3!!!!

Nate boy is 3!!!! We have a rush of birthdays in the spring and it is like riding a rollercoaster for me. I am not prepared for these kids to be getting older! Nate is such a happy little guy. As his doctor recently described him, "That kid is ready for life!" He has such an enthusiasm for even the smallest of things. We love the pure joy he adds to our family. He has struggled with ear problems the last little while and it is hard to see our happy go lucky Nate in pain. You can see that pain in his eyes too often. We tossed around the idea of surgery to place tubes in again...we will see how he does for now. He loves loves loves his bike. He rides that thing like he is out to win a race. He loves to be outside. He loves to swing, jump on the tramp, and kick soccer balls with his siblings. He says the funniest things. His favorite phrase right now is, "What da het (heck)!" He hates nursery, loves his mama, and carries cars everywhere he goes. He loves to wrestle his brothers, watch Makayla do her homework, and is obsessed with chocolate milk. His favorite shows are PJ masks and Octonauts. He needs naps still, but stays up late when he does. He is super tender hearted and if he gets in trouble, or accidentally hurst someone he feels awful. He loves "Baby Dam" and always wants me to put him down so he can play with him now that Graham is on the move. Those two will be so much fun soon. I will admit that Nate is a mama's boy and I love it! He is such a stinking cute kid and we just love him to pieces. 

Zackary's Baptism

It was kind of nice having done the first baptism in our family already, so we kind of knew what to expect this time. It was fun as a family to prepare for Zack's big day. We had several family home evenings and discussions on the importance of Zack's choice. It was fun to see the other kids get excited for him. Zack was the only one in the ward getting baptized so he was able to choose the program. I ran through some names and he picked all of it out all by himself. Krista played the music, mom did the opening prayer, opening song "When I am Baptized," grandma gave the baptism talk, Lily gave the Holy Ghost talk, dad performed the baptism, Bumpa and uncle Jeff were the witnesses, dad performed the confirmation, closing song, "I Am A Child Of God," Closing prayer by Bada. With some help from me, he wrote down his thoughts from the day. This is what he wrote:

It was a special meeting full of the Spirit. Zack is an amazing kid with a strong desire to do what is right. He loves his new scriptures and has a few he will readily turn to that he claims are some of his favorite. We love his example to all of us and his choice helped strengthen my testimony with the opportunity to feel the Spirit so strong in preparation for the day and on that day. We love Zack and are so grateful for the path that he chose to head down. 

We had some food at a church down the street. I never know how much to have and with some contributions, we had a ton of food!!!! After the baptism some family stuck around, so we entertained the kids at the RUSH. Always a good time and a good cherry on top of a great day with family.

 Zack received a tie from Bada for his baptism. He worked on it over and over till he learned to tie his own tie that night. He then woke up at 7 am and got dressed for church so he could tie his tie:) That is Zack for you. When he wants to do something, he does it!!!

 Celebrating Emmery's birthday at Grandma and Bumpa's house.

 Our twins!

 Spanking machine for the February and March birthdays.

Graham is 1!!!! WHAT??!?!?!?!?!?

Graham is one!!!! With each baby this flies by faster and faster. This guy seriously is the sweetest. At one Graham is weaning off formula and loves chocolate and strawberry milk so far. He is still waking up once a night but that is changing as we are weaning him. He has a super speedy crawl and can pull himself up and walk along furniture. He is starting to point to things that he wants. He gets into EVERYTHING! No drawers, bags, cupboards, toilet paper rolls, or toy buckets are safe anymore. He goes from one thing to the next to empty and then repeats. He has 8 teeth and is working on a molar. He is a champ at eating and pretty much eats anything you put in front of him. You can already tell he is a social bug because he wants to be playing anything that the kids are on the floor with them. I have to tell them to play it at the table if they don't want him to join them:) He can crawl up the stairs, he loves to be pushed in his car. He loves to be outside and cries when the door gets shut. He sits at the window and watches the kids outside. He loves to swing! He loves Millie and she is so patient with him. He has a little smirk that almost looks like he is trying to tell us that we are ALMOST funny. He gives the greatest snuggles when he is waking up or tired. He has the sweetest little face and we just love him to pieces. He is starting to get more and more wiggly with comes with its challenges at church and other places. I am sure he will be walking in no time!!! He loves to giggle and even pretend to giggle. The kids love to tickle him and he has a soft spot for Levi since he tends to help me out with him A LOT! He will dive at him almost, and I mean almost, as fast as he does dad. He is a super big daddy's boy. He won't come to me most of the time if daddy has him. It is pretty funny and I don't think dad minds. His hair is just as sticky up as ever and he really needs a haircut soon. It is soooooo fluffy!!! For his birthday we met Dad at Chick-fil-a in the mall and then went to the aquarium. The kids always love that place and it is near empty in the evenings so we had the place almost to ourselves. The kids were excited to give him his presents. He had no idea what was going on, but we had so much fun celebrating our little guy. Love this little man and all the smiles he brings instantly into our home.