Moments and memories

Today was a great day! I went outside with Natalie after dinner, just the two of us. We played "soccer" with a care bear ball. Then we played golf with her little golf set. Then we put out a blanket on the grass and looked up in the sky together. She named all the things she could see and we just lied there talking together. Then she bounced on my legs and played, we both laughed so hard. I was just thinking how simple this little moment was that we shared, but how much it meant to me and how I want to cherish it forever. She pretended she was my mother and said, "Good night sweetheart, I love you." Then she sang Twinkle Twinkle little star to me and covered me up with a blanket, it was so cute.

After Julia's nap, I played with her on my bed just kissing and kissing her. I couldn't stop loving and mushing her. She is just so sweet and happy. She laughed through the whole thing and it was another moment I just didn't want to end. Why can't they stay little longer? I love being a mom, it's the best job in the world.

Julia's getting so big!

Julia has officially started to crawl. She has been on her hands and knees for about a month and a half now, but couldn't quite figure out the hands. She would move her knees then drop to her belly, move her hands and then raise back up. Now it's been about a week and a half that she's really crawling. She is starting to pull herself up on her knees and sometimes her feet, already. The other day I went to get her out of bed and she was standing up in her crib. It seems so soon. She's always been a strong baby. It's a little dangerous, cause she's unstable at this point and she hasn't figured out yet how to get back to the floor safely. So she just cries when she wants to move. Today she pulled herself up on the TV stand and fell. She has a line mark on her cheek where she landed. She also has her two front teeth on the bottom as of the past couple of weeks. She's been drooling a lot and chewing on everything. She cries a bit, but for the most part she's a trooper. She's doing very well with solids these days and loves everything we've given her so far(some things more then others). She always wants to eat at the same time as us, but we usually try to tide her over with Cheerios or feed her first, depending on the day. She gets frustrated if we don't feed her fast enough. But she's always been like that. It has always taken her 5 minutes to nurse and after she's done she acts like she just ran a marathon. As you can tell these girls are the center of my world and I'm enjoying the precious moments I have with them, cause it all goes so fast. I want the best for them and I'm grateful that we have the gospel in our lives and can teach them everything they need to know.

Natalie's growing up

I noticed the other day that Natalie doesn't suck on her finger and twirl her hair when she's tired anymore. I was worried about her ruining her teeth at the time and she got her fingers stuck in her hair occasionally. But it's always amazing how quickly they grow out of certain phases. It was so cute while it lasted. Natalie is so precious to me. I love the tender moments when she sits on my lap and grabs my face in her tiny hands and says, "Look at me mom. Momma I love you so much, you're so beautiful." I love it when she looks up at our wedding picture on our wall and says,"Momma you're a princess and you got married. I want to be a princess and go to the temple too." I get hundreds of experiences like this that make motherhood worth it. A couple of weeks ago she said, "Mom, I like Scotty,"(a boy in nursery with her)and I said, "Yeah, do you give him hugs?" "Yeah, I give him hugs and kisses, at church, in the dark room." I have no idea when she would have been in a dark room with him but I thought this was hilarious. These moments are so precious and make the lovely potty training phase worth it.

Happy Father's Day!

This is a candy bar poster we made for Marc for father's day, he also got four tickets to a Cardinals game and he took me, and his brothers, Kevin and Craig. The poster reads, "Mr. Goodbar, we would like to take 5 to tell you that you are our Almond Joy. We love you for a million Riesens. Love, your Butterfingers (Because none of us can catch). Happy Father's Day!

Fun at the Zoo

We went to the zoo on June 9th with my best friend, growing up, Joy (Croshaw) Wooden. This is her with her son Joshuah, and us of course. She was in town visiting before her brother left for his mission. We saw each other at the temple and decided it would be fun to meet at the zoo. We got to see the sea lion show and the dinosaur exhibit. Natalie is holding hands with Joy's nephew and we thought it was so cute. I'll do a slide show later of the dino's, plus we are going again this Friday to the zoo, so I'm sure I'll have more pics of that.

Here's a cute picture I took from my friend's blog of our kids at botanical gardens. I thought it was so cute! What great little friends Natalie has had.

Thanks for the prayers!

Thank you, everyone for your prayers this weekend in our behalf. We sent out an e-mail on Friday asking friends and family to have their thoughts with us as we hunt for a job. Sorry to those of you who didn't recieve our e-mail in time. We could still use prayers. We definately felt extra strength and comfort today and we greatly appreciate all of you who care so deeply for us. It's wonderful to know the support group we have backing us. We love you all and as always, we will keep you updated as much as we can.

Ben's pictures

Thanks Ben

Benjamin and Becca Munson took some great pics of the kids last night. We loved this one. We will post some more shortly.

This is a really cute little outfit my sister-in-law Paige made with a matching bib and birp cloth. I love them! If you can't tell, the front has a "J" on it with the same material. This is perfect for summer. I may need to get the pattern from her, but it looks simple enough that I may try to do it on my own. Thank you aunt Paige, we love you!