Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Happy Easter!

This is the best I could get out of the three of them on Easter morning before church. I thought that by tempting them with their unopened Easter baskets I could pull off the perfect shot...not so much. I still think they are three of the cutest little people around. :)




The whole fam...



Nat thought she was something else in her Easter dress (and I thought she looked adorable too, if I do say so myself!). Once I had her all dressed she said, "I show Daddy. Daddy says gorgeous!" She loves showing Daddy when she's all fixed up because she gets lots of compliments. Thanks, Nana and Papa, for buying Nat her outfit (so sad she decided to rip off a bunch of the "feathers" at the bottom of her dress while she was contained in her carseat on the way to church...it was too big of a temptation!!)



I think this is an adorable picture...Granny, Nat, and Nana. I think these three pretty much adore each other.





Easter basket treasures...thanks, Easter Bunnies (Granny and Angy!), for all the fun treats!



Uncle Brad and Aunt Christina!



People we love...



We spent Saturday evening with Papa, Nana, Brad and Christina. 1 - Uncle Brad is fun to wrestle. 2 - Aunt C and Uncle B love Andy. 3 - A common sight at Papa's house. 4 - Uncle B making Andy giggle.


Nana in her glory!



Love...



Finally, a couple of random pictures I liked. Nattie looks SO old to me in this picture. She is so tall that I'm afraid people are going to think she's older than she really is and expect her to act accordingly. Hopefully she'll be able to charm them with her spunkiness and cute personality! I just love that big ol' grin. Oh and Andy gets all over the place now, but has never attempted to pull up on anything until yesterday. I looked up from something I was doing in the living room, to find him standing at the fireplace all proud of himself. I ran and got my camera and he stayed put long enough for me to capture he cute little pose.

It was a great weekend of spending time with family that we love, but we are most thankful for Jesus and his sacrifice. What a gift He gave us when he took on our sin and died on the cross. We celebrate his victory over the grave! He's alive...and we're forgiven.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

I love...

chalk covered knees...



our sweet neighbor Kailin who Nattie LOVES and looks up to...


my big boy who got this kite up in the air all by himself...


watching my little man enjoy his first ride in the swing on our deck...


snuggle time...


watching Benny grow into a funny, sensitive, smart, and loving little boy...




sweet smiles and silly faces...


new teeth and the funny things A-dub enjoys chewing on...


watching Nattie create lovely scribble art...


laughing at Andy while he eats bubbles and kicks like a wild man in the tub...


the cute relationship between Ben and Ellie...




spending time with people we love (Sesame Street Live!)...


seeing Benny all decked out in his new soccer uniform and watching him get so excited to try out a new sport...


I love my life!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Meet Me in St. Louis (5)...

Finally, just a mish mash of other pictures I liked...


Night out without the kiddos...



Fun with Uncle Eric!


Thanks, Mom and Dad, for such a fun week! We love you and miss you...can't wait to see you, again, in a little over a month!

Meet Me in St. Louis (4)...

Coloring Easter eggs!


Wish Nat was looking, but still kind of cute...

Easter egg hunt in the backyard and our attempt at getting a picture of Grammy with all the kids...ah ha ha!


Wish Andy was in this one...


Nat and Emma got bunny ears in their Easter baskets. Jenny might kill me for posting these pictures...especially the ridiculous one on the right. It makes me smile though. Love you, Jen Jen!


Andy boy got lots of attention...


Grammy and Pop's neighbors probably wondered if they opened a daycare. I love the faces of my children in the pictures below. I don't have weird kids or anything.


Candid...makes me happy...

Meet Me in St. Louis (3)...

For as many times as we've traveled to Missouri to visit, we'd never taken Benny up in the Arch. We promised him, this time, we'd do it.


Pops stayed down below with Andy and Audrey, while the rest of us ventured to the top.



How many people can you cram in a tiny little cramped elevator? Glad nobody was TOO claustrophobic!




View from the top...




After the arch, we headed to a Forest Park to mess around. Nattie was loving the swings.



It took Ben about one minute to make 15 friends at the playground. I heard him telling them all kinds of stories. I love that he is so friendly.



Another park...another day...we had a picnic lunch of pb&j and chips!



Andy cut his third tooth while we were in MO. He has two on bottom and one on top now. He's also doing a funny little army crawl all over the place now. He's very close to mastering the REAL crawl.


Meet Me in St. Louis (2)...

We visited Great-Grandma Schweiss in her new apartment one morning. She is the sweetest and, of course, made me my favorite meal in the whole wide world...her home made noodles, ham/beans, stewed tomatoes and corn bread...YUM! I am amazed at how sharp she is at 90 years old. I just love her.



Nat, Emmy, and Ben spent a good chunk of time during the week messing with all of Grammy's "art" supplies. One evening they COVERED her in stickers and thought it was hilarious. :)


We spent a lot of time at different parks during the week. Nat and Emma were especially cute together during this outing.



My pretty girl...


Look closely...he was sleeping and I turned around to see him checking things out!


Little explorers....


Andy couldn't do much exploring just yet, so he took part in one of my many photo shoots. I love this kid. He is precious to me.