More Random June

One evening, we got together with Mom & Dad Stevens, Gina & kids, Uncle Greg, and a few of the Stevens cousins at a nearby park for dinner, playing at the park, and fishing. It ended up being a lot of fun, even despite the fact that the park took out the BBQ's. That made it a little hard to cook up the hotdogs and hamburgers, but we all loved the yummy salads, watermelon, chips, and fabulous homemade baked beans. After we ate, Dad took the kids over to the ponds to do some fishing. They had a great time. It was surprisingly cold for June so we ended up heading back a little early, but it was such a fun afternoon with everyone. It was also fun to introduce Emily to everyone. I think Alyson and Emily will be good little buddies when they grow up. They're only about 8.5 months apart in age.

Emily has enjoyed having lots of snuggle time with everyone. Aunt Lacey is definitely a favorite. I find these two together a lot!

Our boys love to have any excuse possible to go fishing, especially with Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa took them out to the ponds near their house one evening when Jeff, and I and Emily were out on a date. Jacob has a pretty impressive cast.

Another afternoon we met everyone at the park for an afternoon playing in the sprinklers and on the playground. The kids love the fountains, especially on such a hot day! The highlight of the afternoon for Caleb was when his sweet older cousin Kyle (pictured below) insisted on buying him his very own snow cone. Caleb pretty much thinks that Kyle is the coolest person alive. I'm so grateful for such sweet older cousins. They set such a great example for our kids, and our kids really love spending time with them. I just still can't believe how much they've all grown up since I first joined the family. When Jeff and I were married, Kyle was younger than Jacob is now which seems so crazy to me. I guess it's another great reminder to enjoy your kids while they're young because they really do grow up fast.

The cousins playing at Grandma & Grandpa's house. I really need to take more pictures, but these kids have a blast together.

Another Sunday in June, we got together with Gina & Bryan and the family to celebrate Alyson's first birthday. It was so fun to watch Aly open her gifts and eat her cupcake. Gina did a fabulous dinner for the family and we all enjoyed spending the afternoon together.

Uncle Greg making Emily laugh

How to Eat a Donut

This kid has it down...

3 Months

Look who's three months old already!

3 Month Stats:

10.4 lbs (5th percentile)

23 Inches (20th percentile)

-Emily is a busy little girl! She rolled from her tummy to her back at 1 week, and just rolled from her back to her tummy at 2.5 months. I can put her down on a blanket, come back in 5 minutes and she's completely off the blanket.

-She's still a great little sleeper and loves being on her schedule.I can put her down even when she's awake and she'll put herself to sleep.
-Emily's sleep habits have been such a blessing. Especially while I'm alone with our four busy kids without a husband.

-She still loves to suck her fingers, I'm still trying to keep the pacificer going.
-She's pretty content just laying on her tummy on a blanket, especially if she's around the family. She seems to like to watch all the action around her.

-She loves her brothers. They're some of the best at getting smiles out of her.
- She loves to be outside.

- She has the cutest little coos and giggles. We love to make her laugh.

-Emily had her first cross country drive this month and did amazingly well. She normally doesn't enjoy being in the carseat, but we were happily surprised at what an angel she was during the 1.5 day cross country drive.

-I'd say she's got a pretty impressive travel log for a 3month old baby!

-She's really starting to use her hands well and tries to grab at toys and things that catch her interest. She loves the sequins on my sister Lacey's shirt and kept trying to grab them.

-I still think she has the most adorable toes and feet. I can't get enough of those baby toes.
-Sometimes I wonder how I went for so many years without a daughter. When I was younger I used to say I wanted to have all boys, but I'm so glad I had the chance to have a little girl. She has been so much fun and we all love her!

Emily also has a new little cousin! Lilah Rose McConnon was born on Tuesday, June 15th. She's the first child of my sister Kristie and her husband Tom. We were so excited to find out we were both having little girls so close in age. We all think they're going to be best little friends!
(Lilah at 2 days old- isn't she a little beauty)

Miss Idaho Pageant

(June 11th) One night my mom called from work to tell me she had tickets for us girls for an evening at the Miss Idaho Pageant. We left the boys with Uncle Cole and took Emily with us to the pageant. It was fun to have a girls night together. It was the 2nd of 3 nights at the pageant. It was fun to watch the girls competing for the Outstanding Teen and Miss Idaho. There were some really talented girls. Emily did awesome during the first half of the pageant, but started getting tired during the 2nd half, so I spent some time out in the common area, but it was still a really fun evening together. It was fun to spend time with mom and Lacey, we just missed Kristie!
nd the boys all survived! Cole sent a text about 20 minutes into the program, asking how long it was. That made us laugh, but he really did a great job with the boys and had them all in bed when we got home.

Summer Fun

Uncle Scott and Aunt Amanda's house has been a great hangout place this summer. We've loved getting together with our cousins and friends. Their house is perfect and has been such a great place to play. One afternoon we were able to get together with the Stevens and Sorensens for a fun afternoon playing in the yard, jumping on the tramp, and playing in the water. Grandma and Grandpa even stopped by for a little while to say hi.

(Caleb scaring Grandpa with his bear roar)

Tommy, Caleb, Eliza, and Jacob having fun on the tramp

Little Gideon loves to hold and play with baby Emily. He's always asking to hold her and trying to make her smile and laugh. He's a sweet little guy!

Amanda and I spent a good amount of time chasing after Matthew and Gideon and trying to keep them from running away. We finally were able to get them interested in a new game. They had fun pushing each other around in the big tonka truck. They're cute little cousins.

Love the underwear look.

Gideon, David and Matthew were able to get some time on the tramp together too. David was born in August, Matthew in October and Gideon in November, so it's pretty entertaining to watch these three 2-year old boys play together.

Cute Ally was my buddy

Swinging on the swing with Emily, David and Gideon.

Aunt Amanda playing hot potato with the kids

You can definitely tell that they played hard. By the time we got home, all four kids were asleep.

We sure love spending time with our cousins and family. We haven't had much time over the past years, and we're really looking forward to being a lot closer!

Kickin' Back

Once we finally arrived in Boise on Tuesday night, it was so nice to kick back and have a little down time. My parent's house has gotten more quiet over the years as kids have grown up. Dad, Mom, Lacey, and Cole all have jobs right now so it's pretty quiet during the day, but I sure didn't mind have a few days of not going anywhere. The first few days pretty much involved playing outside in the big yard, making forts in the trees, playing with Carly, and enjoying the sunshine. The kids were in heaven, especially after having a few months of being cramped up in a small apartment and I loved it too. The best though, was the afternoons when everyone would get home from work. The kids love spending time with grandma and grandpa and Lacey and Cole.

(Grandma and Matthew at the Fun Days Parade)

One of the favorite activities was when Grandpa would pull out the rip-stick and give rides. I'm impressed he could ride so well with the boys on the board. I can barely do it alone. They had some pretty good games. It's a good thing my mom is so easy-going too. I don't know many people who would let their grandkids tear up the kitchen on a rip-stick. It was definitely pretty entertaining to watch.

The kids love playing games, especially with grandma and grandpa. Some of the favorites are Uno, and Mr Mouth. They've gotten to be pretty good and are always trying to push their bedtime back so they can fit in a couple more rounds.
My dad loves to take Emily and just walk around with her. I catch them pretty often together walking around the house or outside in the yard. Emily really seems to enjoy spending time with grandpa (and everyone!)
I think Emily has enjoyed having time to just play at home, rather than being in her carseat!

Another one of the favorite activities is hanging out with Uncle Cole. The boys love to watch him play games on his ITouch, and RockBand. Usually when the house gets really quiet, I can almost always count on the boys to be with Cole watching him play games. Maybe I should pick up on video gaming. :) They've tried their hand a few times too.

Playing outside in the yard. They love to set up the little pool and play outside.

A few have endured some sun burns from playing outside too long. :) (Dad got his from taking the boys fishing on the lake)

It was so nice to finally be home. When Jeff finishes and can join us, it'll be just about perfect!