Wednesday, October 28, 2009

5 weeks


Mr. Eli is 5 weeks old today. This week he started laughing at us when we tickle him or talk really silly. He is a very serious little fellow but now we get to see his playful side. He is also cooing and is more active with his arms and legs. I couldn't believe that he weighed 10 lbs. 9 oz. on our home scale! When he was born he was 7 lbs. 6 oz. so that is quite a bit for 5 weeks. I am not liking how fast time is moving since he was born. Slow down!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Birthdays

Lilypie First Birthday tickers


Lilypie Third Birthday tickers


Lilypie Fifth Birthday tickers

Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers

Howdy Stranger!





Holy Cow! It's been a long time since I've posted on here! Nearly a year!
Well I guess a lot of things have changed since then :)
On September 23, 2009 we welcomed the newest member of our little family, Eli Bennett. He weight 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. He is now 5 weeks old and fitting in just fine with the rest of our crazy crew. Juggling the schedules and routines of 4 kids + 2 adults is a bit challenging but totally worth it.
Eli started smiling and cooing this week and it totally erases memories of sleepless nights & fussy days. He is a very sincere baby, when he is sad, he is very pathetic, and when he is happy, he is very content.
Lucy is going through a "test the boundaries" phase which makes 2 such a wonderful year. Our perfectly cheerful, compliant princess, has gained some attitude and sass. Oh the ways she tests us, God much be giving us the gift of patience. But despite the attitude, she is still our sweet little Lucy who is so funny and silly and such a sweet little girl. I love her to bits and pieces :)
Jacob started PreK this fall and is adjusting well. He gets a little anxious in social situations and is a bit of a picky eater so we were a little nervous about how he would adjust to a 9-3:30 school schedule with no previous schooling. The first couple of weeks were rough, but I was also 9 months pregnant. He was worried about me and I know the household changes were pretty stressful for a 4 year old! He is doing much better now, eating his lunch regularly, and has made lots of new friends. It's hard to get him out of the school building now because all of his class wants to hug him goodbye! He is also pretty sweet on a girl named Arianna. It's pretty cute. I am very happy that he is adjusting well to being in school!
Dylan started 1st grade like an old pro. He has been attending some sort of school since we started him in half day MWF preschool when he was 3. He has always been the type of kid to enjoy schedules and consistently and he thrives on a nicely scheduled school day. He is doing great learning how to read and write. He has been surprising us with his math skills lately. He is a very smart kid and I'm excited to see how he progresses throughout school.
Andy's job at Dell ended at the end of August. The company they had a contract with restructured and "restructured" out his position. He has been job hunting like crazy and we're pretty hopeful something will turn up soon. In the meantime he has been able to take classes and testing working towards earning his Microsoft certification. He has been able to take these crazy expensive classes and tests through grants from the unemployment dept. It is really a blessing to be receiving these grants. The classes are generally around $2,000 each if he were paying out of pocket! He passed his A+ certification test last week and I am so proud of him! A+ is a certification he has been pursuing since we were married and I'm so glad he is finally able to be doing this. This week he is taking classes working towards his NetPlus certification.
That is a pretty basic wrap up of our lives right now and I'll be working on posting more regularly, especially with new pics of the baby + the kids!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Working on Christmas presents


This year for Christmas I am trying to make as much stuff myself as I can. I had so much fun making these little clothes for the kids Build-A-Bears. The boys are crazy about that store but I seriously don't spend as much money on my own children's clothes than the clothes for those bears cost. We let them get things on special holidays (usually when we get the coupons in the mail!) I decided to make my own clothing patterns for the bears and make each kid a bunch of little outfits. I went through our bag of on-the-way-out-to-Goodwill clothes and recycled a lot of those for the bears. I think my favorite is the little sweater for Lucy. I'm having more trouble getting the pattern right for the pants than the shirts. Their little teddybear butts are pretty round. When I get the pattterns to my liking I will try to post them on here as a PDF file in case anyone else would like to make their own. This is a very satisfying little project for me. I can sew them up very quickly and I know the kids are going to love them. And the best part is it's free!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Go vote!



Please, go vote!

Thank you :)

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Happy Halloween!


Last night we went to Aunt Jodie's annual Halloween party and went trick or treating in the infamous wagon. It's always decorated cutsie, but no one really ever sits in it! I think it just gives the men something to do. The boys were Transformers and Lucy was a Ladybug. When Dylan was a baby my sister gave him a book called 'Lucy the Ladybug' and we always have loved it!


We pretty much expected for no one to 'get' our costumes. No one did, but it's all good ;)

Happy Halloween everyone!

Now we get to think about Christmas, sweet!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Trapezoid Family Circle


Look what I got in the mail today! It's new trapezoid Family Circle. I was thinking our magazines felt a little "square." Now if I could only ready the recipe for those yummy cookies....