The Hill Family Tree: May 2011

Mother's Day!

We went for a walk at the Arboretum on Mother's day. It was sunny and almost 90 degrees if I recall correctly. Here are a few photos of the walk.

Seems we're a bit spread out and in different directions. Need to teach these kids how to march!

I love the way nature tastes!

Who does he think he is, Michael Jordan?

And we climb.

Chillin' with my lil' sis.

Another climber.

Getting tall! I can touch the branches!

TreeHugger.

Uncooperative children plus hot, tired mother plus Mother's day equals dad doing some heavy lifting!

Or so some folks have said when we told them the news :) We are expecting! Baby #4 will be here mid-November 2011. Ruby is very excited. She wants to name it Baby Reatta -- from a Barbie DVD she has been watching. So the twins are ~16 months old, Ruby will be 3 in just under 2 weeks now, and there's one on the way. All the family folks know already -- we've cleared the first trimester, so things seem to be on the up and up. Jessica is her usual (sick all day) pregnant self. We're very excited!

We have verified that there is only one baby this time -- everyone seems to ask us if we're really sure of that, but the ultrasound tech (who we had last time) assured us there's only one.

Hooray!

Yes, it's been a month since we last posted. With travel for work, work, swimming lessons, sickness, and life in general there just haven't been enough hours in the day. Got a lot done tonight with the help of a new piece of software called Phatch (photo editing in batch!) that reduced our upload time for the pictures. I'll be playing with that some more and maybe get some fanciness to our uploaded photos -- rounded corners, 3d effects, and maybe more! Google phatch if you're interested. Works on Linux, OSX, and the Windows.

So hopefully it won't be a month in between posts, but I'm not promising anything :)

Easter 2011

Everyone was very excited for Easter this year. We did the egg dyeing thing, and everyone had Easter baskets on Sunday morning. Ruby loved the large amount of Starburst Jelly beans (Dad's favorite), and Hallie learned what Jelly beans are. James loved some M&M's, and a good time was had by all.

Ruby learned about another one of Dad's favorite things - deviled eggs. We peeled a couple of eggs and had them for breakfast on Sunday. James & Hallie weren't the greatest fans, but they did mostly eat them. Ruby devoured hers. James managed to get a bit of a fat lip by trying to take a header off one of the couches. Boys will be boys; and as our pediatrician tells us he's in the phase of trying to kill himself - proof of our parenting skills will be if he lives through it or not :)

Enjoy the photos!

Hrm. This looks interesting.

That was fun. Let's do more :)

Mom helps. Dad takes pictures. Who's smarter?

James and his Easter bunny from Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Cox.

Hallie and her Easter bunnies. Seems she's taking after her mother with her choice of favorite bunny....

James opened an egg with jelly beans in it.

Sorry it's fuzzy. Hallie has a red jelly bean in her mouth.

Ruby and Daddy with their Easter baskets. Daddy didn't get the camera that morning.

Ruby working on peeling an egg.

Hallie and James eating their hard boiled eggs.

I think she liked the egg. Not sure though!

Too cute of a photo not to post. Kid's got some amazing faces.

Busted lip. Looks like teenage years will be fun with this one.

Farmer Jason! (no, not that Jason)

So while Jason (Dad) was in Orlando for a business trip the PBS hit Farmer Jason came to the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. Jessica took Ruby to see him and she had a blast! There was singing and dancing, and all sorts of fun. Ruby was in the "doggie dance" up on stage with 4 other children and Farmer Jason. It was a dancing contest... and she WON! She was SO excited. The prize was an autographed DVD from Farmer Jason. (Whew! saved us $15 there :) ). Photos from the event follow. Smoky Bear (mascot of the Tennessee Smokies -- Farm team for the Chicago Cubs) was there and Ruby had her picture taken with him as well. Plus there was some Yoga lessons courtesy of the folks from National Fitness Center, and some crafts and such. Finally Ruby was out playing in the caboose that is part of the train exhibit. Lots of fun was had that day.