Ryan's Dam & Emma's birth

Ryan's Dam and Emma's birth was like one really long day!! I was originally supposed to be induced on Friday, June 25th. But I changed my mind and decided that we would enjoy one last weekend together and would go be induced on June 29th instead. Well, Emma had other plans I guess! But we did enjoy that last weekend.....up until the very last minute! We did our usual and went to Quizno's to pick up our sandwhiches with Mario's mom and then headed out there in the afternoon. When we realized it was already 7 p.m., we decided to head back home. We got home around 7:30 or so and got Ben into bed around 8. I thought giving myself a face mask was a great idea, so I proceeded with that. With the mask still on my face and not 15 minutes after getting Ben into bed, my water broke! So we headed off to the hospital about 9 o'clock that night and Emma Grace was born on June 28th at 3:52 a.m. weighing in at 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 20.5 inches long. Wow! What a day! She's beautiful and we're so blessed to have her in our lives.

Playing airplane
Mama and Ben taking a little rest

Ben took this picture as I was goofing around

The three of us in this little tree nook that I love

I finally got the picture of Ben walking across the bridge

I had been trying to get this but there were always lots of people around.

A room with a view! This is Benefis' new birthing center

She's here!

First bath

Ben taking his first look at his little sister

He wanted to touch her....so sweet

Now it's the 4 of us!

Lyla taking her security bands off before we left the hospital

Lyla and Ben - she was the labor and delivery nurse

when I had Ben! So it was nice to see her again.

She almost was there for the delivery of Emma too

and only missed it by a few hours!

Ready to leave the hospital

Ben and I flying a kite a couple days after we got home

Ryan's Dam

I'd have to say that we spent a majority of our summer weekends at Ryan's Dam this summer. Our routine was the same every weekend. We would go pick up sandwhiches at Quizno's (because I was too tired to make them!) and we'd head up to the Dam and have a picnic. Such good memories right before Emma was born!

9 babies - whew! Glad I'm only having one!! Ben getting out all that energy!

Still going!!

The three of us....when there were still 3!

Playing Outside

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous lately so we have been spending lots of time outside. We are really taking advantage of it because we know it will most likely snow a few more times! That's Montana for you {insert sigh here}. Ben is a busy boy....he loves school and makes all kinds of art projects for me.

He talks my ear off most days, but I secretly love it....

The most recent thing he told me (when we were in the car) that melted my heart was "Mama, smile" and so I do and then after seeing the reflection of my smile in the mirror, he simply says, "you have a good smile." Where do they learn these things?!!

Freddy, the frog

There is a great story behind this frog. My aunt works as a flight attendant for Delta and one morning before takeoff someone spotted this frog clinging to a window! Being the animal lover she is, she decided to take him home. He is now gone, but he had a wonderful life with lots of crickets to eat and a cool habitat to play in! I have absolutely loved this photo for years, so here it is!!

Easter

Easter - We went and had an Easter brunch and of course made cookies and dyed eggs, which Ben absolutely LOVED!

Long story short, the kids had to wait outside the cones before running out onto the field to find Easter eggs.....as they were waiting for the whistle to blow, what does Ben do? He RUNS full speed ahead onto the field with everyone watching!! Did he stop at the first egg he saw (only a few feet in front of us)? Nooooo. Did he stop 1/2 way down the field to collect any eggs? Noooo. He ran all the way down the field to the VERY end and picked up an egg. And when he looks up, everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, was laughing hysterically. Even the Easter Bunny was laughing.

Well, I guess that ended up being a long story, didn't it?

He emptied his basket so FAST!
Looking for all the goodies
Checking everything out - and he says to me, "I love it, Ma"
Wha?? Are we from Boston now?!

Ben's 3rd birthday

Ben turned 3!! We had a party at the bowling alley and all the kids had pizza, ice cream, and drinks. Needless to say, they were all little balls of energy with parents running after them just trying to keep up! Ben really had a great time!

Ben getting ready to blow out his candles
Welcome to age 3!!

Everything Spiderman!

Noah and Ben looking at this awesome game, Matching Middles

Yum! This is so good!

Ben got his very own real bowling pin to keep as a souvenir!

All the kiddos

Noah running with his balloon

Painting toes

So we decided we should paint our toes and feet on Valentine's Day (I know, I've definitely lapsed in my blogging!) We had so much fun being silly with the paint and it was a great opportunity to be creative.

Ben thought blue would be cool
I decided that a "Converse" high top was what Mario needed!

Mario thought flowers were a good choice for my feet!

The finished product!