Marshall's 7th Birthday

I know.  Technically Marshall's birthday isn't until this Friday.  But we had his party early so that his friend could come to it, so I get to post the pics early, too.  (And I never thought I'd get anything done early again.  Nice.)

He wanted it at Chuck E. Cheese, so no party prep for Mom, hurray!  He also wanted Chocolate Lasagna, which is a piece of cake to make (pun intended; sorry), and is SO GOOD.  (This used to be served at Olive Garden, and was Kip's fave; they quit serving it, so I made it for him for Father's Day, and all of the kids thought it was "the best cake ever."  Hurray again for easy!)

Here ya go.

Where Have I Been??

Has it really been almost 8 months since we were blessed with our little Ava?  I can't believe it.  Mostly because we've been so sleep deprived that we can hardly remember it.

I've started getting inquiries about pictures from several people.  So...updates.  And lots of pictures.  (There are more at my Shutterfly site, recently uploaded.  Lots more!)  These are through June.  I will work on getting some more recent ones up soon, but right now I'm trying to take it in smaller chunks.

Ava is hardly little anymore!  It has snuck up on us.  She's almost crawling, sleeping wonderfully, starting to feed herself (my favorite!).  She is such a blessing to us.  Such a sweet, loving, silly baby.  What did we ever do without her?

Here she is at 2 1/2 months

At 5 months, with Uncle Gary

At 5 1/2 months, playing with a favorite toy (her toes)

Audra  has grown up so much, especially since Ava was born.  And she just adores her baby Ava.  (In fact, she gets mad if her brothers want to play with Ava).  She's using the big girl potty now, although I'm not sure what we were thinking.  Diapers are easier to take care of than cleaning the floor ten times a day.  (She's actually doing very well (much easier than the boys), our timing was just not the best).

Here, she donned a firefighter jacket and a clone trooper mask and said "I'm a Transformers!"  Ha!

"Shaving" like big brothers.  Um....

Borrowing Ava's boppy.  So comfy!

Hunter is growing up, too.  He's a big kid now, not much time with the little Hunter left.  We're starting school with him this year, and he is EXCITED!  He's really looking forward to having his own school books and learning how to read.  Oh, but Mom's a little sad.  It's flyin' by.

He went on a walk and picked these for me.  So sweet.

Makin' brownies.  And, of course, eating the batter.  Yum.

Marshall is starting second grade.  Second.  Grade.  Good grief.  No more little guy, there.  It is nice that he is now getting old enough to be of a little help to me around the house.  Some days we sit around dreaming of the day when we can enjoy the benefits of forced slave labor from our kids.  :-D

Some summer fun.  My niece Lakyn came to visit for a few days this summer.

But didn't want me to take her picture.

Mmm.  Popsicles.

Alright.  That should hold you for a little while.  I'll be working on more in the next couple of weeks.  Coming up:  Driving skills (including videos!), Marshall's birthday party, and slime.  Oooooh, fun!

Photo Book Jul to Dec 09

Click here to view this photo book larger

New Pictures Uploaded

I finally uploaded several new albums with the rest of the pictures from the last 1/2 of 2009.  I keep hoping I'll catch up with all I have on my to-do list, but I'm pretty sure I never will.  Enjoy!  http://wentzfamily.shutterfly.com/

Ava Carley

Finally!  Sorry it has taken so long to get any pictures up, and thank you for waiting so patiently, especially to family, who I know have been anxious to see her!

We just had Ava's 1 month checkup today.  She is now 10 lbs 3 oz, which is a gain of 3 lbs 6 oz since birth (she's a good eater! That's a jump from the 13th percentile to the 75th!), and is 21 inches, a growth of about 1 3/4 inches.

Click here to view these pictures larger

Hunter - Breaking Wind

Yeah, you read the title right.

 A couple of months ago I bought some new jackets for the kids, some windbreakers among them.  When I got them home, Hunter put his on and ran outside to tell Dad:  "Dad, look!  I'm breaking wind!"

Hilarious kid.  We're not telling him the alternate meaning to that, though.  We have enough of that kind of comedy from our boys, thank you very much.  They've even had an influence on Audra.  As my niece Lakyn once said, many years ago:  Boys these days.

Here's a picture of Hunter in his jacket, breaking wind.

Sweet Audra

Lying in bed with Audra the other morning, she says to me "Are you tired, Mom?"  Well, yes.  Of course.  I'm always tired these days.  Then she pats me on the face and tells me "Don't worry, Mom.  I'll take care of the baby."

Oh my.  Didn't this girl just turn 2?  She's so grown up sometimes.  When she's not being 2, anyway.