Summer 2011

It's time for a long over due update... A lot has happened in the last three months so hang on for the ride!

Josh had a birthday, shout hooray! Josh turned three years old on May 1st and we celebrated all day long. Friends and family came over for a BBQ, we had race car cake and there were lots of presents. We let Josh open a present every hour or so and it made the day so fun!

The birthday pancake!

Surprise!

The cake!

The kids!

The birthday boy!

The presents!

The BIKE!
(Thanks, Nana and Grandpa Bellinghausen)

The very next day after Josh's birthday we surprised the kids and headed the the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, NC to stay the night and play in the indoor water park. We had a blast. The kids loved their log cabin bunk beds and private television. Kate was fearless on the water slides.
My favorite thing was getting the kids into their jammies and heading down to story time in the lobby.

Kate coming off the water slide.

Josh taking a breather.

Story time.

This was the only family picture we got and its a bit blurry!

Bunk Beds!

The kids outside the bakery!

A few weeks later, Katelyn attended her end of the year dance recital. This was her second year dancing and she was so beautiful! We are so proud of all that she has accomplished this year. She danced a ballet number to "How Great is Our God".

I love this picture of Josh and Kate together...

Katelyn receiving her trophy for the year.

The girls being silly before the recital

Proud Mommy

The performance

Flowers from Grandpa

We started another adventure at the beginning of April. Katelyn received 6 caterpillars in the mail and had the chance to watch them grow and change into butterflies. It was a really cool experience. We witnessed two of them coming out of their chrysalis. After enjoying their company for a few weeks, it was time to let them go. Here are some pictures of the kids last few minutes with their "pets".

The kids have spent a lot of time outside this summer riding their bikes around the culdesac in front of our house. Kate always remembers to put on her helmet, which I think is so sweet. She is getting pretty quick going around the circle. Josh received a Lightning McQueen tricycle for his birthday and he loves to chase Kate around the circle. Wesley has recently joined the parade and will scoot along on the same little ride-on Kate used when she was his age.

Kate on her princess bike

Wesley out for a cruise. "Hi, Mom."

Speedy Gonzalez with his "cheese" grin

Wesley walking!

Kate playing on the porch

Josh is obsessed with playing on Ben's iPad. Literally, the minute Ben walks in the door, Josh says "Dad, can I play on your iPad!" You can tell where his loyalty lies... Josh can click on find just about anything he wants with no help. Games, movies on Netflix... its pretty funny. One afternoon we found him on the couch asleep with the iPad. So sweet...

Josh being an "alien"

We really did celebrate 4th of July. I promise. We barbequed, Ben and Timothy set off an amazing fireworks show for us in the front yard. It was awesome. But I only got one picture of the day.

Patriotic Wesley

In the middle of July, Kate had the opportunity to attend a week long summer camp called Camp Invention. Everyday they worked on various "inventions" and on the last day we got to come and see all she had created. It was really cool to see how creative even the 5 year olds could be!

Kate and her buddy Arwen

Kate's Bouncy Ball Tube

Kate's Team Fort

We really do have a third child... though he has been seriously under-advertised. So here he is. Wesley is a spunky 16 1/2 month old who can jabber with the best of them. He knows a few words, "Dada" being at the top of the list. He is not a cuddler and prefers to be running around the house with Kate and Josh. Wesley is by far our earliest climber. He loves to scare us to death by climbing up the OUTSIDE of the stair railing. Even though he keeps us on our toes, he is the sweetest and calmest of boys. He rarely fusses and when he does he is either tired or hungry. Easy enough. My favorite thing are his big, kissable cheeks!

Wes loves the bath!

First Trip to Monkey Joes

Check out my Belly

And... last but not least... we are excited to announce that Baby #4 is due March 4th!

Baby #4

Love you all!!