Handsome Boy

I love this boy so much.

He entertains me. He loves to smile for the camera. He loves his daddy. He loves monster trucks. He is still my running commentary on my life. It goes something like this, "you gonna change me? Now you going potty? You wiped the booger on my nose? I needed to eat some cheese?" To which I always reply. And he says, "oh." Then starts again. I love his sense of humor and he's so darn beautiful.

Butterflies

It was a lot of fun babysitting caterpillars for Linda and having them all turn into butterflies while she was gone. Ashley treated those butterflies tenderly. She fed them everyday and loved to feed them from our lilac bushes. It was fun!

My girls

I'm so grateful that Ashley and Katelyn are only 19 months apart. They are best friends and play so well together and enjoy being together. It's not so much fun to have kids close together for the first couple of years, but now it's great. I'm happy for how it all worked out! We will miss Ashley desperately when she is at school, but I'm excited for her to be moving on.

Mia

Mia is well loved at our house.

Half Birthday

Katelyn is officially 4 1/2. She asked me a few times each week when it was going to be for a long while now. So we celebrated. With birthday candles in the morning and a cake we made and decorated in the evening. It was very exciting.

Best Friends

I feel so grateful to have Melanie here. Sisters are great. They're always there for you. I'm hoping that Katelyn and Elizabeth will continue their love affair after school starts tomorrow. Katelyn idolizes Elizabeth. Aren't they cute?!

New Camera

Some pictures on my new camera. I love it!

My first triathlon

I've been waiting to post on this triathlon because I'm not sure which embarrassing pictures of myself to choose. I'm pretty much scantily clad. More then I am comfortable with anyway. So, if I'm posting them, go all the way, right? I didn't hold back:)

So, I took 3rd in my age group for the race. Pretty much fighting the disappointment, since I knew I could have done better. Chalking it up to 5 weeks of no training thanks to my psoas. At the same time, I realize how ridiculous I sound. And I did enjoy it. I'm trying to tell myself that is what counts, but honestly, I'm too competetive for that. I'm excited to do it again next year.

Jeff came over to our house at 4:25 am and Hans, Mia, and I made the journey to Denver. I started at 6:15. Swimming is by far my weakness. I did breaststroke for the whole thing. Next year I will have to do better on that one. I made up some ground on the bike and then passed tons of people on the run. I'm proud of myself for keeping up faster than an 8 minute mile after the other legs of the race and considering the race was really hilly.

So, now I am onto the half-marathon in a few weeks. I'm totally under-prepared. Maybe I can just do it for fun? Yeah, right.

A new camera

Hooray! I got a new camera. Since we didn't think spending money on our basement which flooded on Tuesday with all the rain was enough, or spending money on 4 shiny new tires for the van thanks to the flat we got on Friday was enough, we decided to go join Costco and buy a fancy new camera. I am really, really, really, really, really excited. That's about as excited as I get, by the way. A nice balance to the frustration for the first two events. Could this fall into the category of retail therapy?

My Ashley is 6!

Ashley is 6. So crazy. It's strange going through the last 6 years worth of pictures. So much has changed in our lives in the last 6 years. It all started with Ashley joining us. We got so lucky in Ashley. She is a sweet, loving, tender-hearted soul. She wants to do good and to be good. She is constantly assessing the moods of those around her and trys to make everyone happy. She is a great big sister and loves her siblings. She plays with them, helps them, and sets a good example for them to follow. We love her incredibly.

Ashley was my first traumatic birth by c-section. After laboring for a ridiculous number of hours the dr finally decided to do the c-section. The cord was wrapped around her neck 4 times. We are grateful she made it here safely. She was 6 lbs 4 oz.

Not quite sure how to describe the feelings of motherhood for the first time around. Pretty much just have to experience it, I think.

She had a little scare with her heart and spent a night or two in the NICU. After an echo on her heart at Primary Children's we were cleared to go.

Ashley at 1. She loved to stuff as many grapes into her mouth as possible. This reminds me that at one point in her life she did like fruit.

Another cute picture of Ashley at 1. She had so much personality. She was our entertainment. Look at all the blonde hair Jen. Maybe I will owe you cookies after all for Mia's hair.

Ashley at 2.

Ashley at 3. Isn't she beautiful?

Ashley at 4. Rachel is quite the photographer.

Ashley at 5. Not many kids have 3 siblings at barely 5. She's handled it beautifully.

Still at 5. Getting ready for the first day of school.

I took these today. She is 6! I need to take a real portrait of her. Ashley loves bugs, stuffed animals, swimming, gymnastics, crafts, school, friends, and her sister Katelyn (Katelyn just told me to write that down). She is a great swimmer. She can do 2 full laps of backstroke and of elementary backstroke. She has moved into the "advanced" gymnastics gymbolts class and is doing great. It was a little intimidating at first, but she is doing great. She has been a great babysitter to our neighbors caterpillars and enjoyed watching them all turn into butterflies. She has fed them from our lilac bush you see in the background and is really into the whole process. She is an amazing gal!