happy birthday, lover boy

Today is Bruce's 28th birthday! Hooray for Bruce! Because today belongs to him (oh, and my bestest friend, Emily {happy birthday, em!!}) I thought I'd list 28 things about Bruce you may not know.....here we go:

1. He snores....LOUD.

2. He never fails to find the most boring program on TV and watches the entire thing...whether it's about dinosaurs, knitting, growing basil - you name it, he'll watch it.

3. He makes the best mashed potatoes ever.

4. When he was a teenager, he would sneak out in the wee hours of the morning....and never got caught.

5. While doing the above mentioned, he and his buddy would steal golf carts from the golf course and go riding around the course...and never got caught.

6. He bathes all three girls every night. He loves it and so do they.

7. I overheard him singing Madonna's 'Like A Virgin' to them tonight during bathtime. Nice.

8. He crinkles his nose when he laughs. All three girls do the same. I love this.

9. He always eats breakfast.

10. He likes the movie, "Barbie: A Mermaid Tale" and is more than happy to sit and watch it with the little girls.

11. He is fluent in Spanish.
12. Bruce doesn't so much care to eat candy.

13. It doesn't bother him if he hasn't showered for a few days.

14. It doesn't bother him if he wears already-worn-and-not-washed-yet undies.

15. He loves to BBQ and is great at it.

16. He sometimes pretends he is an interpretive dancer and makes us giggle at his super great dance moves.

17. He loves the mountains.

18. He is in incredible shape.

19. He's a hottie-with-a-body as a result of number 18.

20. He reads his scriptures in Spanish.
21. When he was a teenager, he went around smashing people's Halloween pumpkins.

22. Bruce is an extremely loyal friend.

23. He loves to cycle. He rides his bike to and from work everyday (it's not close). In fact, he got hit by a car on his bike a couple months ago and still loves cycling.

24. He is a fish. Loves the water.

25. Bruce takes the older two girls out almost every Saturday morning for a date.

26. Goes above-and-beyond as the Young Men's President at church. He loves those boys and works hard for them.

27. Bruce is a fantastic Daddy.

28. He doesn't brush his teeth first thing in the morning.

We love you, Bruce/Daddy! You are the best in the world!

You make us so happy.

bleh

I haven't done much blogging lately because I just feel so....bleh. Does anyone else get in a funk of just everything? Maybe I'm the only one. For the past few weeks I feel like I'm swimming upstream - so busy, so tired...but still always something that needs to be done. And to add to the pile, Ava is not sleeping anymore. Seriously, not sleeping. Not sleeping during the day or the night. She took a 5 minute nap yesterday. Yep. Five whole minutes all day long. She's waking up between 4 - 7 times during the night. It's honestly killing me. Does anyone have any suggestions?? Help! The irony of it all is that Ava is such a calm and placid baby....she just doesn't sleep.

In other news....Grace is loving school and doing so well. She's making new friends and already knows songs in Italian and French. She loves, loves her ballet class and shows us new ballet moves all the time :)

It's been really nice having some time with just Haylee & Ava while Grace is in school three days a week. Haylee and I read a lot - she is our reader! I try to do an art or craft with her as well - she loves having school with mommy and Ava!

Haylee & Ava playing together in their favorite spot....the pack n play :)

Our really great triple stroller....I don't think this passes safety standards
I try to take them for a walk first thing in the morning (which is why they are in pj's), but now that it's getting cold, we'll have to go in the afternoon.
Grace is such a big help to me! Who knew a 3 year old could offer so much help?? She gets diapers, wipes, binkies, lovies....whatever I need and brings it to me. She will hold Ava and make her happy when she cries - it's really sweet.

6 months big!

Ava Ruby is already 6 months big! I can't believe how fast time is going by. I feel especially mushy over my baby getting big because she's most likely going to be our last.

Ava is such a happy baby - always smiling and cooing. She weighed 14 pounds at her check-up, which puts her in the 50th percentile. We are so grateful that she is a happy & healthy baby.

She adores Grace & Haylee and giggles anytime they are around. It's so sweet. Ava loves her binky and her brown lovie. She has started sucking on her bottom lip, her fingers, and her cutie little toesies. She has the most beautiful lips and eyes - strangers even comment on her beautiful features. We love Ava Ruby sooooooo much and feel incredibly blessed she was sent to us!!!!