Summer Photo Shoot

I tried to get some good photos of the kiddos a few months ago, but most of the pictures were blurry. I'm still figuring out my new lens. It's a portrait lens and I don't think it's meant for wiggly, spontaneous photo shoots. :) At any rate, here's some pics as well as updates on the kids.

Jake: Jake has most definitely hit the terrible twos (or rather, threes). I thought that our sweet little Jake wouldn't hit this phase, but he did and now we're forging through it! He loves to shout out the phrases, "No fair!" "He did it on purpose!" and "She's mean at me!" In his defense, he is often quick to smile and even when he's indignant, we can get that smile to come through. He goes through phases where he is simply unwilling to do anything that we ask of him. His favorite trick is to respond affirmatively that he is wearing a pullup at naptime, when we come to find out later that he indeed was not. When he's not being unwilling, Jake is overwhelmingly cheerful and happy. He smiles and responds to our requests with, "Sure!" He doesn't play with toys very much, but is more content to jump, climb, follow me around, and play make believe with his siblings. Nate: For the last few months I've been repeating to Matt that Nate has really turned a corner. He gave us a run for our money for a good year and a half, and it's nice to see his terrible twos, threes, and fours finally calming down! It's great to see the happier side of him a lot more. He is cheerful and imaginative. He just popped in the room asking me to tie up the back of a costume because he was getting married and had to wear the suit that someone had given him. Matt and I love him in the morning because he chatters nonstop. He's also finally done with the afternoon nap (though it was hard letting go for both of us!). He and Abby play pretty well together in their own creative world which usually involves random costumes, lots of "guys" (toys) or dolls, a house or fort of some sort, and plenty of make believe. He and Jake are still working on playing together - but when they're "on" they giggle a lot, wrestle, and throw around lots of bathroom talk ("inappropriate words").

Brooke: She is a bundle of personality. What that girl wants, she goes for! She now climbs on any chair she can find, our fireplace, and my favorite - the piano bench. We will hear her gently playing the keys and run in to find her running from side to side of the bench, reaching for the keys on each end. Her tricks include clapping, patting her head, touching her nose, attempting a wave goodbye, putting on bracelets, sloshing her tongue back and forth, opening doors, and shaking her head like a crazy girl! Her grin is all teeth (although she only has 6). She is a bit of a mama's girl but when she's home, she just does her own thing - pulling out toilet paper, emptying drawers and cupboards, and entertaining herself with whatever she finds. Whenever she hears the door open, she runs to make it outside and cries if it shuts before she makes it. If you get too close to her, she'll pat you on the head or pull your hair, all the while laughing and grinning.

Abby: Abby is content doing most anything. She plays well with whoever she's put with, she entertains herself really well at home, and whenever we go places or run errands she is generally a willing participant. She is quite independent. She loves to help around the house and frequently says to me, "I want to do more to help, what can I do?" I have to get creative sometimes giving her chores. She loves to learn and surprises me with all the facts that she throws out. She is kind to her siblings. I love it when, without my prompting, she gives up her chair or bowl or cup for a sibling who is crying to sit by mommy or who wants a different color bowl. She enjoys cuddling up with books and likes to read out loud to me or to everyone at bedtime.

And with her front tooth stuck at an angle for a few weeks, Abby earned the nicknname of Mater, from the movie Cars. Tell me there isn't a resemblance.....

Happy Birthday Brooke!

Our little sweetness turned one this month! We had some friends over as well as Meghan, Tyler, and Trey to celebrate. She was great with the cake - she probably got into it more than any of my other kids did. I don't know how much she actually ate, but she loved to play with it, squish it, and rub it into her hair.

We love having Brooke in our family. She is easy-going, cuddly, content, curious, fearless, happy, and adventurous. She lets us know when she doesn't want something like her bottle, with she furiously pushes away. She's always trying to climb something, get into something, push a button, turn a knob, etc. She loves to play with Matt and have him throw her into the air or onto the bed, or chase her. She will walk up to him with arms outstretched wanting to play. She always loves playing with her siblings and frequently runs around with the pack. We love her giggles, her dimple, and when she rests her head on my shoulder when she's tired.

Summer is here!

We are really enjoying summer so far. Even though we're just a little over two weeks into it, I already feel like it's going by way too fast! For the most part, the kids are getting along pretty well. They have been running around the house lost in their own world. They build forts and houses out of pillows and blankets, come up with crazy dress-ups, carry all the stuffed animals around in buckets, read books, color pictures, play with play-doh, paint, and more. We found some caterpillars on our parsley outside and the kids have enjoyed checking up on them, especially since one of them formed a chyrsalis (a word I learned from Abby) and turned into a butterfly.

The favorite activity of the summer is definitely swimming. Our community pool is the best because it's perfect for the stages of my kids and their swimming levels. Abby is quite comfortable with swimming, but Nate just walks around (our pool is shallow enough for him to do that), there is a shallow shelf for Jake to play on, and Brooke either sits in a floatie (which she doesn't tolerate very long) or walks around the edge while I follow her. Nate really loves to play in the water especially and is improving his swimming by now putting his head under water. We have one more round of swimming lessons coming up and I hope both Nate and Jake can learn a lot.

I can't remember if Brooke put these on herself, or if one of the kids put them on her, but we got the biggest kick out of this. Besides looking ridiculous, Brooke just walked around giggling while the rest of us joined in. Brooke's starting to "brush" her hair and "talk" on the phone, so it's cute to see her figuring things out.

Last day of school with for Abby. We went swimming and had some treats. These are some of our friends who joined us.

Abby has now lost four teeth. She's our toothless wonder. After a day or two of no tooth fairy, I found this subtle reminder on my pillow.

Face painting from a picnic at school.

Abby's 6th birthday! Singing Happy Birthday to Abby with Matt participating by phone (how sad is that?)

You can't see it very well, but this is shortly after Nate walked up to me and without warning, cut a chunk of hair from my ponytail. It was a Sunday, we were eating dinner, and Nate just quietly left the table, grabbed the scissors, and struck! I have no idea what prompted him to do this. Luckily the damage was not very noticeable and we were able to laugh about it.

Mein Giyint

From Abby's Draft Book at school, 11-18-09

"Me and Ellie got captured by the big mean giant. He made fun of us every day. We hungered for food and we thirsted for water."