A Little Bit Of Happiness

Nothing in the world could make grocery shopping more fun than getting to do it with someone who is so happy. Lily Kate, you make my day brighter every day. I love you so much and I am so thankful for you and your beautiful smile. Thank you for sharing it with us so often. You truly do have the very sweetest personality of anyone I know.

Visiting With Uncle Mark

We were so happy to have my brother, Mark, visit us for about 16 hours last week. He lives in Michigan but was in Kansas City for a meeting and decided to make a quick trip to our house to visit his favorite niece and nephew (and go fishing with Rhonald and my dad). For whatever reason Lily Kate thinks that Mark is so funny. Over Easter she would sit and laugh at him more than anyone else and the same was true with this visit. She is smitten with him! I am so happy that he was able to "stop by" and see us for a little bit. We sure wish we could see him and his family much more often.

Time Out With Daddy

We love our swingset! It has probably been the very best purchase that we have ever made. For so long now it has been Cole's but as Lily Kate gets older it has been obvious that she wants to play too. So, we bought her a swing...and she loves it! The first night that she tried it she was not too sure but now she adores it. She loves to watch whoever is swinging next to her. It has been nice for Rhonald and I too because it always felt like one child was left out...either Lily was on the ground playing alone or Cole was swinging alone. This way we can play with both of them at the same time. It is amazing to me that she is already old enough to enjoy the swingset but I am so glad she is. I can see many fun summer nights spent out there together!

"AMBUSH!!!"

We recently had a visit from Grammy and Pops and believe it or not, these are the only pictures that I took. I found these water guns at Target and knew Cole would love them. And I was right. On Thursday Rhonald, my dad and my brother, Mark, spent the day fishing. Cole spent the day plotting an "ambush" on them when they returned. We explained to him that an ambush meant to surprise them with an attack and that he did. I think the second they walked out to the backyard he nailed 'em! And he would have continued to do so all night long except there was a huge thunderstorm rolling in. I will warn anyone who visits our home this summer...Cole is ready for you!

A Blessing

Rhonald and I have been so blessed to be apart of this small group from church for almost 3 years now. We joined this group when Cole was 6 months old and have been so thankful for these friends ever since. We had a fun cookout the other night and almost every family was there (we were only missing 2) which, when everyone has little kids, is an accomplishment! There are 12 kiddos in this group...the oldest is 5 and the youngest is 5 months....wow! We love this group of friends so much...we have loved getting to know them so well and have been blessed to share our lives with them for the past few years. It is amazing who God will bring in to your life when you least expect it.

Lily Kate at 7 Months

What an amazing and wonderful 7 months it has been! Lily is seriously the happiest baby ever and, although it took a few months to get some things worked out with her, she has been such a joy. Lily Kate smiles and laughs and plays all of the time! She loves to play with Cole and tries to get to all of his toys all of the time. Lily has started army crawling around when she really wants something (which is usually one of Cole's toys). She gets up on all 4's but hasn't crawled that way just yet. That girl can still roll around like crazy and makes her way throughout the house like that if we aren't careful. She has her bottom 2 teeth and is working on a few more. Lily Kate takes 2 naps a day and sleeps (knock on wood) from 7-7 at night. She puts herself to sleep and actually seems to prefer it that way. So totally different from her big brother! Lily is taking 4 6 oz bottles a day and eats 3 meals. She loves to eat! Lily Kate definitely shows preference to homemade baby food, which she gets 99% of the time. She will tolerate store bought food but makes sure you know she is not happy about it. She babbles "Da Da" when she wakes up and goes to sleep but she doesn't really say it to Rhonald yet. Cole is trying so hard to teach her to say his name first! One awesome thing is that we have (knock on wood again) been able to wean Lily off of her Prevacid (her medicine for reflux) and she is doing great. It has only been 6 days so our fingers are still crossed on that one. She loves to be outside and watch all of the sites around her. She gives the best hugs and is starting to slobber on our cheeks when she is super happy...giving kisses and making messes! We just love her too pieces and she compliments our family in every way possible. I don't know what we would do without her!

Happy Mother's Day

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

---Elizabeth Stone