He is Risen! (pt. 2)

We are so thankful for Easter. Sure it's fun to have a nice meal with family/friends, the Easter egg hunt is always a hit and I have a great excuse to match my kids' outfits. However, that is not what Easter is all about. We are so thankful for the sacrific Jesus made on the cross and for rising again on the third day. What an awesome gift He gave to us and I am thankful my sins have been forgiven!

Yes, we (for now) do the Easter Bunny (although, we don't really "push" it on the kids), but most importantly we remind them what Easter is really about. This year we bought "Resurection Eggs" to help the kids, visually, learn the true meaning of Easter. What a great tool those eggs are--it got them involved and kept their attention!!

We went to church in the morning, ate lunch, rested in the afternoon and then (since we aren't close enough to family) had two couples/families/friends over for dinner. One couple lives directly behind us and the other family are moving directly across from us which I'm thrilled about! We had such a great time fellowshiping with them. The kids all play great together and we've enjoyed getting closer with some great couples!

Easter Baskets:

Ty and the kids reading about the Easter Story:

Family pictures:

We were in such a hurry to get to church on time, Ty put his Bible on top of the van and forgot about it until a few blocks down the road when it came sliding down the window :). Good thing I was looking at pictures on the camera and had it out already:

The kids playing so well in Riley's room:

He is Risen! (pt.1)

We took the kids to the local park for an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and although we knew it would probably be busy, we had NO idea it would be that busy. There were hundreds of people there and although the kids wanted to "find" the eggs, their parents were CRAZY. Anyways, the kids had fun but next year we'll be sticking to our own little egg hunt instead.

The kids waited so patiently for their turn to start "hunting"...

Back to MI!

We love that we're so much closer to home because we can make random trips back! We went to the farm a couple weeks ago and the kids LOVE it there. The love the animals, getting dirty and having so much open space to roam. Here are a few of the MANY pictures we took over the weekend!

We also stopped by Ty's dad's house to see him, Shawn and Rose for a little while. They had an Easter egg hunt for the kids, which they loved to do!!

Emmersyn @ 9 Months

Weight: 20 lbs. 5 oz.
Height: 28.5 inches
Head: 17.5

E loves to give kisses. If you ask her for a kiss she'll lean forward and "let you" kiss her.

Walking on furniture.

People always say what a happy and sweet baby she is. She definitely has both of those qualities, but I have to say she is also the most patient baby and I am grateful that my third is that way. Sometimes, she will sit in her booster for a little while until I've gotten the other kids' lunch and haven't gotten to her yet and she doesn't mind.

I love her to pieces. As much as I love her new phases and stages, I am already missing her as a new baby who loves to cuddle and just be held. Thankfully she's definitely my cuddliest baby so I can cherish it just a little longer!

Smile, Lincoln!

If you're wondering why Lincoln hasn't been making it onto my blog lately, it may be because this is what happens EVERY time I ask him to smile...

***As a disclaimer, yes, I realize our place was a MESS and yes, I realize Lincoln's name tag was on his chair because we had just gotten back from church!

Emmersyn @ 8 months!

Emmersyn is 8 months old already and is discovering so many new things!! Here are some new things E is doing:

She got her second tooth (both are on bottom).

Started going from crawling to sitting and also pulled to standing. She is taking a couple steps while holding on to furniture.

Is eating about 75% table food and LOVES it!

Takes 3 naps. One nap from 8-9:30, one from 12-3:00 and one from 5:30-6:00. Then goes to bed at 7:30.

Nurses 4 times a day, eats 3 meals and two snacks.

She reaches to be held, but will only reach for her MAMA :)!!! YEAH!

She cruises now while crawling and even though she loves to roam she still prefers me to hold her. I always know when she wants up because she crawls over to me and "headbuts" me in the shins :)

I often find her trying to climb the stairs. She usually get to the second one and stops. The gate will be going up soon!

Most probably don't know, because I write the blog and not Ty, but he calls her Emery. I am pretty sure I've actually never heard him call her Emmersyn. He wanted to name her Emery, but I wanted her to have an option!

At just over 8 months she weighed 19 lbs. 15.5 oz :). She's already about to break the 20 lb. mark!

She is still the smiliest baby EVER and she loves when Riley holds her! Riley likes to sit on the first step on our stairs and cradle her. They will literally sit there for 15 minutes (I really need to get it on camera).

Lincoln loves to kiss her and hug her and kiss her some more. He cracks me up. She loves him a ton too, but he can get a little smothering at times. I try to tell him to kiss her once instead of 10 times :).