Tricia is married!!!

This past weekend, my younger sister Tricia got married! We were so excited to go back to Iowa and celebrate with her and Allen (her now husband) and the whole family! Here are some pictures from our quick trip there.

One night it snowed a few inches, which really excited the kids! We are so thankful for cousins who are the same size and live in MN, with all the right snow gear! After getting dressed (yes, with just pajamas (Jonas) and leggings and jeans - for "snow pants") the kids headed outside with Grandpa. Jonas lasted a few minutes outside. And Elijah and Natalie only lasted a few minutes before they decided to lay in the snow and make snow angels. :) They didn't seem to care (or know) about being cold and wet! Fun times!

Making some snow balls!

Before the wedding

Can't believe how grown up they are!!! Natalie, 4, Elijah, 6 - Little Bell Ringers!

With 3 of my 4 kiddos...LOVE THEM!!!

Lucy just hanging out, in her matching-the-wedding-colors-dress.

Tricia and Allen with proud Mom and Dad

Mr. and Mrs. Allen Wennihan!!!

We weren't actually able to get as many pictures of the wedding weekend as we would have liked since I was busy standing up, etc., and Dave was busy with 4 kids!!! :) Right now Tricia and Allen are off enjoying their honeymoon in Jamaica and we are back to normal life. :) Good times with family!

Some Photos to Share

Wanted to share with you some pictures we've taken of the kids lately. Can't believe Lucy is already 3 months old!

Lucy and big (creepy) baby doll

Elijah LOVES to hold Lucy whenever he can!

Birthday hugs for Daddy!

Ready for the Superbowl! Lucy wearing the shirt Natalie wore 4 years ago,
the last time the Giants went to the Superbowl. GO GIANTS!!!

Brother and Sister

Looking good!

Elijah has recently taken off in his reading! He reads all the time
and especially loves to read and hold Lucy at the same time!

Sisters, Sisters...

All the kids! Life with 4 kids has been great! We are blessed!

Lucy Ann Gutierrez is Here!!!

Our little Lucy was born Monday morning! 7 lbs and 17 inches long.

Everything happened super quick when we went into our doctor appointment in the morning. The appointment was at 8:45am, saw the doctor around 9am, Laura's water broke while the doctor was checking to see how much she was dilated. We immediately went up to the delivery room and since Lucy was still in the breech position, prepared for a c-section. In 15 minutes, she dilated from 4 to 8 cm and then a short while later was at 10cm. At 10:01am, Lucy was born! Everything happened in the matter of 1 hour...crazy!

Laura is recovering slowly from the c-section, but both Laura and Lucy are doing great! We love her and enjoy having her home now.

Here are a few pictures:


Lucy checking our her new world.



Meeting mommy for the first time.



Lucy making her mark.



Laura texting all her friends the good news!



The kids sharing their new sister with Nana.



Lucy hanging out with the boys.



Natalie loving her new little sister.



Proud big brother.



Bonding time with Grandma.



Hearing Lucy's heartbeat!



We LOVE you Lucy! Welcome to our family.

My 4 Little Pumpkins

Just to show people that my big belly was painted, by the kids (and Dave)...and to put on a picture that could make people feel uncomfortable (mainly MM). ;) 37 weeks!!!

Elijah's Birthday!

Today was Elijah's 6th Birthday!!! It's hard to imagine that he's that old already. This morning Laura made cinnamon roles and Elijah opened one present each from Natalie and Jonas:

Light sticks from Natalie.













Pencils from Jonas.













As you can tell, Jonas was really excited about the present he gave Elijah.













After breakfast, we spent the day at Oak Glen. We sampled all the different types of apples, ate apple donuts, drank fresh apple cider, and enjoyed a beautiful day outside. Here are some random pictures:

Posing for a family photo.


















Kids were really excited to be holding pumpkins!













Natalie and Allen looking for the perfect pumpkin...











Tricia and Allen.













Tomorrow, more birthday celebration with family coming over, birthday cake, and more presents to open! Wow, being 6 is great!

Legos

Elijah and I love building legos together! Here are a few of our latest creations. Elijah really wanted his cousins, Micah and Jacob, to see them. See we're posting this blog for them. Hope you enjoy!

Airplane with wings that fold up.

























Our version of a Bakugan that turns into a robot.

























Another Bakugan creation that turns into an eagle robot.
























Transformer...grasshopper turns into an Autobot.

Jonas

Just wanted to show you some recent pictures of Jonas. He is a real character!

For all the time he spent only saying "Da-Da," he is sure making up for it now. "Mom-my, Mom-my, Mom-my" is what I hear all the time. He loves to grab our hands or pull our shirts to get our attention and help with something. He loves watching whatever is going on in the kitchen, running to the bathroom to get our wooden stool so he can be high enough to see over the counter (grunting the whole way from the bathroom as he carries the "heavy" stool). He is a big climber, just like his big brother and sister! And is really great at copying the sounds/sayings we say. But probably his favorite thing is music - singing or listening or dancing to it! It is so cute to hear him sing "Joy, Joy, Joy, Down in My Heart" (and I'm so bappy, so bappy...) or any of his songs off his worship/bedtime CD.

If you have time, you should really hang out with him sometime! He's fun!!! :)

Reading the ABC book Elijah and I made together. I think he enjoys the book even more than Elijah. He loves seeing pictures of family or familiar items.

Cuddling in a blanket with sister. He always says "Ni-Night" when he does that.

Trying to drive away in the big play car Nana and Papa brought over. Almost fits!


Loves playing with ABC blocks, building a tower wherever he can,
just so he can knock it all down.

Sometimes, when necessary, wear the blocks as hats!

Everyone helping make biscuits with Mom. Some reason Jonas thought flour would be great for hair too!

Jonas LOVES our homemade yogurt and often thinks drinking it out of the bowl is a more efficient way to eat it.

Jonas fixing things early on. And sticking out his tongue,
just like Daddy does when he's thinking hard or fixing things. :)

More snuggle time, being tucked in on the couch.

LOVE HIM!!!