Canoeing

We decided to take our canoe out this week. The canoe was originally purchased on a date that Jared and I had after I had been to girls camp for a week, and he went to Japan the following week. So, I talked him into buying a canoe on our date. That first year, we had only a month or so of summer left, so we went out only a few times. The next summer, we went several times, leaving right after work and canoeing for a family home evening. This last summer, we didn't go at all, as I was too pregnant to help Jared get the canoe on and off of the van, let alone my terrible sense of balance and the fact that no life jacket was going to fit me.

So, we thought it would be fun, but realized that we probably shouldn't take Max out on the canoe, so we needed Uncle Paul to help Jared paddle and control kids.

Early on in the evening, Sam got in trouble for not listening, not a good thing when contemplating water sports with three year olds.

How on earth does he get his mouth to turn down so far? He's like a cartoon character!

The boys were SUPER excited when Lizzie and Mara showed up! Yeah for cousins!

Loading all the kids in the boat - an act of bravery by the two dads present. Especially because Jack did not want to go without his mom...

All aboard!

We brought some stale tostada shells to feed the ducks. They learn quickly where the food is! Sometimes you have to fend them off with the paddles so they don't nip little fingers...

Wading in the water was just as much fun as going on the canoe!

Ok, this picture of Lizzie makes me LAUGH - no, she's not in pain, this is her super "I think I'm really funny" laugh. She had thrown some mud at a duck, and for some reason it tickled her fancy...

Even Katie joined in the fun!

Jack was the most fearless of the waders - thus the continued presence of the life jacket. Thankfully, it wasn't necessary at any point during the evening...

Pearl lifting a boulder for some building project she had going. I had to include this picture because it shows her new missing tooth - just to the left (her left) of her big permanent tooth. The middle tooth is so big, it's really hard to tell that the one next to it is missing - how will there be enough room in her mouth for all that?

We tried out Sam's new Keens in the lake - they were great, they stayed on (unlike Lizzie's crocs, which were later used as drinking vessels for lake water... yeah, gross, we tried to stop them, they will probably all get nasty diseases now...). However, he asked to take them off a few times, and I kept telling him no, because I thought they would be too hard to get back on wet. Well, on the way back up to the car, he was walking SO SLOW and I kept telling him to HURRY UP and he was ignoring me (chanting to himself "underdog is here!") and I was slightly frustrated until we got to the car and Jared took his shoes off. Yep, a couple of pea sized pebbles were stuck in there. Poor kid!

We had so much fun! Yeah for Lake Natomas!

One Month

Max is one month old today. I can't believe how much he has changed in such a short time. Look at his chubby little chin and elbow dimples!

He continues to be a pretty good baby, as long as he burps OK. I think he knows me, and not just as the "milk lady" as Jared puts it, though that certainly doesn't hurt:) He enjoys walking outside at twilight, being held by his big sister, naps in his bouncy seat, being held by Daddy, nursing, and the super cool swaddling wrap his Aunt Mara got him.

He makes funny grunting noises ALL the time, I'm getting used to sleeping through it.

We love this little guy!

Hands and Feet

I love Max's little hands and feet. They are so adorable! And soft and sweet and clean and they smell so good...

And why are we so obsessed with baby's feet?

Well for me, it's because I know what they will turn into....

Big, dirty stinky boy hands and feet. I'd better enjoy the clean baby feet while I can!

Love my boys!

Favorites

I have been meaning to blog all week, so here it comes all at once! These are some of my favorite pictures lately.

This is Sam's amazing split lip. He got some new lizzard puppets (ok, they're really for therapy, but he gets to play with all that) from Costco and was sleeping with them. One night, he fell asleep watching TV at like 7 so his dad put him in bed with no puppets and no night light. So, he got up in the middle of the night to get his puppets, but his room was a disaster zone, so we hear a crash and a loud cry. Yep. I am NEVER going to get any sleep!

One day after church Pearl wanted to try my makeup on. Of course, we had to take a picture! I can't get over how LONG her eyelashes are with mascara!

My niece, Katie. Doesn't she look so happy? That's because her mom let her have her very first sorbet at Jared's birthday party. I hope she remembers that all the good stuff happens at my house!

I know, priceless. My nephew, Jack trying to PUSH the bike pedals up a slight incline. So much effort!

Blessing Day

We decided to bless Max the same day we celebrated Jared's birthday, so we did it at the house on sunday evening. That way, I only had to cook dinner once...

Our new family picture - we're getting so big!

Everyone loves to hold a baby...

Especially grandpa!

I'm not very good at writing things down about the blessing, I think I've lost a lot of brain cells since the college days, however, I do remember that Jared promised him that he would make friends easily and be an example. It's funny how different phases in life affect you differently. If he had promised that to Pearl, I don't think I would have appreciated it as much as I do now that we have two school age children making friends outside the home. It is an important skill, and one that can bless many lives.

I had to have Mara get a picture of this - Lizzie settled right in at Grandpa Hulbert's house (she probably appreciates Gary now that she thinks Jared is cool - growling and all...) and each child had their own adult to read to them. As the grandkid pool grows, who knows how much longer that will last!

Proud papa! Here's to another Hulbert man in the making!

Happy Birthday, Jared!

Jared turned 33 on Sunday. Yep. We're getting so old...

He's lucky. I made him ribs and buffalo wings. Spoiled rotten:)

Jewelry

I love jewelry. Growing up, very special occasions were marked by jewelry. Like, once, I got a gold bracelet for getting straight A's. I still have the diamond earrings my mother got me when I graduated from college. I remember the christmas eve she gave me my christmas present early - a pearl ring - because Jared and I were having a fight. (it did make me feel better, much better!). This bracelet, however, is the most special piece of jewelry I own.

It started my 26th birthday, the first after having Pearl. After searching for a present, Mom ended up getting me this charm bracelet with one charm on it - the pacifier. That became Pearl's charm.

Then my next child, Robbie, was stillborn. Mom bought me the carriage shortly after his birth. I can't tell you how many sad days (especially at church, for some reason, that was almost the hardest place to be) I wore that bracelet and played with the little wheels on the carriage (which actually turn) and missed my baby. However, it wasn't all sadness - Pearl's charm was still on there, reminding me of the joys that can be a part of parenthood.

Sam's charm is the shoes - this is because when he was born, the biggest part of him was his feet. They were seriously huge - like half the size of his legs. Max's is the most recent addition - the high chair that really opens. Isn't it adorable?

I asked my mom if she regretted having started this bracelet for me. She said no, but she's glad she didn't do it for everyone (especially in yellow gold!). I personally think she was inspired. I love that I have a reminder of all my children together, and that the happy memories are slowly overtaking the sad ones. I'm sure there will be more of both in the years to come as I raise these little ones I have been blessed with. Thanks, Mom!

Rattlesnake

I went to the movies last night and came home to a rattlesnake carcass in my refrigerator. Apparently he found it behind the sandbox on the porch (yikes!). You'll have to ask Jared about that one...

Crazy Week!

So, I have been wanting to blog like every night this week, because we have had so much going on. However, I did have a baby less than three weeks ago, and I started working again this week, so I've had to settle for keeping the kids fed and somewhat clean and happy. Don't look at my house. So, here is what we have been up to this week...

PEARL:

Pearl started her first day of first grade this week! She was a little unsure about the getting up early thing (we all were - and still are, for the record) but happy to see her friends!

She is lucky to have her best friend Makayla in class with her - what would we do without the Larsens? They provide a complete friend profile - Tami for me, Makayla for Pearl, and Evan for Sam. Poor Max!

Her teacher's name is Mrs. Magness. The kids love her so far, she treats them like big kids (which they are!)

Pearl also started piano lessons this week. Now I feel like mom of the year! We did a bit at home, but just never got the structure of it down what with me being pregnant and cranky all summer. So, we had our first lesson at 6:45 on friday night (I know terrible time, but I heard a lot of good things about this teacher and that's what was available). So, after a full week of school and swimming that afternoon at a friend's house, you can just imagine how it went. Yep, I wanted to crawl under a rock. She told the teacher she didn't really want to take piano lessons but that I was making her. Ouch. True, but it still hurts. She also kept telling her how tired she was, and at one point told her "I'm trying to focus, could you please just BE QUIET!" Sigh. As we left, however, the possibilities of being a musician began to percolate around in her little brain, and she decided it would be so cool that she could just go to the piano whenever she felt like some music, once she plays as good as me or Kelsey on High School Musical or Molly Mahoney on Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium. Looks like I lucked out with our recent media choices. Thankfully, the practice Saturday morning went great, it's hard for her to start new things and not be good, but she was able to do her songs better even after one day, and I think once we get some success under our belt it will be fun. Not to mention the fact that the teacher has prizes for kids that do all their practicing...

SAM:

Sam had his first day of preschool this week! Hallelujah! It was the best feeling in the world to drop them BOTH off at school! He is attending the preschool on campus at Latrobe, with the same teacher that Pearl had. So far the class is small (which we won't complain about) and my potty accident fear has not been realized. Yeah! He has been TIRED after school (he fell asleep at dinner on tuesday) and has been having "rest time" which is super cool for me.

My friend Sherri brings him home for me on Fridays, and we did have one little hiccup this week when he was supposed to get in the booster seat in that car (she has two girls). Sherri finally figured out that it was just TOO GIRLY (according to Sam) and had to threaten that I wouldn't let him swim after school if he didn't get in the car seat... oh dear, we seem to have EXTREMELY well defined gender roles around here... he's going to have to get over it...

MAX:

Is still a sweet baby. Good eater, can't complain about his sleep schedule, only one or two nights of fussiness while his little tummy was working things out. He had his two week appointment this week, was declared by the doctor to be a perfect baby:) His current stats are 7 lbs 13.9 oz (he gained 1 1/2 pounds since his two day appointment!) 23%. He's 21 1/2 inches long 76% and his head is in the 20%. Big boy!

The kids still love him and Pearl especially is very helpful.

AMY and JARED:

This week was our 8 year anniversary. You know you're tired and sleep deprived when your husband has to remind you that it's your anniversary and we should go to dinner or something. We left the kids with Sherry at about 2:00 and headed to Sac State to get some stuff turned in for his brother, John's masters degree. It was fun to go back to where we fell in love. Then we headed to a mexican restaurant that I would HIGHLY recommend, called Zocalo's. Really yummy and authentic. Then, we went to Trader Joes to get lunch food for my all the sudden picky eater, and headed home. It was a nice relaxing day (except for the little fight we had over directions, normal at 8 years, right?)

This was the card Pearl had waiting for us when we got home. It has lots of red because that's the color of love, apparently.

Crazy week! But a good one:)

Guy Time

These are my boys having guy time. I'm sure it will get much more exciting and dangerous when Max stops needing his mommy every few hours or so.

I love my boys!

Pearl the Photographer

We gave Pearl our old camera to use. However, we do use it for videos from time to time. As I was getting some files off it I found tons of pictures. I picked a few to give a feel for what she does with the camera.

Art.

Self-portraits.

Feet portraits (No idea what that is all about).

Kid-level shots of the Ranch in the spring.

I love this shot of how I look to her.

And of course bunch of candid Sam snapshots.

I think she takes this photography thing more seriously than I imagined, which makes sense given that her mom likes it so much.

6 Flags Discovery Kingdom

Yes, I'm here to prove two hypothesis - the first, that I'm totally insane, and the second, that the third child has a life nothing like the first...

We took the kids to 6 flags in Vallejo on the last friday before school started. We have been talking about it all summer, so, we just decided to do it. Yes, Max came, and he was only 9 days old.

I spent the first little bit about to cry with the craziness of it all, then Jared fed me lunch, I fed the baby and got him in the front pack so the big kids could have the stroller and I could have hands free for the camera, and we were good to go!

Thomas land - we had a universal consensus that our cousin Jack would have LOVED this place!

My favorite part - the butterfly house. Pearl was told she couldn't touch the butterflies, but it would be ok if one landed on her. So, this is her, just waiting for a butterfly to land...

Trying a little harder...

The kids were just as interested in the animals as they were the rides. Fun age.
Super cool - they got to ride the elephant Tava. Pearl wasn't sure about this, but when it was over she kept saying how she LOVED that ride! (good, because it was expensive!)
One of my favorite parts - the Shouka the Whale show. Sam thought it was cool for like the first 5 minutes, then he was ready to move on...
I actually took a turn on the rides with the kids this time - Jared had Max, the backpack, the camera bag, and the stroller so I could play. Quite studly of him.

We had a great time - though, I'm not sure I would advise amusement parks in general for someone less than two weeks after having a baby... the things I do for my kids!