Lots of Pictures and ADOPTION

The weather got a little bit nicer, so we tried to get some pictures of the kids outside.

Love this picture.

Tanner acting like a monkey.

Love this girl! My sister, Sara, put a little lip gloss on Aubree's lips, so she kept doing this "delicate" smile. I can't believe how old she is getting.

Aubree said some funny stuff this week. One day she had some some gas and tooted a bunch. After every toot she would say, "excuse me." Anyways, she walked across the room and tooted with every step. After saying excuse me with every step, she said "Sorry, I have crazy gas." Aubree also always says that things are "pretty, kinda" instead of just pretty or kinda. For example, she would say, "Mom, that's pretty, kinda cool." or "It's pretty, kinda cold in here."

Tanner has the coolest blue eyes.

Travis is so handsome. He has the cutest smile.

We tried to get a picture of the kids before church.

These three kids are so amazing; they have completely changed our lives. Our lives are busy, fun, and wonderful, with these amazing kids. Interestingly, throughout the past year, Eric and I have felt strongly that we need to become approved for adoption again. We are just finishing up that process, and we plan to be approved within the next couple weeks. Within the last decade, the majority of adoption placements have happened through networking. In other words, the people who are reading this are an important part of our network, and if you know of someone who is pregnant and may be interested in placing their baby for adoption, please keep us in mind. If you feel inclined, you can refer these people to our blog and give them our contact info - we will be adding a link to our blog that will allow viewers to see our adoption profile. Adoption has been and continues to be an eternal blessing to us. We love our kids, and we are so thankful for the blessing of being parents. Thanks.

Last week after Tanner went to the bathroom, he signed(pointed to his eye, crossed his heart, and pointed to) and said "I love you" to his poop as he flushed it down the toilet.I took some pictures of my little sister Sara.
This was our April Fools joke this year. These are actually meat loaf with pink mashed potatoes spread on top. It is pretty funny to see people eat them.

RIDE

Time is flying by. I can't believe it is almost April. We are doing good, besides all of us getting some sort of bug that caused throwing up and "something else" not fun. We are on the mend and can't wait till it gets warmer out. Eric found out last week that we was accepted into the RIDE program. The University of Washington dental school picks eight students who get to do their 1st year and most of their 4th year in Spokane. It will be nice to be so close to family for an extra year (and only have to live in Seattle for a little over 2 years).

As I was looking through all my pictures to see which ones to post, I didn't have too many to choose from. Most of them ended up being of Aubs and half of them her hair looked crazy (I promise I do her hair).

I love her! Aubs is so beautiful! Aubree is growing up way too fast. She is learning things so fast. She has decided she wants to be a doctor and is learning a lot of anatomy terms. I can't believe all that she can remember. She loves listening to stories, especially stories about Jesus. Eric will tell her stories of Jesus at night when he puts her to bed and she'll remember details that he won't even remember telling her. Aubs is also getting so good at her prayers. She has even started helping Tanner with his prayers.

Aubree loves to dress up. The picture below, she came downstairs with these stickers on her shirt (the letters in her name and a 3).
I came into our family room and found Aubs on Tanner's lap, reading him a book. They sat like that for a while. They are so cute!

Crazy!

Tanner decided this week that he wanted to go poo in the potty.  I never even asked him if he would like to.  He was taking a bath and went(in the toilet).  Ever since that (last Monday), he has pooped everytime but once in the toilet. They even came and got me while he was in nursery and he went.  I still can't believe it.  This is Tanner, who just last week was still pulling other people's poop out of toilets (sorry about the graphic nature of this post).  He has no idea with peeing, but the less diapers poopy diapers I change, the better.  I am so proud of him.  Hopefully this isn't a fluke.

My dad teaches the kids gymnastics every Saturday.  

Handsome Tan.  I love this boy!

Aubree and Tanner are such good friends.  

Aubs checking herself out in a mirror.

Tanner has the BEST laugh.  It is just infectious.  He is such a happy boy.

Travis is 15 months old now.  I can't believe how old he is and how big he getting.  It is crazy for me to imagine that Trav is the age that Aubree was when I found out I was pregnant.  

This is what I saw when I looked back from my seat.  It is enough to make me cry.  

Tanner got into my mascara and if you look close, you can see his fat lip.  He slipped on some tile flooring and put his teeth straight into his top lip.  Blood was everywhere and his gums turned all purple. He is all better now.

We love to pop our own popcorn for our family night treat.

Klingon

Aubree is such a sweet girl.  We had the chance to visit Aubree's birth mom this last week.  It was the first time we had seen her since she placed this miracle in our arms.  We have been explaining to Aubs who she was and that we were going to go see her.  Adoption has been such a blessing in our life and we are so grateful for Bridgette and the selfless sacrifice that she made for us.  She couldn't get enough of Aubree.  Aubs is so wonderful!
Tanner boy is such a fun boy.  It is fitting that this picture is taken in a bathroom, because he has made a few messes in the bathroom this week.  I came into the bathroom and he was using a water bottle to get drinks out of the toilet and then another time he was flinging wet toilet paper all over the place.  Tan has such a fun personality (see video below).

Travis had his worst fall this week.  Eric and I were commenting on how good Trav was getting at walking and within 30 seconds he tripped on a rug in our bathroom and hit the a metal edge near the tub.  He almost broke through the skin.  The picture above doesn't do it justice.  He totally reminded me of the Klingon guy on Star Trek.

The kid's have mixed CD that they always dance to.  It has Enchanted, Fergie, and a bunch of random songs.  All of the kids sing at the end of this Yael Naim song, but Tanner is classic.  He does it completely serious.  He is so cute!

I Tooted.

We made sugar cookies and decorated them for Valentine's Day.  Aubree and Tanner loved it.

Aubs loves to play dress up.  She is growing up too fast!

I tried to get the kids to pose for a picture and this was the best I could get.  I love these kids!

So... The reason I titled this post I Tooted. was because we today, we were on our way home from Stake Conference and Tanner threw up all over himself.  He looked at Eric and I and said, "I tooted."  He threw up again and said it again.  Tanner doesn't quite get the body processes yet.  He normally says he tooted when he pees.  He is such a funny boy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know this is early, but on Saturday morning Eric woke up and came up to me and gave me a big hug.  He got a big smile on his face and said, "Happy Valentine's Day!"  I looked at him to see if he was serious (he said like he was dumb).  He had gotten me a present and everything.   He really did think it was Valentine's day.  Eric is so busy and has so much on his mind, I am impressed that he keeps most of his days straight.  I got a good laugh.  Eric is wonderful!

Eric took this picture as Trav was climbing onto him.  Travis sure has a Nygard forehead.  He is such a sweet boy.

Aubs with her lips sucker.

Travis found his nostril and had a hard time getting his finger out.  He kept trying to push it up to get it out.

Tanner and Isaac (nephew) playing with play-doh.

Aubs and Tan having breakfast.  I love Aubree's smile!

Sometimes I forget to put bibs on.  I love Trav's little teeth.

Hall of Fame

Anita probably won't be very happy that I am blogging about this, but my sister in law is someone I have to brag about.  Saturday night at the Wenatchee High School basketball game they inducted 4 people into their Hall of Fame.  One of them happened to be Eric's sister, Anita.  This is from the newspaper, Anita Nygard won three state championships in the hurdle events for Wenatchee. Nygard, who graduated in 2002 as the Big Nine Track Athlete of the Year, won the state title in the 300 hurdles as a junior in 2001. The following season, Nygard repeated as 300-meter champ and added a championship in the 100-meter hurdles. She was a three-time WHS female track athlete of the year. 
Anita ended up running on scholarship at BYU and did really well there.  She actually met and married my cousin.  They now have 2 of the cutest kids.  

The picture above is all of us at the game.

With all of us coming to town for the festivities, Eric's parents set up a family picture.  I had to photoshop Eric's brother in because he is in Long Beach, serving a mission.  Can you tell where he is? :)