Mother's Day with a Twist!!

I have been anxiously waiting to share about my Mother's Day until a later date...I think the time is here!  I can't keep it a secret any longer!  We are having ANOTHER baby!  We are always a little skeptical about announcing such excitement because we aren't very far along, but the truth is it's just too hard to keep it a secret!!  Baby Uglum will arrive sometime between the end of Dec/beginning of Jan.  We are so thrilled!  I had a WONDERFUL mother's day.  We went to church and then went to mom and dad's like usual.  We had Famous Dave's for lunch so mom didn't have to do any cooking/cleaning.  I made a cake that looked like a sunflower (delicious)!  And mom opened her gift!  Kezzie loves presents so she was so excited to have grandma open her gift (even though she didn't know what was in there)!  We decorated a plain white bib and on the back side wrote Grand-baby #11 on it!  Everyone was VERY surprised!  So we took a picture of mom and dad holding the bib and holding 11 fingers up!  We also got some time outside.  Austin has a huge kite that he likes to fly out in the nearby field.  We all went out and watched him fly it.  It was the perfect day for it and he always does such a good job of keeping it in the air!  Later in the afternoon we headed to Brian's parents for some more excitement!  Kezzie was again very excited to watch grandma open her gift and couldn't understand what the big deal was about some random bib!  Kathy's bib had Grand-baby #6 written on the back!  So we took a picture of Riley and Kathy holding up 6 fingers with the bib!  I think they were pretty shocked but excited as well!  Adah always enjoys playing on the piano when we are there and I couldn't resist taking a picture of her!  She is such a doll!  The fun wasn't over because when we finally got home to our own house I still had my gift to open from Brian and the kids.  I collect Willow Tree Angels and so they got me a husband and wife holding the pregnant wife's tummy!  So beautiful!  I am so incredibly blessed to be called 'Mom'.  There is no better name!  I only wish I could have gotten a picture with my three favorite kiddos!   Thank-you God for the kids you have given me!  I love you guys!

New Hideout!

I have had these boxes stored away for a long time in hopes to get this done for the girls...a few days ago they found a small box and were trying to use it as a house so I decided it was time. We cut an opening on one side of each of the boxes so we could tape them together and make it a 'two bedroom'. We cut a couple windows and a main entrance and it was done! The girls (and Austin too) went to work decorating it with markers and crayons! It takes up quite a bit of space in our living room but the girls have a lot of fun hiding in there. I can even fit! Sometimes we put it up on the coffee table (which it fits perfectly on all sides) just to get it out of the way and Adah loves it up there!  She doesn't ever do much in there except just sit and look out the windows!  Kezzie likes to run in there when she is being chased by Austin but doesn't really just hang out in there.  And we have definitely found out that it is just too confining of a space for Kezzie and Adah to be at the same time!  Maybe someday they will love each other that much!!

Keziah is 42 months!

Keziah is an amazing little girl.  She is so sweet and learning so much about how to be a better daughter, sister and person!  She is learning to listen and be kind on a daily basis and challenges these things quite often. 

Some things about Kezzie:
-She is starting to get into organizing.  If I ask her what she is doing sometimes she will tell me "I'm orcanizing!"  It's so cute!
-I love how she analyzes things.  Today (5/8/11)  She was watching Nemo on the way to church.  The mom got eaten by a shark and she asked as series of questions: What happens when she gets in his teeth?  What happens when she gets in his throat?  What happens when she gets into his belly?  What happens after she is in his belly?  She is such a thinker and analyzer!
-Kezzie likes to read books she is familiar with to Adah.  Adah loves it and adores her big sister and her smartness!
-After recently seeing Leora (my cousin, Kezzie's second cousin) she has become a master at story-telling!  The day they were together Leora was teaching her how to write her story out on paper (only they were using napkins) and then presented their stories to the rest of us!  Kezzie's story on her napkin was only readable by her and consisted of many drawings only she could explain!
-We instilled a listening chart to help with listening and a couple different one on one times with mommy each day to cut down on whining.  The listening chart is an idea I got from my sister.  If Kezzie listens to our words on the first try then she gets a sticker.  When she gets 10 stickers she gets 1/2 hour on the computer.  This might seem kind of easy but truthfully she rarely earns one sticker in a day.  I think I need to find more instances where she is listening (maybe I am just used to it and not realizing it) so that she will get the concept a little more.  It's a training process for me too!  The other thing is she can lose stickers for certain things.  I don't like to do this too often but I have done it a couple times for when I am at a loss for anything else.  As for the one on one time, I have been putting Adah down for a nap at least a half hour before Kezzie so she and I can have time to do something together and I put Adah to bed a half hour early at night so Kezzie and I can read books or play something on the iPad together.  I do think this is helping eliminate some whining and complaining about being bored, etc.
-A recent conversation between Kezzie and I (as Adah is flipping off the top of the couch).  Me: Kezzie did you just show Adah how to do that? (this is a problem and Kezzie has been told umpteen times not to flip off the couch) Kezzie: slowly shaking her head no.  Me: Keziah, I am going to give you one more chance to tell me the truth, did you just flip off the couch?  Kezzie: slowly shaking her head yes she says, 'if I tell you the truth I will be set free, but if I lie it will trap me'.  We have a bookmark that we use in her devotional and it is Larryboy from the Veggietales and on the back it quotes, "A lie will trap you but the truth will set you free." (from the verse John 8:32).  Kezzie has a bit of trouble with telling the truth so this is something we talk about frequently!
We love you Kezzie and can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Surprise!!!

Adam had the brilliant idea to throw Emily a surprise party to celebrate a few things that are happening in her life! First of all she completely finished college-never going back! She went back to school to get her endorsement in school counseling. So on top of that she started a new job as a student counselor for the Denver school system, working with kids k-8th grade. Lastly, it's her birthday on Monday and she turns a young 32 years old! Emily has come a long way. Being pregnant with Alanna and getting through school wasn't easy along with being a mom, working a full time job and worrying about where life was taking her next consumed her everyday for the last couple years! I am so incredibly proud of her. I have no idea how she survived it and I'm sure she is wondering the same thing. I know there were days she was barely getting through! But it has all been worth it and best of all God's plan is all coming together for her with the new job that she has and LOVES! We wanted her to have something new for her desk at work so we got her a willow tree angle that's holding an apple. She is making such a difference in the lives of all of those kids and it's exciting to know what an impact she is having on them (as all teachers are).  The angel says 'You are the best.  Thank you for making a difference.'  I thought that was pretty fitting!  We also gave her a little birthday money so she can get herself something to enjoy!  Happy Birthday, graduation, new job Day, Emily!  We love you!
Emily says she was very surprised and had no idea anything was even planned!  We all hid upstairs at Peppers in Cedar Falls and when the waitress pretended to seat them up there we all yelled, 'surprise!'

Potty Training!!

(Sorry if you don't want to look at poop and pee pictures!) 

Yep, you read that heading right! We are at it again!  We started bright and early Monday morning May 2nd. As many of you already know, I am a huge fan of the naked method.  I don't know who originally came up with the idea but John Rosemond is an advocate and I like a lot of his parenting ideas.  I have seen a couple articles by him on this particular method of training.  It also became a part of my life way back when Austin was in an in-home daycare and training at 18 months.  Nancy (the provider) just decided he was ready.  She taught me all I needed to know and between the two of us (and probably with the help of my parents) Austin was trained quickly!  I still can't believe she was willing to deal with all that.  God definitely blessed me in many ways having her in my life! 
 Here is a summary of how the last two weeks have gone:
Day 1: Three successes before 10AM!  The rest of the day was hit and miss.  The biggest issue was her crying and not wanting to sit when I knew and she knew she needed to go.  She was very afraid of the feeling and letting it go.  I partially feel at fault for this because we got so excited when she peed her first pee of the day that maybe it scared her in some way.  I would have to sit in front of her on the potty (facing her) and just hold her legs down until it started to come out.  She would start to cry when it started coming and squirm even more so I would have to hold her down.  I wasn't sure if I was going to continue but she wasn't having many accidents and when she did it was just little dribbles and then off to the potty.  I knew she was getting it so I decided to give it the week. 
Day 2: There was a lot of crying!  She was still very afraid and acted almost like it was hurting to release it.  The same story continued with her crying and squirming when her pee started coming out.  I was worried I was jeopardizing getting her trained EVER by forcing her to sit there and decided to see how the evening went.  I can't tell you how much prayer went into my every moment of the day and I really feel like God was giving me peace with what happened next.  I was making supper and had the potty seat next to me in the kitchen.  Adah literally walked into the kitchen, opened the potty lid and sat down.  I sat down in front of her and positioned her correctly (she couldn't quite get herself on there all the way).  I started holding her legs and like every time before she started crying and squirming when she started going.  BUT this time while her pee was coming out she was clapping and smiling while she was crying.  This was a huge improvement!  The rest of the evening was the same.  I was so HAPPY!  This was my ticket to go on to the next day.
Day 3: I had to leave the house for a hour in the morning so she wet in her diaper.  She had two successes before lunch though and even had a successful poop right after lunch!  She woke from her 2.5 hour nap DRY!  She told me she had to pee and went!  There was very little crying when the pee would come (still squirming and I would lightly hold her legs) and much excitement!
So here we are on Day 15 and she is doing great.  Last Monday (day 8) we left the house for a short time with training undies on.  She has since then gone just about everywhere in undies.  Even day 7 (the first Sunday after starting training) we had to pull over on our way to church so she could pee in the little potty.  She had a diaper on but she really had to go and didn't want to release it in her diaper.  I still wasn't comfortable putting her in undies for church yesterday (day 14) because for one we have an hour drive (don't need pee on the car seat!) and for two I didn't want the nursery to worry about her peeing in her pants.  She stayed DRY the whole day yesterday.  We did have to pull over again just a couple miles from church so she could pee but she did excellent all day even staying dry for her almost 3 hour nap!  Now here we are today (two weeks to the day of starting) and she is amazing.  She has taken herself to the potty twice already after waking up with a barely wet diaper.  Now if I could just teach her how to say a word for pee and poop.  ANY word would be nice.  Right now all I'm getting is a panicked look and she points to her butt (for poop and pee).  She does kind of say a noise with the back of her throat that resembles the word poop, I guess.  What a smart little girl!  And to think I almost gave up on the second day!  Thank-you Jesus for the peace to keep going!

It's Golden!

Most years Adam and I celebrate our birthdays together since we are just a couple weeks apart in April, however, this one was extra special for him...he turned 30 on the 30th! We were supposed to celebrate with a party at Pizza Ranch last night but he threw his back out and had to cancel since he was pretty much destined to his couch! I guess that's what happens when you start getting old!! He was feeling a little better today so he made it over to mom and dad's for steaks on the grill, presents and cake. I tapped thirty $1 bills together to spell out the word thirty!  I love the picture of Alanna and I!  Such a doll!  Happy 30th Adam!  I hope that back gets straightened out!

Adah is 16 & 17 MONTHS!

Adah at 17 months!

4 days before 16 months!

This was actually a result of me taking Kezzie's month pictures.  Adah just had to have her picture taken too and they turned out so cute!  She is such a ham ball!

16 months old!

Here is Adah at 16 months!  She loves glasses, headbands, goggles, hats, etc.  Pretty much anything that she can put on her head/face she will wear around for quite a while at a time!

Adah is such a copy cat!  I don't know what kid isn't at this age but it's so fun to watch her try to imitate you!  Adah loves birds!  We have a bird feeder right outside our living room window and she gets super excited when birds come to eat!

Words Adah says: Hi, Ahtin (Austin), up, out, done, apuhm (apple), gook (book), baby, lanna (cousin Alanna), lella (Bella), puppy, cat, meow, moo, baa, quack, duck, off, hot...I will have to think some more!  She is great at signing: milk, book, eat, please, movie, drink, all done, more, hello/bye, bath, thank-you.

Whenever I leave the room for even a second, she know it and will start yelling, "mooooommmmm".  It's pretty cute and I usually holler back, "Aaaaadaaaaah".  She thinks this is a fun game! 

One thing I am really enjoying with Adah is prayer.  We have been trying to remember to do it just the two of us before bed every night.  We pray at supper but this is different...she sits on my lap facing me and sometimes she will rest her forehead on mine or lay her head on my shoulder and I will say a prayer about her and about our day and our time together and you can tell she loves it!

A funny story about Adah:  a while ago...probably a month at least, I was doing some spot cleaning around the house.  Adah had followed me into the bathroom where I noticed some dust collecting on the kleenex dispenser.  I lightly blew some air at the top of it to blow all the dust away and apparently Adah was watching because now every time she walks into the bathroom she climbs up onto the stool and blows the kleenexes!  I can't believe she even remembers me doing such a thing.  She's my little helper, keepin' those kleenexes dust free!

Adah's schedule is pretty much the same.  And even though it's been two months since I posted her schedule, she is actually still nursing 3 times a day!  I don't see her making changes to that anytime soon, but I could be wrong!  One change she did have is she dropped her morning nap mid April.  She is still occasionally taking it, (1-2 times/week) but it is typically best if she doesn't have one at all!  This is kind of nice because it leaves the mornings open to do other things.  But one down side is the girls aren't really ready to eat/take afternoon naps at the same time anymore.  I have to push Adah to wait 'til 11:30/12 for lunch and then I have to push to keep her up until 12:30/1 so Kezzie is ready for a nap too.  It's all worth it though when I am sitting her blogging to you with no noise around me, or sorting laundry without somebody unsorting it!

I also wanted to make note that Adah quit her breakfast infant cereal mid April too.  I have religiously pumped milk every morning to mix in with Adah's cereal and when we went on our mini vacation I didn't do it while we were gone and didn't feel like picking it back up when we got back.  Adah seemed to make up for it by drinking both sides so I wasn't uncomfortable anyway!  It was an easy transition for both of us.  I still occasionally give her cereal mixed with fruit and water but mostly just give her what everybody else is having! 

We continue to have fun playing tickling games, chasing Adah around the room, rolling and bouncing a ball, and just plain loving her!  She is such a joy to be around and I can't wait to see what the next month is going to bring!  We love you Adah!

Cuties!

  

These are my adorable (and strange) kids! Yes that is a pair of goggles Keziah is wearing! She got them from the Easter bunny and hasn't hardly taken them off since! And that purple ball didn't even come from the Easter bunny (just came the same weekend), but it was from a consignment shop in Waverly. She LOVES it and obviously holds onto it at all times in fear of Adah stealing it! The girls look so sweet sitting there together! They are probably having a book read to them on the iPad or something. In just a matter of moments though Adah will have the 'home screen' button pushed and Kezzie will be screaming for her to get away! I had to catch a photo fast! Of course Austin would cover his face. I think I get the back of his hand more then his face but that's ok because I really just wanted to capture Adah gleefully bouncing up and down on that ball (and in adorable pig tales none the less)! And the last is of Adah laying on her blankie on top of the register which is blowing out heat! She couldn't get enough of it. Plus she wasn't quite fully awake yet so she was pretty relaxed!

Tired Baby!

After getting home this evening we had one wiped out little girl!  We always unload all our stuff and set it in the kitchen to unpack.  She got to it first and pulled out all her blankets and her little pillow.  We thought she was awfully quiet and nowhere to be seen.  Upon investigation this is where we found her!  I guess Easter wore her out!  She is such a sweetie!

Happy Easter!

We went to church this morning (wonderful service) and then over to mom and dad's where they made a ham and duck.  My grandma Smith came along with a couple of my mom's brothers (uncle Craig and his son Dustin and uncle Wayne and aunt Jane).  Jane made some superb pies that are definitely worth mentioning (and a couple other things too)!  I made some deviled eggs (our previously dyed Easter eggs came in handy), Emily brought Snicker Apple Salad and mom and dad provided everything else.  The meal was delicious!  Before we sat down to eat we decided to do our egg hunt.  We hid them all downstairs.  Some were really high up for Austin and some were just sitting in plain site for Adah.  Unfortunately, Jamie, Keith and Rylan were in New Hampton so they weren't there.  Mom had five special Easter eggs for each of the kids each containing gold coins.
Aren't my kids the most beautiful kids you have ever seen?  I do admit Austin really could use a hair cut.  I never think of those things until it is too late!  Regardless, they are still amazing kiddos!  I thank God so much everyday for the opportunity to have Life and raise these little blessings!

 Here is a video that my church played on Easter Sunday...I wish you all could have been there!

Easter Baskets!

We knew Easter morning was going to be pretty hectic since Sunday mornings always are so we decided to have the Easter Bunny come while the girls napped today.  So when they woke up their baskets were ready for them!  Kezzie was pretty excited and of course Adah got into it too!  Kezzie got: goggles, new cups, a water bottle, Don't Spill the Beans, Bambi, a pack of 4 puzzles, bubbles, a squishy ball and a little candy.  Adah got a big book, a furReal pet duck, molding clay (that doesn't dry out), squishy ball, some graham crackers and a little bit of candy (that she will probably never eat!).  Austin got (he was with his dad this weekend so he won't get his 'til tomorrow): a thing you stick in the ground and it holds your fishing pole, a kindle gift certificate, an Iowa Hawkeyes shirt, a squirt gun and a bunch of candy!  While we don't want to forget what Easter is really about we do enjoy giving our kids these little baskets of fun!

Keziah is 40 & 41 MONTHS!

My sweet Kezzie is another month older and another month older (I'm a little behind)!!  Here she is at 40 months old with her 'buga buga friend' (boxelder bug).  She insisted that he be in the picture with her.  She loves these things...if she sees one crawling around the house she will get really excited and play with it/let it crawl on her until she kills it or it flies away.  She really likes bugs! 

She is so grown up and such a sweetie!  She is so smart too...I am AMAZED!  She knows all her letters by recognition and the sound they make.  This makes things easier sometimes.  For example: when it's time to take her vitamin for the day I just tell her what letters to look for on her pill box pertaining to the day it is and she finds it!  This has also sparked an interest in the days of the week and months.  She has known her colors for probably a year but only recently she has become interested in them again.  She likes games that ask her to match colors, puzzles having to do with colors, etc.  She also knows her numbers, I'm not sure how high she can count though.  I know she understands the concept of counting but I haven't ever had her count really high.  I am also unsure of how many numbers she can actually recognize.  I know she knows up to 10 for sure.  She recently learned how to spell her name too.  For a while she knew the first three letters but recently got it all down (mid April)!  Keziah is getting really good at praying at dinner.  She sometimes requires help but for the most part makes it up herself.  One thing she is sure to say every time is 'thank-you for our bodies'.   So sweet! One last thing I want to mention is that she talks about death...excessively.  I don't think it's anything to worry about I just think it's strange.  She's just so curious!  Brian's great Aunt Mable died not too long ago (and within a year or so before that she had been to two other funerals also) and she tells everybody her 'great grandma Nable died'.  Kezzie has a lot of questions pertaining to death and Mable specifically (she saw her in the casket and asks things like: what happened to her legs, why were her hands on her chest, why did she have glasses on if she is dead, etc).  One thing I want her to be sure to understand is that when you die you get to go to a wonderful place called Heaven and live with Jesus only if you have Jesus in your heart.  She repeats this information a lot when talking to me or others.  The other day (4/20/11) we were having our tenth conversation about death that day and it was like something new just clicked.  She stopped to think for a minute and then asked me, "Well, what if you don't have Jesus in your heart?  Where do you go then?"  I thought that was such a grown-up kind of question that requires deep thought for a 3 year old.  I of course answered her with no sugar coating.  I said, 'Well, people who don't have Jesus in their hearts unfortunately go to hell'.  She asked what hell was and I told her it was a horrible place where a bad bad angle called the devil lives.  She went around saying 'hell is a berry berry bad place' the rest of the day!  She had many more questions about hell like: who is in hell?  are there ghosts in hell? where is hell?  what is hell like?  I cherish these sweet learning moments and am so thankful that she is learning the Truth about Jesus' love for us!  Here is our Kez at 41 months old!  Cute little pig tails.  I'm not sure the last time I put her hair up but she really loves it!

We love you sweet Kezzie!

SLIME!

Today Kezzie and I made a recipe from my church cookbook.  It's called SLIME!   It was really fun/easy to make together and we had even more fun playing with it!

Here's how to make it (I actually halved it and there was plenty, here's the full recipe):

mix together 1 cup (7-8oz. bottle) of Elmer's Glue with 1 cup of water and 1 drop of food coloring of your choice.

In a separate bowl combine 3 tsp. of borax and 1 1/3 cup WARM water.

Combine the two mixtures, drain off the excess water and play.  Keep in closed container.

We have had a lot of fun this afternoon trying different things with it and experimenting with cutting and smooshing.  We even made it into a ball and it bounced!  It doesn't have a nasty smell either!

I'm 30 :(

Today was the last of our days away from home. We didn't want to go all the way home to New Hampton after Bennett's birthday party and then drive back for church the today so we decided to end our weekend with a night at mom and dad's.  It turned out that Perry and Cindy and their four kids were coming to stay too!  I was pretty excited about this because I knew that we were celebrating my birthday after church and with Perry and Cindy in town there were more loved ones to celebrate with.  Grandma Smith even came for lunch and later Gary and Alena and Melissa and her two kids.  It was so nice to be with family!  The flowers came from my friend in Dubuque and my little sis Jamie!  They are so beautiful and smell wonderful!

Bennett is 3!

After leaving Dubuque Saturday afternoon we came straight to Bennett's 3rd birthday celebration!  He is such a sweet little boy and it's so much fun to watch him grow!  He is getting bigger and learning right along with his peers!  He is a talker and a screamer!  He has a very opinionated personality!  He is much braver than many kids and very determined to do things!  We love Bennett so much and are so thankful to have him as a part of our family!  Happy Birthday Buddy!

Mini Vacation!

Kezzie is showing us her swimming skills!  I couldn't get the better video to load so this one will have to do!

And here is Adah 'jumping' off the side into my arms!  She giggles so much when I catch her!  And when I set her back on the cement she gets super excited to do it all over again!

This weekend I turned 30 years old!  I can't believe it.  I feel like I am officially getting old.  I mean, seriously, I am only 10 years away from 40!  Anyway, to celebrate as a family we decided to take a little trip together.  We haven't gone anywhere for a long time so we thought this would be perfect.  We went to the indoor water park in Dubuque.  The Grand Harbor Resort and Waterpark.  It was wonderful and just what we needed!  There were 3 bigger slides perfect for Austin's age, a lazy river, a basketball hoop area, and an area no more than 2 feet deep.  Adah and Kezzie had a blast.  They each enjoyed jumping off the edge to me.  Kezzie learned how to swim with a life jacket on and did awesome keeping her legs down so she wasn't wobbling all over.  She learned to hold her breath too!  Brian did great hanging out with the girls in the shallow end while Austin and I went and did our own thing on the big slides! There are two slides right next to each other so we had a good time racing each other to the end and back up again.  There's areas you have to climb up and through making it a challenge to get there fast.  Austin came up too fast in one area and hit his head really hard.  OUCH!  Kezzie was even allowed to go down 2 of the 3 bigger slides on my lap and really enjoyed that.  She even went down the other big slide that required an inner tube and was completely enclosed and dark.  On this particular slide she wasn't allowed to sit on my lap and instead had to sit by herself on the double tube with me.  That didn't seem to bother her at all and said she had fun!  I was really happy with how well everybody slept that night too.  We had the two girls in our room with us and Austin was out in the living room on a hide-a-bed.  The rooms were completely dark so the girls slept really well and Adah slept late!  After getting the girls to bed Brian, Austin and I hung out in the living room watching TV, eating junk food, and playing Angry Birds on the iPad!  Kezzie was up at 6:15 like usual on Friday morning and after I got her set up with a cartoon and some cereal, I went back to bed for another hour!  That was nice!  Probably not so nice for Austin since he was the one out in the living room with Kezzie watching TV!  While Brian and I got everything rounded up and Adah fed, Austin and Kezzie went down to the arcade where they blew through $10 earning a bunch of tickets to get some prizes for them both!  They had so much fun since it is basically a Chuck-E-Cheese!

 After a couple hour swim Friday morning, we requested a late check out and loaded our things to head over to our friends' house, who lives in Dubuque, and we stayed a night with them.  They graciously watched our kids for us while we went to a movie and out to eat for supper!  We went to Source Code (very good movie) and ate at The Star (wonderful food).  Saturday my friend and I headed to a consignment shop and got some good deals on clothes for the kids.  After Adah took a much needed nap we hopped in the car and headed to Independence where we celebrated Bennett's 3rd Birthday (post coming soon)!  It was a great couple of days away from home and just doing something we all enjoyed together.  I am so greatly blessed to have such a wonderful family!  And I am really looking forward to what Brian and the kids got me...a gift certificate to a spa in Cedar Falls.  I should be able to get an hour massage and a haircut or something!  And all without kids!  What a blessed 30th birthday!

Finally...

Won't be long now, my faithful blog followers!  I have finally received my new laptop (after having my laptop and desktop crash within a couple days of each other) and I am ready to catch up on blogging!  I will be back-dating everything so keep your eyes peeled for some new updates!  And thanks once again for keeping up with our AWESOMELY BLESSED family!

Dying Easter Eggs!

Today mom decided it would be a great day to dye some Easter eggs.  It didn't work out for Emily and Adam's family to be there but we did get to see Molly and Gavin and Nate.  Gavin and Kezzie always get along well and enjoyed doing the eggs together.  Austin even got into it!  Rylan and Adah just caused problems!  I didn't even let Adah near a cup of dye.  Jamie at least let Rylan do a little!  When it was all done we ended up taking home 17 eggs between Austin and Kez.  I guess we will be having some deviled eggs and egg salad sandwiches in the near future!  Thanks Mom for heading this up and keeping the mess at your house!!  We love you!

A walk to the park!

Today we decided to get outside in the beautiful weather.  We wanted to make it a family affair but Austin wasn't really thrilled about going to his school playground to play!  Not to mention that he is getting really sick of his annoying leg brace, but we made him go anyway.  It's only a short walk to the school so we put the kids in the wagon and headed out.  It was a lot of fun and even Austin got into it when he realized he might as well make the best of it!  I am amazed at how brave Adah is.  She is very confident going down even the biggest slide all by herself.  I hope that never changes!  She doesn't mind it when I help her either so if I don't feel comfortable at least she isn't pushing me away.  Kezzie really enjoyed the hanging bars and frequently asked daddy to help her move along them.  I even tried out my skills on the high bar and hung from my legs for roughly 20 seconds!  I think Kezzie was less than impressed, but it made me feel young again!  I wasn't, however, about to try spinning around the bar with one leg (do you remember this fun and scary trick?).  We headed home just in time for naps!  I am looking forward to many more walks to the playground this summer!

Dress Up Time!

The girls are playing more and more together these days.  Today the pulled out all of Kezzie's dress up clothes and had me dress them up in different things.  Adah was cheesin' it up in front of the mirror.  You could tell she thought she looked beautiful!  Kezzie really enjoyed it too!  They both especially like the wings and wands so it's a really good thing we have two of each.  And of course, Adah LOVED the hat!

Doctor/Patient

The puppies had baths and nails clipped today and Bella even got shaved.  Every spring and usually once during the summer Bella gets a good shave.  She is such a happier pup afterwards.  Today, in particular, she was not very happy.  I accidentally clipped one of her nails too short and it wouldn't stop bleeding.  I ended up holding her on my lap with a kleenex on her paw for over an hour.  It was bleeding too hard to put her in her kennel and I didn't want blood all over so I just held onto her.  The girls thought this was a perfect opportunity to play doctor on her and try to make her feel better!

 

 

New Seat!

A few days ago we ordered Adah a new car seat off amazon and today we received it.  She is becoming more and more unsettled in her rear facing infant seat so we decided it was time.  We have liked Keziah's car seat so much that we got Adah one just like it.  I was just curious as to what age Kezzie was when we switched her around and it was March 18, 2009 (almost exactly to the day)!  Click here to see Keziah in her new seat when she was Adah's age!
I love comparing them at the same age to see what cute little individuals they are!  Adah has so much more hair then Kezzie!  And Kezzie seems so much longer then Adah!  It's funny that without even realizing it we do a lot of things the same way as we did with Kezzie!  I can't believe how big Adah is getting and such a cutie!  She is going to love facing forward in the car!

Cousin's Day!!!

Today was a great day!  My mom is on spring break this week so she took a day to spend with me and four of her grand kids.  First we met at the Phelps Pavilion in Waterloo.  We spent a pretty big chunk of time there and even ate lunch in their cafeteria.  Since it was spring break week they were have $1 specials on everything. Admission was $1 and food was also.  It was a pretty inexpensive morning.  After lunch we went on to the grout museum where it was just plain hot and crowded.  The kids were tired too so that didn't help but we made the best of it and still managed to enjoy it quite a bit.  The littlest ones were getting very tired so we went to mom and dad's and put them down for a nap.  Ethan got to stay up and hang out with grandma and I and play some games on the computer!  It was a special day for all of us.

Exploring our own backyard!

Every spring when the snow melts it is so much fun to rediscover our own back yard.  It never gets old!  And this year it is a lot of fun for Adah because she is walking and can take herself wherever she wants to go!  It's pretty cute to watch her explore and see things for the 'first time'!  And look at that picture of Keziah...she is so beautiful!

On a side note: pay no attention to all the yard work that needs to be done.  It's gonna take a lot of time and effort.  Maybe a family work day is in order!

Twin Ponds Nature Center

Today we went to the Twin Ponds Nature Center (just South of New Hampton) with our playgroup.  It's a short 10 minute drive away and today was the first I had ever been there!  The girls loved it.  The theme was 'gone fishing' so the leader had several fishing related things to do.  He also educated us on a few different kinds of fish.  When we were done inside we went out and did some exploring outside.  We went on a little hike to look at the ponds (they are still frozen over) and when we were done with that the kids got to play on the playground.  It was a little chilly out but really nice to get outside for a bit.  It is giving us hope that spring is on the way!

Keepin' Busy!

We have had quite the fun-filled day today. I had the camera out to snap some photos of us having fun!

 The snow is melting and it is actually pretty nice outside!  Keziah just carries around her bucket and shovel from the sandbox and enjoys digging in the snow!  Adah had fun sitting on Kezzie's trike and me pushing her around the driveway!  Keziah is getting really brave on the swings!

After being outside for what seemed like such a short time, Kezzie was climbing the playground and her boot must have been slippery from the snow causing her to slip and hit her face.  We thought we would run inside and get it fixed up to go back out, but it was bleeding pretty bad.  She wanted me to take some pictures of it to remember!  I also took this picture of her toe because that just happened yesterday.  She and Austin were moving around the bar stool chairs and using them to shoot balls into and it tipped over and landed on her toe just right.  It turned black right away. 

And after all that playing outside and eating a good lunch we decided to take baths.  We normally do this before bed but decided it would be nice to get it out of the way and get clean before climbing into bed!  I had to snap some pictures since we were doing baths at a much less rushed/stressful time.  Adah is so much fun in the bath.  She is so giggly and happy.  She is really going to hate these pictures someday!  And then after bath (and a little milk), there's Adah so sweet and content in her bed.  She loves her bed!  She enjoys having her pillow, her flower blanket, her little taggie blanket, her Curious George (that is actually Kez's), and her two pacis with her when she goes to sleep.  And later that evening when I was making supper Kezzie enjoyed playing in some flour.  It was messy, but she had a lot of fun and it kept her busy for quite a while!

Snowy Fun!

Look at these sweet kids!  It's so fun to watch Austin and Kezzie outside together.  She LOVES her big brother and LOVES to be outside!  Adah...not so much!  She had enough within the first 5 minutes!  She was happier to watch from the living room window where it was warm!  The snow was perfect for a snowman but almost too wet as the coal didn't stick very well!  I thought it was pretty cute though!

Austin's knee...

I don't think I have ever officially mentioned Austin's leg, so here I go...Around Christmas time Austin started mildly complaining that his leg hurt just below the knee.  It would hurt and then get better so we just assumed that it was tendinitis and suggested he try taking IBU regularly and if that didn't work that we would take him to the doctor to get it looked at.  He didn't think it hurt enough to take IBU so he never did making me believe it must not be that bad.  He occasionally mentioned it but for the most part acted like it was fine.  Sometime in  the middle of January Austin was having some pretty severe pain after his knee buckled getting out of his dad's jeep.  After taking him to the doctor and getting x-rays it was determined that he had a broken tibia.  And after seeing an orthopedic surgeon a few days later it was determined that he had Osgood-Schlatter's disease.  This is a very common condition found in mostly boys between the age of 9-16.  His tibia broke as a result of this and thus began the healing process (and the end of his basketball season).  He was sent home with a leg brace and told to be seen back in 2 weeks, at that apt. he was told to wear it another 4 weeks and then just recently on March 2nd, another 6 weeks.  We go back on April 13th and probably by then he will be able to go without it.  Until then he is really going to have to be careful and keep his brace on.  Easier said then done for an active 12 year old!  Heaven help us!

Adah is 15 MONTHS!

Well, Adah turned 15 months on the 27th of February but I wanted to wait until her 15 month check up so I could post about that at the same time.  She went today for that and weighed in at 24.4 lbs. (@75%).  She was 2' 6.25" (less than 50%).  So a little short and stubby!  But as cute as can be!  We had some concerns with Adah.  It seems like these same problems emerged with Kezzie when she was around this age.  It turns out Adah has eczema like Kez.  It's especially bad behind her ears in the cracks where it actually bleeds sometimes, but she gets it in other places as well.  She is also starting to get it around her mouth like Kezzie did.  Another concern we had was her tongue.  I see her very frequently pulling at her tongue as if there is a hair in her mouth.  The doctor completely disregarded it as nothing but I thought maybe there was a sore in there.  He thinks maybe she has the same sensitivity on her tongue as she does on her skin.  And for about the last week Adah has been dealing with diarrhea.  The doc wasn't concerned and thought maybe it is either a virus or maybe even teething.  I just hope it goes away soon!  Adah did get two more teeth this month.  Tooth #11 (bottom L molar) came in 1/29/11.  And #12 (bottom R molar) came in 1/31/11.  She is adorable with her toothy grin!  I have yet to see any signs of her eye teeth coming in...
At Adah's check up she had to have three more shots.  She screamed at the initial poke but recovered quickly (especially when we gave her a sucker)!  As if that wasn't enough, she had to have her blood drawn again to see if she is doing better with her iron.  Instead of the usual finger prick though, they had to put a needle in her arm.  Mommy was the lucky one who got to hold her arm straight and firm.  Not fun for either of us.  In the end I would prefer it this way because it was so much faster than trying to squeeze blood out of a tiny dot in the tip of her finger.  Results came back and she is still low in iron so we continue with the Fer-in-sol (iron drops) twice a day. 
Adah is saying more and more.  She said HI for the first time 2/1/11.  Whenever I go in to get her from nap or in the morning, I will say a long, drawn out, high pitched "HIIIIIIIII".  I guess she picked up on it!  It is very cute and I sometimes don't even realize it is her instead of Kezzie because it sounds so perfect!  She is trying to say many things.  If you try to teach her a word she will give it her best to mimic you!  She certainly isn't the talker her sister was by now, and that's ok with me.  I know I am always comparing them but I love that Adah is her own personal self.  She is super smart in other ways-in her own ways!
Adah is still nursing 3 times a day.  She wakes around 7/7:30, still naps in the AM (although this, I am thinking, is coming to an end...didn't I say that last month?!), and lays down for a 1:30/2pm nap time.  Bed is at 7:30ish.  She is doing so much better with table foods, but still requires some food to be pureed.  She loves broccoli though which I think is strange because she is so picky about textures!
The next thing on my mind is potty training.  I know it's a little early yet, but I am just getting it in my mindset.  She is already telling me when she is poopy so I think she is getting close...maybe in the next month or two I will give this a try!!!  I am so excited to be done with diapers again!  It's hard to believe that Kez was trained at 17 or 18 months.  We'll see if Adah follows suit on that one!  I hope so!
Make sure you check out her pictures at the top...it's so cute!  She just got done with her bath and her hair has such sweet curls.  They never last but maybe she will be a little like her mom and have some curl!
So long for now...more on this beautiful angel next month!