Happy Birthday Addyson!

 Yesterday was Addy's 2nd birthday!  As tradition goes, we fix the birthday boy or girl their favorite foods for dinner...Addy loves rolls and chicken, so I made a bunch of rolls (I think she ate 3) and crockpot chicken.  And we had to have "jelly" which is strawberry jello...she loves that stuff!

Our little birthday princess got to share her special day with Daddy this year since it was also Father's Day.  They got to open presents together, and she made sure to share her birthday princess crown too.  So cute!

She actually kept taking her crown off, here Rachel is recrowning her...I can't remember what she was saying to us, but whatever it was...she meant it! 

The girls made her a huge balloon bouquet and she had lots of fun dancing around with it!

She saw this present and said, "a purple box!" 

She seems to like what came inside the purple box...

 

Because she didn't want to let go of it while she opened her other gifts!

And because she's two...we got her a cute little Minnie Mouse toilet.  She loves that when you push the flush handle down, it cheers "Hip Hip Hooray!"  We may get tired of hearing that little flusher.

But for now, she thinks it's pretty awesome.

Addy loves cupcakes, so...we made her a giant cupcake for her birthday.  She loved it.

We sure do love this little girly...she had fun blowing out her candles...

but liked the frosting most of all.

Happy 2nd Birthday to our sweet Addyson!

Where Does the Time Go?

Two years ago, this little sweetie was born and we loved her immediately.  

 Addyson loved to snuggle and be held close, and she still does.  She still has not outgrown wanting to be snuggled up close everyday.

 

Most people in the world wouldn't understand how much a sixth baby could be loved.  People are always stunned to find out how many children we have.  But just with all my others, I would watch little Addy sleep and sometimes just cry over her because my heart was so full of love for her.  She was the most precious, beautiful baby.

 

Two years later...she has grown to be our dimpled little toddler who loves to sing songs, snuggle, and read books.  Our house wouldn't be the same without her.

I love how in the mornings, she calls for me from her crib saying, "Mama!?!  I'm awake!"  or "Mama!  Wake up!"  It's the cutest, funniest thing and I love hearing it.

I cannot believe that she's already two years old.

Happy Birthday to our sweet Addyson Adelle Thuernagle!

If Not Field Trips...then Bakies

I started having regular contractions, and have felt the past week and a half like I usually do the week before my babies are born.  My doctor asked me what I'd been up to...I gave him a list of excursions I'd taken the kids on.  He just kind of raised his eyebrows, smirked...and said, "no more field trips...how about a nice trip to the movie theater instead...or the library.  It requires very little walking on your part."  hmm...

 

So this past week we've slowed down.  And Taylor has discovered that along with his sisters...he's a pretty decent "bakie" cook.   Here he is making us some yummy chocolate chip cookies.

 

And I have truly slowed down.  I didn't even police the dough like I usually do.  We only had enough to make two batches.  So glad no one got food poisoning. 

Maybe slowing down isn't such a bad thing.  Next I think I'll teach him how to bake bread, crock pot meals, or super nachos.

Ladybug Quilt!

For this little baby girl, I decided to make a ladybug-themed quilt.  I saw a quilt on Pinterest that I sorta liked...it was black and white with pink flowers appliqued on it.  When I saw it, it inspired me with this ladybug project.  I completely changed the color-scheme and design of the quilt, but the basic idea is the same.  

 

I love it when I can visualize something in my mind, draw it out on paper like this...

 

 figure out all the dimensions and how much fabric I need

 

 go to the store and pull bolts of fabric off the shelves that will look good in my color scheme

 

cut out my ladybugs...each of them has three pieces...

 and carefully arrange the "random" color block pattern so that it looks good

 

 and then piece it, applique the design, and make that quilt that I had visualized in my mind come to life.  It doesn't always turn out exactly how I'd imagined it...but this one came pretty close.

 

 I've spent the past few weeks quilting it by hand, one little stitch at a time...

 

And here it is, ready for baby girl to arrive in a few weeks!  

While You Were Sleeping...

 

 Here is proof:  even tough guys have a soft spot for My Little Ponies.  Ha!  Four of my kids have had a gunky cold that has turned into ear infections this past week.  Not fun!  Andy had just given Taylor some medication that also made him sleepy...he was out on the couch for the entire afternoon.  I kept coming in to check on him, and then noticed what he was holding.  I couldn't help it.  I HAD to document this one.

 

A few days later, when I asked him what he had been doing holding this pony, he grinned and said that "in my delirium...I noticed the button on the side of the pony that when you push it moves its head and tail.  I was holding the head still while pushing the button to see if the tail would move independently of the head."  Ahem.  When he told us this, Rachel and I just looked at each other and said, "ya right!"  Andy and I gave him a bad time about it...he's such a good sport.  His 14th birthday is coming up...maybe we'll get him a pony.

 

As I was blogging this picture, I had this weird random thought.  I can remember the very first time that Taylor got sick.  Maybe its because he was my first baby, and it's such a huge traumatic experience when your little baby gets sick, but even after 14 years, I remember how worried I was over my little infant baby boy who couldn't keep any milk down.  I remember asking Andy to give him a blessing, and just watching over him until he was completely better. 

 

Some things don't change much.  I still fuss and worry over my kids when they're sick, no matter how old and "tough" they appear to be...because let's get real, when we're sick...we like to be pampered.  And sometimes, holding a cute little purple pony helps.

Summer Bucket List: Wilson Ponds

 This morning we walked around Wilson Ponds and fed the ducks.  Poor Taylor was worn out...he had just finished up with two hours of weight lifting and basketball drills at Skyview...so he was exhausted.  Still, he was a good sport.  He and I were the stragglers behind everyone else.

Addy didn't want to get out of her stroller, but she had a great time watching the little ducklings dive for the bread!  She is also wearing her favorite pajama top...she didn't want to take it off this morning...it has a monkey jumping on it, and she kept saying, "no! my monkey!"  So today she's wearing monkey pjs all day...it's great being almost two!

We always see more fish on the days when we're NOT fishing!

 

What a gorgeous morning!

It was a good little walk...and Taylor scouted out the fishing hole he's going to try out next week.  I'm glad we live so close to places like this...it sure beats spending all day on the Wii or watching movies!  And these little excursions have been great motivators for my kids to get up early, practice piano and do their chores without any nagging.  Tada!  I LOVE summer!

Summer Bucket List: Boise Zoo

The kids and I made a "bucket list" for this summer.  We have lots of fun things on our list...we'll see how good we are at actually doing them.

 

Today we decided to go to the zoo.  It was a beautiful day!

Rachel took care of Addy for me, and Tay took charge of the stroller so that I could just come along at my own pace and not worry about carrying or pushing anything.  They are sweet kids.

 

Here Taylor was showing Addy the fine art of talking to monkeys.

 

Matthew and Brooklynn really liked the addition of the animated dinosaurs!  Addy was afraid of them though, and called them "skeery!"

 

It's tradition for my kids to pile into this little African hut...the "jailhouse."  Addy was too afraid to go inside...she had just been traumatized by roaring dinosaurs and wasn't feeling too adventurous.

 

Some of the kids thought the lions were boring because they weren't doing anything...but Addy loved them!  She kept saying "Lion King!  Lion King!"  Too hilarious.

 

Brooklynn thought the African school house and the display of the warrior's weapons and jewelry was pretty cool.

 

And this blasted jeep.  I dread this jeep...there are always a ton of kids piled on it, and waiting to pile on it...so of course it would be Matthew's favorite part of the zoo.  We waited a LONG TIME for this picture!

 

And of course Lainah had to have her turn!

 

Look!  Lainah is the same height as an Emperor Penguin!

 

And...Taylor discovered that we've been wrong all of these years...we thought the word he is pointing to was referring to a donkey.  Nope.  It's a penguin.  Who knew!?!

 

Matthew used to be the same height as this guy...he has grown a ton this year!

 

Addy's favorite part of the day was playing with these little guys.  She didn't want to leave them behind!

 

 

And Brooklynn had to have her turn with the penguin encounter...

 

We didn't make it to all of the zoo...after a couple of hours we were all done...so we came out and had a picnic lunch by the Rose Garden...which has always been one of my favorite spots in downtown Boise.  What a great day, I love these kids! 

 

So there's one item off our bucket list...it's shaping up to be a great summer!

Get On The Boat?

 

We have officially created a monster!  All day yesterday, Addyson was coming up to someone in the family and saying, "Get on the boat?"  She'd say this while looking up at you with her big brown eyes...and then she'd smile that dimpled smile of hers...what a charmer!

After a while, she took matters in to her own hands.  She found her swimsuit on the hook in her room...took off her shorts and diaper...and started getting ready to "get on the boat!"

She is too funny!  I finally let her just go out and sit in it for a while.  She was so excited to sit in her spot...which is the seat opposite the driver and facing backwards.  This is where she and I sit to spot our hot doggers and skiers.  She is just too cute!