Picking Corn

This past weekend we had the chance to go to the church farm in Greeley, CO to pick some sweet corn. When we told Sebastien what we were going to do he was so excited. The whole drive he kept asking from the back of the car, "Mom, can I play in the corn?" Manti didn't really care about the corn, he was just excited to watch a movie in the car. Once we finally arrived at the corn field Troy went to check it out first. We got there a little late so a lot of the good corn had already been picked. We decided it would probably be best for Troy to just pick it and not take the boys. Sebastien was a little upset because he really wanted to go with his daddy. I felt bad so I let him get out and pick some right by the car. The corn was bad but he still had fun. We went with some friends and he was nice enough to take the boys for a walk through the corn field to try and find Troy while I stayed in the car with Emree. Manti didn't like the walk so he ended up getting a shoulder ride. Sebastien on the other hand would have played in it all day. It was a fun day and we will definitely do it again.

The Boys

I figured since I did an update on Emree I would do one on the boys since Manti just had his two year check up.



As of 22 July Sebastien's stats were:

Height: 37 1/4 inches
Weight: 27 pounds

As of 27 August Manti's stats are:
Height: 34 inches
Weight: 23 pounds 7 ounces

They are both getting so big and are best buddies. They play great together but of course we have the occasional punch from Sebastien and bite from Manti. They are great big brothers to Emree and love it when her eyes are open.

Sebastien got himself dressed yesterday. His shirt is a size 5T but he insisted on wearing it. It is also a rare occasion that Sebastien will let Troy do his hair so we had to take a picture of the boys with their "spike" hair.

The three amigos ready for bed.

1 Month Old

Our little Emree is already a month old and I cannot believe it! It is scary how fast time goes by and makes me sad because I know she is not going to be this small much longer. It is funny how life just moves right along. I don't feel like I was just pregnant, I don't feel like I just had a baby and it is already weird to think about what things were like with only two kids. She has only been here for four weeks and yet I cannot imagine not having her here. I posted a week or so ago about how I thought she was going to be our "chunky monkey"...so I wanted to write down her weight gain to prove it....

July 31st she weighed 5 pounds 5 ounces.
August 4th she was back to her birth weight-5 pounds 11 ounces.
August 12th, her two week check up, she weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces.
August 17th she weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces.
August 27th she weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces.
In a month she has gained almost 2 pounds!

I also wanted to jot down a few things about her:

*She is very strong and loves to hold her head up to look around. She has never had the typical wobbly newborn head.
*She is starting to recognize our voices and gets really excited when she hears her daddy come home from work.
*She makes the cutest squeaking noises when she needs to burp.
*She scrunches her nose up when she smiles.
*She loves to cuddle.
*She gives me a big smile first thing in the morning.
*Only cries when she is poopy or hungry.
*Hates her bassinet.
*She is sleeping 4-5 hours at night.
*She is a noisy eater but it is so cute.

Hanging out with mom.

Starting to smile...scrunching up the nose. :)

There is a good smile. She really isn't as "big" as this picture makes her look.

Goodbye

We met them at Vandenberg Air Force Base in January 2007.

They drove Troy to church while he was in Tech. School at Vendenberg AFB.

They were a familiar face at church when we moved to Cheyenne.

They have celebrated all of the kids birthdays with us.

They have celebrated some holiday's with us.

He has honored his Priesthood and helped our family in times of need.

She has been someone I have always felt comfortable talking to.

They have babysat our kids so we could have a much needed "date night".

They came to the hospital when our 2nd and 3rd children were born.

They are some of my kids most favorite people.

They have a beautiful one year old little girl.

They love to serve others.

They are great examples of the church.

They are moving on and we are so sad to see them go.

They are some of our closest friends.

Thank you Paul, Kristine and Hayden Pratt

29

Yesterday we celebrated Troy's 29th birthday! Wow, we are getting OLD! We did not get to go out for birthday donuts because Troy was working and I didn't want to wake the kids up that early. The boys and I went to the store and bought stuff to decorate the house to surprise daddy after work. Sebastien spoiled the surprise at lunch as he told Troy all about the balloons and how we were going to decorate the house. He had a lot of fun taping balloons all over, carefully placing confetti on the table and steps and could not wait to yell SURPRISE! I did not get any pictures of the house because ten minutes after we finished, Manti woke up and down came the balloons. At least Troy got to see it, briefly.

For Troy's birthday dinner we went to Old Chicago. The food was okay but the service was awful. We had been there for forty five minutes after we ordered when the server came over and said they made the wrong meal for Troy and they were waiting to bring the rest of the food out until his was done. The boys were getting a little restless so once the food finally came we tried to eat as fast as possible before they got too crazy. After all was said and done, Troy got his meal for free.

Troy's birthday present this year is the kids and I are sending him to Texas in October for a Dallas Cowboys football game. He is very excited to go see the new stadium and watch the team play. We are hoping it will be a good game. To go along with his birthday present, I made a star cake that was suppose to resemble the Cowboys "star". It didn't turn out quite like I wanted but that's what happens when you wait until the late afternoon to start baking. I made a white cake from scratch, dyed it blue, made a strawberry cream filling, ground up some fresh strawberries/blue berries to go on top of the cream filling and used whipped icing to cover the cake. It was fun to make and I think Troy liked it. Manti had two pieces of cake, Sebastien ate the cake and frosting but no filling and I think Troy had a small piece. We had some friends over for cake too and Troy said to them "I think Holli has been watching too many cake shows." I have to admit, that might be true.
All in all, I think Troy had a good birthday, once he left work!

The finished product. I wish the frosting would have been a little darker but like I said, I ran out of time.
Singing "Happy Birthday"

The boys helped daddy blow out the candles.
Manti chowing down on his second piece of cake.

I think Sebastien had more fun playing with the confetti, singing happy birthday over and over and telling Troy to make a wish, then he did eating cake.

Manti's Party

For Manti's birthday party we invited a few friends over for burgers, hot dogs, cake and a pinata! The kids all had a fun time and it was fun for us to watch them play together.

He is a little confused as to how old he is.
"Baby Hayden" taking a swing at the pinata.

He had the cutest look on his face when he was hitting the fire truck.

The boys friend Coco took a turn to see what was inside.

Can you tell from previous pictures that the hose has been moved back? Sebastien is a rock star when it comes to swinging the bat so we tried to keep all the other kids behind the "line". Everyone listened except for Manti...and of course he took a shot in the face while his brother was swinging the bat!

He got over it really quick once the fire truck started dropping candy...he was very happy with his loot!

The CAKE! One of these times I am actually going to make the birthday cake, maybe! :)

The smile says it all - the lightning and mater cars were his FAVORITE!

Thanks to our friends, Manti had a great party and lots of fun playing with all the kids.

Chunky Monkey

I have decided that little miss Emree is going to be our "chunky monkey". She started out small but she is not having any problems growing! I took her to an appointment yesterday and to my surprise she had gained another 7 1/2 ounces, since last Thursday! She is now weighing in at 6 pounds 10 ounces. She has almost gained a pound since birth, which was 3 weeks ago! The doctor was very surprised. She said usually they are hoping the babies are back to their birth weight by this point. She is still smaller then the average baby but to me she is getting so big! I love how she cuddles up on my chest and will sleep until she needs to eat again or I put her down. I don't want her to get big so fast, I love the itty bitty baby stage.

2 Weeks Old

Our little Emree is 2 weeks old! She is such a good little baby and is growing so fast. We took her to the doctor for her two week check up and the doctor was very impressed with how strong she is. She can lift her head and hold it up while she looks around, rolls onto her side when laying on her tummy and is very alert to what is going on around her (when she is awake). She is doing great with nursing and not having any problems gaining weight. Last week when we took her she was back up to her birth weight (5 pounds 11 ounces) and today she weighed in at 6 pounds 3 ounces. She is still small but I can already tell how much she is growing. She is a really good sleeper too. I usually have to wake her up in the middle of the night to feed her because I get a little too uncomfortable. The boys love her and have been great with her...so far!