Allie is 3 months

Allie is 3 months old today....she is a wonderful baby and she brings us so much joy. She is very content and I feel like I am constantly saying what a good girl she is. She is already so patient when it comes to waiting her turn for something. She loves playing under her toy mat, swinging in her swing, smiling at her brothers, taking a bath, and cooing at daddy and mommy. She is always looking at someone and giving them big smiles and talking to them. Allie is so precious...we love you little girl.

Mischief...

Luke is our little tender-hearted boy who occasionally gets into mischief. Today was a prime example. We got home from a big morning of meeting pre-school teachers and having lunch and play-time with friends. I was so ready for naptime. I got the boys in bed and was getting ready to feed Allie, when I walked by Luke's room to a strong aroma of baby powder. I automatically knew that it was going to be bad, but as I walked in the room it was even worse. He was very happily shaking the new container of baby powder all over his bed. The container was empty by the time I got to it. He had also taken all of Allie's baskets from her changing table and spread all her diapers and burp clothes all over his bed, so they were covered. His Nemo pillow was pretty much white. The walls were covered, the carpet was covered, and every inch of his clothes were white with powder. I couldn't help but grab my camera and I figured it would help bring some humor into my frusteration. I know have some extra loads of laundry and a house that smells like baby powder...I guess the smell could be a lot worse!!! Praise the Lord that my little Luke just finally fell asleep!!!

Daddy & Dresses

Let me start by saying that Andy is an amazing daddy...he is always helping with the kids and he truly loves his role as "daddy." Today he was helping get the kids dressed for church and he took on the job of getting Allie dressed. I had her outfit out on the changing table, so he wouldn't have to sift through her selection of dresses. Know he has dressed her many times before, but it is always a onesie and some shorts, today was his first attempt at a dress. So he got her dressed and of course Luke helped so he picked out her shoes. The two were so proud of how cute they made Allie look. We were running a little late so I quickly loaded Allie in her carseat and off to church we go. After the service I picked Allie up from the nursery and as I was standing out at the park with the boys I noticed that her dress was on backwards. I looked a little farther and her onesie underneath was also on backwards. Andy had used complete logic when dressing her...he put the buttons in front on the onesie and the pockets in the back on the dress. We all had a great laugh..so of course I had to take some pictures. Allie loves her daddy so much, and as you can tell from the pictures she could have cared less that he put her entire outfit on backwards and sent her to church like that.

the view of the front of the dress

can you tell she's his daughter...I think they look so much a like in this picture.

Aunt Jamey's Picnic

The boys went to Aunt Jamey's work picnic today. They had a great time on the water slide. They could have stayed all day if it weren't for Aunt Jamey and I being way too hot watching them. Thanks Aunt Jamey for letting the boys join you.

Brotherly Love

I have the greatest boys....Saturday night we got home from some friends house and I found the boys in the driveway like this. Andrew was giving Luke directions on how to put his arm around him. They were so cute. They stood there for a couple minutes just looking out into the street. Luke then went in for the extreme hug and made Andrew a little nervous. I love the relationship these two are developing..they can be the best of buds!!!

Sally & Allie

Thanks Sally for a great visit...we loved having you and the kids and I loved the time we got to just hang out and chat.

McRae kids come to visit...

Our friends Sally and her kiddos have been spending the week with us because their daddy is out of town for a couple weeks. We have been having to lots of fun, keeping the kids busy, and even getting some quiet time to chat and have a complete conversation. Allie & Isaiah....this girl has many boys after her already

He is checking her out...and you can tell she loves it

Makenzie and the boys in the bath...The boys are loving having her around

Of course Luke is the little gentleman and holds her hand to help her

Clean kiddos all ready for bed...The boys shared PJs with Makenzie and Luke even picked out some of his Diego undies for her to wear.

One final camping trip for the summer..

WARNING..this is a long explanation of our camping adventures..please don't feel like you have to read it all.
We went camping this weekend with our friends Mark, Sheena, Spencer, & Abigail. We went up to Donner Lake near Lake Tahoe. It was a trip full of adventures, but the kids all had a great time together. We left Saturday morning and the fun began as we arrived at the lake with one overheating car and no campground in sight. After circling the lake we found the campground and our sight. When we booked the sight it said that it was in "full shade", well half of the picnic table was in the shade and that was about all. We were all sweating while trying to eat lunch and then the dads got started on the tents. The kids meanwhile started playing in the dirt which ended up being the blackest dirt I have ever seen. They looked like they had on black tights. I had to tell myself at that moment that they were just going to be dirty for the next 24 hours and there wasn't much I could do about it. So, we got the tents up and we decided to head down to the lake by car. We loaded our filthy kids in the car and got to a beach that ended up being for "members only." We were not members so we went to the beach next to it, which happened to be a dog beach. Wow...I sure do love the smell of wet dog as I walk along the beach. We found a little spot to sit with the kids..it was grassy, weedy, and it felt like we were all sitting on top of each other. Meanwhile I (Leslie) headed back to the car with Allie to get our beach gear and get her stroller from the campsite. We got in the car and along the way I found a parking lot that I was sure would get me to the beach and the walk wouldn't be so long. So I put Allie in the Baby Bjorn, throw a bag of sand toys and a bag of towels over one shoulder, a beach bag over the other, and I grab a chair to carry as well. Allie and I start hiking through a skinny little trail and I am getting poked by tree after tree. After walking about a half a mile I saw a beautiful sandy beach through the trees and I was sure that I had found them. Oh no...I could see them across the water (they couldn't see me) and Allie & I were on a little island. Some lovely lady who was sitting by her boat nicely tells me that I could swim across the water. Thanks a lot lady...does it look like I can swim with a newborn strapped to my chest and 20 pounds of bags over my shoulders. So Allie and I hike back, drive to our original parking spot, and an hour later get to everyone else on the beach. The boys were having a hard time at the beach and they didn't want to swim because the water was very cold. Also the sweltering heat that we endured at the campsite was now gone and a giant rain cloud was hovering over us. We even heard a little thunder!!! Things just weren't going so well, so we packed up and headed back to the campground to go on a little hike. Ok, the trip gets a lot better from this point on. We hiked to a little pond where the kids threw rocks and I walked all the way around the pond with them pretending that we were Diego and Dora. They found many mysteries and we sang a lot of songs along the way. After our hike we went back for hot dogs and the kids continued to get dirty in the black dirt. We played around and ate smores while we waited for the "concert" that was taking place in the ampatheater to begin. The kids were convinced that the concert was going to be "the Wiggles", or maybe the Higglytown Heros. We hiked up to the ampatheater with our lanterns to find 2 park rangers getting ready to play a round of State Park Jeapordy. The kids were extremely confused as they were waiting for the Wiggles to appear. Sheena and I could not stop laughing at this situation and then to top it off we had Andy and Mark go up on stage to be the team leaders and ring the loud cowbell when the teams know the answer. They were delighted with us!!! After our exciting game of Jeapordy we finally went to take showers and got in bed for the night. The kids were so tired, so they fell asleep quickly. Allie enjoyed another camping night in mommy's sleeping bag and my body is feeling the effects today of not being able to move much on the hard ground. This morning we had hot chocolate, eggs, and bacon and Sheena and I took the kids on a little walk while the daddy's packed up. They were obsessed with finding chipmunks, which they called "Pip" from the movie Enchanted. Luke and Abigail would yell "PIP" down tree stumps hoping he would pop out. Andrew would often get confused and would be yelling for "Pop" instead of "Pip"." They had a blast doing this. It was now time to head home and get cleaned up because we had a lot of dirty bodies. It was an exciting trip and full of many great memories.

camping

silly kids

Andrew's dirty face

Luke's dirty body

the boys lounging by the lake eating goldfish...this was the highlight of our trip down to the lake

Luke with a little pine cone he found for "Als" one of his many nicknames for Allie. He always finds her little treats.

our family hanging out by a pond we took a little hike to

Andrew looking cool in mom's sunglasses

Mark, Sheena, Spencer, & Abigail

beautiful scenery

Mark making a bridge for the kids between the giant rocks...they all had a theory on why this rock was split open

camping

the kiddos roasting some hot dogs for dinner

yummy..when Andy pulled these off of the roaster sticks I said "no thanks" and we pulled out the faithful stove...they were so nasty looking

Mommy and little Allie..check out her big blue eyes

camping wouldn't be complete without smores

Camping

these two were absolutely filthy...

going on a morning hike

Spencer & Andrew are best buds

Abigail & Luke are always hugging...they act like 2 old married people

Our Little Triathlete..

Andrew competed in his first triathalon this morning. It was in Woodland and it was a special event for kids. He was in the youngest age group, which was for 4-6 year olds. His friend Jacob competed with him and they had a great time being competetive with each other. All the kids got a medal when they finished and then got to jump in bounce houses. Andrew finished with a time of 15minutes17seconds. He did a 25yd swim, 1 mile bike, and a quarter mile run. He was the 45th boy in his division, but he was the 1st 4 year old boy to finish. He did awesome and tried his very best!!! the picture above is before we left this morning..he brought his good luck care bear with him and Luke gave him a little green care bear they got from a garage sale yesterday.

Andrew showing off his lucky number 934

The family all dressed in green, especially for Andrew because it is his favorite color.

Pake, Oma, Aunt Diana, and Aunt Liliana drove up to cheer Andrew on.

Triathalon Fun

Jacob & Andrew getting ready for the race

Andrew showing off his muscles

Lukey waiting to cheer his brother on

Luke and Pake

mommy and Andrew in the waiting area

Triathalon Events

getting ready for the swim

he did a great job swimming, when he got out of the pool he took off running so fast for his bike, he made up some time because of his quickness

he did an awesome job on his bike..we were a little nervous because they do a giant lap around the school and you can't see them for most of the bike. I was waiting around the last corner for Andrew and he came roaring around the corner behind a little girl who was first in his group. I was able to run with him during the last portion of the bike.

he ended with a great run..despite some tired legs. I ran with him most of the time and cheered him on to the finish. Daddy, Luke, Pake, Aunt Diana, and Aunt Liliana were also at the finish cheering him on. Great Job Andrew!!!