Swimming

The boys have been spending some time outside playing in the pool and slip-n-slide while I've been recuperating.  Connor would stay outside all day if we let him.  He could be frozen solid turning blue and still will throw a fit when we make him come inside to get warm.

Josh was able to do swimming lessons again this year and he had a blast.  He is pretty fearless and loves the water.  He didn't have a problem with jumping off the highest ledge to the water.  He did some pretty good cannon balls that were entertaining to watch, but he also did a pretty good belly flop.

The boys still spend a lot of time reading.  They never get tired of being read to!

Alexis didn't want to be left out!

The boys sure love their little sister.  They also like it when she wears bows and will sometimes ask me to put them on her.Lexie is in the habit of taking a nap between 8-9 p.m. and then will keep me up until 11 or 12.  Sometimes she'll wake up at 5 a.m. to eat and then as I'm getting her back to sleep, Connor will get up.  She is a good natured baby and only gets really upset when she wants to eat.

Napping with Daddy

Josh likes it when Lexie tucks him in at night.  Since she is the same size as his stuffed animal I offered to let him snuggle with her instead.

Josh utilizing the nursing pillow to hold his sister and for some reason she was not happy.

The boys think it is so much fun to have a baby sister in the house!

Alexis Debra Stevens

We welcomed Alexis to our family on Thursday June 7.  She weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.  Around 7 a.m. they started me on the pitocin and six hours later she was here.  I didn't like my nurse and things would have gone faster if I could have gotten her to turn up the pitocin, but I really can't complain.  Everything went well and the recovery has been much better than expected.

 The boys are so sweet with the baby.  They both spend a lot of time holding her and have adjusted really well to having her around.  There was one night Connor politely asked me to put her back in my belly, but other than that, they have both loved having her around.

 The boys are so willing to share their toys with the baby, make sure she has her binki when she needs it, and her blanket.  They are just so cute with her.

Summer Is Here!

 I decided I'd try to post once more before the baby arrives.  We've only got a couple weeks left and are getting pretty anxious!  Between Gary's back problems and me being so pregnant it has been pretty crazy trying to keep up with the boys and everything else!

 The boys love going to the park and playing outside.  I wish I had half the energy they did!

Connor wanted to help Dad mow the lawn.  He was so cute following Gary around, doing everything exactly as Dad did.

Josh has been playing soccer with his cousin Jordan and has had a great time.  Kristy has been coaching them. The kids are so cute, and so much fun to watch.

 It's pretty funny when Connor climbs up on Dad and makes himself right at home.  We've been trying to get him potty trained before his sister arrives.  He hated it for the first few weeks, then got better, but hasn't done as well lately.  Hopefully soon he'll be a little more consistent!

Josh graduated from kindergarten, and wasn't exactly thrilled about it.  He really enjoyed going to school and will miss his teacher and all his friends.  He was disappointed it had to come to an end for the summer, but they did a cute little graduation program.

 Grandma Karen and Grandpa Glen had a water snake living in their flower beds.  Josh was never able to see it when he was at their house, but finally Grandpa caught it so he could see it.  Josh was so thrilled he caught bugs for it and just wanted to touch it and play with it.  We were going to release it at the pond, but unfortunately the poor snake did not make it.  It died before we released it and Grandpa had to bury it.

 These two are so cute when they snuggle up together and watch cartoons!

 Josh got to go with Grandma and Grandpa and all his cousins to spend a few days at Lake Powell on a house boat.  With Gary's bad back and me being a month away from having the baby, it wasn't good timing for us to go but we knew Josh would have a good time.  He had a ball and has talked about it so much that Connor now talks about it too as if he had been there.  The entire time Josh was gone Connor kept asking if he could go too and if we could go get Josh.  He was sure glad when his brother got home!

6 Years Old!

Josh turned 6 a few weeks ago!  He got to celebrate for a week since his birthday is close to Easter, and always seems to be the week of spring break.  He got the week off school and got to have a sleep over at grandma and grandpa's with all his cousins.

 Mostly all he wanted for his birthday was Lego Ninjago sets.  This kid still amazes me with his Legos.  Although these sets are for ages 8-14 he has no problem figuring out how to put them together without any help.  I tend to mess things up when I try to help!

 I'm not sure why he decided he wanted Grammy to send him snorkel gear, but he has spent many happy hours in the tub with it!

The boys were excited for the birthday doughnuts.

We took Josh bowling with his cousins.

 I didn't expect Connor to be very interested in bowling, but Grandpa helped him and he had a good time too!

 Josh changed his mind a dozen times about what kind of a cake he wanted.  In the end though, it came back to the rocket ship cake.  I think this is the third time he's had this cake.  For some reason he just loves it and this time he wanted it to be a BYU rocket ship.  He had fun decorating it.

Easter and Things

As always, I intended to post these pictures a while ago, but I have such a hard time keeping up with everything!

It's so fun to see these two play so good together.  They get a long pretty well most of the time and Connor is extremely attached to Josh.  It got to the point that Connor would throw a tantrum every time Josh went in the bathroom and shut the door, or shut the door to his bedroom to get dressed.  He thinks he should be able to follow Josh all day every day.  We've had to find ways to occupy Connor so Josh can have a little space once in a while.  It will be interesting to see how having a little sister will change things for Connor!  We've still got about another month before she will arrive and we are getting excited!

Josh lost his first tooth!  It was a little traumatic since Gary and I are not experienced tooth pullers, but maybe next time we'll have Grandma Karen pull it since she's much better at it!  When he woke up the next morning he found a two dollar bill and silver dollar that the tooth fairy left for him.

 The cutest little cowboy ever!

The boys had fun coloring Easter eggs, even if their hands did get a little dirty from the dye!

Josh was so cute setting the Easter baskets out.  He very carefully put the grass in and around his along with a bunny in each basket.  I guess he wanted everything to look nice for the Easter bunny.

Connor all ready to go with his new water gun and goggles just like Josh's.