Isaac is 4!  I know, I can't believe it either!  He is the most amazing 4 year old, he is wise beyond his years, he has a tender spirit, he is stubborn and strong willed, but so sweet, too.  We love this boy so much!  This year I asked him some questions, so I thought I'd share those with you instead of my usual drawn out description.  Enjoy!

His favorite toys:  4 wheeler
Favorite things to learn:  draw and counting
Favorite snacks:  cinammon toast crunch
Best show on TV:  Jake and the Neverland Pirates
My teacher says:  I'm well mannered and have really opened up this year.
My favorite activity:  swimming
Favorite foods:  Mac and Cheese and Yogurt
Favorite color:  Orange
I love to go outside:  and swim and drive my 4 wheeler
Favorite Song:  Zaccheus
Food I dislike most:  Broccoli
With Mama and Daddy I like to:  swim, tickle, and go on bike rides
What I think everyone should know:  About Jesus!  That He loves you and takes care of you!
Best Friend:  Taylor
What I love to do with Luke:  Run into each other.
Favorite thing about Hannah:  Her smile!
Favorite animal:  pig
When I grow up I want to be:  a daddy and an ambulance driver
Favorite place to go:  Emmy and Gumby's house

Isaac is so silly sometimes, I loved hearing his answers to these questions...some of which surprised me and some of which I could have answered for him.  He loves to learn, he is a sponge, he remembers everything we say!  He can count to 40 in English, and 10 in Dutch and Spanish!  He wants to know how everything works, and of course why.  Isaac loves to pray.  He prays before every meal and at night before bed...he is sure to remind us if we forget.  He has gotten a little bit whiney lately, but I think part of that is just to get attention, since he's now fighting with two others for attention.  He loves his brother and sister, he and Luke have so much fun together!  He is always watching Hannah and wants to know where she is at all times.  His new favorite toys are the sandbox and a 2 wheeled scooter.  These 4 years have flown by, he has taught us so much, and we are excited to see what the future holds for this incredible little guy!

Luke is 2!

Last week Luke turned two years old!  My baby boy is 2!  The past two years with him have been amazing, he is such a fun boy and is finally starting to show others how fun he really is!  He has always been shy, and very much a mama's boy, but in the last couple of months he has trully blossomed!  He nows fusses when Isaac gets out of the truck to go to school because he wants to go with him.  I never thought that day would come!  He loves to play with other kids, he follows them around, and copies what they do.  He thinks he is so big when he plays with the "big" kids.  Those that know him well know that he has the biggest smile that lights up his eyes, and know that he is a fun loving, silly boy!  Luke has started to talk more and more, he tries to say words more than ever, and he loves to tell us things.  I think about 80% of his words are in Dutch, he loves to speak Dutch!  He also really likes to "count," he points to items one at a time and counts with the same inflections we use...it is so cute!  Luke knows his colors, knows his train characters from Thomas, and knows exactly what he wants.  He is definitely my strong willed child, so he makes some days challenging, but he also has times when he is my most obedient and easy going child.  To say that Luke loves trains is an understatement, he is obsessed with them, cannot get enough play time with his trains.  His favorite toy these days is his train table, he will stand at the bottom of the stairs, point upstairs, and yell choo choo!  If I don't go with him he yanks the gate open and crawls on up.  I did mention his strong willed attitude, right?  Luke also loves to watch trains on TV, Thomas the Train and Chuggington are his favorite shows, he could watch them all day!  Luke is crazy about his little sister, when she is on the ground or in her car seat on the ground he will run to her, kneel down, get in her face, and "talk" to her in a high pitched sweet voice.  He also kisses her on the head and puts her pacifier back in her mouth when it falls out.  He has a major soft spot on his heart for his precious Hannah.

I love Luke with all my heart and am so thankful for him and what he brings to our family!  I cannot wait to watch his personality grow as he learns to talk more and share his heart with us.

2 Months Yesterday

Hannah is now 2 months old, yesterday was her big day.  :-)  She is doing so well and is a great baby!  I can't believe how fast she is growing, it is exciting to see, but also sad that my baby is growing so fast.  She currently wears 0-3 and some 3 month clothes.  She has become much more alert in the last couple of weeks, she is observant like Isaac was, she watches everyone and everything.  Emmy noticed the other day that when I walked away she would follow me with her eyes.  I think her favorite place to hang out is on the floor, near a window, with her brothers playing around her.  She enjoys when they come to talk to her and love on her...I would find it annoying because they get right in her face, but she doesn't seem to mind a bit.  Her absolute favorite place to nap is in someone's arms; she is not particular about who's arms, as long as she's being held she is happy and sleeps sweetly.  She is nursing about every 3-4 hours, and has taken a few bottles really well.  Hannah is sleeping really well at night, I usually feed her at about 10 then put her down for the night and she sleeps until anytime between 5 and 7.  Yesterday she celebrated her 2 month birthday by sleeping until 7:45, it was wonderful!  She is a smiley girl, and her smile lights up her face, I love it!!!  Her smiles are still unpredictable, which is so fun because you never know when you're going to get a smile.  Hannah has big deep blue eyes, they are gorgeous, and get people's attention every where we go.  She does really well in the car, she sometimes cries when we first get in, but as soon as we get moving she calms down and usually falls asleep.  Often she will fall asleep in the car and continue to sleep in her carseat when we get home.  She has been to many places, which I don't really like to do with such a little baby, but with two older brothers life must go on.  She has been shopping, and does well, typically I put her in my Baby Bjorn carrier; she has also been to Isaac's school, and even to church a couple of times.  She has done well every where we've gone...I hope this continues.  Hannah has Luke's love for pacifiers, she loves her paci and falls asleep with it for her naps.

I am so blessed by this baby girl, it already feels like she's always been a part of this family...I am so thankful the boys are still so in love with her!

Easter

The bunny at the church egg hunt.

Our Family Easter celebration

The boys enjoying their Easter goodies from the egg hunt.

Cousins!

Making our resurrection rolls.

Easter Sunday

Hannah got her first bottle!

Church Egg Hunt

This Easter I wanted to be sure Isaac understood why we celebrate Easter. I wanted him to know it's not about the Easter bunny, but about Jesus and that He died for us. I found some great activities to do together in the days leading up to Easter as well as on Easter morning. I also bought a couple of books to read together. The first activity was Resurrection Eggs...there were twelve eggs each with a symbol in it and a bible reading to go along with that symbol. The readings and the eggs told the story of Jesus going to die on the cross and then rising from the tomb. I was so excited about these, as we sat down that first day, 12 days before Easter, and began reading Isaac announced, "We have these eggs at school, this last one is empty because Jesus isn't in the tomb any more!" Oh my, I was shocked at his knowledge and a little bummed that my activity wasn't near as great any more, but also very thankful that he was learning about Easter at school. We continued to do the eggs everyday anyway, and he really enjoyed them. Luke joined us, too, but he didn't really understand what we were doing. On Easter morning I had planned to make resurrection rolls with the boys...it was a very neat recipe, basically you take a marshmallow, which represents Jesus because it's white and He was sinless. Then you dip it in melted butter to represent the oils and in cinammon sugar. Then you put it on a flat crescent and wrap it around the marshmallow, this represents to tomb. After cooking it you cut into a roll and it's empty, showing us that the tomb was empty on Easter morning. As we made them we read through the story in the Bible. We had a great time making them and reading, as we were finishing I asked Isaac what he thought would happen, he quickly said, "The marshmallow will be gone because Jesus isn't in the tomb any more." What!?! For a second I thought he was a genius and had figured it out, so I asked how he knew that...you guessed it, they did this at school. Really? Again, my great activity turned out to not be orignial enough. But again, I am SO thankful that he is in a great school that is pointing him to Jesus and teaching the Truth.

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Saturday we had our families over to celebrate with a delicious potluck lunch, a fun Easter egg hunt for the kids, and then some swimming! Yes, it was plenty warm enough for swimming! I am so thankful we live so close and are able to celebrate the holidays with our families. Sunday morning we decided to take Hannah to church with the family, I was a little nervous, but hopeful. She did great! She fell asleep during the worship time and slept the entire time! Whew! The boys had a great time at Sunday school, they always do! Sunday afternoon our church hosted an egg hunt and potluck dinner, it was so fun! The kids had a great time hunting for eggs, playing with their friends, and even a little playtime with a real bunny! The boys loved that! I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I am so thankful the Lord has blessed us with an incredible church family!

Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice and your amazing love! I hope everyone had a good Easter!

Cole's surgery

Our first, and biggest baby, Cole, had surgery to repair a torn ACL just over a week ago. He had started limping at least a month ago, and eventually got to where he didn't even use his back right leg. We were getting really nervous, we thought it must be the hip displasia that we knew was inevitable. Carl took him to the vet to get him checked, where they determined it was his hips or maybe a torn ACL. Of course, it required an x ray to determine the answer, so that's what we did. The x ray proved it to be his ACL, which meant surgery which is not fun, but thankfully also meant that he could be healed and back to normal again soon. Our vet in town offered two types of surgery that cost a pretty penny, but Carl has a friend with some connections for a vet in Navasota that could do the surgery a different way and much cheaper. Naturally, we called him, and got Cole in for surgery the next week. The surgery went great, and now after 8 days he is walking around using it better than he did before the surgery! We are so relieved to see our boy getting back to himself and able to walk around like he should. Hopefully this will be our only dog surgery to endure...it was not fun!

First official swim

Yesterday Daddy and the boys got in the pool for the first official swim of the summer. As you might recall, Luke was not a huge fan of the pool last year, so we were all anxious to see what he would think of it now. Thankfully he was a huge fan! He had a great time playing with Daddy and Isaac in the water! We put him in the puddle jumper, and he quickly learned how to float freely in it. Daddy started teaching him how to kick his legs and of course he figured out how to splash with his hands and get everyone wet. Isaac has absolutely no hesitation as he climbed in the pool. We did make him wear his swim vest, just to help him adjust and remember what to do. He proved that he does remember and is so excited to be back in the water. He has not mustered up the courage to jump in yet, but he had a great time swimming around and kicking/splashing. It brings my heart joy to see them having so much fun...I am so excited to make lots more memories in the pool this summer!

1 month

While pregnant with Hannah it seemed like some months would just drag on, there were times when I thought March would never come. Now that she's here the time is flying by. Our sweet girl is going to be one month tomorrow! This month has been fun, challenging, exciting, and exhausting...and I have loved every minute of it. The boys are still absolutely crazy about their sister, they talk to her and love on her as much as possible. Luke's little face lights up when he sees her, and if she's down at her level she is smothered by his kisses. Isaac will climb to get to her, he cannot get enough of her, and wants to be a part of everything that happens with her. I am so thankful that even after a month they are still in love with her. Hannah is a great baby! She has a sweet cry that's not too loud and usually when she's crying it's for a reason...she's sleepy, dirty, or hungry. She loves to be held, but is also quite content laying in her bouncy seat or her bed. Her "bed" is actually a nap nanny, which has been awesome! A friend of mine let me borrow this for her, it is an inclined bed thing, that she loves. Before getting it she would only sleep an hour and a half or so at night, but her first night in it she slept 4 hours! I think she would wake herself up with a little reflux or gas, but now sleeping at the incline she is much more comfy. I am so thankful for this great contraption. ;-) Speaking of sleeping, this past week she only woke up 1 time per night, usually around 3 and then again around 6:30 or 7. There have been a couple nights that she slept in until 8 or 8:30! She is eating like a champ and growing like one, too! If she keeps this up she will catch Luke before she's one. She eats every 2-3 hours, unless she is sleeping, she will go 4 or so hours. During the day I wake her and make sure she eats at 3 hours if not before. I have gotten her to smile at me 3 times now, and it melts my heart each time! I can't wait until we get to see that pretty smile more often. She LOVES to be outside, no surprise her brothers were the same way. When she's fussy I can take her out and immediately she calms down and I can feel her whole body relax. She's actually napping outside as I right this from the back porch. This brings back memories of Luke, he spent many hours napping outside. So far she enjoys the car, she will cry a little at first, but then quickly passes out. Although if she is awake she tends to get mad when we stop, she wants to keep moving. This reminds me of Isaac, he was just that way. I will never forget driving home one day and getting stuck in a huge traffic jam, he cried and cried, but as soon as we started moving he was fine. The boy has always been a fan of speed. This week the kids and I have all been sick, including Hannah with her first bit of congestion. The poor thing, she sounds pathetic with her stuffy nose and sneezes. Thankfully she's handled it well. Due to the illness, we all went to the doctor together, so we got to weigh her on Tuesday, she was already up to 8 lbs!!! I can tell she's growing as her newborn clothes finally fit her well and she has outgrown a couple of things.

I am so in love with this sweet baby girl, this first month has been fun as we've watched her grow and begin to see the world around her. She fits right into the family, I have almost forgotten what life was like before she was with us.

Happy 1 month sweet Hannah Grace! (I'll post her one month picture in the next couple of days.)