"You better read this whole post!"

Or Chase is gonna put the smack down on ya! Scary isn't he?

I can never keep our boots in the closet these days....

In preschool they made a poster of what the kids said they wanted to be when they grew up, can you guess what Chase said? Quinn's got 'em doing simulators already.

Sometimes I take pics of them just because they look so big to me. Why are they growing up so fast?

They are so strong!! Jack made this slide for Chase and held it for a surprisingly long time. Chase took a number of trips down. I think they miss their swing-set.

I am not the most fun mom. I don't regularly sit down to play with my boys. I always find myself preparing a meal, cleaning up after a meal, picking up around the house, putting things away, organizing papers (the list goes on and on) instead of just playing with my boys. The other night after they were in bed I lugged a couple buckets of toys up the stairs and set them up like this:

Just because. Just because I thought they might like it.

I guess I can be a fun mom sometimes:)

And now, the person you have been waiting for:

"Baby Girl"!

I have so many names for this little sweetness, here's a sampling:

"Sweetie Pie"

"Cutie Doll"

"Honey Bunny"

"Sugar Girl"

"Snuggle Bug"

"Doll Face"

"Little Sissy"

"Little Darling" wearing her "Pretties"

"My Pal"

We paint our nails together now.

The other day a friend of mine who has three boys (all the same age as my kids) said, "Lets get together and do something, I am in serious need of some girl time." I though to myself, "Oh, she probably needs some girl time because she doesn't have a girl." Then it struck me that I thought of the time I spend with Tessa as 'girl time'. It is amazing to me how different it is to have this little girl in my life. I love her so much!

She isn't ALL sweetness ALL the time though!

I love Jack's face.

Quinn took Tessa upstairs with him this morning while he got ready for work. I walked past my bedroom and this is what I found:

Just sitting and enjoying the moment...what a great daddy.

Couldn't let this one pass by...

Here are the 5 pregnant girls from my ward at my baby shower in Tucson.

We all had our babies between May 31 and June 30th! Pretty Amazing!

Too bad we don't have a pic of all of us with our babies:( That would be fun.

Preschool Boy!

Our little Chase is getting so big!

This face says to me:

"Geez guys, why do I have to take this pic? (but i secretly like it:)"

Showing off his "nap mat" and pillow.

I made the covers for them. He is at preschool from 9am-2pm three days a week so they have a little nap time. I have no idea how they expect 10 little 3 year olds to actually nap. Oh well, I guess that's their problem, he he.

The pointed toes hanging off the end of his mat means he really is old enough not to nap:)

Out in front of the school.

He was so excited to take his lunch box, "Just like Jack!"

Inside the classroom

Busily "working"

It is a bit crazy that he will be gone most of the day but I think he will love it. It has been lovely being at home alone with Tessa this morning. I can finally sit down, relax a little and write a blog post. Speaking of Tessa...

Tessa Girl is 2 Months Old!

My how she has grown from this:

She weighs 11 lbs and is 23 inches tall!

Which means she has grown 5 lbs and 4 inches in just 2 months:)

We all adore her very much

Especially Daddy

He often has long "conversations" with her:

But most of his time is spent corralling these crazy boys.

Here they are on their way up to bed:

I had to add this pic in. This is how crazily Jack and Chase enjoy the stairs!

San Antonio!

WE are here, we are moved in...and we are loving it!

Heres the house in pics:

Decor is obviously not finished:

A picture of the infamous STAIRS!

(When we moved, their only request was that we move to a house with stairs,

this request was made many times)

The boys are making good use of the stairs. I don't have a pic of them sliding down the stairs yet but be assured, they make the trip about a hundred times a day.

The backyard dream land!!

This is the kind of backyard I dreamed of when we were baking in the Tucson heat with rocks, fake grass and very little shade. This is amazing.

But wait....

It gets better....

We occasionally have COWS!

(and DONKEYS, who knew there were actually donkeys hanging out in the world?)

Here is Jack's attempt at feeding them, under the fence.

We are in a little gated community in a semi-cul-de-sac so the neighborhood is great. When we look out the back windows there isn't a house for as far as the eye can see. To top it all off we are just minutes from everything. It took me 5 min to drive to walmart yesterday. Heaven. I could get used to this. What could we do to slow down Quinn's training so we could stay longer? Maybe I could 'nancy kerigan' him in the knee? (or was is tanya harding?)

In other news:

Jack is a Kindergartener!

I was worried that all day kindergarten would be too much for him. He is gone from about 7:30 am until almost 3:30. I was wrong! He loves it and doesn't even seem worn out at the end of the day.

Meanwhile, Tessa is doing lots of new things like:

Growing her eyelashes:

(Her's will catch up the boys soon at this rate)

Having wardrobe malfunctions:

Sitting in the Bumbo seat:

Crying:

(Ok, not new but she is making herself heard if she doesn't get what she wants)

Trying the jumper:

Daddy's idea. Definitely not ready.

Above all she is still Momma's little sweetheart and the sugar sprinkled on the top of my life. She is truly wonderful, how did I ever live without her?

This is really it...

I can't believe we are actually moving. I thought maybe if I just pretended that we weren't ever leaving that it might never happen. Alas, after 5 1/2 years in Tucson we are bidding a fond farewell to it all. We will miss this hot deserty place. All three of our children were born here and this is the only house they have ever known as "home".

Things we will miss:

Our ward!

All our ward friends!

Living just 2 hours from Quinn's parents and my sister Lo.

The "dry" heat.

The awesome winters.

The amazing Zoo.

Sonoran Hot Dogs (I am crossing my fingers that they have these in Del Rio)

The mountain biking

My chiropractor

Our wonderful friends (they deserve to be mentioned twice)

The Children's Museum

Eegees

The ghetto race car races (just a mile from our house)

Quinn being able to ride his dirt bike in the desert by our house

Our grapefruit tree

Never having to mow our artificial grass:)

Things we are looking forward to in San Antonio:

Stairs!!

(the boys only request for when we moved was that our house have stairs)

Chase's preschool

Jack's school being a mile from the house

Living near things!

Sea World

Quinn gets to fly a fun plane

etc.

So, this is poor baby Tessa's room right now:

WE are about ready to go.

By the way...Here is the pic of Quinn's last flight in the C-130

He got the traditional cooler dumping

No post is complete with out an updated pic of Tessa. She is getting so big and so adorably chubby! Still the best baby in the world. :) Not that I am biased or anything;)