it's official

The dashing guy in the suit? Oh, well that is my husband! A few weeks ago there was a sale and a coupon that caused us to go shopping. Chad needed a suit for the upcoming residency interview season. The plan was to not let this suit see the light of day unless he was interviewing until they were all over. That plan changed when shortly there after he was called to be in the bishopric of our ward. We had been speculating with the rest of the ward about who the new councilor would be. We had it wrong. Because Chad would now need to be a High Priest to fulfill his calling we were able to get Chad's dad out for a short visit to ordain him! As another bonus to the situation, the weekend that Dad Williams was able to come out was also the weekend that a special Stake Conference was called. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the quorum of the twelve apostles, and Elder Cook of the seventy came and spoke to us. At the end, Elder Chistofferson invited all of the youth and children to come shake his hand. Chad and I took Aimee and Porter up, which meant that we too got to meet a prophet, seer, and revelator of God. It has been a big weekend so far! We also know that there will be a lot of crazy weekends to come, but I for one am grateful. Just before the former 1st councilor was released, I was talking to his wife. She said she was a little nervous for the release because their family has been so blest. As we are preparing for the next phase in our lives, residency, we can use all of the blessing we can get. Chad is a worthy Priesthood holder, and an amazing father and husband, and will do a great job. I am so grateful that our family will have this opportunity to learn and grow!

lately

While so many of our friends here finished the school year, and have since graduated or started a new summer schedule, Chad is still just plugging along. The only things that have really changed are the kiddos (mostly just Pratt), the weather, and that most of our weekly activities have ended for the summer. We have enjoyed some odds and ends kind of fun for the last couple of weeks. This picture is Chad reading about 10 books to all three kids. It was pretty impressive!

This was the Mother's Day cake Chad made me this year. It didn't turn out quite like he planned with the word MOM covered in fondant and standing up. I had to console myself that it tasted good since it cost me my kitchen aid pasta roller attachment. Hopefully next year is...simpler?

Chad spent last Saturday trying to get his tiller running again. It got left out in a torrential rain, and stopped working. Aimee loves all things Daddy or outside. This was a double win for her!

Our friends that Gillettes hosted a birthday party for their son Teague at a jumping place called Bounce-U. The kids and adults had a great time. We challenged and beat the Gillettes in an obstacle course blow up, and Chad and our friend Cal had a fun little boxing match. I also boxed his wife Mandy, but it wasn't as much fun to watch as the guys!

I only wish I could have had a video of Porter scaling the stairs to get to the top of this. His little legs had to really stretch and work to make it all the way up!

two months

Pratt had his official two month well-check last week. While Pratt didn't love getting three shots and an oral vaccine, I enjoyed seeing how much he has grown. It was especially nice since my friend volunteered to watch Aimee and Porter so that I could go with just the man of the hour. His official stats were 10 pounds 14 ounces (28th percentile, a record for us!) and 23 inches long. I watched the nurse measure my little guy and noticed how generous she was. The measurement put Pratt in the 51st percentile for height. Since this is the first time we have really been able to claim having an average sized child I didn't ask her to re-measure. Pratt is average! He has, after all, graduated from getting a bath in the kitchen sink, to having tubby time with his big sister and brother. In the last month he has also started smiling, laughing, cooing and talking a lot. He loves to hold Aimee's hand and is a great sleeper! Right now he is up to 10 hours a night! I love having a tiny future missionary to get ready for church each week as well! Pratt is such a peaceful and content little guy. Despite all of the things that must be done for a new baby, life has some how gotten easier with him around. He is such a joy in our home and we have lovedthe changes that have come having him as a part of our family.

easter

Our Easter this year was awesome! As much as it hurts my heart that my kiddos are getting so big, it comes with a lot of fun action. We started with the annual egg coloring the FHE before the big day. Chad and I did all of the dying. We even tried a new trick with oil in the water to make them speckled. It was pretty cool. But, once again we busted out the acrylic paint and brushes, since it is something that Aimee and Porter can do, which meant that very little of the dye job was visible. Every year we sort of have a goal egg. Last year it had the score Chad was shooting for on his step one boards. This year it has the name of the residency we are hoping for most at this point: Banner Ortho (Banner Good Samaritan Orthopedic Residency). Later in the week I took the kids to the mall to meet the Easter Bunny. Strangely enough, Aimee made Porter go get her prize from him. Once they both knew who and what he was, Chad and and I would try to get them excited by saying that he would come to our house and hide our eggs. To this Porter would say, "get him. Tie him up!"

Saturday was kind of cold. It was a bummer because that is the day of the annual Village Green egg hunt. Aimee and Porter were in two separate age divisions so Chad and I split up. Once they finally yelled go it was a swarm of mini people. As outgoing as Aimee is, she gets intimidated in a busy crowd. With that said, she didn't do quite as well as Porter in how many eggs she collected. Plus, her area was empty in about a minute flat. That was fine though because that meant we could go watch Porter. Since his group was much slower, it was lots more fun to see all of these little toddlers managing to find, pick up, and put their eggs in their baskets! It worked out great though, because we just combined all of their candy. Plus, Aimee got a second chance at her first Primary activity later that afternoon! Chad also did a fantastic job before the VG hunt and when we colored eggs explaining what eggs had to do with Easter.

Sunday we started the day with a French toad in the hole for breakfast before getting all dressed up in new Easter clothes. I have had these little outfits hanging in the closet for over a year now. Porters clothes were size 2. Right now he is wearing mostly 12 month clothes, but I decided to try them on him anyway. As it turns out the pants were a little too big, but the shirt and vest were too small. I think they must have been mislabeled. Chad even cut up an old tie that matched the vest and tied it for him. Then he pinned his pants to his shirt so he could wear the outfit even with the size issues. He looked like he was wearing a little zuit suit, and it was adorable! Aimee fit perfectly in her dress, and of course looked beautiful! While we didn't catch and tie up the Easter Bunny, the kids did go find all of our hard boiled eggs that he hid after naps. That hunt last a lot longer since Chad re hides the eggs until they start to slow down.

It was a lot of fun to enjoy the festivities of the holiday, but for me the highlight of the day was Sacrament meeting. There was beautiful music and amazing talks, and of course the sacrament its self. I was so grateful for the sweet Spirit that was there, and the opportunity to remember my Savior and all that is possible through him. Truly, we are blessed!

tidbits

This first picture happens pretty often. As Chad heads out the door each morning he grabs his stethoscope. Then, as a way to delay his departure, Aimee tells him that she needs to listen to his heart. Of course then Porter needs in on the action.


This picture of Pratt in the doll stroller had to be taken since this happened a lot with Porter. Porter does most of the pushing of it now, and since he isn't as interested in playing house, Pratt has only had one ride. Lucky!

This last picture is Aimee and Porter "having dinner" before church the other week. Funny story: My neighbor had her little baby boy just two weeks before Pratt. While her mom was in town helping out she gave the new baby a tiny little argyle sweater vest for church. Her little girl, who is two got concerned and told her mom that the sweater was Porters. I thought it was so funny that such a little person associated argyle sweaters with Porter!

gardening

For this time of year, last weekend was a scorcher here! Chad had originally planned to spend the entire day studying, but couldn't resist a little time out in his garden. Knowing how busy he would be for the next two weeks, he decided to include Aimee and Porter in the project so he could spend some time with them. It was semi-successful. They both made it through round one. By round two, Porter managed to stick with it long enough for me to get a little video, but Aimee had lost all interest. She did, however, enjoy the frog that Chad caught while working in the dirt. Honestly as a kid I hated when my dad forced us all to go help plant the garden, and then followed up by making us weed. Yard work just isn't the out to me that is is to Chad. Either way, I love how he brought the kiddos in on it. Those two adore their daddy, and Chad reciprocates that adoration. He is so in love with his family! I feel so blessed to have such a handsome husband who works so hard to make his family #1, especially when it would be so easy to put us on the back burner. I love this time in our life and sometimes find myself dreading moving on to the next phase. How could life possibly be as wonderful as it is now!

six weeks

Yesterday Pratt was officially six weeks old! It is amazing to me how those nine months that you carry your baby drag, but then time seems to just run away once they are here. These pictures are of Pratt when he was just eight days old. I had a hard time narrowing it down to just six pictures to post! He has already changed so much. In fact, the last time he was weighed was a week ago, and he was up to eight and a half pounds, and now has a small double chin! While that weight may not seem like much to some people, it is a record for us! We tend to grow very small people. That means he has put on 2 pounds since coming home from the hospital! Part of this may be due to all of the pumping I have had to do to keep him fed, since nursing him has been quite a challenge. With that one exception in mind, he has been an absolute joy! My mom used to tell me how I was her easiest baby. Well, so far, Pratt is definitely mine! If he is full and clean he is pretty much a happy little guy. He has almost just slipped right into our family, like he was always here. We love this little guy so much, and his sweet, patient little spirit has been such a blessing to us!