How do you get a Christmas sugar rush?

My little ones enjoyed the first candy canes of the season today. I hate candy canes but they loved them. I was impressed with how quickly they finished them. I don't think I've ever finished a candy cane in my entire life.

 Micah is very drooly and he just ate a handful of red and green M&Ms prior to the candy cane so his chin was awesome.

 It looks like they're dueling candy cane light sabers in this one.

You wish she would show up in your stocking but I'm keeping her.

Just a few pictures from July

I have so many pictures on my camera from trying to get these three to look decent in a picture. This was the best we came up with.

 My parents with the kids before they left for Indiana. The kids were so sad to lose them!

 Neil was in San Diego on business and brought back souvenirs from Old Town. Micah is modeling Charlotte's pioneer bonnet.

Madoc's Birthday

Madoc turned 7 a few days after Amelia's blessing so we celebrated with cake and presents while all of the grandparents were here on Sunday. On his actual birthday we had a family dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Shoaf and he picked Red Robin.

 Oh, the glorious chocolate cake! We all loved it and it was completely gone in two days.

 Opening presents from G'ma and G'pa Shoaf...

 from G'ma and G'pa Crapo...

 from Sadie... He LOVES his Lego Ninjago Character Encyclopedia. So much so that he destroyed his and got a new copy for his birthday. Sadie made him a second encyclopedia to go along with it.

 The coveted Gold Dragon from Mom and Dad...

...and the new iPod to replace the Christmas iPod that went through the wash. He's super excited, can't you tell?

Amelia's Blessing

Amelia was blessed on July 6th. She was a perfect angel, of course. Here are what few pictures I was able to get. Cranky, tired children at naptime combined with rainy weather made picture taking difficult. I didn't even get pictures with my parents.

4th of July Weekend

Amelia's blessing was over the 4th of July weekend so we had lots of fun with grandparents for the holiday. On the 4th we went hiking in the canyon and had a picnic. Then we hurried home as fast as we could and threw everyone in the tub due to a poison ivy scare. That night we had fireworks and s'mores in the backyard.

 On Saturday we went to Tucson to visit the zoo before picking Grandpa Shoaf up at the airport. Neil sprung for the giraffe feeding.

 Micah is obsessed with giraffes and we watch a lot of giraffe documentaries on Youtube because of it. But he wanted nothing to do with feeding that giraffe a carrot. He plastered himself to Neil to get as far away as possible.

After picking up Grandpa we took everyone to Five Guys for lunch. My family plus four grandparents makes for a very full table! Pretty sure we ate all of the fries though!

Summer Pool Fun

We have a lovely neighborhood pool that we like to frequent. When you live in the desert, you never go outside during the summer unless you are heading to a body of water. But with Amelia coming at the beginning of the summer, I knew we wouldn't be able to get there too often. There are just too many kids to keep an eye on. So we got a kiddie pool for the backyard so the kids could go out on the days that Neil couldn't take them to the big pool.

 This is how Micah crouches when he's cold and wet (even out of the bathtub). The other kids decided to follow suit.

 Madoc is big into making bows and arrows. Anything to get to play with a pocket knife!

 Micah with his beloved monkey towel.

 My in-laws came for the baby blessing and we all went to the big pool. Here's Micah with Grandpa Crapo.

 Sadie swims so well, but ONLY with her goggles.

 Charlotte requires lots and lots of floaties. She makes me nervous because she's so tiny she can slip right out of her ring.

 Neil delights in attacking, pestering, throwing, and just generally bedeviling the kids in the pool. They shriek and complain and tattle on him but I think they really like it. He has different names for his attacks like "the narwhal" and "the orca."

 The kids got snorkel gear in their Easter baskets this year. Madoc loves his and has worn a hole in his flipper.

 Grandpa attacking Micah. He thought it was pretty funny.

 Even Amelia joined us and took a nap with Grandma.

Amelia Pictures from June

 Amelia's first bath. She wasn't a fan but now she likes them.

 Don't let the sweetness deceive you. Charlotte has been a little devil and we have had to take many precautions to protect Amelia from her. She's calmed down a bit but she'll still take out her anger on her if she's mad at me.

 I finally got a picture of Amelia and me!

Look who showed up!

 After waiting and waiting, Amelia Rose was born on Father's Day. She was 21 inches long and weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. She slept so well that night that we were the last of the three families at the birth center to wake up and leave despite her being born first.

Coming home and meeting everyone...

 Here she is at 7 weeks.

This week (at nine weeks) we went to the doctor and she weighted 10 lbs. 1 oz. The doctor isn't very optimistic that she'll double her birth weight at four months but she's just dainty and petite. She is by far the best baby I've ever had; I tell everyone that God decided to take pity on me with the fifth one! She sleeps like a champ, so much so that on some days it feels like we hardly see her. When she does wake up she's happy and content. If I need her to wait before I feed her she doesn't mind. She can sit in her chair or lay on the floor and just look around forever. When someone comes into view (especially Mom or Dad) she just lights up. She feels no need to suck on anything, be it pacifier or fingers or anything else, and she never lingers over feedings. I absolutely love all of her long, dark hair and her dark blue eyes (I think they're not going to change). She is just the most peaceful, content baby ever!