Grandpa's 100th Birthday!

We interrupt all the baby worshp 'round here to write a post about Grandpa's Birthday. On Sunday before Bear was born, we had a birthday party with Grandpa at our house. The birthday boy requested German Chocolate cake and burgers for the menu, and the girls put up special decorations.

Now, I know Grandpa isn't 100 yrs old, but I couldn't resist putting it on the cake. DMP had the girls call him to wish him a happy birthday. I told him to tell the girls that Grandpa is 100, as a joke. EJ asked Grandpa "Are you really 100?". Grandpa said "Yep- your mom wouldn't lie to you, would she?" (thanks Dad, now I feel guilt, but only a little). "Why? How old do you think I am?" EJ said, "I think you are 90."

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Picture-tastic!

Let's just give the people what you really want- Lots and lots of pictures of our cute boy! Isn't he handsome?

Bear + Family

I just can't get over how much these girls love their brother! They both spend so much time talking to him, kissing his head and fussing over him. Birdy comes up and says "look at his little hands!" or feet, or ears or any part of him, really. EJ is a mother hen and is very willing to fetch and carry. She also makes it her job to inform us that he is crying- even when we are in the same room (or changing his diaper, or etc.) and are very much aware that he's upset!

Look at their faces in these two pics- it pretty much sums up how they (still) feel about Brother!

The other thing that gets me is these two. I think it is because Bear looks so much like his Daddy and you can tell that DMP is super-happy to have a boy (not that he doesn't adore his girls...). I just find it so sweet seeing their two dark heads together. Bear looks a LOT like DMP when he was a baby and makes lots of "DMP-like" faces!

Birdy has started playing peek-a-boo with bear when he is awake. It is funny- both girls are occasionally disappointed that Brother doesn't talk, crawl or have any sort of muscle control. I think they were picturing our baby to be like the cute 6-18 month old cousins and babies of friends they play with. Oh well, he'll be mobile and grabbing their stuff in no time!

Aunt Cyndi got to come and love and squish brother for a bit. We're so excited she'll practically be our neighbor soon!

Grandma has come to love on him a couple of times.

Uncle Jeff, Brad and Grandpa came to visit while he was in the hospital, but we only got a picture of Jeff + Brother.

Brother Bear comes home!

Here are some pics of Eli's first day home! EJ couldn't wait to hold "her baby". Both girls are just in love with him.

This is a bad pic of me, but whatever- I just had a baby! We wanted to show off his "coming home" outfit. It says "Little Brother" on the front- just perfect!

Chester gingerly (and well-supervised) checked out the competition.

Welcome Brother!

DMP already posted a bit about the girls meeting their brother, but I wanted to "properly" introduce him. Oh, yeah, and post more pictures!

Name: Eli David
Birthday: July 20, 2010 (12:21 AM)
Weight: 8 lb 15 oz
Height: 20.5 in
Hair: Black, long, and wavy. Oh yeah, and it's all over (see pic above)- cheeks, forehead, shoulders, legs :)

Likes: His hands- he's already found his thumb and he likes sucking on them. Sleep, eating, and looking around.

Dislikes: Getting his clothes or bum changed.

Welcome to the family baby Eli! More pics and details to come!

Meet Your Baby Brother (DMP Guest Post)

Today, Grandma brought EJ and Birdy to meet their new baby brother. (He was born just after midnight today.) They were so excited to see him, especially EJ. She just wanted to hold him and look at him. They both took a turn holding him and were so sweet - it made my day. Here are some pictures of the three of them together.

Daddy Jane Philips!!

I overheard Birdy chiding the cat for something this morning: "Kitty Jane Philips! Get over here!" As a side note, Birdy frequently hollers at the cat for nothing. I think it has something to do with her being the youngest (for now) with no one to yell at (yet).

Later in the morning DMP called me to tell me that he didn't provide the exact snack she wanted when she wanted it and she got mad at him. She retreated to the other room in a huff and kept saying "Daddy Jane Philips!" in her grumpy voice.

Funny thing is that she's using EJ's middle name. Either she doesn't get the "full name" treatment as often as her big sis or she doesn't listen (I suspect the latter...)

Birdy's foot "fell asleep" for (I think) the first time a couple of weeks ago. We know it fell asleep because she said "Daddy, my foot feels sparkly!". A week later, EJ's foot fell asleep and she said "My foot feels bubbly!". Love the creative words they picked to describe it- way better than "pins and needles".

Keeping us on our toes...

We found this one night as we were picking up after the girls had gone to sleep. I suspect Birdy- she was playing with the wisk "family" before bedtime...

This morning EJ came to our room and asked for some candy. We said no, of course not until before breakfast at least. She replied "Birdy has some!". Great. We called Birdy upstairs. She came happily enough and said "I'm starving, Daddy!" in her cute lisp. We told her that she isn't alowed to get into the candy (even if it is left on the counter overnight- ahem) without asking. EJ then came into the room carrying the wrappers of at least 6-7 pieces that Birdy had eaten in the last 45 min. or so since she woke up!

Can Stilts!

DMP read about making can stilts in Family Fun magazine and started saving cans. This week, he and the girls made their very own can stilts. EJ got pretty good with walking around in them, but Birdy mostly uses hers as a necklace.

4th of July Fun!

I think the fourth of July should fall on a Sunday every year- we had 3 days of celebration and fun. It just needs to happen when I'm not pregnant and tired :). Throw in a bonus cousin hula party and it was a weekend to remember!
On Saturday, DMP and uncle Jeff went fishing in the AM. Then it was time to check out the Freedom Festival in downtown. That means 2 things to our family- fun free art projects and Twisted Taters. These things are awesome- a mix of fries and potato chips with any topping you can think of! That night we went to the "big fireworks" at Thanksgiving Point. It was Birdy's first time staying up to see fireworks like that and both girls LOVED it- there was much giggling and squealing with glee!

Sunday we went to church and then went up to South Fork for a picnic. I can't remember the name of the park, but it was the "higher up", less crowded one :) We lucked out and got a shady table next to the creek.

DMP grilled some chicken sausages and Birdy found a coveted "heart rock". It really is heart shaped and the girls look for them wherever we go- kind of like hunting a four-leaf-clover.

On Monday AM, DMP (with a little supervision from Birdy) made Papper's hotcakes. This time, though, he added fresh blueberries and we had raspberry syrup and whipped cream- Red, White and Blue hotcakes. They were awesome- I want some more. Actually, everyone liked them but Birdy. We discovered that she takes her regular syrup hotcakes very, very seriously. She was VERY concerned that Daddy wouldn't make enough non-blueberry ones for her!

Monday night was our neighborhood Sidewalk of Fire! celebration. This is it's 6th year, but the first we have been able to go to. It was a lot of fun. It kicked off with a children's parade. The girls dressed up and decorated their bikes/scooters.

EJ wanted to dress up like a rock star and Birdy was a princess (what else?). There were other activities like bubbles, sparklers, desserts and face painting.

Of course the evening was topped off with fireworks! Everyone who attended (over a hundred, easily) was invited to bring fireworks. Birdy thought they were kind of loud, but she still liked them!

They sorted the fireworks from little to big and set off something like 20 at a time, it made for a much more impressive show than we would have come up with on our own!

37 Weeks

OK- this is an awful picture of me- I don't think I really have a double chin (right? right?!?!). I needed something to use for what is (hopefully) my last pregnancy update... Because seriously, if there is something like a week 41 or 42, I'll go crazy!

I'm feeling OK- the baby is lower now so that means less(ish) heartburn and I feel like I can breathe better. I'm kind of freaked out because my belly is bigger than it was with the girls. EJ was 1 oz shy of 9 lbs so I don't need a bigger baby than that, thankyouverymuch!

It is hot, and I'm so big and uncomfortable. DMP and the girls are taking good care of me. It's great that I have little muchkins who are willing to pick up the things I drop :) Mostly we're all just ready to meet our little guy!

Another satisfying moment in parenting

Birdy was having a "bad day" on Sunday and Daddy told her that if she didn't stop hitting, screeching and throwing a tantrum every 5 seconds, we wouldn't be able to go on the picnic we'd planned for later in the day.

After church she started to freak out over something small and Daddy said "I don't think we can go to the picnic if you are going to be like this" as he walked upstairs with her. That is the last I heard. A few minutes later, EJ and I were eating a snack and Birdy came down and happily said that Daddy said she could go on the picnic.

I asked her what Daddy said she needed to do in order to be able to picnic. She replied "Daddy said some stuff, and I said some stuff and now I get to go!"

Nice to know the lesson was learned...

Just because it's funny...

Happy Birthday Uncle Jeff!

Not too long ago, we had a birthday party for Uncle Jeff. I can't believe my baby brother is all grown up and turning 11! Brad and Jeff were making fun of the 11 candles I put on his cake- in my defense I only had 11 of that particular type that matched. Besides, if I had put all the candles I was supposed to, it would have burned down the house!

The cake was a strawberry jello poke cake with an awesome and easy whipped cream and pudding topping. Birdy was scornful of my efforts though because apparently strawberry cakes aren't "boy cakes". Jeff didn't seem to mind :)

After our burger and grilled potato dinner, we had a loud, funny game of Pirate Life. It was fitting that Jeff won, I guess.

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Hula Party!

On Friday (July 2) we had a fun family get-together with all the Utah and CA cousins. We really missed Aunt Kate and Uncle Brad! We had a "hula theme" because EJ has wanted a "hula party" for about 6 months. She kept planning it for when baby brother is born (can you imagine? a Hawiian themed blessing party?!?) but we were able to talk her into having it with the cousins while the Binghams were in town instead.

Bek was awesome and rented a super-cool water bouncy house. It had slides and other things inside and it sprinkled water all over everything. The kids loved it and literally played in it for hours. We decided that every future gathering needs to have one!

Bek also rented a sno cone machine. The kids loved it and were drawn to it every time it turned on like, well, kids to the promise of an icy treat covered in sugary flavored syrup!

The food was awesome as well. In true Kinsel-family fashion, there was wayyy too much, but who cares? Grandpa even got the kiddos to all shuck corn (which, it turns out, they LIKE doing). Grandpa smoked some awesome ribs and pulled pork. Seriously, seriously awesome- jucy, tender and just the right smokiness.

Here are some pics from the day. In case you are wondering, the kids didn't eat sno cones ALL day, but it was the only time they sat still enough to catch their pictures- the rest of the time they were bouncing!

I can't get over how long Sarah's hair is! Isn't she so pretty?

These boys are awesome. They are such sweet, smart boys and they make me excited for ours. Will especially has impressed me lately with how he helps and treats the little kids (and he's so handsome)!

Oh, and he's freakin' funny, too! Bek brought proper "hula attire" for all the kiddos.

The three hula girls.

Jacob is so funny and fun. He and EJ have really played well together this trip.

Look at how cute these kiddos are! What a fun, fun day!