Happy Birthday Sadie!

We had such a great day celebrating Sadie's 3rd birthday... I can't believe she is 3 years old (or that we now have 3 kids!) Time flies..

We got Kinnick up first so he could go with us to sing to the birthday princess--here he is checking out her birthday present.

After Sadie went to sleep, we filled her room with pink balloons to surprise her when she woke up. We went in together to wake her up by singing "Happy Birthday!"

She was beyond excited for her "big girl" bike! She loved riding it in the living room and couldn't wait to take it outside. She was a big fan of the matching helmet and her little pink water bottle.

I had planned to make pancakes, but we had a bit of a cake fiasco--I had to bake cake #3, so Sadie went with her dad to pick out donuts for us to enjoy. Sadie liked having a candle on her donut!

This was the "barbie cake" that we ended up with... I was a bit tired of making cakes, but Sadie was thrilled with this!

We went to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch to celebrate with several of Sadie's friends and then came home for a birthday dinner cookout and barbie cake.

We had a great day... not I just need to hire a personal photographer for all big events because with three kids to keep track of, I have a much harder time capturing pictures!

This is Sadie's new Fancy Nancy dress from her friend Mikenna. She got lots of fun things including her favorite--make-up! (Already?!?!?)

Friends!

Sadie loves having friends over and going places with friends. She was very excited when Grace, Faith, Titus, and Hannah came for an over-night visit! Jennifer, Stephanie, and I had a great time also... I love seeing my children play with my girlfriends' children--here are some pictures from our time together:

The Children's Discovery Museum in Bloomington:
Hannah, Kinnick, and Sadie playing in the water table. (Kinnick would have climbed in if he could!)

Kinnick LOVED driving this big tractor.

Relaxing on a swing with my baby boy and my baby girl

Grace & Sadie making putty from corn materials (a special ag exhibit)

The painting wall was a BIG hit! I had to take Kinnick out because he kept eating the paint. His mouth was blue.

Other Pictures:

Titus & Macey ready for a trip to the park

Grace & Sadie riding to the park

This is the best group picture I could get at the park!

Titus & Macey ready for a bath

Grace, Sadie, & Faith loved having matching monkey pajamas.

See more on Jennifer's Blog!

Macey--1 Month

I'm not off to a very good start considering Macey is 5 1/2 weeks old and I'm just getting her 1-month post up... I'm trying! I can't believe how much little Macey has changed in the last 5 weeks! We have been enjoying her so much! Her are some of her 1st

month facts:

• At her 1-month check-up she weighed 8 lbs. 13 oz. and was 21 inches long. She's still pretty little, but she's growing!
• She's into a good eating routine--every three hours during the day (and I have her on a schedule that will work for me to pump and feed her at lunch time when I go back to work.)
• By the end of her 1st month, she is typically sleeping from 9/9:30 PM to 5/6 AM--she occasionally gets up at 4--I'm very happy with this!
• She has rolled from her tummy to her back 3 times now.
• She usually has fussy time in the early morning (after her first feeding) and at dinner time.
• She is surviving her big brother and sister--they love to "help". Her face has been colored on twice with glitter markers (which are now put away for an extended period!) while riding in the car.
• She has been to visit both of her grandparent's house for an over-night stay and has met 3 of her great-grandparents!

We are learning to deal with new challenges and are enjoying having this little girl in our family!

Meeting Baby Titus

Titus and Macey were due 4 days apart... They ended up being born exactly three weeks apart (Titus first). It was so fun to go through my pregnancy with Jennifer (we talked a lot!) and now I'm looking forward to watching these little ones grow up together.

Kinnick's 1st Haircut

This was for sure the hardest milestone for me... Kind of ironic that I was the one who has been wanting to give him a hair cut for awhile now, Marc was fine to wait, and I cried for most of the night! We knew that it was time because we were brushing his hair out of his eyes about 50 times per day... Marc used his clippers to cut Kinnick's hair and I helped hold his hands. He cried most of the time. Sadie sat at the edge of the kitchen doing a fake crying saying "I don't want my brother to get his hair cut. I don't want my brother to be sad." It was pretty cute.

Before Picture

After Picture (still a little upset!)

My Little Man!

Grateful

I am so thankful for the life God has blessed me with! Here are just a few of the things I am thankful for:

• I am thankful for waking up in the middle of the night (or very early in the morning) to feed my baby because I know that she is healthy and growing.
• I am thankful for snow on our driveway because I can see 4 sets of footprints (all in different sizes) leading to our garage.
• I am thankful for letting my dog outside and cleaning off his paws when it's muddy because my children have a furry friend who they adore.
• I am thankful for little hand prints on the TV screen or my curio cabinet because I have little people in my house who love to explore.
• I am thankful for a floor scattered with toys because my kids love to play and laugh and have fun together.
• I am thankful for an almost 3-year old little girl who can be very sassy and disrespectful at times because I know that she is learning to voice her opinion, stand up for herself, and ultimately how to be obedient to her parents.
• I am thankful for a sometimes clingy, whiny, 1-year old boy who wants to be held because I know that he loves his mommy.
• I am thankful for runny noses, coughs, and new teeth because they are usually accompanied by extra snuggles.
• I am thankful for 19 needy, rambunctious, (sometimes ungrateful) Kindergarten students because it allows me to serve God by doing something I LOVE.
• I am thankful for sticky, messy suckers because they make the best bribes...

Challenge: Make a grateful list today--you'll be glad you did!

Kinnick--15 Months

I can't believe how big my baby boy is getting! Kinnick was 15 months old the end of February. At his 15-mo. checkup he weighed 22 lbs --15 % and was in the 8 % for his height. He seems so chunky to me, but I guess he's still pretty little! Kinnick has grown and changed SO much during the last several months! These are some of my favorite things about my little man:

• I LOVE getting Kinnick up from his nap or in the morning. He bounces up and down as soon as I open his door. When I pick him up, he immediately snuggles his head onto my shoulder--I adore this! He continues to be an excellent sleeper. Marc and I joke that he really likes his sleep.
• Kinnick is so independent. He can play for a very long time by himself. This has really helped with Sadie too, because she will often join him.
• I LOVE his excitement for all the little things. When I say bath time, he runs to the bathroom. When I say time to eat, he runs to his seat. When I say time to go bye-bye, he runs to get his coat. He is a do-er. He's always busy.
• I LOVE watching him play with Wrigley. He wrestles him and lets Wrigley lick his face and he typically laughs and laughs.
• I LOVE the way his hair curls in the back when he gets out of the bathtub.
• I LOVE his chubby cheeked, toothy grin...

Kinnick had NO teeth until he was 13 months old. In the last 8 weeks, he has had his front 8 teeth pop in!
Kinnick experienced a few new firsts...
He moved to a BIG boy car seat...

And had his first taste of cow's milk. He stopped nursing at 13 months.

Kinnick is also learning many new things:

• He signs MORE, PLEASE, and ALL DONE. We've been working on some others, but he pretty much signs "please" for anything he wants to tell me!
• Words: dada, mama, hi, bye, dog, sissy, thank-you, yeah, and UMMM!
  A lot of his words are hard to understand. For yeah, he says ah! and for bye he says Da. He loves to tell people bye any time we are leaving. He recently started "praying". When I say time to pray, he folds his hands and starts with "thank-you" and then mumbles a bit and smiles at me.
• He can point to his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, head, hair, hands, feet, and tummy.
• He has recently let me start reading to him (more than 1 page before he runs away!) One of his favorite books is The Very Hungry Caterpillar--he likes to stick his finger in the little holes.

Some of Kinnick's "FAVORITES":

He LOVES to brush his teeth!

He enjoys playing with his sister's baby dolls. He often pushes them around in her strollers. (He also enjoys his real baby sister!)

He loves ALL things BOY! HE enjoys his tool bench--especially the hammer. He loves his big trucks and Sadie's matchbox cars. He makes vroom noises as he pushes them around. He enjoys his lawn mower and he loves any and all kinds of balls! Another favorite toy is his ball popper. He likes to chase the balls when they fly out.

Back to the "girly" play things. He loves to put on his sister's hats.

He loves bath time... He enjoys taking baths with Sadie and by himself. He loves to dip his face in the water. He has a little basketball hoop that he really enjoys playing with. Sadie loves it when we give him "rock star" hair.

Kinnick also enjoys looking out the window. He can stand there for quite some time just taking it all in!