Vanessa's Blessing Day

We finally blessed sweet baby V. There were not many weeks that my mom was in town so we had to wait a couple of months. We had the blessing at our home with family, our bishop, home teachers and the Morelocks. Vanessa of course was a dream baby as always. She then passed out in her bouncy chair after all of the commotion. A big day for a little girl. She is so special and we are thrilled to have her in our family. I thank Heavenly Father every single day for her. She is such a light in our world. We all adore her.

Bishop Woods, William, Grandpa Dean, Jared & V, Ken, Grandpa Dave, Dix, Bro. Ostermiller, Jason

(a wonderful group of men)

 Grandma Jo with V

Cole is THREE

Cole had to share his birthday with Vanessa's blessing day so we tried to make it somewhat special. He opened his gifts first thing.

 Grey likes to use the lighter. Always.

 He wouldn't smile. He just wanted to show me the cake in his mouth I guess. I love this boy.

He was so cute when we all sang to him after the blessing:

Oh Cole. He sends me through so many emotions constantly. He is so cute and hilarious. He makes me laugh constantly. And then on the other hand he is my child who can upset me the most. He is very stubborn, loud and absolutely crazy. He can tear the house apart in two seconds. I struggle keeping up with him. His volume is always a few notches too loud for me. I guess he feels the need to be heard in a house full of kids. And I end up just getting short with him instead of being patient. I am working on that... I have really enjoyed watching him as a big brother to Vanessa. He loves her so much. He is working on the gentle part but he just wants to give her little kisses and make silly faces to make her smile. He is so excited that he is finally a big boy. He keeps telling me he is 8 now. I wish he would just use the potty. His stubbornness has made it near impossible to potty train. He will throw a full out fit if I just ask him to sit on it. I have to use devious methods to get him to do what I want him to do. If I ask him to do anything, he will tell me know. I hope that wears off a little after these toddler years. Love, love, love him.

He has an obsession with bears. He loves them but is kind of terrified of them as well. He also loves all things boy--trucks, cars, trains, balls. He thinks he is one of the big kids and tells me about when he is going to play football and soccer and all the things he watches Grey & Elise do. I get to keep him home this year--no preschool. We will see how bored he gets...

Height 37 3/4in (60th%)
Weight 30.6 lbs (40th%)

The quiz:

What is your favorite food?

pears and food

What is your favorite vegetable?

broccoli

What is your favorite fruit?

pears

What is your favorite thing to do?

get lollipops

What are your favorite things to play with?

a basketball

What is your favorite color?

yellow

Who are your best friends?

Colin

What do you like to wear?

Colin's shirt - a bike shirt

What is your favorite sport?

baseball

What do you want to be when you grow up?

a bear -- a daddy bear

What are you really good at doing?

I don't know. I am good at doing workbooks. You are proud of me doing workbooks (he doesn't do workbooks...)

What is something that is hard for you to do?

It's hard for me to open the door to the car

What makes you sad?

a mean bear

What makes you happy?

a happy bear

What makes you mad?

you make me mad mom. when you are a mad bear.

What is your favorite TV show?

Thomas and choo choo trains

What is your favorite book?

A strawberry shortcake book. A bear book.

What is your favorite game?

Go Fish

What is your favorite animal?

My favorite animal is a happy bear

What is your favorite song?

Temple (I Love to see the Temple) I like all of the songs.

What is your favorite thing about mommy?

I like to play diggers with you. You can be a yellow digger and I can be a gray digger.

What is your favorite thing about daddy?

I like wrestling daddy

What do you want for your birthday?

bears and a bear cake

What is the best part about being 3?

being 8. I am a big boy now. I like being big.

The Birthday Party

We had so much going on that I made things nice and easy by combining Elise & Cole's birthday party at the rec center's gymnastics room. So glad they agreed to it. It was a blast.

Harlan, Greyden & Brig in the foam pit that smells like dirty, stinky socks.

 The group getting ready for FUN!

 My dad with Vanessa

 Elise & Addie

 Cole got buried a few times

 Cole & Elise (Cole got the lame three cupcakes with three candles)

Waterworld!

I love our annual birthday Waterworld party with Jared's family. This year I spent a lot of time at the wave pool or in the shade with Vanessa. But no complaints--it was great. I had nightmares for weeks about one of my kids drowning in that wave pool so I made sure Cole had his life vest! Elise & Grey were both so brave and tried scary things. Grey did one of the tall white slides! Elise & I went down the screaming Mimi together and she was scared out of her mind but decided afterwards that she kind of liked it. Thank you again Dean & Joanne for an amazing family birthday celebration.

Jodie & Vanessa

 Cole was so tired and passed out on a chair for a couple of hours

 Brooklynn, Megan, Grandma, Grandpa, Cole

 The birthday crowd -- Dean, Pam, Elise, Cole, Cindy (missing Ryan who was in the wave pool)

 I only had a giant hat for V

My birthday kiddos!

Mountain Escape

We were in Dillon for a long weekend that happened to be on Elise's birthday. We also had our friends join us the last couple of days. They have three kids the same ages as our three oldest. We had so much fun together.

Skipping rocks on the lake

Concert at the amphitheater

Boating on Lake Dillon

There was some strange filter that I can't change that makes Jared look dirty. ha!

 Daddy and his girl

 Two three year olds--so cute

Hiking Lily Pad Lakes

Ethan & Greyden

 Ella & Elise (cutest girls on the trail)

 Daddy & Cole matching

Five going on Sixteen

My sweet Elise is five. Hard to believe how quickly it goes. I felt like her years flew by because she was barely two when Cole was born and we all know where the attention has been since then...

She all of the sudden thinks she is very mature and tries to change diapers, put Cole down for naps and do things on her own that she really shouldn't. It is so funny. She even told me that I could leave her home alone to watch Cole and Vanessa. I wish! Elise is such a pleasure in our home. She has such a sweet heart and loves to give hugs and snuggles to everyone but especially her daddy. She is so helpful and loves to help me cook and bake or do anything for Cole and Vanessa. She is as girly as they come but can also keep up with her brothers and other boys. She is also surprisingly independent which kind of drives me crazy at times but is a fabulous trait. I will tell her something and she will tell me I am wrong. Constantly. Apparently my five year old knows more about the world than I do. She really is like a teenager. haha.

We were in the mountains for her birthday and spent the day swimming at the rec center. She has been wanting to get her ears pierced for a long time so that was the big birthday gift. She had big alligator tears but sat still and dried her eyes as soon as she looked in the mirror at her glittery pink heart earrings. She kept flipping her hair and saying how beautiful she looked. Oh my.

Height 43 ¼ in (70th %)
Weight 37.2 lbs (45th %)

The traditional quiz:

What is your favorite food?

ummm. healthy food. burritos & breakfast burritos

What is your favorite vegetable?

carrots

What is your favorite fruit?

cherries

What is your favorite thing to do?

paint my nails

What are your favorite things to play with?

barbie dolls

What is your favorite color?

gold

Who are your best friends?

Addie & Ryan & Colin

What do you like to wear?

dresses

What is your favorite sport?

tennis

What do you want to be when you grow up?

a mermaid & a princess

What are you really good at doing?

soccer, coloring & painting

What is something that is hard for you to do?

put cole down

What makes you sad?

when somebody hurts me

What makes you happy?

somebody playing with me (like Addie)

What makes you mad?

somebody breaking my toys

What is your favorite TV show?

The Parent Trap

What is your favorite book?

Princesses on the Run

What is your favorite game?

Uno

What is your favorite animal?

cheetah & leopard

What is your favorite song?

All of the Frozen songs

What is your favorite thing about mommy?

going on dates to paint nails

What is your favorite thing about daddy?

going on dates to paint pottery

What do you want for your birthday?

all the Elsa & Anna dresses and shoes from Frozen

What is the best part about being 5?

being able to be by myself with Cole & Vanessa and taking care of them

Mommy G Date

I just LOVE little dates with my kids. Four kids at one time is overwhelming so its nice to have some one-on-one time. I was thrilled Grey picked pottery painting--something I love too. :)

 We obviously did not know where to look...

Children's Museum Fun?

My mom talked me into going to the Children's Museum with her. I have a love/hate relationship with that place. It gives me anxiety and headaches, but the kids love it and always sleep great afterwards!

My mom thinks V hates her. I disagree!

 I can't get enough of these safety glasses

 The fish just weren't biting

4th of July

We had an amazing and intense 4th of July this year. It was our first one away from Wash Park so we are working on starting our new traditions.

We started our day off with lunch & swimming with friends from our ward and stake. There were lots of fun games and contests. Grey caught a frisbee off the diving board. He was pretty proud.

 

Look at these chunky thighs & arms. I LOVE HER!

We then had a BBQ at our house with some old friends.

Then on to fireworks at the Columbine Country Club which were actually pretty awesome. We saw two shows from afar before the show on the lawn started. Nobody cried which I call a success!

 Cole snuggling up to Eve. :)

I get teary when I watch fireworks. I always think of the reason we have them--the way we became a free country. I am grateful for the men and women who still sacrifice for our freedoms. We live in a blessed country.