The Forslunds are in fact still alive and kicking! Hard to believe since I have not updated this blog since the baby was born! We have had a very busy past 6 months!!! We bought a new house and have been tirelessly working to renovate it. We took on a lot with this house but it is really starting to come together and it will be a wonderrful place for our kids to grow up! We are very happy here! The kids are all growing like weeds and learning new things everyday. I am just trying to keep up with all of them! If I kill over and die it was nice knowing you all! Here are a few pics of what we have been up to. Max turned 3 in October, he requested a MaxMan cake since his name is not Superman it's MaxMan. Brinley just turned 5 and we had a super fun Pinckalicous party! Dean's birthday is next week and he will be 8. I am not sure how this all happened! I am really starting to feel old!

Some of our Renovations!

MaxMan's Birthday

My cute kids

My baby Cole



Happy Birthday Pinkalicous!

Avery, Brinley and Cole

Cassie and friends painting thier secret hideout!

The end of Summer.

Well I am not sure how I feel about the summer comming to an end. School is back in and is very bitter sweet. I am not going to lie it is really nice to send the kids off to school everyday, but I don't know if the homework is worth the trade off. Didn't I already go through school??? I am looking forward to the Fall. You can already smell it in the air. I love to see the leaves on the trees change and can't wait for all of the fun holiday's ahead!

Brinley started pre-school in August and is loving every min. She is learning so much and looks forward to seeing all of her friends and her teacher everyday. Her favorite parti is the "Messy Table" (I know you are shocked).

Max is enjoying having a couple hours to himself everyday in the afternoons. He likes having some mommy time again. I can't believe he is going to be 3 next month. He is just as rough and tumble as they come. I should have known that naming him after my Grandpa Max he would be ALL boy!

Cole is growing like crazy! I don't think we have ever had a baby this chubby and when I say chubby I mean just down right FAT!!! He has more rolls than you can imagine! He is sooo cute and so much fun. I love this age. He is smiling and cooing all of the time. He is such a happy little guy and LOVES all of his sisters and brothers, but most of all he really LOVES his Mommy! There is nothing better than kissing those fat cheeks!!

Cassie and Dean are enjoying being back in school and being with their friends everyday. They are getting so big! I can't believe I am old enough to have a 5th grader. They are great kids and I feel lucky to be their mother!

And the biggest news of all is that after 3 1/2 months of waiting it looks like the home we have been trying to buy is all comming together! Then bank has finally accepted our offer and wants to close sometime around Oct 8th. Hopefully everything will go as planned! Everyone can come and visit we will have PLENTY of room!!!

Cassie and Dean's first day of school. Their school was remodeled over the summer and they were thrilled to go back to a brand new state of the art school and the best part a brand new playground. What more could a kid ask for!

Cole wasn't so sure about his first dip in the pool. Maybe next year.

Max and Hans in the go-cart. Max kept wanting a turn, but he was terrified when Hans kept breaking the back end loose with him in it. Go figure.

Brinley's first day of school. She was soooo excited. She is so big now!

Cassie and Cole on Cole's blessing day.

Cole Andrew and Andrew Jacob. Thanks for making an effort to be here for Cole's blessing Andy! We love you!

Fun, Fun, Fun

Well I have to say that the last 3 weeks have been nothing but fun around here! We have been lucky enough to have Grammy visit twice and Alli, Jon and Claire came out as well as Gramps. We are so grateful for such a wonderful family! I don't think I will ever get over the amazing feeling it is to have a new born baby. Cole may be #5 but the experience has been every bit as exciting. I feel so blessed to have him in our home! The kids have all adjusted really well. I thought Max would have a major breakdown, but he loves his baby brother to death and is always first to volunteer to get a diaper. He always makes sure that Cole has a binky near by just in case he starts to cry. Cassie has really stepped up to the plate and has been an incredible help to me. She has made countless lunches for the kids, tucked them into bed for naps and read lots of stories! Dean is an expert baby holder. He is just mezmorized by this baby. Brinley has become a little song bird and if she hears the slightest peep out of the baby she starts right up with twinkle twinkle little star. When my family was here over the 4th of July Alli brought her fabulous camera and took some amazing pictures for me. I posted some of my favorites (it wasn't east since she took over 400 pics).

Cole and Treyson
Hans turned 34. He is officially in his mid 30's. The kids worked really hard to make such a special day for him. They got up early and made blueberry muffins. They made cupcakes and surprised him at work and then they decorated a fantastic birthday cake. Happy Birthday Hans! I have to say that I have the best husband in the world. We love you!!!

Grammy and Cole watching fireworks

Max and Mia

Cole's first sparkler

Grammy and Claire

Brinley ate so much candy waiting for the fireworks to start I am not sure if any of the other kids even got any!

Cole is such a boy! He doesn't like posing for pictures!

So sweet!

Cole

Cassie

Max

Dean

Brinley

Cassie, Brinley and Claire had a great time singing and dancing!

Thanks to Alli for all of the beautiful pic's. We loved having everyone here and can't wait to see you all again soon!!!

Introducing Cole Andrew Forslund

He is finally here! Our beautiful baby boy. His official name is Cole Andrew Forslund. He was born on Monday June 22 at 11:32am. It was a smooth delivery and he is a strong healthy boy. He weighs 6 pounds 13.2 oz and is 20 inches long. He was our biggest baby yet! We are so grateful to have him in our home. Even though he is #5 it is still such an amazing experience. The kids are all adjusting well to having him around and he is one lucky baby to have so many people to love him. There are lots of pictures here for your viewing pleasure! Everyone here is happy and healthly. We love and miss you all and look forward to introducing this baby to you in person soon.

Cassie is quite the little mother. She wants to help with everything!

It was a beautiful sunny day!

At least it started that way. We brought Cole home from the hospital in 90 degree weather, and by late afternoon we were in a major flood zone. We had a HUGE thunderstorm. There was lots of quarter size hail and thunder and lightning like you would not believe! Car alarms were being set off all over the place. Then the rain fell and boy did it fall. This is a view inbetween Les and Holly's house and ours. I think we could name it Lake Forslund.

This is the hail comming down on our deck. All of the dark spots are leaves that were stripped from the trees. What a mess!

Deep thoughs

Brinley loves to sing songs for her baby Cole. Mostly ones that she has made up. It is adorable!

Dean is one proud big brother!

Cole's first bath. The kids were able to be at the hosptial when Cole got his first bath. They were all so excited to see him. The nurse was great with them and let them help lotion him up and everything.

Brinley decided that she wanted a haircut, so we chopped off 11 inches to donate to locks of love. She loves her new short hair that doesn't (twrill ) in her face. Mom and Dad however cried! (actually only Mom cried, but Hans wanted to). At least some other little girl can benefit from her gorgeous hair!

Who doesn't dress up to get a haircut!

Goodbye briads

Our little bundle of joy!

Month of May

The month of May was just as exciting around here as it could be. The kids and I finished up school, YEAH!!! We got through all of the amazing field day planning and activities. As usual it was an amazing event and the kids had a blast. I however, tore some of my lower stomach muscles (just the ones that help you move your legs and walk, OUCH!) and did not enjoy walking all day. I guess there are reasons that they tell you not to lift things when you are pregnant. By the time I got home I couldn't get out of the car on my own and Hans had to help me. I have been pretty laid up for the last couple of weeks, but I am healing and starting to be mobile again! Only 3 more weeks!!! We can't wait to meet this new baby boy!

On the last day of school Cassie was in the shower and the door knob broke. She was calling for me and I came up stairs to see what my 10 year old could possibly need since she is perfectly capable of getting showered and dressed on her own. She told me that the door was locked and of course my response was, "Well unlock it the lock is on your side of the door." It wasn't that simple the locking mechanism was broken. So luckily Hans was still home and of course we thought that we could just take off the door knob and get her right out, but we still couldn't open the door. Grandpa came over and between the two of them they were finally, after about an hour, able to cut through the knob and get her out. So she was a little late for school and the receptionist thought she had heard every excuse in the book until she heard ours. Ha, ha, ha.

Brinley had her dance recital last weekend and she couldn't have been more excited to wear her costume and of course the make-up! We had so much fun getting her ready that day. She looked beautiful, but when it came time to get on the stage she wasn't so sure she was still interested in doing it. We got her out on stage for her first dance and she refused to dance and just froze there. When the rest of her class went off stage she just stood there and cried. I got her to calm down and she happily went out for the second dance, but another little girl was standing in her spot. Brinley, put her hands on her hips and stared the girl down for about 30 seconds and then decided that it would be okay to stand in a different spot and she was able to finish the performance. It was absolutely adorable! She is now known as the angry lady bug!! After the show she was on cloud 9 and couldn't stop looking at and smelling her flowers. She definitely keeps our life interesting!!!

We still have not officially decided on a name for the baby so feel free to send us suggestions. Right now we are thinking Cole, Jack or Tom. Give us your input we need it!!!

Daddy's little girl

See her red lipstick!

Brinley finally dancing!

We're coming Cassie

Dean providing comic relief as usual

She was the cutest field day participant!