Easter, and a conflict of interests

We got to see Grandma and Opa and Nana this past Easter weekend without leaving the comfort of home! How fun that they were willing to make the trek to see us!!!

My mom came up Fri/Sat for a visit which flew by too quickly, as usual... and oops, no pics! Opa and Nana were up Sun/Mon. The girls (and boy!) got some quality grandparent time in. Nana wins the prize for most children's books read in one day!

Opa and Derek went for a nice long hike... I got a call to come pick them up since they just kept walking and walking and walking and didn't have time to walk back!

Opa and grandbaby #10

Today was GLORIOUS! We were outside all afternoon once G got off the bus. I tried to get a snooze in before then, but as usual, Brooke and Micah tag-teamed on the naps and this poor tired Momma missed out on a much needed cat nap.... Micah's not feeling 100 percent and was inconsolable last night from 11 til 12 and again from 5 til 6:30! (6:00 being when the girls next door made their entrance) Poor little man has a bad cold and I'm thinkin' maybe his throat or ears must be bugging him. Very unlike him to be up in the middle of the night... Made me verrrry thankful we don't deal with a screaming baby in the middle of the night on a regular basis!
Anyway, I digress! The point to the story is... that I got to wear my sunglasses today to disguise the bags under my eyes!
I love my children, I love my sleep, what a conflict of interests...
:0)
Another thing I love? SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here's some pics of our beautiful afternoon, and what the kiddos were up to!

Safety first!

How can this innocent little face be such a MONSTER in the mornings?!?! I know we can't all be morning people, but come on girly!

LOVES sand. She only brought in about a cup full in the cuff of her pants... Just after I vaccumed...

FYI, No, I did NOT give Brookie bangs. That would be compliments of yours truly in the purple shirt. No more details other than the fact that I found 3 lovely blond ringlets on the kitchen floor.

Trying the swing for the first time.

Checking things out... feeling moderately safe until the little creature in the background decides to come and give him a friendly push!

Thank you God for SPRING!!!!!!!!!

4 months!

In just a couple of days Micah will be 4 months old! A third of a year!
Here's a video I must've watched 7 times already just 'cause I love the intense look in his eyes as he tries SO hard to smack his toy!

And speaking of age milestones....next week, Derek will be 30! Here's a lovely pic compliments of bro-in-law Matt. :0)

The following are some pics from our March break in Midland while Derek stayed at home for a few days while wonderful Opa came and helped him with some projects around the house. We were away from Daddy for a whole week, and the girls were SO excited to see him when we came home! Derek hardly recognized Micah due to his gains and losses: while we were gone he probably gained about a pound and lost all his dark hair!

One of Brookie's most favourite people in the whole world. Although, admittedly, Bailey the dog does seem to trump even Grandma at times... :0)

Matching cuzs'. Eli is about 7 wks older than Micah and normally they don't look that much alike, but when dressed the same, different story. They didn't pay much attention to eachother here, too many toys to look at, but earlier, Micah was smiling at Eli while Eli tried to grab his face!

Bath time in the sink!

Thanks Grandma, for the nice scrub.

Buddy boy enjoying some rays.


B being a big helper: rolling the fur off Uncle Bobby.

Jammin' with Uncle Bri

G hanging out with one of her favourite people: Aunt Christel!

Huh? They're actually getting along and holding hands!?!? Take a picture QUICK!

Chillin' on the back porch.

On the weekend, we ditched Brooke at Grandma's and headed to Grand Rapids for Fri/Sat to see my GIRLS! I didn't stay as long as I would have liked too, but brothers and cousins and Uncles and Grandparents were beckoning us back! Here's Micah with Auntie Megs.

We missed you Sar-bear!

Geneva with her namesake, Aunt Cheli
(Geneva Michelle and Aunt Michelle in case you were saying HUH?)

And back in the homeland!
Getting ready to enjoy a sunny day outside. Terribly centered pic, I know, but I had to quick catch his smile!

"Cleaning up" after making yummy chocolately brownies (from scratch?!?!)

Gotta... get... every... last.... bit

Nice, Brookie, nice.

Just a few pics...

Just a quick post here of some pics from earlier this month.
I'll do my best to (soonishly) put up some pics from our Marvelous Midland March break!
This last one is of Brookie putting on a "tie" and saying "I look like Opa!"


Those big hands are ALWAYS moving!

Let's see how this works...

An experiment.... I'm hoping when we get a new computer (eventually?) to start with digital scrapbooking. This was just a freebie "smilebox" program where I could quickly plunk pictures into a background... turned out kind of cute though!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Newsflash!

A momentously big newsflash: Brookie is potty trained!!! Hooray!

Earlier this week, something just clicked, and she's telling me when she needs to go and is peeing and pooping on the potty (with only a few little accidents here and there) Hey, no one's perfect. She loves wearing her underwear, or "brukies." Brookie in brukies: how cute. She's especially fond of her Nana Dora brukes she got for Christmas.
I'm so excited that I now only have 1 in diapers! I did realize the other day that I have had 1 or 2 children in diapers consecutively for 4 1/2 years now... OUCH!

Giving piggy back rides to some big critters

Before...

After!

Do we look alike or what?

Our happy boy wearing his outfit from "Aunt" Sarah and "Uncle "Matt.. is it scary to think of that our 3 month old is wearing 6 month sized clothes already???

Kicking away in the bouncy chair