easter weekend

We started off our Easter weekend by dying eggs friday night. This was the first time we really got into decorating eggs as a family and the kids just had a blast doing this. It was so fun to watch them watch their eggs and delicately decorate them.

I loved using the whisk for the kids to dip their eggs in. Such a smart idea!

Sabrina was so excited to join in on the fun. She has become so fun to watch as she tries to be big like the boys!

We decorated an egg for everyone in our family, including the new baby on the way!

Wayne and I trying to get a pic together, which is pretty much impossible with a 50mm lens, but still fun in the making! 

Saturday we drove down to Wichita to celebrate Easter early with my brother and his family. My parents were in town too spending the week with my brother so it was so fun and so nice to celebrate with a big family for change. Our first Easter with family!

They planned a fun Easter egg hunt for the kids and an even more fun Easter egg hunt for the adults. This trip was a blast for sure, followed by lots of yummy food! 

Tuckered out after the egg hunt. Thanks cousin Paul for the nice comfy bed!

Sunday we woke up to eggs everywhere and Easter baskets full from the Easter bunny! The kids enjoyed all the fun treats and surprises and of course being made to sit and have their pictures taken.

And thanks to tripods and camera timers we were able to get a family shot for once!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

light it up blue

Today is Autism Awareness Day. A day where the world lights up blue to help spread the word on Autism. It's crazy to think that just recently autism has risen from 1:110 children being diagnosed to now 1:88! It has dramatically increased and yet we still have no clue as to what causes autism.

We decided to help spread the word on awareness, so we all got dressed up in blue, decorated our driveway and made some very yummy cookies.

The boys looking so cute in blue.


They are both getting so big!

I am so proud and so lucky to be a mom of these three kids! They amaze me everyday and the love and bond they have with each other is just amazing! We are truly blessed for the wonderful family we have!

I decided to make cookies for Wayne's work. They offered to sponsor and start a team for the Autism Walk come this September and we thought that this would be a great way to thank them for the support they have given us.

And if your curious as to why they use a puzzle piece to represent autism it's because it represents the complexity and mystery of autism.-Autism is mysterious because nobody knows what causes autism or why the instances of autism seem to be increasing.

Recently I wrote about Fisher's story on iCNN for their "Life with Autism" project. You can read it here and it's also on my blog here. They sent me an email saying that they loved our story and asked a few questions so that they could possibly use it for a bigger piece. One of the questions they asked was why I was so willing to share our story. I thought about it, but simply put, I just wanted to let everybody know how important it was for us and for Fisher to get early intervention. Living in Utah, it wasn't very easy to get the help and at times it was extremely costly but we made it work and because of that Fisher has grown and developed in ways we thought would take forever or possibly never happen. Here in Kansas it is much more simple and less costly to get that help but I feel like it should be like that everywhere. That every state should make it available for families and these amazing kids to get help. So I am sharing my story with anyone and everyone who will listen that there needs to be more done for those with autism, especially now that the rise in Autism is increasing dramatically!

We do want to thank all of our amazing family and friends, neighbors and co-workers who also help spread the awareness and support Fisher. We couldn't do half the things without the help from you guys and with that we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You guys are just as amazing as our little Fisher is!

my silly boy

Lately Chase is just loving being in front of the camera. He loves the attention and laughter he creates from being silly and giving me different poses. I love it when he brings my camera to me to ask to take his picture. It's become one of my favorite times with him.

He loves to be silly and do different poses and make different faces. I have no idea where he learned this, but i love it!

So silly!


When did he start looking so big? I love this sweet and silly little guy of mine!!

spring break

 Thank you everyone who sent us and wrote us such kind and sweet wishes on announcing our fourth Crowder! We are so very excited and your comments sure made our week and our hearts so full! Thank you!

Last week was spring break for Fisher. We had the most perfect weather and decided to make the most of this week off by having picnic in the parks with friends, meeting lots of friends at the zoo and exploring new places and trails nearby. And of course, just spending every moment we could outside in the sunshine!

The kids just loved having picnics in the parks. Almost everyday we had a picnic somewhere new and the kids enjoyed eating and playing outside.

On Tuesday we met up with a lot of new friends for lunch at Antioch Park. This is cute little Walker enjoying the yummy cookies!

Miss Bre just worn out from the fun.

On Wednesday we met up with more friends to spend the day at the zoo. Apparently everyone else had this wonderful idea for the zoo was packed!! But it was still fun to look at the animals and play with friends.

Excited to be at the zoo. And yes, he insist on wearing his rhino shirt every time we visit the zoo.

Then on friday we decided to have a fun picnic at a trail I just love that is near our house. There is a fun little bridge and a small little pond and the kids and I just love visiting this place. We decided to pick up a special treat and make the most of this wonderful place.

Sabrina is obsessed with ducks. She just loves them and when she saw these geese she got so excited that she literally took off and to see them up close. She is fearless!

They just love running and playing on this bridge. It's become a favorite place of ours!

And it wouldn't be a fun day if you couldn't play outside and color and get wet and just dirty. Looks like someone sniped some tasty drinks from her older brothers!

It was a pretty low key spring break, but the kids and I just had a blast. It was so fun to have Fisher home for the days so that we could go and do and explore new things together. I think he had a lot of fun this past week. I know I sure did!!

Hope you are all enjoying your week so far! And happy SPRING!!

a wonderful surprise

well, it's official! the crowder clan is indeed expecting their fourth little one come september. and although this little one came as a big surprise to us, we couldn't be more excited! especially at nine weeks when we were able to see this beautiful picture with a very strong heartbeat!

 i have been so thankful to find a wonderful midwifery here in k.c. they have taken such good care of us and i have gotten to see our sweet angle three times and watch that heartbeat just flutter away. we are officially out of the first trimester and i am finally starting to feel better and eat again, although, i can't say the energy is quite back yet. ;)

and yes, we know it will be crazy and busy and lots of little feet running around, but that is what we know and that is what we like and what we are so use to.  we are just so incredibly thankful for this beautiful and amazing blessing we have been blessed with. we are definitely looking forward to this september when we can meet this new little addition to our family!

sunshine

this weeks is spring break for us and we have been so lucky to be blessed with such amazing weather. it feels like summer and it makes me all giddy and excited for the warmer weather ahead and the fun trips to plan. we are definitely making the best of these beautiful days and spending every moment outside as much as we can!

hope you all are having a wonderful week too!

happiness

a little girl so happy to be in her daddy's arms.