May

I love it when these goofballs ride the motorcycle together!

We  braved a ward party without daddy. He had a tennis match. The kids did awesome and I really feel like it was a tender mercy. I feel like Heavenly Father is blessing my kids to have better behavior when I'm doing my best while David is busy with tennis. After dinner, they started a family feud BoM game. Annika kept asking me during dinner if we were going to play. I really didn't want to go up on the stage with all of my kids. The Stevens were the first family to go up. They were so kind to take Benson and Annika (and Leah) up with them. I was so surprised that Benson wanted to go up there too. They each said one answer into the microphone and they got candy at the end. I was proud of them for going up there:)

my cute squad riding to Janelle's house :)

Tyler and Esther

Every month or so, Annika gets the urge to do an "experiment." She has a science experiment book that gives us lots of ideas. This food coloring, soap, and milk one has been a repeated one. I am always hesitant to do experiments when Esther is awake. I made a serious mistake by leaving the food coloring on the counter... I usually shower while Esther is sleeping. But on this day, I took a quick shower when she was awake. I went to check on her as soon as I was out. I found her sitting on the counter with yellow food coloring all over the counter and her cute zebra print dress. I got after Annika for not coming taking the food coloring away from her. I was regrettably to harsh in my reaction toward Annika and Esther. I cleaned it up (it came out of her dress with oxiclean!) and apologized. And the food coloring is now in the highest cabinet of the kitchen :)

I love this sweet girl's love for learning and exploring!

Keenan and Zack recently returned from visiting their missions in Pachuca and Puebla, Mexico. They bought these darling dressed and shirt for Benson!

Dominoes on the deck! Benson and I had a great time playing. Quality time is definitely his love language. And dominoes is a great way to work on numbers and counting!

This was right after I took a pregnancy test and found it positive! I was overjoyed. We have been trying to get pregnant since January, which is longer by a few months than it's taken us before. I was so worried that, with one ovary, I would struggle with infertility. That worry combined with my stress while David has been gone coaching tennis has made me feel alone and anxious. I'm doing much better now as I've forced myself to talk to David about my struggles. It's not that David is unapproachable or uncaring. It's that amidst my mild depression, I felt alone and that he wouldn't understand or be able to help me. I'm realizing that I need to be a better communicator of my feelings. Anyways, we're expecting a baby January 22 and David is done with tennis! I am filling lighter (metaphorically, but not physically:). I haven't felt as nauseous with this pregnancy. Sometimes, I worry that I'm not feeling sick enough... But I am sick and gaining weight. And I'm so relieved that I was able to get pregnant.

sweet Esther in the outfit Papi bought a few years ago in Spain for Annika

fun times at Kiwanis park

While they ride like this Annika says "baby driving!" and it's pretty hilarious :)

I repurposed one of my t shirts into a night gown for Annika. It just took some cutting and two new seams to take the sides in and sewing the hem of the sleeves up. She loves it and I didn't have to buy any summer pajamas! We have plans to turn a few more big t shirts into nightgowns. 

Esther loves Uncle Keenan!

Esther and Tyler Nygard

sweet outfit. She's showing me one of the "seeds" (she got it from a bush) that she is replanting.

Annika water color painted this. Then she said, "mom, can you work on sewing an outfit like this for me every night until you finish?"

this chainsaw from Christmas is still a favorite!

dancing girls!

Esther loves Sadie! She is always excited to see her and pet her. I'm not a dog person, but this still touches my heart.

Hannah, Brooklyn, Brynlee, Annika, Benson, Truman, and Esther. We went to visit Jessica and Heather in Pasco. We went to Chiawana Park by the river. They had fun throwing things in the river and eating lunch. It's great to live near cousins and let them be friends.

selfie time

Tena Jones invited Annika to attend a little dance class at the church gym once a week. Annika is in heaven! She will be sad when it ends when school is out.

Potty training! We tried the naked method this time. I have gone straight to underwear with the other two. She did all right. She never had a poop accident. She did ask for a diaper when she needed to poop though :) She didn't mind being naked. She had a lot of accidents, mostly at the kitchen table. We tried for a day and a half. Then, I started having morning sickness and she wasn't seeming to catch on very fast. Then Benson got a gash on the side of his head and I decided it was too much for me. We will try again in a few months.

potty training bum :)

potty training, outdoor edition

potty training taken on a little field trip to see the pigs :)

Zack came to visit (thankful he was here). We went to visit the pigs up the street. Benson walked into a metal awning and gashed his head. We drove to Janelle's house straight from the pigs and borrowed her super glue gel. That is great stuff. I washed it out and wiped it with an alcohol wipe and he sat on zack's lap while I applied the super glue while holding the edges together. He did really well. It looks like he wont' have much of a scar.

Dena came to visit us on Esther's birthday! My kids just love her and I'm so grateful that she has remained involved in our lives since my mom passed away. She is a wonderful friend.

I think Zack might be Esther's (and Benson's) favorite.  

Esther eating her birthday cake. She was really quiet and stoic, probably because of all of the people (Dena, Todd, Ellie, Papi, Zack, Keenan). We love our sweet two year old! Esther is very helpful and observant. She hears me ask the other kids to do things and she often beats them to it. She still loves to snuggle, but not quite as much as before. She loves to sit on dad's lap while he mows the lawn. It might be her favorite thing to do. She is not a picky eater. She loves bath time, binkies, looking at books while she sits in the little rocking chair, watching family movies on the computer, carrying baby dolls around, and telling knock knock jokes ("knock, knock. poopy head. hahahaha"). She likes us to sing popcorn popping to her before she goes to sleep. She still hates nursery. She is sweet, silly, loud, mischievous, darling. We love our Esther babe! 

opening presents!

I made her a "two" shaped cake and frosted it with swirls. Annika said she wanted a water cake. So that's as creative as I got. I made their cake and cupcakes ahead of time and froze them, knowing that I might not feel good by their birthday weekend.

Benson wanted ninja turtle cupcakes :) He is still our most demanding kid. He is also sweet and tender hearted. He is doing much better with managing his emotions and letting us reason with him. Daddy is his absolute favorite person. He likes to watch sports and eat hot wings and drink Pepsi with dad downstairs :) He has become much better at remembering where he left things. He loves to shower every day, sneak candy, read books, play monster and wrestle with dad, facetime uncle Zack ("Zack, what are you doing today?" on repeat), wear dri fit material shirts and basketball shorts and "running shoes" (black nikes :),  eat a cheese stick in bed after we've brushed his teeth, have his mini flashlight when he goes to sleep, watch Star Wars, hide under his bed whenever someone comes over to our house and ask me to ask them to find him. We love our sweet Benson boy!

in his Chiefs shirt from aunt Abby!

My dad treated us to dinner in Moses Lake at a Mexican place. It was yummy and fun to get out with our family. We made a quick trip to WinCo before. David got me some gifts from Crate and Barrel. (Fancy!) He gave me a luscious white bath rug, an awesome extra long oven mitt, and a long wooden serving tray. It was a low key but lovely day. I'm 29!