AMERICA in Kindergarten

Ethan had his very first kindergarten spring concert last week.  The theme was America!  It was so cute and they all did great!  Ethan knew the songs and sometimes joined in on the the actions.

All ready to go!

Waiting with the family before going on stage!

Smiling and waiving :)

When did he get so big?!

Ethan and Zach after the show

I took some videos of his performance.

Atley at 7 Months!

Our sweet #3 is 7 months old today!  I know I say this every month, but where has the time gone?!  She really is the best baby!  I've been told this many times from various people who have watched her for me :).

• She sits very well, unassisted
• She nurses 4 times a day
• Eats yogurt and sometimes banana or toast for breakfast
• Eats some form of veggie for dinner
• Loves mum mums and puffs
• Smiles all the time
• She's so chill- she will sit quietly and play for a long time
• She weighs 17.5 lbs (according to the bathroom scale)
• Still no teeth...I love her toothless smile :)
• Has started scrunching up her nose when she smiles sometimes

We went to the front yard for the photo shoot today.  She was VERY distracted by the grass!  I remember her big sister having the same problem at about this age.  (Here's Nora's first time in the grass at 6 months)

First thought...HAHA!

Such a big girl (with lots of drool on her shirt)

Grass is so interesting!

Looking up for a quick second to watch Nora

Feet in the grass :)

Love this sweet girl!

Finally got a smile!  A scrunchy nose, smile!

 If you're interested...Here's Ethan at 7 months and Nora at 7 months!

Lately

This post is a bunch of random pictures from around here lately.  Most from my phone...it's just much more handy than my big camera!

April 18- we had our first fire of the year.  Which means first s'mores of the year too!

Nora was too busy taking bites to smile :)

Handsome boy!

April 19- Atley got her first taste of avocado!  She liked it!

Leaning in to take a bite!

Trying to pick some of it up.

April 20- Atley got her first big girl bath!

She's a fan of more space!

April 21- Ethan had a book/art fair.  He was really wanting to go, so I went with him.  It was fun, walking around the school halls looking at all the students' art.  And then we found 2 books to bring home at the book fair!

We found Ethan's fish in a bag!

April 22- We discovered that Atley loves toast sticks.  She will mush them up one after another!  Also, Nora loves to make her hands hot (see photo below) and fell asleep on my chest :).

Gnawing on her toast

"I just squeeze them really tight, like this!"

This is very rare :)!

April 23- Atley and Max

Atley loves to watch Max.  She thought it was so funny when he licked her hand!

April 25- Story time with Daddy

Nora wasn't very interested in this story ;)

April 27- Smiley Atley

She has started wrinkling up her nose when she smiles.  It's so cute!

Visitors

Saturday afternoon we had some very special visitors!  One of my best friends from long long ago was in town to speak and share about her family's mission work in the middle east.  Elizabeth and her husband Hap (and their 5 kids!) have been over seas for a little over 3 years and are back for the summer on furlough.  I'm so happy they are back.  It's been 3 years since we've seen each other and between the two of us, there are 3 new babies!  Elizabeth had twins, Abigail and Abram, in December and they were the only ones to make the trip to Decatur.  My kids were happy to have visitors, but missed the 3 older boys!  We had a great time catching up and eating dinner together.  The kids had a blast playing with Hap and I got to snuggle 2 sweet little babies while my sweet baby looked huge!  

Ethan, Atley & I, Nora holding Abigail and Elizabeth with Abram.  The next time we get together, there will be 3 more boys in this picture :)!

Hap giving Ethan his last pony ride!

Nora's pony ride

Hap wanted to try his keffiyeh on Jared before speaking at the church on Sunday.  He looks good, don't you think?!

6 Month Check-Up

We had Atley's 6 mo check up this morning.  She is doing well and growing up!  She had to get 2 vaccines today :(, but she did well with them.

6 Month Stats:

• Weight:  17 lbs 2 oz (55%)
• Length:   26 3/4 in (75%)
• Head:      16 3/4 in (50%)

She went crazy for the paper on the exam table!  She loved it and kept trying to eat it.

Too busy to look up!

Chewing on her taggie made by Grandma Terri

Sisters!

Easter Sunday

What a beautiful Easter Sunday we had here!  We started the day checking out Easter baskets before getting ready for church.  Then went to church to celebrate our Risen Jesus!  Since there were no classes for school-aged kids, Ethan got to come to "big church" with Jared and I.  I love having him in there on occasion.  And he's becoming quite the reader, so he was able to sing along with us, with the words up on the screen. 

First up, Easter baskets!

Nora is excited about their new movie

Ethan loved playing Scrabble!

Happy girl with her Easter goodies

Atley's first Easter!

Before church, I snapped a few pictures of our kiddos in their Easter finest :).

Ethan and Nora

Love these 3!

Silly girl ;)

Mr. Handsome

Happy Easter! Jesus is ALIVE!

I never got around to making a menu and shopping for an Easter dinner...so after church, we went to Texas Roadhouse!  It was delicious and fun!  And Atley got her very own seat at the table :)!

Our side of the table!

Nora and Daddy- she always chooses to sit by daddy

While Atley was napping, we decided to throw together a last minute egg hunt for Ethan and Nora in the backyard.  They loved it!  

Coming down the hill, ready to hunt!

Nora's first egg!

Silly boy...checking out the content before putting it in his bucket :)

Looking for more!

Nora got one!

And another!

Climbing the ladder to get to one

She's so cute!

Time to open them up!

Happy kids = Happy parents

Candy, snacks, money AND a coupon for ice cream!