Sweet Necessities

Albert was sweet enough to give me a pedicure since I can hardly reach my toes any more. He clipped the toenails and then even painted them! I had him just use clear polish so it would be a little easier. He did such a great job and I feel so much better about my toes now. I explained to him how much money he was saving us since I didn't have to go pay for a pedicure and he replied that he wasn't doing this for free. (:

Look Who's 5!

We have a BIG 5 year old!

Silly String--you should have seen our yard when they were through!

Silly String! Instant Fun!

Gavin wanted a Bakugan cake and he wanted graduating layers so this was the best I could do under the circumstances. He LOVED it!


Bounce House Slide

Look at these HUGE boxing gloves!

Bounce House Fun--Pirate Ship

Star Wars "Force Unleashed" Light Saber!! Only the coolest light saber ever! Five year olds are pleasantly easy to please. (:

Daddy's home so... Present Time!

Gavin, Jace, and Linnea

I can't believe that Gavin is five years old already! He is so much fun and we're so glad that he's in our family.

Interview With Gavin

1. Favorite color: brown and blue

2. Favorite Movie: Star Wars

3. What do you want to be when you grow up? A real Jedi Knight! And when I grow up I want to go scuba diving!

4. Favorite thing to do: play the playstation and Wii, play with new toys, ride my bike, look through tide pools for crabs and sea stars.

5. Favorite Food: cookies, bananas, "pepperoni and cheese pizza but I like to take off the pepperoni and the cheese."

6. Something new I want to do when I'm five: "I want to go ice skating!"

7. Favorite places to go: "Aquarium, the museum to learn stuff, buying bakugans at Target"

8. Favorite People: "Mom, Linnea, Dad, Jacen"

9. If you could be an animal, what kind of animal would you be: "A big elephant!"

26 weeks Pregnancy Update

6 1/2 months! I feel like I'm at the stage where I feel absolutely huge (I am actually measuring 4 weeks past where I should be!) but I still have such a long way to go. I am excitedly anticipating the arrival of this baby but it still seems a long way off and I'm really uncomfortable. I'm trying to make the best of it because I know it will get worse before it gets better. I'm hoping I don't have a huge baby like the last time--I worry about that. Linnea's seven pounds was much easier to push out than Gavin's nearly 10 pounds. I am so grateful for my family and the help they have been in helping me more around the house. We'll get through this!

Watch Out! Teenager in the House!

We have a thirteen year old! Yikes! Actually, it has felt like we've had a teenager in the house for a while but now it is official. (: Jacen turned thirteen and we celebrated with dinner at Chili's restaurant with Marilyn, Grampa Neufeld, and Tera and Jared's family. Afterward we came back home for lemon cake and presents. Next week he will celebrate some more with a friends party at the movie theater. Sometimes it seems so strange to me to have a teenager when I still sometimes feel like one myself! (: I was remembering recently what it was like when Jacen was five because I came across a little piece of paper I had written down some questions and how he answered them. Remember, he was five.

1. What do you want to be when you grow up? An astronaut, a daddy and someone who fixes things.

2. What is your favorite animal? A bat--I would like to be a bat because I would like to be nocturnal.

3. What are your favorite colors? Blue and black.

4. What do you like best about school? Recess.

5. What is your favorite thing to do? Go to the aquarium with Mommy.

I have loved watching Jacen grow up and am so glad that he is a part of my life. He is a sensitive and good young man and contributes so much to our family. I know that he'll just continue to grow and mature into someone I will continue to be proud of. We love him so much.

(And now, on that thought I'm going to go wrestle him down and drag him to get a haircut! )

Pregnancy Pilates?

Okay... have any of you tried pilates and yoga while pregnant? Today it is raining and so I couldn't do my usual walking outside and I really wanted to get in some exercise. My joints feel SO loose and out of wack--I didn't think it would be a good idea to do weight lifting. So, I decided to do a little yoga and pilates. I don't have any dvd's especially for pregnancy so I realized that I wouldn't be able to do everything but I was determined to try. I actually surprised myself that I could actually do some poses like Pigeon. I laughed outloud while the instructor said things like, "Really scoop to create your flat belly!" Yah right! And "Let's work on that waistline." What waistline? Anyway, I feel pretty good for now but let's hope that I can move the rest of the day. I'd love to hear if any of you have tried this stuff.

Point Lobos

We had a perfect sunny Saturday a couple of weeks ago and Linnea, Gavin and I hopped into the car to make the short 15 minute drive past Carmel to Point Lobos National Park. It is simply beautiful there and especially on such a perfect day! We went on a hike and the picture above is the view down into China Lake Beach from our hiking trail. You can see a cave near the top of the picture. That is the cave the kids are standing in in the picture below. Very exciting! The beach is so picturesque!

A nice couple down exploring the beach took this picture of the three of us. The water here is unusually clear--the picture just doesn't do justice.

A tiny cave the kids found and crawled in. Thank goodness some sort of animal wasn't using it for a home!

This is only half of the stairway to go from the beach back up to the hiking trail! On the way up, Gavin exclaimed, "Mom! I can feel my heart!" Thank goodness we have good hearts!

This was taken a little further on down the trail near Bird's Rock.

I'm so grateful for this amazingly beautiful place that we live and the opportunities I have to share my time with my children. God created a beautiful planet for us.

Time with Grama

Grama came to visit and we enjoyed taking her for a little walk with us to Asilimar Beach--one of our favorite activities to do on a Sunday afternoon. After sitting in church all day, we just have to get out and stretch our legs for a bit! It was a perfect sunny day and we enjoyed spending time with Grama.

Skaterboy

Albert and I decided to give Gavin a skateboard for his birthday, which is next month, but Albert just couldn't wait. So here is our little skaterboy all rearin' to go. He practiced a little inside on the rug while he watched the instructional dvd several times before taking it outside.
He loves this crazy dragon picture. Linnea does not.

After a while Gavin took it outside to practice his moves on the concrete. He still has a lot of practicing to do but eventually he wants to be ready to take it to the skate park!

Happy 4th Birthday Dallin!

Jacen, Linnea, Dallin and Maila

Tera made a cute race car cake that tasted as good as it is cute!

Gavin, Maila, Me and Grampa Neufeld

The boys: Dallin, Gavin and Carter

Great Grampa Neufeld, Jace, Linnea, Dallin and Maila

A name ...

I think we have a name... Micah Beckham. Micah is a biblical prophet and means "gift from God" or "like Jehovah". It can be a unisex name but is used most prevalent as a boy's name. (Which was an issue because two of my family members thought it sounded feminine and that kind of worried me. So I did my research into it.) I can't find any meaning for Beckham but it is simply a name that Albert really, really wanted. This baby is moving like a little soccer player in me so perhaps it will fit accordingly. (Like David Beckham--L.A. Galaxy's soccer star soccer player from the U.K.) He had wanted to name Gavin Beckham but that didn't happen so he insisted that this baby get it. I think they go cute together. Tell me what you think and what associations do you make with the name?