happy easter

Last Easter we were making a fun little announcement.

And this year, our sweet little Gavin is much bigger than the little sonogram picture.



We had such a wonderful Easter weekend.  These kids REALLY were getting it this year, what Easter is all about.  We spent Friday talking about Good Friday and how we can call it good if that day in history was filled with such hate and horrible things.  Taylor truly truly got it.  It makes our heart so joyful.  They asked again and again to watch more YouTube videos of Easter worship songs and the story of Jesus dying on the cross.  And then we waited for Sunday to celebrate his resurrection!!

We dyed eggs at home.  The first year EVER that I was on top of it enough to do it before Saturday night when it was dark.  It was much more fun and less messy to do it outside.

And we dyed eggs and Nana and Papas.

And then we went to a "fancy" dinner (says the girls).  6 kids, fancy dishes, real glasses, quiet restaurant.  It seriously could have been a horrifying disaster.  But they actually did quite well!



And to top off a fabulous weekend,

we got to be a part of such an awesome and special church service!

We are so excited to be a part of the launch team for Grace Hillsboro, a new church that has been planted by our church, in a town about 30 miles away.

Today was the very first EVER service, in a building at the fairgrounds.

Our kids were such big helpers, and it's just so neat to get to talk them about the team they are on and the work they are getting to do.

When we explained to the kids about how our family has chosen to be a part of this launch team, we told them that not only did mom and dad sign up to work on a team, but we also signed them up for a special job of welcoming new kids and making sure they always wanted to come back and learn about Jesus.  Mason's response was "why didn't you sign us up for cleaning?"

We are so excited to be a part of God's work in Hillsboro.

What a special Easter that we will forever remember.

gavin goes to cincinnati

The only downer about my sister and I having babies 3 months apart is that we are about a 12 hour drive away from each other.

She got to be here for the birth of 2 of our kids, and came within a month of the other one.

But now having 3 kids of my own, one being so young still, I hated that it wasn't so easy for me to jump on a plane and be there to see my new niece right away.

7 weeks was a really long time to wait.

But I finally got to go this past weekend.  And sweet little Gavin got to go with me.

And here's the story he has to tell...

Yay! Off to see my new baby cousin.

We got a late start because our first flight was cancelled.  If the plane really was broken like they said it was, we're glad we got to go on another one.  And since we were delayed, Daddy got to take us to the airport after he got home from work.  He even got to go all the way to the gate with us.  I think Mommy sure liked the extra help getting me and all our junk through security.

 I said goodbye to Daddy, we were going to miss each other a lot.

 Our first flight from Wichita to Atlanta had lots of empty seats, so Mommy and I got to spread out a little bit, and I got my own space to go night night.

 Mommy tried to time my feeding for the flight, so my ears wouldn't pop and I'd go nicely to sleep.

I wasn't hungry though.  So I got kind of mad at her when she tried to feed me.  She decided to wait till we got to Atlanta to feed me, since we had a 2 hour layover.

I started out super happy at the Atlanta airport.

But that didn't last long.  I decided I still didn't want to eat, and I guess I was just really really tired.   So Mommy had to roll me around the airport the entire 2 hour layover while I screamed my head off cried.  I think she was pretty stressed.  I could tell by the way she was talking to Daddy on the phone. But I thought I was doing her a favor by getting my screams out at the airport instead of on the plane.

I think I did pretty good on the plane.  I didn't get my own seat this time.  And I still decided not to eat. But after a fussed a little bit, I decided I'd be nice to Mom and go to sleep in her arms at the back of the plane.  And when she sat back down, I was a good baby and stayed asleep.

We got into Dayton, Ohio (about an hour from Aunt Rebekah's house) at midnight.

We were so excited to see Baby Alice, but we had to wait till the next morning.

Alice hasn't been out much, so we took her on her first big outing.

To the mall.  Daddy would have probably told me to protest, but I decided to be nice.

I kept Mommy happy by taking good naps and letting her shop at H&M, and I was happy because I got to eat in the lovely moms room in Nordstrom's.

It was pretty convenient to travel to a place where we knew there'd be any baby stuff I needed. The only problem was that everything was pink. I sat in cousin Alice's pink bumbo, got swaddled in her pink blanket and ALMOST wore a pair of her pink jammies.  Thank goodness that didn't happen. 

I slept through my first Chick-fil-A experience.  I'm not sure what all the fuss is about, but Mommy and Aunt Rebekah were pretty excited to go.  Mommy even got out of bed earlier than she has in a LONG time to be able to get there early for breakfast.

I'd say my favorite part of the trip was riding in Uncle Steve's Charger wherever we went.  I mostly liked it because it was Plum Crazy Purple, the exact color of Daddy's Cuda.

Can you believe that Aunt Rebekah lives 30 minutes from IKEA but has never been?

Yeah, Mommy thought that was crazy too.  And there was no way she was going to let us be that close and not go. 

(Mommy said you're not suppossed to look at her 2 chins)

Mommy has had her eye on this frame for a loooong time.  But she still didn't get it.

This one is Aunt Rebekah's.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mommy contemplated how she could carry this frame onto the plane instead of me.

I showed Alice how I take baths in the big bath.  And Aunt Rebekah decided she could join me as long as I promised to not kick and splash.

It was really hard to get a picture of all of us, since one of us babies was always sleeping.

So good or bad, this is the only one we got.

Then our moms made us pose for more pictures.

I'm not really sure how my cousin can hold her head up better than I do.

Can you believe that my mom lost track of time at IKEA and almost spent too much time there and had to rush to get to the airport.  Daddy doesn't actually no that yet, and I'm sure he wouldn't be happy with her.  But Aunt Rebekah assured us that we were just fine on time.  Who wants to sit in an airport and just wait when you could be browsing the showroom of IKEA.

Our trip home was not quite as smooth as the trip to Ohio.

We made our connecting flight just in time. 

The plane only had about 15 people on it, so Mommy and I went all the way to the back by ourselves in case I got too loud.  There wasn't another person within 10 rows of us.

This was the first flight I finally decided to eat, since we were alone and no one crammed beside us, I felt much more comfy.  And I think Mommy did too.

Mommy timed it so I was eating when we started taxing down the runway.  But I got done and we still hadn't taken off.  But I was fast asleep.

I was rudely awken when the bright lights of the plane went on and the pilot started talking again.

He told us we had to get off the plane because of an inspection issue.  So I woke up and we went back into the airport.  I was a good little boy, and wide awake now (even though it was 10:00pm).  Mommy got to get something to eat, we talked to Daddy, and even watched some of the KU/Kentucky game.  I heard Mommy say that she was really nervous we wouldn't be making it home that night.

But we finally got to get back on our plane, about an hour later.

I slept the whole way home in the seat next to Mommy.  While she ate her 10pm dinner and watched a movie on her phone.  I think she had a pretty wonderful flight.

And we were both so excited to see Daddy when we finally got back to Wichita.

Thanks Aunt Rebekah for a fun weekend, and thanks baby Alice for letting me borrow your bed and girl stuff.  Can't wait to see you again in July!

gavin {4 months}

Last week, our baby boy turned 4 months.

So I pulled out another family quilt for his monthly photo.

I keep finding these sweet little notes on the backs of lots of the quilts.

"This quilt is for Francis and Jacquie's children.  Best wishes to  you.  Greatgrandmother Balzer"

It didn't take him long before he flipped over to his tummy, which is definitely his new thing.

Sweet Baby Boy,

This month you really seemed to grow up a bit.  You're not a little bitty baby anymore.  You are flipping yourself over from your back to your tummy all the time.  Sometimes you're happy once you get to your tummy, and sometimes you scream.  You love your hands and suck on them every chance you get.  When you're super excited and full of energy, you kind of "attack" them and shove as much of them into your mouth as you can. You have been a little more difficult for others who watch you some evenings, and you decide you just won't take a bottle from them.  You make your mama super nervous about that.  But then you'll usually take it from Daddy just fine.  When you're ready to sleep you just want to be left alone.  Even if Mommy tries to rock you or hold you, you won't have it.  Swaddle you up, and lay you down and you fall asleep all on your own every time.  Which makes trying to get you to nap in Mommy or Daddy's arms at church every Sunday morning a little difficult. You went from sleeping all night (till 8am) to waking up usually once around 5 or 6.  I won't complain, because you then eat and sleep till 9.  So glad that you know you belong to a family who does not like to get up in the mornings, we definitely aren't early risers.  You fit right in.  You still take excellent naps during the day and have pretty much ALWAYS napped at the same time as your brother and sister (for the full 2-3 hours).  I'm not sure how I got so lucky, but thank you sweet boy. You are flipping yourself to your tummy to sleep, and usually after you scream for a few minutes, you are right back sound asleep. 

You you have noticed your toes and try to grab them and get them to your mouth but you haven't quite figured it out yet.  I'm sure it won't take you much longer.  This month your big sissy decided she wanted to start changing your diaper (as long as they aren't dirty).  She's really good at it, and you just smile so big when she does.  You started reaching and grabbing for things this month, and pull everything to your mouth. 

We are so excited to see you grow, but so sad that it's happening so fast.  You are one happy, scheduled, predictable, baby (even though you like to make Papa and Nana think otherwise). 

We love you Baby G!