Big Kid Bath

We are finally able to put all 3 kids in the bath tub at the same time. We have yet to actually get a picture of all 3 of them in the tub at the same time, however, due to needing all hands on deck on the 3 squishy, slippery babies! We were able to get Josiah & Alexa to get in the bath tub long before Alana. Alana seems to be a bit timid around water, but she eventually warmed up to the idea and now literally tries to jump in. She's the one standing on the outside of the tub. Alexa likes to stand up in the bath tub, which freaks me out. She truly thinks she is a fish and has a great time trying to soak us all.

Endless search for Swings

Since the only thing the kids can do at the park is swing, Eric & I have been on an endless search for swings. Thankfully, there are plenty of parks around with swings. So, we have continued to get some cute shots of the kids. We've recently discovered, due to a lack of available swings at some playgrounds, that the girls can both fit into the same swing. They seem to really enjoy swinging together and it's pretty darn cute, if I may say so myself.

Swing Time Fun!

The kids new favorite thing to do is to go to the park and swing on the swingset. They think they are soo cool! These pictures are taken last week and yes, it is summer in San Francisco!

That's Alana at the top flashing her award winning smile while "lounging" in the swing. Alexa is the one in the middle showing off her skill of clapping and swinging at the same time. And that's Joe, at the bottom, flashing his "toother" grin! :)

The monkeys are out of the cage

We caught one of the few times where they are all moving in the same direction on video about two weeks ago. Since then Josiah has progressed from his commando style crawl and Alana has started to actually stand on occasion. No walking yet but we are probably just a few weeks away. One of the funniest things about the video is all the "chatter" between the 3 of them. I think they are squealing, chirping and barking all at the same time. It's quite entertaining!

Josiah

After having separate posts about Alana & Alexa, I decided I better not forget about my sweet boy, Josiah. He is also full of smiles! These are some random moments from the last couple of months. Can you tell that they are pre-haircut?

Alexa

This is my sweet little sunshine, Alexa, enjoying her stroller time at Seaworld in San Diego earlier this month.

Alana

We have been tremendously blessed with 3 incredibly happy, smiley babies! Alana is, definitely, know for her sweet smile and I think we captured quite a few of her best ones here.

Matching Shirts

The top 2 pictures were taken earlier this month and I was excited because not only do I have a husband to dress (which I have been enjoying doing for over 4 years now), but now I have a son to dress, as well. So, I had a little fun and bought then both almost matching shirts. I think they look pretty cute!
The last 3 pictures were taken on the San Diego trip during one of their many mealtimes. They are always excited to eat!

Small Group

Eric & I started a small group that meets at our house a few months back. Its been such a blessing to be a part of. When we meet, the kids are usually sleeping. However, we decided to have a BBQ and have the kids around. Luke & Courtney have become good friends of ours and they have twin boys who are 2 months younger than ours. So, we decided to get a picture of the whole group, including the 5 kids. Great fun!

We love to be "FREE"

The kids have decided that their favorite thing is to run around with just their diapers on after dinner and just before putting on their PJ's. I am sure that they would prefer to be even more "free" and run around without their diapers, but I have to admit that I am a bit paranoid about "accidents", so, rarely, are they without their diapers.

It's pretty cute, though. They seem to like to run around in a pack. If one of them discovers something new, they start "chirping" and the other two will stop what they are doing and come follow the other one. It's quite amusing!

Josiah's 1st Haircut

We've been contemplating for awhile now about cutting Josiah's hair. When mentioning it to friends and family, we definitely got mixed reviews. The best was from Eric's sister, Renee. She said, "No! You can't cut his hair! That's his identity...he's like Sampson!" I thought that one was pretty funny. However, as time passed by and we started seeing less and less of his ears and he started looking more and more shaggy, we decided to just bite the bullet and do it. We were on our way home from Santa Barbara and we stopped in Paso Robles for some lunch and a little stroll so the kids could get out of the car for awhile. We walked passed a store called "Kids Cuts" and all they did was cut kids hair. So, we wondered in and inquired about getting a haircut for Josiah. They were so kid oriented and kid friendly that we couldn't pass it up. They let Josiah sit on Eric's lap and had a singing ELMO to entertain Josiah while she was cutting his hair. They even had a little play area for the girls to wander around in. All in all, it was a great pit stop and they did a great job on Joe's hair. He looks so grown up! We didn't get a great "after" photo but it really does look better. :)

San Diego Road Trip

No, we haven't disappeared off the face of the planet. We have been out of town and enjoying the summer. Eric's parents organized a family trip to Oceanside, CA (near San Diego) this last week. Eric & I decided to be brave and drive down with the kids. We left at 6am and didn't arrive until 7pm. That's 13 hours of traveling! And the bottom line is that we have the best kids ever! They were amazing! They totally went with the flow and didn't have any real meltdowns until we hit a bunch of traffic about an hour away...and then who could blame them...I was ready to have a meltdown myself. They were such troopers, we did their feedings at a Starbucks, an In N Out and in the car.

We had lots of fun hanging out with the family. We went to the beach, Legoland, and Sea World. When we left San Diego area, we decided to stop in Santa Barbara for a couple of nights with just myself, Eric and the kids. We visited a few of our friends that live down there. It was a great way to end the trip with some downtime with just us. Having 3 one year olds is a whole lotta work, that's for sure...but, it is also a lot of fun! And now that we know they are such great travelers we feel like we have a bit more freedom! Yeah!

When I say that we had Eric's whole immediate family, I mean the "whole" family, including Kobe. He's the family dog who has been around longer than any of the in-laws. This was the first time the kids have spent much time with a dog so it was pretty funny to watch. The first day, Kobe barked and Josiah started crying. Within a few hours, though, they all started warming up to each other and were all good friends by the end of the weekend. That's Alana playing with Kobe in the second picture.

We also got some cute pictures of the kids falling asleep in someone's arms. Being at a theme park two days in a row was quite stimulating for the kids, but when they get tired...they get tired! That's Josiah sleeping in Grandpa's arms at Legoland and Alexa sleeping in Uncle Jose's arms at Sea World.

We also stopped by Eric's cousin's house in LA on our way down. That's Eric's cousin's kids Joe and Cara holding all 3 of the kiddos in the last picture. They were quite entertaining to the kids and it ended up being a great "pit stop".

All in all, it was a super fun week away and it went by way too fast!