Trent's Announcement

Here is Trent's announcement! Our friend Bekah took the pics and my friend Kristy designed the card. Thanks so much you guys--I LOVE IT!


Also, here are a few more of my favorite pics from the photo session:



We are just loving this little guy to bits :)!

Father's Day?

So, I haven't been shy about the fact that 3 kids has been a little crazy for me, case and point: I could have sworn "Father's Day" was today instead of last Sunday. Where have I been? I haven't been to the grocery store very much lately and when I do go it is so chaotic that I failed to see all the signs that are posted stating that "Father's Day" was the 15th. I don't watch commercials (any TV I watch has been TiVoed) and, to say in the least, I have been distracted a bit :).

I, actually, did find out that "Father's Day" was, in fact, on the 15th last Saturday (the 14th.) I proceeded to call my dad and let him know that he wouldn't be receiving a card from me in the mail before the holiday and then sent Matt to the store to purchase a card for Gary (thankfully, we were in Cedar last week so Gary got a card on time.)

The morning of the 15th, I had forgotten again and didn't remember until the day was half over. Matt is such a trooper--he didn't complain at all. I felt so bad (and still do) so I sent my dad a card this week and, in our house, we are celebrating "Father's Day" today.

Wade made Matt a darling picture, Matt got a well-deserved and needed nap and I made cupcakes (Matt's favorite.) Pretty simple, we usually don't do a lot, but I did want to publicly thank the three fathers closest to my heart: Matt, Gary and my dad.

Matt is a wonderful father to our boys and I feel so blessed to be married to someone who loves and values his children so much. They love and adore him with all their heart!

Gary is a fantastic father, father-in-law and grandpa. Full of support and love, we can always count on him for anything. We are so blessed to have Gary in our lives. My boys love him so much.

Last, but not least, my dad. I have said many times how much I love my dad. I am blessed to have a father who loves and cares for me and my family as much as he does. My dad helped pave the path for the husband I wanted to marry.

My dad has always been so loving and involved with my life, I knew I could never marry anyone who didn't value his children as much as my dad did and still does. I have already blogged about how incredible my dad was when we lost my mom and that act remains extremely important to me and has shaped the person I am today.

My dad is, also, an incredible Ampa. My boys LOVE when Ampa comes to town because they know they are in for mischief, shenanigans and fun!

Happy (belated) Father's Day to those special dads in my life! I love you!!

Roper Rendezvous’

We have been SUPER busy these past couple of weeks. I have yet to feel "normal" and back into things, but each day gets a little better and we are all adjusting pretty well.

A couple of weeks ago, we got a visit from "SUPER NANNY." Well, at least she was super nanny to us. My sister-in-law, Marlene, came to town to get some dental work done, but what she REALLY did was save my life :)!

Mar is a kindergarten teacher and was filled with several ideas to help control my out-of-control :) kids--especially Wade! 3 has been pretty crazy for me and the biggest challenge has been entertaining my older 2 and keeping them from seeing how far they can"push the limits" before we send them to timeout.

She created a "Wade is the Bomb" sticker chart and it has worked like a charm. He is awarded stickers for every hour he behaves. If he is sent to timeout during the hour (after receiving 3 strikes) he doesn't get a sticker. If he gets 10 stickers in one day then he gets a reward of his choice (which is usually playing the Wii!)

Wade loves this system and is so excited to put his stickers on his chart. The first few days, he carried the chart around with him and even fell asleep with it:

Hopefully this will get us through the summer!

Some of the other activities Mar did with the boys were watercolors, slip-in-slide, walks, dancing and singing to CD's and reading books. She is a wonderful Aunt and we were all sad to see her go!



A couple of days after Mar left, we headed up to Cedar City to celebrate Gary and Shirley's 50th wedding anniversary! It was a pretty good drive up and back. Trent was fabulous (thank
goodness) and it was WONDERFUL being in one of our favorite places on Earth!

Most of Matt's family was there and we spent our days visiting and hanging out. My boys were in Heaven as they ran free and wild with their cousins. It wore us all out--even baby Trent :).
We were able to get family pictures on our sacred :) SUU campus. The boys loved running around and playing on the grassy hills.




We had such a great time. We ALWAYS love to be with Matt's family and feel so blessed to be close with them. They LOVED seeing all of our boys, but some of them met Trent for the first time and had a ball holding and snuggling with him! He is such a sweet boy and LOVES to be held.

Congratulations to Gary and Shirley. They are wonderful couple and such an amazing example to Matt and I of a good marriage. They are also fantastic parents and grandparents. We love them so much!
Finally, today, Trent had his 1 month well-check. Time is flying! Our little guy LOVES to eat and is weighing in at 10.1 lbs and is 21 inches. His weight puts him in the 54th percentile. He is gaining fast and we are excited to see what next month will bring.

This is a pic of him asleep on the couch. He zonked out after his immunization and looked oh, so comfortable:

So far he loves his bath time and, like I said, to be held. He also likes his binky, but still has a hard time holding it in on his own.

Matt's mom swore he smiled at her this past weekend, but he has yet to smile at Matt or I. The doc said he would be smiling and laughing all the time soon--that is always so much fun! He has been focusing in on our faces a lot better and has more "awake time" everyday. We are so happy he is here and look forward to the many milestones that are soon to come.

The End

Well, it is, officially, summer now. Even though my kids aren't in school, it is still the end of any and all activities for a few months.

This past week, my boys finished up swimming lessons with "Miss-a-Pam" (which is what they called their teacher.) They learned a lot. It was Seth's first year of lessons and Wade's third. Despite a couple of "cold" days and helping Seth to get over crying the entire lesson :), it all worked out really great.

Wade, also completed another successful soccer season. He still loves to play and we are excited for him.
They had their "end-of-season" party at a local pizzeria--it was a lot of fun for all of us (gotta LOVE pizza!)
Finally, it was "the end" of my little, Seth's curls. We HAD to cut his hair and I mean REALLY cut it. It had become way to straggly and we decided it was the only choice we had.

It was REALLY hard for me to make this decision. As Matt and I were driving to get his hair cut, I, actually, asked him if he was nervous for Seth. He looked at me like I was crazy (which, admittedly, I kind of am--I just gave birth:)) and of course said, "no, I am not nervous."

It all turned out fine and on a bright note, it grows fast and I fully intend on letting it grow back into the style it was before we cut it. In the meantime, I think he still looks darling :).
Before:


After:

Now our challenge is going to be finding things to keep us all busy. Without the gym, I feel lost and my boys' schedules are all crazy now. Wish us luck...:)

Just for fun, here are a couple of my latest favorite pics of Trent: