more pictures from the farm...

I miss this view

 

catching up with good friends...(thanks for driving out to see us A & M!!)

G (before we left): Momma, does Edgerton have snow?  me: nope, sorry honey!

G(at the farm): Look!!!  There's a little bit of snow!  Can we go play in it?!!

and play they did...

so much fun in Aahma knitted hats and mittens

then Monday the real snow came!

and Boppa took them for a Ranger ride in it.

whee!!! (W absolutely loved this, G did too, but was a little green after getting off, and it was just a little too much for C =)

Boppa's shed is a great place to work...

...and play!

it was a treat to spend time with my siblings...both L & J who live in Edgerton (loved visiting with them in the evenings and also spent a great afternoon with them visiting L's new workplace and seeing the updates to their house), and then M & A and our niece E who drove up from NE (lots of fun just hanging out and also playing Carcassone with the Princess and Dragon expansion)

And how much fun for G to have a little girl to play with!  She played with and doted on E the whole time...well, we all did!

loved E's fascination with scarves - good thing G was there to whip her up a knitting fork one to play with!  (love you Ev's!)

 beautiful sunset

H's first trip to the farm...

Baby H will all too soon love going to the farm to run around and ride the tractor and play in the shed like his older sister and brothers, but for now, what H loves is being held and cuddled and snuggled and talked to and paid attention to by those who love him, and that is exactly what he got a lot of on his first trip to the farm last weekend:

with Boppa...

 and Auntie J (who he color coordinated with again like at Thanksgiving!)...

and Uncle L...

and Nana...

and "Auntie" M & "Auntie" A...

and Aahma...

and Uncle M (and Auntie A too, there was just no photographic evidence =)...

*and cousin E!

And after just one of Boppa's infamous rolling over lessons...

...H decided that the farm was where he was going to first roll over (once again, no photographic evidence, but lots of witnesses and cheers for H!).

 But at the end of each day, H found his way back into Momma and Dadda's arms...

...and we were more than fine with that.

"mom, can we make valentine cards this year?...and can I make 21 pom-poms to go with them?"

(while I admit the finished product for all the kids' cards turned out very cute, and we really did have fun making these "Jackson-Pollock-esque" cards with pom-poms attached for G, and robots drawn on the front for W & C, the night before Valentine's Day there was much procrastination, very little patience, definitely annoyance, and maybe yelling and tears that caused me to tell S at the end of the night "NEVER AGAIN!  We are buying them from the store next year!," to which he gave me a look and chuckle that said "yeah right, when your daughter wants to make cards and a craft next year you will TOTALLY  do this again.," and I have to admit he is right - I love Valentine's Day with kids..."

C's 3!

Our New Year's baby turned 3 this year!  C is so proud to be 3 and a big boy, especially since he is a big brother now too.  And he really is a big boy - he tries to do EVERYTHING that his big brother and sister do, and loves it when they include him in their play.  He likes to be independent and "do it myself!," and also has a bit of a stubborn streak in him (really?!  where could he have gotten that from? =) which leads him to get very frustrated when he can't do something himself or if something is done differently than the exact way he wanted it done (he has specific opinions on a lot of things).  He talks a lot, but it isn't always the clearest yet.  Fortunately we all speak "C" so there aren't too many issues with communication at home.  He has a big tender heart and loves to read books and play, especially with his siblings.  C is all boy too as he likes to roughhouse with W and those two can get into such mischief!  He felt a little left out this fall when G went to school and W started DoodleBugs, so we made a big deal out of him being in Sunday School and that being "his class."  He is still pretty attached to momma and dadda when his siblings aren't around, so one of us usually stays in class with him. (and I am fine with this - my sweet boy still needs me a little bit yet - plus a class of 2 and 3 yr olds needs an extra adult anyway!)  We also go to storytime on Thursdays at our local library and he really enjoys that, as well as spending special time with Momma (and now H too) on Tuesday mornings when the other 2 are in school and nature center class.

S's parents and sister M and brother-in-law C were able to come over on New Year's to celebrate C's birthday with us this year.  They also brought along some belated Christmas presents, so the gift-opening went on for quite a while with much happiness from our children!!  (thanks to M and Dad B for the photos of the birthday boy that day so this momma could hold the baby and enjoy everyone's company =)

when books are given to our kids, all gift-opening has to stop and the book must be read at that moment...

this was by far one of C's best expressions caught by the camera...so excited!

After gifts it was time for cake!  When I asked C earlier in the week what kind of cake he wanted, I wasn't expecting him to have an opinion at all.  But he answered with no hesitation "BANANA TAKE!"  So we got out my mom's recipe for banana cake that I enjoyed as a kid, and C got his banana cake.  C's other request was to invite the neighbors over to eat cake with him, and Mrs. L said to call when it was ready and they would come on over.

calling Mrs. L to say it was "time for take!"

blowing out the candles

Our big gift to C was his own big boy bed.  He had been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for almost a year, so we knew he was ready.  

"I get my tools to help you Dadda!"

C of course wanted his bed to match his big sister and brother's beds.  We knew that he would want it this way (all of our kids have a crazy thing about matching) so we had some help and special gifts from a few others that made it just perfect for him:

• bed frame the same (we planned this)
• special character sheets (Thanks Mrs. L for Thomas the Train sheets!  She gave G princess sheets and W Lightning McQueen sheets for their birthdays last year.)
• name banner at end of bed (Thanks Auntie C! and also for the use of your gate =)
• name on wall (gift from Auntie Avis a while back that we strategically placed so a bed would fit under it)
• painted C on wall (craft we did a while back that we have hanging on the walls above the kids' beds)

ready to sleep - what a big boy!

The transition has gone super smoothly and he is sleeping very well in his big boy bed.  

Happy Birthday dear C!  We love you!

ah, baby h...=)

Baby H is relatively new around here and is due for a little blog time. =)  What a precious addition to our family!  He is just a few days shy of 3 months and we already can't imagine life without him.  We are finally coming out of that "newborn baby schedule" fog and settling into somewhat of a routine with our family.  That feels good!

H is a good baby.  The first few weeks of his life were filled with the best baby faces, stretches, yawns, and cuddles.  He has always had his days and nights straight, thankfully, and is only up once, usually, between midnight and 7.  S and I love holding sleeping babies and it has been so nice to snuggle down with H.  Who loves to be either snuggled in close and upright.  H also likes to be held out so that he can see us.  He has been great at connecting with our faces from very early on.  It is even more fun now that he is smiling at us!  H added that new trick at around 7 weeks.  He started really kicking and waving his arms around that time too.  Now he is starting to smile and coo and talk and G even got a giggle out of him the other day.  It is wonderful to see him growing and changing and connecting with us.

Life is not always easy with a new baby.  H had some issues with nursing and eating that required a lot of time and patience (and tears and frustration and overall it has been one of the most challenging periods of time for me as a mom) over these first few months, which is why you haven't seen me here on the blog lately.  But I won't bore you with all of those details today, just the happy news that he is now nursing and growing like a champ and we are so thankful for that blessing.  So are our 3 other children who have had to be very patient at times when momma and dadda could not respond to them immediately.

The kids love H to pieces and have been so good with him.  G loves to be another little momma and likes to help with anything that has to do with H and we often have to remind her of things that only Momma and Dadda can do with him (like pick him up!).  She loves to hold him and we make sure that she gets a good amount of H-time when she gets home from school.  W loves H, but his attention span with him is a lot shorter than G's.  W gets a kick out of mimicking every noise that H makes.  Which is cute and all until H is fussing a lot, then things get overly loud!  C is the one we were the most worried about, but there has been no issues.  In fact C can't get enough of H and is very gentle.  Whenever C enters a room we are in he ask's "where's Baby H?."  Then, "Can I talk to Baby H?"  And a lot of "Can I hold Baby H?."  When S and I help him hold H, he will look lovingly at H and say "Hiiiiiiii Baby H!" followed 10 seconds later by "that's 'nuff!"

But where you really can see H's growth is through a photo or two...or 21. =) 

sleeping by Aahma R (11/5/11)

G was getting jealous of everyone else that got to hold H the first couple of days and was happy for her turn  (11/6/11)

squawking by Aahma B (11/10/11)

assuming the position - H loves to be bounced just like our other kids did  (11/18/11)

see, we don't hold him while he is sleeping all the time (11/26/11)

getting bigger!  (12/3/11)

everyone in stripes!!!  (12/10/11)

bundled up and braving the cold (mild cold compared to other years!) to "watch" his first Hollidazzle (12/11/11)

seriously, the boy can give us the best faces, but I am always a second late with the camera  (12/13/11)

"opening" Christmas presents - of course H needs a snoedel like the other kids!  (12/25/11)

Christmas jammy photo shoot - H is rockin' the holiday red and snuggled by big sis  (12/30/11)

kid feet!!!  (12/30/11)

H in the family bassinet - he is the 3rd generation and our 4th child to use it  (1/2/12)

"can we please take a picture with H?" - H wasn't as excited as the other two  (1/5/12)

C talking with H  (1/7/12)

konked out in the katan  (1/7/12)

cuddles with Aahma B!  (1/14/12)

"so big!"  (1/16/12)

smiles and wiggles!  (1/24/12)

W hanging out and talking with H  (1/26/12)

filling out his bouncy chair at almost 3 months (1/28/12)