Happy Birthday Day Zachy!

The birthday boy!

Our little Zachy turned 6 on Tuesday. It was a super busy, but super fun day. I decided to have his friend party and family party the same day and it turned out so good. He wanted to do a drive in movie party with his friends. We made drive in cars out of boxes and rented a projector from the college to watch "Cars" on. They had concession treats and loved it. I thought it would be a little hectic but it was the best, and easiest party I've ever done. It only took us a few minutes to make their cars and then they sat in their boxes through the whole movie and loved it. It was so great! Most all of the family made it too so he got spoiled as usual. Our house has been refilled with plenty of hotwheels, trucks and nerf guns. I just can't believe he is 6 already. He is such a sweet and fun little boy. He is so easy to enjoy. Monday night he started crying when he went to bed. Eli went to check on him to see what was going on and he said it was because he didn't want to turn 6 and get older. (Earlier that morning, Eli had hugged him on his way to work and told him he didn't want him to keep growing up). He was so sad, until his dad told him he had to grow up so he would have someone to go fishing and snowmachining with and to ride dirt bikes with....then he said "I already know how to ride a dirt bike". Alrighty then.....Love you Zach! Happy, happy birthday buddy!

Grinning Gracie

Gracie smiles more than any of our other babies. They were all super happy, but she bursts into a huge grin the second she wakes up, the second she sees us, and mostly the WHOLE TIME her dad talks to her. She is staking her place as daddy's girl early and it is so stinking cute. She coos and smiles at him all day long. She is such a happy little baby! It is so fun to talk to her and sing to her and have her light up.
Yep....looking at her dad.

I can't believe she is 8 weeks old today. She is getting so big, but so much fun. She is starting to try and reach for things and she wiggles around pretty good. She even rolled to her side the other day but she is a ways off from getting all the way over. Most of the time she is just content to lay on her back and look around. She is sleeping pretty good still and even let me put her to bed wide awake last night. Heavenly Father blessed me this time with such a content little girl.

Our favorite little outfit.

Getting so big. I love that all of our kids have had HUGE brown eyes. Their little expressions are so cute!

Little Momma

Allie has been such a good big sister, and a copy cat little momma. She loves to help with Gracie. She wipes her when we change diapers, throws diapers away, and she LOVES to give her sister her binkie...all the time. She has always been my little shadow and does whatever I do. I'm pretty sure she could cook a meal on her own if she was a little bit bigger. Well, the other morning I got out of the shower to find her sitting at her little table coloring. She had a doll bottle next to her and on the ground right by her was this...
She has seen me set her sister in the boppy pillow a few times. She told me her baby was sleeping. Pretty soon she woke up and Allie took a break from coloring to give her a bottle. It was so cute.

Gracie's Blessing

We blessed Gracie this last Sunday. It was such a fun day for everyone. We had our entire family (minus Jacque & her fam) at church. There were so many of us that it seemed like we took up about the entire middle section of the chapel. It is so fun to have everyone together. The circle was so big...when I looked up I realized that it was all family, with the exception of Brantley, but we claim him as the white brother anyway so it's all the same. It is such a blessing to have a husband and so many brother-in-laws that are worthy priesthood holders. And an even bigger blessing that they all live so close. I was a little overwhelmed with emotion the whole morning. I just kept thinking of our boys and the great examples they have around them and what an amazing blessing it is. Eli always gives the best blessings and Gracie's was no exception. She slept through the whole thing. All through church Allie kept telling everyone she looked like an angel, and she did. She got to wear my blessing dress, which was extra neat. And it wouldn't be us if we didn't have half the world over for food after. Everyone came over for brunch and most everyone stayed so we could have a super bowl party after. Two parties in one day...how lucky are we?!?! Too bad the Broncos are worthless, that is the only thing that could have made the day better. Our little family is amazing and I love everything about it. I just wish we could bottle days like this to remember it all.

Had to get a picture of Eli in here. I don't know who took it but I'm so glad they did. He hides from the camera and if you did't know better you would think he was never around. So thank you to the camera theif! He was a great pancake cook (which is more than I can say for his brother, Spencer...hahahaha)!

The princess chair

Allie got this little princess chair for Christmas. She loves it and packs it around our house all day long. The other day we were cleaning her room and I sat Gracie in it for a few minutes. I guess she likes it too because she cozied right in and fell asleep. It was so cute. She looked so big. Allie loved it and thought it was so great that she was sitting in her chair. And I guess it's fair, too because I can't count how many times a day I find Allie in Gracie's bouncer or car seat.

She is such a big girl already. She is more fun by the day, I just love it. These two little girls are so much fun.

Chicken Fat

Every Monday morning the kids do an exercise routine at school called "chicken fat". They love it and we play it at home too and they love exercising to it. Even Allie gets in on the fun. It is so funny to watch them march around and do sit ups, push ups, jumping jacks and more around the house. They are big into getting big muscles lately. After they saw the karate kid they went around trying to do push ups on chairs. I guess that got old because I walked into the kitchen the other night only to find this...

I would never try this because I know I'd fall on my face.
Zach got in on the fun too with a little help from his brother.

Don't be fooled by this girlie girl. If the boys can do it, so can she. She knew she wasn't long enough to fit between the counters so she came up with this alternative all on her own...I was dying laughing.

One month old

I'm a little behind but what's new. Little Gracie is a month old already! The past four weeks have flown by but have already been filled with so many fun memories. This little girl is such a sweetheart and such a blessing. Life is calming down and finally feeling more normal. The boys are back into a routine and Allie is back to being her old crazy self. They all love their little sister so much and are so good to help out. The boys aren't so sure anymore about changing diapers and all of that, but they are great to help clean things up around the house. Allie is a second little mommy and makes sure that Gracie has her binkie in her mouth at all times and she loves to be in charge of the wipes when we change her diapers. Gracie is such a sweetie. We love her snuggly little personality. She is such a mellow little girl, and still so sleepy. I'm not complaining though. It is nice to be able to get things done while she is napping because I really just want to hold her all the time. At her check up she weighed in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. Not a big surprise since she loves guzzling down the cream I'm feeding her. She is starting to get little chubby cheeks and thighs...so cute.