California!

Our trip to California was a BLAST! It was perfect! The weather was beautiful. Just perfect for playing outside all day long. We made sure to eat lots of watermelon and we got our fill of fish tacos too! It was great to see everyone. My youngest brother, Jamison, arrived home from his 2 year mission in Taiwan on Tuesday. He is the best. The kids loved him. My parents are the best grandparents ever, and the kids were much adored and spoiled. We stayed up late every night and had s'mores and hot chocolate around the bonfire. We are recharged for another year of anesthesia school!

Any time you are out in warm weather it is important to remember to take time out in the shade and enjoy a cool drink and a delicious snack.

Mia was a total waterbug. She loved the pool! We really couldn't keep her out. Thank goodness for floaties, she just kept jumping in.

The sandbox in my parents yard was a big hit. My mom filled it with plastic dinosaurs before we arrived. It was right by the pool, so it was kind of like a beach!

My favorite part of the day was in the evening after it cooled down. Hot chocolate by the fire is the best!

On Wednesday we went to Oak Glen, an apple farming community nearby. We visited a little zoo/animal farm. Max is always a fan of the goats. Mia called all of the animals doggies. We saw some beautiful peacocks!

My favorite stop of the day was the candy store. Max and Mia got candy sticks and I had a macadamia nut turtle. Ty got nothing, I will never understand his lack of need for chocolate.

On Thursday we drove to Laguna Beach. We had to go to the coast at least once! It was a very cloudy day, but we had a great time anyway. Mia, as always loved the swings at the playground. It was more fun pushing her with an ocean view.

Ty and Jamison buried Max completely in the sand. He had been freezing cold before and in the sand he was nice and cozy warm.

When we finished playing in the sand we had lunch at BJ's. We ordered a big deep dish pizza. It was a great beach day.

My sister in law Stephanie came into town on Thursday afternoon. We made the best chocolate cake. I am the cookie diva, but Stephanie is the cake queen.

It was a wonderful vacation! This is how Max fell asleep on the plane flying home to Nashville.
Hope everyone had a great week!

Sunny Days!

We have had a really great day! We played outside all morning. Ty was working on his car. I discovered a birds nest in one of the trees outside our door and it is filled with baby birds. Mia was so excited about the little birds when I showed her. Max tried to poke them with a stick. We went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. We haven't been in forever and it was very delicious. They have a new sauce; honey roasted barbeque sauce that I highly recommend. After lunch we headed for the pool. Ty and I are trying to get rid of a bit of our whiteness before we fly to California on Saturday. After the pool we all had naps and that means a happy day for everyone. Ty is on call tonight and tomorrow will be busy getting ready for the trip. I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine!

As for me: Just a quick pregnancy update. I am 22 weeks and HUGE!

Shots

Poor little Max had to get two shots today. You would have thought the nurses were cutting his legs off the way he screamed. I felt sorry for all of the other children waiting to see the doctor, knowing they were next. After shots I took Max to Target and let him pick out a new coloring book and a set of crayons for being so "brave". When we got home he had a piece of pizza and fell fast asleep on the floor. I have tried to make the afternoon better for him. I made him a smoothie and let him watch Kung Fu Panda. Tomorrow is a shot free day and we are all looking forward to it!

Strawberries!

It is Ty's Friday off! The morning was gorgeous. 75 degrees and full of sunshine. We took the kids and headed to Portland for some strawberry picking. We went to Bottom View Farm and helped ourselves to rows and rows of berries. Mia loved carrying her basket and filling it full. Even when it was obviously too heavy for her she still wanted to be the one to lug it around.

She is just a little strawberry shortcake!

I love this picture of Max with the sky in the background. He took the strawberry picking very seriously and made sure all of his berries were nice and red all over without any bad spots.

When we got home Mia sat herself on the kitchen floor with one of the strawberry baskets and would not be moved. I tried to take the berries from her so that I could take the stems and leaves off, but she refused. She was very protective of her berries. They are super delicious and juicy. I have never been strawberry picking before and I think we will definately do it again next year. We are looking forward to strawberries on waffles and with nutella and strawberry pie!

Rainy Day Activities and a Profile

It's Raining again! I decided to take the kids on a special trip to Target and buy a bunch of play-doh with some money they had received from their grandparents. Max has been asking for new play-doh for a while. We picked out a bunch of colors and headed home. As we were pulling into our driveway we saw a tiny turtle making it's way across the road. I let Max and Mia out of the car and we hurried over for a look. Mia was super excited and pointed and screamed. Max kept asking if the turtle was squished and I assured him that he was not squished. I would have helped the turtle safely cross the road, but I was sure he was carrying some sort of turtle flu so we all watched him from a safe distance. When we finally made it inside we broke out the play-doh. The individual colors so quickly turn to rainbow colored blobs, but everyone had a good time!
As for the the pic. Just a little profile of the baby boy on the way. I am totally open to name suggestions!

You Heard it Here First

Get ready for another little Newman BOY!
Arriving at a hospital near you September 28th

Mother's Day!

It was such a happy Mother's Day! This morning I made crepes with strawberries and nutella for breakfast. It is our very favorite. Max sang in the primary program during sacrament meeting. It was so adorable. I cannot believe how big he is! I had to try so hard not to cry while I watched his little smiley face up on the stand. After church we got together with all of our favorite people and had a Mother's Day potluck by the playground at our complex. The kids had a great time playing together and it is always so much fun to talk and catch up with everyone. It was a great day. I am so blessed to have my sweet children. I love being a mom. Max and Mia are the best and I can't wait to see who is coming next! (The Big Ultrasound is on Wednesday!)

Easter...A little late

Today Max and Mia got a very happy surprise in the mail; an Easter package full of goodies from Grandma Newman.

Mia started right in on her m&m's and Max shared his smarties with his friend next door. Candy in the mail makes for a very happy afternoon.

Stop and smell the daisies

Ty came home yesterday with a big bouquet of pink daisies! Pink daisies are my very favorite. I think they are such a happy flower. I am glad to have them on my table because my sunshine went away and was replaced with storms and rain!

Summertime!

Hurray for longer days and sunshine! We spent today outside. It was a beautiful day! Perfect for playing in the sand and having large water fights with every kid in the neighborhood.

This afternoon we ate strawberries with nutella and had a nice long visit with our neighbors. There is something so grand about summertime.

On the other hand, I am already covered in bug bites and I have frizzy hair because of the humidity, but I still love summer!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Ty was home for lunch today so I thought we would have our Mexican celebration then. We had refried beans cooked with chipotle chilies, fresh avocados, tomatoes, cheese, and tortillas and chips. Mexican food seems to please everyone and I was happy about the avocados. On a non-fiesta note...I made some really great banana bread and I thought I would post the recipe:

Banana Bread

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup toasted walnuts (I used pecans)
3 bananas
1/4 cup plain yogurt (I used sour cream)
2 eggs
6 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the first 5 ingredients and set aside.
3. Mix together the bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter and vanilla. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
4. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 55 minutes.

I hope everyone takes a nice siesta this afternoon!

The Power of Powdered Sugar

Some days going to the grocery store is so much work! Everyone is grumpy and everyone runs away. The cart mysteriously fills with expensive boxes of cookies...but no matter how bad the trip to the store the sight of these little people covered in powdered sugar while eating doughnuts just makes me melt. Those little hostess packs are just good for the whole family.

A Rainy Start to May

It has been a very rainy weekend here in Nashville. Ty had Friday off. It was a great day to be at home. I made some pumpkin bread and the kids watched the rain from the patio. In the afternoon we decided to visit Sam's Club and make a free lunch of their delightful samples. We did buy a big bag of apples, but mostly we went around and around the store until everyone was full. Friday night was our date night. We went to a Japanese Hibachi style restaurant in Gallatin called "Koi". It was really fun to get a free show with dinner. Saturday I spent the morning getting ready for a BBQ with friends. The weather was still rainy, but we made up for it by playing on the Wii. I am much better suited to sports on the Wii than to sports in real life. Today was Stake Conference at 9:00 am! It seemed so much earlier than our usual 1:00 church time. I could hardly believe we were all done at 11. I am working on lunch and Max is set on making cookies this afternoon. It should be a nice end to our rainy weekend. May is here and I am looking forward to Mother's Day, a trip to California (which has me looking forward to Fish Tacos, animal style cheeseburgers from In N' Out, and the beach!), smoothies, and swimming!