A Katie Party

Katie has been asking lots of question lately about God and Jesus. The night of February 7th we put her down to bed and a few minutes later heard her get up to go potty. This is a very common occurrence and we were feeling slightly exasperated that she wasn't staying in bed. When she was done she yelled downstairs, "Daddy, I just asked Jesus into my heart!" Taylor and I looked at each other and called her downstairs to talk with us. I honestly didn't feel like she probably knew what she was talking about. We asked her what she thought it meant and she gave such a deeper answer than I thought she would be capable of. She told us she knew she was supposed to get in trouble but that Jesus died on the cross and got in trouble instead of her. She said she believed in Jesus and loved him and wanted to live in heaven with him. We prayed with her one more time and then sent her back to bed with tears in my eyes and such a thankful heart. It was so amazing to see the truths we have been trying to teach her and surround her with have penetrated her little heart. Though there is much she still has to understand she has taken the first steps towards Jesus with childlike faith and we are so humbled by it. She was very excited to hear that the angels were having a Katie party in heaven. We told her we would celebrate by going out to eat, her choice, and buying her a real bible (instead of the summarized children's versions.)She said we wanted to go out for breakfast. Mommy and Daddy were thrilled about this because Cracker Barrel breakfast in one of our favorites and we wouldn't be stuck going to McDonald's. Look at that beautiful big girl!

Katie picked out a purple flower bible and had her name embossed on the cover in rainbow letters...are you surprised?
We are so privelaged to help show God's love to this precious girl.

A close up of the amazing bible:)

2 months old

Hard to believe we've already made it 2 months with sweet Gray as a part of our family. he truly is so sweet. He sleeps pretty well, usually only up 1 time per night. He has a great giggle and ready smile. He loves to hear singing. Anytime he is fussy if we sing he calms right down. He got his 2 month shots this week and had a bad reaction to it. His poor leg swelled up from his knee to his hip. A little medicine and the swelling went back down, but it was no fun.

All oiled up after a bath. Trying to keep a baby's skin from drying out in Colorado is so hard! He loves his fingers!
Caught a smile!

Silly sibling shot.

He is getting so big!

Warning gross picture! What timing. Caught it right on a spit-up

Cousins and Snow

We stayed close to home this week after a houseful of colds, a lot of snow, and a bad shot reaction for Gray. We love having family close by in town. It is so nice to be able to hang out with cousins! Katie loves her cousin Anya. They were playing dress up this week. Katie, as you can see, has an amazing sense of style. Snuggling with Grayson. I have actually used not being allowed to hold Grayson as a punishment for her.
She has been taking shorter and shorter naps. This day she slept past 4 and I went in to wake her up and snapped this sweet pic. She has been taking naps in the other room and has been sad that she isn't cozy in her bed so we let her sleep in the recliner.

She remembered how to make a real snow angel!

Levi liked the snow a lot more this time. I had to bribe him to come inside with a treat when his hands were freezing!

We probably got 6-8 inches of snow! Just realized the dog is peeing on the tree in the background. Look at those rosy cheeks. He loved throwing snow on Oakley and throwing the ball for him. Oakley is so berserk about fetch that he kept playing even when he cut his mouth and was bleeding all over.

back to the new normal.

Ok. Admittedly "normal" is used very loosely around here. We have been snuggling babies and doing fun hair! I am still so thankful that we made it through pregnancy and my energy is back!Taylor is hard at work back to school. He goes to class one day a week and is taking an online class too. My parents have been awesome and taken the kids a few Saturday mornings so he can study and I can rest or clean. I think my nesting comes after the baby gets here. I was so excited to completely redo our filing system this week:)

Little bald baby. You can't see the awesome mullet he is rocking in the back. I feel like he could end up with much lighter hair than the other two kids...we'll see. I caught the faintest beginning of a smile.

Made some home-made laundry detergent.

No one mentioned when you add the washing soda is boils over like a volcano leaving a huge mess the consistancy of mucous all over everything. Thankfully is is soap so is cleaned up fairly quickly. I still need to go back with a q-tip and get some of the tiny areas. Caught the kids reading together on the couch. Katie was muli-tasking. Nursing her baby and teaching Levi.

Making "A for Alligator" crafts.

Foam teeth.

Grayson - 1 month

The first month of having 3 kiddos has been such a great time. Taylor just went back to work full-time last week. So we had lots of time as a family of 5 to hang out. Taylor and I also got to take turns napping and wrangling children. Grayson is super mellow and laid back. He eats, is awake for a little and then back to sleep. He is up 1-2 times per night sometimes 3. He is the least efficient nurser of any of my kids. He likes to take his own time at things. Weird Grayson fact: When I burp him he always burps twice. He sleeps in his carseat like nobody's business. Both the other 2 would never do that, so it is really strange to me. He is giving us small smiles and I even got a giggle yesterday. He likes to hear his own voice too. He definitely is doing those things sooner than Katie and Levi were. All the hair on the top of his hair fell out so now he has an awesome mullet. He is such a wiggler just like he was inside of me. His little arms and legs are in constant motion. By one month old Grayson has already been to Ikea, gone on his first sled ride, gone to the zoo, celebrated Christmas and the holidays and met the entire immediate family and some extended family. At his 6 week check-up he was 10.1 lbs.

We sure love this little guy!

Caught him mid-sneeze.

The preferred diaper pose. I got like 6 shots like this. Snuggling with Katie. The novelty of having a baby in the house has not rubbed off at all!

This is what Grayson thought of the Broncos/Patriots game.

Grayson's Newborn Pics

We had Grayson's Newborn pics come in and we love them! We used Jonathon Betz and really loved his work! He and his wife were in our birthing class when we were pregnant with Katie! The middle pic is the ONLY one we got with the 5 of us. Levi was not having anything to do with pictures that day. I love that he totally captured Gray and our family. I would totally recommend him if you are looking for pics! We signed up to have our 3-6-9 and 12 months shots of Grayson with them too. Enjoy!

Levi Turns 2!

This sweet little baby just turned 2! Levi has kept his calm and sweet disposition. He is definitely prone to whining now, but I don't know a 2 year old that isn't. He loves trucks, cars, helicopters, animals and "moomees" (movies). he is very focused and I have to make sure I have his attention fully before I ask him to do something. He loves figuring out how things work and trying something over and over until he gets it right. He will take his golf set and practice hitting the ball without getting frustrated. No wild-swinging for this boy. He has a subtle sense of humor and likes to watch for us to laugh from the corner of his eye. He has a wild-shriek that doesn't fit his personality whenever Katie tries to take his toys. He still hates the wind in his face, is not wild about swimming and is a somewhat picky eater. He will whine and then correct himself and say, "Hey Mommy, can I have another one please in the sweetest voice." He has a sensitive little heart and his lower lip will stick out so far if we correct him. We sure love you sweet boy! The truck birthday cake.

He loved us singing Happy Birthday.

He immediately climbed on the table to blow the candles out. Boy on a mission.

Loves him some cake.

Does not love messy hands!

Opening presents. It took a lot of work to get Katie to stop opening everything.We went to the zoo for his actual birthday and he finally liked the carousel