And more...

I didn't take many "pregnancy pics" while pregnant this time around. Reese took this one of me at 25 weeks pregnant. I put on weight and pooched out quickly with this third pregnancy, which had me slightly worried. But in the end it worked out great. I stayed about the same weight the last couple of months, and even lost a few pounds in the last few weeks. (Maybe from all the walking at Disneyland in January). It is weird how different each pregnancy is, even though they are all taking place in the same body.

 The kids love being outside. We cannot WAIT for spring to come. Reese asks at least once a day when it is going to be Summer. And when I tell her we still have a while she gets frustrated and says "but I want it to be Summer now, I want to go to Seven Peaks".

 Reese has a special bond with her cousins. She LOVES them and she is loved right back. She is a really easy girl to like!

 Eric taught Reese the art of tying another person up :) I got a kick out of watching the two of them take turns tying each other up.

 One Sunday last fall we went on a drive up the Mirror Lake highway. It was GORGEOUS! We are definitely a road-tripping family. Eric and I are one in the same, with our love of going for long drives and exploring. Whether our kids have it bred into them or if it is due to the fact that they road-trip from birth, I don't know, but they also enjoy going for drives and travel long distances really well. Hopefully all our future additions to the family will likewise enjoy!

 Frozen Provo River Falls

 I adore these three!!

 Kids with undies on their heads after bath time.

 We stayed at one of Micah's places at Zermatt and went for a late night swim. It was freezing cold outside, so when we got back to the house Eric blew Reese's hair dry with our air pump so she wouldn't have to go to sleep with wet hair :)

 Playing in the leaves at the neighbors house. It is so nice having neighbors that like to hang out :)

 Reese has gotten really good at her letters. I need to work with her more because she is way interested and learns quick. She loves practicing letters and oftentimes has me spell things out for her so she can write them.

 Playing in one of the first snow falls.

Keeping busy

 One week I received a couple of different shipments that were packaged in large boxes. The kids were in HEAVEN. We made them into cars and they played in them for hours on end. The only mishap was when Ivan stuck his keys in an outlet, rather than the cardboard ignition. He learned that that isn't a good idea. Luckily no major injuries!

 The kids love wearing mine and Eric's shoes. Their latest thing is to stick one pair on their feet and another pair on their hands and walk on all fours.

 One of the saving graces during Fall semester was Eric being in a softball league. One night a week he would have a game, so that was my excuse to not think about homework and just enjoy going out with he and the kids for a couple of hours and watching him play.

 We bought a Discovery Gateway Museum pass, which was a good idea. My kids love that place! And I love that they just play and use their imaginations like crazy while we are there.

 We also bought a zoo pass, which we used a TON when the weather was nice. I can't wait for it to get nice again so we can start going again.

The kids enjoy riding their bikes, so on occasion we venture out further than our driveway. This time we went a few blocks over to drop something off at a friend's house. There were some slightly uphill sections and on our way home, Reese decided she needed to take a break and relax her legs :)

 This girl has KILLER eyelashes! Up until just this last year, she had problems with getting her upper lashes caught under her lower lid, I'm not sure how she managed to accomplish such a thing numerous times, but it always led to lots of tears and me having to pry her lids apart and free the lashes.

 Eric is a lucky man. He gets to work in the state capitol, which is such a beautiful building. We love to go visit him and have him show us around. The kids think he works in a castle (or sometimes they refer to it as a temple), and Reese likes to dress up in princess dresses if she knows that's where we are going.

 Eli had his birthday party at Lowe's extreme sports last October. It is a fun place with lots of trampolines and foam pits. Ivan and Reese were both in heaven and way more daring than I would've thought. Both were jumping off platforms higher than I thought they'd be comfortable with, and Reese enjoyed impressing the crowd with her front flips into the foam pits. Sometimes that girl loves attention and sometimes she loathes it. This day she LOVED it!

 Just a picture of my pretty girl on one of the first cool days of the Fall.

More Summer/fall activities

I was excited to show my kids how to play with the vacuum hose. I always LOVED playing with it as a kid, and they were equally as thrilled!

 Kids are the BEST! Although they are LOTS of work, they are also all sorts of fun, entertainment, goofiness, and personality! A day is packed full of things my kids do that awe me, make me laugh, or simply put a smile on my face.

 Reese is probably the best big sister to ever exist. And the best oldest child to ever exist. I am blessed! And so are her little brothers.

 The state fair was a blast, as always! The sheep LOVED Eric :) We went on this long bumpy slide a few times, that you go down on burlap sacks, that was a lot of fun. Reese especially liked it because she could go on her own. Jared, Sarah, and Parker Swanson came with us, Jared was a good sport and went on the spinning ride with the kids.

Sugar House park yet again :) And Ivan in an outfit that made me want to squeeze him all day. He felt so squishy in an all cotton outfit!

 Ivan likes playing cowboy. He has recently figured out the motion to ride the horse by himself. After he rides it he always insists on getting off and then turning the horse on so he can lay on the ground and watch how the mechanism move.

 EVERY time we go to Old Navy Reese demands that I take her picture next to the mannequins.

 Kaylyn had her 1st birthday party in September. The Christensens always have a pinata at their parties. Reese got crowd shy and started tearing up and trying to hide when it was her turn. So I helped her.

 My grandma and grandpa Boldt have lots of lawn ornaments in their yard. When I was growing up, the pee pee man was mine and my cousins favorite. We thought it was SO funny. Ivan found it at one of our Sunday dinners up there and was quite intrigued. Maybe I need to get one to help potty-train Ivan??

 Reese's homemade rollercoaster :)

 Reese LOVES getting pretty. And I think she really likes all the princess comments that she gets when we go out on errands.

BIG time catch up!

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on. It is overwhelming! But every day that passes makes it even more overwhelming, so I am going to start!! Fall was BUSY! I was in school full time, pregnant, and being mom and wife. Those are my excuses for not blogging.

I don't even know when most of these things took place, simply that they did, sometime between August and today :)

 Reese and Ivan love going to Trafalga. We met friends there a couple times while the weather was still nice. Reese made it to the top of the rock climbing wall thanks to Eric's encouragement while he climbed next to her. She was so proud!

 We visited Sugar House park (and many other local parks) multiple times a week. These two play together real well, and Reese loves to help her little bro out.

 Ivan inherited a bike this Fall and LOVES it! He is actually getting the pedaling motion down pretty good already, which impresses me. I'm sure this coming spring he is really going to take off.

 We spent some time up at our Heber house doing some maintenance work. It made me realize how different Reese and Ivan's childhood would be growing up there. They can roam free and explore, which they did almost the whole time we were there.

 I love this picture of Eric staining the entryway!

 Ivan is obsessed with motorcycles. He spent a lot of time "driving" dad's motorcycle. He tells me that when he gets bigger he is going to ride motorcycles. No doubt!

 Pretty Reese digging in the dirt. Another favorite warm weather past time.

 I dyed my hair brown during the Fall semester. I've never been anything but blonde, so it was quite the change. Although I liked the look, I didn't like the fact that Eric couldn't find me as quickly places, I had to re-introduce myself to most people, and the light re-growth that would come in was not a pretty mix.

 We went to Kamas a few times to visit Auntie Cheryl and once to go swim at the Kamas pool. After swimming we stopped at the diner for dinner and a milkshake. They were out of most of their menu items, some event had taken place that increased their business beyond their supplies, but we finally settled on burgers, fries, and a shake.

 Eric is a good dad and lets the kids "help" him work. Ivan is especially interested in seeing what Eric is doing and trying to imitate him.