Birthday girl Nora.

Nora's birthday this year was pretty amazing. She's been saving her money to buy a look alike American Girl doll and we happened to have a trip to Chicago planned the first week of August for Sophie to meet up with her best friend from Michigan. So Brian took both the girls to Chicago and Sophie spent the day with Ellie and Nora spent the day with Brian and got her doll! The funny thing is that every summer there is an American Girl doll sale here (AG headquarters are here in Madison!) and I could have gotten the exact doll Nora wanted for $55, but it doesn't come with an on-line code to play with your doll on-line and Nora really wanted that so she was willing to pay for it.

Then we had a Care Bear party the Saturday before her birthday and had a lot of fun!

Nora made the pinata all by herself, it was the bad guy "No Heart" from Care Bears because she couldn't stand to destroy a Care Bear :)

We all got a laugh when the pinata cracked into a smile!

Nora wanted cupcakes that looked just like the belly badge on Birthday Bear.

 

When Grandma was here we found Kit's bed on Craigslist for a steal so grandma got it for Nora's birthday (Kit is one of Nora's American Girl dolls)  Nora was thrilled! 

 

Then on Nora's actual birthday she woke up to Dinosaur oatmeal that she wants every year for breakfast.

I found a few Care Bears from the thrift store and a Kit coloring book that we gave Nora. Our gift was paying for half of her AG doll so on her birthday she didn't get too much, but it was Care Bears so she was thrilled.  Later that day we went to a splash pad and park as a family.

And just a few pictures of this sweet girl. She's energetic and spunky and crafty and is full of big ideas. We love her so much.

Happy 9th Birthday Nora Gracie girl!

Little man.

Sullivan has been here for over a month now! The time is going so quick and as we feel more certain he's our caboose we are soaking up every little thing about his sweet newborn self. The soft baby skin, the stretches, the sound of his newborn cry, the feel of him curled up on my chest fast asleep. Pure bliss. He's been a bit fussy and I've put the white noise app on my phone to good use. He's  started smiling at us and the kids all adore him. Wesley has surprised everyone and has been an awesome big brother! Miles likes to say "Oh Mr. Sully! Oh Mr. Sully!" if Sullivan is sad and both of the girls are awesome at rocking him and even getting him to sleep. I'm going to miss them when school starts up again next week! There have been days here and there where it's been a bit hectic where I've about lost my mind by the end of the day and besides the park I've only taken the kids out once by myself. The kids and I have spent a lot of time being together at home and overall we've had a great time. I can't believe summer is about over but I think we're ready for it.

Birthday girl!

Sophie turned 11 in July! Crazy. She is as sweet as they get.

Grandma and daddy took her to a local bakery and she picked out a yummy cinnamon roll. Grandma was nice and brought home doughnuts for all the other kiddos.

Grandma and Nora working on Sophie's 8 layer cake!

So lucky to have Grandma here on her birthday!

She is so easygoing it was tough to find a great present for her. There was nothing she could think of that she wanted! We got her an American Girl violin set for her doll, which she was excited about.

And we gave her some cash to take with her on a trip to Chicago we had planned so she could see her best friend Ellie from Michigan.

Such a lovely, sweet and wonderful girl!

24th of July

Our girls LOVE celebrating the 24th of July! This year we made butter and grandma and the girls made a pie for our ward "Pio"-oneer day activity. Brian got pie thrown in his face as part of our bishopric and we all had a great time at our ward activity. It was Sullivan's first time going out to see the world! 

Grandma!

 We had a grand time with Grandma here for 10 days in July! She came the day before my mom left so they were able to visit (it's so fun they are friends!) We loved having grandma here with us. She played with the kids a lot and snuggled with Sullivan as much as possible!

 

This is the "grumpy old man" picture. It makes me laugh!

 We went to the zoo: