He Didn't Get It From Me

I am so not athletic.  I played t-ball when I was little...  Not really.  I quit after the first day.  When I was a little older, I did tumbling for a while.  I even competed.  But I never placed very well.  And I quit when I just couldn't master my back handspring.  I did basketball for a year in junior high.  That was a joke!  And then there was track and cross country.  I still remember the one meet that I tried running hurdles.  I completely wiped out, on a cinder track.  Ouch.  Knocked the wind out of me.  Never again.  But I did continue sprinting for a few years.  And I did one season of cross country.  I was never real fast, but running was my sport, because all it takes is placing one foot in front of the other.  No hand-eye coordination required!


And then there's this guy.  My toddler t-ball prodigy. :-)

He saw his big brother playing in the back yard one day, and decided he should, too.  And now I can't get him to do anything else.  If we're not outside, he'll find anything to use as a tee, ball and bat.  We were playing in a church nursery the other morning, while big brother and sister were in their music class, and he found himself a plastic orange and chicken leg to use as his ball and bat.  My hand got to be the tee.  The kid is obsessed.  And hilarious.  He also has quite an arm and can soccer dribble a ball like he's David Beckham.  A 16 month old David Beckham.  Haha!  Koen is a mini athlete.  And he most definitely didn't get it from me!

Bloglovin'

I recently started using Bloglovin' to follow a lot of the blogs I read regularly.  I am liking it a lot so far, especially because there is an app for my iPhone!  So I guess I've decided to use it for my own blog, too.  Follow me!  ;-)

On This Day...

Five years ago, on this day, I was being blessed beyond measure.  I was surrounded by friends and family at a baby shower that my sweet friend Aimee hosted for me and my little girl.

This is what I looked like:

 Whoa, mama.  I was only 29 weeks!

Two years ago, on this day, we finally had a SOLD sign in our front yard!  We were officially moving on to bigger and better!

And it was a good thing, because...

Two years ago, on this day, we saw two lines!  We were expecting this guy:

We were definitely going to need a bigger house!

Today was spent at home with my hubby and kids.  My sister, niece and nephews were here for part of the day.  My step-dad came over for supper.  We didn't do anything special or exciting, but it made my heart happy to be with so many people that I love.  Family.  On this day, I am so thankful for family.  <3

Our House - Two Years

April 16, 2011:

Oh, what a happy day!  I can't believe it's been two years already!

This is what our house looked like at the time:
 

This house was and is a dream come true!  The building process was so exciting!  Here are a few pictures from those first couple weeks.

March 31, 2011, accepted purchase agreement:

April 8, 2011, framing up the foundation:

April 11, 2011, foundation:

These can be considered our official house "before" pictures.  :)  I had wanted to blog the whole building process as it happened, but life was so crazy at the time, trying to pack up our old house and get ready to move, that I just couldn't do it.  It's kinda fun to look back on now.  So glad I was that crazy lady that drove by taking pictures every other day! 

Easter 2013

We had a very nice, simple Easter weekend.  We colored Easter eggs at home on Saturday.  Sunday morning, I had to be to church early to get communion ready and practice a group dance I was performing in during our church service.  Hubby got the kids ready and brought them in time for the service.  Our dance went really well, and the rest of the service was great.  Then we traveled about an hour away to go have dinner at Joe's cousin's house with his Mom's side of the family.  After we had sufficiently stuffed ourselves full of ham and all sorts of other deliciousness, we came back home to relax and digest for the evening. :)  Oh, and hunt for Easter eggs.  I had just put together one Easter basket for the kids to find in the morning, with a few bags of candy  for all of us to share and an insulated cup with a straw for each of them.  I just wanted a little something special to celebrate the day, without going overboard.  I hadn't hidden eggs, because I didn't think we'd have time in the morning, so we did it in the evening.

The only pictures I managed to get the whole weekend were of the big kids coloring eggs.  So here they are.  :)

Lena's artsy eggs  :)

Eli's festive eggs  :)

Koen - 15 months

My sweet Koen James, you are 15 months old.  More like 15 1/2 months now.  I actually wrote most of this post a few weeks ago, and planned to post it when you had your 15 month appointment on the 18th, but it got postponed until today, because I was REALLY sick that week.  So here are your stats and some fun tidbits of info about you, my baby. 

19 pounds 14 ounces (10th percentile)
29 inches (5th percentile)

You have thirteen teeth, and are currently working on at least one more. You still don't have enough hair to need a haircut.

You've been walking since 10 months, so you're a pro by now. You're quite speedy, and you like to walk backwards and spin in circles. You try to jump, but can't get your feet off the ground. And when you hear a beat, you can't help but dance!

You're still not much of a talker. You say “mahm” (more) whenever you want something to eat or drink. And you just learned how to say “uh-oh!” Even though you don't say much, you know how to get your point across. You'll turn, push or pull someone where you want them, point at what you want, or just go get it yourself!

Which brings me to my next point, you are into everything! You would much rather spend your day emptying the kitchen cupboards than playing with toys. Unless... you find yourself a stick or a ball! You will toss, hit, and chase a ball around for a long time! 

You love cereal, crackers, and bread. You're not a big fan of fruit or vegetables, but we can sometimes get you to eat apples or peas. You do like mashed potatoes. You always want your milk chocolate, and don't eat much other dairy. Meat's not your favorite either. We just keep trying. :)

We are trying to get you to sleep in your crib in your room full time, but you usually wake up at night and end up in the pack n play in the office or in our bed. Some days you take two short naps, some days just one longer nap. You start crying as soon as you wake up... you always want to be close to Mommy.

You love to snuggle and hug, but you're stingy with your kisses. You're more likely to offer one up to Daddy than anyone else. 

You're goofy, too. You take your shoes off as soon as we put them on. And more often than not, you take off one sock, but leave the other. You have a pretty cute growl, and you have you own “woof” and “moo” sounds.

 You love to be tickled, and you have the BEST laugh!

I thank God for you every day.  I'm gonna keep you forever.  I love you, Little.

b's have bellies, & d's...

Last month Lena was working on learning the letter 'D', and was struggling to tell the difference between the lowercase 'd' and the lowercase 'b," as is common in preschool I'm sure.  As I searched around Pinterest, I came across this...

"b's have bellies, & d's don't!"

I'll admit, I wasn't so sure about the picture myself, but thought I'd give it a try.  It sounded like people had had good success with it.  So I drew this amazing picture on our white board...

 

 I brought Lena over and enthusiastically explained to her that she could tell the difference between the two letters by remembering that "b's have bellies, and d's don't!"  She looked up at the board and very matter-of-factly said to me, "That looks like a butt."  And...  we both erupted into a flurry of giggles!  She said exactly what I was thinking.  I mean, seriously, who doesn't see a big ole' booty when they look at that?!  And how helpful is this gonna be?  If a 'd' has a butt...  that starts with 'b' too!  And so does booty, which of course I mentioned and was rewarded with even more laughter!  So what we learned was that "b's have bellies, and d's have butts."  That's some solid homeschooling right there.  ;-)