Cute

I just showed Thomas his photo from my post on his birthday and he said, "Hmm....I have my sleepy eyes on!"

He does look a little tired. Maybe from the third birthday celebration in as many days. Not what I was thinking he was going to say, but just evidence how not a detail escapes this kid. Love him!

Another "Birthday"

Gabriella is five months old today. Didn't go to bed until a few minutes after midnight last night (darn Olympics fever I have) and as I saw the clock, recalled that five months ago today, at the stroke of midnight, my water broke which led to the string of events that have brought us to this day.

Not sure how we lived without her before. Miss Gab, you have stolen all of our hearts!

Happy Birthday Thomas!

Happy 4th Birthday to our sweet sweet T-Man! You are loved more than words can say. Not a day goes by that you don't make us smile and laugh. Ever the comedy king, you have given us (and your grandparents) many one-liners already in your short life. We love how bright, kind, and silly you are. We love that your eyes sparkle. We love that you love all things dinosaur, can recognize and pronounce (and correct others on) just about every dino name under the sun. We love that you can't hear a good beat and not dance. You are treasured dearly, kiddo. May God bless you always.

I'm Not Even Sure....

....what to call this post. Many titles came to mind, "Siblings"; "Reading"....but none of them quite seem to do it justice. You probably can't tell entirely from the photos, but these two kiddos were in sheer blissful contentment hanging out together yesterday. Thomas is supremely comfortable in his role as big brother. Gabriella seems supremely joyful in her role as adoring little sister. It's funny too. Thomas was the one I was worried about adjusting to having a new baby in the house. He is an amazing big brother; always concerned, helpful, adoring. And honestly, Gaby is a really happy baby and you can see her affection for each one of us, but she smiles more for Thomas than anyone else. He came up with this little phrase that he says all the time, "So cute, so beautiful, so strong, so Gaby!" How precious is that?!

Can't even imagine these children growing up apart from each other. Despite the "off the charts" noise we sometimes experience from crying to arguing to just very, very loud playing, I think they "make" each other. I never quite thought on that before. Just another awesome thing God put together.

Giggles

Oh the things we will do to make a baby laugh! Enjoy Gaby's sweet giggles (and pay no attention to the crazy lady in the background!)

Just Love

Today, I just love.....

I just love the man God gave me to share life with.

I just love the three amazing children God has blessed us with. They are my miracles and I treasure them.

I just love an old ornery dog who does a lot of crazy and annoying things that can end up costing us thousands of dollars (well, that part I don't love!)

I just love the Pasta Rambo leftovers I'm enjoying right now from Carrabba's last night.

I just love that the boys are all off on their way to the mountains to have a treasured day of sledding fun together.

I just loved watching the Bug fall asleep peacefully in her crib last night. She is beautiful beyond words and I love her fiercely.

I just love a God who can hold us through our hurts and knows our pain, yet has bigger joys planned for us than we can ever imagine when we walk to the other side with Him.

I just love the word "love." I know lots of people think it's overused and diminished when we use it to describe our children and pasta in the same post. But I think it's an amazingly fine word. What other word can you use to describe the joys from simple things like pasta leftovers to the very nature of God himself? Only "love." Only "love" can encompass such a multitude of rich and deep and powerful and "this just makes me smile" feelings. And this is my goal in life--to just love.

Digital Frames and Memories

My in-laws gave me a digital photo frame for Christmas. I finally got it up and running this past weekend and I love it! It's like having all your favorite memories flashing like a movie right before your eyes. (I'm sure most of you already have digital frames, so this is old news, but for me, this is new and exciting!) I can actually spend quite a bit of time sitting there watching it to see which photo comes up next. The boys are loving it too and it's fun to see them play "guess the baby." They're so certain they know which one of the three of them it is. Sometimes they're right, but truthfully, there are very strong resemblances among the three as infants, so sometimes.....not so much. Pink usually gives Gaby away. They haven't seemed to notice nuances such as "that baby is crawling," so it can't be their sister. Anyway, it's fun.

Looking through the photos to upload, I stumbled upon this video of Clay and Thomas. Thomas is about 11 months, so Clay's a few months shy of four. See if you can watch it without laughing (or at least smiling!)

Tiny Tights

I love baby feet! They are just amazingly adorable and now that I can clothe those precious feet with teeny tiny tights with pretend shoes.....well, this is just too much!

Today, a favorite photo. There's not much new and exciting to report on over here, so this for fun instead. :) There is, of course, lots going on as always, but not sure much of it makes for enjoyable reading.

For those who enjoy stats, Bug weighed in at 13 pounds, 4 ounces last Monday. That's exactly average for a four-month old girl. She measured long at 25 inches. That puts her between the 75th and 90th percentiles for height. Shocking, I know! Us with tall kids?! Someone tried to mistake Clayton for a junior higher this weekend. He's tall folks (super tall), but that's definitely pushing it!