Odds and Ends

Luke loves to wear my t-shirts to bed at night, I think he looks
so cute in shirts that hang off of him. Getting him to change
into regular clothes in the morning is very difficult.

Luke also got a haircut, Beau says he looks like a marine.
His smile is just irresistable.

Anna got to make her first batch of cookies
yesterday with her new bakewear. She loved it.

Mommy needs to work on patience, but Anna did great.

I think it will be easier for both of us once I'm back to my
normal self and we have a little more of a routine going on around here.

Both Luke and Anna still love holding Owen
and spend time helping with him. Beau holds
him more frequently now especially when he is awake,
he likes talking to him and making jokes about him, Beau's interactions
are very similar to how Ben is with the kids, but Ben holds him a lot more than Beau.

My favorite stamp ever.

Owen after a bath, his hair is curly right after it is washed.
He really enjoys the water and was completely relaxed afterward.

Snuggled all tight in his cradle built by daddy and in his blanket knit
by Great Grandma Marnell, which was originally Beau's but we've gotten lots
of use out of it with all the kids.

Guess Beau didn't get a picture in here, he spends most of his days
playing bionicles, and loves getting to spend an hour on the computer.
The TV is seldom on and when Beau gets bored he picks up a book.
He usually has several chapter books started at once, and he is just
waiting for book 5 of the Percy Jackson series, we can't find it at the library,
but we'll keep looking.

A Busy Weekend

Owen was introduced to bionicles, thanks to Luke.

Daddy was home all day Saturday and Sunday,
after working 14-16 hour days since last Sunday
it was very wonderful to have him here and watch Owen
bond with him. They did a lot of cuddling just like this.
Hopefully the flooding is under control and Ben will work
more regular hours and maybe get a little time off.

And most importantly, Anna turned 7. She requested homemade chicken nuggets, a meal she and daddy make together. She loves helping in the kitchen and she really enjoyed her daddy time. She got a small stuffed horse from her brothers. She had requested an Easy Bake Oven for her present, and nothing else, but I couldn't get myself to buy that so instead I put together a bag of all her own baking dishes. She got cake pans, a cookie sheet, muffin pan, measuring cups and spoons, and a couple cookie mixes she can put together herself and bake. She and I will probably do sugar cookies tomorrow. She can't wait to get to put her stuff to use, but this weekend just went too fast. Now she just needs an apron and some hotpads and she'll be all set. It will be fun to watch her create in the kitchen and I will let her explore more recipes as she wants. It is so fun to watch her grow from a little girl into a big girl, she is the greatest big sister and loves to hold Owen and help with him. I don't want her to grow too fast though she is perfect just where she is.

Just a fun collage

Owen was very content to sleep away
his afternoon, so I took advantage of it
with some photo opportunities.

Just more pictures

She loves him so much, she spends hours holding him every day. He loves her just as much, he calms by the sound of her voice.

I love this picture because Luke could never stick his tongue out like this, so I revel watching Owen stick his out.

Love those tootsies.

Sisterly Love

Anna will spend more of her day holding her baby brother than doing about anything else. She loves her brother and it is obvious her baby brother loves her.

A Proud Big Brother

Slightly Different Topic

Ben was finally able to put the swing set back together after a wind storm knocked it out of commission a few months ago. The kids were helpful and enjoyed being able to play in it again. It is concreted into the ground so that it won't fall again. There was also a birds nest from a Western Meadowlark right near the swingset that the kids loved to watch. We would all be silent when the momma bird came around and we got to watch the baby birds be fed several times.
Anna's picture is to highlight her tooth that fell out a few weeks ago, she is now missing one of her top teeth and close to losing the second one, I am hoping it falls out soon because it looks quite crooked and crazy in her mouth right now. She finds it all very funny. The tooth fairy forgot to come the first night so she just figured lots of kids had lost their teeth that day and patiently waited for the next night. When the tooth fairy came there was a note thanking the tooth fairy for coming and for leaving money, there was also a P.S. obviously added later that said "please come tonight", the tooth fairy only felt some slight guilt after reading that.
The kids also insisted on a birthday cake for daddy's birthday.

Just some fun ones

I was just playing around with some on-line editing program with these pictures. They are some I took last night when he was wide awake, unfortunately he has days and nights a little confused, but thankfully today he likes to eat a lot so he is waking up more. Anna is enjoying every minute with him and doesn't mind just spending her whole day holding him.