Recent Adventures in good fortune and luck...

 

So, I know that it is good luck to find a 4-leaf clover...but what does it mean when you find SEVEN in your back yard?  AND....

 one of them is a FIVE leaf clover!

 

 It means that this is a land of good luck and fortune....  It's lovely to be here.

We go for walks down to the pond almost every day...regardless of the fact that we pretty much pick ticks off of us all afterwards...  here's Oliver crossing a log:

Oliver has made it his new hobby to pee outside any chance he has.  Our only rule is that it not be the front yard.  Here he is "watering" the pond. 

 Here's his "pond monster" impression:

 Just a gorgeous little man...   Love that face...

 Naturally, we caught a frog in the yard yesterday....he was a suicidal frog.  He would jump out of your hands no matter how high or onto what surface...

 But he survived!  He hopped off happily into the wisteria bush when we let him go... and by "let him go" I mean Oliver threw him in saying that it was a flying frog...

 Oliver and his frog buddy before he took flight...

 Our home...  The tree to the left is a magnolia.  She is magnificent and has been outside my window since I was a little girl.  I used to go out at night and sit underneath her when the moon was full.  The tree has a beautiful energy.  Or should I say, treeS, there are actually 2.  The magnolia sisters, as I like to call them. 

 Soccer in the front yard:

 Oskar running down the drive way...you can't really tell, but we cut his hair today.  He looks older...

 This picture DOES NOT do the colors justice.  The wisteria is in full bloom and there are purple flowers everywhere!  And the smell is amazing. 

Here are some good pictures.  I got a new camera that inspires me to take MANY more pictures than my iPhone did.  

Oskar:  (aka: Huggie)

Gotta love the Kerr:

 The staircase in our home here in NC

 Oliver walking down to the pond:

 the trail around the pond:

 Oskar, who refuses to sit down to eat...

where to begin....

I am not entirely sure where to begin...so I'll begin with the first day of our  new chapter....

After quitting my beloved job with Sundance Resort on March 1, I began March 2 smothered in boys and facing an entire house that had to be be packed, moved and cleaned by the time that the boys and I were to board a plane on the 8th (bryce followed us in our car with our few things that we were bringing).  We had a lot do to do leave our Utah lives behind and to prepare for our new adventurous lives in the south.  So, how do I begin this momentous day?  I get my nose pierced....I've always wanted to...
 

before: 

after

I absolutely love it.  And this is just the beginning...i would have added more tattoos, but...well...they cost a lot more...

After that, we worked from morning till night packing up our home, cleaning, organizing, storing, etc.  It's shocking.  We are pretty simple.  We don't keep a lot around.  We are also VERY clean...but when you move, you realize that you have WAY TOO MUCH and that behind it all...its VERY dirty...

Anyway...6 days later Oliver, Oskar and I were on a plane to our new home:

home...  it is lovely.... 

And then reality set in.  This is a 7 bedroom, 3 bathroom, kitchen, dining, laundry, workshop, living room home that has only been occupied by 2 people, in a very small space of it.  The rest has been unlived in...well...that's not entirely true.   Its been *lived* in but not by people....by critters, rodents, spiders, lady bugs (they overtook one bedroom upstairs)...I had my work cut out for me and Bryce wasn't due to arrive for a week or more. 

So, I cleaned a pocket at a time.  The boys were right along side me, cleaning or un-cleaning everything I had done...Critti and Mary showed up to jump into the depths with us.  It was awesome... 

We have also been EXPERIENCING our new lives:

 porch swing...

 pony rides...

tire swings...

 

 morning time...

so, the adventure begins.  Stay tuned.  I should be a much better blogger in this place and am overwhelmed with all that there is to actually write about. 

Boys...

Here they are, my two boys:
Oliver really loves his new little brother. Unfortunately, the way he wants to show his love for Oskar is usually too hard. :) We are having quite a time teaching him "soft touches" and "soft kisses". Oliver is just so THREE years old. He doesn't quite know what "soft" means.

Fortunately, Oliver's school and soccer have provided him with a good amount of time out of the house. It has also been really nice to have something that is just about him. Here he is ready to go to school:

Oskar is beginning to get his own face---and looking less like a newborn:

We had his 2 week check up with his Doctor and we were all shocked at how much weight he had gained! He was born at 8lbs, 6oz, but left the hospital at 7lbs, 14 oz.
Well, 2 weeks later and he is 9lbs and 9 oz! Guess the breast milk is suiting him just fine!

Oskar Brooks Milne

On Monday, September 13th, Our beautiful little boy joined us:

Oskar Brooks Milne:

It was a perfectly boring birth experience!
Here I am getting prepped for the c-section:

Here's Oliver meeting Oskar for the first time:

Bryce held it together pretty well considering how traumatic the last experience was for him. I still think he had it way worse than me last time...

Another of me and my boys:

Here is Oskar just after birth. He was;
8 lbs, 6 oz and 22" long

Oliver's first day of Pre School

Well, Today was Oliver's first day of pre-school. It was huge. I was not able to go with him, which (judging by how hard the pictures alone made me cry) was probably for the best. Bryce took him and he was such an amazing little student! We didn't really know what to expect. It was a day when the parents stay, and it was just an hour.
Here's our little man walking up to his room:

Here he is leaning on a desk with the name things that the teacher made for each student:

You wouldn't know it from the picture, but Oliver was one of the brightest kids (of course I am going to say that!). I love this shot of him sitting the wrong direction on the mat:

He DID figure it out eventually and turned around:

We were so surprised by how outgoing Oliver was. He can be so shy sometimes and he's never really been in a situation like this before. The teacher was reading a book about a llama and asked the question "What is a Llama?" Bryce was surprised to see Oliver's hand shoot right up. The teacher called on him and he said "It's a, uhhh, its like an ant, but bigger"

Priceless.

He goes to his first day by himself on Thursday. I've decided to just let Bryce drop him off until he gets used to it. He's doing so well and I don't want to ruin it for him by being emotional and letting that effect him. I am WAY to pregnant to have to handle this right now.

Speaking of pregnant:
We are scheduled for a c-section delivery of our newest little guy on Monday. We'll report more after he's here!

bad....bad...blogger returning...

So, I have no real excuses for my absence....okay...I actually have tons.

Its been a GREAT and busy summer so far. We are all moved and and mostly settled into our new home in SLC and loving it.

One of our summer highlights was having *most* of my family under one roof for a few days
---and the roof was OURS!

Here's all of us:

We are only missing Dad and Amy & Justin and their 4 boys. We were together (parts of us) for 5 days! We camped in Yellowstone, had water fights, went swimming, hiking, made home made ice cream and just sat and talked a lot. It was so wonderful. It is hard for me to not live near my family and this was just what I needed.









Here is Oliver and I and the BELLY. I am doing great and the baby is doing REALLY well. He is measuring a bit big---like Oliver did. I am due September 20th, but we think we'll have the c-section a week or 2 before that.





















I promise to be a better blogger from maternity leave!

keep checking!

xoxo

Goings on...

So...a lot has been going on. I have been a bad, bad blogger.

Here's a rundown:

We put our cute Provo house on the market

It sold in 21 days

We moved in with Bryce's parents in Salt Lake City

Bryce got a job with Jet Blue

OH, and P.S.:
I'm 10 weeks pregnant.
Here is an ultrasound of our little gummy bear.
She (its my guess) has a good strong heartbeat.
I am due September 20th.











I owe some more updates....more to come.

Halloween...

Sorry this is a bit late.

We had a great Halloween. Daniel is here, though not pictured, and we had so much fun. Oliver really got the whole trick or treating thing.

One night before Halloween we took Oliver on the Sleepy Hollow Haunted hay wagon ride. It is put on by Rocky Mountain Outfitters (dear friend) and it is not scary...it is more theatrical. Oliver was a little scared, which he expresses by being stone-cold-serious. He didn't do ANYTHING. He was just totally stoic. It was hilarious.

Here is my monkey:

We had his face painted at the farmer's market, which, of course, wore off. So, when he woke up, I re-did his make up with my stage make up. I will not do that again. I forgot how that stuff STAYS! It was really hard to get off, which Oliver did not enjoy.

However, he loved to trick or treat. He would knock on each door and exclaim:
(loudly)
"TRICK OR TREATING"
I didn't even want to correct him. It was so cute. It was also "cute" to see him wear off a sugar high. He only ate like 3 pieces of candy....but he was bouncing OFF the walls. Once, when someone knocked on the door, he just ran panic'd back and forth from the door to the candy bowl, not knowing what to do. He was happy, of course, but he just was so jittery.

And that, kids, is why we avoid sugar. :)