Portrait time...

Yesterday while anxiously awaiting our new iMac's arrival I decided to take the kids out and try out a few new photography skills that I had learned from this website recommended by a friend. Thanks Shalet!

The lighting was a perfect mix of overcast and some bursts of sun, but my subjects were the best part. They were very cooperative and quite adorable. See for yourself!

"Anyone can do anything for 6 months..."

That is a direct quote from my amazing husband sometime last January-probably only a few days after Christmas vacation. Kenny and I were having a late night discussion where he was describing his study plans and tactics for preparing for the Step 1 boards exam that he had scheduled for June 6th. I of course was panicking, because we were due with Audrey on May 9th -3 days before his first final, and how was I going to handle that and how was he going to be able to study with a super pregnant wife, and Nolan, and then a newborn and still study like he had planned to and....it went on and on...trust me. Anyway, being the great husband he is he assured me that we'd be fine-we'd just figure it out and then he said what has become our little family mantra. "Honey, it won't be that bad, besides..ANYONE can do ANYTHING for 6 months."

Now I ask you (you being whoever is kind enough to read my little dedication to Kenny) WHO SAYS STUFF LIKE THAT? Those were probably the toughest 6 months of my husband's life, and he knew it was going to be and was determined to put in his 110% like he always does with the hope that quote again, "If I'm lucky, maybe I'll rock the Boards."

WELL BABE YOU TOTALLY ROCKED THE BOARDS!!! Last Thursday when we opened that score, was one of the most exciting days in our married life. Years worth of sacrifice and dedication to our little family's goals has paid off for all of us...and since you have been playing captain of our team thus far we have you to thank for it! YAY KENNY! YAY DADDY! YAY MERRELLS!

I know that you're probably totally embarrassed that I'm dedicating a post to you, but I just really wanted to let everyone know what an amazing husband, father, student, teacher and son/son-in-law you are. You make us all so proud to be a part of your life, and not one day passes that we don't all know that you would do anything to make our lives better.

YOU ROCK.

Stay tuned...

My aspirations of getting our blog all updated from our June travels and 4th of July fun have be thwarted by our 5 yr old computer's lack of processing and hard drive capacity. Plus the fact that Nolan has become addicted to the nickjr.com website and plays just about every game there is..thus hogging my computer time. We have finally bit the really big bullet and purchased a new iMac computer and it should hopefully be getting here tomorrow so we can get busy uploading pictures and movies and all sorts of fun new things that having a computer with actual processing power can offer! So hooray!
In the meantime, here's a couple pictures that I was able to load on our computer before it said "Uncle". Happy belated 4th of July...isn't my family adorable??

June Vacation Pictures

Hi everyone! We has such a great time on vacation in Utah and Washington, there are tons of pictures to share and I'm sure I need to add captions to some of them-but for now I'm just going to insert a slide show and keep uploading more pictures to that.
So enjoy and thanks to all of our great family and friends that made our trip so much fun!

To our Moms...

We didn't get a chance to post a special Mother's day message about how wonderful our Mom's are, but I really wanted to just let everyone know how much our Mom's rock! They were both kind enough to come out and spend over a week with the four of us this past month, and it was just awesome to have that much time with each of them. It was so nice to have my kitchen magically get cleaned each day, some serious laundry get done, and the babysitting services were top notch! I also got to take advantage of sleeping in with Audrey after less restful nights, while Nolan had gotten up and was going full steam ahead each morning...I can't say Thank you enough for that!

My mom (Kenna) came out on May 8th until the 16th and boy was she a lifesaver for me, but especially for Nolan. I couldn't count how many times each day we heard him calling for "Granma" to come here, or "ja see that Granma?" Thank you so much for playing countless games with him, being quarantined in his room on the one day that he got sick and was throwing up, and helping my with my sewing project-the sling actually works great and Audrey has fallen asleep in it twice now! Thanks for letting us spend Mother's day and your birthday with you-we don't get that chance every year! Sorry it wasn't more exciting than a trip to Sam's and some late night Trifle!

Kenny's mom Debbie and sister Brittany came out on the 17th until the 27th too. Nolan LOVES his Aunt "Bittney" and had a great time chasing her around the house, playing at the park on the tire swings and slides and trying to share coloring time with her. By the late afternoon it was always her headed to take a nap, and Nolan trying to get her to play some more! Thanks to Debbie for watching Audrey while I took Nolan and Brittany to the Domes, and the Zoo-they both really needed to get out of the house and it did me some good too. She has a special knack for getting kids to sleep, which she has used pretty well on Nolan in the past, but also tried her hand successfully at lulling Audrey into some pretty deep sleeps that were tough to bring her out of.
A HUGE THANK YOU and WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH to each of them! Luckily we get to come see them again tomorrow and spend the next couple weeks with our family in Utah, WA and AZ. This time Kenny will be done with that pesky boards exam and he'll have no finals to study for and we can just enjoy the time hanging out with the people that we love the most! YAY for June!

She's just so stinkin cute!!!

We love having our new photo subject in our home so much we just can't stop taking pictures of her. With all of this crazy hair and her bright little eyes, it's no wonder she sleeps so much-if she's awake she's got a flashing camera in her face!

Introducing...Miss Audrey Echo Merrell!

Audrey has now been with us for more than two weeks-but with all that goes on with a new baby, I haven't taken the time to update our blog with the details of our beautiful new addition to the family!
Audrey Echo Merrell was born on Thursday, April 30th at 11:19pm! She weighed 7lbs 12 oz and was 20" long. She has lots of long dark brown hair-which is usually poking out in every direction, and its even cuter when it's adorned by one of the darling headbands that we've been given.
She is a very laid back little girl, but she is very alert and wide eyed just like her big brother. She really only fusses when she's hungry or needs to burp, and amazingly can sleep through any sounds that Nolan can send through the house.


She's such a joy and has really made our family feel complete. Nolan loves his baby sister, and likes to hold her, give her kisses, make sure that she has a toy to play with when she's awake and thinks that her "diaper noises" are pretty hilarious-definitely a sign that he's a little boy!!

We are pretty lucky parents that's for sure!

Actively waiting...

After two weekends in a row of having "Oh my! This baby may be coming today" moments...here we are on Sunday night trying to keep our minds off of it and just hoping that the next time really IS the "time" to go to the hospital. It is such a different experience to be ACTUALLY prepared for the birth of a child instead of it just coming as an early surprise! We've set up the bassinet and changing table, washed all of her clothes, set out diapers, put together the double stroller, and have done large stock-up-the-pantry grocery shopping trips-twice! I've even had a bag packed for myself and Nolan which has been sitting in the van for over two weeks! If she doesn't come soon I'm not sure what else I'll do to keep me busy!! Even Nolan told his baby sister to "come out now" today!
I know I'm jumping the gun, I still technically have two more weeks-but I just NEVER thought that I would actually be pregnant THIS long! I've been prepared mentally to have our little girl since my 34th week (since that was what my Dr. said was technically pretty safe). I have a new respect for friends and relatives that have always carried to their due dates...pregnancy is a lot different after the 32 weeks that I experienced with Nolan!
I really do like being pregnant and love the feeling of this little life squirming around in my belly. I'll take the heartburn, and the backaches to make sure she's good and ready to come out. I just feel like an excited child on Christmas eve just waiting to see what Santa brought me! Both Kenny and I can't wait to meet our little girl! Wish us luck, and any labor inducing vibes you've got please feel free to send my way!!
In the meantime-here's a few pictures that we've taken as we have been preparing.

Webcam made easy

Nolan is a pretty technologically advance dude. He can work the computer, remote, and enjoys using the webcam with Grandparents. Sometimes he needs an attention directing device (ADD), as sitting for too long is sometimes difficult. One of the best ADDs that we have found goes by the name of NERF! I am not sure how this started but webcamming has never been the same!





Brittany is his favorite target! As you can see he has great aim.

I Ain't Gonna Paint no More

This is one of Nolan's favorite books. It is about a boy who likes to paint--well everything!





One day the momma discovered the boy's creation and wasn't so impressed. He was told, "Ya ain't gonna paint no more!" But of course, he listened about as well as a two year old would.

Well, monkey see, monkey do!