Bliss & That: April 2009

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Happy Easter!

I just wanted to share this picture that Isabella made a few days ago. Have a wonderful and blessed Easter!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

It finally clicked. In Brigham's little fuzzy head, something finally clicked. You see, he's been holding out on really sitting up well by himself until just a couple of days ago. Our happy little almost 8-month-old baby just didn't really care to sit up much. I've been helping him practice his balance here and there a bit just knowing that he'd have so much fun playing upright instead of rolling around the floor endlessly. Well, during one of our practice sessions a couple of days ago, he just stuck it! He actually seemed conscious of sitting up instead of just bobbling from front-to-back and side-to-side, eventually head-planting into the floor or my arms. He's such big stuff now! These are his actual first pictures of sitting, taken this morning. (If you look really closely or enlarge the first picture, you might be able to see his two cute little tooffers too!)

Another "rare" picture of the three together. Lincoln actually asked and wanted to be in the picture. (Huh, looks like it...)

Bella wanted to take a picture. A little fuzzy, but not bad!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Congratulations, Mark!

Mark took his GRE exam yesterday and did amazing on it! (I knew he would!) It's not a pass/fail test, but he had a score in mind that he needed to get in order to be competitive for or get into anesthesia school. Well, he blew that score away, and coupled with a 4.0 GPA for his bachelor's nursing courses, any anesthesia school in the country should be happy to get him. We'll now need to make some decisions and start the application process. I know that this post will probably stroke Mark's ego, but he deserves it after all of his hard work and preparation for this!

*Side story* The GRE is for graduate school, not to be confused with the GED. A sweet library employee that Mark befriended the last few weeks while studying there was always so supportive and impressed that he was going back for his GED. She would tell him that, "It's the minimum that society accepts today." She didn't get his one gentle correction that the test was for graduate school, not his diploma. Oh well... Either way, she'll be very proud of him next time he sees her! :)

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

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Happy Easter!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Look What I Can Do!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Congratulations, Mark!

Get to Know Us One by One...

Daddy {Mark}

Mommy {Kate}

{Isabella Grace 8}

{Lincoln Noah 6}

{Brigham Isaac 4}

{Griffin Silas 2}

The Baby Girls {Ruby & Tess}

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