We'll figure it out as we go....

Look who's crawling!

2008-06-01T22:28:00.001-04:00

2008-06-01T22:07:00.002-04:00

Well, here we are, the first of June. Only 5 days of school left and then we are full throttle into summer. I remember the feeling of that last week of school and how excited I was to be done for the summer. I am trying to share in that joy with Kenny, but I must admit that the idea of having ALL FOUR KIDS home ALL DAY LONG, is something that doesn't sound altogether appealing at this moment. I'm sure that we will get into our summer groove though and it will be fun.....I hope.

This past week has been all about adding on to our existing deck. Matt worked so hard on it all week long and it is 90% done. All that is left is a set of stairs/handrails, one other handrail, and the lattice underneath. Then comes the daunting task of power washing the existing deck and then priming the floor of the entire thing and staining all of it. Not looking forward to that, but at least the deck is in the shade most of the day. I am not a sun girl, that's for sure. It seems like there are still SO many outdoor projects ahead of us. Once the deck is done and stained, I need to power wash and stain the kids swingset and picnic table. Then I need to stain my new clothesline, which I LOVE by the way, and the post that the bird house and bird feeders is on. Then we need to run the electrical out to the garage and put the brick pavers in all the way around the deck. Then we are going to make a little brick paver area for our fire pit. Then we have a ton of grass seed to put down. It will probably take us the better part of June to finish all of that. We also have to change some wiring around upstairs. Lots to do, lots to do.

This week is going to be a busy one for Kenny. On Tuesday he has Kindergarten Carnival, Wednesday he gets to eat lunch in the cafeteria in preparation for next year, and Thursday is Kindergarten Celebration (the Kindergarten graduation we remember, without the cap and gown), and then Friday is his last day.

I cannot believe that I will have a child in 1st grade next year. And the following year, Nicholas will be in 1st grade. Mind boggling really. You know how sometimes you'll be driving along and realize that you don't remember driving the last 5 miles, but there you are safe and sound??? That's how it is sometimes as a parent. You just cruise along, in your groove, and then one day you really look around and think, "Wow, how did I get here? When did they grow up? Why didn't I pay more attention to it?". And then you keep going, trying with all your might not to rush, to pay more attention, and just enjoy the ride.

Fun in the new pool!!

2008-05-27T21:38:00.001-04:00

2008-05-27T21:34:00.002-04:00

Also, really quick wanted to add a few new things the girls are doing.

Olivia is now crawling and sitting and she is trying very hard on pulling up. She is also getting her upper left tooth!!

As for Layla, she has two new phrases:

"There you are! I was so worried!"

"Well, well, well. What have we here?"

Oh, and I slipped the other day when I was aggravated with the double stroller and said "What the heck?!", so all the way to the park I heard Layla saying "What the heck mama, what the heck?". Woops.

2008-05-27T20:48:00.004-04:00

Wow, another two weeks gone by in the blink of an eye. Scary how fast it goes by.

We are glad to see the end of May so close. Matt was laid off for 3 very long and stressful weeks. We tried so hard to enjoy it, but it got more stressful with every new bill that arrived in the mail. However, God is good, and he was back to work, full swing, as of last Wednesday. He is now working 10 hour days, and some weeks will be 6 days for him. Let the summer construction season begin!! The kids really miss having daddy around so much. I hear "Mama, when will daddy be home?" several times every day. Anyways, let's attempt a re-cap.

Last Saturday, Matt took Kenny, Nicholas and Layla to the Dupont Airport in Lapeer. It is under new ownership and they had a bit of an open house, complete with hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, popcorn, pop and many other treats. Matt had a wonderful time talking to all of the mechanics, etc. that work there and was able to meet several of the gentleman that are in the monthly EAA chapter in Lapeer. For those of you unfamiliar with EAA, it stands for Experimental Aircraft Association. Matt, and his dad, are members of EAA and tried to go to the EAA Airventure air show in Osh Kosh, Wisconsin every year, if not every other. We are blessed with the memory of going there in 2005 with Dan(my Father in Law), his wife Joanne, Kenny and Nicholas. Layla was still in my belly at the time. So, Matt is ready to start attending the EAA meetings and I am thrilled for him to have this group to look forward to. It sounds like they are working on some interesting projects and it will be a very great experience for Matt. I only wish he had his dad to share it with him, but I feel that Dan will be there in spirit. Here are some pictures from that day:

So, while they were doing that, my mom and I did our annual trip to DeSmet's greenhouse to get our annuals. Olivia had a great time in the Baby Bjorn, trying to grab whatever flowers she could get her sweet little hands on. Almont was having their yearly Garage sale mania, and I had some minor luck on Thursday and Friday, so I stopped at one last one on the way home and hit the jackpot!! It was actually my old babysitter's house, which I did not realize, and she had a HUGE pile of size 7's and 8's, which is the next size for Kenny, so I bought everything that I could find, and she gave it all to me for $37.00. I was thrilled!! The rest of that day was just playing outside and we all went for a bike ride. Olivia isn't quite sure what she thinks of the bike trailer, but she managed.

Saturday night was interesting. It was about 11:30pm. The kids were sleeping, I was in the living room watching "The Holiday" (I highly recommend this movie!), and Matt was in the dining room on the computer. All of a sudden we hear this crash/loud thud. It sounded like a limb fell on the house or something heavy fell upstairs. I yelled to Matt "What was that?", and he said he didn't know and ran upstairs. Meanwhile terrible thoughts of what it could be ran through my head and those fears were met when I heard Nicholas crying. By the time I got upstairs, Matt had Nicholas in the bathroom and there was blood pouring out of his nose. All that we can think is that he fell face first out of bed. When Nicholas is asleep, a freight train could go through their room and wouldn't wake him up. Anyways, he had a fat lip, his top two teeth were a bit loose, he had a large bump and bruise where his forehead and hairline meet, and a bloody nose with bruising in between his nose and lip. He just kept crying that he wanted to go back to bed. I obviously couldn't let him sleep without supervision, so I brought him in bed with me. I stayed up for a few hours, jiggling him every now and again to make sure he was responsive. Boy is that kid squirmy. I had seen some blood on his sheets the night before, so I went to get those to wash them, and the entire floor in between the boys beds was dried blood. Scary, scary, scary. So, we skipped church Sunday because he said his head really hurt. Lots of Tylenol that day. So, this is what the kids did Sunday morning:

Kenny and Livvy:

Nicholas and Layla:

Later that day we went to our friends new house to see everything and had a very nice visit. Then I made spaghetti for dinner and my mother-in-law Debby and her husband came over and we had dinner and another lovely visit. All in all a very nice weekend!

Last week was just playing outside and doing the usual schedule. I actually got to go to the grocery store by myself on Tuesday, which is a VERY rare treat. And as I mentioned before, Matt returned to work on Wednesday. Nicholas had a preschool playdate at the park, so we went there and stayed for a couple of hours and then walked through the woods to my parent's house. The park is practically in their backyard through the trees. We had a visit with my mom and then came home for naps. I went to a couple more garage sales on Thursday and picked up a few things for Layla and Kenny, so that was a plus. Nothing too special on Friday.

On to the holiday weekend. Saturday Matt had to work and we just played around the yard. Here are some cute bath tub pictures of Layla. Matt loves to sculpt shampoo'd hair:

Sunday we had a barbecue with my parent's and my mother-in-law Joanne. Then we had a bonfire and made S'mores. Then Memorial Day we decided to set up the pool that Matt's boss gave us. They had it and didn't use it, so they passed it on to us!! It's 42 inces tall and 18 feet in diameter. They gave us the vacuum, filter, skimmer, solar cover, pool toys, etc. We are all so excited to have this to look forward to this summer! We have been debating getting one for 3 years now, and so now we don't have to debate anymore. And of course, the kids had to play in the water. It was a gorgeous 80 degree day yesterday, (which makes the chilly 57 degrees today seem that much more cruel), and they were able to thoroughly cool off. Ah, the days of not minding the numbing cold of hose water:

It took about 24 hours to fill it up completely. I did a shock treatment this afternoon and will let the filter run tonight. I doubt we'll be able to use it for a couple of weeks, but at least it's ready when we need it!

So, that's us for now. Off to get the kids in bed and collapse. Love to all!!

Layla and Olivia

2008-05-12T23:01:00.001-04:00

2008-05-12T17:59:00.012-04:00

Wow, amazing how quickly the weeks can fly by. I will try to sum up the last few weeks as best I can.

Let's see, we had Nicholas's birthday on April 20. He is now 5 years old!! I still think of him as a 3 year old, and on most days he acts so much like Layla, it's not too far fetched!! We had his party the day before his birthday, on Saturday, April 19. It was a nice time and the kids had a great time playing together:

On Nicholas's birthday, we had a leisurely morning and then Matt took the kid's fishing over at his dad's house. I picked up a Pepperidge Farm frozen cake at the store and we had that after dinner. Then he opened his gifts from us.

I made some zoo themed cupcakes for Nicholas's birthday at preschool. The letter for that week was "Z" and we were going to the Detroit Zoo the following day, so I found it fitting. Here is a picture of them:

We went to the zoo on April 22 and had a GORGEOUS day. Perfect weather. My mom and mother-in-law went with us and it was a ton of fun. All of the animals were out and about. Here are a few pictures from that day:

Nicholas with his preschool friend Kameron:

Nicholas just loves to draw and color and I LOVE this picture of him:

The rest of April was pretty much a blur. We had some very nice weather and we all got a very nasty cold. Here are two of my sickies:

On May 1, Nicholas had yet another field trip, to the farm this time. We were lucky enough to have Grandma Joanne, Aunt Denise, Aunt Darlene and Uncle Andy go with us!! There were lambs there that had just been born that morning! You could still see the umbilical cord dried up on their bellies. It was a great day and we had SO much fun together:

From left to right we have Denise and Layla, Darlene and Nicholas, Andy and Joanne:

That night we had a barbecue at Joanne's house and it was so nice. We discovered Nicholas's love for barbecued chicken skin. Yuck, yuck, yuck. And Nicholas got a spruce sapling for Arbor Day and we planted it by the garage. I took a picture on May 2, and will do so every year so that we can see how Nicholas, and his tree, are growing. So, here is year one:

My daughter, the thug:

And we've had a ton of exciting things happen over the past week!! Firstly, Kenny lost his 2nd tooth!! So, the tooth fairy paid another visit to our house. Then, Olivia got her first two teeth! She has her bottom two teeth now. Then, Nicholas graduated from preschool. It was the cutest little ceremony. He was a bit shy, and faced the side of the stage the entire time. A flashback of Kenny's graduation. Kenny stood in the exact same spot and did the exact same thing at his two years ago. Silly boys.

My graduate with his cap and diploma:

And lastly, Kenny and Nicholas have learned to ride bikes without their training wheels!! Matt and I thought that this would take forever to do, but it was a matter of minutes for Kenny and hours for Nicholas. Now it's all that they want to do. We are so very proud of all of our kids and their accomplishments.

Layla's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. Her newest words are "You're welcome", "Hello, nice to meet you", "Hello! Please come in!", "Leave me alone", "Bless you", etc. She is really into Olivia now because Olivia is becoming more interesting. She hasn't figured out the whole "gentle" thing yet, so we are having to watch them very closely when they're together.

Olivia still cannot crawl forwards, but has backwards down pat. She is also sitting up very well, and starting to croutch on her knees. Very cute. Now, if she could just sleep longer than 2-3 hour increments at night. I thought that once her teeth broke through, she would do better at night, but no such luck. Oh well, she is still a cutie pie. And her newest thing is her tongue. It hangs out of her mouth most of the day. Layla did the same thing, but at a younger age. It's pretty funny, and you can see it in the following picture. And Nicholas is taking more of an interest in her now. He didn't want much to do with her before, but now he is wanting to hold her and talk to her. He even let me take some pictures of him holding her. The first since she was born:

I had a wonderful Mother's Day and am still in shock that I have four children to call me mom. They are so very different and I love getting to know each of their personalities. Amazing where life takes you, even when you are fighting to go in the other direction. I've long since given up fighting it and have decided that I'll be better off sitting back and enjoying the ride. I've always been a fan of the really crazy, twisty, up and down rollercoasters, and I'm finding myself on the most exhilarating, scary, exciting and sometimes nauseating, ride of my life. Cedar Point, eat your heart out:

Oliva is 6 months old!

2008-04-13T16:35:00.001-04:00

2008-04-13T15:54:00.005-04:00

Well, we've made it through an entire week of having both boys home from school. I love them, but thank goodness they go back to school tomorrow!!!

This past week was very tiring. After the Dedication on Sunday(see previous post w/ pictures), we geared up for Layla to have her surgery on Tuesday morning. She had a tonsilectomy, another adnoidectomy(some of the tissue had grown back in the last year!), and her tubes were replaced (her left tube fell out prematurely). We had to be there at 6am and her surgery was at 7:30am. She did amazingly well. I prayed very hard that she would come out of the anesthesia okay. Her last post-surgery experience was just awful. She screamed for an hour and was thrashing around so much that she ripped her IV out of her foot. So, this time, she didn't cry at all and just wanted to be held. I sang to her and she fell asleep on me, which I really loved. It's been a LONG time since she's done that. She was in her room just after 9am and had some ice chips and popsicles, and even some chocolate ice cream and pudding. I had to leave around 2pm because Olivia was done for at that point. She would not stay asleep in my arms. So, I said goodbye to Layla and Matt and headed home. I had been up with the baby most of the night and was beyond exhausted. So, my mom, who was at our house with the boys, let me take a nap, which was WONDERFUL. I haven't had a nap in ages. Then she made us spaghetti and stayed until I had the boys bathed and off to bed. Thanks mom!!

Poor Matt and Layla didn't sleep much that night. They were giving her Tylenol with Codeine, and she is apparently like me, in that it kept her up all night. Anything that is supposed to make you sleepy, keeps me awake, and she is the same way. So, Olivia and I got to the hospital at 8am with McDonald's breakfast for Matt and Layla and they were just taking her IV out and she had been discharged. We got home at 9:30am. I ran out and got her prescriptions and we spent the rest of the day trying to keep her comfy and rested, and keeping the boys from aggrevating her. We just gave her regular Tylenol so that she could get some sleep.

Matt went back to work on Thursday, and the kids and I just hung around the house. My mom was off of work and helped me out for a few hours, which was great. Friday was my 31st birthday, so the kids and I went to my moms so that they could help her make brownies and birthday cards. Then I came back with Olivia to put her down for a nap and my mom kept the other three and fed them lunch. I got 45 whole minutes to sit down and enjoy my lunch and watch part of a TV show. Joy of joys!! I put Nicholas and Layla down for a nap, and Layla decided that she wasn't tired and that she would much rather JUMP OUT OF HER CRIB. YIKES!! I have never had a kid do that, so I was a bit shocked to say the least. Matt was in our room changing his clothes and out comes Layla. Oy. She is definitely keeping me busy. So, we went to my parent's house at 5pm for dinner and dessert. I requested "Make your own sub" night, and chips and dip. Then we had hot fudge brownie sundaes, also per my request. They were delicious! Then I opened presents. I got some great comfy clothes and socks and a nice shirt for church, and some money and a beautiful silver cross from the kids. It was very nice.

We brought the kids home after that and I got Olivia in bed, then I went back to my moms for our Friday night Gilmore Girls night. We haven't been able to get together in 5 weeks, and it was so nice to relax. Matt called at 10:15pm to tell me that Olivia was awake already and screaming. All good things must come to an end.....

Saturday was just hanging out around the house. After I got Olivia down for the night, I headed out to finish up Nicholas's birthday shopping and I picked up a few other choice items. Totally not needed, but there were some great sales and I had some coupons. I did get some summer things for Layla and a pair of sandals that are actually named "Layla". How could I pass that up?! I got home around 10pm and then Matt and his cousin Dan headed out for some male bonding time. I watched a bit of TV and then headed to bed.

That brings us to today. We've done nothing. Absolutely nothing. Layla's health isn't quite up to church and germs yet, and Olivia slept right through church, so we just stayed home. I will be so glad when we are healthy again so that we can attend regularly!!

Speaking of Olivia, she is up every 2-3 hours ALL....NIGHT.....LONG. I am so tired and therefore have no motivation to do anything. She is constipated and teething and is sleeping just horribly. She is eating her veggies and fruits well though, and is okay with cereal now if we mix it up with fruit juice. We are trying to figure out some way to help with her constipation. None of our children have had this problem. Actually she really is unlike any of the others. She has had more issues than all of them put together!! I really am trying to enjoy her, as she is our last baby, but some days, and nights, I am just thinking ahead to when she is three. lol.

Kenny has been extremely bossy and cranky for the past few weeks, Nicholas is constantly jumping around, despite several requests for him to stop, and Layla is as fun as she is frustrating. Ah, the ages and stages. No wonder I collapse at the end of the day. I don't know what I would do without them though. Their hugs and kisses are priceless and I would not change a thing.

Until next week, I'll leave you with a picture of Olivia. She tried chocolate pudding for the first time. Yummy.

Spring is here!!

2008-04-13T15:07:00.002-04:00

So, this morning I questioned if spring was really here. There was a lovely dusting of white all over. But now the snow is gone, the sun is shining, and there are warmer temperatures in the forecast. Spring is always a time of new beginnings, and that is certainly in order for us this year.

I'm going to do a separate post for Olivia's Dedication, as there are so many pictures.

We had Olivia's Dedication last Sunday and it was just wonderful. We had the perfect amount of people and I got to talk to everyone, which usually doesn't happen. Olivia slept through all but the first 25 minutes of the luncheon at our house. Oh well. A few pictures from the day:

I'm fairly sure that you will never see this again. Nicholas is actually being nice to Layla and KISSING HER ON THE CHEEK. Something strange was in the air that day. lol.

At church. The actual Dedication was at the end. This was towards the beginning and you can already see that she is tired and her eyes are red:

Joanne (my step mother-in-law), bought Olivia this dress. It was GORGEOUS!

The actual Dedication. My mom had tried so hard to keep her from crying hysterically through the whole thing. She was beyond the point of needing a nap.

Joanne and Olivia after the Dedication:

Her cake:

When she finally woke up after everyone had left. This is the same outfit that Layla wore for her Dedication:

The gorgeous bracelet that my friend Brenda made for her on VERY short notice:

Okay, back in a bit with more.

Miss Olivia

2008-04-03T17:23:00.001-04:00

2008-04-03T17:06:00.002-04:00

So, this week has had it's ups and downs. Monday was the visitation for Matt's dad. There were hundreds of people there in those 6 hours. It was mind boggling really. There were pictures of him all over for everyone to look at. He really lived a good and full life, even though it was cut short at 59. Olivia was amazing during this time. She just got passed around and did her smiling and giggling for everyone and when she found a comfy shoulder, she would fall asleep. Tuesday was the funeral. Adolf, who is a friend of Matt's grandpa's did the funeral message and did a phenomenal job. I left there with a lot to work on and ponder. Then the luncheon followed and was very nice. After the kids were in bed that night, Matt and I watched "Bridge to Tarabithia". It was really a great movie and had a lot to do with moving on after the death of someone close to you, and using your talents to get through hard times. Matt had Wednesday off and it was nice to just relax a bit. We went to the grocery store with the girls in the morning and then picked the boys up from school and sat around. I cleaned up the fridge in the laundry room and we put all of the Christmas decorations in the attic. Yes, I said Christmas decorations. All in all a productive day.

So, today was back to normal for the most part. Nicholas had Kindergarten testing and did very well. He got 71 out of 81 points and is more than ready for Kindergarten. Tomorrow is Olivia's 6 month well visit, and I have to stop at GFS to get the meatballs and sauce for Olivia's dedication luncheon. Saturday will be cleaning, cleaning and then some more cleaning. I need to pick up Olivia's cake also. I need to have Matt replace the screen on the porch door as well. It ripped 7 months ago and just makes our house look "not very nice". Then Sunday is Olivia's Dedication. It is supposed to be 60 and mostly cloudy, which is nice. I am hoping that some of the mud will dry up so that the kids can play outside if they want to. Though we have quite a bit of mud right now because of the addition. I cannot wait to get the brick pavers put down next month!!

That is it I think. Next week is spring break and Layla's surgery. I am dreading both. lol. I'm going to try and get some video up of Olivia. She is getting up on all fours and rocking!! I can't believe she will be 6 months old tomorrow. Amazing how fast it goes. Love to all.

Saying goodbye....

2008-04-03T16:43:00.003-04:00

It's interesting saying goodbye. I never placed much thought into it really. Goodbye, see you later, adios. Just words right? That is until you say goodbye to someone that you won't see on this side again. I said goodbye to someone 6 days ago, and it took on a whole new meaning. My father in law passed away Saturday morning, March 29. He was laying in a hospital bed in the house that he built for his family with his own two hands, looking out onto the property that he had walked on, worked on and loved for so long. It was a beautiful, crisp morning with a beautiful blue sky and the sun rising up. There with his wife he took his very last breath and left this world to move on to his final destination. It was a beautiful morning for flying.

It was only 10 hours prior to that, that I had stood next to him, told him I loved him, that I was proud of him, that everything would be okay. I said goodbye to him knowing that there would not be another hello. That I would never again hear him say "Hi Millie". I would never again see his eyes nearly disappear because he was smiling so big at his grandchildren. And most importantly, I would never again see him in pain. He endured so much these last few years, and when he took his last breath, his pain ended. Ours has just begun.....

Dress Up

2008-03-24T20:51:00.003-04:00

Easter at Grandma and Grandpa's

2008-03-24T20:51:00.001-04:00

2008-03-24T20:09:00.003-04:00

Wow, Easter is over already. It doesn't even seem like it's time for it yet, but it's over. We had a good day. Kenny, Nicholas and Layla enjoyed finding Easter eggs and their baskets. They followed that with a nutritious breakfast of chocolate and hard boiled eggs. Mmmm, mmmm good. (See pictures below). We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon in our jammies. Olivia was sick and fell asleep around 9:20am, so no church. I made some lemon cookies and rolls for Easter dinner. We went to my mom's house at two o'clock for Easter dinner. Then the kids had an Easter egg hunt. (See pictures above). Olivia fell asleep in my arms just before the hunt, which hasn't happened in a long time, so I enjoyed that while everyone else went outside. My parent's had to leave to go see my grandma at the hospital (she had hip surgery on Saturday morning), so we stayed and hung out there until Olivia woke up. Then we came home and Matt headed to the hospital to see his dad. All in all, a good Easter.

One more day with the kids all home. They are all going stir crazy in this house together. Nicholas only has one day of school this week as he has a field trip on Thursday. Matt is going to take the day off to go with us. Kenny will go to a classmates house after school until we get back. We're going to the Flint Children's Hands On Museum, then to Chuck E. Cheese's. I did the same field trip with Kenny when he was in preschool, and it was a lot of fun, so I'm looking forward to it. It will be something nice to get our minds off of everything that is happening.

The other night Matt and I were hugging, and he was crying, and Layla came in and rubbed his leg and said, "Don't cry daddy, don't cry". Then she pushed me and said "Mama, get away from him!". She thought that I was making him cry. lol. So I asked her if she wanted to give daddy a hug. She did and just kept wiping his tears away and saying "Don't cry daddy. Don't cry". It was a moment I don't think I'll ever forget.

Olivia is really trying to get her butt up. She will push up with her arms, while on her belly, and then push with her tippy toes to try and get her butt up. I am SO not ready for her to crawl yet. Sit yes, crawl no. She is getting over a cold right now. Poor baby has had at least 6 or 7 colds since November, including the flu. I actually was able to sing her to sleep for her second nap today. What a wonderful thing to sing your child to sleep. I am trying to soak up and enjoy all of this, with her being my last baby. I still really wish she would sleep longer than 3 hour stretches at night!

It's been tough on the kids this past week not having Matt around. Kenny actually cried before bed on Easter because he missed his daddy. I told him that I know he misses daddy, but that daddy needed to be with his dad right now. He seemed to be okay with that. One thing good is that with it just being me and the kids so much lately, I've been trying to do more fun things with them to keep their minds off the change. We've been doing dress up(see pictures above), pirates, art, hide and seek, and we had a very festive harmonica concert this afternoon including dancing!! And I've gotten a ton of cleaning and organizing done as well. I find that if I just go from morning until night, I don't notice how exhausted I am.

Matt's dad is still in the hospital, but should be home with hospice by the end of the week. The doctor's are saying that there isn't much more they can do for him, but we are still praying for a miracle. And my grandma will move to a rehabilitation home tomorrow so that we can get her up and walking again. We're not sure how long she'll be there.

God is good and we trust in His plan. Love to all.

Easter Morning

2008-03-24T20:08:00.001-04:00

They come and they go.....

2008-03-20T15:12:00.002-04:00

Finally, a Zellers' Blog!!

I guess I'll just hop right in....

The boys' are done with school until next Wednesday. They are excited to be going to grandma and grandpa's tonight to have dinner and decorate Easter cookies. And I am thrilled to be going to get my hair cut. It's been six months and is a bit out of control!

In Kenny news, he is beginning to read books!! He sat down and read "No, David!" the other night and I just sat next to him crying. How on earth did he learn to do that?! He lost his first tooth last month and has another one that is loose. He is an incredible big brother to Olivia, and a great helper to me. I love the relationship that I have with him, and how he looks up to his dad so much. He really is just a wonderful kid.

Nicholas got his second Kindness Award at preschool yesterday for helping a classmate find the hidden ladybug so that he wouldn't be sad. He is very thoughtful, (with everyone except his sister's), and is very laid back. He's usually up for anything. He is learning so much at school and really enjoys learning. He is always up for a snuggle and cannot take teasing to any extent.

Layla is very much a girl. She loves to dress up, dance, play with her dolls, and she LOVES shoes. She says "I love you" about 5o times per day, and is full of kisses and hugs. She is equally as fun as she is frustrating, which comes with the territory at 2 years old. She is into everything and is quite sneaky. She is saying new words and phrases every day and her speech is improving by leaps and bounds. She is due for a tonsilectomy and ear tube replacement on April 8. :o(

Olivia has been our most difficult child by far, and she's only 5 months old. I don't even want to think about what the next 18 years are going to be like!! haha. She is a sweetie though. She does not like to be alone, or for things to be too quiet. I suppose that just comes with having 3 older siblings, and always having something going on around her. She is really grabbing things well and enjoying her megasaucer, as well as her jolly jumper. She is getting better at sitting up, and will begin eating veggies tonight!! If only I can get her to sleep longer than 3 hours at night.....

Easter is this Sunday, which is far too early, but here it is. We've seen several robin's, flowers starting to poke out, buds on my magnolia tree, etc. When I told Nicholas that I was going to show them the "signs of spring", he was wondering where the sign was. I then spent the next 2 minutes explaining the different meanings of the word "sign" to a very confused 4 year old. Either way, it's spring. Well, on the calendar anyways. From my vantage point, it still looks like Winter.

This has been a bittersweet month for Matt and I. Last Monday we celebrated the birth of my nephew Benjamin, and this week we face the possible death of Matt's dad. How quickly we had to come down off the mountain.....

My nephew Benjamin came into this world after a long and hard labor for my sister. To say that I am proud of my sister would be an understatement. She and Doug are already amazing parent's and I am beyond excited to see them in the roles of Mom and Dad. It is exciting for me to "watch" my sister become a mom and for her to know the kind of love you have for your child(ren). Benjamin is one lucky little guy!! And they are very blessed to have him as well. He is AMAZINGLY cute and I cannot wait to see him, hopefully sooner, rather than later. I've never very much liked the fact that I live so far from Melanie, but I don't think the full impact of it hit me until I found out that she was in labor. Honestly, if I hadn't had my wits about me, I would have been on a plane that very second. Imagine Matt's surprise at that!!

Speaking of Matt, I don't think you ever consider the idea of losing your parent(s) at such a young age. I mean, you know that most likely they'll go before you, but you always think it will be in their 80's or 90's, after they've lived a good life, enjoyed their retirement, and had time with their grandchildren. To think that my father-in-law will not have that chance is heartbreaking to me. I have watched him grow as a person over these last nearly 14 years, and become such an amazing man. I have seen he and Matt become as close as a father and son can be. And in the last year I have seen him go from a man to a child. There is not one single thing he can do on his own. So the tables are turned, everything is reversed. Now we take care of him. The circle of life just keeps on spinning.....