some baby pics

When I talk to my family they ask for more pictures, so here you go!
I love this one with daddy & his new son...!

While I was trying to get some quick pictures of the new little guy, guess who else wanted in on the shoot?! He kept saying, "cheese!" and trying to get in all the pictures...
until finally he took over the set! what a poser!

(FYI, I also have some baby pictures posted on my photography blog at http://photos-by-erin.blogspot.com/)

now a family of 4!

Bennett Wayne arrived on Thursday, July 9th at 5:55 pm. He was 7 lbs. 3 oz. and 19 3/4 inches. He's pretty much been asleep since then! I saw my doctor that morning and he told me to go to the hospital as I would be having the baby that afternoon and NOT on Saturday as was scheduled! So, I went home (after running a few last minute errands first!) and tried to relax and get once last nap in before the big event! Little Bubba and I enjoyed our last afternoon alone for a while then he went to spend the rest of the day with Grandpa while daddy came home from work early to take mommy to the hospital!
I was having contractions and they were getting quit strong while we were waiting for our turn to go into surgery. The doctor was held up in other surgeries so we had to wait a couple hours longer than expected. But...finally I can say I had a GOOD experience at the hospital and having a baby! It's such a relief to have it go well...I was fighting anxiety the whole time!
Here's me and my 2 boys!

Chase still isn't quit sure what to do about the new addition. He's having a hard time adjusting and doesn't like that mommy can't pick him up all the time. Hopefully he knows we still love him just the same!
I was able to come home early from the hospital as all was going really well with me and the baby. Bruce & I were really surprised by how well everything was going this time (perhaps to compensate for how difficult things are going with Chase?!).

We are now a family of 4! I love all my boys and am so grateful my parents were able to come visit and help this week! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Wayne for all their help while Bruce & I were in the hospital...we have EXCELLENT family!

HAPPY 6 YEAR ANNIVERSARY BRUCE! Today we get to "celebrate" (aka remember) our wedding anniversary and I'm very blessed to have a loving husband who supports me when I say...I REALLY don't like breastfeeding! :)

20 months...already!

Look who's 20 months old this week! He's growing up a lot right now...his vocabulary has pretty much doubled (which still isn't saying much considering he didn't say a whole lot of words before!). He tries to put on his own shoes because his most favorite place to be is outside (and he's learned how to unlock and open the sliding -glass door). He'll grab his own out of the closet and even get mine if I'm not moving fast enough. One day I was a little pre-occupied and looked down to find him trying to put my sandals on my feet for me, it was pretty funny when he kept grabbing my foot and trying to slide the shoe underneath! He likes the water, as long as someone is with him. Mostly he likes playing with the hose and running through the sprinklers at the park.

He REALLY loves playing on the playground at the park...here he is on his little slide at our house, it was given to us for free, which we really appreciate! This little guy LOVES being outside and climbing on things.

He also likes to climb in the pantry or fridge to reach whatever food he's wanting...because mommy is too slow or doesn't know what he's saying! He's got a mouth full of food and still wants more!

He runs everywhere and his favorite person is still his Grandpa Wayne. He's finally acknowledging a baby brother in my tummy and will give baby bennett "hugs" by laying his head down on my belly. He's being rather difficult at bedtime right now...not sure when this phase will end, but any day is fine with me! His world is going to change when we bring home a new baby in just a few days!

(words he's saying: "daddy", "mommy", "grandpa" or "papa", "bye-bye", "hi", "walk"/"water" -sound the same, "Bolt" his favorite movie, "cookie", "fruit snack", "cracker", "no" -my favorite..., "please", "more", and he's also started saying "airplane" today!) of course nothing is crystal clear, but he's learning!

my 2nd favorite holiday!

While Christmas is my all-time most favorite holiday of the year...4th of July, Independence Day is my 2nd favorite holiday!!!

I love all the flags, fireworks, BBQ's, family & friends, sunny weather, and remembering the blessing of living in this beautiful country! We had some friends over to enjoy pizza (not a BBQ, but that would require we actually buy a BBQ...some day!) and then we girls lost in a game of Scene It -Friends...sad to say we lost to our husbands...weird!

Since it doesn't get dark till about 10pm, we decided to do our own fireworks a little early (the kids were getting tired!)...it wasn't early enough because Little Bubba was NOT liking the fireworks at all! He did fine last year, but this year he was overwhelmed with all the lights and sounds (we had neighbors doing some as well).

After our fireworks, we walked down the street to watch the big fireworks show at the golf course (I love living within walking distance of a good fireworks show!). I gave the little guy a glow stick in hopes it might keep him occupied and not so worried about the fireworks...it actually worked! He LOVED that thing and wouldn't put it down the rest of the night. I had to grab it from him after he fell asleep at home!

It's hard to celebrate a good 4th of July with little ones...all the good fireworks happen after bedtime! But, I still love this holiday and plan to go "all out" next year, which I've been looking forward to doing for years!

this and that...and first sentences!

We've been busy, but with what exactly I couldn't tell ya! I feel like we've been going a hundred miles and hour for the last couple weeks and I need some time to just stop! Between working (I did the photography for our stake girls camp and then a wedding for one of B.'s cousins -all last week) and getting things ready for the baby, I need a LONG nap!
Chase has discovered he LOVES to watch a movie...not any movie, but a very specific movie. He absolutely loves to watch "Bolt" and that is all he will watch. Here he is watching his favorite movie (which daddy & I have now memorized after seeing it too many times to count).
I've been doing a few projects for the new baby and one was getting his name sign ready for the room. It's a bad picture, but it'll have to do! I've also made a few burp cloths, a tag blankie, an i-spy bag (great for a reverent activity during church for big brother), and I'm working on sewing a skirt...that probably won't ever turn out, but I'm trying!


Lastly, we did have a good time for Father's Day. We added to daddy's collection of Superman shirts and he and Little Bubba enjoyed looking alike. Daddy got a few of his "favorite" things, but I know what he really wanted was a car...sorry babe! We love you though and appreciate all you do, you're a great dad! On Tuesday morning (also Grandma's birthday...) Chase finally said his first sentence!!! It shocked us both because he was so clear and we both understood him! Daddy was leaving for work and on his way out the door he said, "Bye Chase, I love you." and then Chase said... (wait for it...)
"I love you." !!!
Ahhh, how sweet! We can't get him to say it again, but that might be because we were both so shocked the first time we may have scared him...! He barely says any single words, let alone phrases, so for him to say that was amazing to us. I'm realizing that my "baby" is growing up and I'm not ready for him to! Make it stop!

Memorial weekend '09

As per Sellers' family tradition, we packed up our gear and headed west! We went camping at the sand dunes by the coast again and we had a great time (despite being 32 weeks along!). These last couple months, Little Bubba hasn't wanted anything to do with the quads...we've tried getting him to ride with us at Grandpa's house, but he refuses and acts scared. We were bummed and didn't think he would want to ride this weekend...if only that were the case!

ALL HE WANTED TO DO WAS GO FOR A RIDE! As soon as we got there he saw everyone out riding and that's all it took. From then on, every chance he could get he would drag us over to the quads and ask for a ride. Since we didn't think he'd want to we didn't have a helmet for him, but thanks to KEMM for being life savers (the let us borrow their little helmet).

We also went over to the beach and enjoyed the view. Little Bubba was just happy to play in the sand.

A bunch of the other kids brought kites to play with and we had to get in on some of the action...

Mostly, it was just nice to get away for a few days. We love that Grandpa lets us share his toy-hauler...otherwise we would actually have to camp...with a tent and everything!! ;)

When we got home on Monday it was warm and we were feeling a little dirty from all the sand, so the first thing we did was daddy took the little guy out back to play in the sprinkler. It felt so refreshing! He didn't even wait to change into swim clothes!

Bruce is really hoping to go on the 4th of July camping trip too, which happens to be 1 week before I go in to have the baby...a little too close for my comfort. The dunes are 3 hours away, and there's no way I'm risking that drive if anything happens early (like it did with our 1st!)

my heroes

I found this shirt for the little guy and knew I'd seen it somewhere before...I knew it would be perfect and that daddy would love it!

table for 8+

I finally got a dining room table! Now, when my family comes to visit we will actually have someplace to sit and eat. I love it because we found it on craigslist for a good deal and it seats 8 (with room for 2 more!)...not that I EVER plan on having a family of my own large enough to fill this table, but it'll be nice to have room for company & family gatherings! I want to refinish it, but I'm still deciding what color/stain. Don't mind the little guy in the corner...he saw me taking pictures and lingered around so he could get in a few!

18 months

My baby is 18 months old! We had his dr. appointment yesterday and he did quit well...up until they poked him 3 times with a needle -after that he just wanted to get out of there (who can blame him?!). He weighed in at just over 27 lbs. (that's it?! I swear he feels more like 37!) and he's almost 34'' tall (which puts him on the larger/taller side for an 18 mo. old!). He's mostly interested in being a big boy right now...wants to sit in the regular chair at the dinner table (no high chair or booster), wants to climb on everything, and he copies EVERYTHING Daddy does! He loves to wrestle with his dad and Grandma is even teaching him how to jump (which he will soon discover is more fun from higher ground!).
He's jabbering a lot, but doesn't say a whole lot of words right now...too busy being a boy and developing other, more important skills! He's still not showing much interest in getting rid of his crib...but we'll be needing that soon!

FYI...my c-section is officially scheduled with the hospital for July, I have to be there at 5:30am!

getting organized

So I have this awesome walk-in pantry in my kitchen and we're working on getting our food storage compiled. I wanted a way to organize and keep track of what we have and need without having to inventory the complete pantry every few months and I came across a few ideas online... I put my own "OCD" style on one idea that I found and I think it'll work good for us! I came up with 7 categories (but I'm sure I'll add more later...) of food items like; veggies, fruits, soups/sauces, etc. and then made a folder/pocket for each one out of scrapbooking paper. Then I have index cards for each item (i.e., canned corn 15 oz., or frozen corn 5lbs, etc.).

As I use an item I pull the index card and put it in a pocket marked "shopping" and when I do my grocery list I just pull all the cards of items I've used so I can restock without cutting into my supply too much!

I even have colored ribbon or cards for each category so the items stay in the right place...(like I said, my own "OCD" style). Each card will list how many I have of that item & what size so when I go to replace it I get the same thing...

It works in theory, but we'll see how well it goes as my food storage grows!

my Mother's Day weekend

I'm really liking my family's tradition of dragging out birthdays and holidays for as long as we possibly can! Instead of just 1 day for Mother's Day this year, it became a weekend!

It's only my 2nd Mother's Day being a Mom myself, but my hubby is a pro & made me feel VERY loved and appreciated! We started out with a date night on Friday and went to the movies (we saw "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past...NOT WORTH IT!), then we spent Saturday with his parents in Portland, shopping & eating at the Cheescake Factory! I've been wanting to get a hanging plant for my back patio and guess what beautiful flowers I got for Mother's Day...fuschia!

B. was so sweet about it & even got me a little watering pale...but he's the one who has to water it because I can't really reach! (FYI, I'm about 7 months pregnant & had no intention of posting pics of me and my belly...don't expect any more!)
I also got this awesome addition to my slowly growing collection of Willow Tree statues. It's a Mother with her 2 boys...it's called, "Quietly" which is ironic since I've never associated having 2 boys as being anything close to quiet!

In church on Sunday they gave all the Mother's Sees' Candy (now that's how you show appreciation!) and we had dinner & dessert (fresh strawberry pie from Marie Calendars) with my in-laws (Grandpa is an excellent cook!). With all our activities...little bubba got wore out!
Saturday night we watched another movie -"Bride Wars" and we were disappointed with that one too, so when we finished Mother's Day with a movie of my choice...umm I didn't want to have a 3rd failure, so a 5th viewing of "Twilight" was the only option!

It was SO NICE to have such a good weekend! I LOVE my family and am very excited to meet our new baby soon!

I love you, Mom and I'm grateful to have you -you are my best friend!

to answer your question...

My sister- who has 4 kids of her own- sees me with my 1 and often asks..."What do you do all day?" Now I know she's truly baffled by what could possibly fill my day when there's only 1 child to keep alive, and I didn't know how to answer her until I started taking notice of what I do all day...

1st, I clean up this mess...

then I clean up this one...

(I have to scavenger for all my rugs that he has moved throughout the house)

If I'm lucky, he'll play right where I need to stand in the kitchen to make lunch or dinner...

If I'm REALLY lucky, the weather will be nice enough to let him go outside

(usually not that lucky!)

I search for lost shoes....usually mine!

(B. doesn't like knowing that his son walks around in his mom's shoes all day!)

And, just when I think I've managed to keep this 1 child alive another day...
he discovers climbing.

I pray he NEVER gives up his nap time...

Because I'm about to be outnumbered and I will soon ask myself (as my sis does often)...

"what did I do all day with just 1?"

love ya sis, you're a rock star!!!

Happy Meal

We treated the little guy to a happy meal last week (thanks to his Mamas & Poppa!) and his favorite part was having his own drink! He kept sharing with Mommy & Daddy and thought it was so funny to feed daddy (he'd reach behind his head and shove a fry in dad's mouth). And, since when does McDonald's not give out toys in their happy meals?! What's with these kids cd's? Maybe if my kid was old enough to care about getting a cd...how am I supposed to keep him entertained so I can eat my own lunch? It's not like there was a cd player at the table for me to use, so he didn't get to play with anything afterwards, bummer. ;)

all the kidies

While we were visiting my fam in Utah, we took a picture of all the grandchildren (tried...). It proved rather difficult as we got them all dressed up and then took them out on the playground and said....now sit still! What did we expect?! With kids ranging in age from about 6 months to 6 years old...sitting still on a playground in sunny, warm weather is IMPOSSIBLE!

We did manage to get one with Mamas surrounded by her grandkids.This was the best we got of the kids together...the bigger our family gets, the harder it is to get the kids to take a picture (by the time you get one settled, another one has moved!)We let them play around for a while afterwards...amazing how they found their smiles so easily then! I got a few pictures of them while they were playing...
The newest edition...until July! He's adorable and so easy-going, which is a good thing, because it's my sis' #4, so there's a lot going on with #1, 2, & 3 already!

Such a diva! She KNOWS she's adorable and no need to ask "who's a princess?!"....she'll let you know she is! But, as the only girl with 3 brothers...she deserves royal treatment!

Definitely the man of trouble! He's adorable too, but don't let that fool you!

And here's the oldest grandkid! I asked him who his favorite superhero is and this is what he showed me! He's a lot of fun! (by-the-way...I asked his brother -pic above-who his fav superhero was and his answer was typical..."ME!")

These are the 2 dolls from AZ! My bro's kids and they have another on the way (due Oct.!) and excited to say, it's a boy! My brother is VERY excited to get a boy and we're happy for them too.

Mostly it was all the adults chasing all the kids....how many adults does it take for a grandkid photo shoot? (ALL OF THEM!)