Kindergarten Graduation

Amazing how quickly time goes. It seems as though we just started kindergarten last week, dropping off my shy little girl at school for lots of first time experiences. Now she is an experienced student, able to read and write, count and study. She had a good first year of school, overcoming some pretty big obstacles. The Lord was very good to us!

Here she is with some of her classmates (Madelyne, Jack, Mya and Cody).
Cousins and brother celebrating with the new graduate.

Chloe and Mrs. Johnsen

Micah at the graduation

Speaking of Micah, he had his first plane ride to Grandma and Grandpa's house at 6 months old. He is such an easy going baby, the plane rides were a breeze. He slept on the way out and then played on the way back.

Here we are coming home.

My boys!

Speaking of firsts, Micah also starting eating food at 6 months old. He loves it. He hasn't turned down a single thing. He loves sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, pears, apples, rice cereal, and bananas. We are keeping with the gluten free diet and he is thriving. I have been gluten free as well so that he is getting no wheat protein from breastmilk either.

While we are driving in the car to Grammie's house

Elijah: "I am the sweetest boy ever!"

Chloe (in a very know-it-all voice):"No you are not. God is."

Easter, 2010

He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our sins. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5

Another Easter and Passover has come and gone. We are reminded of the great love our Father has for us. I love the preclude of Passover before Easter. The weeks before Passover begins, Jews clean their homes and remove any leaven. Leaven doesn't just mean the packets of yeast you have lying around in your cupboard. It means anything that increases in size from corn to wheat. The Jewish people clean out all of their cupboards, shelves and even pocket linings in their clothes. Can you imagine all of the preparation that goes into the time of Passover? Then, they are not allowed to eat any of those things for 8 days. Our family did not participate in the entire season of Pesach but we did do some of the cleaning. I love the reminder of cleaning leaven from your home as a reminder to clean sin from your life. We can't just do a quick sweep of sin but we must inspect ourselves thoroughly and if their be any hint of sin, take it to the Father and ask Him to forgive and remove it. Just as you burn the last of the leaven as the sun goes down on Passover, so let the last of sin before the Easter season be far removed from my heart.

Elijah hunting for eggs.

Ethan and Chloe

Chloe delighted with her find.

Isn't he adorable?

Most definitely!

Our precious growing family

Cousins!

They are supposed to be kissing their brother. Almost looks like Elijah is licking Micah.

There you have it!

Happiness

We are so blessed. Micah is now 4 months old and thriving. We love him so and as Elijah will point out, he isn't just mom and dad's baby. He is "all of our baby!" The kids adore him and it was a surprisingly smooth transition for Elijah. He went from baby of the family to big brother with relative ease. I am proud of the way Chloe and Elijah protect their baby and assume responsibility in caring for Micah.

That girl can't get enough of Micah.

Elijah and his pad of butter

Notice that most of the pictures we have of Micah are also pictures of Chloe.

Elijah and dad reading a book. Go Ducks!

Chloe holding Micah. Can you see him?

Baby after bath. I wish I could infuse the page with his sweet baby belly smell.

I love this picture. He really hasn't fit into the Bumbo so well. I think it works best for normal sized babies. Micah is so long that he has a hard time holding himself up even with the extra support.

Fresh pictures!

Micah (4 months) and Arielle (6 months) hang out for the first time. Both of the babies are number 3 in their prospective families. I am excited to see if they become fast friends.

A picture from Chloe's birthday party. Here she is hugging her cousin Avery.

My beautiful girl before the party.

Chloe enjoyed the birthday song in front of the class on her birthday. There was a substitute teacher that day, which was a bit of a bummer.

The kids waking up first thing in the morning on Chloe's birthday. She asked to hold Micah right away.

He loves her!

For My Pregnant Friends

"I never want to forget how incredible it feels to feel a little kick from the inside; saying hello. reminding me of the miracle growing inside. Reminding me of the miracles that are all around me. Reminding me of the miracle of new life and the miracle of my life. And how blessed I am. When he kicks from the inside, I smile every time at this brand new feeling. And realize all the feelings he will have to look forward to. All the feelings I will get to teach him about; like finger painting on butcher paper and rolling cookie dough into shapes and blowing bubbles in the shade and jumping into salty waves of the pacific and learning how to sound out words on the page. I imagine the newness of how it feels to swing on a swing-set and sit on dad's knee and ride a horse and run a race and spit out watermelon seeds and see snowflakes fall and build blanket forts and hear the boom of fireworks. I want him to feel all of these feelings. Because I want to give him the same thrill that his little kicks give me.I already love him. He will always know the feeling of love. " - Marta Dansie

"We walk by faith, not by sight.
Sorrow is a fruit: God does not make it grow on limbs too weak to bear it.
Men are born with two eyes, but with one tongue in order that they should see twice as much as they say.
To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.
Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.
The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning. "

It has been a long week at our house. Elijah had the flu 2 weeks ago and we were successful in keeping him separate from the rest of the family. Chloe came home with the cold last week and managed to get all of us sick. Micah and I are the last to get better and I think we are now on the mend.

Chloe celebrated her 100th day of kindergarten this week. She came home with the number 100 pinned to her chest and a caterpillar hat.

I I am amazed at how much Chloe loves to hold and play with Micah. She loves him so much.

Elijah and I making some chocolate ganache lollipops, yum!

Micah all curled up in the sling I made. He loves it when he can get something in his mouth, anything!

Sweet boy after bath

Chloe laying in the sun doing a puzzle. She was pretty bored while Buddy was sick.

Elijah konked out on the couch. He recovered from the flu in a few days but then ended up with an ear infection. We managed to successfully treat it without antibiotics. Ben put hydrogen pyroxide in his ear and he felt much better within a few hours and never complained again. Hydrogen pyroxide has so many uses.

2010, nice to meet you!

Micah is too big for his bassinet. We finally moved him on once his head touched one end and his feet were able to touch the other.

My Sweet Boy

Things Heard Outside of a Christian School #1

"If you call me that name again, you are not going to heaven! I said, 'If you say that again, God won't let you into heaven.'"

Pictures, Pictures and More Pictures

Uncle Ryan requested new pictures last night so here goes.

Chloe has started using Elijah's face as her newest canvas for expression. He is wearing her white jacket because it has a fur lined hoodie - much more realistic for a cat. Elijah doesn't mind the marker going on but hates the scrubbing afterwards.

Micah is growing, growing, growing. We have his 2 month checkup at the end of this week. I am excited to see how he is doing.


Chloe loves to play her new guitar. Now, if we only had lessons so she could actually play.

Elijah "posing" by the tree. He has a hard time standing still. Also, you may wonder why he isn't wearing any clothes. Most days around the house, he doesn't wear them. They must inhibit his ability to move.

Uncle Scott made each of the kids a t-shirt this year for Christmas that expressed something about them. Elijah's shirt has Mike Wyzowski from Monster's Inc. Chloe has a sweet white puppy on her shirt. I chose this picture because Elijah's face makes me laugh. Like I said earlier, he can hardly stand still.

Micah's shirt is a cute little froggie.

Chloe standing by the tree. She is changing into a little girl.