Special Time <3

Gabriella and Kasey both nap at the same time in the afternoon, but Tomas has outgrown his afternoon nap. On school days he has to have "rest time" upstairs for quiet activities, but on days like today, I get him all to myself...special Mommy and Tomas time! It is nicer outside today than we expected. First we went for a walk...doing silly walks first and then ending it off by holding hands and strolling along. Then, because Kasey and Gabi were still resting, Tomas got out his bike and we headed for the playground (the only route we can take without hitting a big hill). He practiced using his hand brakes and at the playground we climbed together and he even worked on tackling the hanging ladder. These are such precious times!
Now we're headed back home to play swords. "Mommy, let's go!"
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Oma op Visite!

Oma was de laatste week bij ons op visite voor haar Spring Break. Het was een heerlijke week voor iedereen. De kinderen vonden het echt heerlijk om haar hier te hebben. Tomas ging iedere dag entusiast met haar naar school, kletsend over van alles en nog wat! Het was zelfs nog even lekker buiten en wij zijn naar de speeltuin gegaan. Kasey heeft bijna nooit in de zon gezeten om dat dit zo'n strenge winter was. Hij is natuurlijk nog erg klein dus kan niet veel doen, maar lekker lachen en knuffelen is al lang genoeg! Ik was een paar dagen ziek dus wij konden lang niet zo veel doen als wij hadden gepland maar het was toch erg gezellig.
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Kasey's Growing Too Fast!

Kasey will be 4 months old on Saturday. Time just keeps flying by me before I feel like I can catch on for the ride! He is such a happy little baby. Sometimes I think he looks exactly like Tomas as a baby, but he is definitely his own little happy self too. This week he started to giggle. It is so unbelievably cute I just about want to eat him up! He is like Tomas also in that he is already getting teeth, although he seems to want to be even faster than his big brother. Earlier this week he sprouted two teeth on the bottom, and then today I got one heck of a shock...there is yet another tooth coming through on the top! No way, Jose! Alright, so now I have to so vigilant when he is nursing. No thanks to biting, kiddo!

Spring is starting to show its face around here, and thank goodness!!! Poor Kasey's skin has seen the sun fewer times than I can count on one hand. Yesterday we were outside briefly and it was so nice to feel the fresh air and see the sun. Tomorrow it is supposed to be nice yet again and I am thrilled to take a trip to the zoo with Oma and the kids. We will run around outside and see which animals might like to join us also.

Digital Scrapbooking...Yay!!

We had 2 snow days this week, and being trapped in the house led to some cabin fever and a bit of productivity. I have gotten into digital scrapbooking and love it. With three kids it is jsut too hard to do paper scrapping...I can't leave anything unfinished...the kids will go on a rampage, and there is no room in my house for my own craft space. This is such a great solution. I can go "shopping" for papers and embellishments. There are sites that charge for these but there are SO many available free, so those are the ones I use. Since I'm not doing anything commercial it's totally doable and fun! Here are the pages I did this week for our newest little man!

SOOO Behind!

This winter is a BEAST! We have not had a full week of school since before the holiday break. Every time we turn around there is another snow storm. Poor Kasey has his face covered almost all the time and has barely seen the sun! For his sake, spring can't come fast enough! At this rate, though, it will be May before the snow melts enough for us to be able to enjoy the playground. As I write this we are in the middle of yet another warning..I think it is ice this time. This winter it is just part of the deal. We'll manage...just no power outage please!! Chicago, on the other hand, is about to be SLAMMED with snow!! They are saying it might top the blizzard of '67. We'll see.
Kasey is doing so well. He interacts more and more every day. I notice that he clearly wants play time and relaxed time on his own (hard with Gabi and Tomas wanting to climb all over him). The swing is an absolute lifesaver!! Kasey loves the colors and patterns of the fish and finds the motion and sounds so soothing. It is an essential part of enabling me to get things done and manage the other two kids. We have had his 2 month appointment and he is my little baby giant. He was 15 lbs 8.5 oz and 25 in. Yesterday, I put his first 9 month onesie on him and bought size 3 diapers. Really?!?! Why is he in such a hurry? I am ridiculously in love with his smile and his happy nature.

Gabriella Dance Jan 3, 2011

Alright, I am proud of myself...after a bit of a pain in the butt, I figured out how to put effectively use and share videos from my blackberry on computer sites (such as facebook and blogger). When I email videos to myself, they do not play on my computer, nor will they upload from my computer to facebook. The solution, you ask? Email the video to YouTube as a mobile upload and share/blog from there. Yippee!!!!
In any case, this video is from Gabriella's dance class today and I couldn't be any prouder. When she first started dance, she barely participated in the weekly performances at the end of class. She was either two distracted by Mommy and other spectators, too busy playing with her skirt, or just lost. As you can see here, she has come such a long way. I just want to eat her up when I see this!

1 Month Checkup

Kasey did great. He got 1 vaccination today. He was more upset about being hungry than about the shot! Good job buddy! He is growing like a weed! 12 lbs 12.5 oz, 24 inches. All measurements are above the 95th percentile! Future Bears linebacker??
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