3 years

3 years ago today, we got hitched! 2 years ago in October, we we a few days away from meeting Benson for the first time. Last year around this time, Mike was graduating and we were a few months away from moving to Chicago and this year we are a few short months away from meeting Baby Brother. Time flies when you're in love :)







Such a happy life :) Happy three years to my awesome husband! Three years, two college graduations, one and a half kids later and one big move across the country, our adventure is just beginning! I love that handsome guy I got married to three years ago.

An in case I forgot to announce it here...

Baby DeVries number two is all boy! We are excited to have two little boys running around the house. Benson is excited to have someone he can beat up on other than his mom. Cheers all around!

Wisconsin State Fair

You'd think growing up in Texas I'd have seen my fair share of cowboys and hicks, you were wrong. We had the delightful opportunity to attend the Wisconsin State Fair with my sister Brooke and her husband Tyler and their two kiddos, Tanner and Katelyn a few weekends ago. We had the best time walking around and looking at the animals and sampling fair food. We were a little bit nervous to attend because the day before quite a few people were attacked as they left the fair grounds when it was closing. 26 people were arrested. Crazy. Our favorite quote from fox news about the subject "People come to the fair to see chickens and pigs, not get beat up". So true, so true. Happily, no one in the DeVries or the Hedin families got beat up that day. We did get to sample delicious fried Milky Ways, Fish and Chips, Lemonade and flavored milk. Our two favs were probably the fried milky way and the cherry vanilla milk. More of that please! We had a great time and I felt very loved as Katelyn wanted me to hold her hand the whole time. I loved it! Sometimes you forget how fun it is to be an aunt when you have your own kid begging for attention. It was extremely hot, so by the end of the day we were exhausted and needed to go home. My sister is also pregnant and so we commiserated with each other as we walked back to the car. Aching hips, sore feet, etc. Thanks Hedins for the great day at the fair! We loved it.

White Sox Party

Mike and I have been talking about how much we wanted to go to a White Sox game this summer...but after looking up ticket prices it pretty much needed to go unspoken that neither of us wanted to blow that much dough on one baseball game. So, imagine my surprise when Mike calls me out of the blue one day and asks me to get a sitter for the next night cause we were going to a game! That husband o' mine. Sure do love him. It turns out he had entered a raffle at work and won, not just two regular tickets, but two box suite seats, with dinner and parking included! We felt like kings as we had all the drinks, gourmet dinner, snacks, gourmet dessert carts, Ice cream sundae carts and everything else you could think of, that we could possibly want right there in that suite! We loved it! The weather was perfect, and even though the Sox lost we had an awesome time. We were mostly paying attention to the food and the drunk people anyways. Perfect date night with the perfect man! Thanks Blewitts for watching Benson for us!

PS

I have a few family shots that I will post later, but they are currently in the possession of my siblings. And, the picture of the three boys in the bathtub and the one below it of the three boys sitting on the bench are of Benson and his cousins. The one in the bathtub is of the boys last year at my mom's house about a year ago and the one on the bench is of the boys this year. See how much they've grown? They were all born within a few months of each other. They have another cousin, Tyson, who wasn't able to make it either time who was born two days before Benson that should be in the pictures too. I love seeing these boys grow up!

Nauvoooooooo

Here are a lot of pics people! Last week my family got together in Nauvoo for a little family reunion. It was awesome and everyone made it but Michelle and Jared and their four kiddos. We missed them! The vacation was so very fun and it was so nice to be with my family. It was crazy to see all of the nieces and nephews again, they are so big and are getting to be such big people. I love them so much, I wished I lived closer! The only complaint, it was stinkin' hot the whole week. Really, really, hot. We were sweating buckets, but true to form, the little kids still ran around like crazy with pink cheeks and all and had a blast with each other. My favorite part was when the adults all took turns babysitting each other's kids and attending a session at the Nauvoo temple. It was beautiful and peaceful and amazing being in the temple with some of my sisters. We got to attend the Nauvoo pageant (gotta admit, not the best for kids so we all took off early to get them to bed)and the games that started before. The kids loved the games, the oxen rides and the kids playground area.

I looooooooove being around my siblings. The girls are all moms I want to be like. They are patient, loving, forgiving and such great teachers. When I tell them that I am having problems with Benson throwing tantrums, they smile nicely and with all the wisdom and experience they have, they just tell me to be consistent and give it time. Babies and kids go through stages. That's all. Not an earful of advice, just a few nudges in the right directions. When it comes to role models, my mom and my sisters (this includes you Shauna) are who I want to be like the most. They are amazing and I love their kids.

Okay, enough of that. Here are the pictures: