Ruby Marie Dickson

That's the name on her birth certificate, so I guess that's what we'll call her. Here are a few more pictures with a little less swelling.

It's a girl!!

More to come, but here are some of the first shots.



And here she is in action (only 12 seconds).

The Zoo!

We went to the zoo last Saturday and had a lot of fun. Lindsay said she wanted to post some pictures. Since she hasn't yet, here's some video, but be warned: it's two songs long.



Max's favorite part was the elephants. My favorite part was the two monkeys we brought with us.

Max reading...

... kind of.

We think he's cute, but we have to--we're his parents.

How we mow the lawn...

We had a SUPER exciting Saturday of lawn care. It was so much fun I thought it was worth documenting.

Max takes the job of cutting the grass very seriously--and literally. He walked around the yard carefully cutting all of the "long pieces".



With some coaxing Reed dramatically pulls weeds for 10 minutes before he switched to creating a chalk drawing of the perfect robot that could do all of the weeding, trimming and mowing for us so that we don't have do ANY work at all. That's my hard-working boy.




After completing his "job" Max humored me with some of his cute faces until he finally said, "Too much Mom!"




And for how the real work gets done.....


Thanks Sam! I would have helped more, but SOMEONE has to document this important stuff!

First Day of KINDERGARTEN!!!!!

I've been dreading this day for a while. Reed on the other hand has been counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds. Last night had a strange feel to it. It was full of anticipation and excitement and at the same time overwhelming reluctance to go forward with the planned events. Before I look too overprotective, let me mention that in NC kindergarten is ALL day--and I really do mean all day (9:00-3:45.) That is a very long time to someone who is used to having their boy home and with them all day everyday.

The drop off was quick and almost uneventful. Reed walked into the classroom dropped off his backpack and immediately joined a group of boys on the floor who were working with some ABC tiles. I actually had to call him back to give me a hug goodbye. Max and I left quickly before I let my hyper-sensitive pregnancy emotions get to me.

Max and I ended up having a great day together. Our house was much quieter, didn't get as messy, and Max enjoyed every minute of having all of the Legos to himself. When we picked Reed up he only had good things to report...He loves his teachers, made some new friends (although he couldn't remember their names for sure) and of course his highlight--eating in the cafeteria.

I guess we may survive this whole school thing after all.

My big boy. I had different clothes picked out for him for today, but he INSISTED on these...especially the jeans even though it was 90 degrees today!!





Just HOW excited are you for kindergarten Reed?????



Max wanted to know why I wasn't taking any pictures of him, so...

My favorite arthur

Reed wrote a book today, so I decided to transcribe it here in all its glory. By way of clarification, he wrote "GNU" (as in wildebeest) because he couldn't remember the other way to spell "new".

The DOG ThAT WAS SAd For eveR

The ArTHR
BY: Reed
GNU

ONes UPPON A TiMe There WAS A DOG ThAT WAS SAd
NO ONe COULd MAKe HiM HAPPY
He WAS SAd

The eNd

1$

He's already sold two copies. Any other buyers?

He did it!!!!

The day I thought might never come finally came! Last week Sam successfully defended his thesis to receive his doctorate in Bioinformatics and Statistics. I was so nervous as he presented his work to his committee and so relieved when they said he passed and congratulated him. It has been a long road and I am so proud of all of his hard work and long hours. We are thrilled to have reached this goal and are ecstatic to have our husband and dad back after a few intense final months. Congratulations Sam! You're awesome.



Sam's mom came out for the big event. It was great to have her here during this exciting time.


The boys also enjoyed having their Nana in town. I'm pretty sure they think she just flew in to play airplanes and chase ducks with them.

Lindsay's Half Marathon

I'm pretty proud of my wife. She and her friend, Suzie, have been training to run in a half marathon for months now by running between 3 and 12 miles four times a week. Friday night we drove three hours to Hickory.

Suzie and Lindsay left at a little before 6. Suzie had the remnants of strep, so we were happy that she still decided to run. Lindsay says she couldn't have done it without her.


While we waited for the girls to come by our section of the run we made these signs.



Suzie's mom was there to support her and help watch Zander.


A lobster made it's way through the crowd. Reed thought it was great.


Max and Zander kept their distance.


Lindsay had two goals: run the whole way...


...and not come in last.


We're all proud to say she accomplished both goals!


By the way...did you catch that yellow sign? It's just one more reason to be proud of what she accomplished, and one more reason why we are all looking forward to Christmas this year!

The cat's away

Lindsay had to run a quick errand this morning so I was home with the boys. I decided to water the lawn, but they had other ideas. It was only a little after 8 a.m., but how could I say no?

If only...

every moment passed this sweetly in our home. :) Yesterday one of the speakers in sacrament meeting reminded us of Elder Ballard's talk in regards to motherhood from a couple confrences ago. Elder Ballard told young mothers especially that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. This is the moment I will remind myself of next I feel overwhelmed wondering why I can't get my children to obey me. :) Thank you boys for being so sweet and reminding that when it comes to my family I have SO much to be thankful for.

Reed's list

Reed took the trash out today. We didn't ask him to or even suggest at any point that it would be a potential job he could do. He just took the trash out.

When he returned he asked, "Where's that book that says 'ages 3 through 8'?" That's when I figured out why he took the trash out.

A week or two ago Lindsay was reading a parenting book, which she left out. Reed found it and picked it up. The part that got his interest details a list of things you're supposed to get your children to do at various ages in order to teach them to work and be independent. Here's the list for five-year-olds:

• Straighten room
• Vacuum
• Empty garbage cans
• Set table
• Clear table
• Make own lunch
• Warm up canned food
• Get allowance

Looks like we have one to add to Reed's list: "Parent self".

Trip #4 to the ER...

...is what I thought was in store when Reed shouted, "Max is bleeding, Max is bleeding!"Thankfully the only accident here was leaving the Easter egg coloring tablets within reach. Lesson to Max: not everything that looks like candy is candy.

We love Reed

Reed turned five. We have made it through our 10 day waiting period so we can now post about the event. I understand that this particular requirement may seem pointless and arbitrary, but it's a rule and we follow rules. Lindsay also wanted me to bump that picture of my lip down so she didn't have to look at it anymore ("I'm tired of your lip!" she said).

We had two parties--the family party on the day of his birthday (March 24), and a friend party on the following Saturday.

Reed loved his Book of Mormon birthday cake


Max enjoyed it, too


The boys both liked the presents Reed got (this one is from Nana and Papa)


The friend party started at Bounce U


There were lots of slides...




And some other activities as well


Afterwards we went to a park, had cupcakes, and opened presents


We love Reed!

April Fool

I guess I shouldn't have tried a back flip on the trampoline after all. It would have only taken one stitch to teach me that lesson...the other six were just a bonus.

Another adventure at the pond

These pictures are from a few weeks ago (you can tell they were not take any time during the last week because if they had been there would be rain).

Lindsay and the boys decided to take a walk to the pond behind our house, as they often do.


As they approached the water they saw something alarming.


Can you see it?


Of course, Max knew immediately what it was!


And Reed knew just how to handle it.


Life is always more interesting with these two little adventurers around.


P.S. In case it wasn't clear from the pictures, their "alligator" was just a log floating in the water.

P.P.S. Just a few days ago, Reed shouted to Lindsay from the backyard, "Max and I are going to the pond. Do you want to come?" I just hope they don't forget to invite her anytime soon--what with the alligators and all.