Batter Up!!

Brody making contact with the ball

Waiting for the pitch

Making friends on 2nd base

Last night Brody had his first Coach Pitch game!  I think Jeremy and I were more nervous then he was.  As the parents we were so afraid he wouldn't make contact with the ball and he would get frustrated or sad and want to quit!  Not the case at all!  Every time Brody got up to bat he made contact!  It was AWESOME!  He ran the bases like a pro and even made a friend or too along the way!  It was a great start to baseball season!

Cousins

Ella, Brody, Case, Presley, Brooklyn and Ledger

Ella, Case, Brody, Sugar, Presley, Brooklyn, and Ledger

Over Spring Break, my sister and her girls flew in from Pennsylvania to spend 10 days with us.  The cousins had so much fun playing together, I wish they would move back so they could play all the time!  Yesterday, my Mom decided she wanted a picture of the grandkids and her.  What a joke!  I seriously don't know how you people do these family pictures where you all look adorable.  We can't ever seem to get all the kids looking in the same direction let alone get them to hold still long enough to get a picture. Anyhow, even though they may all be looking somewhere different, they look cute!

What Have You Been Doing?

Jeremy and the boys chillin' on the hammock!

The oldest of the bunch riding the quad!

H and Presley 

Brooklyn and Ella driving the jeep.  She has to be the worst driver I've ever seen!  Sorry Ella Girl, but Case and Ledger will not be driving with you in 13 years!

Ledger loves going "Zoom Zoom" on the quad!

We've been at the cabin!  All the kiddos are sick.  If you think coughing, sneezing, fevers, runny noses and watery eyes are gonna stop this rowdy bunch from having fun, you're CRAZY!  No Way...not on Spring Break! What have you been doing for Spring Break?

It's St. Patrick's Day!

Ella, Ash, Brooklyn, Case, Brody, Ledger and I 

Brody thought it was so fun to let the baby cows suck his finger.  They were so cute!

Ledger thought it was fun playing in the baby cows drinking water.  He stuck his hands right in and flicked it all over himself!  

Case was very brave letting the baby cow suck on his finger!

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day a little early with a trip to our friends dairy farm for a PARTY!  The boys loved the cows, hay ride and dirt piles!  It was tons of fun, we can't wait to go back!  Hope your day is full of  luck and happiness!  

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday, Jeremy and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary.  We got a sitter for the boys and headed to Scottsdale for a day of relaxing around the pool at The Marriott Desert Ridge. We had lunch at Houstons and enjoyed a calm day of doing nothing...my kind of day!  Around 5:00 we got in our fancy clothes and went to the Friends Of The Arizona Cancer Center benefit party.  It was fun spending the evening with our closest friends and family.  We stayed the night at the hotel and got home this morning.  It was nice to get away with just Jeremy even if only for a night. My Mom gave me the coolest anniversary gift.  She is cleaning out her house and came across my journals from junior high and high school.  Reading through them last night with Jeremy was a bit strange since every page was about HIM!  Literally every page was about how much I love him and everything that was going on in our relationship.  It's funny to see how immature we both were and intense things were at the time.  It felt like the end of the world back then when he didn't call me or take me out for dinner.  It was funny!  I've decided you couldn't pay me to go back to Junior High or High School!  Way too much drama for this simple mama!  Happy anniversary Jeremy.

  

The Wheels On The Bus...

Here he comes!  My heart was very heavy watching this bus drive up the street!

Getting off the bus with his "Bus Buddies!"

If you have third grade bus buddies as cute as these neighbor girls, wouldn't you want to ride the bus too!

Brought my Kindergartner home from school today (UGH!)

He's begged, pleaded, asked neighborhood friends to talk to his Mom! I've just been ignoring him and hoping he would forget!  Ever since that dang field trip to the museum he's wanted to ride the bus to or from school!  Today I finally gave in (I'm not sure why!) I wrote notes to the teacher, bus driver and even the "bus buddy" teacher letting them all know Brody would take the bus home today.  I stressed all day hoping it would go well and that he would be safe!  Today Case, Ledger and I rode our bikes up the street to meet him.  Of course he loved it and wants to do it all the time now!  I'm really not ready for all this growing up stuff!  It can just stop right now!

Check Out Our Super Star!

This is Case's Super Star poster.  He got to hang it in the classroom for the week! 

 Way Cool!

What would Super Star week be without a visit from Sugar?

Case loved using the pointer to show his friends at school all his pictures.  

Ledger was a big help too!

Case and Mom put together little Super Star bags for all his school friends.  They were full of a few of Case's favorite things:  Suckers, ring pops, fruit snacks, and plastic snakes!

Here we are with our cute Super Star!  What a joy it was to be the parents of a 

preschool Super Star! WOW!

Last week Case was the Super Star of his preschool class!  It is always exciting being the Super Star because it is a week of feeling like the most special kid in the world.  Case has the best preschool teachers ever!  They are so kind, positive, involved, dedicated and love each of the kids for who they really are!  Oh did I mention that Case's preschool teacher was MY Kindergarten teacher at MacArthur?  Too fun!  These special ladies focus on what is important for preschoolers to know...respect, compassion, kindness, manners, love for others.  The skills they learn in preschool are with them the rest of their lives! 

Since Case was the Super Star, he got to eat on the "red plate" each day.  You know the plate, "You Are Special Today."  The one the kids fight over to eat on! He got to choose from the treasure chest at school.  He had special jobs in his class at school, his favorite being bell ringer.  Friday morning I served him breakfast in a star sprinkled bed.  It was a great week!  As part of being the Super Star, our family got to go to his class for a visit to celebrate him!  He shared his Super Star poster, gave us a tour of his classroom, and passed out his goodie bags.  The whole time I was there, I kept thinking how lucky I am to have Case and what a joy he is to have in our family!  He makes us laugh, he makes us cry, sometimes he makes us a little crazy.  But I love him so much! After his classroom visit, we took him to El Charro for a bean burro and then Sugar took him and Brody and Ledger to the IMax to watch Under The Sea in 3D.  Of course there was a trip to Rainforest Cafe for soda and ice cram before the little Super Star came home eyes barely open!   The week of Super Star may be over, but I think this little man is a Super Star everyday!  

In case you didn't know!

Most of you already know this, but we are having another baby!  We are due September 23rd and are excited to add to our cute family! We always do something fun to announce the pregnancy to family so this go around we went with a Valentine's Day theme. I found cute little heart boxes and filled each box with a  word that spelled out, "We're Having A Baby September 2009, The Felstead's." I then put all 7 boxes in a gift bag with tissue and a note explaining that their valentine had a special message for them and that they needed to unscramble the hearts to find out who the gift was from.  My mom took this picture after she unscrambled her Valentine message.  It turned out cute and it was a fun way to announce our exciting news.  Since this baby will make 4, many of you have questions and comments (interesting comments) reguarding the baby and myself.  So here are the answers to some of your questions and comments. 

The most common question is...Are you hoping for a girl?  

Answer:  Have you SEEN my boys?  Happy and healthy are the goal right now!  

Was this baby planned?

Answer:  YES!  Call us crazy but we didn't feel like our family was finished even as we were bringing Ledger home from the hospital. We always knew there would be another.

Do you want more after this?

Answer:  Four will probably be just perfect for us!  

How are you feeling?

Answer:  The same as I did with the other 3!  (Draw your conclusions from there as to what I'm having!) No morning, afternoon or evening sickness!  Can't keep my head up I'm so tired right now, but good otherwise!  

Have you been to the doctor yet?

Answer:  YES! I am 12 weeks along and went for my first appt last week.  The good news is that there is only 1 baby, the bad new is that because I will be 35 in June, I am at a much higher risk of having a baby with "problems".  I will go for a neucotransperency test, 

(NT)  (have no idea how to spell this) next week. This test can only be done between 11 and 13 weeks. It measures the thickness of the back of the baby's neck and skull combined with my blood to give a number that shows if this baby is at risk for having Downs, Spina Bifida, Etc. Etc. Apparently children with these birth defects have thicker necks and skulls, who knew!  After that I go for a Level 2 ultrasound which shows much more then just the normal ultrasound.  Oh by the way, if that NT Test comes back questionable, I will go for futher testing including a possible amnio.  Yes I'm freaking out but as my Mom keeps reminding me, "The baby has been made, there is nothing you can do about it now!" STOP WORRYING!!! I feel like I'm 90 and pregnant!

Are your boys excited?

Answer:  YES!  Every morning Brody comes in and asks, "Mom, did your tummy grow last night?"  He then asks me to lift my shirt up so he can see.  He giggles and touches my tummy.  By the way, they all think I'm having a BOY!  They hope it's a boy because, "All girls do is scream!" I guess they are right about that huh!

Where are you going to put this baby?

Answer: We'll probably have to bunk Brody and Case, Ledger can have his own big boy room and the new baby will go in the "baby room!"

Are you CRAZY?

Answer: YEP!