Meet Me in St. Louis (1)...

I've been in a bit of a funk over the last month, but the funk did not hinder my use of the camera. :) So, if you thought you missed seeing my kids these last few weeks...have no fear...after the next few posts, you'll be hoping for another blogging hiatus on my part! We headed to Missouri on April 1st to spend Spring Break with my family. It was a great week! My brother, Adam, and sister-in-law, Jenny, and their two cute kiddos, Emma and Audrey, are currently living in my parent's basement, as they just recently moved back to our hometown. It was nice for us to be able to spend extra time with them, since we were all in the same house for nine days! My other brother, Eric, was home from college for part of our visit, as well. We always love spending time with him too (We missed you, Erin!). Five kids...ages 5, 3, 2, 1, and 7 months...under one roof, for that many days in a row, made for some craziness at times, but the craziness was worth it!

Pops and his two youngest grandaughters...

Always a highlight...bubble baths in the whirlpool tub! I'm guessing, in the not too distant future, Benny will no longer think it's cool to take baths with his sister and girl cousins!

We arrived just in time to celebrate Emma's 3rd birthday! She had a Beauty and the Beast birthday party and Jenny went ALL OUT...I've never been to a kids party like this...ever! I helped Jenny make Mrs. Potts cake pops for the party. Emma loved them...mission accomplished! We are so glad we were able to celebrate with you, Emmy!

I especially like Grammy and Mike in the birthday crowns!

Lately, I've been feeling sad about how much he is growing up. I love my bud.

Collecting pine cones in the backyard! This was one of many attempts to entertain the kiddos one morning...hence the lovely pjs. They were having a blast racing to see who could collect the most.

I know he's my husband and I'm biased, but I think he's really cute and I love these pictures of him with his littlest buddy.

I can't wait until Nattie's hair is long enough to play with! I had fun braiding Emma's hair a couple of different times during the week. I am no professional, but I thought she looked cute!

More fun...coming right up...

Deja Vu

My posts are all the same these days, but I figure there are at least two people out there who don't mind looking at these faces over and over again...Grammy and Nana...so, this post is for you two! :)

I like these people.

This is probably the more realistic shot of the two though. Let's face it...I have 20 of these for every one of the picture above.

Benny lost his second tooth in the bathtub this week! He really wanted to take the tooth to show and tell at pre-K. He asked me if I thought the Tooth Fairy would leave him money under his pillow, but NOT take his tooth. Luckily, the Tooth Fairy is cool like that.

Poor buddy had to eat green beans AND wear his sister's pink bib...but he's still smiling!

The many faces of A-Dub...

This girl is cracking us up more everyday. Her speech has really started to improve and she is talking in sentences more and more. She still throws in a few words here and there that we don't recognize at all, but she's getting there!

One of the funniest things she is saying now is when she's looking for something or someone...she'll say..."Paci are?" or "Daddy are?" As in..."Where is my paci?" or "Where is Daddy?" I try not to compare her to Ben who, at her age, was telling us complete stories and perfectly pronouncing every word. She is figuring it out in her own time and I'm fine with that.

Today, I was helping her put a diaper on her baby doll and she did NOT want my help. She said, "No, no, Mommy! Don't ever do again!" Apparently, she's heard me say that to her one too many times!

She insisted on wearing this ugly hat that Benny got the other day while hanging out with Papa at the muffler shop...

Benny was really sick with the flu for the better part of last week, so by the end of the week, I was really tired of cleaning up puke! I felt so bad for my buddy, but if I had to clean up another pile of vomit, I was going to flip out!

One evening, he threw up all over the kitchen floor for the third time that day...so, I took all of my kiddos upstairs to bathe them before anyone walked through the mess. I bathed them quickly and put them in their respective rooms and told them to play quietly while I went downstairs to clean up the mess.

Sometimes Nat will play nicely in her room and other times...well, not so much. Apparently she wasn't in the mood this particular evening to play nice. I came back upstairs to find several drawers emptied, bows dumped, toys thrown haphazardly everywhere and just general chaos. She basically decided that if she was going to be locked in her room for 20 minutes alone, she'd SHOW me. She did a good job smoothing over the whole thing by flashing me her cute little smile. I just left the mess and put her to bed...I had dealt with enough messes for one day!

Finally, here are some short videos of Nat and Andy. This is Nattie's lovely rendition of "Jesus Loves Me." Don't ask me what the random screaming of some of the words is all about. She's a nut, but I love her.

Goofy girl....

This is a few weeks old...he makes me smile.

Mixed Bag Monday...

I said it a week ago and I'll say it again...I need spring to get here. I've had enough indoor time to last me until next winter. I need temperatures that are in the 60's....not 30's. I need some sunshine people. When we can't go outside, we do dumb things...like take pictures of ourselves making ridiculous faces.

Poor buddy got the flu on Friday night. It's awful watching little people throw up and not being able to help. The puking transitioned to really icky diapers on Saturday night...but I think he's almost kicked the bug now. Unfortunately, he gave it to his Daddy and big brother (who are both currently sleeping in my bed...ick!). Just waiting for it to strike poor Nat and me. :(

Well, you can't tell one bit from these pictures that he hasn't been feeling well. He's such a dreamy baby...I am very lucky.

I changed Andy's diaper after a blowout and ran upstairs to grab him another outfit. When I came down, this is how I found him. Precious!

Apparently, Nattie wanted to go out in the snow. She came into the office the other day sporting this lovely ensemble. Hat...one mitten....and her brothers old boots. I'm just impressed she could get the boots on AND on the right feet. :)

Benny's pre-K class had a field trip to the Great Lakes Science Center this past week. He couldn't go without an adult chaperone. Well, the adult chaperone (ME!) couldn't go without taking her other two kiddos. Andy was great and sat in his baby seat in the stroller from 9 am to almost 3 pm without crying once! He made chasing Ben and Nat much easier.

Sleeping in the stroller....

Fun at the Science Center!

Babies in a basket...

Babies in a basket gone bad...

Happy mixed bag Monday!

It's sunny in my head...

A day or two of blue, sunny skies mixed in with mostly gray, snowy skies was like a breath of fresh air this last week. Gives me hope that maybe...just maybe...Spring will be here sooner, rather than later. For now, it'll just have to be sunny in my head...

This little guy makes me happy when skies are gray...

Ben hates to eat...I think I've shared this before. Anyway, after trying a million and one things to get him to try new foods, I decided to go back to the basics. I printed off the food pyramid for him and explained the importance, again, of eating from all of the food groups and VOILA...it worked like magic. The kid is trying anything and everything...it's CRAZY! Chili...stirfry....vegetables...oatmeal...you name it! He even declared his LOVE of broccoli this week...what?! He's been letting me know if I've missed a food group in his meal... "Um, Mom, you forgot to include a grain in this meal." Now, if I could just get him to eat a meal at a pace that is reasonable (i.e. under two hours) we'd really be on to something. :)

Silly boys...

Dad and his buddies...

Sunshine boy...

Andy is starting to sit up on his own for longer periods of time before he slowly tips to one side and lands on his belly.

A few days shy of hitting the six month mark...

He devoured some peach banana oatmeal for breakfast this morning and he was all smiles! (I'm so excited for toothy grins now!)

I tried to pull down Nat's tutu, but she insisted on hiking it up..."No, Mommy! I dood it!"

And finally...a typical Nat face...silly, but cute.

That's what the promise is for...

Mike and I have been married eight and a half years and I can say with confidence ...marriage is hard, but it's so worth it. Our marriage is far from perfect and there are days when it's more of a challenge to LOVE than others (come on all you married people, don't act like you can't relate!). It's a choice....a promise we made (and make each day) ...to LOVE each other through all of life's ups and downs. It doesn't always come naturally, which is why I am so thankful that God is a God who forgives (when I don't love like I should) and is continually refining us to be more like Him (He is LOVE!). I look at the life we've created together (all by His grace) and I am truly thankful. I look at the faces of my three babies and I can hardly imagine ever choosing not to love their Daddy...even on the bad days. Marriage is hard, but that's what the promise is for (line stolen from an awesome song...see below).

Me and my Valentine...

I'm wearing my pajamas and we both look tired, but that's pretty typical these days...so I'll just go with it!

Since it's the day of LOVE, I wanted to share a couple of songs that have encouraged me in my marriage (you may already be familiar with them). My friend, Heidi, recently shared the first song below with me (by Andrew Peterson) and the words just really made sense and rang true for me...marriage is about a PROMISE.

So when I lose my way, find me
When I lose loves chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith
to the end of all my days
when I forget my name, remind me

Cause we bear the light of the son of man
So there’s nothing left to fear
So I’ll walk with you in the shadow lands
Till the shadows disappear
Cause he promised not to leave us
And his promises are true
So in the face of all this chaos baby
I can dance with you

And we’re dancing in the minefields
We’re sailing in the storm
This is harder than we dreamed
But I believe that’s what the promise is for
That’s what the promise is for

I love these words...what love has tethered...I pray we never undo.

We are stitched together
And what love has tethered
I pray we never undo

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you

Happy Valentine's Day!

(Oh...and for the record...I kind of think this holiday is dumb, but I figured I might as well use it as an opportunity to tell my best friend how much I love him.)

Love is in the air...

My little Valentines...

We (mostly me) spent a good chunk of our day making sugar cookies. Here are my little "helpers"...and yes, Ben is wearing Santa jammies...wrong holiday. I think Nattie ate at least four cookies herself...sugar overload!

The finished product...who wants one or ten?

Totally random picture...but I thought it was kind of cool...

My typical two-year-old...

1 - Ok, so maybe this one isn't so typical. She was just doing a little pumping...that's normal, right?
2 - Every Snow White needs a cowboy hat (x2) and a maraca to complete her look!
3 - She refused to let me help her eat her chocolate pudding. Her favorite response when I offer to help..." ME DOOOOD IT!" (aka "Back off, Mom! I am doing this myself and if you try to come near me again I will scream and possibly hit you.")

Finally, here she is in full blown meltdown mode because I wouldn't let her get down from her seat at the dinner table and run around the house carrying her food in her hands. :) She's still cute...even while screaming bloody murder.