oh yeah, we have other kids!

I'm realizing the last three posts have been about Mady so maybe it's time to give Kid #1 and Kid #2 some blog love. It's easy to take pictures at "events" and harder to remember to snap photos of day-to-day stuff. Here is a glimpse of everyday life around here.

Ella was given this "princess" dress for Christmas last year from Matt's mom (it's actually a bride Halloween costume that she found on clearance at Marshall's - brilliant!) and Ella is famous for disappearing for a few moments and coming back looking like this. You can't help but laugh when she comes dancing into a room and we make sure to give her plenty of oooh's and aaah's (Ella is most at risk of suffering from MCS (Middle Child Syndrome). It's fun to watch Matt with a little girl too - his experience growing up with three brothers was mostly boy-based - and I can only imagine the look on his face in 20-ish years when she walks into the room in her wedding dress.

Besides being a part-time princess, Ella also fills her days watching Curious George, writing her name (looks a little like E-l-l-q), taking care of her baby twins, and talking in a weird high-pitched voice to Mady (she doesn't get that from me, does she?)


The first thing I should say about Dylan is that I love him dearly. The second thing I have to say is HE NEEDS TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL. With that off my chest - besides driving his mother crazy - Dylan is busy making car dealerships (see below), drawing pictures (that's his turtle too), asking me what 12 + 87 makes, and calling Matt and I from various phones (he learned both of our phone numbers this summer...Bonus! Kind of...)

big stuff

Little Miss Big Stuff's To Do List:

• Pop first two teeth (seriously, this hurts!): check
• Learn to crawl (gotta figure out how to get away from big brother and sister and fast!): check
• Learn to feed herself (service is slow around here!): check
• Look ridiculously cute at all times (easy!): check
  

puppy love

Dylan and Ella both have pretty good dog-phobia's which we attribute to the fact that they aren't around a whole lot of dogs. They used to shriek in terror at the sight of a dog and now they more calmly and quietly try to climb up the side of Matt or I whenever a dog enters the room.

So this made me really laugh the other day when Mady discovered dogs first at a friend's backyard basketball tournament and then at a friend's parents' house. Mady was un-phased when the first friendly pup licked her cheeks repeatedly (I think he must have smelled her sweet potato cheeks) and then later she mustered all of her new crawling skills to get herself eye to eye with this doggie.

Matt and I know ourselves well enough to know that we are NOT a dog family, but I think he's going to have a hard time in a couple of years saying no to our Baby Princess and her big brown eyes.

sleeping babies

I absolutely love watching my kids sleep. I have a little ritual each night where I creep into their rooms before I go to bed and watch them sleep for a few moments (this will seem creepier to them the older they get, but for now it's my right as their mother and the person who deals with their tantrums, tears and general terrible-ness during the daylight hours).

I snuck into Mady's room during her morning nap this week because I wanted to make sure I captured her at this stage. I sure do love this precious little baby (and the babies further down the post too!)



Oops! Mommy's not very sneaky after all. The baby woke up :)

Ella at about 11 months old.

Dylan at 2 months old.

wedding snapshots

Yesterday was a beautiful day in so many ways - the sun was shining, everyone was looking their best, and, of course, we had the privilege of watching Chad and Katie tie the knot. Here are a few snapshots from my camera - I am eagerly waiting to see what Mindy came up with for the pro shots :) Loved every minute of the day and the reception was a blast! Love you Chad & K3!

friends

Most of my posts are about our kids, but I do want to point out that Matt and I do actually have teensy, tiny little lives outside of the children (sometimes), and we have been having some really great times with some really GREAT friends lately. Here's what I mean (click on the picture to make it bigger!):

marriage

It's Katie and Chad's Wedding Week, so I've got marriage on my mind. We also heard a great teaching on Sunday on Jesus and Divorce and I read a funny (but true) article in Real Simple the other day. I thought I'd share both because I'm generous like that.

I really enjoyed the practical pointers near the end of the teaching - I love the idea of working at your marriage so it shines like a little bit of light in a dark world (instead of just "sticking it out" - make your marriage actually mean something for Jesus).

And my favorite point from the Real Simple article is below:

7. Accept that everybody needs alone time. Sometimes your spouse needs to go to the bathroom for 45 minutes. Look, he’s not going to the bathroom the whole time; he’s trying to get away from you. And that’s OK. Maybe you’re being annoying. Sometimes you can be kind of annoying, you know.

HA! (Matt loves to be in the bathroom alone and now I know why ;) )

In other marriage news, we are all getting very excited for The Weddin' tomorrow. The kids are all fired up to "practice" the wedding tonight (mostly I think they know there are presents involved). Ella and I are off to get pedicures today and tomorrow will be a whirlwind of hair appointments, pictures, and dancin'. We are so happy for Katie and Chad as they begin this new phase of their lives together...and I'm enjoying my last day as the only Katie Terpstra in H-ville!