Meet Steele Jennings Meeks!

So after some computer problems our summer pictures are still being held hostage on the other computer but Steele is here and we are all doing great. After 2 rounds of mastitis I'm feeling much better. So the stats on poor skinny are:
Born- September 11, 2008
Time- 7:43 p.m.
Weight-10lbs 3 oz (that's right)
Length-21 1/2 in. long
OUCH! you say? Actually it was surprisingly easy! A couple of pushes and only 1 stitch. So we were home by 9:00 the next night. He's so good. He sleeps well and even through all the noise of 4 year olds and their dinosaur fights, and regular fights and the boys are so good with him and very attentive. They are so willing to help, it's great! One is definitely easier than two, I've even gone shopping BY MYSELF, with all of them. It wasn't bad, could've been worse. It feels like he's been part of us forever already! I'll have a giant post later when I get into my other computer. I'll have more pictures of him later too. Not sure about this computer.

May and my babies!

A couple of pictures taken for their Pirate themed Birthday party.

In May we had so much fun! On the 15th was the boys birthday. They turned 4. I know that with all the mile markers you start realizing how fast time really does fly. But, I really can't believe it's been 4 years. On the day of their birthday we always fill their rooms with balloons, so we did that and then they got to open up presents. Andrew got them each a big bag of Cheetos(totally not my idea). Then Andrew said they could eat and pretty much do whatever they wanted because it was their birthday. Soooo they had Cheetos for breakfast while they sat on the couch in their new car seats(again, not my idea- you know what their hands look like after eating Cheetos right!) Later we had some friends over to play on the new sprinkler they got.
Then that night they wanted to go to the Las Vegas Mini Grand Prix and ride the dragon roller coaster. It was fun we raced cars(I won), rode the little roller coaster, and boys even drove little cars by themselves. I was so funny to see them drive around in cars, alone. The whole day was fun.

Jace with some buddies, Adam and Savannah and little Jake.

Brothers Jace getting ready to drive.

Sorry, this is kind of a long clip.

The Boys Graduated
For those of you who didn't know, four other Moms and myself did a little co-op pre-school thing. It was every Tuesday and well, it's over. I'm pretty sure I won't do that again but the kids had fun. On May 14th we did a very informal grad ceremony (basically we put hats on them, gave them a certificate, and sat them on the couch for pictures). That was all we could get out of them because they wanted to swim.

The BIG Surprise!

Tio, (my brother Charley) and Aunt Sarah and new cousin Jacob, took the boys to the Shark Reef for their Birthday present. They had a lot of fun and still talk about some of the animals at "the surprise" not the Shark Reef.
The Pirate Party

We always have a huge birthday party for the boys. All of our family and close friends come. I'll probably do it until the boys don't want to anymore because I love to get everyone together. This was the first year the boys chose what kind of party they wanted. After some deliberation we settled on pirates. It was such a fun party. We had it on the 24th so more family could come, but it was hard explaining to the boys that their party wasn't for another week and a half after their birthday day. The weather held out( it was supposed to rain), the kids had a blast and well the cake broke in half. Here's the before of the cake. This is what it looked like before it actually broke in half.

AFTER

The pirate shi* cake just broke in half, but I handled it well. Andrew made the big pirate ships and the kids and their Dads had a cannon ball fight.

We also had a treasure hunt for the kids. My sister, Alex, drew a map and Andrew buried the treasure chest(a little deep, and really packed in.) Then they followed the map and dug up the treasure chest of loot bags(My Mom helped sew up the bags the night before).

Thanks everyone for coming it was so much fun!

Jesse is training wheel-less!

On the last day of April Jesse rode with no training wheels! This was so funny. Andrew was ready to run for awhile and really only had to run for about 25 feet. Jesse has great balance and was just a natural. Even when he falls it's not really a fall, he just steps off and would let the bike fall. Anyway, we were so excited! I love these little stepping stones in their lives!

April

April was not as busy as March. The boys and I went to Ely for a week. We went to lunch with my Mom, or Alex, or Grama Belle every day. It was fun spending time with Grama B, she's so funny and skinny! She joined up with weight watchers and reached her goal weight at age 80! She's so awesome. Anyway it was pretty cold up there still, but we did manage to go to the duck pond a few times. It was s funny because the boys were trying to chase away the disgusting pigeons so they wouldn't eat the "duck bread". Some of you may know of my aversion and ever growing hatred for birds. If you don't know, well, I really don't like birds. So you know why I appreciate my son wanting to step on the pigeon rather than asking for one for a pet!


Jace throwing the "duck bread".

Jesse thought he would scare the pigeons by yelling at them to leave. It didn't even affect the disgusting scavengers.

This is my favorite. This dumb pigeon wouldn't leave so Jace said, " I'll just step on him." But he really couldn't get close enough to actually do it. Jesse still trying his yelling method.

Jace got mad at the goose it was being mean to a smaller, rather dirty, and ugly little duck. But Jace still liked the ugly duck better than the goose.

BTW!

By The Way, we are having another boy! I knew it was so we are very excited. Jesse on the other hand, has had to be talked into the idea. He was sure it was a girl and really wanted a "baby sister". After we kind of calmed him down and asked him what he wanted to name the new baby boy, he said,"Baby Sister". I guess he's bound to have it be a "baby sister" one way or another.

New little boy in the family!

I love this picture! He's almost 2 weeks old and he just happened to smile while taking this picture, it's soooo funny.
My brother Charley and his wife Sarah just had their first baby on April 4th. He weighed 9lbs 1 oz. Our family thinks he is a clone of Charley, other than he's much cuter. Just kidding, but seriously, he's a doll. He's a good little baby and boys love having a new cousin in town. We all love baby Jake! He's going to be blessed on June 8th. My brother Jeff is coming home from his mission on the 4th so he'll be there for the blessing.

March

March was really busy! At least on the weekends for sure. The first weekend we were in California for our nieces baby blessing. The second weekend we were in Utahrd. Andrew's Grandma had her 80th birthday party. It was really nice. We had dinner(the whole family, about 70 people) at the Roof Restaurant in the Joseph Smith Memorial building. They have this really good pomegranate lemonade, that I have since e-mailed them the recipe for and now have. Anyway, it was a nice weekend. On the third weekend, Andrew's Dad, Heber, left for Kuwait for a year. He is in the Army, hooha. His orders are for 400 days leave, so he will be gone for a year. He has been able to call quite often so it's been nice. There are some pictures below of the farewell. It was sad, so many soldiers were leaving pregnant wives or brand new babies and whole families. I had mixed feelings, on one hand I was so grateful for those soldiers and their families and had such a respect for them. On the other hand, I sure was thankful that it wasn't MY husband leaving me with little children and one on the way. Selfish I know, but I did take comfort in knowing that the base they are going to is very protected and don't see any fighting action. Anywho, it was a good but sad day when you have to say good-bye and watch your children say good-bye to their Grampy.

Jesse and Jace in front of a military Hummer at the farewell.

The boys in a fire truck.

Andrew and his Dad

Grampy and his Grandchildren except Effie.

Our little family with Heber.

Army Dad

Jace, Maxyne, and Jesse

Too bad Grampy couldn't take this luggage.

Our last weekend was Easter. It was fun, and nice to be at home for a weekend.
We had an Easter egg hunt in the back yard and family came down for the weekend.




Nice bed head!