Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  

 Katelyn decided she wanted to paint pumpkins instead of carving them this year.  Fine with me, it was much easier.  

 The work in progress.

 Noah loves to paint and kept saying, "Gonna paint a pumpkin."

 Our little artist.  She loves art and does some form of it everyday.

 We did Halloween school work today which the kids thought was really fun.  Something different is always nice.

 Halloween scary mouth snacks.  (Apple, peanut butter and marshmellows.)

 The pumpkin masterpieces.

 Katelyn remembered what I made for dinner before trick or treating last year and asked for it again.  Mac and cheese with hot dogs and peas.

 Our little pirate.  Aargh.

 These two were the perfect ages for trick or treating this year.  It was cold and had rained on and off all day.  It rained a bit while we were trick or treating and they didn't care.  They're hard core.

 Meow.

 These kids have been Katelyn's best friends since she came home from China and they've all been trick or treating together for years.  It's tradition.  Noah loves Nathan and was happy to hold his hand and go door to door.

 Lainey's first Halloween.  She was the warmest one of all of us.  We bundled her up and kept her in the stroller.  :)

 Enjoying the loot.  

 Sweetest little pea!

 Lainey's four months old now.  She's the sweetest, happiest baby and we love her.

Boo!

Week one

We are sleep deprived but enjoying our time together.

 The nice thing about having a baby this time of year is that we can sit outside and the big kids can play.

 Lainey likes to lay on the play mat and look at the birds and butterflies.

 How sweet is this little face??!!!

 We've had lots of time just to hang out with each other this week and snuggle.  Katelyn's had VBS at church each morning so she's been tired by the time she gets home and just wants to relax.    

This girl sleeps a serious number of hours a day.  Life on the outside is apparently exhausting!

Welcome to the world, Lainey!

We are so happy to announce that Elaina "Lainey" Joy entered the world on Friday, June 20th at 2:32pm.  She weighed 8 lbs, 11oz and was 20 inches long.  

 We had a c-section scheduled for July 2nd but I had a feeling she wasn't going to wait that long.  My water broke early Friday morning and we headed into the hospital.  

 Katelyn was so excited about meeting her baby sister.  Noah wasn't quite so sure about it all.  (He's come around in the last couple of days though.)

 Of course Grammy and Papa had just headed up to Michigan for my cousin's wedding and they were kind enough to turn around and come home to stay with Katelyn and Noah while we were in the hospital.

 We have been very blessed by friends and family this week who have all loved and helped us a ton!

Grammy loves her new granddaughter.

 The proud big sister.

 Delivery and recovery have been much easier for me this time around and I am really thankful for that.  

 Lainey is such a sweet baby and we love her so much already.

 Daddy's having a good time with her already.

 After a few nights in the hospital we were pretty excited to head on home!

 Lainey slept through the whole thing.

 Katelyn just wants to sit and hold her and give her kisses.  I think this baby will be well loved on.

 She found her thumb.

Daddy and Lainey were enjoying some snuggle time.

We are home and resting.  Michael is off work all week.  Our friends that live here in our neighborhood have been picking Katelyn up each morning this week and taking her to VBS at our church with them so she didn't have to miss it.  

It's really nice to have the baby on the outside.  I'm thankful for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.  Onto the next chapter as a family of five...

Happy Easter - Part 2

Okay, blogger just put all my pictures in random order but here it goes...

The kids got Easter baskets and had a little Easter egg hunt in the backyard this morning.

 They found all of the eggs!

 We dyed Easter eggs this afternoon.  The kids did a great job.

 Noah got a couple of new trucks in his basket. The trucks and the block city that Michael built with him kept him busy all day.

 Katelyn was very kind and let Noah have a head start so he could find some eggs also.

 "Hmmm...how do I get that out of there?"

 More playing.

 Michael and Katelyn worked on growing crystals this afternoon.  Quality time with daddy doing a science project.  Katelyn was in heaven.

He did get it out of the little bush..in case you were wondering/

Happy Easter!

We had a super fun time today at the church's petting zoo and Easter egg hunt and then stayed for the Easter service.  

It was such a beautiful day and the kids were all so excited. 

 Noah was a good little egg hunter this year.

 Katelyn is of course a pro and was serious about finding some eggs.

 I love this sweet girl.

 These two are the best!

 Once the eggs were found Noah only cared about finding out what was in them.

Here's a pic of our growing little family.  

Happy Easter everyone!

He is risen!!!