Happy Birthday Zaner!

It is hard to believe that Zane is only turning 2. It feels like he should be 5 or 6. Sometimes I think he is older then Garrit. This year we did a combined birthday party with Symen's cousin little girl, Hannah. She also turned 2 in February.

Earlier in the day Zane "helped" me make birthday cakes.

I love the look on his face. This is the VanderLinden Look, I get this from Junior, Senior, and Tyson. "What?" Of course, he was wearing his new birthday shirt from Grandma Becky. Luckily, the chocolate cake came out just fine.

Zane and Hannah with their birthday cakes. I thought I was being cute by making these little 3 layer cakes. Yeah, well it ended up being a leaning tower.

Zane did a great job blowing out his candle, however, he blew it out before we got Hannah's lit.

He was not happy when we re-lit the candle.

But what makes a kid feel better. Mountain Dew.

Zane really enjoyed opening his gifts. He got a truck, pj's, books, a puzzle, a dinosaur, and more dinosaurs. Zane says "Sonto" instead of dinosaur.

The first time I held Zane I could feel his spirit bursting from his little body. And 2 years later his spirit is still bursting out of him. He is so full of life. He has no fear, he jumped off the top bunk last week. And he thinks he can do whatever his big sister and big brother can do. He is a special spirit and I am blessed to be his mom.

Happy Birthday Zaner!

P.S. if you are wondering what is on his head. Its magic marker. He thought he would put on a little make-up. This is way I am exhausted at the end of the day.

Surprise, Surprise...

October 12th is when will be expecting our little surprise baby. This might not be the best timing for us, however, this baby has a lesson to teach us. I have always wanted 4 kids, now that I am pregnant. I wondering how in the world will I handle this. With all that is going on in my life right now I am happy for this little blessing. It reminds me why we are here on this earth.

Needless to say Emilee is VERY excited. Of course, she would love a little sister. The other day she was playing on the computer when I hear "MOM!" I was worried so I ran to see what had happen. "What Em." her reply was "Mom, where are we going to put the baby in car? We only have 5 spots." Emilee is wise beyond her years. She will be a great help.

Garrit for about 4 days said "Mom, you are not going to have baby." Finally, on Monday he said "Mom, you are going to have a baby. Its going to be a girl." I told him, "Well, it could be a boy" In his confident voice he says "No Mom, its a girl I am smarter then the doctors and I say its a girl."

Can't wait to find out what our little baby will be like.

Remember when...

Emilee was little.

I remember the night I took this picture. Symen was not home for some reason and it was just me and Em. I had just picked up her new bows from the ribbion store and just had to put on after bath. I could never pass up the oportinity for a photo shoot.

It is hard to remember what life was like with just Emilee. She was such a good baby. Always happy and smiling. I thought life was busy taking care of one little baby. Man alive, I had no idea what busy was.

I love Emilee so much. She is a GREAT kid. She loves to help out and take care of her brothers, she is a good student (getting all A's), and makes friends with everyone. She is my angle and I am very blessed to be her mother. (Even, though sometimes I have to aske the question "Who's the mom?")

My first photo shoot.

As most of you know I love taking pictures. I usually only take pictures of my kids, however, I had a wonderful opportunity to take pictures of my friend Leah. She is about 8 months pregnant and looks amazing.

Leah, thank you so much for allowing me to take pictures of you and your angel.

Out of order

The day after Christmas my family came up to Utah. My sister, Janette, and her family and my brother, Justin, and his family. There was 20 of us in all. We all stayed up at the cabin and had a blast. We snowmobiled, went sledding, played in the snow, and just hung out.

I am very blessed to have such a great family. We are a close family and I can't wait until we do it again.

Sleepy boy.

Garrit is my child that appreciates sleep. When he is sleepy he will crawl up into my lap and snuggle. He is always the first to bed and the last to wake up. The other night I was doing the dishes and he said "Mom, I am sleepy." I said "Ok, bud I will be there in a minute."

I guess I was a minute to late. He got his turtle (his new favorite pillow), his blanket, and of course puppy and went to sleep on his floor.

Time out.

Today Zane was being a little stinker, so I had to put him in time out and the closest thing was our boxes of oranges and grapefruit. I don't know why I thought it was so funny, maybe because it was either laugh or have a breakdown.

Zane did not agree with me that this would be a good time for a picture.