Story Time

I know these pictures are a little blurry because they came from my phone but I thought it was so cute the other day when Dean decided to read to Julia. He is really great with her and he always asks where she is when she is taking a nap. He asks where she is when he wakes up from his nap and in the morning. He loves giving her hugs and kisses. I think any jealousy he might have felt has gone away.

Elizabeth's Day

Today Elizabeth would have been 3 years old. I feel like time has gone quickly in these past 3 years and our family has already grown so much with Dean and now Julia. We have been so blessed to have them in our home along with Noah. The desire to have Elizabeth with us, to watch her grow and know her will always be there. I am impatient sometimes because I want it now and feel that there is always going to be a missing place no matter how many children we have. I am grateful to have the knowledge of eternal families and that there is a plan for all of us. The love I have for my other children is so strong that even though I miss Elizabeth I can't imagine not having Dean and Julia with us now. I feel that she is our special link to eternity.

Enjoying the Weather

We went to the park earlier this week when the weather was only in the 80's. I felt spoiled because the weather is usually in the 100's by now. Dean and Julia enjoyed just hanging out at the park. We just laid on a blanket under a tree and enjoyed one of the last days of great weather before summer hits. It was wonderful!

Dean and His Toys

Dean does not have a bedroom that he can keep his toys in so we have them all in the family room in storage containers. His sometimes likes to throw all of the toys out of the bins, dump them out and it makes a mess. This past time he did it so he could stack the bins together. He usually makes one big pile of toys and books and then I get to help him clean it up. It is kind of fun to watch him do this because he doesn't even watch where he is putting the toys and he does it so fast. I have been hit a few times.

Noah's Orchestra Concert

Noah had his orchestra concert a couple of weeks ago. He did a great job! There were about 90 students so they were all spread out in the multipurpose room. The 5th and 6th graders would play together and then the 7th and 8th graders. It was hard to keep Dean sitting still as you can see in this first picture he wanted to join in and play. We finally had to take him out and let him play in the halls.

Julia's 1st Swim

Julia went swimming for her first time about 2 weeks ago. We did not have a suit for her yet so we will get more pictures when she is more girly.The water is still colder than we like but it did not bother her.

Julia is 5 months

Julia is 5 months now. She continues to be a joy in our home. The latest things she likes to do are coo, squeal, scream, and just talk her baby talk. I feel like she has so much she wants to tell us but doesn't know how to get it out. She can be pretty loud sometimes but it is cute! She does not like to roll and has only done it twice. She does like belly time and loves taking a bath especially when Dean is there to entertain her. She takes great naps during the day but I am never sure what she will do at night it seems to change from week to week. We love you Julia!

Mother's Day

My wonderful husband bought me these beautiful roses to celebrate mother's day. He also made me brunch after church. The best thing is that he cleaned up the kitchen and the house for me. He knows how to make me happy! I am grateful to be a mother! I am grateful for the example of my wonderful mother! I am also grateful for my mother-in-law! Since we are lucky to have 8 am church it is hard to get the kids going quickly in the morning. I think it was even harder for Dean since he played hard at his party the night before. We tried to make it easier on us by offering him two choices of breakfast in hopes he would move quickly. Julia is usually the easiest to get ready but I am sure that will change as she gets older.
It was fun hearing him say "Happy Mother's Day". They worked on it in nursery. I love being a mother!

Dean's Birthday Party

This past Saturday we had a family party to celebrate Dean's birthday. The weather was warm enough to have a BBQ and let the kids swim. It was a fun time for everyone!He finally got a cake which he picked himself triple chocolate. I don't think he really knew what he was picking.

Thanks for the fun gifts!

Love this Kid!

This is just a random picture of Dean. It was on a Sunday night and we had just gotten home from a family get together. He headed to the back door and just hung out by himself sitting in the pile of dirt.

Shower Time

Dean usually likes showers but he is used to taking them in our bathroom. We have a single shower with a removable head that he can spray himself with. The other day he wanted to take a bath in Noah's bathroom. He was excited until he realized it was not as much fun. As you can see he is sitting as far away from the shower head as he can get. For some reason he likes to sit in the shower.

Ice cream!

I took Dean to get his free ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins the other day. He does not eat ice cream that much but he loves it when he does! I was not sure what flavor to get him so I first had him try the strawberry but he did not like it. He then just randomly pointed at one and the girl at the counter had him try the chocolate with white chocolate. He liked it so that is what he got.

He did not get too messy. I was expecting a lot worse!

Family Pictures

Here are the pictures we got taken over Easter with my family- the Cardon's. The first pictures of our family we got taken a week ago at the same place. Dean did a lot better this time with wanting to take the picture. We didn't have to bribe him.

The Cardon Clan

Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids- Dean had to have the sucker during the pictures to make him somewhat happy. It was supposed to be a treat for the end.

These are all my siblings

The picture above is from oldest to youngest-Christin, Becky, Emily, Andrew, Rachael, Scott

Dean 2 year STATS

Dean went to the doctor today for his 2 year check. He did wonderful! He did not cry or get nervous to have the nurses and doctor touch him. He did not make a peep when he got a shot either. The doctor asked Dean his age and he said "2"-we had been working on this question this past week. Then he asked Dean his name and to my surprise he said "Dean". We have never worked on this so I did not think he would know what to say. The doctor said that Dean is speaking very well for his age. He is using new words and phrases daily. We love this big kid of ours!

Weight: 30lbs 12oz 75 percentile
Height: 37 3/4 inches off the charts

Happy 2nd Birthday Dean!

Our little boy is 2 today. I can't believe how fast time goes. I still remember the joy I felt hearing his cry for the first time. I still get emotional thinking about his birth. Dean is such a good boy and so fun to have around. He is an active boy and has a lot of energy. He still likes to read books, play outside at the park, build with his blocks, color, likes throwing balls, taking baths, showers, goings to nursery, going to Grandma and Grandpa's house, playing with Noah and Julia, going to the library, going on car rides, going to the store, dancing, and he recently started talking on the phone. He is a happy little boy most of the time.These are a few pictures my friend Kim took of Dean
So for Dean's birthday I took him to Krispy Kreme for breakfast to get his free dozen donuts. He did not want to take off his hat to wear the donut hat. For some reason he did not eat the donuts there. He did not like how messy his hands were getting. When we got home he wanted me to cut it up so he could eat it with a fork along with some eggs. He also had a donut for lunch. I gave in since it was his birthday.

We had Dean open a couple of presents. He really liked the books we got him.

We are having a party for him next weekend when Noah is around so I did not feel like making him a cake twice but still wanted him to blow out candles. Instead he got to have pudding. I had to help him blow the candles out but he enjoyed us singing to him.

These are just some pictures I took the other day. Dean loves the camera! I love taking pictures of him! He has been into stickers lately and put one on his head. He thought it was funny. We love you Dean!