Sitting up!

Drew started sitting up last week! Good job, buddy!



And this is the closest we've gotten to coordinating outfits for all the kids, so I had to do a photo shoot! Drew's adorable outfit is from Ben and Maggie (thanks guys!), and AJ bought the girls' dresses on his trip. I think it's cute how much he likes to shop for his girls!







Jenna (L) , Drew , Lydia (R)

Colorado and Wyoming

After our week in Kansas, we spent a week in Colorado with my parents. My mom took the entire week off work, so we had lots of time to play. We invited a few high school friends to my parents' to catch up, had pictures taken at Target, went to parks, swam, went to the zoo, and just played at their house. It is so relaxing to be at my mom and dad's. It's the place where I feel the least amount of responsibilities. Thanks for being so good to us, Mom and Dad!

Thursday I drove to Denver to pick up AJ. It was great to have Daddy back! We all were so glad to see him. Then, Saturday we drove to Cheyenne to visit AJ's extended family. Here's a few pictures of some highlights.


My mom hosted a mother-daughter brunch for two of my high school friends and their kids and moms (some good friends of my mom's). Here's the grandmas with the grandbabies.


Some other high school friends came out for dinner: Lindsay, Melissa, and Jaci


Lydia loved having Grandma tickle her!


Lydia (L) and Jenna (R) pose in their new outfits from my parents.


Drew's first time to swim, and he loved it!


It was a rainy day at the zoo, but we still had a good time!


Aunt Patsy manning the kids' table. These are some of AJ's cousins' kids.


Gabrielle was our flower girl at our wedding. Now I just wish she lived in Midland so she could be our babysitter. She was so sweet with Drew.

Kansas

AJ left last Sunday on the MCA American History trip, so I decided to take my kids to see family. My brother flew to Midland for a job then helped me drive to Kansas. We had a great time with grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins!

My brother who definitely wins "Uncle of the Century" for spending an entire week helping me with my kids

Lydia rides the "tractor" with Great Grandma. They were too scared to ride the big tractor with Uncle Jack.

Jenna and Great Grandma

AJ's grandpa meets Drew

AJ's grandma meets Drew. Thanks for driving all the way from Nebraska to see us!

Grandma Doris reads the girls a story

Grandpa Tony and Drew

Grandma Doris meets Drew

Aunt Connie got lots of smiles out of Drew

Lydia wanted to sit with Uncle Paul too!


Uncle Jack had all the kids' attention



Aunt Jan came to meet Drew too



I thought the girls would be shy with Uncle Ken, but they loved sitting on his lap and laughed a lot!



Great Grandma and Drew at the park


The girls with my cousin Elyssa, who we got to go watch graduate.


Aunt Cindy and Uncle Mike came for graduation too



My cousin Naasha was a great help with my kids. I only wish she could come babysit in Midland!



Shade and Chance



It was a fabulous surprise to see Aunt Kathleen and my cousin Carlos walk in with the kids!

Sorry for the forever long post. I'm so thankful for the chance we had to catch up with so much of my family and wanted to document it here.

Cute

We're having a much better week this week than last. Drew is getting past his cold, Jenna's pooping in the potty again, so I'm a pretty happy mom. I'm also uploading a video of Drew in his bouncy seat and the girls playing "mommy" with each other, complete with an offer to nurse! If you're interested, click here.


After almost a month, I think the girls may be potty trained!


Jenna (the baby) sitting on Lydia (the mommy's) lap. They nurse, burp, change diapers, rock, sing...just call if you'd like them to babysit!


Feeling better after a hard week of major congestion


Drew's beginning to like his Bumbo seat!


Jenna loves to hold Drew and is getting much better at it.


Thanks for the cute outfit, Ben and Maggie!

Easter

We had a fun Easter weekend!


It was fun to color eggs with the girls. They did well but didn't enjoy the delived eggs we made with our pretty eggs.


Sweet boy in his cute Easter shirt. His daddy even gave in and wore a matching shirt! I don't know how I forgot a father/son pic.


We ate lunch on our own--yum! Then some friends came over for dinner that night.


Jenna's ready to go find some eggs!


"Hi egg!" (Lydia)


My attempt at an artistic picture.

In addition to the egg traditions, it was fun to hear the girls answer these questions:

Why did Jesus die on the cross?
"He loves Jenna, Lydia, Leila, Joe..." (they'd name several of their friends each time)

Today is Easter and we're celebrating that Jesus is
"ALIVE!"

Thank you, God, for the sacrifice of your precious Son.

First laugh

Last night we discovered that Drew is ticklish. This was our first time to hear him laugh so much. We love being his parents!

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him

This is now called the "Grace Song" at our house, because we pointed out Lydia's middle name in it. They love singing it, and the "Hope Song" (a Switchfoot song called Only Hope). They both can often being heard singing this phrase over and over to themselves as they play, eat, tee-tee, anything: "Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him." Thanks, Jenna and Lydia, for the great reminders throughout the day. I want that to be the theme of my life, and I want to remember to tell Jesus I trust Him as often as I hear it from your sweet little voices.