Kindergarten Graduation

When I started kindergarten,
I couldn't have felt smaller;
But I've been growing, growing,
And not just growing taller.

I've learned to read and learned to write,
And learned my numbers too;
And there are many other things
That I have learned to do.

Kindergarten's over now,
But I am not afraid.
Because I know I'm ready
To enter the first grade!







She did it! Ally graduated kindergarten!! Her graduation was so cute. They had all the little graduates march in with their hats to the "graduation march song" and sit on the stage. As they read their name and they walked across the stage they said what they wanted to be. Ally wanted to be a teacher-of course! I have no doubt that she really will be a great teacher one day as I watch her teach her little brothers everyday at home. Her cousin Oaklee got to come to her graduation which seriously made it for Ally. Our camera battery died before I got to take a picture of the two of them-I hate that! It was such a great day and we are so proud of her. Not only is she a diligent student but she is such a sweet girl. She has so enjoyed this year and has learned so much. I hate to think that my little girl will be a first grader-but I know she will love it. I'll just have to soak up every day of having her home this summer!

Isabel Lizard

I thought I would put some pictures of our new baby Isabel. We are loving her! I forgot how magical it is to have a new baby in the house. Allyson, Isaac and Austin just can't seem to get enough of her. The two boys are especially completely head over heels-I'm not sure she's ever been in a room by herself without at least one set of eyes watching over her. They are both surprisingly so good and haven't tried to pick her up or been rough at all-whew! Isaac has nicknamed her "Isabel Lizard"-I'm not sure where he got that from-but I think it is so cute! She is the nicest baby ever-we just can't believe how sweet she is-seriously so easy! She definately makes us want a dozen kids...oh wait, there's the whole pregnancy part first! We are all doing really well and loving every minute together-we feel so complete!

A visit from the Baldwin's

My little sister Ash came to visit to meet the two new babies. We had such a good time! It was so much fun to get all of the cousins together-what a cute bunch of kids they are! Isabel and Tanner were quite the troopers getting lots of attention and kisses from everyone! We only wish it would have been a little bit warmer, that they could have stayed a little bit longer and that Uncle Nicholas could have come with them!! We LOVED having them and can't wait until they come again.

Who's hiccups are who's?

Gymnastics Performances

Our kids all had their gymnastic performances on Friday. They all did such a great job and we are very proud of all of them!! My good friend Katie is their teacher and does such an amazing job-Thanks Miss Katie!!!

More pictures from the hospital...

Here are just some more cute pictures of our new little baby while we were in the hospital! It's amazing how quickly they change!

Grandma's Twins

As I've mentioned before, my little sister had her baby on my birthday, just 9 days before Isabel was born. After so many months of anticipation, it was so much fun to get these new little cousins together. It will be so much fun to watch them grow up so close in age! My mom thought it was especially fun since it felt like they were the twins she never had! They are 2 very sweet little babes!

May 6th..not a day too soon!!

I feel bad that I didn't get Isaac's actual birthday post done on his birthday. With the new baby coming and the whirlwind with all of that-I just never got it done. I just wanted everyone to know how much we LOVE our little 4 year old!! From the minute he could smile-he has never stopped! I have never met a happier child. He seriously makes everyone around him in a good mood-you just can't have a bad day when you look at his face. This year he has been SO excited for his birthday-it really seemed like it would never, ever get here-but luckily it did and he loved it!! My mom was actually here from my little sister and I's baby's, and lucky for Isaac her trip landed right on his birthday-he thought that was pretty special. For his birthday dinner he wanted to go to McDonalds to eat and play on the toys! We hardly ever do this, so he thought there could be nothing more special. We then ate cheesecake and opened presents. I think his favorite was the inflatable pirate ship for the pool (in the picture) and also the punching bag. It was a fun day for such a fun little boy. We are so proud of him and so glad that he is in our family!!!

They have a blog!!!

My sister Jess and her husband Brad just started their own blog since they now have a sweet new baby to brag about! The link to their blog is Brad&Jess Smith on the side!

Welcome Isabel Eva Manwaring!

At 2:00 pm today, we welcomed a beautiful, healthy baby girl to our family. Isabel Eva Manwaring weighed 7lbs 5 oz. and measured 20 inches. She has a little bit of brown hair and we think she looks like her older brother Isaac. Rachel is still in the hospital recovering, but both her and the baby are doing very well. We are so happy and blessed to have such a precious little spirit enter our family. (Please look for more pictures and details to come once Rachel is discharged from the hospital :)

What do you do with a scurvy pirate?

The day of Isaac's birthday party finally arrived!! He has been waiting for this day since the day after his party last year! This year he had a "Pirate" party and just couldn't have been more excited. Definitely one of the biggest highlights was that his cousin/best friend Jaden came all the way from Idaho to come for the event (Jaden also brought his mom, dad and 2 sisters with him!). It's so funny because about 6 months ago Isaac would always ask if Jaden could come to his party when he turned 4. I, of course, never in a million years thought it could happen and so I tried to prepare him so that his heart wasn't broken. Imagine all our surprise when we found out that he would be here! I think Isaac must have jumped up and down 200 times when we told him! Thanks Josh and Joni for making it so memorable! The party was so cute and so much fun-he has such a cute little group of friends! There was hats, hooks, patches, mustaches, walking the plank, cannon balls, pin the patch on the pirate, "lunch of the sea", a treasure hunt, a pinata, a pirate ship cake and lots of presents (thanks Elena for all the ideas)!! He'll have his "real" birthday tomorrow-I can't believe he is really going to be 4!!

The BEST birthday present EVER!!

This year on my 30th birthday, I got the best present from my little sister Jess! On May 3rd she and her husband Brad gave me a new nephew!! Tanner Bradley gave us all an early surprise being born a week early-and he couldn't have picked a better day!! Everything just went perfectly-and both mom and baby are doing so good! It makes us even more excited to get our little girl here-1 week away! Congratulations Jess and Brad and thank you for making my day so special!!

Fairy Frenzie

Well, we've finished the 2nd of the 3 birthday parties-only 1 to go this Saturday. Ally's "Fairy" birthday party was this Saturday and was a success-I'm not sure any 6 year old birthday party could fail-it's always magical for them! All the little girls came dressed as fairies and earned their wings by jumping Lilly pads and water lilies. The boys became fairy kings-I couldn't come up with anything better but they didn't seem to care one bit! We painted faces, decorated wands, ate "fairy" food, and opened presents. It was a super fun day!!

The Plan

Ok, so I am just about 37 weeks. I went to the doctor on Tuesday and I am at a 2 & 50%-which really doesn't mean all that much for me! My actual due date is on the 19th of May, but of course I can't wait that long-my doctor pretty much induces whenever you want beyond 37 weeks. Since we have a ton going on these next few weeks, I decided that I'll go in on the 11th (the night of Mother's Day) and plan to have her on the 12th-that is unless she comes on her own before then (which I DOUBT will happen!). I feel really good-probably better than I ever have before at this point-not incredibly uncomfortable yet or no major pains. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or bad? I am however getting bigger by the minute-but that is expected, right!? Just thought I'd let everyone know what our plan is, we'll for sure keep you updated!!

6 years-gone too fast!

April 23rd is a very special day in our house! It's Ally's birthday and the day we became parents!! Today she turned 6!! I remember when she was born and someone told me to make sure you enjoy every moment-even the hard ones, because you'll never get them back again. I can honestly say that we have LOVED every minute of being her parents! She is the sweetest, kindest best daughter anyone could ask for and we couldn't love her any more! It has been the highlight of our life watching these little kids grow and learn and what a perfect example she has been to her younger brothers and now will be soon to her new sister. She is a special little girl and we love her so much!


This morning at 5:30 I was woke up by a whisper in my ear, "Mom, am I six yet?". I snuggled her right in bed with us and tried to get her to go back to sleep for an hour-at no success! We then got up and had her favorite breakfast-German Pancakes and sang Happy Birthday! Since we were all up early we put on some of her favorite dance songs and had a little dance party before it was time to go to school-it was a fun morning.



This afternoon we all went to her school to eat lunch with her and stayed and played at recess. We all ate school lunch-very fun!





Then, since Jonathan had mutual tonight, we decided to celebrate at a poolside party with our family right after school. She opened her presents and loved everything. While she was opening her presents she lost her second tooth-we couldn't believe it! How lucky to lose a tooth on your birthday! It was such a fun day! This Saturday she is having her real party and can't wait. We'll post lots of pictures! Happy Birthday Allyson, we love you!!

She lost her tooth!!

Yep, we can hardly believe it either, but it really happened!! SHE LOST HER TOOTH! After watching a few of her cousins and some friends from school lose their teeth-she has been SO excited for this day to come. Well, on Sunday, April 13th-it finally came out. I've been dreading this moment-not only does it mean that my little girl is getting even bigger, but I hated the feeling of losing teeth. It turned out to be quite an emotional moment for her once it actually came out. Right as it came out she cried for a minute and said it was because she was just so happy, then she skipped around and had to call everyone-so funny! Isaac keeps saying, "Ally, your smile is broken!".

Jonathan+Home=No Blogging

Well, April has proved to be another fabulous month with Jonathan's schedule which means all my time is spent with him and not blogging. I love it, but at the same time feel so out of touch with everything-kind-of funny! We of course have spent a TON of time getting ready for this little baby (rearranging/organizing/cleaning out garage, repainting furniture, painting and redoing our bedroom, cleaning like crazy, lots of repairs, yard work, shopping, etc. etc...), but we have also go to do lots of fun stuff. A few weeks ago Jonathan was able to go on a feild trip with Ally's class to the zoo. She obviously was in heaven! He also took the boys camping in the back yard-which they LOVED! There was no way I was sleeping in a tent being very pregnant and Ally (bless her heart) hated that I was going to be "by myself" so she insisted on sleeping inside with me-she is so sweet! He has even had time to rock tired kids to sleep! On top of this being an awesome month schedule wise-he has this entire week off-which has been so much fun and we both have bran new sunburns from the 90 degree sun! The best news is that after this week he only works 3 days and then has the entire month of May off for paternity leave-I'm telling you, this is the BEST residency program possible!! We are loving all of our time together as a family and trying to make the most of every second!

Yep! I'm still here!

It's been forever since I've posted anything!! I've just been trying super hard to get every little thing done before the baby gets here. Not too much longer now!! I'm hoping that I'm just about done and then I can sit down and write a real post and catch up with everyone!!