11 months old and we decided to try a new hairstyle

Sweet Kella is 11 months old!  She is getting so big!

Here's a run down on some new stuff that she's doing...

*say's "da-da-da" and "ma-ma-ma" and I think they are meaningful

*also says "uh-oh" and "yes"

*eats pretty much whatever everyone else eats.  I'm not saying she likes it a lot, but, she likes it better than jarred baby food.

*sleeps through the night, most of the time (yippee!)

*loves, loves, loves to "talk" to people

*loves her brothers and the neighbor kids

*loves her blankie

*is an awesome paper finder-she likes to eat it, and chalk, and anything else she can find on the floor!

*really enjoys watching baby mozart and baby van gogh

*likes seeing her little friends in the church nursery

 

Kella's hair is really long.  I usually try to pull it back from her face to keep it out of her eyes, especially since she has a clogged tear duct that can get gooey.  I was inspired to try 2 little pigtails instead of the normal "Pebbles" hair-do.  Not too horrible for the first time.  And, yes, one pigtail is larger than the other.  I went with her natural part and thought that was even.  My bad.  Kella sits great when I mess with her hair.  I usually try to do it when she's distracted by eating. 

Too sweet!

a new toy is always welcome

Liam's birthday present from Grammy Linda arrived in the mail a few days ago.  It was a big hit!  Liam and Ewan played great with it, building and imagining. 

What they really liked was building long chains, shall we call them "swords"

A happy boy and his weapon.

And, then they tried to "fight" with their swords.  And, then their swords went everywhere.  Everywhere.  And, then there was some confusion about how to clean up to scattered remains of the battle.  And, Kella may have tried to eat some of the foamy pieces.  And, Andy may have had to get involved to "encourage" Liam to help pick up.

But, they did really like the new toy.

Thank you Grammy Linda!

kite flying

To end the year, the boyscouts' last meeting had a special guest that showed the boys how to build and fly kites.  The scouts had fun and it was cool to see all the kites in the air against the moody sky. (it had finished raining before the meeting)  Cale built and flew a kite while Marcus helped take bags of food the scouts collected to the rescue mission in town.  What a great way to end the scouting year!  To say that I am excited to be done is an understatement.  I will be so happy on Wednesday to not have to bring dinner to church to feed the kids and be able to feed them at home.  And our schedule gets a little easier...

Here's Cale and his kite to the far right

I know, the sky looks omninous.  I promise there was no thunder or lightening.  (I did feel a little bit like Thomas Jefferson with all the kites in the air, though)

How fun and so glad that Grammy Pammy got to see it, too.  And, she helped watch the other kids, too!

No meetings till the fall!  Yippee!

a view from the back door

This is how our backyard looks most afternoons:  a collection of children from the surrounding homes playing in our backyard.  This time, it was a slightly organized game of "baseball" with kids from 5 different families playing. 

I think we have the cool yard :-)

Liam's birthday

Happy Birthday to Liam!  He turned 3 last week on April 24th and we were able to celebrate his birthday that evening.  He woke up to balloons in his room, which was very exciting.  We also let him open birthday cards that morning, which he didn't think was as exciting.  That afternoon, I made his cake and decorated with some more balloons and streamers.  Liam really likes Ben 10 right now, so I tried to make a cake that looked like the Ben 10 watch (omnitrix).  The boys thought I did a pretty good job-or they may have been excited that there was cake, not sure.  I also made cupcakes because Ewan invited the kids in the neighborhood over.  After a dinner of corndogs (for the kids) and tacos (for the grown-ups), it was time to party!

Liam opened one present, and he was done.  What I am not showing in these photos are the pcitures of the all the other kids openin the rest of Liam's presents.  They were pretty excited about the toys he got.

Got himself a new Ben 10 "watch"

He also got a new cape and mask, some superhero toys and a veggietale video.  In Liam's perfect world, I think he would have taken all evening to open his presents, enjoying each one for a while before opening the next.  That would have been torture to everyone else, and Liam didn't seem to mind that other kids opened his presents.

traditional "baby" picture-Liam was not a fan

so, I didn't get to hold my baby boy like a baby, but I still got my photo

 

Liam is a sweet, cuddle-y little boy.  He loves to try to run with the bigger kids.  Right now, he's into dressing up pretending he's a superhero.  He still loves his blankie and is a thumbsucker.  All signs point to him being a leftie, too, but he does do some things right-handed.  He is also a boy that knows what he wants and doesn't like when Mommy or Daddy don't agree with his decisions.  He loves to sing and I love hearing his sweet voice.  He enjoys going to preschool and really likes go to chapel to sing.  He knows all his letters and numbers and shapes.  He can count to 14 without missing a number.  He is surprisingly good with my phone and likes to try and play the games.  He is sleeping in the same room with his brothers now.  He was so excitied to make that move to be included with them.  But, man, when the mood hits, he sure knows how to push his brothers' buttons.  His favorite foods right now are fruits and veggies.  He doesn't eat a lot of meat by choice.  Of course snack foods are a favorite food, too.  He is such a joy!  I can't believe he is 3 already! 

We went to the doctor for his check-up last Thursday, and he is looking good!  He weighed 37.4 pounds and was 40 inches tall (both in the 95th percentile).  (this is right in the mix with where his brothers were at this age)

So happy birthday Liam!  We love you so much!

got ourselves some new wheels (bikes, that is)

Since Ewan "upgraded" to Cale's old bike, Cale needed some new wheels.  Sunday, Andy took him to go get a new bike that acutally fit his size.  Cale was super-exctied and rode it as soon as they got home. 

Oh, Andy got another bike, too.  He kind of needed one that he could ride around with the kids instead of using my bike or his road bike.  And, yes, those tires are yellow and red.  The boys thought those were the coolest tires.  How many bikes do we have in our garage now?  That would be....8 plus 2 tricycles and 2 scooters.  Our cars will never fit in the garage.

messing with my camera

Still haven't gotten around to reading the instruction for my "new" camera.  But, I think I took some cool photos over the past few days.

These clouds at sunset looked amazing.  I tried it with and without the flash.

Then I went for the panoramic shot.  On the camera, it actually plays through like a video.  I thought it was cool. 

A few days ago I saw one of the first hot air balloons of the season.  We seem to see lots of them around here.

Now you can see how far away it actually was.  That zoom feature is pretty nifty.