Micah turned 3 months and sissy turned TWO!

Okay really, I have 10 minutes, so I thought I would update the blog (long overdue, but I am here nonetheless). I absolutely love having 4 children! They are so much fun! Micah just turned 3 month last week and we celebrated Taylor's 2nd birthday a few weeks back. Here are the stats. Taylor is a whopping 23 lbs. and is 33 inches tall. She's in the 28% for height and 8% for weight. Don't take this the wrong way. The girl can eat! She eats more than the boys do sometimes! She's little but makes up for it in spunk! She talks. and talks. and talks. nonstop. Josh and I will be having a conversation and she will be in the same room playing with her toys, not even looking at us, and be repeating everything we say. She is a little ham and can always make her brothers laugh. It usually has something to do with her saying something she's not suppose to like, "poopy diaper" over and over again. Nice, right? She sleeps in her big girl bed and loves to go outside! She has long hair with the most precious curls. Tutus are her outfit of choice lately, but don't let that fool you. The girl is a tomboy at heart and runs outside and gets that tutu as dirty as she can! We love our  Taylor!  Micah is now three months and about 2 days after his 3 month birthday, the little stinker rolled from his back to his belly! WHAT? Way too early if you ask me, but I guess he has to keep up with the big kids. Micah is little too. He weighs in at a whopping 11 lbs. he's at about the 22% in height and weight. He loves to talk, and has just recently discovered the best toy ever, his tongue! He loves it and will show it to you all the time! One of his favorite things to do is lay on the floor on a blanket and watch PBS with his siblings. Yes, I know I am a horrible mother for allowing my 3 month old to watch television, but he can't really see anything because it is so far away. He just likes the lights. That's what I keep telling myself anyway....

Noah is our big boy and he will be in the 1st grade next week! He is so funny! He has informed me many times that he does not want it to be August. He wants it to stay July forever! Don't we all buddy, don't we all. Some stats on Noah: he is 60 lbs. and 50 in. tall. 73% in height and 83% in weight. Big Boy. Some of his fav things to do is play the wii (of course), and since daddy recently took his training wheels off, the boy loves to ride his bike! He is a very analytic thinker. Black and White with this boy, there is no in between. Because of the way he thinks, he is very very good at math and numbers. He loves counting up his money and lets me know how much more he needs to buy whatever it is he wants. Usually a wii or DS game. I think the next one he wants is something like Mario Cart 7 (how many of those things do they need really??).  Jacob is next. He will be in KINDERGARTEN this year! I thought for sure he was not ready. He hasn't been in preschool for almost 2 years, and still struggles a little bit with his letters. Well, we signed him up and went in for our prekindergarten screening. I wasn't able to be in there while he was being tested, so after the test I went in to pick him up ready to get the "he's not quite there" talk from the teacher. Well, he scored above average on the test. What? I laughed and said, are you sure? no, really? She laughed and said he did quite well and that apart from getting a few letters confused he did great! Wow! So excited to hear that! Proud of our Jacob. Jacob's favorite thing to do has not changed since he was a baby. The kids LOVES dirt. We go to the park up the road to play and he kicks his shoes off and sits and plays in the dirt the whole time. His hands and feet are BLACK when we are done, so a bath everyday is a MUST with that kid! He is tall and skinny. Actually he is built just like my brother. His last appointment was back in March (before the move) and I cannot for the life of me find the paper where I wrote everything down. He loves to watch Noah play the wii and has actually in the past few month been playing himself. He's not quite as mastered as Noah is, so there is often some quarreling in the play room which usually involves Jacob not pushing A or B, but he's doing pretty good! Jacob has an amazing imagination! We went to the water park the other day and for an hour (I kid you not) he was bent over playing with a long blade on grass. Swirling it in the water and watching it "swim". So funny. Every time I looked up for a head count, he was in the same place in the same position watching that thing. Love that kid. He is a stinker sometimes, they all are, but I love them and am so thankful to be called their mommy!

Taylor in her BIG girl bed!!!

Sweet Micah.

Three of Four after the water park and ice cream.

What? It is.

Our Treasure 

The big boys.

Just another day at the park.

The boys. 

She is his second mommy.

She loves him so much! He is still undecided.

Just turned two! (Obviously.)

One Month Old

Baby Micah turned one month yesterday. He had an appointment today and weighed in at 8 lbs. 12 oz. YEP! More than TWO pounds than his birth weight. Bubba is a good eater! Ha ha. Noah graduated from kindergarten two weeks ago so our summer has officially began. To Noah, summer means play the wii all day, not go to bed at 8:00 and eat whenever and whatever he wants to. Poor guy has been brought to reality. We have many plans this summer. Weekly trips to the library, playdates with friends, Tee ball games, trip to Florida, trips to Michigan, birthday parties, and much more. When I look at it on the calendar, it's alot, but it's better for us to be busy! Micah is definitely a "on the go" baby. So was Taylor. They are very low maintenance which is nice for our hectic, busy schedule. Noah turns 7 the end of this month and Taylor will be 2 the end of next month. CRAZY how fast they are growing up.

We had a baby boy!!!!!!

He is seriously the best baby! Micah D was born last week and weighed in at a hefty 6lbs 9 oz. My smallest baby to date. I seriously thought he would be at least 8 lbs. The little guy likes to move it move it. He was moving so much inside of me that I thought he was alot bigger. He is very strong and has his daddy's temper. Sometimes if it has been 3hours and 1 minute until he has eaten, he gets very MAD. This kid has some lungs!!!! Big brothers love him! Noah always talks about how he loves Micah's eyes, and Jacob is good to remember his name (that kid has always had a hard time with names). Taylor is not quite ready to hand Micah the baby card yet. She likes to take his paci and put it in her mouth, as well as get into his cradle, car seat, swing, you name it. I remember Noah like to do that too when Jacob first came.  We sure love the little guy and thank the Lord for a healthy pregnancy and delivery. I was able to spent 2 days in the hospital after the C-section, then came home to my sister and mom who came to help. So. thankful. for them.....

May 1? Yikes....

Wow, I really really need to get back on this thing. I guess with three little ones (another on the way in a week) and moving three times, we've been a little busy. Almost a whole year of our lives not documented on the blog....so sad. Here's to spending more time on here!!!!

Jacob's 4 and Taylor's 9 months!!!!!!

Spring Break!!! That's where we have been! The kids and I packed up and drove all the way down to Florida! We stopped at Aunt Kara's (which is about halfway) to spend the night, and made GREAT time!!! It was fun to see the kids back at church in their old SS classes. The boys miss their Lakeland buddies, and played and played and played all day with them. Taylor doesn't know a stranger so she was loving all the extra attention and new surroundings to explore! We drove back home on a Saturday which was Jacob's birthday. When we walked in the house, daddy had yellow and black balloons EVERYWHERE!!! There was also cupcakes and a HUGE Batman balloon attached to a big present. Jacob was so excited. He has been talking for months and months about how he wanted a "batman burfday". We were exhausted from traveling, but did have a fun time celebrating our little guy. Hardly can believe he is 4!!!!! Taylor also had a birthday on that day (sort of). She is now 9 months old! We went to the doctor this week and she is 17lbs exactly, and is 28 in. long. She is in the 16% for weight and 60% for height. Hmmmmm, sounds like a volleyball player to me :) She is doing SO much better with her food. She has decided that she likes oatmeal for breakfast (finally) and doesn't necessarily have to eat off a metal spoon (so glad THAT is over). She tells me she is "all done" by putting her arms up in the air. She is talking too. She calls her brothers Bubba, says Momma, Dadda, and Baba. She can do the Indian call and waves Bye Bye. We are working on blowing kisses and at this point she thinks it is hilarious but hasnt tried it yet. She has mastered crawling and is quite fast!! When you say her name she crawls away faster (little stinker). She cruises along the furniture and can stand by herself for about a second (does that count?). Her favorite thing to do is clap her hands. She does patty cake and loves the song if you're happy and you know it. I love the little clapping sound she makes. Jacob also went in for his 4 year check and he is a whopping 41 lbs and 43 in. long. He is in the 80% for height and 50% for weight. While he looks skin and bones the doctor says he was textbook perfect. She said they are suppose to look skinny at this age and they will beef up in the next couple years. I was surprised when she told me that most of the 4 year olds that come in are overweight. FOUR?? That's nuts!

Noah has started Tball. He LOVES it. He is doing very well too! It is definitely a "intro" to baseball. No outs, everybody bats, and no umpires, but he is getting it! We took the kids to the park yesterday and played catch and practiced hitting and we were surprised how well he was hitting. The biggest thing is, this is something he enjoys and looks forward to and it is not the Wii... ha ha.. just kidding. sort of :)

Anyway, the day after the birthday celebrations was Easter. What a joy to celebrate as a family Christ's Resurrection!!!!! The music and message at church were phenomenal! I was brought to tears several times. We had lunch at Outback, home for naps, then finished the day attending the production The Living Cross. We took the kids and while it was hard for them to sit still (especially Jacob), they were able to see the story of Christ's life and what was sacrificed for us. We have been talking with Noah about Christ and his relationship with him lately. This was a great tool.

Hope your celebrations were wonderful and memories made! We praise the Lord for family and His wonderful gift to us!!!

Gorgeous Sunset coming home from Noah's game.

Our big Tballer....

Blessings

Joy

FAMILY!

Easter Morning 2011

Our big 9 month old!

Farmer Jacob is FOUR!!!

She was looking at her blanket getting washed. So sweet.

Phew!

It has been a crazy few weeks here! Funny though, I can't recall what exactly we've been busy with, but I just know I am T.I.R.E.D.!!!! Noah started tball last week and absolutely loves it! This is the first time he has ever been on an organized team of any kind. (i know, shame on me) We've been practicing with him in the back yard (yes, BOTH mom and dad) and he has been doing pretty well! So, we get to practice, well, let me back up, on the way to practice Jacob was crying because HE wanted to play baseball too. It wasn't fair..... yada yada yada.... you get the point. When we get to the field, nobody knows what team is what. I have the stroller and the two boys and am trying to figure out where to go. That was fun. So, we get to our field and the coach calls a meeting with the parents. Would have been perfectly fine if a three year old wasn't pulling at my leg every 2 minutes wanting to play on the playground. It's worse when I try to ignore him because he lets out a cry, "Mommy, TALK TO ME!!!!!!" I think I threw some fruit snacks at him...honestly I don't remember, but he quieted down. So, it's time for Noah to start. He runs out to the field and is the first one in line to field grounders. I turn to watch him and he has his glove on the wrong hand, gets the ball and throws it under hand to the coach. UNDERHAND!!! Okay, I am being a little dramatic and taking this a bit too seriously. Oh, and I forgot to mention that about 5 minutes after practice started, half the team had to use the port a potty. Seriously, they were all lined up. It was quite funny.

I have taken another leap in my photography career and have started my own line of cards. Sometimes I get frustrated when trying to find the perfect card and then end up leaving the store with nothing. My cards are meant to be funny, encourage, and uplift. You can go to the site HERE. The company is called My Backyard Cards. I named it that because the cards are photos I have taken over the years, and most have them have been in my backyard. I am excited and orders are already coming in.

Nothing new on Taylor. She is almost 9 months. In fact, next Saturday is Jacob's 4th birthday and Taylor's 9 month birthday. She is starting to cruise a lot more along the furniture. OH!!!! AND, yesterday, she went on the potty! I AM NOT KIDDING. She was acting like she had to go, so I just thought, well, let's put you on there, and She WENT! HONEST TRUTH!!! She may never do it again, but I can definitely tell everybody she went on the potty at 8 months old! Like I said, Jacob is going to be 4. FOUR!!!! Last week we went in to get evaluated for Pre K. The teacher came out with him laughing and shaking her head. can't be a good sign. He was mad because he wanted to take the blocks home with him. What a nut. He is quite the character and often times pretends he is a pirate. Last week he had farm day at school (I took pics but havent uploaded them yet) and he was furious! He didn't want to be a farmer! He wanted to be a PIRATE! Well, he was a farmer because I told him that there are no pirates on the farm and pirates can't find Easter eggs as well as farmers can. That did it. He was in!

Well, there's the update. It is about 12:30 AM and I can NOT sleep. I had one of those Pepsi Max....yeah, like 3 hours ago!!!

8 months.

I know I say this every month, but really, this month has flown by! I think this has been the one month of the most "firsts". T is a sweet girl full of life! She will study your facial expressions, try to copy your actions, and gets so frustrated when she cant keep up with her super energetic brothers! She has mastered crawling and boy can this chick move! She is a pro at it and within the past few weeks has been pulling up on everything! She can get up quick but once she is up, she has no idea how to get "down", and usually ends up letting us know she is stuck by a quick scream. She will get you attention by her "dying cat call", seriously, you think she is dying, then you look at her and she flashes you the biggest grin. What a turkey! She refuses to eat cereal in the morning. Must be bananas, but will eat cereal and fruit or veggies for lunch and dinner. Oh, and the princess will ONLY eat with a metal spoon. Forget those plastic coated things, she like the feel of the metal on her teeth. I told you she was high maintenance! She started saying da, da, da and her favorite person in the whole world is her big brother Noah. Her favorite finger food is Rice Krispies and she has started to be 100% on formula. She loves the stuff. I don't get it, but she does great with it. She weighs about 17 lbs and just graduated to 6-9 month clothes. She is a daddy's girl and whenever he is in the room she just stares at him. Doesn't love to be held by him, but lights up whenever he gets home and he talks to her. We had to lower her crib (again!) because she loves to stand up in her bed and began pulling herself over. Crazy kid. We love our sissy! Happy 8 months baby girl!!!!!