Grandpa and Grandma

This isn't their first grandson, but he's still special to them none-the-less. :) These are MY grandparents so I felt quite special that they made the trip out to see us. Libby has taken to calling them grandma great great and grandpa great great.

Time for Play

Grace likes to pull a chair over and rearrange the calendar.

This is Libby's bus that she drew. She would like to ride one some day.

This was our obstacle course. I got a "you're the awesomest mom in the world" for this one.

Peek-a-boo! Grace is at such a fun stage where she can fit in things and play with them. She is such a cutie!

DADDY!!!

Can you tell that all three kids love their dad? Well, Libby is questionable at the moment, but she DOES love her daddy, too.

Mmm...Yummy!

She actually started to drink from the crazy thing! Then she decided she didn't like the contents too much, so she stopped.

So Cute!

Don't they look so cute sleeping together? I love my kids! I would love to get a picture with Grace in there too, but it's not gonna happen. She doesn't sleep anywhere but in her crib.

Hats Off!

Yes, this is Libby's creation. This girl's mind is fantastical! How does she come up with this stuff? If you can't tell, she has water trapped in the medicine cup on the duck's head. With some experimenting she has figured out the secrets behind vacuum...and she doesn't even know it. I would have never been able to figure that out as a kid. What are some of the fantastical things your kids are doing?

Three Rockin' Kids

Libby's new passion is to wear dresses...all the time. I don't mind it. I've never been TOO picky about what she wears, just not a battle I'm willing to fight, and she does look awfully darn cute.

I don't know what it is about this picture, but I just love how cute Grace is in it. Too bad I didn't have a professional background for it. :)

And this picture just cracks me up. Little Man just looks like he is rocking it out here. I love it!

I am certainly thankful for the three beautiful children God blessed me with!!!

All Smiles

I just love first smiles. This isn't a constant for John yet, but I somehow managed to catch a smile from John today. Can you believe how big he's getting? Look at that chubby little face. I love this little angel so much!

All You Need is Love

Libby, my little photographer, had the camera again. I thought she did a very good job with this picture. I can't wait to scrapbook it evenutally.

Grace is still totally in love with her baby brother. She loves to stare at him and "pet" his head.

And these girls are the best girls in the world. We've been having some (ok, maybe a lot of) issues with these two fighting since John has come home with us, but when they do play...it is so fun to watch them!

Who's Carseat?

The girls have been enjoying the new "toy" that has been laying around the house. I remember Libby doing this when Grace was small, too, but now she's just a bit bigger. Grace, on the other hand, looks like she could still fit in the thing. Ha, ha! Not really, but she does fit in it a lot better.

Christmas Pictures 2009

Having Grace right at Christmas time has made it easy to get annual family pictures. We went to get them a little early this year so we could get our traditional newborn pictures of John. So, here is this years family picture.
Here is Miss E's (as Grandma T calls her) 2009 picture.

Here is Miss Grace's 2-year old picture.

And the next three are the pictures we got of John.

Thankful Thursday

I haven't done one of these for quite awhile, but I have LOTS to be thankful for.

So, I am thankful for:

1.) healthy kids. As I hear all the hype about H1N1 and have a friend that actually had her daughter (who is only about a month older than John) in a children's hospital for a few nights, I am completely and totally thankful that God has kept my children healthy.

2.) NAPS! Daylight's savings time was not a well thought out concept when it comes to children. It was definitely a man (Benjamin Franklin) who came up with the idea and he obviously didn't think about what all the moms were going to deal with. Having a newborn that isn't sleeping through the night and then a 4-year old waking you up at 6:30 in the morning is NO fun! But...we managed to make it through the morning without any tears and after a nap...we were perfectly normal again. :)

3.) a good area to live. We have been totally blessed with all of the friends we have had to take care of us here in Dubuque. Between my friends from MOPS, the neighbors and our church we have had meals two to three times a week since John has been born. In fact, one of the gals from our church even brought us enough meals to freeze for a whole week! I have been amazed at how God has provided for us in this way.

4.) a wonderful husband! Chris has come home at lunch and picked Libby up for preschool the past couple of weeks so that I don't have to take John out yet. It's been so nice to see my husband at lunch time AND be able to put Grace and John to bed as soon as lunch is over so that I can either take a nap or get some housework done.

5.) a calm son. That boy cries only a fraction of what the girls did. He does cry, but not a whole lot. It is so relieving. Alas...he's crying right now, time to go see what his problem is and take care of it. :)