Happy Easter!

"....He is not here, for he has risen, just as he said..."

Happy Easter to all our friends and family. We hope you have a wonderful Easter Sunday as you celebrate such a blessed event!

We began our Easter festivities this evening with some easter egg dying....a first for Taylor!

We'll post again soon with Taylor and her cute Easter dress and hopefully some easter egg hunt pics with cousins (weather permitting!) Oh yeah, and Mason and his cute outfit too...not sure what that's gonna be yet, but we'll figure it out tomorrow!

A true example of love...

Today we celebrated Aunt Barb and Uncle Jim's 50th wedding anniversary! They thought they were just going out to eat lunch at The Breadbasket with Fran and Jacquie (Dave's parents) but when they got there, we (our family and Dave's sister's family) were there to surprise them!

Aunt Barb said that 50 years ago Jim told her that if she would let him be the boss for the first 50 years, then she could be the boss for the next 50. I guess he didn't think they would make it to 50...so now the fun begins for Aunt Barb!

Happy 50th anniversary Aunt Barb and Uncle Jim! We are so blessed to have you in our lives! Thank you for showing us and our children such a perfect example of love.

2 Weeks Old!!

I'm a few days late, but this past Thursday, Mason was 2 weeks old already...hard to believe! Here he is as a big 2 week older (plus a few other pics just for fun)! He has changed so much since the hospital. At his 2 week dr. visit, they checked his weight to make sure he had gotten back to birth weight and they want him to be gaining an ounce a day. Mason's birth weight was 6lbs. 14oz. and at 2 weeks old he was 8lbs. 5oz. After doing that math, that's 31ounces gained....no, not in 31 days as would be expected...but 14 days!!! So eating is definitely not a problem! He is filling out a lot in the face, and we think he is beginning to look more like Taylor.

Gotta be Impressed!

So I bet lots of you are impressed that I have been keeping up on my blog lately...maybe even quicker than most of you even check it! I'm pretty impressed with myself....seems strange that I keep up with it better now than ever! Here are a few other reasons I'm quite impressed with myself...you can pretend to be impressed too:

1. It's day 1 of being home by myself with Taylor and Mason and I have survived!
2. This morning I even got an hour long nap while they both were sleeping!
3. I made it into the shower before 4pm.
4. I haven't had to call Dave ONE time to tell him how stressed I am...he's called me twice though (I wonder what that means)
5. The house is SOMEWHAT in order!
6. And I even have found time to do this post!

(We'll just see if Dave notices that Taylor is still in her pjs...oh well, I can't do it all in the first day...there'd be nothing left to accomplish in the next days!)

You Decide...

So what do you think...do they look alike or not? Mason(left) is 6 days old in this picture and Taylor is 11 days old. From the second Taylor was born, there was no question that she looked like her daddy...we heard this and STILL hear this from EVERYONE! No one was quite as sure about Mason....some say he looks like Taylor, some say he just looks like Mason, several have said daddy, and maybe ONE person has said mommy! You tell us!!!

Tres Amigos!!

Talk about a baby boom!!! Other than myself, there were two other Slate Creek teachers, both about my age, who were pregnant and we were all due within about 2 weeks from each other. Within 8 days all 3 babies were welcomed into the world!! The one on the right is Braden, he was born Feb. 26th. His mom and dad, Kara and Brad were still in the hospital the day we went in to have Mason. Kara's due date was actually on the 28th, but she had him 2 days early. Mason was born 2 days later than Braden on the 28th. And the little girl on the left is Cora, she was born March 5th (she is about 8 hours old in this picture). We went to visit her mom and dad, Joel and Jess, in the hospital yesterday evening and it was so fun to have all 3 babies together! Hopefully they will become quite good friends...although Braden will be moving to Nebraska soon...too bad!

What a SPECIAL day!

Here is a picture of Mason with his great-grandma. This is my (Amanda) grandma from Independence, KS. Both Grandma and Grandpa Parker were able to be here in Newton when Taylor was born and when Mason was born. But this time it was VERY special! Thursday, February 28th was not only Mason's birthday but also Great-grandma's 89th birthday! So here is a picture that will be one of those memorable pictures we will all cherish forever! Happy Birthday Mason and Great-Grandma!