Silly Saturday

This was Henry's version of clapping a week before he finally accomplished the real task. He was doing this in response to daddy clapping and while Ella and Grant copied daddy.

This is your...

These are pages I completed for each of the kids after falling in love with this page from another scrapbooker. When I saw it I KNEW I had to duplicate it for my kiddos. The journaling is the same for each kid and are "random" fun facts about their grandparents. Stuff I probably wouldn't include in another page but things I believe they should know about some of their favorite people. You can read these facts by clicking on the page which will enlarge it.

Amma Lyn:




Amma Peggy:





Ampa Verlynn:





Ampa Jeff:

All together now

While I love taking pictures of the babies and Evie individually I thought a few recent pictures of everyone would also be nice so...

Mommy and babies in our 8 month picture.

Unlike Evie, these guys love being on their tummies and rarely stay on their backs. I have two (Henry & Ella) which have been up on knees to (Ella was even rocking) so I know that crawling will be happening before I know it. They rock the tummy time.

My sweet darlings! Evie LOVES them!

My typical photo ops. Evie kissing someone. Someone trying to turn over and reaching for things. I have a limited time to get a good photo.

The grandkids and great grandkids on my mother's side.

This is my favorite picture. There were other ones where Evie was looking at the camera but those smiles on my parents just capture how much they LOVE being anma and ampa to the kids. They are AWESOME!!! The kids are so lucky to be loved so much. Kudos to my dad for "putting up" with the commotion of the kids while we visited for a week. Silence was probably bliss after we left!

Evie and Xander being silly with Auntie Jess and Uncle "Doober"

This was yesterday. They all received the same type of "nammies" and I thought I would dress them "the same" for a photo opp. Lots of cute pictures but a lot of Henry blinking or Ella crying (she was hungry-it WAS right before their last bottle and night-night).

Anma's and Anpa's

Evelyn LOVES her grandparents. To the point that if we say "guess who's coming over tomorrow" (answer most often: best friend Abi) her first guess is anma and anpa. She even asks to go to their house every week sometimes more then once. We love it, as I'm sure her grandparents do.

I love my parents and my in-laws. I think that they are awesome parents, and have raised some pretty great children, if I do say myself. However, one of the MOST AWESOME things is watching them as grandparents. They ADORE my children (who wouldn't) and it's so fun to watch them interact. They get on the floor with them, they read to them and all of the amazing things that grandparents do. It is such a special relationship and I feel lucky to have two sets of loving grandparents. Grandparents who take the day off just to come and watch the babies while I go to a rheumatoid appointment. Grandparents who call to ask me to post about Evie, because "I miss her." Grandparents who bought so many clothes for the boys, I ran out of room to put them. Grandparents who can barely wait til the babies wake up to pick them up. Grandparents who spend over an hour in Evie's room being bossed around. Grandparents who drove 5+ hours to be at the hospital when the triplets were born. Grandparents who stayed up all night, or slept in cramped chairs, or froze in the hospital to be present when Evie was born. Grandparents who bought a camper so they'd have something to stay in when visiting (though they also wanted it for camping). Grandparents who volunteer night shift duties. Grandparents who change messy diapers and help a toddler on the toilet. Grandparents who get excited to take them out on the tractor, boat, lawn mower, zoo, etc for the first time. Grandparents who take 100,000 pictures every time they see the kiddos, almost as many as I take. Grandparents who write down statistics such as weight and length of every checkup.

I admire my parents and Shawn's for many reasons. They both have sacrificed for their families. They've both maintained loving marriages for over 30 years. They've dealt with physical challenges. They've been amazing, loving parents. They've cheered us on and prayed for us. In this new season of grand-parenting they've shown another facet of themselves I've come to admire, appreciate, and respect. Love you guys!!!!!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Hey grandma, I got a fun idea! Let's slide down these stairs on our butts!!!

So funny, grandma!!! AGAIN!!!

Look out for crazy walkers!!

I can't emphasize any more how much Evie loves walking. I couldn't even get her down for a second nap because all she wants to do is grab my fingers and walk. I am thinking that as soon as she gets the balance thing down she will move from walking to running within 24 hours. I am sure to lose all the weight in a few weeks running from room to room keeping her out of trouble. In the meantime we found a "stroller" for her baby dolls that doubles as a walker. It's great, EXCEPT she cannot drive it straight. She spends 5% of her time walking and 95% of the time frustrated that she's run into a wall, chair, coffee table, etc. She will hopefully master this in the coming days.

I wish our computer worked so I could show you the photos we took of her this weekend at her grandparents house. They brought out a "train" walker that Shawn LOVED. She had a blast walking (and not some much of a blast running into things) and sitting on it while Auntie Laura pushed her from room to room. The pictures are adorable. I am thinking of finding pictures of Shawn with it so I can scrapbook them together.

I went wedding dress shopping with Lyn and of course the bride-to-be, Laura. It was a blast and I am so thankful and happy they included me. The bride is torn between two dresses but she looked gorgeous in both. I won't describe them in case the groom happens upon this page. It's going to be a surprise that he will have to wait 341 days (from their website on Knot.com--I didn't count...I'm not that crazy). My only worry about the wedding is Evie's job of flower girl. She will be 22 1/2 months and I am concerned about a cranky, crying baby on the big day. We'll have to try to be as low key as possible. But there is so much to worry about: not messing up her dress or mine, getting in naps, getting her fed, not messing up the hair, smiling in the pictures, not crying during the ceremony or pictures, not screaming etc. Can you see I've been thinking and worrying? And I know that it will all come down on me. Shawn is a great helper but I'm the mama and usually that means the bulk of the work and the worry. Hopefully things will go off without a hitch. In any case she is sure to be the MOST adorable flower girl. The MOST. Even if she is crying, her hair is a mess, and she has food stains all down the front.