Food and Fun!

My 4 monkeys!

This is how Abigail "holds" Boaz. She sits behind him, wraps her arms around him, and squeezes. Needless to say he isn't a huge fan.

 So, my plan to blog every week hasn't worked out yet, but that is still my goal. These past two weeks we have had a few things going on, but mostly have been enjoying our normal routine. And speaking of routine, Boaz is starting to get on a good sleeping routine. He has been going to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 and not waking up till 8:30 the next morning. He has been nursing once in there, but has had a few nights of sleeping all night long. It has been great to finally start getting full nights of sleep again.
 Boaz also started solids. All last week we have been doing rice cereal. Monday went great. He opened his mouth and swallowed it right down. He didn't thrust the food out with his tongue. He did enjoy holding the spoon with me while he was fed. The next few times didn't seem to go as well and he didn't seem as interested as Monday, but last night he ate it all down and I even had to make up a second batch of it. He is starting to get the hang of it.

First bites of rice cereal. Yummm

The Women's Bible study I am a part of is taking a break for summer, but we are getting together for play dates every week. This week we went to our town's splash pad. All the kiddos loved it at their differing levels. Davey and Cassia love running all through the sprinklers of all the varying heights. Abigail ran around the sprinklers and would run up to stick her hand in it. And Sweet Boaz had a blast sitting behind it and sticking his hand in the sprinkler. I was worried he wouldn't like getting splashed, boy was I wrong. He loved  the water and loved getting wet.

At the Splash Pad. Abby isn't very happy with Boaz spraying her :)

The boys at the splash pad. Boaz would not look at the camera he was too intent on the water.

 Today Davey finished his first workbook in our Hooked on Phonics kit. It is a huge accomplishment and I am so proud of him. He knows 30 sight words and knows all his short vowel word families to read any word with only short vowels. His last lesson was on compound words. When he read pigpen and backpack he was super excited that he is reading BIG words now! This week we will be finishing up his workbook and of course he is excited to start the next workbook after we get back from our annual 4th of July camping trip.
 Tomorrow we are flying to Santa Barbara for our camping trip! We are all so excited the kids were telling everyone how they get to go camping with cousin Charlie next week. They are also all looking forward to building Thunder Mountain in the sand with Papa. Since we will be camping I wont be able to blog next week, but will be sure to post pics and stories of our time the week after.

Ready for a walk to the park early in the morning to beat the heat.

Abigail and Davey running ahead of Mommy.

Cassia and Davey walking hand in hand.

Fun Times In Texas

Kids chatting with Aunt Jean on her patio.

 Over Memorial weekend we had a mini family vacation to Dallas and Fort Worth. Saturday we drove up to Dallas and visited the Kennedy Museum which is in the building where the man who assassinated Kennedy was perched. From there we went to my Great Aunt Jean's house to visit with some family and enjoy dinner together. Then we stayed 2 nights in Fort Worth. We visited the Stockyards, which is an area of town with historical/cowboy shops, restaurants, longhorns to pet, and daily cattle drives. We even got to see a Wild West Show. The cowboys came out full blast on their horses and started shooting their guns. Poor Abby was not expecting that and started running screaming every which way trying to get to the safety of Dave's lap. Talking with the kids the show was their favorite part of the trip. After a full day of walking around the Stockyards we drove around for the kids to take a little nap and ended up in downtown Fort Worth at the water gardens.

What a crew! Waiting for the wild west show to start.

Kids got to pet the horses after the show.

Mommy and Bo at the wild west show!

At the water gardens. There were steps that you could walk all the way down to the bottom of the waterfalls.

Another pool at the water garden. It was a hot day, but the spray from this pool felt like air conditioning.

Abby and Bo playing while Daddy took the big kids down to the bottom of the waterfalls.

This is a water wall that all the kids liked touching, especially  Boaz.

 Since coming home from our vacation we all came down with a little head cold and haven't been doing very much, just our normal routine. Davey keeps us on track with school. Everyday he wakes up from nap and asks to do school. He will pester me till we get to it. He really impresses me with how much he has learned. After the kids' long vacation I was wondering if he would have forgotten some of what he had learned, but he didn't and is doing great with both reading and writing. The next task to conquer is learning to tie his shoes. He is adamant that he has to learn how to tie his shoes before school starts.

Davey doing his writing.

Sweet Boaz watching brother do his school work.

We planted carrots a couple of weeks ago and they have started to sprout. Silly Davey said it was too bright to open his eyes.

Our carrots sprouting! The kids were so excited when they went out to water the carrots and found this!

 Nap time has still been a bit of a struggle for the girls. It is just too much fun sharing a room. We finally got Abigail to sleep in her bed. For so long she would sleep on the ground right at the door and not get a good night sleep. No matter how many times we would pick her up and put her back in bed she would continue to get out and lay at the door. Even at 3 in the morning after feeding Boaz I would put her in bed and by morning she was on the ground again. So, we moved Abby's bed right next to Cassia's and since then Abby has loved sleeping in her bed and we haven't had anymore nights with her on the ground. However, they do end up playing a lot more at nap and nighttime before they fall asleep. It isn't a horrible issue as I love hearing them having fun together, but I do end up having to be the bad guy often so they can get a good rest.

Nap time Fun! I went in to sternly tell them to go to bed and couldn't help laughing at this sight.  They had shoved every baby and stuffed animal they could fit in Abigail's shirt and Abby was dancing on Cassia's bed!

 We also just sent in an application for Boaz to get his passport. Dave and I are going to be going on a mission trip with our church to Peru at the end of July. Since Boaz will still be nursing we are going to bring him along too, which will be an added joy. Some of you may remember we were planning on going on a mission trip back before I got pregnant with Abigail and felt like it might have been leading to a long term mission God was calling us on. It was a surprise when I got pregnant with Abigail and we were actually trying to wait to get pregnant so we could do a mission trip. Finding out I was pregnant I felt like that meant I couldn't go. Then God impressed on my heart that He would work missions into our lives regardless of pregnancies/children and that I shouldn't try to plan pregnancies/children around missions. Because of this I have such a peace and excitement to serve with Boaz. God ended up closing the door for a mission trip back then, but has opened the door for now and we are so excited God has finally said yes to going on a mission trip.

Couldn't help putting another pic of Boaz. He just makes me smile!

On a sad note, we had to say goodbye to our good friends the Vicks today. They are moving back to California to start a church in Claremont. They have been a huge blessing to us and helped make Texas feel like home. They are such good friends and Texas is not going to be the same with out them. It is very bitter sweet as we will miss them, but are excited for the work God is going to do in them and through them.

Kiddos with our good friends Levi and Judah Vick.

Boaz's Miracle

 With all the fun to share from our California vacation in the last post I forgot to share what has been going on with Boaz. When the kids were with grandparents Boaz had his 6 month Dr. appointment. At his check up the Dr. found that he had a hernia. The Dr. showed it to me and had me feel it. It was a hard lump on Bo's right side and his left side was squishy. He explained that this is fairly common in boys and is just something that happened when Boaz was created in my womb. It is something that wont go away on its own so we need to make an appointment with the pediatric surgeon to set up surgery. Upon getting the news we have been praying and asking family and friends to pray for God to heal Boaz before the meeting with the surgeon. God healed Bo's belly button and we had faith He would heal his hernia as well. Not only did we want Bo to be healed so we wouldn't need to do surgery, but for the miracle to be a witness for us, others, and Boaz (when he is older to understand) to show God's glory, that He is real and performs miracles in our lives today. Yesterday was the appointment with the surgeon. The dr. couldn't feel the hernia, but he could feel secondary signs of a hernia. He told us that when those are present 98% of the time there is a hernia, but if we would like we could get an ultra sound to confirm. So we went straight down to have an ultra sound. The ultra sound showed that there is no hernia! Praise God that he completely healed Boaz of the hernia. The surgeon called today to explain the ultra sound. He confirmed that there is no hernia. They did find extra fluid around his testicle, which is called a hydro-seal. We have known he has had this since it was seen on an ultra sound before he was born. Every nurse, pediatrician, and ultra sound technician has told us about it followed by how it is no concern, fairly normal, and will just be absorbed into Bo's body. The surgeon also said that it will most likely be absorbed, but if it hasn't by a year it could be a sign that something else is going on and would need surgery to repair it. We will just wait and see what God's plan is for the hydro-seal. We pray it is nothing and will be absorbed by his body and time will tell. We are so thankful and in awe of the greatness of God in healing Boaz, and overjoyed to share in this miracle. Praise God!
 Here are some pictures of our sweet Boaz. Cassia also had her last day of dance on Tuesday. I am not able to upload the video of her dance on here since it is too big, but I will try to upload it to facebook. It is so adorable you will have to check it out.

Boaz in a bucket with a ball!

There is a turtle in our front yard so of course we need a picture of Boaz with it.

Boaz is getting better about sitting on his own and is enjoying playing even more with the other kiddos. Cassia was cooking for Boaz and continued to bring him lots and lots of food, which he did chew on.

Cassia with Miss Sunnie, her dance teacher and good friend of ours, at the end of her last dance class.

The greatness of the news above makes other stories seem little, but I do have a funny quote from Davey to share. Earlier this week Davey was playing with Boaz on the floor and he told me " Mommy, Bo has REALLY big knee muscles!" Our kids are constantly talking about how big their muscles are and how they drink their milk to get big muscles. So, it is a huge compliment even if Boaz's "muscles" are just his chubby thighs.

California Vacation

The whole family at the happiest place on earth - DISNEYLAND!!

What a fun vacation we all had. I can't believe it has already been 3 weeks since we flew out to California. I am not sure what has happened to the month of May. So, three weeks ago we flew out to CA and spent the weekend at Disneyland! It was a fun weekend seeing family and enjoying Disneyland. There are so many pictures and so many memories that wont fit in this blog. So here are some favorites.

Davey and Aunt Danielle going on Thunder Mountain.

Kiddos just before "World of Color" night show started. The ears light up.

 Davey was tall enough to go on most of the rides and his favorite was Splash Mountain. My cousin and their boys came out for one of the days at Disneyland as well. Davey had a blast hanging out and enjoying the park with them while Dave and I went and saw princesses with the girls.

Cassia meeting Sleeping Beauty.

Meeting Cinderella. Davey was very shy and didn't want to get too close to Cinderella.

 Cassia enjoyed seeing all the princesses. She got lots of signatures in her memory book and went to storytime with Belle. During story time Cassia and Abigail were asked to dance during the story. Her favorite ride was Mickey's Fun Wheel in California Adventure. It is giant Ferris Wheel that each car also moves on a wheel as the big wheel is moving (sorry it is hard to explain).

Sweet Abby wasn't too happy about something, but I can't remember what it was now. Just think she looks so cute in her mouse ears.

Meeting Tinkerbell!

 My sweet Abigail is pretty straight faced most of the time and doesn't always show lots of excitement, but she sure had the biggest smile after seeing Tinkerbell. She told me "Tinkerbell colored my book". I asked if she liked seeing Tinkerbell. She said yes, but was disappointed that she didn't fly.

Grandma and Papa with all the grand kids.

Adorable Chubby Boaz

Can't help, but smile at Boaz in his ears!

 That Monday Dave had to fly home and I drove up to Santa Barbara with Boaz to visit Aunt Danielle, Uncle Steve and Cousin Elliott. It was a lot of fun having Boaz and Elliott together. Elliott is 6 weeks older than Boaz. They had a bath together where Boaz kept kicking Elliott. Then on the floor later Elliott couldn't help but give Boaz kisses. The next day we traveled down to San Diego with Aunt Janine to visit with her and Great Gram. Boaz got to enjoy being an only child and get lots of attention.

Boaz and Cousin Elliott playing together.

With Great Gram in beautiful San Diego.

Boaz and Aunt Janine out at lunch.

 The other kiddos spent the week with Grandma and Papa in Monterrey. They have been sharing with me stories of all the fun they had, from building Splash Mountain in the sand at the beach to going on a treasure hunt at their hotel. From there the kiddos then got to stay at Nana and Grandpa's for a week. By this time I was really missing my kiddos and enjoyed doing facetime with them and seeing pictures that family had posted on facebook. My favorite was seeing Abigail and cousin Westin (he's 2 months younger than Abby) playing together. They look so similar and I can just picture them playing together like twins.

Papa giving Boaz a blessing at his baby dedication.

 Last Saturday, my parents flew back home with the kiddos and it was so exciting to hug them and kiss them all. All 3 of them were full of excitement and stories to tell me. Then Sunday we had Boaz dedicated at church. It was such a special time with our church family and with my Dad giving Boaz a beautiful blessing. Just before the dedication we had all the kids in the church service with us during worship. There was a moment where Dave was next to me holding Boaz, I was holding Cassia, Abigail was hugging one leg and Davey was leaning on my side. I felt so amazingly blessed to have a wonderful husband and 4 precious children all close and singing together. The best Mothers Day gift ever!

Wheeling and Dance Class

Sorry I don't have much time to write, but I wanted to share some photos from the last few weeks. They aren't in any specific order since I don't have time to go through them. Right now I am frantically packing for our trip to Disneyland!! We leave tomorrow so when I get back I will be sure to update with fun pictures.

Abigail helping me clean the floors. Her favorite thing right now is to use the spray bottle and clean any and everything.

Abigail loves showing off her muscles and I love her face when she does. This picture doesn't do it justice. You will have to see it in person. It will instantly make you laugh.

Handsome Boaz on the way to church.

Boaz loved gnawing on a carrot at dinner the other night.

He also loves sucking on his big toe.

Cassia just started dance at YMCA. This is her doing a curtsy.

Cassia's first day at dance. 

Cassia's dance teacher is my close friend. While we were watching she invited Davey and Abigail to join in the fun.

Last weekend we went 4wheeling. Here is Dave and Cassia in our friend's dune buggy.

Cassia driving the Jimmy. She was concentrating so hard, but I really don't think she could see  the road over the  steering wheel.

Dave wheeling the Jimmy up a waterfall.

Davey riding in the dune buggy.

Boaz and I about to go wheeling. 

Boaz helping Daddy get the Jimmy ready for wheeling.

When Cassia was riding in the dune buggy with Dave we were driving up a creek. The creek ended up getting pretty deep and they were under water. Cassia's hands are showing you how high the water went. She has a mud line, but you can't really see it in the pic. She was so proud going through it and later told me she held her breath just like Daddy said to. I don't think she realized she needed to hold her breath in case the water went above her head.