Bliss & That: June 2008

Friday, June 27, 2008

Two More Classes Down!

Mark's now done with two more classes! Smarty-Pants got two A's, and now has a nice two weeks off before starting his next class. He decided to only take one class this next session, so he could focus some extra energy on getting ready for Baby!

Cupcakes for Daddy!

I know that Father's Day was a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot to add this picture to the blog of the kids making Mark cupcakes for Father's Day. Isabella insisted that she wanted to make Daddy cupcakes and picked out strawberry with vanilla frosting. We had to make the frosting pretty, unusual colors, though! As you can see, the kids had a lot of fun icing them, and they were pretty yummy too!

A Chicken Problem

Well, not a problem with the chickens themselves, but something eating the chickens... As some of you know, we lost 9 of our 10 baby chicks when we were out of town a couple of weeks ago. (Our remaining "miracle" chick now has to live by herself until she's old enough to be integrated into the flock. Isabella named her "K-K" after what Mommy's name starts with!) Now, the animal struck again two nights ago and got one of our biggest hens out of the coop. Mark found her the next morning... :( Mark believes it's a raccoon, and now he must work extra hard to keep it away, since it seems to like chicken. We're beginning to get a bit bummed that we're all of a sudden losing so many chickens after no problems for so long...

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Binky Bootcamp

Well, it's time for Binky Bootcamp now that the last couple of difficult weeks are behind us! Lincoln has been binky-free for one whole day now! :) (Including nap and night!) He's doing great, and knows now that "big boys" don't use binkies, only babies. It's a little bittersweet for Mommy, though. Just another way that he's growing up... :(
Update... 5 DAYS!! Lincoln also says many times a day, "NO BINKY!" very proudly! :)

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

First Pool Day of the Summer!

We were finally able to get the pool out for the first time last week! (The air was nice and warm, but Daddy had to hook the hose up to the faucet in the basement for some warmer water so the kids could play right away.) Lincoln still prefers to play with just the hose mostly or stand in the water, but Bella always jumps right in and practiced a lot of cannonballs!

"Look what I have, Sissy!"

Lincoln spraying Bella

"Cannonball!!"

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

One difference between girls and boys...

Here is just an example of one difference between girls and boys. This is how Bella and Lincoln each chose to ride on the horse the other afternoon.

Bella in full Princess attire

Lincoln from the front...

...and back! :)

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Speaking of Baby...

The time has come to start stocking up slowly on some diapers... (Especially since Lincoln is still in them!) It's sad (and a little exciting at the same time) to say that I left Target the other day with two GIANT bags filled with 9 bags of diapers in three different sizes! (Baby got 5, and Linc got 4...) I had good coupons on top of the sale prices, so I filled the cart and left feeling like I had accomplished some small task of getting ready for Baby's arrival! :)

7-Month Pictures

Here are my 28-week pictures... Everything is still going great, and there's not much new to report! I do feel within the last couple of weeks, though, that it's getting towards the end. I'm suddenly finding it a little harder to do some things like making it up the stairs at the end of the day! The doctor had her "talk" with me about slowing down and delegating chores to Mark, so I guess it's getting closer! :) The baby's newest development would have to be many daily hiccup episodes. M-a-n-y!

Monday, June 9, 2008

Smart Little Girl...

This is a conversation that Isabella and I had today while sitting on the couch...

Mommy: You're such a pretty little girl!
Isabella: Thank you!
Mommy: How do you think you got that pretty?
Isabella: From God!

Smart little girl, huh!? :)

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Growing...

Our new chicks are growing so fast! Two of them got to enjoy the sunshine and grass for the first time the other day. (Much to the delight of the kids!) It's hard to believe that they aren't even four weeks old, yet getting so big! (We got the ten of them when they were just one day old...)

Slumber Party!

Well, the kids wanted to have their first slumber party the other day for nap. I had to go in a handful of times to remind them to keep their hands to themselves, to stop talking to each other, or for Bella to stop making faces at Lincoln, but overall, they did great! The downside?? They didn't sleep for very long, so I haven't suggested it since! :)

Daddy {Mark}

Both my high school and modern-day sweetheart {he claims he's loved me since seventh grade}, Daddy’s the reason we’re on this awesome journey around the U.S. {Truth be told, the kids and I would happily follow him anywhere. We’re pretty fond of him…} So hardworking, he's always busy putting others to sleep. Huh? You see, he really is quite an interesting and diverse person, it's just that he's now an Army Officer schooling in anesthesia. :) For enjoyment and down-time from school and being at the hospital he loves to cook. {What, Honey? You want to make supper? Uhm... okay!} In addition to cooking, he also enjoys hunting and gardening. {See, diverse...} He’s doing a wonderful job already teaching our young boys what is expected of them to develop into a good man and our only daughter what it takes to avoid those good men for the next 30 years or so.

Mommy {Kate}

I'm Kate, spending day and night molding precious lives and trying to keep up with the laundry and dishes. I'm always wondering how I could do things better at home, trying to learn through grace to be the best wife and mother for OUR family, even if others think I'm off my rocker. :) This is still a big work in progress, though, but I'm just so thankful to be doing the only thing I've always wanted to do- be a wife and mama! My newest label other than Army wife is being a homeschooling mommy. I find being in charge of my children’s education just as daunting as being in charge of their haircuts, and I always joke with Mark that I’ll take care of the English if he’ll help out with the higher level math and science. {He's intensely brainy. Yes, the whole package...} Little by little, I'd like to pretend I'm doing ok with teaching them and figuring it out s-l-o-w-l-y. My will-power is next to nothing when it comes to Dr Pepper, spoonfuls of homemade buttercream frosting, my husband's cooking, and a good home décor magazine. I dream of a little hobby farm with a big garden, clothes line, goats {love!}, pasture, and chickens {again} one day...

{Isabella Grace 8}

Our four little ones keep us busy, happy, frustrated, inspired, tired, and loved. Leading the pack is our first and only daughter, Isabella. We should have known from the start that she'd always be our loud and bubbly one, arriving as a tiny peanut four weeks early, surprising us all. She holds her own quite well to say the least with the boys, and is many times the mastermind behind trouble. Her loves are reading and cooking, but not in that order. Bella is turning into quite the beautiful young lady right before our eyes, and is a natural leader and big sister. It’s wonderful to have a big helper at home now too, as mommies of all little ones know how tough it is without “of-age” helpers. We now also find ourselves calling her "Little Mommy" to the boys very often.

{Lincoln Noah 6}

Next there's oldest of the brothers Lincoln, who makes parenting seem way too easy. :) Lincoln’s a lover of monster trucks and sports, though not in that order either. He also recently got bit by the hunting bug, and just got his first compound bow, much to Daddy's delight. Always counting down the years, he can’t wait until he is old enough to be in charge of mowing and “pooper scooping” on our future farm, which is great, since he's a natural at driving. He's also the most affectionate, soft-spoken little boy, always hugging and kissing us while saying, "I love you in the whole wide world."

{Brigham Isaac 4}

Brigham, Little Brother #2, is just a riot lately, and has Mommy and Daddy wrapped around his little finger. {Part of that may be thanks to the fact that he has possibly the longest eyelashes you will ever find on human or beast. We affectionately call them his face blankets.} There's no possible way that he's four years old already, but with that, he has emerged this year as the "class clown" of the family and is always cracking himself or us up with his antics. He is in love with being a big brother to Little Brother #3, but man, can they argue over toys already! His new love is riding his bike on two wheels after getting rid of those nasty training wheels that slowed him down too much. :)

{Griffin Silas 2}

In September 2010, God blessed us with another little boy in our family, who was born at home- a waterbirth. {Loved it!} Griffin's been such a joy and wonderful fit for our family since the beginning. Riding out the gallons of spit-up and thousands of overnight wakings during the first year have all been worth it, and we are enjoying his full-speed approach to toddlerhood now. He keeps up amazingly well with his older siblings and is still at the cutie-patootie age where nobody can stay mad at him. His fluffy blond curls and perfect kisses may have something to do with that. We are all anxious to see how Finn's personality takes shape, making up the sixth piece of our family puzzle.

Bliss & That