Pure Enjoyment

Sophie thought it was hilarious whenever Lucas "fell" off

We've had so much fun with the kids lately... doing nothing in particular. Just hanging out. With the weather warming up, we've been outside whever possible.

Sophie is officially done with her antibiotics for an ear infection (her first!) from last week. SO glad we don't have to force-feed her that yucky stuff anymore. She's been extremely happy and giggly lately. If Lucas is anywhere close, she's got her eye on his every move. Sophie's been up on all "fours" rocking back and forth for a couple weeks now, but hasn't quite started crawling yet. She gets pretty frustrated at times when she's got her eye on something and can't quite get to it. Any day I'm guessing, but I'm okay if she takes her time. Our baby girl is just growing up too fast!! My dear dear friend Michelle just had her baby this week (pictures to come!!) and I found myself becoming SO sentimental. In fact, every night this week I've been rocking Sophie to sleep... just so I could sit and stare at her... and take a mental picture of that very moment. I never want to forget about what life was like when my kids were really little...or what it's like to hold your itty-bitty baby in your arms. Trying to cherish each and every minute...

It's a wonder how she can keep that paci in her mouth when she's smiling so big!!Lucas continues to love basketball, especially now that it's on every night it seems. He picks out the Buckeyes and cheers them on (after getting his own OSU jersey on). He also likes to call them the "red guys". He calls most teams by the color of their uniforms... it gets pretty hilarious "Those white guys are playing those red guys again!". Lucas has also been overly excited lately because he gets to wear shorts outside now (most days). That's the VERY first thing he'll do when he gets home from school - puts on his shorts and a basketball shirt...then zooms out the door.

First popsicle of the season!

Eric and I are busy chasing after the kids and loving every minute of it. Eric's also in the middle of working on his Master's classes. Keeps him busy, especially after the kids are in bed. School is going great for both of us. We're looking forward to Spring Break coming up, though. We'll be heading up to Ohio for Easter and then spending some time at home getting some jobs done around the house (ie: planting our garden perhaps?).

Dinner at the Bland's...

Ever wonder what dinner is like at our house? Highly entertaining... that's what.

Hello, Sun!! Good-bye, Snow!!

This week was our first glimpse at Spring, and a certain boy was THRILLED (and so were the rest of us!). We played outside, took a few bike rides, went to the park, and broke out our shades. :) And... I saw some crocuses and tulips popping through the ground. I ran inside to get the camera and by the time I came out, Lucas so kindly picked all of the petals off and they were laying on the ground. Then...we had our yearly chat about not picking Mommy's pretty flowers. Silly kid!! Can't wait to see these beautiful tulips blooming!!!

some of this...some of that.

Well, where should I start... how about this. Lucas decided to paint Vaseline all over the bathroom last week. Lovely. All we could do was laugh... and get the camera.

These days Sophie HAS to have something in her hands and she's often trying to eat whatever it is... sing it, Sister!!

I had to capture this picture below. I just want you to know that my son can eat bread like it's noone's business!!! I used to think my brother was the only one that could eat 10 pieces of bread in one sitting.... Lucas might be his first challenge.

Still getting along just peachy... I'm just hoping it continues once Sophie starts crawling because I'm pretty sure a certain boy will not be thrilled with a certain girl playing with his stuff.

Speaking of crawling... Sophie's not. Quite yet. Check out this video though. (Sorry about the annoying song.)

Movin' on up...

This past week we took down the pack-n-play from our bedroom and stashed it in the closet because Sophie has officially moved into her own room now. Call me a baby, but I'm very sad about this. Why does she have to grow up???????

Side note: She LOVES having her face covered up when she sleeps... if she gets fussy we can often calm her down if we just put her pink elephant over her face. Don't worry, she can still breathe just fine.

What did you do on your snow day???

Nice of you to ask!

Watched our deer friends... at one time there were 10 in our backyard...
Enjoyed the view from the porch...

Mixed, baked, and decorated Valentine's Day cookies...

While Sophie slept...

Lucas did the dishes (he offered!)...

Sledding outside with Daddy...

and shoveling...And Sophie's job all day... lookin' cute. She fulfills that roll pretty easily.

6 months old!

Sunday, January 31st Sophie turned 6 months old. She's a half of a year old!!! Here are the highlights so far...

In 6 months Sophie has:

• been to Lake Michigan/Little Eden (at the ripe age of 8 days old!)...did I mention suntanning on the beach!??
• been to a gazillion freshman football games to cheer Daddy's team on... the crowd loved you!!
• been on lots of playdates with her buddies Camden, Ella, Graham, and Parker.
• attended the homecoming parade in Westfield and the Thanksgiving parade in Archbold- pretty much sleeping through both of them... but still counts!
• had some great babysitters... Grandma, Nali, Paul/Jacque, and Amanda have all taken good care of you while we have been away for short periods of time.
• been to the pumpkin patch and helped (sort of) pick out her first pumpkin.
• dressed up as a cowgirl and a black/orange cat for Halloween and trick-or-treated around the neighborhood
• been in her first airplane ride from Indy-Chicago-Seattle, final destination-where she met her cousins Zara and Caden for the first time. Long plane rides, but she did great. I was so proud of her!
• started going to the nursery at church, just a bit, though. She prefers to sleep in my Moby during the service. (Okay, so she only spent 1 Sunday in the nursery and we were called out to get her since she wasn't too thrilled about it... we'll try again some other time.)
• had just a few little colds, but no big sicknesses! Good for you baby girl!!!
• survived Mommy heading back to work, thanks to Grandma who took over for a few weeks.
• went downtown Indy for the first time to see the Christmas lights
• had her 1st Christmas in Ohio at Grandpa and Grandma's house
• went on Road Trip #2 to Missouri for Christmas and met her Missouri cousins
• started school in the TOTS infants room where she gets taken good care of!!
• had her first cereal (rice), vegetable (sweet potatoes), and fruit (prunes).
• learned to hold her head up, smile, laugh, roll over, grab and pick up toys, and sit up on her own.
• grown from 6 lbs 13 oz to nearly 15 lbs! (Currently in size 3 diapers, 6-9 month clothes)

That's quite the list. The past 6 months have been so fulfilling for me, as a mom, watching Sophie (and Lucas) grow. I love seeing the milestones come and go... and I'm so thankful for such healthy happy kids. God has blessed us...beyond our imagination.

Christmas in Missouri (a little late...)

We had a great time in Missouri celebrating Christmas with Eric's family this year.

While there we spent lots of time playing games (the famous people game and PIG to name a few), watching the cousins play together, and viewing a gazillion reruns of the Gummy Bear show. Lucas loved every minute of it. He and Joe are quite outnumbered but I'd say they did just fine...

One morning we woke up to some great snow so the kiddos headed out with Uncle Greg and Eric and went sledding and built a pretty sweet snowman... I'm trying to figure out if A) Greg pushed Lucas off the big snowball or B) he's about ready to roll it over him. Hmmm... knowing Greg... anything is possible!!!! :) PS- Greg calls Lucas Charlie and boy, does that get Lucas laughing pretty hard.

Time for hot chocolate and marshmallows!!!Nali with Sophie and Miss Sarah...

Watching Peep, of course...
Sarah and Shelby...Sophie and Erin...

All 8 grandchildren... in one picture. Amazing.