Nicolas' New Skill

This is how I found Nicolas when I got him up from his nap this afternoon.
Standing up in his crib! (I actually think he was stuck.)
Good thing we lowered the mattress the other week and the teething covers should be here tomorrow.

Nicolas is 8 months old today! (I know, I can't believe it either)

He has accomplished a lot over the last month. He is crawling and sitting himself up. He even got a Cheerio in his mouth yesterday.

Big Boy!

Future Mommies

Dan caught the girls in a moment of play the other morning.


Julia was feeding her pig behind my nursing cover.
Vivian is patiently waiting her turn to use the cover and feed her baby.




Baby Sophie is next!

They'll make great mommies. . .in about 25 years :)

Dan, the Hero

My parents' house is in the woods so they see lots of critters and creatures and those critters and creatures occasionally make their way into Mom and Dad's garage or house.

Last week was one of those occasions, and it was the worst possible creature that tried to make its new home in their garage. A black snake. My dad is DEATHLY afraid of snakes. Monte moved in on Thursday and Dad hadn't eaten anything since. We hadn't planned on visiting them yesterday, but when our original plans fell through, we decided to go visit and take the kids to the pool. . .and maybe catch the snake.

Dan's chance came just before dinner. After a brief prayer, he started searching in the area we had seen the snake before we went to the pool. He saw it, but couldn't keep a hold on it with the "snake grabbers" and it slithered away. He kept searching and started peeling insulation down and looking in the walls. He pulled one piece down and was looking up on the wall when he realized the snake was ON the insulation he was holding! (He was up on a ladder doing all of this.) He was calling for help, but those calls were drowned out by screaming children in the house. So, somehow, he managed to grab it with the grabbers, fling it on the floor and get it into a kitty litter bucket--which was secured with duct tape.

Needless to say, my dad was VERY grateful and was even able to have a piece of toast for dinner. We took Monte with us when we left and released him in a field near a body of water far away from Mom and Dad's house, or any other house, for that matter.

Yea Dan!

Their First Amusement Park

We took the kids to Stricker's Grove Amusement Park last night. It was a free night sponsored by the church that hosts my MOPS group so we thought that would be a good opportunity to see if the girls could/would ride some rides.
They had a blast!

They both wanted to ride the Scrambler, but Vivian was too little.

Both girls also rode the little roller coaster and loved it :) Julia wanted to ride it again after the Scrambler, but the rides were closed.

We may be making a trip to Coney Island sometime before the end of the season for more fun!

Visiting Grammy

We took a trip to see my Grandma last week. We don't get up there a much as I would like to. This is only the second time she has seen Nicolas. The kids wear her out and she doesn't like to see us drive that far. We went in the morning while it was still cool so we could stay outside.

We had a very nice visit.

My brother and sister-in-law went the next day.

Here's Grandma with her 5th great grandchild, Jada!

What's Vivian Doing?

Vivian turned 2 at the beginning of May. Over the past year she has earned the nicknames "Trouble" and "Somethin' Else". She is always into something or climbing on something that she shouldn't be. A good example is climbing on the big chair and eating the catfood that is on the table behind it.

Vivian has been in Speech Therapy for the past 6 months and is finally making some really noticeable improvements. Just this weekend she was repeating (though not exactly) words we were saying and said a new phrase "where go?"

Vivian loves going to the zoo, reading books, building with blocks, and playing dolls with Julia.

Here are a few pictures of our sweet girl!

What's Nicolas Doing?

Our sweet boy is getting so BIG! He's way bigger than the girls were at the same age. At almost 5 1/2 months he is rolling over, sucking on his toes, chewing on anything he can get into his mouth, spitting up less, and smiling all the time. Nicolas is close to the next big developmental milestone of sitting unsupported. When he does this then we can stop lugging him around in his carseat! We have been blessed with another good baby. He is sleeping through the night and makes life a little easier by being on a great schedule during the day.

Here are a few pictures of our chunky little boy!

Memorial Day Weekend

We headed up to my parents' house in Springfield for the holiday weekend. We were there only there for 3 days, but it looked like we pack enough stuff for 3 weeks!
The main reason for us to go was so we could visit with my friend Jen and her family who were also in town for the weekend. Unfortunately, all of her kids were sick, so no visit :(
We had a good time anyway. Here are a few highlights!


Vivian got her first tricycle.


Nicolas got to roll around the driveway, too. He loved it!


Our first trip to Young's with the kids. Yum!


Vivian loved feeding and petting the goats.


Julia, reluctantly, fed the goats, too.


Nicolas enjoyed his visit.

We went to the parade Monday morning.

Too much excitement for Nicolas. (This was also his 5 month birthday)

The main attraction--for us anyway--Grandpa (on the right) dressed as a Rev. War soldier.

Family pic in our Old Navy Flag shirts

Coolong off at the pool with Grandma.

Dan and Nicolas in their coordinating shorts--how cute!

Nicolas wasn't terribly impressed with his first trip to the pool. Having his feet in the cool water was more than enough swimming for him.

Vivi LOVES the pool!


Silly girls playing in the fountains!

We had a great weekend thanks to Grandma and Grandpa!

Julia Goes to the Dentist

Julia had her first trip to the dentist about a week ago. She said she wanted to go to our dentist and not to the pediatric dentist. So we decided to give it a try and if she didn't do well we'd take her to the pediatric dentist next time. She was excited--until it was her turn. We were about ready to give up when she finally decided she'd get in the chair with Daddy. I think Vivian helped her change her mind


Vivian wasn't afraid of the sucking tube.


Julia's turn


Getting her teeth cleaned

Vivian's ready for her check-up

She didn't want to take it out of her mouth :)

She had a great check-up! No cavities!

New Roof

We got a new roof today! Thanks to Hurricane Ike 2 years ago it was free!


Before


After!
It's kinda hard to tell the difference in the small pictures so click on them for a bigger look. The old roof was black and the new roof is burnt sienna. It looks really nice with the red shutters and trim.