He is RISEN!

Happy Easter Everyone! 

We had a great, busy day, and I promise to write about this weekend soon!  And I have lots of pictures to share!  There are so many amazing songs that represent what Easter means, but I always seem to come back to this song.  It is so close to my heart and just means so much to me.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!! 

I hope your weekend has been as blessed as ours and that you all have a great upcoming week!  The last full week in April! WOW!  May you be at peace this week and may the meaning of today follow you throughout the entire week.  "Be still and know that I am God."  Life is so precious and we need to stop and think about what is really worth eating up our time, what is worth fighting about and for, and to simply "stop and smell the roses".  I know it's so cliche, but EVERYTHING around us is placed in our life by God.  And for a reason.  Enjoy it while it lasts.  :)




In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
'Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day         
Up from the grave He rose again        (AMAZING!!!)
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt of life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

Pictures......!

I am way behind on blogs, so instead of boring you with more words, you get pictures!  (though I seems to always make my captions more like paragraphs..... oops.)

Hannah playing peek-a-boo in her closet

Sisters..... what little cuties in their little tutus!

They would NOT stop whining when I was trying to make dinner, so I put a bowl of dry rice on the floor and gave them a spoon.  They were occupied the remaining 30 minutes until dinner was ready! I realize I wasted 2 cups of rice (a whole meal!) and they made a bit of a mess, but it was worth it rather than losing my INSANITY!

 Grandma Sue came for the day a couple weeks ago and as we were headed to the park, Auntie and Uncle Milo surprised us and showed up!

Uncle Milo helping KaeLee down the slide

And being himself, taking the slider for a ride

Auntie swings with Hannah.  I think she may have needed some sunglasses....!

KaeLee too...... she couldn't look up, the sun was too bright!

They love to just run around in the grass!  This will be the first summer that they can both go outside and run around!  YAY!  Last summer, we didn't go out much because Hannah was too little, the year before, KaeLee was too little, so THIS will be the year they will actually get to enjoy the outdoors! :)

We went to the mall one Saturday and they were having a toddler craft day!  They had booths set up where they could make a new craft at each table, and they had this little obstacle of balloons to go through which Hannah wasn't too sure about..... haha

KaeLee loved it though!  I was tough to get a picture of it, but she ws all smiles!

Again, Hannah's not so sure...... haha

There was a bunch of bubble wrap taped to the floor that they got to jump and stomp on, and some older kids were blowing bubbles to her (what she is reaching for...).  KaeLee had a blast!

KaeLee making a fruit loop bracelet.  She didn't eat a single one while she was making them (She's never had them before, so she probably didn't even realize it was food..... haha).  But when I went to get her out of the car when we got home, all but three fruit loops were gone.... I'm guessing she figured it out.... haha.

Hannah playing with the blocks and with the play group teacher

KaeLee made herself right at home and started right in on stacking up all the blocks....

Daddy and the girls.... I took probably about 10 shots of them and someone always had their eyes closed..... ugh.

KaeLee is teaching Hannah how to use the look and find books.... so cute!

Playing outside in the backyard!  KaeLee took Hannah's hand and showed her all around! What a great big sister!

Where is she taking her???

To spy on the neighbors, of course..... haha!

KaeLee thinks she'll help daddy move the wheelbarrow....

I found a leaf!....... a dead, curled up leaf.....

Hannah's turn at helping with the wheelbarrow

Hannah!

Hannah being silly!   This would be perfect if she didn't have a sweatshirt on, seeming how she has a monkey shirt on underneath!  haha

Hannah just chillin

On our way out the door to get the girls' pictures taken.  In their Easter get-up

I love Hannah in this one!  Her hat is a little big.... haha.  And KaeLee is just happy as can be!

Where'd Hannah go?

Here, sissy, let me help you!

Silly girls!

All About KAELEE!

KaeLee is quite the little lady!  She is growing so fast before our eyes! 

KaeLee just got her pictures taken on Friday, so I won't have them back for a couple of weeks, but she was mighty cute! I had pictures taken of the girls together and of KaeLee by herself.  They were both in their Easter dresses with their little bucket hats on.... it was really cute!

Let's see what miss KaeLee is up to....

• You weigh just over 23 pounds!  You are a tiny little thing and are only in like the 5th percentile for your weight! 
• You were last measured at 32".  You are also on the low end here.  In fact, you are not much taller than your sister right now and you both weigh the same!  
• You have the biggest, prettiest eyes EVER and your eyelashes keep growing EVEN longer!  You had mama beat when you were first BORN with how long your lashes were!  Pretty soon you are going to have to start putting barrettes in them, just so you can see!
• You have not had an official haircut yet, but mommy has cut your bangs twice.  Once was just a few days ago.  I'm not very good at it, but you don't exactly help me out much!  You kept looking down, then I would say look up, and you would crane your neck as far back as it would go!  Talk about extremes!
• You are wearing 24 month clothes and have officially passed down all your 18 month clothes to your sissy.  Though your little waist is too tiny to hold up many 24 month old pants, but your legs are too long for the 18 month pants.... you are confusing mama and I never know what to dress you in.  I finally just picked up some capri leggings and they work pretty good!  At least summer is nearly here and you can just prance around in dresses and shorts for a while until you (hopefully) thicken up a bit and start fitting your clothes! 
• You LOVE to go shopping!  I recently took you and Hannah shoe shopping (and Grandma was there too!) and you LOVED to try on shoes!  We must have put about 20 pairs on you just to satisfy you!  We would take a pair off and you would say "more! more! more!" while signing the motion for "more" (the only sign language you know.... we would love to teach you more but don't know much ourselves...!) When we get in the car you shout "YAY SHOPPING!"  And then when we get back into the car, you say "next store! next store!"  haha.  You crack me up!
• You are still wearing a size 4 diaper.  And an overnight diaper as well
• Potty Training.  A big headache!  Mommy really needs to try this again, but it's so frustrating and overwhelming and just makes mama cry.  You go potty every night before bath on the big potty and you are so proud of yourself.  And other times, you say you have to go and you actually do about 50% of the time.  So I know you are ready, but I am not sure I am ready to try again!
• You are a pretty good sleeper, but you take forEVER to fall asleep!  You like to sit up and talk or rock your babies or bother your sister.  Sometimes I can hear you through the monitor whispering loudly "Hannah! Hannah!" when she is clearly already asleep!  You are trying to wake her up and want her to play with you....... you little stinker! 
• You are a very LITTLE eater!  It's not that you are picky.  You are, but you will at least try everything.  The hardest thing to get you to eat is meat.  You are not big on meat and I have to be sneaky about it.  You are big into your vegetables and we constantly have to threaten you: you can't have your broccoli until you eat another bite of pasta! haha.  It's sort of backwards from "normal" kids.  But being a nutritionist, mommy couldn't be prouder and I only hope it's something you don't grow out of! :)
• You have quite a large degree of OCD!  There are SO MANY examples I could give, but overall, you just like to have things in order, you don't like a mess and if something is usually done in a certain routine, it HAS to be done that way EVERY time.  Right now, mommy is struggling at night with this issue.  You have gotten used to all three big blankets on you and then your two smaller ones on top, but knowing that summer is coming and it's warmer at night, I have been trying to take one big blanket away and not put it on you at night.  The problem is that you count the blankets as I put them on and you reach back after each blanket to make sure they are being put on in the correct order.  And the last blanket must be silky side UP, not down.  If I mess up, you take it off, hand it to me and say "goofy mama", while shaking your head and laughing.  It's so cute but also rather annoying!  The other night I sneaked a blanket off of you and put it to the side in your bed.  A few minutes after I got back downstairs, you started crying.  I went back up to you and you had found the missing blanket and were crying that it wasn't on you.  You HAVE to have them all on you and in the correct order...... but you sweat SO much because of it and mommy just wants to make you more comfy!
• You LOVE to read!!  At least once a day, you will go upstairs to your room and sit up there for a good hour or so and read EVERY single book on your bookshelves!  You make quite the mess, but mommy is okay with the mess being of books.  Sometimes I tell you "please don't make a big mess" and then when I come up a while later, you have all your books pulled out, but you have them in neat little piles, stacked up and lined up across the room. (you only make the stacks about 4 books high because you used to try and stack them all in one big stack and would get overly upset when the stack toppled over. So you have learned to make smaller stacks and just more of them... haha.... what a smart girl you are!)
• Your favorite show right now is SuperWhy! Probably because it's all about reading books!  You also really like Sid the Science Kid.  You also like to watch Barney, but you are kind enough to make sure Hannah is up to watch it with you because you know how much she likes it too!  What a sweet girl!
• Mommy just got you girls a new toy for outside..... a water table.  Now that is the first thing you ask to do when you wake up!  You love playing with it! 
• You love to go outside, whether to get the mail, go for a walk, play in the backyard, or go out on the front porch to blow bubbles.  You love it when mama puts the gate up on the porch and leaves the front door open so you can come in and out as you please.  You feel like such a big girl having such a privilege!
• You are an amazing big sister!  You are constantly taking care of Hannah and making sure she is safe and happy.  You help her take her shoes and coat off when we come inside, you are great at communicating with her and figuring out what she's trying to say, making sure she has a toy to play with, and you hold her hand to help her down the step in the backyard.  When she falls, you are often the first one to say "you okay Hannah?".  You give her random hugs and kisses and pats on the head.  You really love her and you are a very proud big sister.  Often times when we go somewhere and someone says hi to you, the first thing you do is introduce them to your baby sister. :)
• You can also be quite the bully though towards Hannah! You are quite the pusher (though you are really getting better now that Hannah is big enough to push back!) and you like to tell her NO! when you don't feel like playing with her.  And you are very possessive of some of your toys and especially of your dollies! You can throw quite the fit if she gets her hands on one of them!......... and I often think that a lot of the times, she does it just to irk you..... haha. 
• You are very independent and could play by yourself for hours on end. Sometimes I go to play with you, but you kick me out. :( You are already starting to push me away.... :(
• But there are many times (especially the last couple months) that you are very cuddly.  You like to curl up with mommy or daddy in the mornings during Sesame Street.  You give really big hugs and you like big, wet, LONG kisses right on the mouth! haha.  When I sing the I Love You song at night, you like to put your face right in front of mine, so that when I sing the word YOU, my lips touch yours.  You think it's hilarious. 
• You love to color and you are doing a great job at staying in the lines!  You like to color with EVERY single crayon in the box, and when you are done with the color, you line the crayons up in a straight line (OCD!).  And you throw a very big fit if one of them rolls off the table..... haha
• You like to do projects and make things, but mommy only has so much patience and can't wait till you are a bit older so you can do more of these things with a little more grace.... :)  My patience has definitely grown though and mommy has relaxed a bit on my own OCD-ness so that you are able to get a bit messy and have some fun.  I just have to take a deep breath and remind myself that it's all cleanable.  So I spend a lot of time cleaning.... and try to do it happily. :)
• You are excelling in your reading abilities and you can recognize most letters in the alphabet!  You have flash cards that you love to go through.  Especially when we get visitors.... you like to show off how smart you are evidently! :) You have learned so many words and are talking in paragraphs!  You amaze everyone with how smart you are! 
• You love to talk on the phone and often ask to call people.  You will just walk around with the phone to your ear and jabber away! You are like your dad..... you are always pacing when you are on the phone and can never sit still!  It's so cute to watch, though.  You are very animated, talking with your hands the whole time, shrugging your shoulders, pointing to the things you are talking about.... And you will hold the phone to your ear, using your shoulder to hold it, and then you will stop and switch ears while just continuing to babble on and on.  You look so grown-up and serious when you do this..... haha.  You share your time on the phone very well with your sissy.  You often ask "you wanna talk to Hannah? here she is" and you hand the phone off.  It's funny.
• You love to say "goofy mommy (or daddy or Hannah)" when we mess up or make a mistake.  It's pretty cute.  You also like to call us silly when we are acting funny.  haha.  And also lately, you have been saying "cute" a lot and calling everything you like cute.  When we are shopping, you tell all the other little babies that they are "cute"..... haha.
• You have been sleeping in your big girl bed since we moved into the new house and you love it!  You no longer cry when it's time to lay down.  Instead, you jump out of our laps and run for your bed! 
• Another favorite phrase of yours is "I do it! I do it!"  Like, I said, you are very independent and you like to do things yourself.  This includes buckling yourself in the carseat or your booster seat, taking of your diaper, flushing the toilet, putting lotion on....... the list goes on!
• Mommy and Daddy love you to pieces!  You are such a joy in our lives (even though you are the master at fit-throwing and screaming!)  We wouldn't trade you for anything!  We love to watch you learn new things an grow.  Often times, you will be doing something super cute and we will just look at each other and smile.  It's no secret to us how cute you are.  We are so proud of you for the well mannered (most of the time), considerate, caring young lady you are too quickly becoming!