April

April is always are most busy month.  And this year is no exception!  But it has been a fun month too! Emerson is Four Months Old now!  She weighed 15.7 lbs at her appointment and continues being in the 75th and 95th percentile for height and weight.  

She began using the bumbo seat this month and really loves it!  It has allowed her to watch her crazy family in motion a little bit better!

Piper likes to do 'exercises' sometimes.  Mommy has to monitor the gentleness of each exercise!

Michael's birthday was on the 15th!  He happened to go turkey hunting the weekend before and then to a conference for work.  The kids and I decorated this poster and had it waiting for him the day he arrived home, which was also his birthday!

Speaking of turkey hunting...Here's his catch!

She's looking so big!

April has also brought on the allergies for Briggs.  His poor eyes have been swelling and he looks miserable when it happens.  But the cool dude handles it like a champ!  Benadryl has been our friend!

Piper gave this to me after a particular rough afternoon with her!  She can be so, so sweet!

Piper and Nora at a birthday party of another first grader.  I love these little girls and the friendship they share!

Briggs and his buddy Jadon at the new dinosaur exhibit.  It's pretty cool!

Digging for dino bones!

Emerson loves being in her little wrap when it's sleepy time.  And she loves sucking her thumb!  This was at the doctor's office.

Sleepy head when she first woke up.  This picture makes me laugh!!

Emerson is started to raise up on her elbows a little and she is smiling a lot and laughing a little too!

And the biggest thing to happen for her is she started cereal!  We're on Day 3 and the cereal is ending up down her throat and not on her bib as much!!

Emerson is also sticking out her tongue a lot!  And she's rolling over in the night from belly to back. The problem is she has not figured out how to go to sleep on her back again or how to roll back to her tummy.  So Mommy has been up every night the past few weeks!

Easter 2015

Easter was pretty low key for us this year.  Low key is nice every now and then!  I do love this time of year as we reflect on the love and sacrifice of Christ...His death and resurrection!  

 Briggs had an Easter egg hunt and party at school.  Briggs is beginning to understand the Easter story better, which is exciting!

 At home, we dyed and decorated eggs.

And we made Resurrection rolls for the first time.  Pretty cool project but neither kid would eat them!

On Saturday, we went to church with Grandpa & Grandma.  

 Emerson's first Easter!

 Sunday morning was relaxing since we went to Easter service on Saturday.  The kids let Michael and I sleep in until 8!  They even patiently waited to look at their baskets until then!

For lunch, our community group got together and had a pot luck feast.  The Zutavern's home was full of kids running, playing, and singing karaoke!  Emerson was especially entertained by this cutie pie!

Later in the afternoon, we took the kids to the neighborhood Easter egg hunt.

Happy Easter!

March

The thought of March seemed so far away in January and now that it's over, I can't believe how fast it flew by!  We had a busy March with traveling, Spring break, soccer starting back, and all the other things in between!  

My sister and two nieces came to stay with us on their spring break.  Liv is a baby magnet!  She fights with everyone over holding Emerson!

 I mean...This face!  Nevermind the headband did not match the outfit...she's a doll baby!

 A former elementary alum, Michelle Grimes, who also happens to be Roger Staubach's adult daughter, recently published a book called "Where is Pidge?" (I have yet to read it but daddy has been fortunate enough to read this new book every.single.night to Piper!!)  She came to the school to read it to the first and second graders and a local news station did a little piece on it.  One of the camera shots was zoomed in on Piper and another classmate.  The picture above is Piper's reaction to seeing herself on the news!  Hilarious!

 Briggs' new thing is to have a notepad and pencil and go around scribbling or writing.  The other day after playing with rollie pollies, he brought me this drawing and said "Mom it's a rollie pollie!"  I can actually tell that it is in fact a rollie pollie!  Cool!

Happy Emerson!

Getaway

Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa, Michael and I were able to get away for a couple of nights without the kids.  Well, we had Emerson but she was easy peasy!  When traveling with a baby, everyone comments and dotes on the baby!  Michael observed this a few times.  It was interesting though, because of Emerson being with us on this trip we met two different retired couples who were childless they told me.  Different reasons for both couples, but even though I was able to see they had dealt with the loss of what had never been probably many, many years ago, there was still glimmer of sadness in their eyes as they told me they did not have children.  It made me thank the Lord for my children and have an appreciation that I would be coming home to them even though I was wanting to get away from them!  And maybe I felt a little guilt as well, but I know that it's great to get away from the kids every now and then!  We stayed in a little cabin in the country outside of Brownsboro, Texas.  It had a rustic feel to it, complete with a stuffed fox and stuffed raccoon!  Nice!  We had quiet, peaceful evenings, a morning of sleeping in, and really beautiful weather!  It felt like we were in Colorado.  Michael went zip lining while I watched and visited with a woman whose family was zip lining.  We ate some yummy meals, bonded with Emerson, and read a lot!  Just what we needed! While there, Emerson began sucking her thumb!  I have never had a thumb sucker so I find it fascinating and hilarious.  Something funny about me when we stay in places like this, I always love being secluded with no neighbors around and discuss how it would be great to purchase a large acreage and move there but then nightfall hits and I'm always scared out of my mind.  I hear every little noise and think it's the big bad wolf or something.  At night the idea of living out in the country petrifies me, but then when the sun rises I go back to thinking "Oh this would be so nice!"  Brother! I'm a mess!