Six Years Old!!

 Six years old?!?!  How on earth did that happen so fast :)  It seems like just a week or so ago we were bringing Hannah home from the hospital and trying to figure out what this parenting thing was all about.  I cannot believe how quickly the time has flown.

My dear sweet Hannah Banana,
I can't believe that we have celebrated your 6th birthday already.  You are growing up much to quickly for your mama's liking :)  You are the sweetest and kindest little girl.  I am so proud and happy to have you as my daughter and sometimes I feel completely overwhelmed when I think of what a blessing you are to our family.  You are the best big sister that Gabe and Leah could ask for!  You are so good at helping them when they need an extra hand and I know that you love them both very much!  You are in the first grade this year and one of the hilights of my day is doing school with you and watching you learn.  Your absolute favorite thing to do right now is anything and everything crafty.  You love to color, paint, cut things out and are even learning to sew a bit.  Daddy and I love you more than you will ever know and are so thankful that God gave you us as our daughter.  Happy Birthday sweet girl!!

 We had Hannah's friend birthday party this past weekend and instead of doing a cake I made a bunch of cupcakes and then each of the kids got to ice and decorate their own cupcake.  This was Hannah's finished product!  Lots of icing and sprinkles, just the way she like it!!

A super cool shirt that she got that she actually got to color!  How fun is that?!?!  I think I may steal this idea for birthday gifts in the future :)

7 months old :)

I cannot believe that this little love is already 7 months old!  Where does the time go?  Leah you are 7 months old and you are more and more of delight everyday.  You are the happiest and sweetest baby in the world.  You are already starting to try and crawl and even pull up on a few things.  You  LOVE food!  You are willing to try anything and seem to like most everything :)  I think that baked potatoes and applesauce are your favorites so far :)  You are still nursing about 3 times a day and once or twice in the night.  You are taking 2, 2 hours naps during the day and you like to suck your thumb to put yourself to sleep.  We love you so much and think your are the sweetest addition we could have ever asked for!

School is in!

Well I am a bit behind in the blogging department, so here goes yet another attempt to catch up :)  We started school with Hannah almost 3 weeks ago, and I am just now getting around to blogging about it.  Life with 3 littles gets pretty busy!  But I really wouldn't have it any other way!!  We  are doing first grade with Hannah this year and we are using My Fathers World first grade and doing Art With Children as well.  So far Hannah's favorite things are the math worksheets and the art projects.  She is doing really well so far and enjoying first grade :)

Here are some pictures of her first day.  We went shopping and let her pick out a first day of school outfit :)  She is such a little fashionista :)  I am really proud of my big girl!

Best Friends

Even though they fight like crazy some times, I am so very glad that they really are the best of friends <3 p="p">

Fashionista

Hehehehehe :)  This makes me laugh :)  Hannah put these on her and I had to get a picture :)

Good times in PA

Two weekends ago we made the trip to PA to visit with my sister and two adorable nieces.  They are seriously the cutest sweetest little stinkers in the world!  We had an amazing time going for walks, going to the playground and just watching the kids play and interact together :)  I think my favorite part of the trip though was staying up late and chatting with my sister after the kids were asleep.  There are few things as refreshing for this momma as sister time and the blessing of a friend who is in the same phase of life.  Someone who truly understands :)

And now, a ton of pictures of our long weekend!

Bella!!  Can't believe this little stinker is walking!!

Pillow fight...Gabe was a little out numbered, lol...

LOVE this little guy and his adorable, cheesy grin :)

My sweet and happy Leah love :)

Man of the house :)

Cousins!  Gabe's face makes me laugh in this one, but getting a picture with all 5 of them was no easy feat :)

How ridiculously cool is this castle playground we went to?!?!  Seriously, Nick was jealous when I showed him the pictures :)

Cutie!

My beautiful Hannah-banana :)  How she has gotten so tall and grown up looking is completely beyond me :)  She was such a big help with the little ones while we were at my sisters!!

Wheeeeee...

Gabe jumping :)  He had to wear his Link shirt, since we were going to a castle playground :)

Sweet and precious Sera :)

Tire swing!  They had so much fun on this :)

Sleepy Leah :)  I had my sister take a picture of her in the carrier because I often find that she is not in as many pictures as Hannah and Gabe because she is always riding with me.

Could they be any cuter?!

Swings!!

Go Hannah go!  She LOVES to swing :)

My monkey man :)

Ridiculously cute :)

Love my little Bella bean :)

Six Months Old :)

Six months old today!!  It is crazy how fast the time goes :)  You are growing and changing so much with every passing day.  You are now sitting up on your and even start to eat a little bit.  So far you have had bites of avocado, chewed on some carrots and nectarines, dry toast and even a few tiny bites of Mommy's ice cream :)  You LOVE food!  I am so glad that you like to eat and it is easy so far.  You are laughing and smiling and interacting all the time now.  You love watching your big brother and sister, and if they aren't paying attention to you, you let them know :)  You are nursing about every 4 hours and sleeping through the night most of the time.  We love you so much our sweet little Leah and are so very thankful that God made you a part of our family!!

So I did a bit of sewing...

We are going to see my sister this week and I thought it would be really fun to make matching outfits for all the cousins :)  She has no idea I made these so I can't wait until she see's this blog!!  I love surprises!! :)

Worker Dude

This little guys LOVES to help his daddy and use his "tools" around the house.  He loves playing that he is fixing things for me :)  What a cutie!  He looks so stinking cute in his safety goggles too!  Love you buddy :)

Blanket Fort :)

What is a mom to do when it is too hot to take the kids outside and she is running out of ways to keep the kids entertained?  Why build a blanket fort of course :)  They kids had so much fun helping me build it and then playing in it.  It kept them busy for quite some time!  I love watching their creative minds at work and seeing what they come up with.  They played store, house and school.  Love these sweet kids!

Super Baby!!

She looks like she is flying right?!  :)

Cousins on the couch!

My sister-in-law, her husband and their adorable new baby boy were up this past weekend so we took the opportunity to try to get a picture of all the cousins on this side together.  Six kids ranging from age 5 to 2 weeks old :)  Not too bad of a picture, if I do say so myself.  I had to laugh at all the other pictures I too, because in each one of them at least one of the big kids was making a goofy face.  Silly kids!

From left to right:  Leah, Hannah, Caedon, Gabe, Cole and Connor

Gabe holding Cole.  He held him for about 3 seconds and then he was done :)

I love this picture of my big girl holding her tiny cousin.  This kiddo LOVES babies!  She told the other day while we were driving to get groceries that she though we should have 10 kids.  LOL, not so much :)

We tried to get a picture of Leah and Cole together but neither one was super impressed.  They both started to cry, so that was the end of that.  Holding a two week old makes Leah seem so big.  It is crazy to think that she was that small at one point :)

Like Father Like Son

When Nick and I first got married we made a deal about doing the dishes.  Our deal was that I would cook and that Nick would clean up after supper every night.  And I would say that 95% of the time we stick to that deal.  It is FANTASTIC!!  And now, it looks as though Nick is passing this tradition down to Gabe :)  I am sure that his future wife will appreciate this someday :)

 Scrub, scrub, scrub!!

Way to show him how it's done daddy!

5 months old

I cannot believe that my baby is 5 months old already!  It is crazy how quickly the time goes by, and I am amazed at how the past 5 months have literally flown by.  Leah is growing like a weed and doing all kinds of new things every day.  She is sleeping through the night on a pretty consistent basis (YAY!) and takes 2-3 naps a day.  She still really likes the baby carrier, and she also likes the exer-saucer.  She nurses every 3-4 hours during the day now, and I think she is getting close to being ready for solid foods.  She is much more aware of what is going on around her now and she is easily entertained by her big brother and big sister :)  She also really likes her mommy and daddy and will even start to reach out her arms when she wants to be picked up.  We love you Leah and watching you learn and grow is such a blessing!!

Cutie Kiddos :)

I think that my kids are pretty cute :)  Rotten sometimes, but most definitely cute :)