one month old...

drew is one month old today...again time is going by too fast. it is amazing how fast they change!

three weeks old

drew will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. it's crazy how fast time has gone by. how cute is this boy!?!

first day of 2nd grade

caleb started 2nd grade on monday. he was so excited!! he is in mrs. villa's class and already knows most of the kids in his class. mom was sooo ready for this day to happen...mostly to give him something to do besides annoy troy. here's hoping for a good year!!

Drew's Blessing Day

sunday was drew's blessing day. we were grateful to have some of my family here for drew's special day. my mom made his outfit...thanks mom!! after church, my family made a trip to the temple to take pictures. here are just a few pictures from sunday. boo was our photographer and she did an awesome job (as always).

Drew Harrison Tilton

Drew made his arrival into this world Friday, July 17 @ 11:05 weighing in at 6lbs. 10oz. and 20.5 in. It was BY FAR my fastest delivery (almost too fast for my body).


Details: I arrived at the hospital at 7:30 am to be induced. By the time the paper work was all done, I was in my room by 8:30 with my IV in and ready to go. Pitocin was started at 8:45 and my doctor came in at 9:00 and broke my water. All was going fine no pains and I was at 4 cm. Around 10:00 I had my nurse put in the order for my epidural and got it around 10:20. All pain was gone but I could feel LOTS of pressure. I never felt anything with the other two so this was something new (not good new). The pressure got worse and worse really fast. About 1o mins after getting the epidural, the nurse checked me and I was a 7. She frantically started getting everything together (baby's bed, prep table for the doctor etc.) I had told her earlier that I "go" fast after getting my epidural but probably just jinxed myself for saying so. Anyway, the pressure was getting worse by the minute and around 10:40 I was a 10 and the nurse called the doctor. After waiting another 15 mins. on the doctor, pushing started and at 11:05 we had our baby boy with us. We were all shocked at how fast everything went, start to finish, especially the nurses. My poor nurse looked like a mad woman running around prepping things because I came in at a shift change and no one expected a "sprint".


Here are some of our pictures from Friday.

3 weeks in...

Caleb has been gone for 3 weeks now. I think we've missed him way more than he has missed us. It all started with him flying to Alabama. He visited with family and went fishing while he was there. I don't think he quite knew what to do with the fish once he caught it.



















He stayed there for about 3 days then left with Mama and Papa to drive to Missouri to spend time with Hunter, Brooke and Tucker. They stopped at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL.



















They also stopped by the St. Louis Arch but I don't have any pictures of that. They made it to my brother's, where they stayed for 2 weeks.



While at the Space and Rocket Center, Caleb found a space suit that he wanted. My mom talked him into waiting so that she could make one (much cheaper). Well they ended up finding this suit and apparently he loved it. I must say the kid has an imagination and it looks like he sucked Tucker in too.











He's moonwalking (if you wanted to know).....



Hunter and Brooke were also nice enough to take him to some "pretty cool" restaurants and an amusement park. Thanks guys for entertaining him!






They are now on their way to Utah and should be there this afternoon. Since they left Missouri, they have gone to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, Devils Tower in Wyoming, and stayed the night in Yellowstone National Park.

He was so excited for this summer and I hope he remembers all that he has visited. Thanks Mama and Papa for putting up with him for this long. We'll take him back when you're done with him. Boo, don't spoil him too much while he's at your house!!

last day of first grade....

a little over a week ago, caleb finished up first grade. he had a great year and loved his teacher mrs. schimel. just to tell you how much he loved her....she went on maternity leave during spring break and didn't come back until 2 weeks before school was out. her first day back, caleb woke up dry-heaving and not feeling well. instead of crying about being sick, he cried because he didn't want to miss her first day back. he missed her "so very very much" as he put it.



















every quarter he was on the principal's honor roll. he is well above all of the benchmarks for first grade. he also reached his goal of 25 AR points (a little cash incentive worked wonders) which is quiet an accomplishment considering he had to read at least 50 books to get that. the books on his reading level average about .5 points each.























he is excited for 2nd grade but i know he will miss first grade and mrs. schimel.

(sorry for the poor quality of the pics. lighting is horrible.)





side note: i really hate blogger...put stuff where i put it please.....

Happy Birthday "2" Troy!!

today, the troy boy turned 2. he has been saying "birthday" all afternoon. i doubt he really gets the idea of birthday but he knows that today is his. caleb tried to sing "happy birthday" to him and troy yelled "NO MINE". i guess he thought caleb was trying to steal his thunder. here are a few things about troy at 2:

likes: pizza, chocolate milk, elmo, nemo, balls, cars, CANDY, baths, shoes

dislikes: diaper changes, being told "no", caleb talking on the phone before him

troy is such a fun kid and gets funnier every day. he loves to sit with mommy or daddy and watch tv or just cuddle. he is always at the door or in the garage to meet mommy or daddy coming home from work. the kid rarely meets a stranger. for example, he gave some random lady "high 5s" in the grocery store today and says "hi" to everyone he meets. i call him my little politician.

we waited a long time for troy to join our family and love him so much. LOVE YOU TROY BOY!!!

a day at the phoenix zoo

i've been meaning to post these for a while i just never got around to it. we took the boys to the zoo back in february and they loved it! caleb had been before but, of course, troy hadn't. troy loved the "amals". here are some of our favorites.

the zoo has this really cool exhibit called "stingray bay". for $3 each (the only draw back), you can go in and pet stingrays and sharks (don't remember what kind). caleb and brandon went in and loved it. caleb was a little scared at first (why do you think i didn't do it) but ended up with it being his favorite part. troy fell asleep so that gave me the perfect out ("no, i'll stay with troy. you guys go ahead and have all the fun."). here are some shots that brandon took.

here's my excuse for not going in...

we had a lot of fun! it had been too long since we had been able to do something as a family that everyone would enjoy. it was fun seeing the boys (all of them) have so much fun.

odd woman out

As is turns out, baby #3 is also BOY #3. He was being a stinker to start off. He was face down, knees tucked in and hands between his knees. After about 30 mins. and a trip to the bathroom for me, he finally turned, cooperated and left NO DOUBT... Now the real challenge-agreeing on a name. Seeing as how we have already used 2 boy names and 5 nephews combined, that makes for a very short list. I'm excited but not looking forward to the negotiations. Any suggestions...we're open until July 18th.