Fathers Day

Let's take a little trip down memory lane....David first found out he was going to be a father on June 30, 2003. While Jacob was a planned pregnancy, David had this skewed notion that it would take us months to get pregnant so when we got pregnant the very first time we tried, he was not prepared. In fact after seeing the positive pregnancy test, he locked himself in the bathroom and crawled into the empty bathtub fully clothed and sat there for at least an hour. When he came out of the bathroom he still didn't say one word to me. It took a couple of days but he eventually decided that impending fatherhood was something to be excited about. This is David with 2 week old Jacob. (Sorry about the quality of the picture - this was before we owned a ditigal camera.)

With Adam, David was ready for a second child. In fact I had to tell him I wanted to wait until the summer was over because I didn't want to be sick and pregnant during the summer. We got pregnant the first month with Adam also. In fact I was sick and throwing up a week before I even missed a period. Still David didn't believe me and wanted a pregnancy test. I took the test and left it on the counter and went back and laid in bed. David went in and read the test and said it was negative. Well, I had taken it 5 days before I was suppose to so I wasn't worried. I knew I was pregnant. Being that sick was only caused by one thing and that was pregnancy. About an hour later I went into the bathroom and saw the stick and it was positive. David had read the test wrong!! Here's David with 2 days old Adam.

Matthew was a different story. It took us six months to get pregnant with Matthew and it didn't happen until we stopped trying so I could have my gall bladder out. They did a pregnancy test on my blood the day of my surgery and it was negative. I had my surgery and was recovering well but was still feeling very tired. Ten days after surgery I thought to myself "I haven't been this exhausted since I was pregnant with Jacob." And then it clicked! I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. I wrapped the test up in a box and had David open it when he got home from work. Apparently I was pregnant the day of surgery and who knows what happened with that blood test. Once again David was shocked beyond words, however he recovered quickly and the bathtub meditation session wasn't required. Here's David with 1 day old Matthew.

David is wonderful, fabulous father. My favorite father quality about David is that he is willing to do anything I do for his children. He changes diapers, gets up at night to feed a bottle, gives baths, cleans up body fluids and does any household chore. It may not be what he wants to do or likes to do but he's still willing to do it. Also almost every day he takes all three of the boys for a while so I can have some alone time. As long as the weather is good you can always find David taking the three of them for a walk after dinner so I can have some peace. Thank you for being an excellent father, David. I love you!

David with his boys and their presents for him. He got some shirts and cards from the boys and I gave David two new suits and ties.

Jacob and Adam with their Grandpa Doug (my equally fabulous father).

Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days

Pleasant Grove really does a great job with their city summer celebration. Just the fact that they give away free strawberries and cream is enough for me to be a huge fan. We participated in several activities this year even though it rained for most of the week. Wednesday was the Children's Parade. Jacob was suppose to dress up like an ancestor. He dressed up like his great great grandfather Rafael Monroy. The hat is really more South American but it was raining and he needed a hat.

Thursday night we went to the carinval and rode some rides and were reminded that P.G. is still cowboy country (at least to us).

Friday I took the boys to Huck Finn Days where to played games, won prizes, ate donuts and played on the blow up toys. They loved it even though we were only there for an hour because of swim lessons.

However, after 4 years of Strawberry Days I still haven't convinced David to go to the rodeo. So I've given up and next year I'm going to go with my mom.

Strawberry Days

It is Strawberry Days here in Pleasant Grove but more importantly here at the Parras. See this is my strawberry patch and that is my first patch of strawberry jam.

There is nothing better than homemade strawberry freezer jam. Jacob's first comment was "Oh, when I taste that it is makes me giggle!" Seriously that is what he said and then he asked if he could have Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches for dinner. Smart boy! Last year my strawberry patch did okay but I was also pregnant and thus deathly ill and I think I only made 2 batches of jam last year. Actually David made the 2 batches while I sat on a chair and told him what to do. But this year my strawberries are doing awesome and I have tons. So here's to a whole week of jam making. Yipee!

And here's a picture of Matthew just because he's so darn cute!

My yard

I really love my yard this time of year. My roses are blooming and several of my other flowering bushes and the day lillies are gorgeous. Everything is still green and fabulous. After all our (ok, mostly David's) hard work during the spring the yard looks great. (Just don't look at the grass in the front yard. All I'm going to say is that it's not my fault.) And even better my garden is actually growing and I haven't killed off anything yet.

Adam has his 3 year old check up yesterday too and the tube in his left ear is mostly out and in his ear canal. I was so sad but we did get almost 22 months out of these tubes and maybe he'll have outgrown his ear infections. The first winter WITH the tubes Adam still had 14 ear infections. Last winter with the tubes Adam only had 4 infections. So maybe this winter he'll be okay without the tubes. Or at least that is what I'll be praying for.

4 month old Matthew

I took Matthew in for his 4 month check up and he weighed just 14 pounds and 15 ounces (and 25 3/4 inches long) . I say just because at 4 months Adam weighed 18 pounds even and Jacob weighed 19 pounds 10 ounces. Matthew is my runt but he sure is cute and completely healthy, besides the fever he's running today because of the shots he had to get yesterday.

Matthew is sleeping better at night too. He'll go 7 or 8 hours but still not very consistently. He LOVES to suck on his fists, fingers and he'll even get his thumb in his mouth. He has really good control with his head and is very strong but doesn't roll over yet. He is such a good baby. He's never fussy and is so content and happy. It's so nice to have an easy baby again. I take the boys to the swimming pool almost each afternon if the weather allows. Matthew just sits in his carrier in the shade of the lifeguard chairs and doesn't make a sound. He'll fall asleep and then wake up and look around. All the other moms comment what a great baby he is. Matthew is such a joy and I'm so glad he's mine!