16 weeks!

Here is sweet little Kate at 16 weeks. She is doing great! She is such a good baby. Strong as can be...an early walker for sure! And she is smiling and laughiung out loud on a regualr basis now! She is just so much fun!

AWANA graduation and more

Last night the kids had their AWANA awards. Josh graduated from Cubbies and will be a Spark next year. McKayla got an award for finishing the first Sparks book. And Lizzy got an "Under the Apple Tree" award for being able to consistantly remember verses from weeks past. They were all so cute up on stage!

Mike took Josh and McKayla to a Kane county Cougars game two weeks ago. They had a great time. A lot of McKayla's friends from school were there since it was a night to honor the kids for their reading - a program that the Cougars team does. Mike said Mckayla was silly as can be and Josh's highlight of the night was buying this light up sword from a vendor whith his very own money.

These we took after church one day. I was disappointed that we didn't get any of the whole family together at Easter (we are uaually in KY and someone takes it for us. We weren't organized enough to try the tripod!) So a series of random candid's will have to do. They turned out cute anyway.

We are getting ready for a busy summer. McKayla is looking forward to being a camper for the first time. (Oh wow! What a big step for her and mom!) We can't wait for vacation with the Baker side in Holden Beach, NC. And the kids are thrilled that we got a pool pass this year at Wheaton's fabulous Rice Pool and Water Park. It's awesome. Gotta admit. Kinda excited myself about that! We are all doing great and thankful that the warmer weather is on it's way!

Spring?

So spring is here, or is supposed to be here. Today is really the first time we have had a really warm day! In fact, Mike looked it up! This is the first day to potentially break 70 degrees since last October! Yikes!
I love our town, but sometimes I have to wonder, "why do we live here?" Especially when there are such wonderfully warm and beautiful places all over the world! But this is where God wants us, so here we will stay until He directs us otherwise.
Life is busy here. T-Ball and soccer have started and we look forward to the kids first game this Saturday. So far everything has been canceled due to the rain we have had lately. But the forecast looks good for the weekend, so we are hoping to see the kids play. AWANA is coming to a close and the kids are all enjoying the many theme nights they have there. They have all made a lot of friends and learned a lot of scripture. I am always amazed at the three year olds who seem to learn the scripture verses with no problem and still retain the information months later. Does your memory really get that much worse as you get older, or is it just that we don't try hard enough?
Katelyn is doing great and growing like a weed. People keep commenting on how big she is getting and they are right! She is much taller than our other kids at this age and is already outgrowing her 0-3 month clothes! She is only 8 weeks! She started smiling last week and it has become Mike's goal each night when he comes home from work to try to get her to smile. Such a sweet reward when she finally cracks a smile and coos at him!

McKayla, Josh and Liz all dressed up for Easter.

3 weeks and growing

Katelyn has been with us for 3 weeks now. It's hard to believe how much she has changed already! The kids are loving every minute of her. They love holding, hugging, kissing, and cooing at her. She is doing really well with sleeping and is in general just a very content baby. We were worried about colic setting in (since Elizabeth's was so bad) but she seems fine other than a few fussy times here and there. Praise God! :) We are looking forward to warmer weather and enjoying our newly enlarged family!

Katelyn Grace

Katelyn Grace was born February 18th at 3:50 am. She weighed 7lbs. 7oz. and is 21" long. We are so excited to finally meet this little one! She is so precious!

Waiting for baby

Hopefully we will have a more exciting entry next time. I am due any day now and can't wait! Not only am I ready to be done being pregnant, but I want to meet this little girl and hold her!

The kids are so excited! They ask constantly when she will be here...maybe that is why I am so anxious!
January and February have been uneventful. Just getting used to Mike's new position at work and waiting for baby.
Mckayla is doing well at school and is loving that she now gets to go to birthday parties right and left. Josh is excited to be 5 next month and is constantly telling me "just one more thing" that he wants for his birthday. Elizabeth is trying desperatly to be just as big as she can. She tries to write letters and make stories, read books to herself, and dress herself. And she sings nonstop!
That's it for now! Next time I will have another person to report on!

Christmas Disney trip

We gave our kids their presents a bit early this year. They have always wanted to go to Disney World, so we decided to make that their present for Christmas. We went with Lisa's parents. It was a great time to go! Escape our below freezing Chicago temperatures for the 80 degree weather of Florida! All the parks were decorated for Christmas and the lines were short. The kids loved every minute of it. We spent two days there and then headed to Anna Maria Island (near Sarasota) for three days. We got to relax on the beach and hang out in the pool before heading home. (and rest our weary feet from all of the walking we did at Disney!)

Strange to come back to ice storms and snow, but we are excited to be home and celebrate Christmas. Somehow Christmas lights and decorations look out of place in 80 degree weather. It just didn't seem like Christmas.