The Joys of Sisterhood!

I just got back from a ladies retreat at Lake of the Ozarks. The theme for the weekend was "The Joys of Sisterhood" and I was blessed by my sisters is Christ this weekend! I came back from this with an amazing sense of peace that allows me to connect with the women at my church (and in my life) better than I ever have because we all now know that we are here to build one another up instead of judge each other's shortcomings or blessings. God is so good and he has blessed me so much!

I must say, it was really hard to leave all of my boys (especially with Gabe being only 6 months old), but Chris put all of my worries at ease and took wonderful care of the boys. He paid attention to their schedules, made sure they got to bed on time, and even took them to our neighborhood garage sale and bought a Little Tykes Playhouse for the backyard! I couldn't be more proud of him!

My good friends Cassi, Kelli, and Cammi were my roomies for the weekend. They endured my scheduled breast pumping sessions and didn't even freak out when I dripped breastmilk on the table! What good friends :)
This is a picture of the beautiful chapel where we had worship service on Sunday morning. The whole front is windows that looks over the cliff over the water and resort...breathtaking!

Three's Company

We have been busy lately with having 3 boys in the house. The babies, Caden and Gabriel, are so cute and I have fun playing with them all day! Gabriel turned 6 months old last Sunday (on Easter). I will have pictures, the doctor update, and more info about Gabe at 6 months coming soon!
Christopher has turned in to my little helper. He helps me feed Caden and throws his diapers in the trash for me. Today, we were playing in the playroom and Christopher wanted me to play his harmonica. When I started playing, he walked over to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said "Sshh. Caden. Sleep" Last week was pretty hard for him...just learning how to handle this new adjustment, but this week he seems to be finding his niche. He was singing "rock a bye baby" all day today!
We are also trying to get this whole potty thing down, which keeps things interesting during the day :) I had to snap this picture for the scrapbook! I am really looking forward to getting lots of pages done at the next Scrap-a-palooza.

A New Adventure

I have been thinking of how to earn extra income for our family while still raising our boys and staying home with them. Actually, Chris and I have been doing a lot of praying and talking about the subject...and patiently waiting for God to show us how to make this difficult task work. Well, Friday we were contacted by a family who needed full time care for their little boy and we met with them that evening. We are so excited to start watching their little boy--yes, another boy!--during the week while his Mom and Dad are at work. Today was our first day with Caden and it went really well. Of course, all three boys are learning how to deal with the new transition, as am I, but I think this new adventure is going to be a lot of fun for us! Here is a cute picture of the boys playing on the floor together. Christopher thinks he has a new baby brother...it's so cute! The only sad thing about this is that Christopher can no longer to go the preschool at our church since I can't get all three kids out of the house in my car. We are really disappointed about it because he enjoyed going to school at church and he will miss his friends, but we are trying to figure out a way to get him there next school year, which starts in September. Hopefully we can make it work! In the meantime, we are staying busy with our new little buddy.

Coloring Eggs

Well, we started out with a bunch of these...

then Christopher wanted to do this by himself, and actually did so without making a mess.

And then we did some more until...

we had all of our eggs colored. How beautiful! Doesn't it just make you think "springtime"!?

We had so much fun working on this together!

Gabriel had fun watching us and playing with his toys. And Daddy had fun playing photographer.

What a handsome little guy!

We can't wait for tomorrow when we get to find them! Oh...what fun :)

Wounded Soldier

Lately Christopher thinks that any little thing needs a bandaid, or as he calls it, a "banaid". He told Daddy that he had an owee on his head, so Daddy got the ace bandage out of the closet and wrapped Christopher's head. I cracked up laughing when I saw it...he looks like he either had a face lift or is a wounded war veteran. He even has the pitiful looking face to match!

Gabe's First Day of Sunday School

So, this quarter at church I am teaching the baby class in Sunday School. It was timed perfectly because Gabriel is almost 6 months old so he can start going to the class. Last Sunday was our first time and it was so exciting...probably more for me than for him! The class is 6 months to 2 years old, but most of them are on the younger end of that.

This is what we do in class:

* We start out by giving the kids cheerios as their parents drop them off. (Gabe will have to wait a while for that!)

* The we introduce all the kids so they can become familiar with each other.

* We sing songs about Jesus and God and other fun things. While we sing, the kids get to play with a little toy that goes along with the song.

*After we sing songs, we say a little prayer and then let the kids get down and play until their parents come to pick them up.

I'm so excited to be able to experience Gabriel doing this...it worked out so great! After my 3 months is over he will be in class with the new teacher and Christopher will go to his class. That means I can just sit in adult class and learn...with no babies on my lap! That will be a new experience for me! :)

Preschool Easter Party!

Christopher's preschool at church had an Easter party for all the kids on Thursday. Even though he wasn't feeling the best, we still were able to come up just for the party. We got there just in time...they were just on their way to hunt for eggs when we got to his classroom. The weather was getting a little rainy, so instead of hunting outside on the playground, they did it in the sanctuary. It was so funny to see all the pews covered in eggs!
Here is Christopher waiting patiently with the rest of his class, the Ladybugs, to get their eggs.

And he's off! The tricky part of the whole thing was limiting their eggs. The older classes were coming in after us to hunt for eggs also, so each child had to find 10 eggs and then stop. Try explaining that to a two year old!


After the hunt, Christoher and his friend Gracie sat down to open their eggs together. He did so well...even after I told him he couldn't eat any of the candy! It was a good thing because after the hunt they went back to the class and had the party. I now know that a party for two year olds means giving them lots of sugar! Get 'em sugared up and send 'em home!

Candy!

Jumping Beans...

Christopher had two birthday parties this weekend...and both of them had big inflatables for jumping around. Needless to say, he was in heaven! He could jump for hours until his little cheeks get rosy and he's dripping sweat! These pictures are from Gracie's party. Gracie and her mommy used to watch Christopher when I first started back to work when he was about 5 months old, so Gracie thinks Christopher is her little baby...even though he's not a baby anymore! When all the kids piled on this chair for a picture, Gracie had to make sure that Christopher was sitting in her lap...so cute!

Our good friend, Jason was Christopher's jumping buddy all afternoon. He would go up to him, tap his leg, and say "Jas help" because he wanted to go in the big obstacle course inflatables. They had such a good time together!

Here is the princess and her prince charming!
He is getting so big! Every day he does something that surprises me, whether it's doing something sweet and thoughtful for his brother or saying a new sentence that he's never said before. His little brain is just in overdrive right now with all the things he takes in each day!

It is so awesome to see him develop friendships with so many people...it really makes the phrase, "it takes a villiage to raise a child" make sense because all of these people have a big impact on his personality and growth! Thank you to everyone who loves my kids...you are so special to us!

Learning to Dress Yourself is Complicated!

I just had to take this picture! Christopher decided to take his shorts and underwear off just to put them back on all by "self" as he says. Well...I don't know if you can quite tell in the picture, but he has both legs through one leg in the underwear and shorts. So Funny!

Just so you know...before I was done posting this, he asked me to help him fix them! I didn't think that looked very comfortable :)

New Favorites!

We are a bunch of growing boys around here and we have lots of new favorite things! Gabriel's new favorite is his Jumper...he loves to jump in it and laugh and look around the house. He loves being able to sit up and be independent. He's our little jumping bean!
One of Chrisopher's favorite things right now is enjoying the beautiful weather outside, and one of his favorite things to do outside is draw with his sidewalk chalk. He has gone a long way since last year...he very rarely puts it in his mouth now! :)

Mommy's favorite time is naptime! Most days Christopher and Gabriel take a nap at the same time...which I love! They are both getting so big and independent. I love how their relationship is developing! Gabriel laughs at Christopher all the time and Christopher loves to help mommy with Gabriel. Gabriel is working on getting bigger than Christopher so he can get him back for being a little too rough sometimes...oh brother! I love my little guys so much!

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

This afternoon was a little too windy to take the boys for a walk in the stroller, so instead we decided to break out one of Christopher's birthday presents that he hasn't used yet. He got a Mickey Mouse kite and it was the perfect day for kite flying! I got it started and then handed it off to Christopher to navigate on his own. He was so amazed and excited about the independence it gave him to hold it all my himself. After all, his favorite word right now is "self"...because he is an independent two year old who has to try everything first before I can help him.
He really got it up there! We did have a few mishaps...like when it got stuck in the neighbors tree! But nothing I couldn't fix :)

And then the wind started to die down...and distruction occured! The string came crashing to the ground all around Christopher. He tried to pick it up and run, thinking he could get the kite back up in the air. And this is what happened...

Serious entaglement folks! Of course, instead of running to his aide I stood there and laughed for a minute and then realized I was missing a great photo opportunity! I did finally help him free...then we called it a day and went inside to have dinner. What a fun time!

Rainy Saturday Morning

I just put the baby down for his morning nap and we are enjoying this lazy Saturday morning. Christopher woke us up early this morning, but Gabriel actually slept from 7:30 last night until about 6:30 this morning(thanks to big brother:). After we changed their diapers, Chris made me a cup of coffee and we all piled back in to bed and watched "Willy Wonka". We actually only watched about 15 minutes of the movie, but it was so nice to have the four of us in bed, relaxing, and enjoying each other's company. I love Saturday mornings! We were planning on going to Silver Dollar City this morning, but since it's raining I think we will just work on putting the huge pile of laundry away. Is is sad that putting laundry away sounds more enjoyable than wadding through a crowded amusement park with two cranky boys?

St. Patty's Day

For St. Patrick's Day we dressed the boys in their matching green outfits from cousin Kate. They looked so cute! We threw a blanket on the grass and played in the front yard all afternoon.

Take A Quiz!

See if you can tell who is who! :) There is one picture of Christopher & one of Gabriel both around 4 months old. It is so neat to see how they look alike!

G Man

This is the nickname that we have given to Gabriel. Actually it was Chris who started calling him this and it has stuck around. So now we have G man and Little man!

Just thought I would give you all an update on what Gabriel is doing lately. He will be 5 months old on Thursday! His weight is well over 13 pounds...probly pushing 14. He loves to drink milk and it shows! I think next month we will start with some solid foods. His doctor recommended waiting until he was closer to 6 months as long as he seems satisfied on milk.

He is rolling onto his back and almost rolled onto his belly. He loves to watch his big brother play...and he laughs when Christopher talks to him! He likes to chew on his blanket and he is saying more sounds now. Just the other day I think I heard him say either "gaga" or "dada"...not sure, but it was awesome! His eyes light up when his daddy is holding him...just like christopher-they LOVE daddy! He laughs when we eat his belly...so much fun:)

He is still sleeping in the bassinet in our bedroom, but he has now officially graduated from being swaddled! He loved to be swaddled and I loved it because all I had to do was lay him down and he would fall asleep. Now that he is used to the freedom he is back to falling asleep on his own most of the time.

In a nutshell...he is doing really good. We are blessed to have him and enjoy watching him grow every day!

King of the castle & soaking up the sun!

Let me just say that the desktop weather on my computer says it is 75 outside! We are so thankful to be able to get outside in the beautiful sunshine and play! I took some pictures yesterday after naptime when me & the boys were out playing in the backyard. Christopher had fun climbing to the top of his fort and throwing balls off. Gabriel chilled out in his bouncy chair and watched Bear most of the time. He is so relaxed outside...he just loves it! Christopher was the exact same way as a baby:)

Here he is peaking through the hole in his fort. He kept pushing the ball through it...then he would giggle like he did something really neat!

Mr. Potato Head

After lunch today, I was putting Gabriel down for his nap and I noticed that Christopher was being really quiet. I snuck down the hall to see what he was doing...camera in hand...and found him sitting on the floor in his play room with Mr. Potato head. He got this toy for his birthday and he loves it so much!
So, this is the masterpiece that was created! Pretty halarious!

And then he's off...

He ran off to show daddy what he had made, but Chris had just left to coach a basketball game at church. I felt so bad for him! We are saving it to show daddy after Christopher wakes up from his nap.

Well, the house is totally quiet right now, so I'm going to take advantage of my time. I hear some dove dark chocolate calling my name!

Christopher's first day of preschool

So, Tuesday was Christopher's first day of preschool. Our church has a preschool for 2 and up that meets on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 10:00-2:00. I wanted to keep him home with me, but he loves spending time with other kids, and since I'm not working anymore he doesn't do that on a regular basis. I knew that having a short amount of structured play time with other children would really do him good. So, we went and got him a little lunch box and packed his backpack with all the essentials. When we got there, he was walking down the hallway carrying his backpack and lunchbox and he made sure to say "hi" to each person he saw. When a mommy or daddy would ask him how he was doing he would say "good"...so sweet! When we got to his classroom he just walked right in and found a ball...that's my boy:) I stayed around for a while but he didn't pay any attention to me. He enjoyed being there and is learning the names of his new teachers and friends. I will keep you all updated on how this new venture goes for him. I expect that it will be a great experience for him and allow me to spend more time with Gabriel (and get some extra house work done:)

Fun times in Feb...

We have been enjoying the boys this week. Gabriel is getting so big and it's just awesome to watch him do new things. He has started talking a lot...he makes all kinds of goofy faces when he does it:) He still chews on his fingers all the time. Christopher loves to tell me everything he does. He tells me when the baby laughs, talks, chews, or poops. It's like my own personal alert system:) Tonight the boys watched a little bit of Shrek together...Gabriel was laying on Christopher's back...so sweet!

The boys took their first bath together on Sunday. It was really short because Gabriel got a little overstimulated and needed to relax. Afterward, they both got baby massages...what a life!

Today was Christopher's first day at preschool. Our church has a preschool program on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00-2:00. Since he is two years old now he can start going. He had a blast, but I had a hard time letting go:) I will post pictures of school later.