Kiddo Updates

LAINEY

Our little Lainey turned 4 years old in March. She LOVES to sing and dance...and has great rhythm and can carry a pretty good tune too! She's very much the stereotypical first-born...leader, rule-follower, mother's helper...She is really into bugs this summer which has been a new experience for me. I have to fake-enjoy catching that spider up in the corner for the girls' new bug-catcher. (Yeah, Mom!) Lainey and Sophie believe that I found that green grasshopper I was holding by one leg (and quivering inside) truly fascinating this morning. Lainey is extremely active (thus the short haircut this summer) running, jumping, biking, swimming, exploring, digging, climbing and competing however she can (where did she get that from, Dad?). She loves to play princesses and dress-up and has the greatest imagination and conversations with her pen and notebook in hand to her imaginary students, subjects, patients, employees, etc. It's great fun to listen and watch her play. She's very bright, loves learning, is so inquisitive and matur beyond her 4 years and is just so much fun. She truly is a little joy!

SOPHIE

Our little Sophie will turn 3 years old in September. Her giggle is infectious...and she giggles often. She has two volumes...loud and louder! She is just her own little person in her own little world, and I could watch her for hours. She is always scheming something in that little mind of hers...99% of the time it's something mischievous mind-you...but she's a smart little cookie, and she knows how to work you. She has energy that I could only dream of having. This little fire-ball can be naughty, naughty one second and turn around and give you a smile and hug that will melt your heart the very next. She's a cuddler and a lover for sure. (She'll also charge and attack if she doesn't get what she wants though!) :-) Her imagination has recently blossomed as well, and it's just as fun to watch her play princesses and listen through her door while she should be napping (because she gave those up long ago) to hear which of her imaginary friends she's talking with now. She's inquisitive, recently wondering who everybody belongs to..."Mom, who is your Daddy? Who is Adam's Mommy?" (Adam is my sister-in-law's boyfriend and Sophie's MAJOR puppy-love crush!...SO cute!) Sophie brings a sense of adventure to everything we do! She also brings several gray hairs to my head. :-) But..what would be possibly do without this little love?

SAWYER

Sawyer will turn a year old September 21. I can hardly believe it! This little guy is such a blessing. He is a very happy baby...extremely laid back and go-with-the-flow. Now, don't mistake that for "not busy." That is certainly NOT the case! He is an army crawler and he is FAST! I can't turn my back on him for a second. He's into everything. He's content at this point to not walk and right now is just starting to want to pull himself up...but hey, that is just fine by me! He absolutely adores his big sisters; his face lights up when he sees them. He also lets them know when they are too much in his space! He is easy to smile and giggle. He's also not a small boy. At his 9 month appointment, he checked in at 23 lb. (80%) and 29.5" tall (81%). His head is in the 94%, so I imagine he'll be able to hold his own. He goes to bed quite easily, although he won't go to sleep when not in bed...he just doesn't want to miss out on anything going on. He's my little cuddler and happy-go-lucky baby. God only gave me what I could handle on this one...and he didn't over-estimate me either! :-)

Summertime

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Summertime Slideshow

Here's a slideshow of pictures from May-July. Hopefully it will somewhat get you up to speed of how our summer has been...GREAT! I'll update you on each kid later this week. Hope you're staying cool! Gotta love this Nebraska humidity!

OK...I've been trying to figure out how to get the slideshow to quit playing when the pictures are done. It's getting way too late, and I've spent WAY too much time on this tonight. So, for now, just mute the music or turn off your speakers. :-)

Well...here goes...

I've been wanting to start a blog for some time now, but embarrassingly enough until not too long ago, I really didn't even know what a blog was. But, I decided to start one for a couple reasons:

1. My friend, Jen, has an amazing Blog that I enjoy reading almost daily. I feel like I talk to her a couple times a week and know what's going on in her family when in reality, we really only get to catch up during our coveted Archiver's scrap nights. So, my hope is, since I haven't been nearly as good at sending out updates since #3 came along that you will be able to check-in with us at your leisure and feel connected to our family and know what's been happening somewhat with our lives.

2. I heard a saying once that is oh so very true especially for stay-at-home moms, I think. "The days can be long, but the years very short!" Too many days go by when the house is quiet at night, and I am just very thankful for the peace...especially when Matt is traveling. While I know this blog won't change that fact, I do think it will help me in finding those moments throughout thee day that I want to capture for you, that I want to remember to write about. I will be searching for moments. Sometimes, I'm afraid, those precious moments are all too easy to lose.

3. I'm hoping that someday my kids will look back at this as a sort of "scrapbook" of memories. As you see in the "About Me" section, they won't get those wonderful scrapbooks from me, but maybe they'll find some joy in reading these entries...hopefully for many years.

So, here's to a start to keeping in touch with us...I'll post updates (I know many of you are still waiting for Sawyer's 9 month stats...and he was 10 months the other day!), pictures of the kids, funny things they say (so hopefully I don't forget either), and just generally sharing a bit of the this and that in our lives.