We Are Still Around

Wow...I seriously haven't had a chance to update my blog. We have been so busy lately.

Hopefully I will have a chance to add some pictures and some entries soon.

Sleeping

My children are both sleeping at the moment and I am overwhelmed by a feeling of such tremendous peace and thanksgiving that I can't help but cry. As the tears fall freely onto my lap, I smile and think of Madison and Ethan's sweet faces. Madison's laugh, so full of life and joy, that when I rest my head on my pillow at night, I can hear it echo in my ears. Ethan's sweet smile and sigh that replays over and over in my mind so much that I can barely think of anything else. The love that fills my chest at this moment is so great, that I can barely breathe. I truly do love these children so much it hurts. I can remember the night before Ethan was born, looking at Madison and thinking to myself how she didn't look like such a big kid anymore. She seemed so incredibly tiny and so needy. I turned inward to my thoughts as I worried about the future and how on Earth I could ever love another child as much as I love her. How would that be possible? And then what seemed like moments later, Ethan was placed in my arms and my chest almost exploded from the size my heart grew to. Tonight I praise God for all of his tremendous blessings in my life. I am so unworthy of the small moments of unparamounted joy that I get to witness on a daily basis. Laying nose to nose with that small bundle of love named Ethan. Secretly smelling the top of Madison's head as she sits next to me to hear a story or play a game.

Thank you God. You are so good.

Ethan Loves His Jumperoo

Last weekend we took Ethan's jumperoo out of the box and set it up...okay so daddy did. He is a little small for his exersaucer so we thought we would try this. He is a little short for it though. What a great gift!! I could watch him all day in this. He is so cute jumping around like a little bean. He just loves it. It doesn't take much to entertain him. We just can't believe how lucky we got. He is such a happy baby.

24 Weeks

All Caught Up

Wow...I think I am actually all caught up on my blog posts. I was so far behind. We have been so busy.

Halloween cont....

We went trick-or-treating with a ton of our neighbors...in these photos you can't even see our entire gang that went. Notice...no coats...it was so warm. I can't even remember another Halloween that was as warm or warmer than this. It was so unreal. This is right when we started out...on the street we live on.

Wait a minute...wasn't Madison Belle? And now she is wearing the princess outfit from her birthday??? Was there a phone booth on our route? No...she stepped on her Belle costume too many times and she was not happy that she couldn't run faster. This costume wasn't much shorter but she was happy after momma ran her home to change. Hmmmmm..maybe she wanted to go to some of the same houses again? :o) KIDS!!!! But, in this photo where she is wearing something different..it is dark now...the kids went full force from 5-7pm.

Halloween

The Princess & The Pea Pod.

23 Weeks

These pumpkin slippers were Madison's when she was a baby...crazy that they fit Ethan.

Halloween at Dance Class - October 25th

Every year during the week before Halloween the children can wear their Halloween costumes (or dress up in whatever) to their dance class. They practice their Halloween dance for weeks. Here are a few pictures of Madison doing her Halloween dance.

22 Weeks

Ethan Started Solids - Cereal - October 19th

We had started Madison on cereal when she was 4 months but Ethan seemed content so we didn't start him at 4 months. He has been sleeping anywhere from 9-12 hours since he was 8 weeks. However, he woke up early on the 19th...really early and we decided it was time. He was 3 days away from being 5 months. His doctor had said he was fine without solids but if he starts waking than he probably needs something more. Wow...well he was ready. We couldn't shovel it in fast enough.

Here are pictures of him having rice cereal.

All ready to eat sitting nice in his bumbo.

More From The Little Farmer

As you can tell...it was hard finding the perfect pumpkins. Looking at these pictures...the fields look empty.

Our Visit to The Little Farmer - October 19th

As always we made our annual trip to The Little Farmer. I believe it takes about 45 minutes or so to get there. Well worth the trip.

Madison loves feeding the goats.

A cute picture of all of us. (This is our first picture together unless you count the one taken at church when Ethan was baptized.)

Our adorable children.

Momma & Maddie.

The perfect pumpkin for Milo (he actually ended up eating it the next day...why would a dog eat a pumpkin? But, we did find him eating it..and there was hardly anything left.)

Birthday Cake

And some more....

Maddie and her crown pinata.


Archer's turn.
Kenzie ready for pin the tail on the donkey.

More Party Pictures

Playing Hullabaloo

More from the craft project...Hannah being silly!

Kenzie adding gems to her crown.

Madison's Birthday Party - October 18th

Madison wanted a princess party and since she wanted to invite boys as well as girls she turned it into a fairytale party. The kids dressed in their favorite princess, prince, or knight costumes.

Making foam crown magnets.

21 Weeks

20 Weeks

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY MADDIE!!

WE LOVE YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MADISON.......HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Pictures From Saturday

Madison had Nutcracker pictures taken this past Saturday. They said they were from 3pm to 4pm. So we got there at 2:50pm. We had ordered her tights and white ballet slippers. So I figured if we got there a bit early it would help us get out of there early. Wrong! We didn't leave until 4:45pm! What a long day....considering she had regular dance class from 11am to noon. It seemed like we did the whole dance thing all day. Momma was tired!

Anyway, since daddy wasn't able to go and he hasn't seen Madison in her angel costume yet I thought I would try and take her picture. Well, since they were taking pictures I couldn't use the flash. So that is why this isn't very clear. She looked so beautiful in her costume.


And...here is our sweet Ethan all ready to go take Madison to dance. He doesn't like his car seat very much when you first put him in there. But, he looked so cute...like always.

19 Weeks