Easter Hunt

Easter was a beautiful day! The boys started their day with baskets left behind by the Easter bunny. (I will post some pics later this week.) Then after nap time the boys spent the afternoon searching for eggs in the backyard. Some of the eggs were well hidden to give Johnnie & Joey a challenge while others were in obvious places for Jimmy to find. They all had a wonderful time for very different reasons.

Jimmy just liked having grandpa show him where all the eggs were & he also loved dumping the contents of each one out to eat some. Joey started the hunt with a lot of excitement but once he realized there was candy inside he was done hunting. He just wanted to sit down & EAT all the candy. That was okay with me though because it meant I got some snuggle time. And Johnnie was all about searching for the eggs. He was really proud of himself for finding them. And because he was so happy he was willing to take photos with mama & his aunties. And the boys were so happy to show daddy everything they found. We ended the egg search & candy eating extravaganza with a family photo before heading in for Easter dinner. Thankful for such a blessed day!

Another Visit Over Already

The boys grandparents were here over the last 2 weeks & once again time went by way too quickly. There were lots of snuggles, lots of kisses, singing & LOTS of bubbles. We already miss you & can't wait for our next visit.

Big Day

Today was a big day for the Bolander house. We had our 18 week anatomy ultrasound. Rick's mom & stepdad flew out for the appointment & of course to visit the boys so with them & my dad in tow we headed to my appointment. The baby was very active the entire appointment & as the doctor took all the measurements, the legs remained tightly together obscuring the view of the sex of the baby.We got great views of the perfectly formed heart, stomach, limbs, kidneys, brain & after some pushing & jiggling of my belly we were finally able to see who would be joining our home. So the sex of the Bolander baby growing in my belly is a GIRL!!!! And here is our ultrasound proof. As her daddy puts it imagine she is sitting on a photo copy machine. HA! And this will be the 1st & last photo I will ever be showing of my lil' girls' private parts. It's hard to believe a baby girl will be joining the ranks with the Bolander boys. She will be very loved, very protected & hopefully very tough to keep up with her 3 older brothers! Thanks friends & family for all your excitement! We are so excited & love our baby girl so much already!

Sharing

A few weeks back I shared a sneak peek of our family shoot. I have now received all the photos & just loved them all so much that I wanted to share some more of them. Some of the photos now pepper the blog but some of the others are in this post. Johnnie was so great. He actually enjoyed his time in front of the camera. And happily showed off some of his skills.Joey was his normal, ornery yet playful self. And of course his happiest moments were spent in daddy's arms. Jimmy absolutely loved the camera. He not only gave the camera some smiles but he gave some intense gazes & daddy got some squeezes too. I'm really happy that Erin was able to capture this photo of me & my hubby & our baby at 12 weeks. And last but not least was this family photo of all of us laughing. I just love how much all the boys are enjoying themselves.

16 Weeks

I am now 16 weeks pregnant with baby #4. The baby is growing well & had a fast heartbeat at my latest appointment of 160. The boys are really excited about having another baby. Jimmy just keeps kissing my belly & saying baby inside. Joey loves to tell me that the baby inside is Jimmy's buddy. And when we ask Johnnie if he wants a brother or sister he says a sister because he has enough brothers who already takes his toys. We try to explain that the baby will probably be a boy (judging from past experience.) Then he replies "We can just take the baby boy to the circle store (Target) & exchange him. HA! Funny kid.

Here is the photo of my growing belly from 2 weeks ago.

Jimmy's Celebration

I wanted to capture Jimmy's birthday celebration in this post. This year his birthday was only celebrated with a family birthday party. There was a cake. And of course his brothers showed him how to eat it starting with the frosting. And then after staring the candle down for a little while he blew it out & then opened up his presents & played with them. Two days after his birthday he spent the entire day at Disneyland alone with his mama. He was excited to have me all to himself. But he didn't just have me. He had his good friend Lorelei there celebrating her birthday as well. And Jimmy was so happy to have her there. He couldn't stop hugging her the minute he saw her. She likes him too but it takes her a little longer to warm up to him. And having her there added to his day where he enjoyed rides on the carousel the Dumbo ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Pinocchio ride & lots more but his favorite was It's a Small World. I'm so happy your first time (not including your visit at 2 months old) at Disneyland was enjoyable & I look forward to our next trip back. You did so well all day with no nap, no complaints & no crying. But you were definitely wiped. Within minutes of us starting to walk to the front gates to leave you were fast asleep. Happy Birthday again baby boy!

My Birthday Baby

Two years ago you entered our lives & nothing has been the same since. You are our little ham. Always making us laugh. Always wanting to be in the middle of everything. Always full of love, cuddles & kisses. Early this morning I took photos of you just being you in our front yard. You are so funny & giggly. And you absolutely LOVE your lovey. This little bunny goes everywhere with you. During your well check appointment today you held tight to it for the entire time. It calmed you & kept you from crying, even during your shots. And during your check up we found out you have gained a little weight. You are now 24 pounds 15 oz (15%) & you are 34.25" (40%). You have definitely entered the terrible twos. You love to say no & you already throw temper tantrums. But for the most part you remain a very happy child. And as much as you smile this is your signature face. Holding bunny with the cutest little smirk. We love that face. And we also love watching you sleep which is what you were doing at 9:50am. The exact time you were born. Peacefully sleeping in your car seat. I can't wait to see what this year brings. Your personality will continue to grow. You will make us laugh & smile all the time & I'm sure you will push our buttons but we love you just the same. Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Sneak Peek

If you head over to Erin's blog you can see a glimpse of our very 1st professional photo shoot. We had so much fun even if it took a little while to rally the boys. And you won't be able to tell but Joey was by far the most difficult to convince to have his photo taken.

And remember I'm not just big I'm actually 12 weeks pregnant in this photo :-) Just happen to be growing a lot sooner this time.

10 on Tuesday

1. Jimmy is still very much enjoying his vacuum cleaner that he received for Christmas. It never fails that when we vacuum he runs over, grabs his & joins right in. 2. Rick has been traveling a lot for work lately & because of this I have learned that I would hate to be a single mom. We miss Rick & need him here & can't wait for the traveling to relax a little.

3. Joey is still trying to convince us that he is ready to give up his naps but as you can see he clearly isn't. 4. I am enrolled in an online photography course that I'm really enjoying. I get to take lots of photos but it takes up most of my free time so I haven't been taking as many photos of my own kids. I'm hoping future assignments will have me taking more photos of the boys though because my camera misses them.

5. Totally random but worth noting. Johnnie is finally starting to try more foods while at school. He doesn't always like it but it is nice that he is more willing to at least try some new food.

6. Luckily the weather on the weekend has been nice so the boys have been enjoying being thrown around the trampoline by daddy.

7.8.9.10. We just had our 1st professional photo shoot with a great photographer who lives in Alabama. As soon as a sneak peak is available I will share the link to check it out.