Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Birthday, Gwenna and Caleb!

In the afternoon on Easter we transitioned to celebrate two up and coming three year olds, Gwenna (April 25) and Caleb (May 8).  


Gwenna's birthday request was to do the "Hokey Pokey" with the family! 




Caleb finally joined in at the end! 



This guy was excited to pass on one of his favorite swords to his little cousin! 


"Caleb, may I present this sword to you!" 

"Hey Caleb, what book is that?"
"Sneetches!" 

"Buzz Lightyear -- to infinity and beeeeyond!" 

Serious men do not require words to understand one another!



Maid Marian

Amelia loves her Uncle J!

I tried to convince Sarah that a third baby would look good on her... it was a no-go. 

Auntie Love! 

Seriously -- these two!! 

Love this little family! Gideon was sleeping, I think. 

I just love her! 



Jelly Bean Soup! -- Nice one, Sarah! 

Grandfather facetiming my folks -- I wish I'd captured his reaction when he saw their faces appear!! It was priceless!



Happy Easter!

But He was pierce for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.  - Isaiah 53:5

And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has risen; He is not here..."  Mark 16:6a

This post will primarily be pictures, just the way my family prefers, I'm sure! ;)


Baby girl in her Easter best: Cousin Ava's Christmas dress, a thrifted sweater and boots, and gifted tights! 

Miss Amelia
 Uncle Lonnie: "Hi Katie! Is she awake?"
Me: "Yep, just waking up"
Uncle Lonnie: "Thank you!" as he scoops her away for a chat!  LOVE my family!
 
THIS GUY just landed a job at Fircrest!!! 

Amelia wasn't terribly thrilled to share Granddad! 

We held our traditional (mini) Seder with all the "Arnolds" (except Rosie/Blair), the Stewarts, the Courys, Grandfather, and us! :

Reading the first question! 




Cousin adoration happening here! 

Amelia (8 mo), London (almost 3 mo), Lucy (almost 4 mo)

Poor mellow London got "loved" a bit much by his busy girl cousins! 
Searching for the Afikomen: 

Searching is always better with a best friend! 



Let's pause for a moment to enjoy some needed auntie snuggles! 



Sarah holds a very special place in Gwenna's heart! 

Amaris: always a baby on her hip or in her arms! 

Friday, April 18, 2014

Lucy's Nursery

I don't think I ever posted pictures of the final nursery setup.  Lucy is finally sleeping in her own room at night, so I thought I'd record her current setup.

It went through a lot of iterations before we got to the arrangement we have now.  It works really well for us.  Originally we'd planned on putting her crib in the closet alcove, but Isaac had a great idea to move her bed under the window, freeing up the heater.  The "library" is against the left wall when you enter the room, then our desks are side by side on the right wall.  They fit just right with a cupboard next to the crib (just out of the picture) to hide the printer, DVDs, etc.




We painted her closet/alcove dark gray to go with the purply grey current wall color.  The white baskets came from Target; I cut off the ugly eyelet and added coral ribbon to match the colors I'd picked for her nursery.  I added her hand and footprint impressions on either side of an art print that our pastor's daughter made for her.  Finally, we put in her dresser that has now belonged to my dad, me, and my grandma.

I made her a mobile to hang over her crib -- she's finally getting to enjoy it now that she's sleeping in her own room and not ours (hooray!). 


My First Girl!

My little niece!  This little girl was the first to steal my heart so fully, well before I became a mommy myself.  I am in awe of how grown up she is now.  She's a sweet, spunky, smart (too smart sometimes), caring, nurturing little girl.   She has a wonderful imagination and I love to watch her play.  

The other day I was at their house and she was in full ballerina mode from her hair in a bun to her toes in ballet slippers.  I must interject here how proud I am of my big sister: she let Ava go to the store wearing this getup (with only a change of shoes and the addition of a jacket).  There was definitely a time this would not have been an approved choice, but she's letting her kids be kids, and I love that about her! 


Oh, goodness, this little girl looooves babies!  LOVES.  She is a natural with Lucy.  Just look at this big girl holding my baby -- and I wasn't even nervous!  


I love you, my sweet Ava girl!