Camping on Mt. Lemmon

Last Friday we loaded up the car to the breaking point to spend the weekend with some friends of ours on Mt. Lemmon. Jacob packed the car and between the camp stove, ice chest, chairs, and sleeping bags, there was no room to spare. Jacob and Marshall were the only ones that didn't have something surrounding their feet. I told Jacob that I wanted to drive on the way home and he just laughed at me.

I think we got there around 5:00 pm and right after we got the kids tent and the canopy that we put over the table up, it started to hail like crazy. Our friends took some pictures of the road on their way up and it looked like it had snowed. This is a piece of it in Jacob's ring just so you can see the size of the hail that was coming down hard on us in the middle of July. Crazy.

Soon after it stopped coming down, this fog showed up. Almost all the hail had melted by the time I got around to taking this picture.

The second day our kids were so tired and cranky. We told them to go lay in the tent and talk to each other and within 5 min the were out. I think they slept for about 2 hours and It gave us a good chunk of time to play cards with our friends.

They were much happier when they woke up and played really well together until it was time to eat. Cooking was nice and easy because we used Jacob's two burner camp stove. One of those big ones that uses a full size propane tank. It was really nice and was so glad that we had it. I highly recommend one.

The last night we had smores and the kids were SO happy to finally get one. We all only had one because they were way to sweet.

We had a fun time and I think we will make camping a yearly event. We were there two nights and we got super dirty and the laundry was ridiculous when we got back. I think it took me like 5 days to finally get the last load all folded and put away.

11 weeks

Marshall is now 11 weeks old and is finally starting to be fun and have some personality. He smiles a lot and doesn't really know what to do when I tickle him. I think it stresses him out. He just gets really grunty. I took him to his 2 month appointment about two weeks ago and he weighed in at 16 lbs and 26 inches. I like his fat roles and all of his creases.

He still isn't sleeping very well and I can't help but think that it is something I am doing wrong. He falls asleep for Jacob no problem, and then he stays asleep too. It takes me much longer to get him to stop being so squirmy. I hope his sleeping habits change for the better because I am so tired. Oh well, thats just how my life is right now I guess.

A normal day

I find myself sitting on the couch nursing a LOT. Then I usually get the laundry started but then it take two or three days to get it folded and pt away. The kitchen is rarely clean and there is always a dirty dish in the sink. We eat a lot of ham and cheese and pb&j for lunch. And quite often Zach is the only one that gets dressed before 2 pm.

On the flip side, Katie and Zach are best friends ( they still fight and get on each others nerves) and play so well together. They are so happy to see Jacob when he comes home from school or work and they are so happy with the simplest of things. My baby Marshall is not the best sleeper but he is starting to smile at me every time I talk to him.

Even though I get a little cranky and emotional about dumb things pretty frequently, my life is happy and good and very blessed.

Big Baby

Some of my friends were not able to see me at this point in my pregnancy. And those that did have told me a number of times that I need to put this pic on my blog. So for the sake of documenting here it is.

I was 2 days away from having Marshall in this picture. When I had him 2 days later he weighed 9 lbs 7 oz. and was 21 inches long. I know it's not like I was having twins but for a single baby my belly was pretty big. I love not being pregnant!

Sweet things children say

A sweet little conversation between Katie and her Daddy.

Katie: Hi Dad, how was work?

Jacob: Good, how was home?

Katie: Good, it's always wonderful.

It made me feel good that she would say that.

Jordan is home form Hungary

Jacob's brother Jordan came home from his mission a few weeks ago. The kids made a sign and we all went to the airport to welcome him back to the USA. He said it was a little weird to hear everyone around him speaking english. I thought that was funny. The kids had been looking forward to his homecoming for months and were so excited to see him.

First thing we did was go eat at IN and OUT Burger. We are so glad he is back.
(nice Jamie :)