Life Updated

Sorry that it has been a while since the last post, but time has just gotten away from me with all of the activities, end of the school year routine and life's adventures. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done, let alone get organized for the next day. Laundry is piled up, trash needs to be emptied and don't even look at the dusting that needs to be done. Then once you get one thing finished, you have to start all over again. I always reflect on this at dinner time. By the time you cook dinner, clean up the dishes, sweep the floor and wipe everything down, another meal needs to be made. I hate seeing the kitchens in the different magazines that always show everything so neat and organized. Don't they eat in their kitchens? Do their kids do their homework at the kitchen table and leave their papers everywhere? What about the crumbs that seem to fall from everything your children touch?? Enough complaining. Here's celebrating our children and how they are doing:



Hannah-I would love to say Hannah is growing into such a young lady, but that would be so far from the truth (the lady part, she is certainly growing). She is going through a stage where nothing can have ruffles or "puffy sleeves", no skirts or dresses and her hair has to always be in a ponytail. I was fighting it at first, but have sort of thrown in the towel. She is really athletic and so that is what we are embracing. She is currently playing softball and really enjoys it. Softball is very competitive in Kirksville, so I am glad that she is actually pretty good at it. Especially since we will spend our whole summer at the ball fields. Hannah will be entering third grade in the fall and seems to enjoy school. She has a busy summer planned with swimming lessons, softball and hopefully horseriding lessons.



Meredith-Our little diva! Meredith is at the stage where she thinks everything should be her way and watch out when it isn't. I feel like we are constantly having to threaten her to do anything. We were trying time out, but now when she doesn't want to do something we ask, she puts herself in time out. So much for that method supper nanny. She played soccer for the first time this Spring and only cried through the first two games. I quit having to go on the field with her after about the third game. Thank goodness for a rainy season with lots of cancelled practices and games. Meredith loves to be in dresses and doesn't mind me fixing her hair at all. I think she is probably going to be a singer or dancer much to her dad's dismay. She acts like some broadway actress and everything is drama filled from putting on her shoes to brushing her teeth. She enjoys attempting to do everything her sister does, which doesn't always work out. Sometimes her and Hannah can be such good sisters to each other and then the next minute they are fighting over something so trivial. I have to say that there are times I can't help but smile remembering how I fought with my sisters too. I love when Meredith calls Hannah her bestest friend and when she asks Hannah if she likes her.

Meredith and her friend Camryn before the Daddy Daughter Dance.

Meredith at her first soccer game. This is completely posed after the game when she stopped crying long enough to have her picture taken.

Lake-He turned 9 months old today and is still as cute as ever, but is really turning into all boy. I can tell we might have our hands full. I am already starting to miss the cuddling. He is constantly on the go and always moving around when you are trying to hold him. He enjoys playing with his toys and lately spending time outside. He isn't formally crawling, instead he likes to army crawl or do a push up type of move where he jumps to get where he wants to go. This move has landed him on his face several times. His sisters continue to entertain him and he is beginning to entertain them right back.

Well, that's about it for now. We have my sister's wedding this weekend, in which all three of us girls are in, so there will be lots of pictures to post.

Easter 2009

Lake's first Easter consisted of three Easter Egg Hunts. Of course, he couldn't have any of the candy, but he was content playing with the empty eggs. We had an Easter Egg Hunt at Josh's work on Friday. On Saturday, Truman had their Egg Hunt and then there is always one at Josh's Aunt's house on Sunday. It was a very relaxing weekend since it was a four day holiday. I finally got caught up on most of the laundry and went grocery shopping which was really needed. The girls enjoyed all of the things in their Easter baskets. We have learned that less is more!

Happy Birthday Hannah and Meredith (just a bit late)!

Hannah and Meredith both had birthdays the same weekend. Hannah turned eight and Meredith turned four. Hannah celebrated with a roller skating party and Meredith had a swimming party. Hannah had a Hannah Montana theme (like there was ever any other option) and Meredith partied with Tinkerbell. Fun was had by all and the girls loved all of their gifts from family and friends. They were blessed with so many things, that most haven't even been played with yet.

Meredith's Tinkerbell cake.
Meredith taking a swim break.

Hannah is actually pretty good on roller skates. One of the few girls I didn't have to hold up the entire time. Thanks to my friend Mandy, I think we had everyone at least standing on their skates by the end of the party.

Lake-7 Months Old

Lake turned seven months old recently. I haven't changed my mind about him being the best baby ever. Even through a double ear infection and a horrible cough, he has been a good baby. He is always smiling and has started to laugh at his sisters when they act silly. He doesn't sleep through the night yet, but I think it is because he doesn't nurse all day and wants that bonding time during the night. He eats baby food at lunch and dinner and has learned to feed himself the baby puffs that dissolve in your mouth. Lake can sit up unattended and rocks back and forth as if he wants to start crawling. We would actually have to put him down though for that to happen. He recently bagan saying "da, da, da" over and over, which of course Josh takes as him saying his name first. We are learning that we can't put him down anywhere that he could roll off of and not to leave little items laying around. He loves to grab anything he can get his hands on: hair, the girls' filled drink cups, your plate when you are eating, etc. We have had several messes the last couple of weeks due to this new found need to have whatever we have. Did I mention that he is the biggest drooler you have ever met? He is always soaking wet. Surely his teeth have to come in soon, although Meredith was almost 12 months old before she got hers. When I took him to the doctor, the nurse thought I had given him Kool-Aid. So great, I probably look like some white trash mom who puts Kool-Aid in her baby's bottle. We have tried all types of ointments to treat it, but nothing seems to help. Any suggestions? Enjoy some pictures!

Spring Break

Spring Break was last week and I took the kids and two of their cousins to Fun City in Burlington, Iowa. It's a great place for kids, with an indoor waterpark, arcade, bowling alley, go carts and laser tag. For the grown-ups, there is a casino and spa. It's a pretty reasonable trip and extremely kid friendly. We had a great time and everyone had lots of fun. Lake loved the water and never cried once. Meredith got sick the last day, so that was a downer. She wound up having strep throat and had a really difficult time getting over it. Lake started running a fever after that and it turned out that he had a double ear infection. What a way to finish of a vacation. Two kids on antibiotics can put parents over the edge. Everyone is well now though!

Check out Meredith eating her sundae while talking on the phone.
Not really sure why Hannah isn't holding on here.

Air hockey is Meredith's favorite arcade game.

The week before the trip, all Hannah and Meredith talked about was taking Lake down the Slide. I don't think he really cared either way.

Our little fish!

Grade School Reunion

Two weeks ago I was fortunate to be able to attend a grade school reunion in St. Louis. I attended grade school at Epiphany of Our Lord from K-8th grade. We mostly all went on to different high schools, as is common in St. Louis. This was such a great night as I had not seen many of my former classmates for twenty years. It was so cool to see how much and how little people had changed. The conversation was easy since we all had spent our childhoods growing up together. I think we all agreed that it was a shame so many of us have lost touch over the years. Thanks to technology and Facebook, we were all able to reconnect. Now there is talk of making this a yearly event. I was kind of taken by surprise that some of my old classmates didn't recognize me. In my eyes, I don't feel like I have changed much. Check out the pictures below to see what you think.

In case you can't see it that well, I am the second one down. Did you read my goals? Such ambition!

2nd one from the right on the bottom row. These were my skate or die days. I think I used a can of hair spray each week.

2nd row, 2nd from right.

Saving the best for last. Here is my 8th grade graduation. I didn't get the memo that said wear pastels. That would be me in the royal blue dress and dyed shoes to match.

So what's the verdict? I think I look practically the same!

Family Update

Sorry it has been so long since the last post, but it seems harder and harder to find time. I'll try to give you a family update with some pictures thrown in here and there.
Lake just turned six months old. He is as cute as ever. Seriously, I would love to have another baby if I knew he/she would be as easy as Lake. He is starting to eat some baby food, mostly fruits and vegetables. He wants to crawl, but just doesn't have the motor coordination for it yet. He is sitting in a high chair and has decided high pitch yelling is his new form of communication. No luck in sleeping through the night yet, but we're making it.

Hannah will be eight next month. This is so hard to believe. She will be finishing up 2nd grade soon. Hannah is a great student who really likes school. It would be amazing to see her potential if she would actually apply herself. She likes to get by with as little effort as possible in everything she does. Right now she is involved in baton and basketball. For some reason, she absolutley loves baton lessons and has gotten quite good at it. Basketball has been going well. Hannah has a height advantage right now which helps a lot. You never know, but it appears that she is going to be tall. She is constantly outgrowing her clothes and shoes. Here she is in purple (the one who looks like she is getting ready to fly).

Meredith will be four next month. She has been sick for about a week now and hopefully she is finally on the mend. Thank goodness for grandparents! When we had Hannah, everybody kept telling us to wait until the "terrible twos". When she turned two, we were like big deal, that was nothing. Then she turned three and our lives changed dramatically. Meredith has followed in her footsteps. Three has been really rough. She is sweet as can be sometimes and then we wonder what happened to our precious little girl. Some crazy monster takes over and there is no reasoning with her no matter how hard you try. It's interesting though, because she never acts like this for anyone else or in front of anyone else. Meredith is going to start soccer this spring and is really excited about it. It will be interesting having two children in sports.
Josh and I are doing great. Busy with work and raising three kids. It takes quite a bit of coordination to get everyone where they need to be, but we're getting into a routine. Well, I'm off to church for Ash Wednesday.

Sorry for the Long Delay

Toby gets really jealous if you are paying too much attention to Lake. He will wiggle his way on to your lap and sometimes on top of Lake to get you to pet him. Little does he realize that Lake's favorite thing to do now is pull hair. Lake also attempts to eat Toby, another new favorite thing to do. It is to your advantage to stay away from Lake's mouth and hands right now. He is trying so hard to cut those first teeth. Drool is everywhere in our house and there is no hope for keeping his shirts dry. He soaks right through his bibs. Meredith didn't get teeth until she was over a year old, so I hope this isn't six months of teething. Luckily, it has not made him cranky in the least bit. Still happy as a clam, always smiling. This Bengals shirt is from Josh's aunt. His dad is from Cincinnati and they really like the Bengals. Aunt Gale, if you still read this, thanks for the outfit. He looks great in it. Maybe one day he'll wear the real thing. I'll try to get more pictures posted soon. We have been so busy that it has been hard to find time. I'll leave you with Hannah and Meredith's favorite YouTube clip. It's called Charlie Bit My Finger. It scares me that Hannah wants to access YouTube, but I guess this is how the new generation is going to be. I'm going to have to learn how to put some blocks on our computer soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

Lake turns five months, Merdi learns to dance and mom learns that cooking with kids is not easy.

Lake turned five months old today. Isn't he the cutest thing ever! Not much has changed since the 4 months post, except he now eats some fruits, babbles more and sleeps a lot less. Long gone are the days where he slept more than he was awake. He is very observant and loves to watch what his sisters are doing.

On t.v. and in the magazines you always see the cute pictures of moms cooking with their kids. The kitchen is always spotless and the mom has a big smile on her face. It was our turn to bring dessert to the family dinner and the girls wanted to help make brownies. No problem until they started fighting over the aprons, Hannah didn't wait to read the directions and Meredith threw a fit because she couldn''t do it by herself. I found myself counting to ten several times in the 20 minutes it took to make the brownies.

Is anyone else lucky enough to have the Bella Dance Video or the Bella Cheerleading Video? It comes with its very own dance mat and accessories (and the most annoying songs in the world). Goes a little something like this "Bella Bella, Bella Dance A Rella." Hannah has the cheerleading one and Meredith received the Disney one for Christmas. Meredith absolutely loves hers. She dresses up in her dance clothes and follows right along. Hannah would kill me for telling anyone, but she actually likes to do the Disney Dance moves also.

I love this kid!

Ok, I'm sure every mom feels this way, but Lake is seriously one of the best babies ever. Does he sleep through the night? No, but I don't even care because he wakes up smiling at you. You feed him and he goes right back to sleep. Does he sometimes get fussy? Rarely. Is he always smiling? Yes. Seriously, he never quits smiling. His cheeks have to hurt. He is just so laid back and happy about everything. Check out these pictures. They aren't staged or anything. I should probably worry because this most likely means he is going to think he is funny like his dad :)