Baby Lukas is HERE!!!

It all started out innocently enough. We got up on a warm sunny autumn morning waiting for the call from the hospital.
Came in at around 0845 and got things going at around 0945 am. I look comfortable but for some of it I really wasn't...
The labor progressed really fast. Even much faster than with my other two. By 1245 pm I was ready to push but we were waiting for Alex to come in from school as he wanted to be there for the delivery.
His reaction was priceless. He witnessed such a miracle (standing at the top of the bed and holding my hand)- the birth of his baby brother.
Lukas Paul was born on September 28th, 2011 at 1312 (1:12 pm), weighing 6 lbs 14 oz and measuring 20.5 inches long. Our biggest baby yet!
Happy mama with a (hopefully) happy baby.
Alex was so excited that he got to be there and watch Lukas being born!
Mama and papa with the new addition to our family.
Now the whole family is here! And then there were five...
Baba Gala is also very excited to add yet another baby boy to her growing collection of grandkids.
Three generations.
Happy big brothers.
Alex is such a good big brother. He's very good with babies!
Nicholas is sizing up his new competition.
First bath is about to happen.
Papa did a great job bathing Lukas. Lukas didn't think it was that funny.
The man got some real nice head of hair! Must be coming from my side of the family :)
Once again, the whole family is now together!
The three brothers. I honestly can't believe we have 3 kids now. Who would have ever thought???!!!
Welcome to the family, baby Lukas. Please know that you will always be loved and cared for. You have amazing big brothers and loving parents.

The world is yours!

Alex's first day of 2nd grade

Alex started 2nd grade this year. I can hardly believe it! He's so grown up!


His school is brand new this year. The construction on it was finished this summer and it was very exciting to see the new building and the much improved drop off/pick up zone, as well as parking :)

Alex's new classroom is very bright and spacious. It makes a big difference to be able to learn in a brand new classroom in such a beautiful building.

Alex is very smart. He's really good at math and he's way beyond his grade at reading. He can read pretty much anything and he reads fast, too.

Looks like some of the old friends are back!

We're so proud of Alex for being such a good student. Good luck, Alex, in this new school year. I know you'll do great, like always!

Summer 2011; it went by way too fast...

Wow, this summer has gone by fast. I wonder if it has something to do with me working full time, being pregnant, and juggling family and household... Either way, despite all of the above, we were able to spend some fun quality times together this summer. I took kids to Tracy Aviary and the Liberty Park one day. Nicholas really enjoyed the water and we had a hard time trying to get him away from that.

The only thing that convinced him to stop crying was a promise of cool birds, so we took him to the Tracy Aviary. I've never been there before and it was really cool. Lots of different birds and kids seemed to enjoy it.

Soon after that it was Alex's turn to have a birthday. He invited a bunch of his friends to the Boondocks Fun Center to celebrate his 7th (yes, believe it baby) birthday.

He had lots of fun, great food, a yummy cake and many laughs.

One happy boy!


Nicholas loved the car racing; we didn't even have to put any money in it :)
So did the older boys; on the contrary, money had to be spent there... :)
Alex and his friends enjoyed some real car racing while the grown ups were stuck inside.

On Alex's real birthday, June 28th, I took time off work and we went to the zoo with some of his cousins and his friend Nicholas.



It was a very hot day so we just had to have some ice cream...

Baby elephant is already huge this year, even thought she still looks like a baby.
Ok, this picture of Bessie I just love. She has nothing to do with how we spent our summer, but I had to put it in here. She is a gorgeous cat!
On the Independence Day weekend we went to the canyon with some friends to have a nice picnic.
Looks like Nicholas has his choice of girlfriends :)



The water in the river was very high and the fast currents really fascinated the kids who kept throwing rocks and sticks in there. At least it entertained them for a while (under adult supervision, of course).

Nicholas really loves the cat and she seems to not mind it, which is unusual for her. They have a special connection.
My garden was beautiful this year. I was especially pleased with my clematises which were huge and bloomed A LOT.
Alex was happy for the big harvest of peas we had. He could eat them all day long and not get tired of them.
We've also observed some really cool sunsets this summer. I noticed that if you pay attention, you just might see some miracle in nature that you otherwise would've missed have you not been there to "stop and smell the roses".
No matter how busy we get in life, it is very important to slow down and appreciate what nature gives us.
We also lost another tooth, so it is 3 total now. Wow, I can't believe how fast my older boy is growing up!
Another gorgeous sunset in our front yard.
The black currant bush really surprised us this year with a huge harvest of berries.
Our tomatoes and cucumbers also did really well. As usual, my tomatoes are taller than 6 feet which is very weird, they must be some sort of atomic plants, even though they're grown organically...
Next blog will be about our trips to Bear Lake and Yellowstone.

Stay tuned!