Wordless Wednesday

Art

Our young, budding artist.  Usually he paints on paper.  But, lately he's been taking his artistic expression to other areas of our house. Thankfully, our floors are laminate, so marker comes up pretty easily.  But, the flat paint on our walls proves to be a bit more challenging to get the green marker completely gone.  He still points it out occasionally.  I need to get my magic eraser out.  And yesterday, he decided to paint his ear and hair green, right before we left to take Madeline to school, while I was trying to pack Madeline's lunch, and Lucy was screaming at me from her high chair, and he was supposed to be eating his breakfast.  He's not much of a breakfast person.  And there is still some green paint in his ear.  Good times.

Our Weekend

Our weekend started off on Friday with a sick Oliver.  He threw up all morning long, poor thing.  

And, of course, while I was trying to hold and cuddle Oliver, Lucy was trying to kill herself by climbing up on baskets to reach toys on the second shelf, climb on the hearth, eat the dust mop and any small object she could find on the floor.  

But, once he was feeling better, we had a good time enjoying the outdoors.  Madeline and Oliver have found a little cave under our bushes that they like to dig in the dirt under.  

 Lucy sure has been enjoying the outdoors.

Then, Papa and Nana came over on St. Patrick's Day to play.  Lucy was the only one with something green to wear.   

Then, on Sunday, Andrew woke up feeling sick.  After church, he ended up throwing up the rest of the day.  But, it looks like we are all well and healthy now.  

Farmer Drew

We're starting a garden.  Andrew's been working in the evenings, digging up the dirt and getting it ready for some vegetables.  I like my cute Farmer Drew!

Turbie Twist

Everyone needs a Turbie Twist.

Cheerio Eating Machine

Lucy is a Cheerio eating machine.  We through a few Cheerios on her tray a couple nights ago to just keep her entertained.  Who knew she could actually pick them up and put them in her mouth?  

Madeline might be Lucy's favorite person.  

Check out that pincer grasp.  

She liked her carrots too.  She didn't eat the whole jar.  Just the last third that was left over from yesterday.  Just thought I would clarify.  

Madeline at 4

Madeline turned 4 years old back in December.  Before she was born, I remember Andrew and I both thinking that we were going to have a boy first.  That's how it was in both of our families.  But, we got our girl first and I am so glad.  Madeline is such a wonderful big sister and firstborn.  

 She is a people pleaser for sure and she is very in tune to my expressions or reactions to her.  Sometimes when she picks out something to wear and I act like I don't really like it, she will just say, "just pick something you want me to wear."  I have to remember to be aware of my frustrations or sighing around her.  I never want her to feel that I am annoyed or bothered by her.  

She brings so much joy to our lives.  She sings all the time.  She sings lots of cartoon theme songs, songs from Cubbies/Sunday school and made up songs.  She loves to have her picture taken now.  Which is tons of fun.  But, it can also be hard to get a genuine smile out of her.  She loves to make Lucy laugh and smile.  The other night I asked her to think about happy sounds.  She said she was thinking about Lucy laughing.  So sweet.  

She has been having issues with nightmares and being scared at night.  She is scared of the witch from Sleeping Beauty (and we even skipped over that part).  She has been having a hard time going to sleep for several months now.  She will also wake up about once a night with bad dreams as well.  Sometimes it's hard to know if she is really scared or just putting off bedtime.  Sometimes it's hard to know how to deal with these issues when she isn't being disobedient, but may be putting off something she doesn't want to do, but may also be legitimately scared.  sigh.  She also talks in her sleep which is kind of funny.  And several weeks ago, she walked into our room in her sleep, a little freaky.  

 She is still very athletic.  She loves the trampoline and does handstands and flips on it all the time.  She still loves to ride her balance bike and really wants to take the training wheels off her new bike.  She is always looking for a bar to do flips around.  She does somersaults off our ottoman onto the couch.  She's a busy girl.  But, she also loves to sit quietly and work on art project with stickers, markers or stamps.  She loves rainbow colors right now.   Everything she colors is usually with lots and lots of colors.  She is doing a great job of coloring in the lines as well now.  She also loves video games on the computer.  

She has lots of friends and is always wanting to hang out with them.  We used to be in caregroup with all of them.  But, a few just moved to North Dakota and we are actually in a new caregroup now.  So, we see our friends at church and MOPS now.  But, her best friend right now is Jacob.  He is also 4 and lives down the street.  They hang out all the time and play so great together.  We carepool to Cubbies each Wednesday night.  They are so funny in the backseat talking to each other.  It is pretty sweet.  She is also great friends with Oliver.  They play really great together.  She is usually very patient and understanding with him.   

 She says she has asked Jesus into her heart, twice :)  And I believe her.  She definitely has a soft heart towards the Lord and I see him working in her heart.  She is really asking deep questions about heaven and hell and I don't always know how to answer them.  But, she is very concerned about Oliver and if he is going to heaven or hell.  I told her we are praying for him to ask Jesus into his heart when he is old enough to understand.  She keeps reminding me to pray for him.  Sometimes it's hard to know how deep to get into Bible stories.  Especially when she is already scared at bedtime.  She's had a lot of questions about Abraham and Isaac.  Yea, how do you talk to your child about how Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac until God stopped him?  And blood sacrifices in the Old Testament?  Obviously important in explaining the importance of Jesus' death, but can be a little scary/gruesome for a 4 year old.  But, it certainly makes my heart full to know that my baby girl has made Jesus the king of her life and is now on a lifetime journey of knowing her savior.

We sure do love our big 4 year old.  She brings so much joy, smiles and laughter to our lives.  

Spring is in the Air

Yesterday and today were absolutely beautiful.  The kids sure have been enjoying playing outside together.  

Oliver is having issues with being dirty lately.  Usually after dinner he strips down because his shirt is all dirty (which is usually just a few crumbs).  Today, he took his pants off because they got dirty while he was playing in some dirt.  He found his swimming trunks in his drawer and decided to put them on instead.  They may be on backwards.  But, he did it all by himself.  And I guess I don't need to buy all new swimsuits for this summer.

Madeline is like a little monkey.  She is always hanging on things.  And today, she did her first flip on the trampoline.  She was doing somersaults and decided to not put her hands down.  She flipped over and landed on her butt.  She's a little daredevil.  

Lucy had a great nap this afternoon after hanging out with the big kids for a little while.  

6 Month Lucy

Our little Lucy is 6 months old!  She's halfway done with her first year.  Unbelievable.  

Lucy is on the verge of crawling.  She gets on her hands and knees and rocks a lot.  But, she doesn't quite have it.  But, she still gets around super fast.  She either pulls herself forward with her hands or she does the worm to move forward.  

 She is a super happy baby.  She smiles almost all the time unless she is tired or hungry and even then she can still smile in the middle of crying.  Her cry is adorable.  She turns her lip out super far.  It is pretty irresistible.  She laughs pretty easily when tickled.   And she laughs at the big kids a lot.  

She just started sitting up on her own this week.  She will topple over some.  But, for the most part she is pretty stable.  I still put pillows around her just in case.  She also started solid food last week.  She isn't super excited about it.  But, I think she enjoys a few bites.  She started with rice cereal and has had carrots, applesauce and sweet potatoes so far.  She is certainly my best nurser though.  She just needs to eat in her room with no distractions.     

She does not like her high chair.  But, she is happy to sit in the smaller booster seat at the table with us. She loves to throw toys off the tray and have Oliver get them for her over and over.  She loves to jump in her jumperoo.  She goes a little crazy in it.  

Sleeping is not her strong suit.  Although, she is getting better, at least during the day.  She usually takes a 1 hour nap in the morning and then a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.  At night, she usually goes to bed around 7:30 or 8 and then wakes up a million times  2-5 times before 7:30 or 8 in the morning.  I am working on that this week.  

Lucy's hair seems to be staying this strawberry blonde color.  I am starting to doubt that it will turn super white like the others'.  I think her fuzzy little red head is pretty cute.  

At her 6 month check up, she weighed 14 lb 12 oz (25%) and was 25.5 in tall (50%).  She is such a delightful little baby.  And despite the lack of sleep at night, I think we will keep her around for a while.    

A Little About Oliver

Oliver is 2 years old now.  We wondered for a long time when he would start talking.  And now he talks all the time.  He loves playing with Madeline.  He loves Cars, the toys and the movie.  He makes the cutest sounds when he makes them go, "booden booden booden" and stop, "eeerr ch".  

 He likes to talk in a growly voice.  He loves to make us laugh.  He will do something over and over if he finds out it makes us laugh.  This might include running into walls, banging his head on the table or making funny noises.  

He loves his blankie and baba.  He has to have the taggies on his blankie to go to sleep.  If he is sad or tired, his blankie will make it much better.  If he gets hurt, a kiss from mommy will make it all better.  

He does great somersaults and likes jumping on the trampoline with Madeline.  He loves to drive his little red cozy coupe in the driveway.  He is usually very polite and says "please" and "oh thank you, mommy".  He prays for our food at dinner time now, "Thank you for aaaaaahhh (all) our food, AAAAAAmen"

He takes his shoes and socks off every time we get in the car.  He likes to torture his sister by doing stuff to her that she doesn't like.  Like spitting at her or knocking down her towers.  But, he also loves to give her hugs and kisses before bed at night.  And for the majority of the time, they get along great.    

He loves Lucy.  He loves to make her laugh and smile by playing peek a boo or tickling her.  He is constantly telling her to not eat things and will take all of her toys out of her mouth.

 He still sleeps in his crib with a crib tent.  But, we are probably going to move to a big boy bed in the next few months.  We will see how that goes.  He is a great sleeper and still takes 3 hour naps most afternoons and sleeps for 11-12 hours at night.  

He is all boy. And we love him to pieces.  

Oliver

My little man!   Mom and I spent the morning taking pictures of the kiddos.  I took the ones of Oliver.  She took the ones of Lucy and Madeline.  

Upside Down

I think I am going for a new strategy.  Instead of trying to catch up with all the posts I missed over the past 6 months, I am going to try to post at least 1 photo a day.  I have no guarantees for how long this will last.  But, here is today's photo.  The big kids were having fun hanging upside down in Oliver's pack-n-play this morning at Gigi and Pawpaw's house.