I am the queen of. . . .

....Making bad cakes. My poor kids! I am terrible at frosting and usually when I try to write their name on it I just make things worse. Ryan has decided that he could not handle it anymore and he usually takes over when it comes to the kids' birthday cakes. Well this year there is no Ryan, so I had just planned to make a normal cake with whipped cream nothing too special. Mason was helping me make Devon's cake and when we were done baking it he asked how we would decorate it. Oh, well I cannot decorate I told him and so we were just going to put toys on top. Then I decided to be brave and see if there was anything simple on the internet that I could recreate. My kids of course were drawn to these masterpieces, but we finally settled on this puppy. Now if you are creative or talented please do not judge. If you know anything about my creative side I think you may be mildly impressed. I hope you can tell what it is from the pics, I promise it did look like a dog in real life. The frosting job still lacked but overall not too bad.

Here is our little birthday boy. Wow he is really 3. I was pregnant with him when we moved here so some of our family has not even met him. He is the smiliest kid I have seen. People comment so often that he is always smiling. He loves cars, playing catch and being outside. He is very cute with Brooklyn. He likes to lay on the floor next to her and talk to her. The other day he called her a princess and said "you are my friend". It is so sweet. He also likes to steam-roll over her and pick her up both of which we are trying to convince him are dangerous.

Overall it was a great day. I love third birthdays. I think this is when kids really get that it is their special day. Devon walked around singing, "Happy Birthday to you, Devon" all day. He loved all of the special attention. We enjoyed a great day!

Devon is one, really he is.

On Tuesday our little boy turned one. We took him out for ice cream on his birthday, or the truth be told we took ourselves out for ice cream. He did enjoy very much the little tastes that he got. Today we had some neighbors over for cake, ice cream and presents. Our neighbors are like family to us and so it was nice to have them over celebrating this special occasion. Devon had no interest in the presents basically, however he loved the camera. It is rare I know but he actually likes to be photographed. He will probably have the best scrapbook.
Look at those baby blue eyes. I also love his curly, blond hair.

My first child to actually really dig into his cake. He must have a sweet tooth. Now to explain why it may seem unbelievable that Devon is one year old. I was sure he would be my biggest baby, he definitely was in my tummy. Once again I have been disappointed, and I am starting to become frustrated with the dead-beat Pederson genes. At one year Devon is my smallest child. I will not state his stats for fear that some of you may judge my ability to feed my baby. I will just say that as I got out his winter clothes (6-12 mos.) I cringed because I still had to roll the legs. Who knows when he will face forward in the car. Poor guy!!

Our little Dev

Devon will be 9 mos. on Monday. I really enjoy watching him as he is learning to get around. He can army crawl better than I remember any of my other kids. He gets on his hands and knees often but doesn't actually move yet. My favorite thing is when he gets in pushup position with his little bum in the air. He still has chubby cheeks but is thinning out a little everywhere else.
What will he find around the corner. The kid loves to move around the entire room.

The two babies

Here is a picture of my two babies. I guess I will not be able to call Spencer a baby anymore since he is turning two on Wednesday. I haven't posted any pictures of Devon in awhile so I thought I would let you all see how big he is getting. He is seven and a half months old and such a joy right now. He is sitting and will acutally play by himself for awhile. He loves to be talked to or just watch the chaos going on around him (there is always some). He has been sleeping through the night for about a month which makes both of us happier. He is not into food very much although I know that will come soon enough. I have not had a picky eater yet and I think Ryan would just be beside himself if one came along. I used to think he looked a lot like his brother Mason now he is changing and I am not so sure. We love having him in our home.

Devon's Blessing

On Sunday we had Devon's blessing. I was already, head bowed, pen in hand waiting to record these special words for my son. Well my other three children had another idea. Spencer is crying/screaming the entire time so I can barely hear. I decided to stand up with him and a nice man in my ward takes him off my hands so that I can enjoy this special moment. Upon returning to my bench I find Mason with a bloody nose smeared clear across his face. Luckily it was not dripping so he could wait. By the time the other children were under control the blessing was over. I am grateful it is recorded in heaven.
Ryan is such a wonderful father. I love the fact that he blesses our children. I am especially grateful for the love and support that he gives to them and me as well. Each of our children are unique and Ryan always contemplates what he will say so that he gives them a unique blessing. Thank you Ryan, we love you.
By the way for those of you admiring Devon's incredibly beautiful blessing outfit it is courtesy of my mom. My mom had made special outfits for all of my children and I absolutely love it. Thanks mom.

Pay Attention

For quite some time it has come to my attention that I have a hard time paying attention to detail. Well my inability to post pics. to my blog was because I completely missed the check box to accept the terms and conditions. You know the one that says check here before you can upload. Once I noticed that it was quite simple. Anyway here is Devon.

For those of you thinking, I cannot believe the Pedersons have four kids, don't worry neither can we. Here they are visiting at ther hospital. McKena was the only one who actually cared about Devon. The boys were more interested in playing with the hospital bed.
Just a quick pic of Devon with his dad. The question is, Will Devon finally be our Ryan? He definitely is our biggest (if you take into account that he was early). I am told by many people that their biggest babies at birth are not necessarily the biggest child as they grow older. All I know is that my other boys seem to take after me so far. I guess only time will tell.

Devon

Our Son Devon Marlowe was born on Sept. 23. He came about 4 weeks early and weighed in at 6'11" and 19 inches. Marlowe is a family name on my side and Devon was Ryan's choice. He finally got to pick the name and for those of you that know how much he loves the name Bruce I decided that I could live with this one. I had a good experience although it did not compare to my Iowa experience. For one I missed my trusty nurse Amanda and secondly I missed the wonderful bathtub. I think it is sinful not to give a postpartum woman a bathtub. Come on don't they know that I have four kids and that my 2 day hospital stay is my only chance to have a nice quiet bath.