Reminiscing (Part 2)

I think this will just always crack me up. It's just so Mikaela--she is so strong-willed but is always doing something that makes us laugh :)

Reminiscing (Part 1)

So Mikaela has been wanting to look at pics of herself when she was a baby (and hear herself talk when she was a baby :) ) I'll get to her in a following post--I just couldn't help but remember little man's hair stages :)

Was It Worth It?

So, I just can't help myself--maybe it was the couple of months past when I didn't take hardly any pictures at all. It's just that once I get going, I realize how much I really like taking pics, and I have a really hard time stopping :) Thank goodness for kids who force me to be more balanced whether I want it or not :) So--was it worth it? Worth what, you ask? Worth the 50 mosquito bites I got in the 20 minutes we were outside so I could take these pictures. I think so :)

Our Little Lovey at One Month

I can't believe little miss is already one month old! So I finally made it outside for her first photo session :) It's really hard taking pictures of babies and kids by yourself--especially when MJ and EM are whining for me to come back in the whole time :) And it was a kind of bright and windy outside for my little tender-eyed girl. Oh well--here's some of what I was able to capture. Hopefully we'll have more photo ops soon!

Grandpa Knape's 85th B-Day Party

This past Sunday, we went down the road to celebrate Eric's grandfather's 85th birthday. It was held at Eric's Uncle Gregg's clinic. MJ and EM had a blast looking at all the horses and running around all over the place :)

My Sweet Boy With His Cute New Haircut

The Hard Life

The Baby Scale

Kind of random, but I forgot about this pic (KL at 10 days). This is what Jackie (our midwife) uses to weigh tiny babies in. I just think it's pretty cool but for some reason always forget about taking a picture :)

Our First Fam of 5 Pics

Friends

On Monday, Mikaela's friend, Elyona, turned 5 and had an impromptu tea party with us. She had quite the beautiful spread of little treats and tea (thanks a lot to her oldest brother and sister)! Unfortunately, I didn't get to get a good picture, as I was dealing with my point-and-shoot and holding Kerith :) MJ wasn't really interested in the tea or food--she mainly just wanted a piece of chocolate :) After the tea party, everyone ended up playing in the water outside. I think Elijah enjoyed that part more than anyone--he definitely wasn't ready when I made him come inside :)

A Little More on Easter

Last Sunday after church, we went down the road to Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Gregg's house. Mikaela and Elijah both had a lot of fun playing with all the other kids and hunting for eggs and toys. Although I do think Elijah actually had more fun "batting" at the eggs that were hanging from the trees :)

More importantly, we got to share with Mikaela that Easter Sunday is the day we set aside to celebrate something we've talked about many times before--that we are sinners, so God had to send His son, Jesus, to die on the cross to cover our sins; but He didn't stay dead--He arose and is alive and lives in Heaven with God. She gets very excited to tell us back that Jesus isn't dead--He's in Heaven with God :)

I'll leave you with a few more pics of my cuties!

A Couple of Easter Pics

Art

Unfortunately, this is NOT the kind of art that makes me happy, but I thought I should have some pics for memories later on :)

My Other Sweet Girl

Tonight we were watching "Swiss Family Robinson," and they were on the ship doing something. So Mikaela told me that when she used to be a man she used to do that too :)

Pure Sweetness

Uh oh--looks like we might have to get out the paci after all

:(

Daddy's New Way of Entertaining

Visitors/Sweet Memories

Last Saturday, we had visits from Uncle Jon-Jon, Aunt Lindsey, Evan and Emma and then later on from Grandma F and Granddaddy. MJ and EM still don't quite know what to make of Uncle Jon-Jon, so they were a little stand-off'ish', but Evan had fun playing with "new" toys, and I got to see and hold Emma for the first time. Then Grandma F and Granddaddy came with balls with the intent of tiring out MJ and EM, but I'm not sure who was more tired afterward :)

This past week went well! So far, Kerith has been a pretty easy baby. I think Elijah prepared us very well by getting up so much at night :) Mikaela LOVES to snuggle with Kerith and touch her hands and try to open her eyes when she wants to talk to her :) so I have to watch fairly closely. Then, I was very pleasantly surprised when Elijah asked me multiple times this week to hold Kerith! It is so cute; he'll hold out his hands, and I'll ask him if he wants to hold Kerith, and he shakes his head yes :) There was one day when I kept asking him if he was done, and he kept telling me uh-uh (no). After a while I thought he was probably really meaning yes, so I tried to pick her up, and he put his arms over her, making it very clear he wasn't finished holding her yet :)

And I just couldn't help myself--I haven't had to clean out poopy diapers in a long time now, so I've already started putting little miss over the sink to do her business :) The amazing thing is that she knows what to do! I don't expect to catch them all, but it's really nice to have some in the sink rather than having to clean out a diaper :)

Here's a little Mikaela funny. Both MJ and EM are very intrigued with the peri bottle. So last night, we were getting them ready for bed. We told MJ to go to the potty, so she does. Next thing, Eric and I are both watching her, trying not to laugh b/c she'd grabbed the bottle and was "washing" herself off just like Mommy :) She's also started "nursing" her baby again--still at her stomach :)

Munchkin Mischief

While I was busy doing something today, this is what I walked into the kitchen to find. Mikeala kept telling me to come into the kitchen b/c Elijah was getting into bags--I didn't realize she meant my Ziplock bags. He had pulled out three different sized bags! And for those of you who know me, yes, I picked up each bag individually, lining them up and put them back in their proper spot :) Elijah was trying to help me out by stuffing them back into the box :) The spilled raisins are nothing new--it was just an added bonus today :)