbor. I've been weeding beds every chance I get so I can plant some flowers and stuff soon.

Colin loves to read. He gets so excited when he sees a word he knows. He's loving this website, and he asks daily to play the Learn to Read Game on the computer.

Also, it snowed today. What the what?!

I think that is all.