d u d l e y s

Our adorable sweet lovely wonderful Seren turned 2 years old! It blows my mind how quickly it's gone and how much she's changed. Highlights: -She loves to sing the whole song of "I am a child of God" -She sometimes calls us Stephanie and Ryan instead of mommy and daddy -She loves strawberry shortcake -She is a tough, tough girl (hast to be with 2 older brothers) -Favorite book is "Daddy Loves his Little Girl" -Can say all the old prophets from Joseph Smith up till Thomas S. Monson -Loves to call anyone and everyone on the phone and just chat -When we ask her how old she is, she says "two and gorgeous!" -Gives the sweetest hugs and kisses -Has a genuine concern for people. If I want her to do something, I just have to pretend to be sad and she melts (hee hee) -Is already as active and curious as Quin, which I am not too thrilled with. -Just loves reading books. I could sit and read to her all day and she would be in heaven. I am probably in the running for worst cake maker in the world. I just don't' have the patience. Sporting her new red cowgirl boots. She LOVES them and may not wear another pair of shoes for the rest of her life. She says the sweetest prayers. She blessed her pizza for her birthday dinner. Thanks Grandma and Chichi for her birthday slide!

Jack got a sharp new church outfit. Look at my little man! He's growing way too fast. Just. So. Handsome. Quin turned 3 years old, and of all things, chose to go to the park for his birthday activity :) Seren started potty training herself! Oh Happy Day! She isn't totally there, but making major progress. Quin still climbs up EVERYTHING. Any flat surface, especially countertops, having on closet poles, bathroom towel racks, dressers. We are throwing around the idea of building a rock wall in his bedroom, that way he can just climb on that all day and leave the rest of the house alone......not really. We aren't that desperate....yet. The kids love their bubble baths. They get that from their mother. Got some snow. Quin and Seren picked their outfits that day. Look at that confidence! Dropping Jack off at his Halloween Preschool party, and waiting to pick him up after. Seren reading her favorite boo in the whole wide world called "Daddy Loves his Little Girl" She has got most of it memorized and could read it twenty times a day. Adorable. Quin got a black eye, poor guy. He hit it on the corner of the table and Jack had to grab his doctor tools and go to work making him feel better, much to Quin's irritation. Funny side note, notice the tie die shirt Quin is wearing. It is his "lagoon" shirt that we got for him and Jack so we wouldn't loose them. He had to wear this shirt just about every day. In fact, through the months of July-September He successfully wore it about 5 times a week. Washing it was tricky. I finally had to throw it in the garbage just so he would stop demanding to wear it. He saw this picture on the computer and immediately started saying "My lagoon shirt! Mom, I want to wear my Lagoon shirt!" Thank goodness it's long gone. Yup, great good that did. I keep having to tell myself, the Lord's will be done and pray for the leaders of our country. Met my new handsome little Nephew Steven Isaac Lizama. Kalli and Ricky had their third boy! Found out that baby #4 is a little girl! We let the kids open this outfit to reveal the gender. Ryan turned 32. Madness! He was 25 when we to married. Didn't get a whole lot of pictures as you can see, but we had a great celebration! Enjoyed Halloween. My mother in law came to visit us and she was kind enough to help me take the kids trick or treating with Shelley and her kids. Jack was frankenstein, Quin was Thomas the train (for the 10 seconds he actually kept his costume on), and Seren was Little Red Riding Hood. 19 Weeks and starting to show. Trying to enjoy this pregnancy. Still sick most nights, don't sleep well, back really starting to hurt. Aint gonna happen. I told Ryan, if someone could do all my cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the kids, I might be able to really enjoy it! What a month! Ready for November.

How I love these families.

Great news! Jack has his brother Quin.....and Seren's going to have a baby SISTER!!!! Hooray! So great to see that darling girl squirming around in the ultrasound. She's an active little one :) April 9th is still looking like the due date. What a wonderful family I have!

Here's what has been happening in the month of September... Shell made one of her weekly visits and we made these insanely cute envelopes. So easy! I got Seren her winter stuff. I know I know, jumping the gun a little on that, but I couldn't pass up this coat. I convinced myself there wouldn't be any left if I didn't get it THAT day. :) Take my kids on walks by this golf course a lot. Every time I pass this patch of trees I marvel at their beauty and tell the kids that the little woodland elves live there. Dorky, yes. But it does get their imaginations going. We let the kids ride their bikes around the driveway outside. The leaves on the mountains around are perfect right now! All except Seren, no bike yet, but she enjoys the muddy puddles. Jack turned 5! He had three parties. Lucky boy. Let me explain why. He had a mini party on his actual birthday, a Thursday. Grandma and Chichi got him and Quin tickets to the circus on friday which was UH....MAZING, so that was party #2, and his big birthday party with all his cousins was on Saturday, where we went up the canyon, roasted hotdogs, played games and had a jolly old time! Party #1 Party #2 Party #3 We had a popcorn movie night. Shell made this popcorn for us once, it's a healthier alternative to the butter, but tastes so so so delicious. You drizzle melted coconut oil over it, and sprinkle some salt and parmesan cheese on top. While the boys get to ride their bikes, poor Seren scoots around on this thing. She never seems too enthused with it, but she's just too little for a bike. One day soon kiddo. I have my kids convinced that this rock we found is a dinosaur egg. They took it home and have been checking on it outside our back door every day to see if it has hatched yet. Pretty clever eh? Oh Costco...thank you for bringing this back in bulk. You get 6 individuals for $10 (if i remember correctly) instead of paying $4 for just one anywhere else. My kids devour it and I feel like a good mother. Oh man, these are hilarious. My sisters and I each got one that we connected with. I know some people think these may demean motherhood, but I find they add humor to my day. I can laugh at it and still recognize how blessed and utterly happy I am to be the mother of three adorable children. I wouldn't trade any hopes or dreams for what I am doing now. My family is my life, and my children's hopes and dreams are now mine :) On that lovely note..... Tada!!! We are so happy to announce that we will be welcoming baby #4 on April 9th. Holy cow right? I know. Just coming out of the first trimester, I can already feel the little one squirming inside me. I love it!