Second Grade

School started for Ali and Logan Mid August. It is nice to be back in the swing of school, and Eli is looking forward to starting preschool after Labor Day. It sure is quiet around here with just the two little boys!

Fingers

These two fingers find their way into Jake's mouth often!

Snuggles

Ali is a great helper with Jake. I can usually count on her to help make him happy when he's having to wait a bit for a bottle or a nap. He was grumpy waiting on his own here, but snuggled right up and calmed down when I gave him to Ali. He's lucky to have a sister like her!

Hard Work

Playing is hard work!

13 Years!

This is what 13 happy years of marriage looks like:) I'm so glad I married this guy!

Real Life Doll

Who needs a doll when you've got a baby brother to play with?

Indiana Temple Open House

I've been looking forward to taking our family to the Indiana Temple Open House since they announced it a few years ago, and last Friday we finally got to go! The drive there and back took longer than it should have, and being in the temple didn't magically improve my kids' behavior, but it was very cool to be there all together. I hope it is something the three older kids remember for years to come, and hope they take seriously our family's goal of all being there together again both when Jake turns 12 to do baptisms and when he gets married. It's wild to think of my older kids being around my age when Jake gets married, hopefully with families of their own!

I had each of the kids pick a spot to take their own picture in front of the temple:

"Look, Mom, I'm Angel Moroni!"

Ali took this one! She did a pretty good joy; maybe there will be more shots of me and Jason in future!

I truly love my family. I am so glad I get to be with them forever because of a temple like this one!

Crafty

Eli has been loving doing crafts with me this summer. What a cutie.

Four Months

Jake is four months old! What a sweet baby he has been; I have so enjoyed him these last four months. He sleeps all night some nights, he teases us with almost giggles every few days or so (Ali and Logan are the ones most likely to get him to giggle), seems to thrive in chaos and loves to be on to go (he does better on days we're out and about than he does days we're home). I love his sweet smiles and snuggles and I'm glad he's mine!

And, just for fun, here are the other kids' four month old pictures. We sure cut all our kids from the same mold, but Jake and Eli seriously could be twins I think (Eli, Logan, then Ali):

Handsome Cowboy

Since watching one of the Night at the Museum movies, Logan has been very into cowboys. He dressed up like one especially so I could take his picture, and had to have me take a few shots until he had just the look he was going for. 

Sleeping

Our vacation cured Jake from sleeping in his swing, but he still has quite a set-up: a wedge to prop him up a bit, a blanket rolled up on each side a of him, sleep sack and blanket even though it's summer because he sleeps in the basement, lovey tucked under his arm, a pacifier, and a mobile. I think he could do without two or three of these things, but he is sleeping all night until 7am some mornings, so I don't want to mess with it!

Pirates of the Caribbean

The kids begged me to let them watch Pirates of the Caribbean, and I let them. The few nights after that Ali woke up for "no reason" was made worth it by the hours of happy pirate play.

Creative Carriage

"Look, Mom, I made a carriage!"