Two Months

Baby girl is 2 months old.  How did it go so fast?

And doesn't really fit on the bed anymore. 

Norah is the sweetest baby.  Still loves to be held and snuggled all day long.  Which we gladly do.  She loves to catch us looking at her and will just start smiling and cooing.  She isn't a big fan of being on her tummy but loves to be held and will hold up her head and look all around.  She is a great sleeper.  Only getting up 1 or 2 times a night.  Which is so nice.

She didn't like it - poor thing.

Oh those cheeks.  They get lots and lots of kisses.

Stitches

Sweet Joel got stitches tonight. 

 

Sliced his eyebrow on the edge of our tv stand.  Matches his other scar on the other eyebrow (when he was 1 he was walking with a Tupperware container on his head and fell and cut the eyebrow. Hair doesn't grow on that spot.  At least he will look symmetrical now)  We learned after last time when Colin got stitches to go straight to the children's hospital.  Brent was there for almost 5 hours.  Didn't help that Brent never answered his phone.  After a few hours I was so worried at home thinking maybe they never made it to the hospital.   I even called the hospital - since I knew it wasn't as bad as Colin's chin hanging out. And made Sarah worry too by my phone calls every few minutes.  Brent said that Joel was so easy for the doctor. I think part of it was that he was getting stitched at 11pm and was half asleep.  He is very proud of his bandaid and the toy the doctor gave him.  And now I'm going to bed and snuggle with my boy who I will gladly let rub my ears all night long. 

Kite Flying

 Colin got some great kites for his birthday so yesterday we went down the street to the playground to fly them.

 Joel couldn't figure out how to get his kite up in the air.  We kept telling him to hold his hand up. So he held up the opposite hand the whole time. 

 There wasn't much wind but they had fun running around for a long time.

 Joel trying to figure out how to get his kite up in the air. 

The kites weren't just for the kids.  Brent had fun too.

Card

Colin made me a card today all by himself.

It says "I lof yow tow" = "I love you too" 

I love how he sounds out things.  Makes perfect sense to me.

Smiles

Its blurry and dark but I just love this picture.  Melts my heart every time she smiles. 

3rd times the charm

Third times the charm for me in the recovery aspect of having babies.  I could barely walk after having surgery after Colin and with Joel I broke my tailbone. But this time I'm already running and feel great. 

So it wasn't too hard to get talked into doing the color me rad race.  It was pretty fun. And a great group of women to run with.  I think next year I'll take the boys. They would love it.  Joel keeps asking me why those people throw-ed chalk on us.  I drove everyone in Brent's new car.  He put down plastic just for us :)  haha nothing got in his new car but I think it did make him sweat a little!  One of the girls got a call from her husband saying they were out of diapers so she had to run into the store like that on the way from my house.

Ninja baby

Video

Six

Yesterday our sweet boy turned 6.  Its hard to believe he's already that old.  He is such a great kid.  He is our tenderhearted sweet heart.  Who also loves to wrestle and beat up on his brother :)  One of the administrators at school told Brent as he was dropping off Colin one morning that Colin was the nicest kid in school.  And I have no doubt.  He never says anything bad about anyone. Loves to help out other kids in his class. His teacher put him at the table with the kids with special needs and Colin loves it.  Doesn't see them as any different - just loves to help.  We are so blessed to be his parents. For the most part he makes parenting easy.   He's a wonderful kid and we've loved the past 6 years.  Just wish it didn't go by as fast. 

  He wanted a birthday party with friends this year - the first time we've done a party. So we did a ninja party yesterday.  Colin was bouncing off the walls with excitement the whole day.   I didn't get many pictures of the party.  Just a few so hopefully Ant Ant or my dad will send me some. 

 The rain held off until almost the end. But the kids didn't mind.  They were out there running around in the rain. 

 And now that he is six finally (his best friend has been six since December) - he's already asking if he's now six and a half.

Thank you to everyone who came for making Colin's birthday special. 

Kindergarten performance

This past week we had Colin's kindergarten performance.  I have a few cute videos to post.  But for some reason its not letting me post them all together so you'll get them one at a time. But the kids were adorable. Colin looked a little scared at first.  The cafeteria was packed with parents.  He said he was looking for us but we were far in the back. 

So proud of my boy

Good thing Brent doesn't garden this way

Berry Picking

 We went strawberry picking the other day.  The boys got really into it.  Norah just slept the whole time :)

 Colin found the sweetest strawberries.  We've been eating his bucket first.

 Joel of course picked all the muddy paths to walk

 We had to teach Joel which ones to pick

 Showing off his muscles

And now we have a ton of strawberries to eat. 

Norah- 5 weeks old

pretty girl

He tells her everyday what a beautiful girl she is. "You're a pretty girl Norah" is what he says over and over.

This morning I was busy looking for Colin's inhaler and making sure he had socks, shoes, his backpack ready. I looked into the room to see why Colin wasn't getting ready to find him leaning over the bouncy seat with Norah in it and praying "Lord Jesus thank you for my little sister."   I think thats worth running a few minutes late this morning. 

Gas

This post is for the kids.  For them to one day read it and laugh at how expensive we thought gas was.  But today your daddy came home with a new car.  His truck has needed to get fixed 3 times this month and with gas getting more expensive it was time for him to get a new vehicle.  Especially with his job and how much he drives each day.  And we will be actually saving money each month.   Our car loan plus the new cost of gas for his little car will be less than what he is now paying each month on gas.   Crazy. Oh and for future reference: we pay close to $4 a gallon now :)  I remember when it was a $1.25 and I thought that was bad.

Mud Brothers

Yesterday Brent was out of town and we were outside playing. I went inside to change Norah's diaper and came out to the mud brothers as they called themselves. It was all Colin's idea I think. And it didn't take long for them to plan this out. 

 They were having a blast.  And laughing huge belly laughs it was hard not to laugh with them.

 Oh my. 

They had so much fun.  I hosed them off outside and then they came inside to become bubble brothers.  It took two baths to get them fully clean.

1 month

Sweet baby girl is 1 month old today.  Its hard for me to believe. Its been a much easier transition going from 2-3 kids than it was going from 1-2.  Except at bed time where the boys were used to each having a parent.  Now they have to share Daddy while Mommy paces/dances around the house with a fussy Norah.  So thats been difficult lately.  And thats usually her only fussy time.  She's pretty content to be held all day.  She'll sleep if she's held.  If put down she'll wake up.    I love holding her and the boys don't seem to mind.  They worry about her when she cries and make sure I pick her up right away.  But today Joel did squish her cheeks just to make her say "wah" since he thinks its funny "he's trying to talk"  

I'm trying to just soak up this newborn stage since I know it wont last forever.  I love her smell, and the way she moves her hands, and the sweet baby's breath.  She's started smiling which is just amazing and making little coos.  We love the little noises and grunts that she makes. And she's a great sleeper at night. One night she slept a 5 hour stretch and Joel stayed in his bed all night.  So we're feeling pretty rested for having a newborn. 

 She's getting so big.  I think next month when I take her picture she wont be able to fit on the bed.

 And those cheeks.  LOVE THEM!

 Norah started scooting while I was taking pictures and ended up half off the bed.  I hope she forgets about that nonsense for a few more months.  My babies seem to want to grow up too fast. 

Our precious baby girl.  Colin asked me the other night when I was going to have another baby. (I'm pretty sure we're done) But I asked him if he remembered how sick I was with Norah and couldn't play or do too much of anything and his response was "Oh I remember but she was worth it"  And she is.  Every bit of it and more. 

Relaxin

goggles

The boys got goggles in their Easter Baskets. They couldn't wait to try them out