We've tried several times to get a family picture in the last few months.  This is our favorite.

 Andrew has been doing great still.  He still has not had to have a dilation.  At this time last year he was in the hospital recovering from his surgery.  It's now been 8 months since his last dilation!  He did have a little pneumonia in early Dec, but we caught it quickly and so it never gave him too much trouble.  I can't believe he'll be 3 next week! 

We've been working on the alphabet with Ty, but Drew is learning at the same pace (and maybe even faster) than Ty.  They can recognize several letters, and thanks to Leap Frog's "Letter Factory" they know most of the sounds.  I'm starting to help Ty practice writing letters.  Our new routine is that we have story-time and 'learning-time' after breakfast each day.  We all really enjoy it.

 Drew got a new train for Christmas that has rekindled the love of trains in our house.

Ty loves tractors and construction equipment.  He wears one of his three John Deere tractor shirts nearly everyday.  (He was wearing the same one everyday, but he got two new ones for Christmas.

 Zac is getting big so fast.  He's eating baby food now and gobbles it up.  He's a major momma's boy.   

He really likes playing on the floor, although we have to be careful that Andrew doesn't knock him over with all his hugs and kissing.  Zac gets up on his knees easily now.  He does move forward sometimes, but I think we have a few more weeks before he really takes off.  Time to buy a baby gate for the stairs!

Ty and Drew are so creative in their play.  Look carefully and guess what they're doing.

They're playing church!  Notice the ties and belt in the other chairs.  They were pretending to hold song books and singing.  So cute! 

We had a nice holiday season.  It was especially nice to see Skip and Bonnie and finally meet Griffin.  We hope your holidays were merry as well. 

Happy Halloween and Stuff

 My name's Woody.  Howdy, Howdy, Howdy.

 This little boy was a sweet little pirate.  He loved wearing his costume, even though he was still feeling sick. Since then he had another cold, and now has something resembling croup.  He's ok in the day but has a hard time sleeping.  I'm glad that he's well enough to play and eat.

 I often find Ty and Drew on the top bunk playing doctor.  Drew will tell me, "Mom, I have a baby." 

 Another day they both put on boots and used this toy to play "Tractor".  Ty would give Drew rides, just like grandpa Mel does for Ty.  They play together so well. 

 Another recent favorite is using this tote as the cab of construction equipment.  This picture he was just watching a movie.  Most of the time he turns it on end and makes engine noises.

Zac is cute and happy as ever.  He loves to be part of the group.  He and Ty are good buddies, and Ty hauls Zac's chair or saucer to wherever he is.  Ty says, "I think he wants to have breakfast by me."  He is such an easy baby!  He's discovered his voice and jabbers a lot now.  He's very smiley too.

Ryan started his new job at Catepillar last week.  So far it's going really well.  He's liking the work, even though he's been a little sore.  His job with Conoco was not physical, and now that he's lifting and on his feet all day he's having to adjust.   We're also starting to go to bed a lot earlier.  He has to be to work at 6 am!  He's hired through SOS for now, but in a few months they will hire him permanently once he's proved to be a good employee.

I'm doing great.  Things are usually pretty busy, but I love being a mom. 

I raked leaves for 5 hrs yesterday and ended up hurting my arms.  It felt like horrible shin splints on every bone in my left arm.  Seriously, it was so bad I cried like a big ol' baby.  I never knew arms could hurt so badly.  Luckily I have a wonderful husband who pampered me and gave me a blessing.  I'm doing much better today, and am only a little sore.  Amazing. 
New rule:  Unless I have been lifting weights everyday for a month, I am not allowed to rake for more than 2 hours.  Please remind me next fall.  :)

 The boys are great at entertaining Zac!  Tyler has really starting to like helping with Zac and has been asking about picking him up.  I guess we'll see how long it takes before he goes for it himself, or I finally show him how.

 The boys play out back every morning with Gill keeping watch.  Tyler goes out morning, afternoon, and evening some days.  I love having a fenced back yard!

 These deer live in the wash behind our house.  They have been pretty brave and even come close when the boys are playing outside.

 Zac is getting better at using his hands.  He likes to suck on his hands and fingers.

He's a very happy baby.  His favorite toy is this giraffe.  He sweeps with both hands to grab it and then pulls it to his mouth to lick, chew on, or suck on.

Drew has been sick for a few days now.  He has the stomach flu, I think.  For him, every kind of flu lasts 5-6 days and results in him having terrible reflux and not eating or drinking.  He moans a lot usually, but it hasn't been as bad this time.  It's nice now that he's older and he can tell us what's hurting and we can talk him through things a little.  We just try to keep him hydrated and as comfortable as we can.

Ryan and I have been called to teach Sunday School for the 15-18 year olds in our ward.  It's very different than other classes we've taught, but is going well.  I like that it's something we can do together.

The hunt was a success this year and on the last day Ryan got a 3x4 deer. 

Otherwise we have just been up to the usual.  Cook meals, do the laundry, read some stories, teach piano, etc, for me.  Work and the never ending 'honey-do' list for Ryan.  Life is good.

Harvest Time

As part of our new home, we now have raspberry bushes, peach, apple and cherry trees.  One of our peach trees is famous in the neighborhood for having 'the best peaches'.  They are indeed delicious.  Thanks to the encouragement and help of one of my great new neighbors, I canned peaches for the first time.

The boys have always loved having peaches with breakfast at my grandma's, now we can have them at home too.  And they make great cobbler's. 

 Zach was blessed on Sept 11.  My parents came down the Friday before and camped and helped us with the house for the weekend.  We really enjoyed having them here.

The blessing day was nice.  We missed those who weren't able to make it, but are grateful for those who came.   

I can't believe how big Ty is getting.  He knows so much and is very smart.  We're going to start doing some home-pre-schooling soon.  He already is recognizing letters.  I have a friend who does home-school with her 7 yr old (I think)  and she also has a daughter Tyler's age, so she's going to help show me the ropes of how she does schooling.

Andrew is nearly potty trained!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Can you sense the excitement from my exclamations?)  It took about a week, but he's done great the last few days.  He stayed dry all day yesterday! 
He is still able to eat great.  He has an esophagram and follow-up appointment with the surgeon next Friday.  We both hate having esophagrams, but it will be good to have an idea of it looks like.  He still has quite a bit of reflux, but we're just dealing with it for now.
Andrew keeps up with Tyler's learning pretty well.  I think he actually challenges Ty in some ways.  Andrew learned his colors before Tyler had, so Ty learned to keep up.  Andrew knows several letters as well.  Their different personalities keep them interested in different things, but they learn most things together.

Zach is doing great!  He loves to hold his head up and see what's going on.  He won't lay back in the swing or bouncer for long, so we've moved on the the exer-saucer.  He's much happier in it. 

He is such a good baby.  He eats great, sleeps 7 hours straight at night, and is fairly content as long as he's upright.  I can't wait to see what he'll add to the mix as he gets older, but I'm enjoying the infant stage for now. 

 Who doesn't love a naked baby picture? 

"I once caught a fish this big." 

(Taking after Grandpa Steve already.)

Camping Trip

 What a silly boy!  He put this pink headband on himself.

Ryan had his 4 day weekend this week, so we took the family camping with some friends.  We had a great time and great food. 

 Ryan took the boys fishing.  And they had a great time playing in the dirt.

 Tyler set the table for lunch all by himself.

 Ryan taking a break to hold Zac.  (Notice Andrew's little hand.  He still loves to touch and kiss him.)

 Zac gets lots of love from his older brothers.  Tyler is actually really helpful.  Drew hasn't conformed to any boundries yet.  He even shared his cold with Zac last week, but Zac's handled it well. 

What a cute baby!

 Which one is Ty and which is Zac?

One Month

 The boys stepped out the back door to say bye to Ryan the other day and were lured out by the mud from a recent rainstorm.  Drew was half dressed and they were both barefoot, but they were having a great time.

 There's nothing like a nice mud pie.

 My little lion is definitely growing.  The chubbiest part of his thighs is covered in his diaper, but they're gonna be chunky. 

 His baby acne is still in full bloom. 

 Tyler loves his Pepsi almost as much as his daddy.

Drew's new outfit from Grandma Shell, and Ty's new shoes.  Drew is still doing very well.  He'll be weighed again tomorrow.  He is getting food stuck every few days now, but he's able to work it down most of the time.  He knows to chew his food better and continues eating his meal.  

I can't believe my boys are getting so big. 

Things are slowly getting a little easier as we're adjusting to having 3 boys.  Zac is a great sleeper, and is going 6 hours between feedings some nights.  I love watching his soak in the world around him.  He smiles more and more, and it makes my day when he smiles at me.

Little Moments

I did start typing the birth story and happening since then for the last post, but it took too long and I haven't finished it.  So here's the more recent fun stuff. 

 Tyler likes to brush our hair sometimes now.  I love it when he will come and brush my hair!  Ryan allows it with raised eye brows.

 Tyler was sick for 3 days the first week after we had Zac.  Then Andrew got sick and we were all miserable for 6 days. 
The boys and I went back up north last weekend to get in more swim time before the weather cools down.  Ryan took the free time to scout for deer and even went golfing.  It was fun for all of us, but it's nice to be together again. 

 Zac is doing great.  He is a very easy baby.  He likes to eat often and is otherwise pretty content to nap or watch whatever is going on.  He's already become a bit of a momma's boy and prefers me holding him to strangers.  It's amazing how fast they learn.  When he's hungry he'll cry until I lay him in my lap so I can get ready.  He'll stop crying and wait calmly after that. 
Last night he went 5 hours in between eating!  Usually he does two 4 hr stretches at night. 
At his 2 week check-up last week he was 7 lbs 15 oz, and 20 inches long. 

I love his cute bowed legs.  His whole head is covered with baby acne now (I guess I better take a picture for memory-sake), but he is still so cute! 
The boys really like him now as long as they aren't sick and wanting all the attention.  They kiss him and rub his head everytime he's within their reach.  Andrew says, "Sweet baby.  She's sweet baby.  Long eyeses."  (Because he heard my sister-in-law say Zac had long eye lashes.)  And Ty is actually really helpful with anything Zac needs, and makes sure that Zac has his bink at any given time. 
Ryan and I are slowly catching up on our sleep and getting into the grove of being parents of three.  We love our little boys and wouldn't trade this time for anything else.