Baby Emma

My cousin Brandi was in town this last weekend for her husband's work. It was so fun to have her and her three kids over to play Friday. I only took two pictures of Maddie holding her baby Emma, who was born in November. She also has two of the cutest little boys, AJ will be 3 this month and Mikko will be 2. Thanks for visiting us with your sweet kids, Brandi! We're excited to see you again in April! :)

Sam- 2 Month Stats, Chloe- 18 Month Stats

We took Sam and Chloe to the doctor last Thursday for their 2 month and 18 month check ups. Chloe is almost 19 months now, we're a little behind! I can't believe how fast my babies are growing! They need to slow down and let me enjoy it a little longer! Although, that being said, Chloe is still so little compared to Maddie. I'm not complaining, I love that she's still "little". It will be interesting watching Sam grow in the next few months, if he'll end up being bigger like Maddie, or smaller like Chloe... or maybe somewhere in between! It's so fun watching the kids as they reach different milestones!

Sam's 2-Month Stats:

Weight: 11.02 lbs (37%)
Length: 22.75 ins (43%)
Head: 15.25 ins (21%)

Chloe's 18-Month Stats:
Weight: 23.24 lbs (34%)
Length: 31.75 ins (54%)
Head: 18.5 ins (64%)

Alphabet Crown

Maddie attends Challenger School for preschool. They have a goal to have each preschool student earn their alphabet crown by the end of the school year. Maddie earned her Alphabet Crown on Thursday!!!
To earn your alphabet crown, you must be able to recognize each letter and their sound(s). The teachers mark off the letters as they learn them. Once they know them all, they go have a special meeting with Miss Kate, who is over all the preschool classes at her school. She gives them a test on the letters, and if they pass, it's a VERY big deal!
They get to decorate their crown with stickers, then Miss Kate walks them down the hall where she announces to everyone that "Maddie Dudley earned her alphabet crown!" And the classes will cheer for her as she walks through the halls! The students (especially Maddie), just love the extra attention!

Maddie is VERY proud of her crown, and is sure to tell everyone about it. She was making silly faces at the camera and didn't want to hold still so the pictures aren't very good.

Way to go, Maddie!

We're so proud of you!!!

Sam's Blessing

Mike gave Sam a wonderful blessing back on February 14th. We were lucky to have our parents, some siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins there to help celebrate in Sam's special day!
Our ward had Stake Conference that day so the blessing was at our ward building, but very intimate, with only our families there.
These are the only pictures I have, of just Sam by himself. My mom took the rest of the pictures on her camera and I just haven't gotten them from her yet, but I didn't want to put this post off any longer!
Sam was so sweet during his blessing. He was very quiet, just staring up at his daddy!
We're so thankful for all of our family, those that were able to attend and those who weren't. Sam is lucky to be born into a family with so many people who love him!

The cute little booties my Aunt Gayle made for Sam!!

We just love our sweet little Sammy!!!

Smiles

I finally caught a few smiles on camera... sort of... I tried! :)There's also a bunch of other pictures, just because he's so darn cute! I know it's true with every baby, but it still amazes me how much they change in such a short time! Sam is now 7 1/2 weeks old!Sam has started making little sounds, it's so dang cute! You can tell by his mouth in some of these pictures when he's "talking".

Baby Lucy

My sister gave birth to her 3rd baby, Lucy Amaryllis, on February 23rd. She was induced 3 weeks early, and baby Lucy still weighed in at 7lbs, 4.4oz and 20.5 inches long! If she would have gone full term, there's a good chance Lucy would have been a big 10 pound baby!
We are so excited for their growing family and can't wait to meet baby Lucy. Sadly, we probably won't meet her until June because they moved farther away from us! :( Congratulations...
to Brooklynn, Parker, big brother Jackson, and big sister Kate!!!

6 Weeks Already

I guess he's almost 7 weeks now, but it's taken me this long to post anything! We found out last Wednesday night that Chloe has strep throat. She woke up that morning, could hardly talk, but I heard this faint little voice crying "owe, owe". It pretty much broke my heart! So that's my excuse... oh, besides just having 3 young children, that's a good enough excuse in itself! Maddie had a little bit of a runny nose, but that's it. Poor Sammy got a stuffy nose, and is still a bit stuffed up. He's still been eating and sleeping well, he just sounds like a piggy when he breaths! It is NOT an easy task to keep Chloe away from Sam while she's sick. Pretty much a full time job! I know I've said this over and over, but she really is so obsessed with him! This picture below Sam's making a weird face, but I had to post it just to show you all, she is constantly in his face, kissing him or loving him! I'd probably make a face like that too if I had Chloe's crazy hair in my face all the time! Poor boy!
We pulled this bouncer seat out (that Chloe keeps trying to sit in herself and ends up falling over) and our baby activity gym/mat. He loves them! He started batting at some of the toys, maybe by accident because he was swinging his arms around, but nonetheless, he was hitting them. He seems to really enjoy them.


The picture below I was going to change his diaper and I guess he wasn't too happy about it, he's about to start crying here...
Is it sad that I think it's the cutest thing when my kids cry?! And better yet, instead of comforting them, I run for my camera to take a picture or two?! :)



Sam has smiled a few times here and there for us, but last night after I finished feeding him he really started smiling and talking. I have got to try to get it on tape because it is just so darn cute!! He's been doing it ever since! I could sit there holding him, listening to him talk, watching him smile, all day long! When he really gets excited with his big smiles his bottom lip starts to quiver!