He's TWO!!!

David turned 2 last week and had a wonderful birthday. He liked his shaggy dog cake and took an ear and a paw for his pieces. He liked all of the gifts he got but loved the animal puzzle and trucks!

I cannot believe he's already 2. Time has flown by. He's a silly little boy! He has this smirk that he makes when he's "not going to smile" but cannot help himself. When he makes the "I'm not going to smile" face then of course I have to make him smile. He is a fast runner and likes to show us how fast he can run. He'll run all over the house showing us. I use to keep the piano closed but now it is open all the time and he will go and "play pretty songs" on it. He use to play the higher notes, but lately it's more of the lower notes. He is growing up but he will always be my little baby that I would sleep with and snuggled with all the time. The benefits of being a first child I guess. I would love napping in the chair and having him lay on top of me. Lots of memories to be thankful for.

More Home Updates...

This is the addition to the back of the house. The door into the basement use to be next to the basement window but we moved it over about 8 feet. We chose to cover the stairs so hopefully when it rains and snows, the stairs will be a bit more protected.

This is our new porch!!! We love it and will enjoy it even more when the rails are up (all in due time). In the spring we'll have our grass in and some landscaping done to help finish it some more. The porch really adds character to the home.

I painted the boys room a soft green and for decorations I put up animals for Evan's side of the wall and trucks on David's side. They are pretty familiar with the trucks but are learned more of the animals this way. David is more distracted when it's nap time because of the stickers, but the walls are cute.

David and Evan played project manager for our summer projects beginning with checking the quality of gravel used.

Here is a quick progression of our house in 2004 just after we moved in up to having the front porch poured in August 2009.

I finally have the pictures ready to post from our projects this summer but I have run out of time so it will be a couple of days before they are available.

We will be posting pictures soon of our latest projects, stay tuned.

What's it going to be you ask?...

Ta Da - a little GIRL!!!! We are excited. I get to make the girl fabric I have into quilts and paint her room. She will have a family name like the boys do but we're having a hard time deciding which one to use. We have time though.

It's going to be...

I'm wondering what you think we'll have. We find out next Wednesday. Leave a comment letting us know so I can put it in the baby book.

A little naptime

Robert doesn't take naps very often but I went into the family room to check on things one Sunday afternoon and found this. He claims to have not slept for very long but he didn't know I took his picture. David was playing by himself so wonderfully and was quiet. He deserved this nap because he doesn't get very much down time with work, church, and family.

I'm no Bakerella or Martha Stewart

Evan's birthday is a few weeks away and I decided that to be a good mom (like my mom who always decorated our bday cakes) I had better learn how to decorate cakes. David's was just a pumpkin which was easy but there aren't pumpkins in June. Evan isn't really into anything but he LOVES bath time so I'm making a bathtub cake. A girl in my ward does cakes and came over to show me some beginner tips. This is the bottom part of my first bathtub. (the yellow and orange globs are supposed to be ducks.) We had the missionaries over for dinner that night and they were impressed with how it looked but they're missionaries and they only care about how it tastes. It was easier in some ways than I thought it would be but I'm certainly not very good yet. So anyway on Evan's 9" round personal cake he'll get a mini version of the 9x13 cake. In the end is he going to care I put a bathtub on his First Bday cake - no, but maybe when they're older it may be fun to choose what's on their cake. By the way, I used butter cream frosting (from scratch) and it was DELICIOUS!!! I'm sooo glad I made a double batch. I cannot get enough of it!!! I saved Robert 1/2 of the last piece of cake. Oops.

New Windows

Several weeks ago we got new windows in the Dining Room and David's room and they match the other new windows on the first floor.

This is the Dining Room. Our old window wouldn't stay closed, very inefficient, and was always dirty. I still am amazed at how clean it is - I can see out!!! The things you take for granted.

This is David's bedroom window. We made it a few inches shorter so that when we put a covered porch on (maybe someday) there will be enough room for snow to buildup. I love being able to open and close his window. A nice breeze can come through.

Evan's Walking

Evan started walking (taking 3 steps at a time) Sunday afternoon. Robert was the one who saw it and then came and told me. He is able to do a few steps but then loses his balance and sits or falls down. A whole new chapter is starting. We'll see how he is doing when we go to Idaho in a few weeks. All I'm thinking is watch out Dave and Deb - Evan may be on the loose.

Sister Schofield is leaving...

Last week we received an email letting us know Sister Schofield is leaving LDS Family Services. For those that haven't heard of her - she is the one who was inspired for us to have David. I am so sad she is leaving because she is like family now. I am very excited for her though and all the good she will do.

Some of you may not know, but she needed to place David in a family ASAP and all the families she looked at weren't right. I had called and left a message for her to call me because I was going to tell her we were expecting Evan and waiting on the adoption process. When she saw that I had called she knew right then that we were to be his parents. She called and left a message at 11:30 pm on Halloween telling us there was a baby boy and we needed to pray if he was ours. I listened to the message at 3:30 am and woke Robert up saying they have a baby for us. Needless to say we didn't sleep a wink for over 24 hours after that. When we talked to her the next morning at 9:30 she still didn't know we were expecting. But after a few phone calls getting us aproved (because we were pregnant), we were in Detroit, MI by 8:30 pm on November 1 (my birthday).

This is Sister Schofield holding David when he is a couple of weeks old.

This is our new family as of November 1, 2007. David Hiram Himes is our son.

He is one week old.

Our family on August 29, 2008, the day David is sealed to us.

David has become quite the little Mozart and loves playing the piano.

Aren't they so cute and loving (right now). I think they are adorable in polo shirts.

Stairs

Yesterday Evan, who cannot even stand by himself, climbed the stairs. I only let him go up 5 or 6 before I took back down. Well tonight Daddy got to see his new stunt and Robert followed him all the way to the TOP!!! Yep, he's 10 months and climbing stairs. I am not ready for it but he watches what David does and has to keep up.

The Power of a Kiss

So this afternoon David was sitting under the piano and bonked his head. He started rubbing it and I asked "Does Mommy need to kiss it better?" He sits there for a couple seconds and comes over to me and bows his head so I can kiss it better. He then holds it there for a couple of seconds so I can kiss it a few times and give it a good rub to make it feel better. He then went on his way. Now you have to realize David doesn't really like kisses - he tries to get away. He gives kisses but won't except once every few months. I realized how much he loves me and he is still my baby.

Only ONE!!!

So it's interesting Christine asked about multiple babies because just other night Robert joked that I could be pregnant with twins. It wasn't funny because he's gone to work all day. I'm only planning on one and if by some strange miracle it is two - our stake president will really be needing the relief society to help or I would go crazy with Robert gone on Sundays and doing it myself.

We are still making lists of things we need to get done before November and what gets done - gets done.

Due Date

For all of you who are wondering the babies due date is November 7.

stroller derby

David and Evan love to push the strollers around. David is sometimes willing to push Evan around though he usually prefers to push an empty stroller.

General Conference

So I'm wondering how many years it will be before we can listen to conference and get something from it? We were able to get a few talks in, but most were missed.

I have to speak in Sacrament on reverence in our meetings and I am anxious to read the Primary Counselor's talk on reverence. She covered things that I had been thinking about. How do you teach about something that most of the people in our ward have no clue about?

It's Really A BABY!!!

On Wednesday morning I was able to have an ultrasound done of the baby. I was feeling a little bit overwhelmed with the fact that David will have turned 2 a couple of weeks before the baby is born and this means 3 children 2 and under. When the technician showed me the baby (it's only about an inch long) and I could see and hear the heartbeat a feeling of peace and love for my child came over me. It was truly a blessing for Heavenly Father that I was needing.

David is a Kind Big Brother

Yesterday David gave Evan his little push toy (it's like a popper only it chimes) all on his own and didn't take anything from him. I just thought "ahhh. He is starting to learn." Evan and I were "walking" and here came David with the toy and put the handle next to Evan's hand. Evan couldn't push it but it was the thought that mattered.

Funny Funny Little Boy

There is something funny everyday in our house. This afternoon I put Evan down for a nap and 1/2 hour later I went back up to put him to sleep! Lately he doesn't want to go to sleep on his own but would rather play in his crib. I go in his room and there he is standing up against the backside of his crib - now this would be fine except that he doesn't know how to get DOWN! I whispered his name and he started wimpering because he was stuck and needed help. It was cute but then I spent 15 minutes rocking him to sleep and then I laid him down. I think I liked it better when he fell asleep in bed instead of playing. It will only get worse though. I do like rocking and singing David and Evan to bed and will miss it when I cannot do it any more. They are still my little babies even though they hang over the edge of the chair.