Lydia's Photo Shoot

I can't believe that Lydia is already five weeks old! A friend took these cute pictures of her and I thought I'd share...

Thanks for the cute pictures Carrie!

Dinner at the River

We took our first trip to the river as a family of six tonight. The boys rode their bikes and I pushed the girls in the double stroller. We found a good place to stop for dinner and then play in the water. It was so great to get outside and enjoy the summer weather! We weren't quite prepared, though. We didn't bring swimsuits but, as you can see from the pictures, that didn't stop the kids from getting soaked!

Lydia did pretty well in the stroller, but she didn't love the heat!

 You can't tell from the picture, but she was a very sweaty baby!

 By the end, Abby was so soaked we to strip her down to her diaper! She had a great time!



Lydia's Blessing Day

Today is Father's Day, but the bigger event at our house is Lydia's Blessing Day! It is kind of cool to have them both be on the same day because that also means that both of our dad's are with us to celebrate!

Here's Daddy and Abby getting Lydia dressed, Abby LOVES to help!

After church we had a friend take a picture (my parents had already left). Believe it or not, this is the best shot of the group! The kids (and the bright sun) were not cooperating very well...

Here's our family!

After church we went to my parent's house for a big family dinner. While we were there we took some more pictures of Lydia in her blessing dress. This dress is very special because it was my blessing dress that my Aunt Nancy (my mom's sister) made from the leftover material from my mom's wedding dress! The blanket that Lydia is laying on was made for her by Aunt Nancy also. I love the family connections that they represent!

A few more shots of Lydia with her grandparents...

  And, of course, no trip to G&G Olson's house during the Summer would be complete without a ride on Grandpa's "tractor". The kids love it, and I'm pretty sure that Grandpa does too!

Our baby girl is finally here! Lydia Ann was born Tuesday May 29th at 1:15. She weighed 10 lbs 7 oz at birth!! She outweighed our next biggest baby, Andrew, by 2 full pounds! She is so chubby and cute! Here are some pictures from the big day...

That evening, Grandma and Grandpa brought the other kids in to meet their new baby sister. They were pretty excited, especially Abby!

I'm so grateful to have her here safe and sound and healthy! What a blessing!!

Breakfast with Daddy!

Joe's been out of town all week and got home late last night, long after the kids were already in bed. As a surprise, he agreed to take to the kids to the school's all-you-can-eat fundraiser breakfast at Applebee's before soccer games. They were very excited! Here are some cute pictures from the breakfast...

They had a great time with daddy, it was a nice treat to get to spend that much time with him and doing something fun! This time of year is hard with Joe's work schedule, they don't get to see him much. I appreciate so much how he takes time to spend with them when he can, what a great daddy!

Easter Baskets

This year the Easter Bunny stopped by our house a day early, so when the kids woke up Saturday morning they found a surprise waiting for them! There was a trail of candy leading from each of the bedrooms to a big basket in the living room. That basket was for the whole family and was full of arts and crafts supplies. (The Easter Bunny must know how much we love to make a mess...er...I mean...do craft projects!) There was also one easter egg for each of the kids which had a clue telling where they could go to find their own basket. The boys had to follow a series of clues that took them throughout the house, garage, and backyard until they finally found their baskets. Here are some of the places they found eggs...

...in the freezer...

 ...and in silverware drawer.

Finally, Andrew found his basket under the grill...

...and Sam's was in Daddy's car!

Abby's search was a little easier, she only had one clue that led her right to her basket.

 Each of the kids got a new umbrella with their basket...

It was a fun morning and got the kids all warmed up for the egg hunt later that day!