Soon to be a Family of 6

The combination of sun in his eyes and the wind didn't make for the best picture of Tanman but I really wanted a family picture this weekend.  Having another baby doesn't seem that crazy to me but the fact that we'll be a family of six kind of freaks me out. We went to Brit and Kyle's house for Memorial Day weekend and had a great time.  They have the best yard and are surrounded by fields of corn and other produce.  The kids spent hours outside in the sandbox catching frogs, finding bunnies and riding bikes.  I finally got to meet and snuggle Ashley who is one of the sweetest babies.  It's nice having them fairly close and we look forward to going back and visiting again.  Maybe by then their multiple fruit trees will be loaded with deliciousness.

GORGEOUS!

Washington is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  There are bodies of water everywhere surrounded by either large mountains or thousands of trees which makes it absolutely gorgeous.  Some of the mountains are still completely covered with snow while others are 100% green and lush.  I love it here!  This picture doesn't do this scene justice.  We were on our drive to Brit's house and this lake was as smooth as ice with a perfect reflection of the mountains, trees and sky.  I couldn't get a great picture because we were driving and there was a road barrier.  I was tempted to hold my arm out the window and above the car to get a better view but decided it probably wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had.

New Cousins

My cousin Brigitte and her family live in Puyallup which is just south of us.  We were so excited when we found out that it only takes about a half hour to get to their house and we've take advantage of having new cousins so close and have gone over many times to play.  She has four kids and they are so sweet.  It's been so much fun for me to catch up with Brigitte and Ryan and the kids have loved meeting new cousins.  Another perk to having them much closer than we expected is now I have someone I trust on call for when Abby decides to make her entrance.  It is such a relief knowing she can get here in less than 30 minutes because we literally live across the street from the hospital so if we had to, we could take the kids with us until she got here to pick them up.  For the first couple of weeks here I was afraid that we'd be taking the kids with us when I was in labor because I refuse to leave them with anyone we just met.

Growing Up

Sienna and Sadie play so well together and Tanner is right behind them copying everything they do.  This pose is a Sadie original that she often pulls for pictures and recently Tanner has started doing it too.  It is hilarious!  The kids are all growing up so fast.  Sienna has her first loose tooth, is reading quite well, loves math and numbers and is such a good little helper around the house.  Sadie has gotten a lot better with her vocabulary, letters and numbers and has started coloring with so much detail.  She was also accepted into BYU's preschool program and is so excited to go to school with daddy in the fall. Tanner's vocabulary has quadrupled since moving to Washington.  He has grown up and changed the most in the short time living away.  He has dozens of new words and phrases that he uses daily and mimics almost anything we say.  What is more impressive is that he understands almost everything we tell him and can follow directions. He is also extremely coordinated and can dribble a ball and build towers with the best of them.

Some of Tanner's new words and phrases are: Water, I did it!, I want that, I need that, Uh-oh, Doggy-ruff, kitty, SAY-DEE, SENNA, Abby, nana (banana), Nana, bopa, shower, WAIT, a movie, show, treat, milk, poopy, juice, tickle-tickle, Don't!, night-night, hot, love ya (when we do sure love ya), shoes, socks, up, mama, dadda, ice-cream, na-na-na-na-batman and so much more. He has also stopped saying no to everything even when he means yes.  For a long time he had two ways of saying, "no."  If he said, "NO!" he meant "no" but if he said, "Nooooooooo" and trailed off or got quieter or smiled as he said it, he meant "yes".  He is also a little goofball and is constantly making us laugh.  Matt can't get enough of him and things he is the funnest kid around and he might just be right.  It is hard to put into writing the silly things he does but we love when he leans over and stares right at you laughing while moving his feet back and forth as fast as he can.  He is always walking around like a little weirdo until you notice him and then he'll laugh and stop.

We are loving our time together as a family and all of the opportunities we've had to get out and try new things.  We are loving Washington and are getting anxious for Baby Abby to join our family. 

Pike's Place - Farmers Market

Pike's Place was so much fun.  We love walking through farmers' markets as a family and this one was very different than any we had been to in the past.  It lived up to all of the hype too.  The weather was gorgeous again! (Everyone keeps telling us not to get used to it but I hope they're wrong because we are loving weather in the high 70s every day.)  We decided not to overdo it on all of the yummy snacks and food since we live here and it only took about twenty minutes to get there but we have every intention on heading back often and eventually trying most everything.

Outside by the Pier.  All of the trees and water in Washington make it one of the most beautiful places.

There was a guy with his Africa Gray named Phineas preforming on the sidewalk.  The kids loved all of his tricks and laughed continuously but wouldn't hold or pet the parrot.  Phineas would play dead, meow like a cat, make a bombing noise and even do handstands and back somersaults.  It was pretty funny and a good way to start out our walk.

Sampling the different jams and pepper jellies.  The girls are trying rose petal here.

 Piroshky Piroshky - what one should we choose?

Matt and I looked down and Tanner was holding both girls' hands while we walked around.  It was so cute.  He loves his sisters and gives them dozens of hugs a day.

They are my girls for sure.  As a kid, I hated the smell of seafood to the point of getting nauseous.  As soon as we walked by they both instantly grabbed their noses.  Check Sadie out though - I taught her this at church the week before we moved and couldn't stop laughing when I saw she did it for the picture.

Pike Place Fish Co. where they throw the fish when you order it.  It was neat to see it in person.

Daily Dozen Donuts.  Miniature and delicious!

Tanner won't eat any kind of donut but he LOVES sprinkles.

He likes to share too whether you want to or not.

Our little cheeseballs at Beechers cheese. One word, FANTASTIC! That cheese was so delicious and they made a wicked Mac n' Cheese too.

A little better...

Outside watching the ferries and looking at the water.

Me and my Tanman looking out the window on our way back to the car.

Staying Entertained

Since daddy hasn't had to start work yet we get a lot of playing time with him which is our favorite!  We are all going to be super sad when he has to go to work but in the meantime we play a lot of dress up,  color more than you'd believe, and build awesome forts and towers.  We go to a different park each day and we're going to try to get into Seattle before he goes to work on Friday.

Mother's Day!

Mother's Day was perfect.  I woke up to my favorite people making me a yummy breakfast together in the kitchen.  While we were eating they all surprised me with different coupons about ways they would help me out around the house and gave me some treats.  The girls also colored me beautiful pictures and Matt gave me a gift card to The Cheesecake Factory for this weekend.  The coupons were super cute and colored by the girls.  One of Sadie's coupons was to help daddy change one of Tanner's diapers and it was so funny to watch.  She had her nose plugged with one hand while she tried to help with the other.  Sienna gave me a coupon to clean her room and Tanner colored me a picture for his.

I have the best family and am so grateful for the little people that made me a mommy.  I am most grateful for Matt that has given me these beautiful kids and takes such good care of us all.

Bloedel Floral Conservatory

On our drive home we decided to stop by a floral conservatory because if our girls are obsessed with anything, it is flowers.  We walked around and looked at the different plants and flowers for awhile and then headed home.

Isn't that a beautiful view?

The girls having fun with the fountains and pretending that they were controlling them raising and lowering.

Le Creperie

We walked to a Creperie for breakfast one morning.  It was yummy but super expensive and the waiter was a little off that morning.  It made for a funny experience though and as clueless as the guy was, he did help us figure out some final details of our trip.  We decided to wait until another time to visit Victoria and not hassle with the ferry scheduling on this trip.

This picture is actually from a super fancy seafood restaurant we ate dinner at but it was too cute not to post.  He thought it was so funny to slide the straw through the openings in his teeth.

Family breakfast at Le Creperie.

We got an organic peanut butter and banana crepe and another with black forest ham, Swiss cheese and eggs.

Vancouver Aquarium

I love aquariums but taking pictures inside of them is so difficult because of the lighting.  The Vancouver Aquarium is awesome and has whales, dolphins, sharks, alligators and so much more.  It was like a mini-sea world.

The girls loved how close they were able to stand to watch the dolphins.  Most of the animals they have at this aquarium are either rescued and rehabilitated or breed at the aquarium.  One of the dolphins was found caught in a net and lost a fin because of it.  Some of the other animals were saved from oil spills, etc.

These whales are 40% blubber and look really funny as they move around and the fat takes different shapes.

Stanley Park

We went to Stanley Park and saw the huge hollow tree and visited Grouse Mountain.  We were going to take the tram to the top of the mountain so we could see the grizzly bears but we were told they were most likely sleeping and it had snowed at the top recently so we'd have a cold walk to get to them.  Since we weren't dressed quite appropriately to walk in snow, we decided it wasn't worth all the extra money to risk not even being able to see the bears.  We're planning on going back later in the year when it is warmer and more things are open.

 We stopped so we could take a picture inside the huge hollow tree.

The girls climbing through the roots of the tree.

Peek-a-boo.

Again, with my little goofballs that don't know how to take a normal picture.

We were super bummed that we weren't able to take the kids up the tram to the top of the huge peak but we were able to walk up a ways and see some wolves.

Tanner was trying to get in the cage with the wolves.  Tanner is hilarious and every time he sees something he really likes he yells, "WOAH" or "WOW" so loud.