Grayson 5 months old

Grayson is 5 months old.  He is rolling around like a champ.  I always lay him down on his back and he flips right to his tummy.  We find him all over the crib. Still going strong on the fingers.  Hit or miss with sleeping through the night, but even if he wakes up, I am back in bed after feeding him in 20 minutes max.  Unless I fall asleep in the chair.

 Mom! Why did you wake me up?

 Still so tired!

 His hair is still so much lighter than Katie's and definitely Levi's. Blue, blue eyes like his brother and sister too. Finger sucking is his own deal though.  He has started to fuss if he can see Mom and someone else is holding him.  If I'm not around though he does great.  He is even taking great naps at church. He can tri-pod sit for very short amounts of time and is super interested in food. Weird to think that we will probably start solids in the next month or so. He grabbed a french fry the other day and practically ate the whole thing before I got it back.

 Still such a go with the flow kiddo.  Love this sweet little boy, daddy look-a-like so much!!!

insert amazing and hilarious title here

So I know I haven't posted in a while, but what the heck happened to blogger.  I like it! Just looks so different.  We have been living life and I have not been super great at bringing the camera along.  Here are the pics from the last month or so...

We went to Charlee and Paige's soccer game.  We brought huge donuts, and special hot chocolate and I about passed out from the sugar crash.  Katie says she wants to try playing.  I fully support that, but am not sure if she will actually like it...maybe in the fall.

Homemade soft pretzels. So good! So easy! I can eat almost a whole batch.  Katie kept reminding me to save some for Daddy. Here is the recipe I used.

Big boy in his exersaucer. Look at his little ankles!

 How funny, it looks like I actually do dishes sometimes. Hahahaha.

 Umm. I went crazy this month.  My friend Andrea can attest to it.  I think I called her at least. AT LEAST. 20 times to ask her opinion on what to wear for family pics.  I literally have returns at 5 different stores because the day before I was still freaking out.  The pictures went great.  I can't wait to see them.  I don't want to take pics again for a long time. And it looks like I have 4 kids, but I was just testing a 2nd outfit for Gray.  The sweater vest was a reject.

 Love these little ones.

All of a sudden, mid email check I noticed the silence.  I flew upstairs to see what the heck was going on and found this.  They are sometimes so sweet.  Katie has a baby in her tummy:) She loves reading to her brother.  Have I mentioned she started reading.  Obviously, at an early emergent level, but still!  I am so excited!

This past month we have been dealing with a lot of sibling rivalry...great tips anyone?

I started cloth diapering Grayson.

We potty trained Levi. 

Taylor just finished his final today for his class. 

Grocery shopping has become a chore.  I am in a constant debate of whether to wait until Taylor gets home or brave it with the kids.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it sucks.  I guess that is life as a parent right?!

Baby Paxton was born to my sister-in-law Michelle and her hubby Patrick.  9lbs 4 oz and he is her smallest of 3 boys!

Taylor turned 30!

And we figured out how to make a trip to Cape Cod work...next month!

I have bounced between uber-productive and sloth-like. 

God totally spoke to me through some Francine Rivers books: A Lineage of Grace and Men of Encouragement.  I can't recommend them enough! I used to see the Bible as so fragemented and have come to see it as such a cohesive whole.  I am so excited to read the Bible and find more connections and see God's plan from beginning to end.

And that is a catch-up that could probably take several posts to fully expand upon. 

Pheww.  And I still have Gray's 5 month pics to post!

sonic

We took a trip to Sonic yesterday for their all day happy hour. We shared tots and all got yummy drinks. I got a Dr. Pepper with Vanilla and it was so good. I took the risk of not being able to sleep last night and it was so worth it! Katie only fell off her bike like 5 times on the way there and back. No serious injuries though:) We met my sister-in-law Sarah and Anya, who live in the neighborhood. What a fun morning!

play-group

When I had Katie and stopped working 4 years ago, it was a really tough adjustment for me. I was used to a very fast pace and lots of words of affirmation. Along came Katie and my days were filled with diapers, nursing, and that's about it. I remember trying to read to her when she was like 5 weeks old and thinking, seriously? Now, I am not saying don't read to your young kids, of course you should, but my fast pace was jolted to a stop. I had spent the past 3 years surrounded by kids and people and the 4 before that working where I lived, in dorms. God definitely used that first year to teach me to lean on him and listen for his voice. He also blessed me with a group of moms to travel this parenting road with. Honestly, I don't know what I would do without them. They made it feel normal to feel like a crazy person half the time. We swapped tips and tricks and shared our kids funny sayings. When we started the oldest kiddo was 3 and we had 6 kids between the 4 of us regulars. 3 years later we have 12 kids from 5 to 4 months. There are 4 of us Moms who are "regulars" and a whole crew of Moms who join us when they are able to. It makes the dynamic so great to share so many view-points. It is also great to watch the kids older than yours to gear up for what is coming next...both exciting and dreadful. Here are some pics of the kiddos. Minus 3 of the babies:) We always love to have new mommies join us even if you only come once or every now and then! I truly believe God gave me this group of women to speak truth and life into me as a Mom. They have all helped shape me to become more Christ-like as a Mom, Wife and friend. Their kids have helped mine learn how to share, fight, and be a friend. Love you guys!

So happy it is warm again because this crew is out-growing my house!

Easter.

Dying eggs. My mom got these cups that wouldn't spill the dye. Worth. Every. Penny. I don't think they were that expensive but it was really great to have the dye so contained.
Levi dying...an egg. Realized after I typed that how bad that sounds.

The egg hunt at my parents house.

My cousin Garrett playing with Katie. He is signing to run for Creighton tomorrow!!

A family pic. I am bummed it is kind of blown out. Anyone with mad editing skills want to help me out:)

Gray and my Aunt Sandy.

Loving belly tickles from Daddy.

Egg hunt at the Stejskals.

Katie's hair was so cute and this is on of the few shots you can sort of see it.

A silly cousins shot.

Easter was really meaningful for me this year. It is every year, but we took the time to really think about the meaning this year. Last week the kids and I made salt dough tombs. After they baked for like 5 hours we colored them with crayons. Thursday night we talked about the Last Supper and washed each other's feet like Jesus washed the disciples feet. We talked about how God wants us to serve each other. Katie really loved doing this. She kept asking if we could wash each other's feet again. Friday we put our pipe cleaner Jesus on the cross, wrapped him in toilet paper and put him in the tomb. We put a rock in front of the tomb too. Levi kept walking around talking about how "Jesus is all bloody." That night we went to a Good Friday service at our church. I was so glad we went. I love the celebration of Easter, but recognizing the sacrifice it took was really powerful. We had a time of worship and then a candle lighting at the end. I hope they do it again next year. We have decided that Saturday is "bunny day" at our house. We woke up Saturday morning, had Easter baskets and dyed eggs. We celebrated with my family on Saturday too. I love that we did it that way this year. It left Sunday morning free to talk about Jesus and get to church. Sunday we woke up and the rock was moved from the tomb and the toilet paper was empty! Katie wanted to know if the Easter Bunny took Jesus. Then she started to think an angel really moved everything at our house. We finally sorted that out and had a great service at church celebrating. That afternoon we had lunch and another egg hunt at Taylor's parents' house. Needless to say, we have a lot of candy around here. It was really fun to start some new traditions. Happy Easter! He is Risen!

March of Dimes

Hi friends and family. April 28th our family will be
walking to raise money for the March of Dimes. The March of Dimes mission is to
improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and
infant mortality. 7 months ago our friends, the Mitchells, lost their baby
daughter to complications due to a premature birth. Ellianna Grace was born 11
weeks early and was with us for only 4 short months. They have 3 other children
Jacob, Bailey and Bella. Bella and Katie had the exact same due date but Bella
was born 10 weeks early. Today she is a spunky 4 year old and loves playing
dress up with Katie. Watching our friends go through these experiences has made
it even more clear how important research and programs like what the March of
Dimes provides are. My goal is to raise $150. If only 15 people gave $10 each I
would meet my goal.

Click to go to Hannah's blog to hear more of their story.

Your gift supports March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have
full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it’s used to bring
comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.
You can make a secure donation with your credit card, or, if you prefer, cash
or a check is fine, too.

Thank you for your support!

To make a donation, visit my personal Web page at
http://www.marchforbabies.org/rebecki33
If you would like to learn more about March for Babies, visit the Web site at marchforbabies.org.
Would you like to see what March for Babies is and why I'm walking?
Click here to see the video.

happy birthday katie

This birthday feels really big to me. I don't know if it is the long legs, independence or the difference I see so literally between her and the baby in the house. We love Katie for so many reasons. She loves taking care of people. She is always ready to talk sweetly to Gray when he is crying, get Levi drinks or make him a sandwich, and snuggle with Taylor and I. She loves to tell us she loves us. Every night when she prays at dinner she says, "Dear God, thank for this day and thank you for my mom and dad. I love them so much." She wakes up with a joyful spirit. Every. Single. Day. Mommy could learn a lesson from her in this area. She comes bounding into our room telling us her clock turned green and doesn't stop talking for about 12 hours. She is the type of kid that can throw up every 15 minutes for 6 hours and never cry or complain even once. She loves to be independent and do things herself. Her self-confidence is strong. She loves to tell us all the things she is a "master" of. Example: After she slid down the playset sideways, doing the splits, and managed to land on her feet miraculously. "mommy, I am the master of getting down." She helps with chores, loves to feed the dog, make her bed, brush her hair, can write her name and most of the rest of the immediate and extended families names too. She is sounding out words and is so close to reading on her own. She loves riding her bike with training wheels, just went for her first horseback ride, (and had quite the good seat:), loves dressing up and showing us beautiful dances to this horrible Baby Einstein Classical cd. She asked Jesus into her heart this year and has a childlike faith that God uses to draw me closer to him through her. She forgives easily. Though it takes her a while to warm up to people, once you are on her "in-list" she will stick to you like glue. She is learning to "keep her horse on the path." Our code for not throwing huge fits. This 4th year with her has been such a joy. I am so blessed to be her Mom. I pray that the next year would grow her in her faith, joy, gentleness and knowledge. Our verse of dedication we pray over our kids is from Numbers and I pray it for her again for this year. Katie Madison, May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you strength. We love you sweetheart. Happy Birthday!

Celebrations from years past:
She's Here!http://taylorandbeckysfamily.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html
First Birthdayhttp://taylorandbeckysfamily.blogspot.com/2009/03/happy-first-birthday-katie.html
Second Birthdayhttp://taylorandbeckysfamily.blogspot.com/2010/03/birthday.html
Third Birthdayhttp://taylorandbeckysfamily.blogspot.com/2011/03/princess-tinkerbell-birthday-party.html