Family Picture

Every year in the Spring time we get a new family picture. This year Rob thought it would be nice to take pictures outside with a nice desert background as oppose to an indoor picture with a professional. I figured this would be ok. It would save money, and might even be fun. I picked a day, got my sister Barbara to wake up and take the pictures for us, and found clothing for everyone that sort of went together.

I am sure that all of you with young children can guess what happened. It was a disaster. None of the children wanted to cooperate, and at each location we choose the sun was in our eyes. Barbara took about 30 pictures, and Joseph is looking at the camera in 1 of them. Yes, just one, and in that one picture London is trying to take her shirt off, and Jacob is leaning over looking at something on the ground.

I had really hoped that since this was our first family photo with Guinevere in it that it would be nice enough to frame and put on the wall. I have moved pass this to hoping that next years picture will be good enough to frame, and can now laugh about what a disaster last Saturday was.

Here is the picture that hours of preparation and one stressful Saturday morning resulted in.

ABC's

Jacob is very concerned every time Guinevere cries. When she cries from the next room while he is eating he quickly says "Just a minute Guinevere," and then gets up and goes to see what is wrong with her. He tells her she is ok, and sticks the pacifier in. Yesterday while Rob and I were up stairs, Jacob ran up the stairs to tell us that Guinevere was crying in her swing (like we could not hear her). So we told him to go and sing to her so that she would stop. He said "OK" and ran back down the stairs. We did not actually expect him to quite her, but sure enough a few seconds later all that could be heard was Jacob sweetly singing the only song he knows all the words to, ABC's. Oh how I love my sweet little boy.

Parada del Sol

On Saturday we went out to the largest horse Parade. I am not sure if this is in the Southwest, US, or World, but it is must be worth bragging about since they kept mentioing it. We got up early and waited for an hour at the parade route, so that we could get a good seat. Rob and flat Tyler got a picture with the queen of the parade.


After the parade we went down to the Trails End Celebration. They had a petting area for the kids. Jacob is sacred to death of live animals, so when this donkey walked by he tried desperatly to squeez inbetween Nana and the fence.


We eventually got him calm enough to hold this cute baby goat.



Joseph loved the petting area. He did not really pet the animals, just stared at them as they walked all around him.


Then we rode the horses. All the kids really loved this part.





London saw other kids going on the electronic bull, and she said she really wanted to go on it too. We stood in line and as we watched other kids get thrown off we asked if she still wanted to ride. She said she did so we let her. Jacob went first, and as you can see he absolutely loved it. He was laughing the whole time. Even when it finally threw him off. Obviously the guy at the controls makes it go much slower for the younger kids.


London on the other hand started screaming as soon as the thing started moving. By the time I crawled up there to get her she had tears streaming down her face. I guess to see how much Jacob loved it, it was worth the wait in line.

All in all it was a great day. The weather was perfict, and I remembered to put sun screen on all the kids this year, so no one got burnt. Thanks to Uncle Drake, Uncle Kendale (really it is Aunt Kendale, but this is what the kids call her), and Kendale's mom Chris for getting us a parking pass and bracelets for the kids to go on all the rides.

Blessing Day

On Feb 1st Guinevere had her baby blessing. It was a beautiful day outside and we got a few pictures before the blessing. Guinevere was not very happy, but the rest of us were enjoying the weather.

Uncle Drake and Guinevere. We were very happy that Uncle Drake could pull himself away from the pregame shows and the Super Bowl party that he was hosting at his house for this special family event.


My Mom and Aunt Brenda with Guinevere

The Grill

At Robs work they have a test you have to take in order to be eligible to interview for supervisor positions. The three hour written and 2 hour oral test is call a "Grill." As I understand it, the Grill goes over corporate policies, accounting schedules, and other accounting stuff. Rob has been studying hard, and on Thursday he took and passed his Grill. Now instead of a Staff Accountant he is Senior Accountant. He is still doing the same job, but he has a new title. We are now eagerly awaiting the hiring and promotion freeze to be lifted so that Rob can start applying for supervisor positions. Congratulations Rob! I knew you could do it.

London Turns 4

I can not believe that my little girl is already 4 years old. The time seems to go by so quickly. London asked for a kitten chasing a butterfly on her cake. My mother and I spent a good chunk of Saturday working on the cake. It took so long because my mom was trying to teach me how to decorate the cake. I think it turned out pretty well for my first cake.

London's birthday was a while ago, but we just had her party. We kept telling her that she was already 4, but she insisted that she was not 4 because she had not had her birthday party. At the party her uncle asked her how old she was and she said 3. "But I thought this was your 4th birthday party." "No, I am not 4 yet." After she blew out her candles he asked again "Are you 4 now." He got a resounding "Yes" from the birthday girl. If blowing out the candles on the cake is what makes you turn another year older I know a lot of people who would stop putting candles on the cake.

London has grown out of her Princess Jasmin dress up outfit, so we got her a Bell outfit with shoes. She loved it, and changed into it right after she finished her cake and ice cream. We had a hard time getting it off of her when it was time to change into her PJ's.


Joseph loved the cake and ice cream, and I think he was even more thrilled that we would let him eat it by himself. Rob tried to help, but Joseph just took Robs spoon away. Its not really a party if there is not a mess to clean up.


Here is Uncle Drake reading one of the stories that he got for London.


It was a great night, and London seemed to enjoy herself. I felt kind of bad that I was not up to having a friend party for her, but she did not seem to know the difference. Maybe next year.

The Pediatrician

Guinevere is now one month old, and has been to visit the Pediatrician twice, plus seeing the Pediatrician at the hospital everyday while she was in the nursery. Is all this really necessary? I know they need to get there shoots, and I would never forgive myself if something happened and I did not take them in for all the check ups the Ped says they need, but give me a break. The Ped wants her back in at two months of age as well. I also took Joseph in for his 18m check-up, and she wants him to come back in a month to be re-checked as well. She is not very happy with how he is developing, and also wants me to schedual an appointment with developmental specialist (which I am not going to do). Is my Ped just paronioid, or is this how they all are. Yes, my 18m old is not running yet, and does not talk, but he is only 18m old. I think that now days Peds see so many kids that are only children that they think all kids should develop at this rate. Let me explain. With your first child you spend so much time reading to them and trying to get them to talk and learn all there colors and body parts that of course they are going to start doing all these things sooner then kids that are from a big family. Joseph does not have to talk, because some how both London and Jacob understand what he wants when he grunts and they tell me what he wants. Plus parents with multiple kids understand that sometimes it is better if they can't talk. If you have a non stop talker like London you know what I mean. So what do all the other parents out there think, am I just not concerned enough, or is my Ped too concerned? As a side note, all my children measured in the upper 90th percentiles for there hights, go figure.