A Week in the Life of the Empey's

We had a great first week of school. Tyler had a great time. He was most excited to come home and tell me that he could buy hot lunch at school. I think he comes home almost everyday to tell me what the choices were. I have not yet let him buy lunch because I need to put some money in his account. I know, I know I am a horrible mean mother, but I promised him he could this week, just once.

Joshua has kept us smiling as usual. I often find him sitting on the kitchen table sabotaging Ty and Brooks coloring and eating the ends off of the markers or stuck in Brooklynn's booster seat. He has to scream for help once he climbs in because he can't get out. He also is really into trying on all our shoes lately and walking around in them. The flip flops are my favorite. He is also starting to do the cheesy grin for pictures. What a nut.

Can you tell that he loves to torment Brooklynn by the look on his face.

'Say Cheese'

Wearing Tyler's shoes and trying to go the the step with them.

As for Brooklynn, she took it upon herself to change the batteries in the Leapster all by herself, after I told her not to, of course! So, as it turned out she threw away my rechargable batteries. I wasn't the happiest of moms at that moment. Steve told her that she had to go through the garbage to find them. She was less than pleased with that prospect and while she was brushing her teeth we heard her saying, "I don't want to dig in the garbage, I am already clean and it is kucky, kucky, kucky and more and more kucky. Of course Steve and I were cracking up. She did dig through the trash and found the batteries and of course we took pictures of her. She almost fell in she was on her tippy toes as far as she could go. After she dug them out, Steve being the dad that he is 'accidently' pushed them back in the trash. Brooklynn was so mad, 'Dad I know you did, why did you put them back in.' It was a funny moment at any rate!

Brooklynn and the search for the batteries! Kucky!

A Little About Me!

To everyone who views my blog... Tag you're it!

Five things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Started my senior Year at BYU. Holy Crap am I that old now!
2. Wondering if Steve would call me when he got home from his mission!
3. Continued working at Media Services on BYU campus
4. Set up a homecoming date with Steve Madsen
5. Got totally played by that guy named Craig whatever - remember that Julie what was his name.


5 songs I know the lyrics to:
1. Wasted by Carrie Underwood
2. 867-5309 (Jenny, Jenny) by Tommy Tutone
3. Rubber Ducky by Ernie
4. The Thunder Rolls by Garth Brooks
5. Unwritten by Natasha Beddingfield

5 things I would buy if I was a Millionaire:
1. A Compound for my Family to live in with a pool house/grill area and a big park for the kids
2. A timeshare in Hawaii
3. A Tummy Tuck
4. Some big new car - not sure what
5. A Big Beautiful house, with a toy/game room and all my kids would have their own room

Five Things I Would Never Wear Again:
1. Stirrup Pants, what the heck were those about
2. Overalls, it really was bad from the get go, just none of us realized it
3. Skinny Jeans, most of the world is too fat for them, and the other half think they are too fat.
4. My Bridesmaids dress from Marilee's Wedding because mom sold it and it is a little out dated.
5. Banana Clips, I thought of this one driving Brooks to school this morning!

Five Things I Would Like to Do:
1. Move closer to my family
2. Go to Hawaii every single year
3. Take my kids to Disney World often
4. Learn to Golf
5. I would like to travel through Europe

Five Favorite Toys:
1. tivo
2. The internet
3. iPod
4. Cell phone
5. Kitchen Aid

My Baby is all Grow'd UP!

Well, today was Tyler's big day! He started first day. I have to admit this was much harder for me than the first day of Kindergarten. Seriously, he will now be gone from me for about as long as he is with me durning the day. So sad - at least for me! He was off the walls this morning and could hardly wait to go. We took some pictures and then we headed off to school. Once we go to school and he saw all the kids, I could tell he was nervous! Once he found a few of his friends it helped, but I am anxious to see how the first day went. I helped him find the right place to line up, and followed him into his classroom! He was excited and there are plenty of kids in his class that he had in class last year or played T-Ball with. His teacher is wonderful and I think and hope it will be a great year! I love you Ty!

In front of our house!

On the playground!

Some of the boys in his class. Brock, Carson, Nelson, Beaux

Mrs. Jackson!

Going into his classroom! Man he is so dang handsome! See the nervous smile.

The Beach and The Wedding

Two Weekends ago we went down to So. Cal to see my family and go to Laura Christofferson's wedding. It was a fun weekend. We went to the beach with Nana and Nicole. The kids had such a great time. Tyler tried boogie boarding for the first time, so did Brooklynn. Josh willing went in the ocean and it was just a lot of fun. Josh was probably the funniest, when we finally took him down to the water, he took off full steam ahead. He kept running right into a wave and in knocked him face first into the water. I rescued him and thought he would be much more cautious. I was wrong. He went for it again and low and behold the next wave took him out and he went in head first again. After that he learned he needed to be more cautious and so he took off after a receding wave and tripped and went head first into the sand. I was, of course, laughing. It took him a little longer to venture into the water again and after that he would mostly just run away from the waves.

The wedding was fabulous. I didn't get any good pictures of Laura and Kevin, but Marilee and Nicole posted some. I did get some great picture, well actually video's of the kids dancing at the reception. G-man was hilarious spinning on the floor, Tyler was great dancing too. Tyler told me on our way to the reception, "I'm not going to dance," let me tell you that conviction lasted all of ten minutes. Enjoy, the pictures and the video's.

Love was so in the air at the reception. Brooklynn and Ben we can say have never been the best of friends. I remember a few times that Brooklynn would say to me in reference to Ben, "That boy is being mean." or "That boy is bugging me!" They have since grown out of that, but at the wedding Brooklynn was loving the bride and told me how pretty she was and during the first dance she was just so excited. So, I then turned around and she and Ben were in dancing form all ready to dance. It was adorable. Unfortunately I didn't capture that first moment on film, but I did get a picture of them later. I also caught Garett giving Marin a flower he picked out of the flower bed. It was cute.

I also must mention the dress fiasco! Marilee's Bridesmaid dress due to some unfortunate circumstances did not quite turn out as well as she would have liked. Annie referred to it as, "A beautiful disaster!" So mom, with minimal assistance from me set out to fix it. Notice in the picture how gorgeous it turned out. It was not without a very frustrated Janet, and me right next to her talking her off her ledge. Mom, you are a rock star! Marilee you looked beautiful!

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Slacker!

I've totally been slacking in the blog department. I'm not sure why. I am having the end of summer blues and the beginning of school excitement. Tyler starts back on Monday and Brookie goes to preschool the next week. I am very excited for them both, but how is it possible that I am old enough to have a 1st grader! It makes me sad to think he is going to be gone all day, but happy at the same time.



We haven't been up to much, we did go to Laura and Keving Redford's wedding which was fun and I have some good video's to post of the kids dancing. I'll have to post later after I download the videos. I will have to do it before school on monday because the memory card is full!



Okay, so I am totally boring, but I just wanted to let all my faithful and devoted fans that I will have some updates next week!

Hair!

My Joshua really has the coolest hair. He was born with tons and while most babies have all their hair fall out, not Josh. It thinned and he had some fall out, but he has always had tons of strawberry blonde, sometimes red, hair. So, Steve and I were inspired by Kari and J, to give him a really cool hair do. We figure this is our only child who has had this much hair or will ever have this much. Tyler didn't even have a hair cut until he was 18 months, and I can't even tell you how many times I've cut Josh's. Anyway, here is his lastest do. I laugh every time I see that cute little face with a rocking mohawk! I love it!



Just as a side note, I would just like to mention how much I love it when my house is all clean. I have spent most of the day cleaning and I am so glad it is done and my house is nice and clean (at least for 10 minutes). Why do I get such a feeling of satisfaction from it, I think I may be a little twisted, but oh well. At least we are all clean for another week!

Bear Lake Utah and the Empey Clan!

You have to love family reunions! Seriously, what is better than getting together with all the people you love and hanging out for a few days! We just got back from Bear Lake and the Empey Family Reunion! I will start first by telling all you Empey's that we love you and miss you already. The kids hate being away from their cousins. And Kayla, we love and miss your clan too, we wish you could have been here with us, but I guess a vacation in Spain isn't a bad substitute!

We left on Monday and drove to Mesquite Nevada. I thought it would be a great place to stay at only $30 a night. So we did, I thought Steve would kill me because he really wanted to just keep driving, but we stopped at the lovely (that is sarcastic) Oasis Spa and Casino. Let's just say we have not stayed in too many places this bad. I learned a few things about our kids that night. Tyler isn't bad to sleep next to. Brooklynn loves to snuggle in next to her Daddy! And Josh sings himself to sleep and plays with his belly button!

Tuesday we hit the road and stopped at Mike's house. Stephanie and Mike were taking a boat and trailer up to Bear Lake and since Steph had never towed anything was a little nervous. I can't say I blame her I would have been the same way. So, we helped them get ready and left on Wednesday with Steve pulling the boat, Mike the trailer and me driving our car. It worked out well and Kenzie and Steph drove with me and read me some Harry Potter. Now that I know some of the last book I may have to start at the beginning.

We got to our campsite, which was in a great spot and set up camp. We hauled our tent up and all our sleeping bags, got it set up and then ended up bunking in with Kari and J. Of course, why wouldn't we. J's parents let them bring up their trailer and it worked out nicely. Steve and I slept on an air mattress on the floor the kids slept on the bed, Jake and Josh each had a pack
n play and Kari and J got the bed. It wasn't the most comfortable on the air mattress that is, but it worked! Oh and of course the tent we had just purchased had a hole in it!

On Thursday, we hit the lake. The water was soooooo smooth. It was fantastic and I skiied. Yippy, it was so awesome I hadn't skiied like that in years. It was so very fun. Kari learned to wakeboard, Steve Skiied and wake boarded, it was just really fun! At least until the thunder storm rolled in and ruined it! McKenzie, who by the way for those of you who don't know her, is the coolest 13 year old ever - I love you Kenz! After watching me ski wanted to give it a whirl. She popped up on that one ski so fast. She is a total rock star! I have to say the highlight of this day was when James road his bike in the water and then lost it in the water. Lucky for him the bike search party found it!

When we got back to camp, Tyler crashed! He had a fever and was not feeling good. Being the mom I am I started to worry. I soon figured out that he probably had the strep throat that Joshua had the week before. Of course I had thought in my own head before we left I should really call and get some anitbiotics for Ty and Brooks just in case, but I didn't. Next time I will listen to my own self. Anyway, I tried my Pediatrician, but he was unable to prescribe in Idaho. So, on Friday Morning, after Andy had gotten us a list of Dr's etc to call in the area, thanks Andy! I called an office and they got us right in! You have to love the nice small town Idaho folks! Anyway, sure enough it was Strep and so we got the medicine and kept Ty's fever down with Motrin and headed back to the beach! It was another great day. As the pictures show, the kids had a great time, especially Josh in his mud puddle. He played in that silly mud puddle forever, even though a whole lake of water was just feet away.

I must mention that Kari planned a great dutch oven dessert cook off. The first night of the cook off was on Friday and it was awesome! We made Monkey Bread that turned out great! Stephanie and crew made a chocolate carmel thing and mom made some sort of cobbler or something that looked like chili. They all tasted great and it was fun to see what everyone came up with.

On Saturday we headed up to some caves - the Minetonka caves (I think). Anyway, it is a huge cave that they have put stairs in so that you can go on tours. In all there is over 400 stairs. Well, we all went and Grandpa Nelson was not going to miss out either! At almost 99, he is truly amazing, he climbed all the stairs and even though most of us were very worried, he made it through with no problem.

Later in the afternoon we went up to Bloomington lake and Steve and Kelly jumped off the cliffs. Dave couldn't make the swim (you big whimp - HeeHee). Once we got back to camp, Steve and I packed up, ate dinner, said a sad goodbye and headed to Pocatello. We decided to get an early jump on it. It was better to get some Laundry done and clean up and shower before the long car ride home! We heard the dutch oven on Saturday night was good too, I am so sad I didn't get to try all the creations! Kristin, I love apple pie and I bet it was sooo good.

All in all, it was a great reunion. Thanks to Mike for bringing the boat! Thanks to mom and dad for having such a great family! Thanks to Kelly for having lots of extra gear. Thanks to Steph for feeding my family so much food. Thanks to everyone for putting up with me and my non-camping self. I try, no really I do, I just have an aversion to dirt or something. Of course a huge shout out goes to Kari for planning and stressing and dealing with everyone's, especially mine, complaining, I love you! Dave and Trista, we are sad that we didn't get to see more of you! We can't to hear about the flavor of your baby! Let us know.

Enjoy the pictures. I didn't get pics of everyone, but I'm sure with all the cameras up there we got everyone!

Oh ya and I musn't forget. Dad Empey water skiied! Go Dad! Look for the pics of that too!

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The Things I LOVE!

I was inspired to post the things I love most about my kids today, thanks to my friend Melissa! So here it goes.

1. I love it when Josh say "DADA" with as much excitement as his little person can muster. "MAMA" on the other hand seems to be more of a whiney and complaining tone.

2. I love Brooklynn trying to figure out and remember to say her L's, it is a real challenge, but slowly she is getting it!

3. I totally love Tyler's passion for swimming, the kid goes non-stop in the pool.

4. I love when Joshy mimics what I do, for instance, when I blink my eyes at him and he does it back, but when he does it, he scrunches up his nose.

5. I love Brooklynn's energy, she can run circles around all of us and is constantly jumping around.

6. I love it when Tyler is the 'big' brother, and is so concerned and worried about his little brother and sister.

7. I love that Josh LOVES and I mean LOVES to be outside, no matter how hot it is. He wants to go go go all the time.

8. I love when Brooks decides she is going to use a new word, like last week, when she told us, "My lips don't feel so funky anymore!"

9. I love to listen to Tyler read! He is so cute and trys so hard to figure out all the words.

10. I love the grin Josh gets when Daddy and Tyler play catch with him. There is nothing greater it the world than a ball and hanging out with Dad all wrapped into one.

11. I love to listen to Brooklynn play, she has an amazing imagination and it is fantastic to eaves drop on her.

12. I love how my Tyler will still give snuggles. Even though he is almost too big to sit on my lap he still has to have a good snuggles once in a while and I wouldn't miss it. I keep telling him that he is getting to big and I will have to sit on his lap soon.

I guess that is all. I just really love my kids, they are amazing and so wonderful. I think sometimes I forget how wonderful they are and get worried about all the trivial stuff. I am so grateful for them and the fun and joy they bring both Steve and me!

The 4th and 100 and HELL!

We had a great 4th of July this year. Our friends the Lawrence's hosted a little party and we went over for some great tri-tip (thanks Logan and Jamie) and some other good food. The kids played on the water bounce house slid thingy and we sat around and visited. It was nice and relaxing. After that we headed over to our friend Megan's brother for a little swimming. The kids also loved that! And then we went back over to Lawrence's to light some fireworks. It was a great day and the kids had so much fun! We are blessed with such amazing friends and it was nice to spend time with them. Here are a few pictures from the day!

The Slide, you can see Tyler right at the bottom.

Joshua after a cupcake! It was really good.

A good toothless picture of Brooks!

Tyler - he is so dang handsome.

I love the look on Brooklynn's face here!

Tyler and Dax

Brooks and the sparkler

??????????

Brookie and Duncan (her boyfriend) even though she always says to me, "Mommy Duncan won't talk to me!" He is somewhat shy and doesn't say too much.

Nash and Josh, they were hilarious. Nash kept giving Joshy hugs.

Well, other than that we have plunged into our Hotter-than-HELL temps here. I know some of you are experiencing them as well! I still don't love the heat, nice yes, Mid 90's I'll take it, but anything over 100 makes me sick to my stomach. I can't complain too much though, we do have our water park passes! I guess that about sums up our last few days!

Going, Going, and really truely totally and completely GONE!!!!

Brookie had a most traumatic morning today, but thankfully she didn't know it would be quite so traumatic! As many of you know when she was around 18 months, she slammed her face on our tile floor in the middle of a tantrum and chipped her two front teeth. She slammed the same teeth into my cedar chest last October and bit through her lip and then a couple months ago she sneezed whilst putting her dishes into the sink and slammed them into the counter. Yikes, I know it makes you cringed doesn't it? Well, the last blast to the teeth finally did in not only one, but both of her front teeth. Before we left for Utah/Idaho last week I took her to our Dentist and yep, sure enough both teeth were abcessing. Sad - they were going to have to come out. Due to the scheduled family pictures, we decided to wait until after we got home to pull them.

So, first thing this morning Brookie and I headed to the Dentist. It was so sad to sit in the corner and watch, but I was very brave and although I really wanted to, I didn't cry! I think the worst part was of course the needle, but she didn't know it was a needle. Dr. Grant was so fantastic with her. Then once he went to pull them, that really put her in tears. All the pressuer and stuff is so hard to understand pressure and all that stuff when you are only 4. She was super duper brave and although she really hates the way her nose and lip feels, my Brookie is a trooper. I'm sure I will have a good cry later today because her teeth are gone and although they were scraggle teeth, they were teeth.

Enjoy the pictures!

The Finished Product!

So, have you ever had a wall in your house that you just didn't know what to do with. For me that has been my kitchen wall. It is just a little wall, with a a stupid light switch (which we have yet to figure out what it turns on and off) in the middle of it.

At Christmas, Thanks to my Kari (I LOVE YOU KARI!) an idea was born. For Christmas she gave me this really cool magnetic frame thing with black and white pictures of all of at the beach. It is really cute, so that became the center piece for my wall. Then while at Julie's at spring break her friend Michelle took some great pictures of my kids that I thought I would frame and start adding around the other picture. Finally, while at Target the other day I spotted a framed pictures of the saying "Kitchens are made to bring families together" It matched my colors perfectly, so I thought it would be the perfect final touch.

Here it is, my final wall. As you can see I am still waiting for one picture of Brooklynn that wasn't finished today. I absolutely love it. It makes the kitchen feel so much more homey. I may have to paint the frame on the pic from Target it looked black, but it is a really dark brown and I don't know if I can handle it being different. We'll see. Oh ya, and I need to get some of that sticky stuff and level them all or it will drive me crazy!

Idaho!!!! ( long post sorry)

After Gongy's party the kids and I headed to Idaho to spend the week at Grandma's house! The kids were so excited. Steve headed out to Atlanta for work, yet again, and was coming back on Friday to drive home with us. Soon after we arrived on Sunday, Katrina brought her kids over to spend the night and play. It was so fun to see Eli, Hannah and Emmaus. They are all very cute and the kids get along great. Monday they played hard and then Mom Empey and I drove up to Idaho Falls for FHE and to swap kids. We fed the ducks with the kids, had some snow cones and then came back with Hannah and left Tyler with Katrina.

Tuesday, Brooks and Hannah played and played, we went to the park for lunch, then while Josh and I napped, Grandma to the girls to the library for a special dinosaur day. When they came home we set up 'Grandma's water world' and the kids played. There is nothing like Grandma's back yard for fun and playing. Brooklynn wore herself out everyday playing. Josh enjoyed his first popsicle and as with everything was hilarious to watch!

Wednesday Ty and Brooks were back with us - they played and then in the late afternoon we went to the swimming pool. I found out that Josh is completely fearless in the water. He started out cautiously and then just went for it in the kiddie pool. If I hadn't been right next to him the whole time he would have drowned. He would get into the deep water and then just throw is head back and go under - he is seriously insane. Brooks and Ty love the water and Tyler had a great time on the water slide and in the lazy river. Josh was so cute eating his first ever nectarine and was kind enough to share it with me. That night after a quick visit to Grandpa Nelson's, he is amazing and will be 99 in a few months, I ended up having a long night with Brooklynn who was throwing up most of the night.

Thursday Brooks and I took it easy while Grandma and Tyler ran errands and went to the zoo. And then of course the very best part of the day came when KARI AND J AND JAKE arrived. Yippy, the boys were so cute together and loved playing. On Thursday night we took the kids up to IF to see a production of Beauty and the Beast. It was pretty good, but very long so we left early as Brooklynn was still not at the top of her game. While we were gone the babies were at Grandma's with a baby sitter while Grandma was at a meeting. The baby sitter put Josh to bed and he was crying. Jakey could here him crying and would not leave the room where the baby monitor was. He was most concerned about his buddy 'osh'

Just as a side note, Jake is super cute and says a ton of words.

Friday we just hung out and played and Dad Empey and Jason went to pick up Steve from the airport. It was nice to have him back.

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Our week ended with a fishing derby, hosted by a veterans organization, I just can't remember which one. Tyler had been asking to go fishing all week, so this was the perfect opportunity. Grandpa and dad were most excited to take the kids and Brooklynn was excited about her first fishing expedition. We arrived at the pond about noon. It was our family, Kari and J, Mom and Dad Empey and Grandpa Nelson at first. Then the Wayments, The Dave Empey's, and the Averetts arrived. Not too many fish were caught, but with only 20 minutes or so remaining in the derby things got exciting. Steve noticed that while most of the fish were not eating anything a few were still downing the bread that was dropped in the water. So he loaded the line up with some bread and low and behold Tyler caught a big 16 or 17 inch fish. He was pleased, but they had to throw it back because it was too big to keep. (Sorry no pictures). With only a few minutes remaining Steve loaded up the line again and let Brooklynn have a go. She reeled in a huge 22 inch trout with a girth of 13 inches. She was most excited and ended up winning a trophy for the biggest fish caught by a girl. Her picture was taken for the local paper and everything. She was so excited and although I missed seeing it because I was at home with Josh who was sleeping, she told me all about it!

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After the fishing derby we went back to the house and hung out with the family and the kids played in the back yard. Of course a water fight started, probably thanks to Kari, and Steve and Dave turned on Dad. With Kari's help the drenched him with the hose, tackled him onto the slip'n'slide and had a great time doing it. Dad was ready to kill them, but they had a good time and we all had a good laugh.

We drove home on Sunday, with a rotten little whiney 18 month old named Josh. He was miserable in the car for about 12 of our 14 hours. He is very happy to be home. He has a rough trip. I think we slept in four different places over a week and a half and he met all of his cousins on both sides of the family except for Kayla's boys. He was very clingy, but eventually warmed up to Grandma - thank heavens. Every time I was out of sight he would cry. It was hard on him, but he survived and has some fun in there too!

Grandma and Grandpa are know making there way to Germany to see Paul and Kayla. We love and miss you Paul and Kayla. Have fun with Grandma and Grandpa!!!!

Grandma's 80th

Last week the kids, Steve and I piled in the Jeep for a nice long drive to Utah for my Grandma's 80th Birthday party. We had a great time seeing all of my cousins, except Courtney, and my kids were able to see all of their 'Miller' cousins. It was wonderful to see everyone and great to meet the Chris Miller families newest little cutie Fraser. On Friday there was a big dinner for Grandma with all her friends and family invited, there was a little program, the kids sang, us Grandaughters threw on some MuMu's and did a dance/lipsink number, we even had some wigs and jewelry, we all did our best to look like Grandma, but everyone said I took the prize for looking the most like her. I can say I don't mind because she is beautiful. Anyway, I have no pictures of it because I was lame and didn't pull out my camera, but someone in the family did and as soon as I get pictures or can download my video I will blog it.

Saturday started with Julie and I taking, Brooklynn, Josh, Brady, Natalie, Garett, and Logan to McDonald's for Breakfast. We got all kinds of stares from people because of the number of kids and their closeness in age. At the play place Logan thought that he would strike up a conversation with the Ronald McDonald statue that was sitting on a bench. I took a picture of his cute self after his conversation. Little did Julie and I know that a few minutes later Garett would feel the need to confide in Ronald also. After that adventure we played a mean round of mini golf, while the 'real' golfers played in a scramble. Tyler played in the scramble with Steve and he had a so much fun being with the big guys.

Unfortunatly I only took a few pictures the whole weekend and I am relying on others to email me more pics.

Logan

Justin

Harris

Campbell

Brooklynn

Jeremy

And of course me looking my hottest ever. I can't even believe I am posting this beautiful picture.

Going, Going.......GONE!

So for those of you who know Josh, he has the greatest (and I'm totally not kidding) the absolute most fantastic hair ever. It has body and just a touch of curl and is blonde with lots of strawberry in it. So for a while now I have kept it pretty long. His hair is just so great.

Well, this week it has been driving me crazy, it was just getting way to messy and out of control. Not wanting to cut it before family pictures next week, I was trying to hold out, but alas I couldn't stand it anymore. So here are the before and after shots. He is so handsome and was very patient with us as we cut his hair with our very bad clippers. I talked daddy out of totally buzzing it and it still can be combed and lays down just perfectly.

What a mess! He had such a mop growing!

I guess now we'll get to see his big blue eyes better.

This picture is totally cute, we caught him with a half blink, but his smile is so cute!