PARTY OF FIVE is what we'll call ourselves. I have officially entered the blogging world and had no idea how easy it was to start. I would have done this a long time ago but with two kids and one on the way, it seemed like a daunting task and honestly, I was a little intimidated. So here I go and so far, so good.

I am doing this blog for two reasons:

1. My Children - I want to have one place I can have pictures and details about our days together because I am the worst scrapbooker in the world and want them to have some type of record of their lives. I have journals and tons of pictures on our computer but nothing with both. Our scrapbooks end right about the time we purchased our first digital camera,which was in 2002. Yikes, I am so behind. My goal is to have them all organized and up to date but in the mean time, this blog will keep me from being even more behind. There is only so much I can do in a day with a 4 1/2 yr old, a 2 yr old and a 10 wk old!

2. My Family and Friends - Not surprising, but like scrapbooking, I am bad about sending updates and pictures to friends and family too. So now I don't have to. The tricky part is that you have to come to me and if you are reading this, I guess you are somewhat interested in what goes on in our lives. I hope this is a good way for you to feel connected to us and I hope I don't bore you with too many details.

I'm not really sure how to start this but I think it makes sense to begin with when our party of five was a party of two.

Rawley and I met our sophomore year of college at BYU. It was in the Fall, which is one of my favorite times of the year. We met at a party he and his buddies put on . We soon realized we had the same humanities class together and became "study partners" and good friends before we started dating in the winter. We were married the next Fall in Salt Lake City.

We both majored in Business. Rawley's emphasis was in Accounting and mine was in Finance. It was really fun having classes together and doing the college thing married. We even got to do an amazing business study abroad together in Asia. We toured businesses in Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. Right after, we did internships in the Bay Area, which brought us to our

next adventure and current adventure, San Francisco.

We moved here after we graduated BYU. Rawley started out at an accounting firm. He quickly decided that was not the best fit for him and started in commercial real estate shortly after and has been doing that ever since. I worked at the headquarters of Gap Inc. as a merchandise planner for two years then had our handsome little boy Ethan Rawley.

Ethan is 4 1/2 years old. He makes us laugh and surprises everyday with his witty comments and his amazing memory. Nothing gets past him and he notices every detail. I have to be so careful in the things that I say and promise him because he always remembers. It's usually close to bedtime when he pulls them out and reminds us. How convenient for him right? We've learned that we can't say anything unless we know it will happen. He keeps us honest.

Ethan loves the outdoors. He loves bugs, trees, rocks, leaves, animals, sticks and just about anything you can find in the woods. Maybe living in a high-rise condo with only a patch of grass in our courtyard will do that to a child. Camping is one of his favorite things to do and it's so fun to watch him be "at one" with nature. He also loves soccer, swimming and riding his "race bike". Ethan is a joy to be around. He is also a wonderful big brother and takes great care of his two little sisters Eav and Aida.

Eav is our little ball of fire. She's small but has enough energy to sustain a giant. She moves a mile a minute. We have to be 100% when we're with her because one second she'll be right next to you and the next, she'll be into something you wouldn't even think is possible. We sometimes call her "ninja hands," because she swipes things out your hands without you realizing it until she's already walking away with it. It drives Ethan insane. I am laughing so hard as I am writing this.

She is also our social butterfly. She says hi to everyone she meets and typically, is not intimidated by anyone. She loves being around people and loves it when she knows she's making them laugh. She often sings at the top of her lungs with a huge grin, knowing she is being watched. How can you not notice her though? She pretty much only has one volume and that's - loud. She loves playing dress up and could spend all day putting on different shoes, trying on dresses, hats, sunglasses, purses and putting on makeup. She is so much fun and I could be entertained all day just by watching her move from one thing to the next. We love her spunky personality.

"Sweet Aida" is what Ethan calls her. Sweet is exactly what she is. Her middle name is Joan after Rawley's mom. I can't say that the transition to three children was/is easy by any means, but I can honestly say that I couldn't have imagined a more precious, easy going baby. Don't get me wrong, she can definitely tell us when she's upset but 95% of time she is either sleeping, eating, smiling, cooing, or just gazing. She's been a dream. Ethan and Eav get so excited to see her and love being near her. I sometimes have to pry them off of her so she can have some breathing space.

Aida loves her Daddy. He always gets the biggest smiles from her. I love watching them together. Aida is very engaging and will often stop nursing so she can smile and coo at me. I love it. It is hard to believe she is 11 weeks today. I normally at this stage am still totally sleep deprived but Aida has been sleeping 10-12 hour stretches this past week so I have been feeling really good. What a difference a full night of sleep makes.

That's our Party of Five. From here on out I hope to update weekly but realistically, it will probably be more like monthly. I am just happy that I have something to update now. The End to my first blog entry ever.