Movie night

Sunday night Brent thought it would be fun to let the boys eat some popcorn, watch a movie, and then hopefully crash on the front room floor. He went 2 for 3. They ate the popcorn, watched the entire movie, and never did crash! I finally put Corbin in his bed at about 11:00 and I guess Bridger did crash about 11:30 or so (I went to bed when Reagan finally fell asleep). They had fun and loved having their blankets and pillows to watch the movie.

Working

With Grandpa.
Corbin taking his turn helping my dad spread the gravel in the drive way.

Saying goodbye

Grandma and Grandpa Hamblin moved to the Boise area on Saturday. We went to my mom and dad's to see them one last time before they left and took some pictures. The boys love Great-Grandma and Grandpa and have a special bond with them because of the time they spent in Evanston last winter. My favorite part of the night was Grandpa asking to hold Reagan and then her just snuggling up to him and going to sleep. He was so happy that she was so content with him. It was cute.
Corbin wasn't too interested in sitting still for any sort of picture, but at least we tried. I want them to know that even though they may not remember their great-grandparents one day, they did know them. We're sad that they are so far away now, but it is by far the best possible situation for them.


PS. Don't mind that I don't have any make-up on...it was one of those kinds of days.

Life is rough

When you're 3!
Bridger's nap taking position of choice.

One month old

Its hard to believe that our little missy is one month old (as of Sunday). These pictures are from Thursday when she was 4 weeks old.

I feel like I'm finally getting back into the swing of every day life. She is sleeping for about 4-5 hours at a time during the night which is really nice. I have let myself sleep in until the boys wake me up every morning so I am feeling pretty well rested, as well, these days. I can't complain.

For the first little while I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water and just surviving. Luckily we're starting to move beyond that point! I thought for sure I was prepared for a newborn because it didn't feel like it had been that long since Corbin was a baby. I think that is what totally threw me off. I didn't realize how good I had it with Corbin. Not that Reagan is bad, she just isn't quite the napper/sleeper/content to lay there baby that Corbin was. It took some adjusting of my attitude before I was ok with that. I finally came to the conclusion that 6wks-3 months of my life isn't that big of a sacrifice to make sure that she is taken care of and well adjusted. Since I decided this life has been much better.

We sure love our little sister. The boys have so much fun playing with her and making sure that she is happy. When she starts crying Bridger will say "Mom, hers is crying and I don't like that sound". She is starting to respond to us a little bit and almost smiles (she smiles {and even laughs} in her sleep all the time, its cute) when we talk to her.

Photoshop...

...is a beautiful thing!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I used some PW Actions to transform these pictures. I love them (the actions and pictures).

Reagan's blessing

We blessed Reagan yesterday. Everything about it was perfect. She looked s cute in her dress, didn't fuss during Sacrament meeting-at all, we had lots of support from family and friends, and there was plenty of food at the dinner after. We couldn't ask for much more!

Reagan's dress is special to me because my mom was blessed in it, and then I was, and now she was. Three generations in one dress isn't too bad! Brent's grandma Welling fixed it up so it fit her and his aunt Jill made the beautiful blanket she is laying on.

Corbin wanted in on the picture taking.

All three Lake kids ready for church!

Whew, we made it. Nothing like trying to take a little family picture in the Wyoming wind! Its the best we could do.

We had a dinner after the blessing at the Beeman building. I think it went pretty well.
Thanks everyone for coming and sharing this day with us. I'm sure Reagan will apprecate it when she looks back at the pictures some day!

Happy Halloween 2009

Halloween was a success once again this year.
I wasn't sure if I was going to get the kids into costumes without a fight, but it all worked out pretty well and by the end Corbin loved his.

Costumes: 2009 style

Bridger the football kid (his description, not ours)

Corbin as a lost boy from Peter Pan aka and Indian. Funny story. When we walked into Grandma Welling's house Caleb Welling said "Look a lost boy, a lost boy from Peter Pan". I thought it was pretty clever and wished I had thought of it!

Reagan was going to be a witch, then we couldn't find a hat, and her onsie and tights were too big and the skirt was a little small...what can you do. We had to get some pictures. At least her headband was cute!


Let the festivities begin!

We first went trick-or-treating in downtown Evanston on Friday afternoon.
Here is our crew:
Braxton-Captain Hook, Cambree-Minnie Mouse, Bridger-football kid, Dallin-Dragon, Corbin-the lost boy

Then it was off to Grandma Welling's party. Here are some of the kids who dressed up. They all looked so cute.

After all the soup and doughnut goodness we could handle we headed home to carve our pumpkins. Yeah, not something that should be started at 8:30 pm...
The boys had fun for the most part.

Bridger scoops while Corbin consults the pattern.
Makes it look like they helped a lot, doesn't it?!

They really had fun and loved seeing the pumpkins all lit up.

Saturday-the real holiday-we headed over to Mtn. View to see my parents for a while. When we got home we did some more trick-or-treating to family around Evanston. We were home by about 6:30 to greet our 5 trick-or-treaters. It was a great Halloween.

Eating wild game and other random stuff.

Brent got an elk while he was hunting a couple of weeks ago. He took it to the meat processing place and had to get some hamburger and steaks (he also got the jerky and sausage that he wanted). I was less than thrilled because I am not a fan of wild meat. I figured if we have this much hamburger in our freezer (and Susan's) that we should probably use it. I made chili last night with elk burger and you know what? I couldn't even tell the difference.

I thought that I would lay Reagan on the floor to let her stretch out a bit. The boys love that they can get so close to her. It is so fun to watch them interact with each other and to see how the boys show their affection in different ways. Bridger is older so he knows a little bit more to be gentle and not poke her eyes. Corbin likes to be as close to her as physically possible. Cracks me up. Reagan tolerates it well, for the most part.

Three weeks today. She is more alert and awake every day. I ordered a swing the other day to hopefully cure her of her need to be held constantly and to save my sanity! I think the boys feel neglected because I am constantly holding Reagan. If I put her down then she screams after a couple of minutes and the boys don't like that either. Its a no win situation for them!

Last night I thought the boys might like a little craft time. The original plan was to put cotton balls on the paper. When Corbin started ripping his off I thought it looked better. So that is what we did. Put glue stick all over the ghost and then dabbed a cotton ball on it. The cotton that got stuck is what makes the ghost. Pretty clever. Thanks to a 20 month old who likes to peel things off of stuff! You can also see Bridger's attempt at writing his name. He is very into learning his letters and how to write his name. He refuses any help from me. Not too bad for a 3 yr old that has had no formal training!

Stay tuned for the 2009 edition of Halloween costumes. Hopefully everyone cooperates.

Just life

The boys were dying to get this whole little city out. Wouldn't you know it took so long to set up that they lost interest...for the most part. Occasionally they would drive a car or two around it. Looks like something good was on the t.v. at this moment.

Visiting in Green River

My grandparents are moving to the Boise ID area in a couple of weeks. We wanted them to get a chance to meet Reagan, so we drove over the other night. The boys love Great Grandma and Grandpa Hamblin and Reagan seemed to like them too! We will miss having them so close, but it is for the best that they move. I'm not sure that Grandma even knew who we really were. After we had been there a while she said, "well, I better get Dale so we can go home". It's sad to see her like this.

The boys still love their little sister. Corbin is getting a little more brave around her every day. Today involved touching her hair and trying to "beep" her nose. I think we'll have to watch him a little closer from now on!

All ready for church. Yes. We went to Sacrament meeting on Sunday. Everyone survived. No one tried to hold her or get in her face so all was well. I also realized that I need to buy some tights or church socks for the little darlin'. Chicken legs just don't look that cute in a dress (although they are cute chicken legs).

I had to take a picture of this for a couple of reasons. 1. The boys found a dolly and gave it to her to make her feel better. 2. She fell asleep on her own in the bouncy chair without previously crying hysterically. 3. She just looked so dang cute I couldn't resist...am I her mother or what?

I guess I'm done. Reagan is crying and Bridger is informing me that he doesn't love that sound!

2 Week stats

Reagan had her 2 week check up with her new doctor, Dr. Nowicki. I am so happy that he takes new babies as patients. He doesn't take new patients otherwise. He was so friendly, chatty, thorough and gentle with her. It was like finding the male version of our doctor in Douglas. I couldn't have been a happier mom!

So on with "our little sister's" stats:

Weight: 6lbs 9 oz
length: 19.5 inches

The doctor was so impressed with how much she has grown. She has gained about 10 oz from her birth weight and grown about 1-1.5 inches. He said she is doing quite well and could be up to 12lbs by her 2 month check-up. He actually said that she might be catching up for being so small when she was born. Whatever it is that is making her grow it is working quite well.

Vision of pink

Two weeks tomorrow.

Caramel Apples

Yesterday at the store we got the great idea of making carmel apples. I want to do it every year and to my surprise Brent agreed yesterday. The boys were so excited. We had toffee bits and chocolate chips to dip them in and then melted chocolate to drizzle over them. They were oh so yummy and filled my craving until next year (or next time I see one already made)! Bridger is already asking when we can have some more of "those apples with the chocolate and stuff on them".