Family Photos

So, wow, I last posted in April?! I'll forewarn you that this post won't even try to make up for all the missed time. In fact it will probably be pretty short. Its nap time for the kids and those few hours of quiet and solitude {and laundry folding} are sacred time :)

What better way to catch you up than with photos?! We had a friend from church take some family pics in the fall and I just love them. I'm sad to admit that it took almost a whole year for Kellen's picture to make it up on our wall... but now there are lots and I love it. (Thanks Hannah!)

Kellen turned 1 on Dec. 30th and has fully moved out of the baby stage. He's walking all around and into everything and, like his sister, is sweet but stubborn. He babbles and is really trying to communicate. He love stacking things and taking things out and putting them back in. The laundry basket in the kids room is always full because he empties their drawers and tends to put them in the hamper. I'm convinced 1/2 of the clothes I wash aren't actually dirty. He is fairly good at keeping himself occupied, much better than Zoe was at that age, which has been a nice blessing. He adores his sister but is starting to realize he can annoy her; most of the time they play well together though.

Zoe turned 3 on Jan. 12th and is such a big kid its amazing. She is sweet and tender but has a definite stubborn/defiant streak. The depth of her understanding astounds us and the fact that we can have a full-fledged conversation with her is a lot of fun. She remembers things that happened this past year and loves talking about trips we've taken which usually ends with "I wish we could go there again... I really really do". She loves Curious George and Thomas trains and reading books and playing ball outside. She loves construction vehicles and doing puzzles and coloring and taking care of her doll, Stella. She loves cats and dogs, and she always says she will dream about cats at night. She loves going on dates with Daddy (or Mommy or Tia) and thinks they must include chocolate milk.

Well thats my "quick update". The laundry calls.

Little man at 4 months

- Lots of smiles and some giggles if you try really really hard

- likes looking at the cute guy in the mirror

- purposefully grabbing and hitting at toys

- He enjoys when I sing to him or when we all dance around. He's also started babbling so much- I think he is trying to sing along

- for the majority of the past 8or so nights, Kellen has slept all.night. Like 11-6 at least. His parents are loving it. 

- along those lines, we are kicking him out of our room and into his crib in his shared room with Zoe this week. Fingers crossed...

- spent his first few nights away from home this past weekend when we visited my family in PA. He enjoyed all the attention. 

- he chews or sucks on his fingers a lot though he has yet to find his thumb 

- Kellen got to meet both of his uncles this month, and gets to meet his Oma and Opa this coming week when they visit from Wisconsin. 

It's the little things

Zoe, at almost 27 months, is such a source of joy and laughter in our house. Here are some of my favorite things right now:

- Kisses her own boo boos

- Calls "yoo-hoo" for missing objects. Pretty sure she expects them to call back.

- Says "bye" as she flushes potty and watches *everything* go down. She has done really well with potty training. Still has accidents occasionally and keeping dry at naptime is not a given, but we've seen so much progress in the past few weeks. 

- Counts to 12 pretty consistently-- 1 to 3 are somehow the trickiest for her. She often says "1,3,2" and recently created "eleventeen" somewhere between 13 and 18.

- Likes to sing, which she usually does with her eyes closed, very dramatically and cracks us up. A crooner at heart.

- In a sequence of events, everything is "first"

- Such a good big sister-- she tries to make Kellen hold her finger, she loves when "he look me" and she is always telling him "you ok baby Kellen" when he's crying.

- says "I miss you" 

- most common phrase? "Help you me!" Which means she wants to help. She's pretty insistent with this one and standing and watching no longer passes as helping. Other common phrases are "no, zosie do it" and "I don't want to". Oh joy.

 

Kellen at 3 months

Playing on his mat is his favorite past time right now, batting at the animals and admiring himself in the mirror. He also loves grabbing onto his links on his carseat, and putting his fists in his mouth. He gives out smiles pretty willingly now and can be quite a flirt. Kellen is still up once a night to eat but has given us some 5-6 hour stretches here and there. He is generally in bed by 8pm and was doing awesome at putting himself to sleep both at night and naptimes but this past week he's been fighting it a lot more. That can make the days loooong. But those days where he gives in and naps for 2.5 hours or more are great-- they usually overlap somewhat with Zoe's nap so I can get a few things done!! 

However i also don't mind a day or two when he's awake for most of her nap-- poor guy hardly gets any mommy-to-himself time so I'm happy to oblige. 

It's amazing how big he has gotten. This week I've switched out all his 3month sleepers and onesies for 6mo ones. A few things still fit but probably not for long. I'm enjoying buying lots of nautical boy clothes especially for warmer weather :)

10 years ago...

10 years ago, we were Sophmores in college.
10 years ago, Geoff had a beard.
10 years ago, my hair was long and sporting the remnants of a perm.
10 years ago, you could often find us at the bowling alley on a weekend night.
10 years ago, Geoff didn't drink coffee. On our first date to Barnes&Noble he got an apple juice...
10 years ago, the majority of our time spent together was in the lower level of the library.
10 years ago, this gal and this guy officially started dating.

10 years later, we've finished college and each earned a Master's degree. We both have quite a coffee habit. Geoff no longer has a beard and my hair keeps getting shorter. We've become husband and wife, and now mommy and daddy to two beautiful babies. We haven't been to the bowling alley in years and most of our time at the library is spent in the kids' section. Lots of things have changed in 10 years but not the fact that I'm crazy about this guy. I'm so glad to be on this crazy adventure with you, Geoff. Can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring {hopefully more sleep}!