Camping

About a week ago we took the family camping in Clint's Wells. This was the first time we actually went as just our family. In the past we have always gone with family or friends. It was nice to have a little family alone time. We have the perfect little spot that is so nice and quiet. The boys were of course filthy and having a blast the entire time. Paisley got her first taste of camping at 2 months old. I truly love camping. It gives me a chance to relax and not think about cleaning one thing. The weather was perfect of course anything beats the 100 plus heat. We are heading back up to Clint's wells in about a week and a half to go camping again so you will get more camping pics. then. Paisley kicking back on a chair while I cooked dinner. Ridge posing for a picture Paisley all snuggly and ready for bed Enjoying extra gooey roasted marshmellows Daddy was nice enough to catch a lizard for them to play with. Poor lizard. He also made them a swing. You can tell Ridge is a little concerned since 2 seconds earlier Pete set him on the swing and pushed before Ridge was holding on. Gravity took effect and Ridge was in the dirt in no time. Tytan on the other hand couldn't get enough.Peter's grandparents live in Clint's wells during the summer. They were nice enough to come and enjoy a "hike" with us. As much of a hike you can get in with a 2 and 3 year old walking. Grandpa was also nice enough to give Ride a ride back to camp.

Tytan in his fort. Ridge walking the log The boys

Paisley's Blessing

At the beginning of May Paisley was blessed. Peter gave her a beautiful heart felt blessing. My mom has a tradition where she makes a blessing dress for each of her grand daughters. I was so excited when I first saw her dress and was very anxious to put her in it. A few days before her blessing day she had baby soft skin (see pic. above) but of course on her special day she broke out in terrible baby acne/eczema. Her face got so bad I even had a lady walk up to me at the park a few days later and asked me" O my gosh!! What happened to your baby?" Ya it got that bad. Any way in all of her blessing pictures she has terrible horrible skin. It was all over her face, arms, stomach, and back. My poor baby will always have evidence of her beautiful dress and her "special" skin on her blessing day. We were terrible and didn't get 1 picture of our entire family.

Her Perfect dress. Thank you Mom!A close up of her skin. She even had acne on her eye lid so she couldn't open her right eye all the way. Sad to say this was a "good day" for her skin. It just went down hill from there. Another picture of her dress.

A couple weeks after her blessing day her skin cleared up. She now has baby soft skin again.

(We just got back from camping so I will try to post pics. of our weekend soon.)

To: Amy

My beautiful sister Amy lives in Oklahoma so she often feels a little left out living so far away from family. She has been asking me for pictures of our new house for probably a month now. I have been a terrible sister and have slacked at getting any to her. So Amy this this post is just for you!! Not the best pictures but beggers can't be choosers. Don't mind the lack of decorations on the walls. We have been here about 2 months and I am a little slow when it comes to decorating. KitchenFront room

Master bedroom Tytan & Ridge's Room. They of course had to be in the picture. Paisley's bathroom. Every little girl needs a little zebra and hot pink. I'll let you take a wild guess at who's bedroom this is.

**I didn't want a picture of the front of the house to posted on the world wide web so if anyone wants a pic. of the front I will e-mail you one...

***Love your guts Amy hope to see you soon!

Lately

When Peter and I were planning what to do with our backyard landscaping I only had 2 requests. One a lot of grass and two an under ground trampoline. The boys agreed with the tramp underground once they realized that entailed bringing in a tractor and a huge mound of dirt to play in.Notice Ridge hanging onto a plastic fork...Who can be in the bucket of a tractor without one. Tytan attempting to scale the side of the pit. Notice the large tramp hole to the right and the large dirt hill to the left. A little boys dream come true. Enjoying the fruit of the landscapers labor. The trampoline is finished!!! Paisley at 3 weeks old Two weeks old One week

O BABY!

Paisley Suzanne Nielson

7lbs. 13 oz.

20 1/2 inches I started to believe my little girl was never coming. She finally made her appearance very early April 5th. I was thinking she might make it on Easter but she decided to keep us waiting a couple more hours. So far she has been sooo mellow and easy...knock on wood. She is an amazing eater and like all new borns she sleeps like a champ. We are all smitten with her. I am still in shock to have a little girl. Everything feels the same but o so different.

Daddy showing off his Princess!

Tytan is so in love with her. He is the best helper...a little to big of helper at times. He is always holding her and loving on her. I can't wait until he is a little older so he can really be more of a help.

Tytan again showing off his new prized possession.

Ridge checking out the new sister. He seems to not really care one way or another about her. He will ask to hold her for a second or two then he is done. What should I expect from a 2 year old?

I will post more pictures when I have time. They change so much day to day.

**Amy I promise I will post pictures of the new house soon. **

Ridge turns 2

How do I even begin expressing how much I love my Ridge. He has always been Mr. Mellow. He seems to be happy 99% of the time. He has always been so go with the flow and nothing really gets to him (unless you take one of his Thomas trains....then he just might lay into you.) He loves to follow/do everything Tytan is doing. He has an EXTREME obsession with all things Thomas. He sleeps with Thomas in his hand every night, he eats all meals with Thomas, and he wishes I would let him bathe with Thomas. Ridge has such a good heart. He is always quick/first to say sorry even if it wasn't his fault. He has always been an amazing sleeper. He goes to bed happy and wakes up happy every morning. He has a huge love for animals just like his mama. Nothing seems to really scare him. He walks up to my parents 500 plus pound bull and will take the hay right out of its mouth (then proceeds to eat it himself). Ridge is talking so well. When asked what his name is he will tell you Ridgey. I could go on and on about him and tell story after story....but I will spare you all who are reading. *Sidenote..Our house is soooo close to being done I can almost taste it. It has been so fun to go see the progress every week. Some days I wish it was like extreme home makeover and the house was completely built and furnished in 1 week. We are also counting down the weeks to our baby girl. We are all so excited and anxious to see who she is going to look like. Blond or brown hair? Cleft chin or not? It is still so bizarre to me when I get to walk to the left side of the children's clothes at target and not just the right. Pinks and purples and not just blues and greens? Wow its all so new.

I have always loved his deer brown eyes and big juicy lips. Our family tradition is to go to Rain Forest Cafe for each Child's birthday. This picture totally shows each boy's personality. Tytan climbing and being a monkey. Ridge holding Thomas and sitting as calm as can be. Of course we have to get the dessert at Rainforest Cafe. The highlight for the Peter...Polishing off a dessert made for 6 almost all alone. Ridge's cake.... Surprised to see its Thomas? I can't take any of the credit for the cake. A girl from Peter's work made it for us.

3 weeks ago Mr. Mellow (of course the mellow child not my active one) fell while he was playing outside and broke his wrist. He never complained about having to wear a brace. I look at this picture and totally imagine him years down the road doing the exact same thing. I love the drool pooling on the balloon under his chin. Can you imagine how that must feel?