A Baseball Sort of Day...

It was a pretty sort of day and Kevin thought it would be a good day to take the kids out to a baseball field and throw the ball around a bit. We brought along the t-ball set and had a great time just playing with the kids. It was the sort of perfect family afternoon that beautiful memories are made out of.

Matthew was very specific and a bit peculiar about the way he wanted to hit the ball. He was delighted to run around the bases... even when he would run the wrong way. As long as he got to yell "HOME RUN!!!", he was a happy boy.

Phoebe mainly just wanted to chase after the ball. She was a total hoot. Our very own little ball girl.

My itty bitty Birdie simply slept the afternoon away.

It was the sort of day that made me feel alive with joy vibrating through my very being. I am truly blessed beyond belief.

Daddy and his Baby Birdie

Ultimate proof that Beatrix is going to be a big Daddy's girl. She simply lights up when he comes home at night. Cooing and gurgling at him from across the room trying to get his attention. It's absolutely the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Phoebe better step up in the charming Daddy department if she wants to stay Daddy's #1 girl. At this rate Beatrix is going to cut both Phoebe and I out. ;0)

An Afternoon with the See's Queen

I left Matthew and Phoebe for an hour with their Auntie Shannon while I went to the Dr's and by the time I came back Phoebe was coated in See's candy deliciousness.

Phoebe was deliriously happy and ran laps around the house for two hours straight. Then she crashed hardcore and passed out on the floor.

This Close...

Beatrix is so stinking close to rolling over from her back to her front it's driving me crazy. Every time she looks like the big moment is just about to happen I race for the camera to record her and every time she just stares at me like I'm crazy and stops doing whatever it was she was doing. I like to think of her as my very own WB Frog.

I used to love that frog.

Here is my little Beatrix on her playmat. Not rolling over. Not even looking like she'll roll over ever.

My own personal little frog.

Sisters

They could melt my heart with their cuteness. They look so much alike and yet different. I just adore my girls.

Truth be told- Phoebe hasn't cared all that much for Beatrix. She gives her the occasional head pat and will often give her a hug or a kiss just to elicit me to say, "Awwww... What a good big sister!!" But otherwise she didn't seem to think much of the baby at all. She didn't care that there even was a baby because she was still being doted on as much as ever.

Recently things took an adorable turn. Now Phoebe tries to fetch Birdie things. Blankets, toys, diapers.... Anything and everything that the baby might like. And today she kept trying to hold Birdie's hand. She kept grabbing her hand and saying- "Come on!! Over here. Walk!" My little Phoebe is getting impatient for Beatrix to become a real playmate. So sweet. I can't wait until they can really play together.

Easter Picture Galore

This year we spent Easter at my Mom's house. It was a crazy day. Church in the morning complete with a giant Egg hunt and puppet show for the entire Sunday School. Phoebe wasn't too keen on so many kids everywhere. She threw fits and cried for me to hold her all through the morning.

Matthew and Elijah were crazy excited about the egg hunt and they really enjoyed the puppet show. Even Birdie sat through the puppet show with big eyes observing everything.

My Grandma Susan came to our church that morning which was kind of fun. I can't remember the last time I have seen her actually on Easter.

Then back home to cook up a storm and an afternoon spent with my side of the family. Tony came with us which livened things up over at my Mom's house. I'm delighted he was with us. It just made everything more fun to have him there too.

I am just so blessed. God has given me so much.

Easter Egg Hunt!!!

The kids were insanely excited for us to host our annual Easter Egg hunt.

I had tried to prep Phoebe for her first real egg hunt this year by doing a practice run earlier in the week but she didn't get it. She just tailed after Matthew yelling- "Yay Brurduah!!!" Every time he picked up an egg.

By the time the real Egg hunt came about she was a lean mean egg hunting machine. Or more like she at least understood the concept of you need to pick up the eggs and put them in your basket.

The only thing she really didn't understand was that you can carry your basket with you while you hunt. She just put the basket down on the ground and kept running back to the basket with her eggs. She still did pretty good though- granted she and Kathryn got a whopping 1 minute head start.

The Cupcake vs Goldfish dilemma of '10

Matthew had an Easter Party at his preschool this week. He was really looking forward to it. All the kids made cute bunny Easter bags and Miss Krista filled the bags with stickers and animal crackers. Things were going beautifully....... until snack time.

Then the world came crashing down all around him because Miss Krista brought in special Easter cupcakes instead of giving him the usual fare of goldfish and juice.

You would have thought she was trying to poison him or something. He was so devastated that they weren't going to be getting goldfish that he renounced all cupcakes forever. For the entire rest of the day he was upset by the lack of goldfish in his life and felt the need to share with every random person we encountered just how shattered his heart was. All because Miss Krista wanted to give him a cupcake instead of goldfish crackers.

He's an odd little duck. But he's my little odd duck. Heaven knows I love and adore him.

Easter Activities up the Wahzoo...

On Thursday we had Bethie, Leland and Kathryn over to dye eggs. It was so much fun to have a laid back afternoon of egg dying fun for the kids and chit chat for us Mommies.

The kids had a great time and painstakingly labored over their eggs. You wouldn't know it to look at the eggs but each of them was dyed in at least three to four colors. Most of the time resulting in a muddy orangish or purplish color.

Phoebe only broke four eggs which was amazing considering she was practically slamming the eggs into the dye bowls.

All in all an awesome afternoon.

Birdie and her Bonnet

My friend Amber was awesome enough to whip together a special little Easter bonnet just for my little Beatrix. I think it's safe to say Birdie loves her bonnet. She was all smiles and giggles when I put it on her.

Sweet lovey boy...

"How about I say I love you and you say you love me too. I love it when we do that."

-Matthew 4 1/2 years old

My little Phoebe is growing too fast...

Phoebe is turning from my little toddler into a little girl right before my eyes.

She's constantly counting now. 1-10 over and over again. She's counting rocks, orange slices, cheerios, jumps, stair steps etc. Non stop all day. She loves hopscotch layouts because she can jump on the squares and count the numbers at the same time. She even counts down from ten in blastoff mode. It's a riot.

Three days ago she plopped down with me and book and started pointing out all the letters and saying them as she would point to them. She got to the letter M and called out "Brudduah!!!!" for Matthew instead of just saying M. It was awfully sweet.

It's really a bit bittersweet to see her growing up so fast. It's so sweet because I love seeing her explore and learn but bitter because the time is just going by too quickly.

The Monkey Leash...

Every day when we go to pick up Elijah Phoebe attempts to run away to the playground area. So everyday I have to chase after her with Beatrix in the sling and I end up dragging her kicking and screaming back to Elijah's classroom to wait for him to be let out.

It's horribly embarrassing. I'm sure all the other parents are whispering about what an awful mother I am. They stare at us during these fits like their eyes are about ready to bug out of their heads.

In an attempt to bypass these awful scenes I broke down and bought Phoebe a monkey leash/ backpack...... and she hates it. We tried it everyday for a week and the scenes got progressively worse. She throws herself against the cement and rolls around pulling on the tail in an attempt to free herself.

Weeping.... wailing.... screaming.... and several bruises later the monkey leash has been demoted to Matthew's play leash so that he can play doggy with Elijah and I've resorted to tying her into the stroller with a tricky backwards clasp and a wee bit of duct tape.

Uh-Oh.....

Here comes my troublemaker Phoebe.....

She seriously loves Beatrix's bassinet. She climbs in it every chance she gets. It's ridiculous and naughty..... but as soon as she gives me that cute little smile and throws her arms around my next for a hug I melt into putty. Dang her cuteness.

My Little Beatrix Birdie turns 3 months old...

The time certainly flies by. I swear that yesterday I was still pregnant and packing my hospital bag yet here is our little Beatrix already three months old.

Really, she has been a complete joy. I couldn't ask for a sweeter or better baby. She is pure sugar and loves. I truly am blessed to have such a little sweetheart for a baby.

The Best time of my Day is Cuddle Time...

Seriously- How freaking cute are they??? I don't even have words for how cute Phoebe is with Beatrix.

A Stormy Day spent at the Museum

It's raining and storming and the kids have been driving me insane in the house. So I figured the perfect cure was museum. See some animals and run around playing with fun experiments.

It was actually a lot of fun. The kids were a riot. Especially with the airblowers.

Everything actually was awesome until we went to go look at the animals. Phoebe had a breakdown when she realized we were carting her away from her beloved airblower. And being the stubborn little thing she is she continued to cry throughout 50% percent of the animal exhibit. So we decided we really had to get going.

However, it all was really for the best when we finally loaded the stroller and closed the last van door then rain started to pour down buckets.

Elijah singing to baby Birdie...

Little Birdie turns 2 months old...

I can't believe how fast the time flies by.... Birdie is already 2 months old. She's growing so fast. I feel like I just had her yesterday but I blinked and now here she is already wearing half of her 6 month old clothes and smiling up a storm.

She has been such a little blessing to me. I can't imagine life without her. Beatrix has been my own personal ray of sunshine to fill the past 2 months with warmth and brightness. She is so special. I truly believe that she has grand things in store for her life. I can't wait to see who she grows up to become.

Ummm... What did you say??!!

Yesterday Matty approached Kevin and I to demand an erection.

Screeching red lights- Ummmmm...... what?????!!!!

So I asked him- "What are you talking about Bug?"

Matty: "The erection. You know. The erection that comes with my toy."

Kevin: "Ooooohhhhhhh..... you mean your toy's DIRECTIONS. Very different buddy. "

Matty: " Ok. Can I have my dee-erections then??"

Color me crazy relieved that it was a simple language mistake on his part. For a moment I was horrified he had gotten ahold of Kevin's South Park dvd or something which would then mean I was one of the worst parents ever.

Mommy's Little Peppers and How They Grow...

Every day I thank God for all my sweet little babies. I am so incredibly blessed by them. They are all so different and add so much to my life.

Matthew cracks me up on an everyday basis. He has a million stories and explanations for everything. Some of the things he comes up with are insanely outrageous and hilarious at the same time. But he has such a sweet and sensitive soul. He currently refers to Birdie as - "My sweet little darling.... She's so adorable..." He's always wanting to hold her and give her kisses and snuggles. He's a remarkable big brother.

He reminds me a lot of myself sometimes. He has such a wonderful imagination. But I swear his stubbornness and love of debating had to have come from Kevin.

Phoebe is my wild child. Always jumping off of dressers or beds. Nothing seems to phase her. She's currently in a phase of stripping down naked every chance she gets. I seriously have to dress her about 20 times a day. It's exhausting. But what can I say- my little wild girl loves to be naked! I'm a hair away from buying duct tape to tape her clothes on every day.

She's frustrating and stubborn as all hell but when she bats her little eyes and gives me a hug I just melt. It's hard to resist such a cute little bundle of loves.

Beatrix is amazing thus far. She's already her own little person. She's sweet and observant but not afraid to let herself be heard. She has the sweetest little cry. Simply as if she's just letting herself be heard and as soon as she gets what she wants she is amazingly content again. She loves to simply coo at me. The best part of my day is when I simply cuddle her and she smiles and coos to me.

Elijah is just a sweet little bundle of smiles. He really has such a sweet a little heart. Things aren't always easy when it comes to my little Doodle but I can't imagine my life without him. He adds to my life in so many ways. His shy smile could light the moon.

Last week Elijah, Birdie and I went to get hot chocolate and hit the bookstore together. I let Elijah pick whatever book he wanted and he absolutely insisted on picking out books for Matthew and Phoebe too. He spent forever searching through the books to try to find the perfect books for the other kids. He picked out a Spiderman book for Matthew and Little Critter book for Phoebe. It was just so sweet how serious he took it. I was so incredibly proud of him for thinking of the other kids on our special little outing.

Truly, God has blessed me beyond my wildest imagination.

"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate."
Psalms 127:3-5