Tea Party

I'm not even sure how this came about but Charlie kept asking for a tea party. I think he may have seen my teacups I got in Armenia and then was excited to use them. I have had this tea set since I came home from Armenia and NEVER used it. It's been nearly 9 years since I've been home, so we decided it was as good a time as ever and we made the boys triple promise that they would be so careful with them!

And this was just a random quick event between dinner time and bedtime so we threw together what we had and took blurry pictures, but the special memories are there!

 

The boys gathered flowers from the yard that smelled lovely!

We found some pop tarts in the cupboard which were our delectable pastries (at least the boys thought so) we also had some cinnamon rolls already made. The boys got to use tiny spoons to add sugar to their tea which was a hit.

Max made sure everyone needed to put their pinkies up and speak with an accent. I thought I had videos of the boys trying out accents but apparently I don't. Whenever Miles tried to put his pinky out his tongue came out too and it was hilarious to watch.





And here is Edwin's "tea"

Which he overdosed on as he usually does. (Also this photo was taken half of his lifetime ago)
And there was our impromptu tea party. Thanks Charlie for inspiring us to still be fun sometimes!

Easter

You know Easter? that holiday we had 3 months ago? Yup! We celebrated that, and it's just now getting on the blog. And I wasn't even that great at taking pictures so we will see what I can remember. The Saturday before Easter, we went to our church for a little Easter celebration. The kids sand songs, made Easter wreaths, and listened to stories of Jesus' last week on Earth. All of these were very Christ centered and it was a great way to begin our Easter weekend. Then the kids all went outside for a good old Easter egg hunt.

Shortly after that activity we went to my Red Grandma's house who always throws an incredibly fun (and fair...like she puts the exact same amount of candy in each egg) Easter Egg hunt. We had dinner and played with cousins and it was a good time.

Nothing better than giving little boys heavy wooden mallets to swing around, right?

And Elizabeth was way better at talking pictures so the next group of photos is from her! Thanks Elizabeth!

Charlie the Diva...

I love this photo from Elizabeth so much. It reminds me of a Norman Rockwell painting, rusty bike no shoes...

My baby back when he was more of a baby. 

We went home with enough time to dye our own eggs. Miles picked out the a cool metallic egg kit, so after you dye the eggs, you paint them with metallic paint. Yay!

So the next morning, the Easter bunny left some surprises for the boys and they were then sent on an egg hunt. They sure are at a fun age for these kinds of traditions so I'm really trying to soak in the excitement they feel. We then made our way to church to bring our focus back to the Savior.

He was pretty excited about his pinwheel he got in his Easter basket.

And there you have it! I'm trying to catch up on our blog now that I'm not pumping milk for my baby so much. ha!

Cotopaxi

We're doing questival!!

3 months

Now that Edwin is almost 4 months, I should probably put his 3 month photos on here. I like seeing the change because this boy is growing like crazy and changing so fast. So there you have it!

I love this kid!! Just when you think your heart can't be more full...it grows and makes more room for the love you have for your family! This child is amazing. In his 3rd month he started doing a wheezy laugh that makes us laugh. He generally wakes up super happy. When he "talks" with you, he is becoming a little more boisterous. He doesn't really cry much unless he wants his milk NOW! But generally he's pretty patient with us (and his wild big brothers) As cheesy as it is to say, I can't imagine life without this boy! Speaking of cheese...he still likes all his milk pumped and bottle fed to him. I'm just so grateful that I've been able to produce enough to feed him and watch the little rolls form on his legs. He spits up quite a bit (oh yeah, that's where I was going with the cheese comment) and he have to do frequent neck roll cleanings. He loves his baths! He also likes to "stand" he straightens his body when ever he can and likes to stand while holding our hands. All my boys did this and none of them were early walkers, which is fine with me. Anyway, that is our Edwin James, which reminds me, I never wrote about how or why we chose that name...maybe next month! haha!

Edwin's Blessing Day!

Edwin's blessing day went by so fast (over a month ago) We were so happy that my parents and James and Elizabeth's family were able to join us. And it was the only time we were basically on time to our 12:30 pm church since Edwin has been born.  Before church, Max had a bunch of meetings, James and Elizabeth and family met at my house and the kids played for a bit before it was time for church. Edwin got a whole lot snuggles. Edwin wore the same blessing outfit that my little brothers and Charlie and Miles wore.

In church, my boys were in heaven sitting with Grandma, and grandpas, and uncle James and aunt Elizabeth and their cousins. New toys and new snacks make for an exciting sacrement meeting. Max invited family members and a few close friends to participate in Edwin's blessing. In the blessing, it was said that Edwin could be the voice of reason in his family as well as a peacemaker. We have already seen him display some of these traits. He is a peaceful child that we all love so much.  After the blessing, grandma snuggled Edwin while I had to go to the mother's lounge and pump. A short while later, Max came in to see me and said Edwin's diaper exploded all over his clothes and grandma. I couldn't stop laughing! haha. I'm glad he waited until after the blessing and that the explosion wasn't on me. The bummer was that I had just used the extra outfit we kept in the diaper bag a couple days earlier and forgot to replace it so Edwin ended up wearing his jacket and a large picnic blanket we keep in the car. After church, we attempted some family photos. Then made our way to our house for some dinner and cupcakes!

 And some photos of our crazies!

 I don't know what's going on here, and it's super unflattering...but I just kinda love it!

The men working in the kitchen, or snacking...I'm not sure! Also, we have cupboards on those upper shelves now.

It's been over 6 weeks since these photos were taken and Edwin has grown a ton.

And the cupcakes were to celebrate this little one's birthday!

Edwin James and Uncle James

My boys are lucky to have wonderful cousins!

The grub! Homemade sloppy joes, coleslaw, and cupcakes!

It was a special and smooth day. And thanks to Elizabeth for the pictures, even the ones taken on my camera were taken by her so she can have all the credit. But I am pretty proud this is the first baby blessing that I remembered to take a family picture!