Lorelei, missed wearing her Easter dress on Easter a while back. These pictures are for Nana who wanted to see her in her dress! We have a knack for getting sick during important events lately.

 Lately, Lolli has been saying the funniest things. Her latest has been "My pardons my princess." She'll come up to me and say this as she curtsy's. It took me a few times to realize what she was doing. It totally made me laugh. I also know that I posted this in facebook, but I need to put it here as well. 

A morning conversation between Lolli and Bo.

Lolli "can I have a small puppy?"

Brandon " well, your getting a baby sister instead."

Lolli "Okay, next time make it a puppy." 

 Lolli has also reverted back to baby talk. She knows that another little girl is joining us soon and it's putting her through a loop. There are days where she says the baby is hers and other days where she is the baby.

Her favorite thing to do everyday is choose her outfit. Most of the time she wants to wear a dress. Occasionally, she'll pick a shirt and pants. Of course they never match, which drives me nuts, but I am beginning to let that go. Sometimes I'll try to make a couple of outfits for her to choose from. This usually appeases her. We definitely live in a girly world with her. 

Game Day!

Brandon and I grew up in a state where the major leagues really don't exist. Now that we are in Denver, Brandon and Riley decided to take advantage of the season to watch the Rockies play the Dodgers. Of course they had nosebleed seats, but they had a blast non the less. I'm glad they got a day to bond!

Pre-K Graduation!

We are back tracking a little, because I need to post Riley's graduation! May 20th was his last day in Mrs. Morris's class. Riley loved Mrs. Morris. Every week he would ask me what day was Tuesday and Thursday so he could go to school. His favorite things were show and tell, snack time, and learning the sounds of the alphabet. He asks me constantly how to spell things and has begun to read. One night I spelled out ice cream to Brandon and Riley said "I want ice cream!" It's a sad day when spelling things out no longer works. Another thing Riley loves is numbers. When he draws everything it's either a word, shape, number, or arrows. I can't wait to see how he does in Kindergarten!

 Riley made Mrs. Morris a bouquet of flowers as a thank you.

 The short walk to the ceremony.

(from left to right) Madison, Riley, McKenzie, Violet, Josh,  and Olivia

 Riley's whole entire class except for Olivia who was blocked by a dad.

 Receiving his certificate

 Getting to throw his hat!

Showing off his progress report, while sporting chocolate and frosting all over his mouth.

Below, are pictures his teacher took over the course of the year. I love that she made each of them an album. It gave us a little glimpse into his year. 

 Riley also learned how to cut paper. He REALLY enjoys cutting paper and I can't get him to stop. Some pictures and important papers have fallen victim to this new found hobby.

Every day Riley would act like getting to school was a race. Below in the picture you can see their to do chart. Riley, always wanted to get the first pick. He would always run out of the van saying "I won, were the first ones here!" After that and few times of him plowing over Josh, I started to show up a little later to give other kids a chance. He did not like it much in the beginning, but then he learned to adjust and share with others.

Now that school is out, Riley is constantly asking me if he can play school. I tell him, "sure you and lolli can play school all you want," he then turns to me and says, "but you have to be the teacher!" I guess it's time to crack open the summer work books and frequent trips to the library. 

Emotions running high!

 We are exactly 3 weeks away from meeting Natalie and emotions are starting to enhance. We realize that a lot of people have no clue what emotions are present in this situation. Actually, a lot of people down play it and act as if it's just doesn't exist in our life. I am thankful for my immediate family, and the medical team who say we would not be human if we didn't have the feelings we are going through. The support I have felt from my family and perfect strangers has been incredible. I find people who don't know you seem to be more compassionate and giving. I hope through this experience, that Brandon and I can pay it forward to others who face hard situations. We have faith, but with that faith still comes anxiety and fears. 

35 weeks!

During this pregnancy my grandpa's health had begun to decline. I joked in the beginning that he would most likely pass as soon as I had my baby. Really, I was hoping it would not happen until I could travel again. However, life throws some interesting curve balls.  Over the memorial day weekend he passed away. I was happy for him to go. His life had become prison bound on this earth. He could no longer remember anyone, do anything, and began to starve himself. It was hard to hear the updates, but even harder knowing I could not attend his funeral. He is my favorite Grandpa and the only one I really knew on this earth. He had a way at making girls feel special. Everywhere we went, he flirted with someone. He always told us granddaughters that we were beautiful and gave us huge hugs. He loved taking us out for ice cream, sharing cans of Pepsi, outings to the zoo and enjoyed going to the park with us. I will miss this big teddy bear, but I know it is not the end. I am glad he is now in a place where he can support and be one of the many angles fighting for us on the other side. I love you Grandpa!

 During all of this I realized that both my Grandma and Grandpa passed while I have been pregnant. My Grandma passed when I was 3 months pregnant with Riley and now my Grandpa at 34 weeks with Natalie. 

After grieving for my grandpa Brandon and I got to celebrate our 8th Anniversary on June 3rd. Actually, we started to celebrate it over the weekend, because the 3rd was a Tuesday night. That and with everything coming to head we decided to keep it simple. With no fun trips this summer and a new baby on the way we decided to play hookey. We skipped church on Sunday and went to a splash pad and a much needed trip to the Rheinlander Bakery. We had a blast!

My favorite part of this story was getting caught by our home teachers. Brandon and I had forgotten that we set up an appointment with them. When we got home they were still chatting in our driveway. It was a classic moment. We touched base with them and told them why we were playing Hookey. Brother Jacob graciously offered to for him and his wife to take our kids Tuesday night. With that being presented Brandon made big plans to take us to the Melting Pot for our outing. We were so excited until we got a message that brother Jacobs wife ended up in the ER from fainting. Understanding the situation Brandon and I cancelled our night to the melting pot. Instead we packed up the kids and headed to Tucanos. The night was a success! For the first time in our lives the kids behaved at a restaurant. It was the perfect Anniversary gift! We ended the night with a run to Sonics for half off shakes. Which made me one happy wife and mother. Did you know that they put nerds in shakes for you? Well, they do, and Brandon and I have been on cloud nine since. 

I love Brandon with all my heart. This year has been quite trying and we have seen sides of each other and learned things about each other that have brought us closer. Happy Aniversary, new year, new baby, and happy family moments! I love my little family!