Grandma Connie meets Will

My wonderful mother-in-law came to help out with the kids right after Will was born (and soon after my mom left us). She was such a HUGE help with the girls and I know because of her I was able to recuperate so much quicker. In fact, quick enough to go to the beach and play a bit while she was visiting :)

Grandma and her girlies at Del Mar beach

This was Will's first time at the beach--he was only 10 days old!! A true surfer boy in the making!

I love this shot with Grandma and our 3 kids

Thank you grandma for coming to play with us! We love you!!!

Introducing the newest member of our family....

William Mark

Born 4-13-09

8 pounds 6 oz.

21 inches

Will leaving the hospital--he is so alert!

Proud Papa

Tired Mama

Our little party of 5!!

The happiest BIG sisters on earth...

Ellie and Will

Maddy and Will

Grandma Trish was able to extend her stay with us so that she could be here for Will's birth--we LOVE you Grandma!!

Grandpa Ed comes for a wonderful visit

Will already loves his binkie!!

Home sweet home!!

After being 8 days overdue, we are so excited to finally welcome Will into our family. He is such a sweet baby and his parents and big sisters couldn't be happier!!

Easter '09

Our clubhouse hosted its annual Easter Egg Hunt again this year and we never miss it if we can help it! The girls always have a blast running around the park collecting eggs, playing with friends from the neighborhood, eating tons of candy and visiting with the Easter Bunny.

On Easter morning, the Easter bunny had left a carrot trail leading to their Easter baskets. Ellie was so excited to find the baskets full of fun surprises!

Easter Sunday with Grandma Trish right after church

My mom helped make these adorable stuffed carrots--the girls loved them so much that they just HAD to sleep with them!

Beautiful Ellie

Adorable Maddy

Maddy enjoying a peep--yummy!

And it wouldn't be a Southern California holiday without a trip to the beach!

(This was our last family pic before Will was born--I was induced the next morning! He was only 8 days late!! We had even bought a little Easter basket for Will--we'll just use it next year I guess)

Ellie and Grandma Trish dancing in the ocean

Back at home all ready for bed, but not before our traditional egg crack! Believe it or not, Maddy was pretty hard to beat this year!!

Little Will had a great Easter--enjoying one last day before greeting the world!!

Sisters, sisters...

there were never such devoted sisters....

Well...most of time anyways!!

Bath time is always fun--especially with lots of bubbles! Every bath Maddy puts bubbles on her chin and says "ho-ho-ho!!"

Auntie Robin came to town again in March and once again got a convertible! So this time, we were prepared and put hats and glasses on the girls before we headed out for a day on the town! We couldn't stop laughing at how much Maddy looked like a funny little old lady--"Driving Miss Maddy!"

Hanging out at the lake and feeding the ducks is one of our favorite things to do together

We also love spending TONS of time at the pool

These 2 girls can be the best of friends one moment, but in the next breath the worst of enemies! (I guess that is the joy of having a sister right--I had 3!!) But they love to play dolls, house, dress up, pretend, princesses, and much more and I can always find them jumping on the trampoline, crafting, swimming, or going to the park and beach together. Ellie is an amazing big sister to Maddy--always looking out for her wherever we go and Maddy just adores her!!

You say tomatoe, I say tomato!!

Here I am at 39 weeks and praying that this baby doesn't come until closer to his due date--April 6th. Most pregnant women I know are dying to go in to labor at this point, but not me so much--at least not yet. Could it be because our house is still all ripped up while we are frantically getting our 4th bedroom finished?! Construction this late in the game--what were we thinking???!!!!

6 weeks and counting...

For those of you who have been dying to see a picture of my ever-growing belly, here it is in all it's glory!!

Baby boy

Not my best pic- I probably had just woken up from my daily nap :) - but you get the gist of it!

Tour of California

We (and thousands of other fans) got to crowd the streets today in Escondido to be at the very tail end of the Tour of California race to cheer on the winners!! This was a 9 day, 750 mile race, with over 2 million spectators who witnessed the race--making it the largest sporting event ever in California!!

Ellie had the best seat in the house

I like to ride my bicycle...

Hooray for Ellie!!

We had bought Ellie a bike for her 3rd birthday, but the thing weighed more than she did with its souped up fenders and whatnots. Yet, she was riding it pretty well for a while, until she had a bad fall on it a couple of months ago and she could not be talked back in to getting on again. So, on Saturday, Mark spent the morning fixing up her bike and getting rid of excess parts and we took Ellie to the church's empty parking lot so that she could gain some of her confidence back. It didn't take her long to start doing multiple laps around the church in record speed! Way to go!!

Maddy of course wanted to try her hand at her new bike, but she will need a little more practice :)

So instead, she and I soaked up the sun and became Ellie's little cheerleaders!

California Adventure

We were able to spend the day at Disney's California Adventure with some of our good friends this past week. The pictures were terrible--(I had forgotten to change a setting back on my camera after playing with it at photography club!!), but you can get the idea of just how much fun the girls had!! This was the first time we had actually spent any significant time at this park, and we can't wait to go back and play some more now that we have annual passes! (Ellie especially can't wait to ride the Tower of Terror again--hahaha!!)

Ellie waiting to ride the bumper cars

The girls riding the tram (this was actually leaving the park--hence the messy hair and faces!)

Since I am pregnant, I could not ride any of the big roller coasters, so my friend took our two oldests and I took the two youngests for a couple of rides. At one point, I had both of the 2 year olds crammed in one stroller and I kept hearing people exclaim how cute my "twins" were! They are only less than 2 weeks apart, so they could definitely pass for it!

The weather was perfect, the company great, lines weren't too busy, and my water didn't break, so all in all it was a fabulous day!

Ellie turns 5!!!

Believe it or not, our little Elizabeth turned 5 on February 6th! I still cannot believe it myself, but she reminds me everyday--"Mom, I know how to do (blank--insert ANYTHING!!), I am 5 now remember??" She is such a wonderful girl and we are so very blessed to have her a part of our family!!

For her 5th birthday, we gave her two options--Opt. 1--Disneyland, complete with a special Princess breakfast feast with our immediate family, or opt. 2--a Princess party with friends. It was a hard decision, but in the end, the lure of Disneyland won out! It was raining on her big day, but that didn't stop us, we bundled up and had a "Magical" day at the "Happiest Place on Earth!"

The Princess Breakfast at Ariel's Grotto

Ellie got to meet 5 of her favorite princesses--Snow White, Belle, Cinderella and Aurora (and of course Ariel!)

We stopped to goof around with Goofy and rode TONS of rides--Ellie even rode Space Mountain and the Matterhorn for her first time--she was so brave!!!

Our little Princess Ellie--Happy 5th Birthday!!