Little Milestones

Crawling and taking bites - what a precocious little girl!

My Caleb boy

As summer winds down, I am sad that I will not be home each day with the kids. Caleb is so fun, challenging at times, but fun. His current favorite activities are of course playing trains and digging in the mulch with his trucks. He really misses his cousin for both activities. I had to include a shot of his current track. I am particularly proud of it. It is actually 2 branch lines. We'll see how long it lasts... The other night we had a fun dinner together while Daddy was at Home Depot- "party eggs and party pancakes." Caleb enjoyed red, yellow and blue eggs, green pancakes with sprinkles and blue milk. The last shot is of a very tired Caleb. He has dropped his nap but continues with a quiet time each day. Yesterday he passed out. Too much fun at home I guess.

Half a year old?

I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Sophia is now officially 6 months old. She did great at her check-up today and weighed in at 15 pounds 8 ounces and is 25 inches tall. At six months, Caleb was 19 pounds and 26 1/2 inches, so Sophie seems she will be shorter than her brother. Sophia is on a verge of crawling and actually crawled off of a blanket onto the grass today, probably 2 feet. She pushes up and moves her legs and then kind of dives forward. Augh, I'm not sure if I'm ready for her to be mobile yet. Actually, I know I'm not. I was hoping maybe after the move...

Vacation at the Lake

Well, as I type Ryan and Amy are on a plane with Josh and Kate heading home to San Diego and Uncle Dan and Aunt Kerry are flying on two different planes to Denver. We had a great week at the lake with my family. Caleb enjoyed playing with Josh, swimming, digging up the front walk, and reading with great-grandma, among other things. Sophie enjoyed meeting Kate, hanging out on the carpet, being held, trying to crawl (crazy woman!), and being around so many people. Our highlights include walks, talking (whenever possible with 4 small children around), swimming, discussing the book "The Shack", games and of course eating.

The Sign has Arrived!

I was so relieved to finally see the SOLD sign out front, I almost kissed it. We sold the house in 2 days, but haven't had a sign saying it has sold or even "Sale Pending" for the last 2 weeks. We have had many people drive very slowly by, turn around, and even a brave woman got out of her car and walked through our backyard (with 2 cars in the driveway and the garage door open!). Hopefully this will help, but man we feel like we're in a fishbowl!

Thank You Aunt Carrie!

Monday we came home from our house inspection to find an awesome package on our front step. The box was filled with cute clothes for Sophia, T-shirts for Caleb and us, a Care bear, Thomas books and a fun farm animal memory game. Caleb immediately had to read the books and then play his farm game. He is excited about sharing it with his cousin next week on vacation. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, Aunt Carrie for your generosity and love. It was such a sweet, unexpected treat for us!

Mommy, I'm going to be handsome

This was the phrase I heard yesterday morning when I came into the bathroom to find Caleb standing on the toilet with his hands full of Chris' hair gel. He was slathering it on his head. At that moment as a mother, I wanted to laugh and scream at the same time. I choose to laugh and we spiked Caleb's hair. Gobs and gobs of gel came off the comb as I tried to style Caleb's hair. I tried to take a picture of Caleb's hair, but the excessive amount of gel in his hair did not photograph well. Just imagine Caleb's hair looking more white than brown. We had a talk about not using Daddy's gel unless Daddy puts it in his hair... Oh 3 year olds are so fun and such a challenge.
This hair episode made me remember another funny incident from the other day. Caleb and I went to Target and as we were leaving we saw a boy with a mohawk. Caleb says (quite loudly) "That boy looks like a rooster!" I guess he was right. I love my funny boy!

It is official

The Masons will be moving in late September. We put in an offer, received a counter-offer, put in a final offer and they accepted it. It was $24K below their original asking price. Praise the Lord, He provides. The last thing to do is our house inspection and then begin dreaming about different paint colors. God has been so good to us.

Moving?!?!

Well, it has been a whirlwind for the Masons this past week. We had our realtor come over a week and a half ago to tell us what to work on so we'd be ready to sell our house next spring. She said "Nothing" and encouraged us to put our house on the market now. We decided to go for it and our house went on the market Tuesday. We had 10+ showings in 3 days, camped out at my (Kim) parents for a few afternoons, received and accepted an offer and have put in an offer on a house.
Now we are in the waiting game. We're praying for peace and that God will provide. It's been a roller-coaster and we're all tired, but excited to see how God provides.

Sophia - Fisherwoman!

Sophia wanted these fish so bad!

Fourth of July

We packed up and went to my (Chris') parents' house, in Sackett's Harbor. We had a blast with the fireworks, visiting the aquazoo (which on the outside looked hokey, but was really, really cool - Caleb petted a shark and 'pinkie-touched' a starfish!) - what a great time we had visiting with Nana and Papa.

Museum Fun!

The whole family went on a fun outing to Strong Museum of Play yesterday morning. We arrived early and were the first ones in the Clifford exhibit. We had a lot of fun in there and also the Berenstein Bears exhibit. When we got home I asked Caleb what was his favorite thing at the museum. He said "Sorting eggs and making the apples go up with the wheel." My favorites were dancing with Clifford costumes and brush a giant set of teeth which made funny noise at us in the Berenstein Bears exhibit.

Sophia Laughing at Mommy

Preparation for Summer

Summer, Summer, Summer!!!

Well it is finally here! Our summer has begun (well it will for Chris is a few more hours). Today it has been threatening to rain, but is beautiful now. Caleb was busy taking care of his Baby Sophia Snoopy this morning and Sophie Girl enjoyed her toys while watching her big bro.

4 1/2 months- Where is the time going?

Sophia is growing so fast.  This time of year is always so busy with the end of the school year.  I don't want to miss anything with the kids.  Only 2 1/2 days with students and then I'm done for the summer!  Sophia has started solid foods.  She's done well with rice cereal so we started some squash this week. She seems to enjoy it... 

Caleb still seems to enjoy being a big brother.  He has learned to share time with her and still loves to kiss his Sophia girl.  We are working on being gentle and it is hard for him to contain his great excitement about his sister.

A Legacy of Faith

When Sophia was born, we weren't sure who she looked like. This past week, Chris and I have been working on a slide show to be used tomorrow for my grandfather's memorial service. I saw this picture and was struck by the resemblance.

Last Monday morning, I was talking to Caleb about Great-Papa being sick and that soon he was going to get to go to heaven. In heaven, he'd be able to run and jump and talk and play with Jesus. Just then the phone rang and it was my dad saying that Grandpa passed away in the night. This week I have reflected a lot on Grandpa's life. Working on the slide show, I have seen aspects of my grandfather that I never knew or at least have forgotten.

My grandfather was a man of great faith. I have been sadden to think that my children will not know him, but I am realizing that they will know him. They will know him in Great-Grandma. In her solid faith, her example of being submissive and a great servant. She is who she is because of her loving husband. They will know him in my uncle, who brings a passion for life and demonstrates service in many ways. And perhaps most closely they will know their Great Papa in their own Papa who is a loving, stable man who is the greatest servant that I know. These people, who my children do know, and countless others are different because of their Great Papa. My prayer is that my children will come to know the Jesus that Grandpa loved and served and in turn Grandpa's legacy of faith will continue.

5 Years!

We celebrated our 5 year anniversary yesterday.  It's hard to believe that it has been 5 years already.  Chris has lost track of the time... When I reflect back, it's amazing how much has happened and how much God has blessed us- 2 wonderful children, a house, 2 teaching jobs, many memories with our families, grandparents that love our children and are actively involved in their lives... I have grown over the past years as I learn to fill my role as a wife. Marriage isn't easy by any means, but realizing that this is an example of Christ's love for us, I am striving to learn to be a better servant to Chris.  Even through the craziness that is life (life particularly with 2 children and the end of the school year), I want to pause and cherish these precious moments. 

3 Months Old- Can you tell them apart?

Sophia turned 3 months yesterday. Here is a picture of Caleb at 3 months. Don't they look a lot alike?

All Smiles

Sophia is certainly breathtaking, isn't she?