Kevin and Alison

I just have to post these pictures - I'm pretty sure that my friend Michelle checks the blog, and we recently saw them....and talked about this picture of her daughter and Chloe (from 2009) The whole reason it came up was because April met their newest addition, and just happened to be wearing the same shirt Chloe was....(although it's covered up by her bib in this picture) I think that April and Baby H make a good pair - we didn't plan the matching orange :)

Every time I post about April turning another month older, I can't believe it! Seems like just yesterday that she was a little newborn! April can now sit up on her own and enjoys playing with a basket of toys. Her favorites right now seem to be any type of ball....and the basket that the toys are in :) It's my favorite stage of parenting -- sitting, but not yet crawling :) She really seems to enjoy bath time and splashing in the water. April is generally a very happy little girl and only is fussy when it's nap time! She sleeps from 8pm to 8am (with that 10 o'clock feeding still hanging in there....) and eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She has liked all the baby food I've given her, but a little bit of fruit on the bites of veggies helps them go down easier :) She originally would blow raspberries for any type of vegetable, but that seems to have stopped. Her favorite food would probably be pears. We love you more and more April Hope - can't wait to see...

Happy Thanksgiving! We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing; He chastens and hastens his will to make known; The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing, Sing praises to his name: He forgets not his own. Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining, Ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine; So from the beginning the fight we were winning; Thou, Lord, wast at our side, All glory be thine! We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant, And pray that thou still our defender wilt be. Let thy congregation escape tribulation; Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free! Amen --Traditional Thanksgiving Hymn (A translation by Theodore Baker: 1851-1934)

hmm....what have we here? a cute little chick.... with a tag! i must get it. almost there.... yum!

The idea of taking a picture in her red coat to show Mimi wasn't received very warmly by Chloe: Then she realized she was being silly: And decided to pose before we left for church: (These pictures were taken all within two minutes.....the emotions of a two-year-old are confusing and amazing :) )

On Wednesday we got to visit the local science center with my MOMS group from church. We had a lot of fun, and could have spent more time there! As Chloe and April get older, we'll be able to stay longer than 4 hours.... :) Here are some pictures from our morning/early afternoon: Lionel train display Video about Segways Fish! Water!! (she LOVED this and could have stayed all day I think!) Turtle!!! (I think this was the highlight of Chloe's trip....Water is a close #1. When I asked her what she thought she'd have fun doing at the science center, she said "dirt". ha! So, the fact that this turtle was crawling around in dirt was a big deal :) ) Thank goodness they had these aprons :) April was there :) She slept through most of the morning in the carrier and when she woke up she rode around in the stroller, staring at everything! I think she had fun :) Chloe sometimes pretends to skateboard in our house (by running sideways) so I was excited to show her this ex...

I love this hat (from Aunt Michelle).....The other day it was sunny enough for April to need it -- and it reminded me of these pictures of Chloe. Cutie pie girls in a cutie pie hat! :)

Well, instead of celebrating our anniversary as planned, we had to take sick kids to the doctors and just hung out at home.....but! Before the sickness settled in, Chloe and Kevin worked in the backyard - raking and playing in the leaves. (By the way, I let Chloe pick out her outfit by herself) This little girl was napping during leaf time, but after lunch she managed to get herself halfway under the couch: and I finally got the proof on camera that she can raise one eyebrow (same one I can do!):

....so we're hanging out with humidifers, tea, and 'medicated chest rub'....oh and some legos and playdough and anything else we can think of while home-bound....

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 and we'll take a picture tonight for 2011 :) I love him more today than I did on the 5th of November in 2005! :) Happy Anniversary Kevin!

Last weekend, we got all the kiddos dressed up and ready to take a picture - it's fun to do every time we get together to see how much they've grown since last time! During our first attempt, Chloe had a complete meltdown and would not even sit on the couch. So, we just took a bunch of pictures of Connor and April. There are a lot of cute ones, but these ones seemed to just have captions: "We are the cutest babies ever." "My mom is being really funny"...."What is Aunt Alison doing?" "Um, I think Connor just tooted....my big headband and I need to move away" :) Then, one afternoon nap later (and chili for dinner, which spilled on the original shirt, hence the sweater only and tummy sticking through), Chloe joined us on the couch. Now, we did end up with some good ones, but this one just makes me laugh (and it will not be going in the album!) Can you only imagine what all the adults were doing behind the camera to make three kiddos have ...