april that is!

we ventured to the park today and the boys had such a good time riding their bikes along the trails. caleb cracks me up with his facial expressions! 🙂 youc an click on the pics to see them bigger.

elsie is 13 months old now. wow. and it’s probably only the 5th time i took the kid to the park.

poor kid- but i have been park’d out. first 8 years with my older kids.. non stop trips to the park. mama just needed a break from parks for awhile. she really enjoyed herself though, so i feel my break from parks is over. 🙂 she sat here at this spot for a long time, totally fascinated with the little holes!

and the boys. not really into the park.. but into pokemon cards. 🙂

and one of my favorite layouts to date! made it for the garden at 2peas. the theme is multi photo. and i used our xmas card from last year.

and a little bookie i made for them as well.

the rest of the book is here.  i really liked making these guys. fun scrapping is good. sooooo good! 🙂

hehehe…..the boys took out their goggles in hopes of getting to swim this break. we don’t have a pool so it’s unlikely. 😦 but someone found them and has been thoroughly amused all morning. 🙂

my morning has been: goggles on, goggles off, put them back on…repeat, repeat, repeat. remember how parenting toddlers can be so repetitive? oh why yes, you want me to read that story for the 15th time in a row? okay. 🙂 this is one of her ‘things’. she stands here at this shelf, which USED to be my printer stand until someone moved in. now she empties the pencil case one by one.. over and over. gives me a few minutes of computer time as i am right above her. see messy desk? me.

so there you go. glimpse into my morning. caleb had to go to school for an early start this morning, and i could tell she was out of sorts without him. she is going to miss him when he’s in first grade all day next sept. 😦 but for now.. a whole week with the kids. hanging out and making lots of legos/block cities like this:

Elsie as Belushi…my dad commented that this picture looked like an old movie still, I have to agree.  Hilarious! (Chris)

this is where she sleeps best. this was yesterday’s almost 3 hour nap:

i am pretty darn productive during nap time when i wanna be. i love nap time. 🙂 but when she’s not right here… on our bed.. on top of the duvet… she doesn’t sleep this well. we need our nap. and here she is right this minute.

this morning before caleb left for school.. took some pics on our bed. such the hangout– our bed. 🙂

squishes from caleb:

and protests:

and after pulling those fingers out of the mouth for a smile:

i’m glad our girl is feeling better. she has developed a case of "moooom’s" though! she will call out for me: MOM! MOM! MOM! over and over till i come tend. usually it’s nothing, just checking on me.. wanting me right there next to her. i taped it yesterday, hope chris will blog it for me soon. 🙂 but what is this mom stuff? what happened to calling me mama or mommy? mom? such a big kid version already. 😦

i enjoy watching him play soccer, basketball and baseball—but i think my favorite of them all is baseball. i am not even a baseball fan.. but every time he has a game.. i get so excited to watch him out there. i am so proud of him. 🙂 he pitched for the first time and it made my stomach turn. i was so nervous!

the ballfield has this funky couch out there.. if i get over my germaphobe fear, i will put elsie on it and get some pics.. because i think it’s hilarious that it’s out there. 🙂 caleb and daddy.. ready to run over to the tee ball field for caleb’s game.

and one of the rascals. fighting over which music to listen to. i wonder who won. 🙂 chris says that she looks like me here. the look she’s giving me. her eyes.

i didn’t get any of elsie because she was in my arms practically the whole time. can you believe that?! anyone who knows us and sees us alot knows that the child lives on my hip. 🙂 although she is getting around more.. walking slowly while holding my hand. very sweet.

completely uninspired to get anything done right now. i had to look for an older photo for something and started finding these in my files. some i forgot to print and some that just made me sigh. all in a matter of 2 years. so many changes. 😦
since easter is coming up. 🙂 look at my little guy. 2 years ago. those chubby cheeks and chubby fingers. i want to print it out now and scrap how i feel about it today even though it’s been so long.

and just DAYS after getting my "new" camera…2 years ago.. our boys at the australian consulate. gosh how i remember how caleb outgrew those pants but would not stop wearing them for the world.

about a year ago.. in the hospital.. i wonder what kira and caleb are thinking here. i never printed it this one. i need to.

and this was one of my favorites from a year-ish ago. i just forgot to get it printed. i am so excited to get it back now. daddy would carry her in this around the house. so cute. and our messy fridge. this is before we banned putting things on our fridge. 🙂 our little attempt to make the house look less cluttered. 🙂

and now. a year and 3 days later.. this is from this morning, playing catch with dad in the left.. and then showing us she got an owie in the 2nd pic.

i can’t believe how much change occurs in a year. maaaaaaaaan. her hair looks really light brown here.. it’s not that light. must be the flash.

yes, mom is the one who is all mixed up with the seasons. halloween jammies in march. and apparently valentines and springtime in march too. 🙂

and since this is one big mixed up post of random stuff.. here’s caleb’s star of the week bulletin board at school and his st. pat’s day creation. 🙂

yay- tomorrow’s friday. 🙂

turns out in addition to the 4 teeth elsie is getting, she had roseola too. 😦 she was not a happy camper! last night was our first full night’s sleep since the sickie started last week. you would think that recharged me.. but no, i just woke up from a nap with els and caleb. he’s home from school today- he woke up with a stiff neck and was calling for me at 6am– -mom.. momm…. i …can’t…move. it was sad.
i hate waking sleeping children and i have to do that right now to pick up the big kids. i hate not having a school bus! 😦

this is how we spent most of our day. her snuggling on my chest. or sitting next to me. or sitting next to me and emptying out the wheat thins box.. one cracker at a time.. a nice pile on the couch. over and over. (btw, i took this with my left arm stuck out.. not wanting to move or distract her…and all the strength in my little left wrist that is soo sore from carrying missy.. i was pleased how it turned out)  little snoozes. she’s feverish. no cold symptoms, so i am thinking it might be just a teething fever? she drooled through a couple of shirts today. at least i hope. we’re not used to seeing our girl so mellow. last night, chris said, i think she’s warm. i said, no… she’s just warm from being all snuggly. then at 2 am i said.. she’s got a fever!!! chris spared me the ‘i told you so’ 🙂

at the end of the day, she managed to give me a little smile.

so this is where we will be for the next few months… 3-5 days out of the week. caleb will be there twice and cam 3 times.
chris will be coaching caleb so a few times when the games overlap- i will be on my own to man the wanderer aka elsie! eeeeeeeeeeeek! lots of hiding out in the car listening to the backyardigans CD.

and it’s been hot here. decent hot. at missy’s hair is getting out of control. this is what i did to it the other day. there are 2 on the back, but you can only see one. 🙂

and this one this morning before dad left just for fun. 🙂 haha! yes that’s KI ribbon she’s sporting.

her hair is getting long. and out of control. she’s got curls. she rubs her food-y hands in it when she eats. UGH. and i am tempted to cut it. but those curls. i can’t get rid of the curls!!! but when it’s 90+ this summer, i will have to think of something, because she already gets so sweaty and itches her neck. we might just have to trim it. sigh.

https://watersfive.typepad.com/there_was_this_one_time/files/Walks.mov

she’s only been one for a few days and it seems like she made that baby to toddler transition overnight. 😦 please excuse the halloween jammies in march. 🙂

here’s my twelve month old overview: she has these funny quirks that melt me. see purple bead necklace nearby? and one sock? doesn’t matter whose it is…preferably someone other than hers. just one. knows the backyardigans and loves them. will pick up her toys and start dancing.. and that means, turn on the CD so i can dance. will sit and play for a period of time while: playing in the kitchen… whether that’s emptying the bowls and cups or pulling the snacks out or playing with a spatula and a pasta drainer, or pulling my pens/pencils out under my desk, or playing with my scrapbook supplies, or looking and babbling at books, or sorting the mail for me. i was hesitant to get rid of a broken scanner because she loved playing with it so much. 🙂 she’s started taking 4-5 steps when she wants to. she’s a quick crawler so doesn’t see the need to walk. 🙂 yet. 🙂 she says hi to EVERYONE. so friendly. finicky with food- loves something one day, can’t stand it the other. will make a mad dash when she sees me coming with a clean diaper in hand. "writes" with pens/pencils/crayons.. little doodles. concentrates very hard when doing that. method of protesting: screaming. fascinated with babies and animals.  communicates her yes’s and no’s with us sooo well.. big shakes of the head and sometimes the whole body. love that. SO on the move. our house is barely baby proofed.. she is free to roam everywhere (except the bathroom!) and does so with great ease..especially the stairs. see these pics… she is so ready to move to the next thing.

now that i have 12 months worth of updates, i will try and think of something scrapbook-y to do with them. i am so glad i have it all down. i just wish i had done it for all the kids.

have a great weekend!