Katelyn's Blessing

Today was Katelyn's blessing at our church. She looked so cute in her little white dress, but she looks cute in anything! Here are some pictures we took after
church!





We had a birthday cake for Jonathan tonight and dinner with some great friends. On Wednesday we are having Jonathan's party, so I will post pictures of that later in the week. We had a great day! I love my kids and husband so much. I am so blessed!

My Baby is Five!

I can't believe my baby is 5 today!! Time sure does fly by. I remember being in labor with him for sooo long! I went into the hospital on Sunday night, and I had him Monday night, on labor day! He was perfect, weighing in at 10lbs 2oz. And I've loved him from the minute I laid eyes on him!

5 Things I love about my 5 year old:

1. He is so smart! He reads so well, and is so good at math!
2. He is a great big brother! He is always willing to go check on Katelyn, and he is a great friend to Jacob!
3. He is so funny. He entertains us all! If I need a good laugh I can just sit back and watch him.
4. He loves music! He has all the numbers on his primary cd memorized, so if I am looking for a particular song, I just ask him which number it is!
5. He loves the gospel. I can see his little testimony growing already. He loves to read scriptures and have FHE, and go to church!

I love Jonathan so much. And I hope he has a wonderful birthday!

Well, the past few weeks have been so crazy! Joe's classes are taking a lot out of him, he is always busy with Elders quarom, and I am busy with the kids. So by the end of the week, we are exhausted! On Friday we took a little day trip to Raleigh. It was so nice to get away for a little bit. We went up and took the boys to see the temple, then we went to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, TGI Fridays! We did a little shopping, and had a great time, even though the boys were grumpy pretty much the whole way home! It was great. Joe has a couple weeks left of this semester, and then we will take another fun trip. We are going to the Biltmore Estates! I'm excited! We are also going to stop by Ikea on the way home. I told Joe we definitely have to take the van so I can fill it up! I don't know if he's crazy about that idea! haha!

Recommended reading

I just finished my Mom's latest book and it is excellent! It is her best book yet! It is about a military officer's wife. Her husband is leaving for an overseas mission and she decides to take her two young kids to visit her sister while he is gone. She loads them up to drive from North Carolina to Arizona. Her husband returns to find the house empty, but she never did make it to her sisters house. It is so good! And I'm not being biased. It is very suspenseful. My Mom is such a great writer! You can find it at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com, or borrow it from me if you live close! Here is the official blurb, it is written better than mine.

When Susan Brannigan discovers her husband, Kevin, has volunteered for yet another military mission, she accuses him of wanting to be away from his family. With their angry words echoing through the house after he is gone, a distraught Susan decides she can no longer stay.

Kevin returns from the completed mission, ready to mend the rift between them, but he finds the house ominously empty. Calls to family and friends yield no clues. Has she left him? Did she take the children?

With the skills developed as a reconnaissance Marine, Kevin makes it his new mission to track down his wife and children. But the trail stops cold just as he thinks he is getting close. What has happened to his family? Will he find them, or has he lost them forever?

Soccer Adventures

I am going to attempt some blogging catch up this weekend. We'll see how it goes. Things are very busy around here! But we are having fun!
The boys started soccer last week. They have practice twice a week for 30 minutes(which doesn't sound like a lot, but it is for a three year old!) And starting at the end of this month, they will have games on Saturday.

Here they are ready for soccer!



They are on separate teams, they were so excited to play and then when we got there, Jonathan wouldn't do it. I wasn't surprised, he is so shy! So I tried to get him to try it out, but he absolutely wouldn't! So, we watched Jacob practice. He did so good. He did all the drills and followed directions so well. And he LOVES it! Tonight we have practice again. I'm going to try a few tricks with Jonathan, but we'll see if he plays or not!

Katelyn

We have had a busy week! Katelyn is such a great baby. She is so sweet. We love her so much. She sleeps a lot, and lets us get some rest at night! We are getting settled in and things are wonderful! The boys love her. Jacob wants to hold her about ten times a day, and he is always concerned with where she is. It is so sweet! Jonathan loves her too, but doesn't hover around her as much as Jacob does. Joe started his next semester today, so he has class Monday through Thursday. We are getting into a routine. Life is great.
Here are some pictures of Katelyn. My camera isn't the best, so she is a million times cuter in person!

Baby girl came right on time. She is very punctual and came on her due date. It was an easy labor, just long! She was born July 27 at 10:09am. Katelyn Alexis Mansfield weighed 8 lbs, 13oz (the smallest Mansfield baby yet) and 21 inches long. I love her chubby cheeks! We are all doing well, just adjusting to a new schedule. And lots of pink!! Pictures to come!