Lotsa Random.

you know you love these posts :)

watching TV upside down.  this kid is always stretching straining and hanging in weird uncomfortable positions.  

 Grandpa came to visit one morning!

"just cookin' somethin momma"

we made some monster feet...cute, but hard to walk in

reading her princess book 

Holden loves his hats!  this one was one of my grandpa's hats.  it's sweet to see it on Holden's head now. 

family movi night snuggles 

 brotherly love/matching new blue shoes

i love this post-nap face.  He's a keeper. 

and then there's this face..haha.  Nora wanted to hug her brother...Holden wasn't really in the mood for it.   

play-napping in the laundry basket

even D loves the Meow.  He got a hold of it one day when N wasn't paying attention...drooled all over it!  Nora was very upset when she noticed how wet Meow was later.  Little Bro already terrorizing his sister!

 Game Time!  (not that i care about the b-ball games, although i do care about these two sweet faces!)

Goodbyes to Daddy before he goes back to school.  

We made a spontaneous visit to the Rackley's last week.  

 Amanda has a zoo in her house!  A cool talking bird, a doggy, and a fun fish tank.  

What happens when you leave a baby alone for a few minutes...you come back to all of his toys on his face!  Funny Baby!

like i said about the weird positions.  

this past Christmas Mike's grandma gave us an old box of his toys.  the kids love them.  Holden calls them "things".  He tells me he wants to play with "my things".  Cracks me up. 

classics!

i love this one...it's a soldier that was turned into a paratrooper.   Crazy to think our kids could actually turn into the things they play with now. 

and if that's the case, then this little girl will grow up to be a Fairy Princess.  This is her pixie dust bag,  not to be confused with her socks ;)

my babies

more typical 

sweet sink baths.  i don't think i'll ever get enough of this beautiful smile. 

Snuggles with Daddy

Even though we were sick, Daddy still got some snuggles with our Littlest...and i got some good shots of it too!

Our Worst Nightmare

came true...

okay, i am definitely being a bit dramatic.  There are, of course, worse things out there than the stomach flu--really in lieu of the past few months full child tragedies, i really shouldn't even joke about those things.  I am truly blessed to have the family i do, and even the sick days can be a blessing--reminding us to slow down and remember what's important.  

Another blessing in the light of this yucky week was that Daddy was home to share it with us!  He may not consider that a blessing, but i sure do.  I have NO IDEA how i would have managed on my own.  I figure i wouldn't have...and i would have had to call in reinforcements from our nearby family...so family, you should also feel blessed that Mike was home :) 

What started out as a stomach bug/and high fever between Davis and I quickly spread to the twins and Mike.  Babies are easy enough to handle, it's sad when they are sick of course, but we can still control some of what is happening--and it helps that D wasn't eating any solids yet!  Adults of course may feel like crap, but we can at least get ourselves to the bathroom and clean up after ourselves.  Twin 3 year olds with a stomach virus at the same time--NOT GOOD AT ALL.  We literally followed them around with towels and had to dictate every place they sat and every toy they played with.  I can't even tell you how many loads of laundry and baths were given last week.  

 Even as the stomach virus died down, it took another few days to recover.  Little Miss Birdie had the hardest time.  Such a teenie thing already, and with existing food and texture/gagging problem, i didn't think we'd ever get her to drink or eat again. Because she wasn't getting enough to eat, she looked like this a lot of the time...it was pretty pitiful.  She just sat around, moping, with her favorite things always in arms reach...her Meow, a wand, a baby bottle and a birthday card.  

 The liquid to do the trick...

we tried everything to get them to drink.  This was the winner.  I thought the juice was kinda funny...very philosophical for some apple juice. 

 Holden also had perma- bedhead.  i personally like him that way, but by the end of the week, we hardly even noticed it anymore.  

I'm so glad we made it through our first stomach virus and i really do hope the next one stays away for at least another 3 years.  Mike and I need some MAJOR recovery time. 

Half a Year!!!

i can't believe my littlest is half a year old!  he is such a blessing in our life.  that irresistible smile and sweet laugh are contagious.  it may have only been 6 months, but life without him seems forever ago.  We just love, love, love our LittleD! 

Daddy Time

Mike was able to come visit for the weekend a few weeks ago.  It was short but fun.  The kids were very happy to see him.  This shot was right after he got home.  

and then this past weekend, his first school ended early and he was able to come home a little bit sooner.  He met us in atown saturday evening and we made a quick trip to the park before the sun went down.  Again, the weather was perfect and the kids were very excited to have Daddy to play with. 

Teaching Davis about cars early!

A Little Home Therapy

The kids and I headed home this past weekend for a break from our house and a little heart therapy after just seeing each other for the past few weeks. It's also Poppy's birthday this week so we celebrated a little early.  His sister who lives in Kansas even flew in to hang out--so we had quite a full house. 

First stop when getting home though was the barber shop.  Holden's hair was getting out of control--and of course we needed a little Pop Pop fix as well. :)  

 

while Holden, Davis and I were at the barber shop, Nora and Nana were having a Tea Party.  My mom works at a retirement home in town and each friday they have "cake and coffee".  I dropped Nora off at the home with a bag full of goodies so Nana could dress her up.  She is so obsessed with princesses and dresses and all things girly...i knew she'd love having a tea party (as well as being the center of attention with all the residents living there).  Mom didn't have her camera that day--wish i could have seen her--but when i came to pick her up she had a huge smile on her face, a few extra necklaces and a "cutie" that some of the residents had given her. 

The cutie came with instruction to be shared with her brother.  Of course as soon as she climbed in the car it was a source of contention as Holden didn't have one.  I told them they could share it for snack --although i'd like to point out Nora doesn't even like oranges!  Well the minutes she sat it down, Holden grabbed and bit into it--peel and all--hence our sad-faced cutie. 

Big Poppy came by to visit Sat morning and join in on the craziness of play.  Davis even sat still a bit so he could hold him. 

Little D picked up a little cold right when we got into town, and was a little out of sorts about it.  It's a rare sight to see him calmly laying his head on his mat--usually he's very active and all over that thing. 

I got a little while with Mom and Diane to walk through some shops one afternoon.  Davis just hung out in the carrier and slept off and on.  It's also rare for him to fall asleep like that these days.  I loved having that extra snuggle time with my baby--as well as enjoying the beautiful day and some Vitamin D!

Aunt Diane is a book lover...and the kids coaxed her (not that is was hard) to read to them throughout the weekend.  yes, that's a christmas book. 

Nana got quite a bit of Davis time this weekend to give mommy a break...i think she enjoyed it though!

Movie Monday

Nora loves to talk...some of it very understandable these days, but there's still twin talk intermixed.  i'm sure within the year we'll lose that for good...so i try to remember to enjoy it instead of roll my eyes.

Nora "reading"