Tummy time, 35 years apart

This picture only confirms this child was created solely by her father. I had nothing to do with her production, except host her for 9 months. Ha! 

January

I think all boys like to try hair flare out

Eating is more fun like this

This boy is in love with his sister

Little sweetheart

It's the beginning of the new year and all is well. Koen is loving his sister, sometimes a little too much, and we're all getting into our new routine as a family of four! Makayla could not be a better baby. She's got her dad's disposition, chill and carefree. She's sleeping better at night and loves to be cuddled. Koen is busy as ever and we've started him in preschool one day a week. He loves it so much, and it's good for him to be with the other kids in a structured setting. Although, homeschooling is more challenging now because apparently I'm not a "real teacher". He says I don't wear teacher clothes so he doesn't need to listen. Ah, age 4. Justin and I are plugging away at the day to day and looking forward to our next vacation.

Ummm...

36 weeks pregnant with Koen

36 1/2 weeks pregnant with mystery baby.

Okay, so I just actually realized I'm huge. The top picture is me with Koen at this same stage in my pregnancy, 4 weeks to go. Even my shirt is showing stretch marks. Maybe they have my due date wrong? Maybe it's all fluid? Maybe this is what stretched out and four years older looks like? Let's hope this baby comes sooner than later. Yikes. In the meantime, it's black shirts from here on out.

Preggo/Family Pics!

This had to happen. Today. While we were still in our church clothes. Thank goodness for our awesome tripod and the ability to get these done in less than five minutes, because Koen had better plans and husband had football.

I am so thankful for this pregnancy. Other than three months of sheer terror that I would lose another baby, this has been quite an easy ride. The pregnancy insomnia is a fraction of what it was with Ko and I pretty much feel amazing. This baby is much more active than I remember Koen being, to the point that my doctors and I had a conversation about seizures in utero, and quite a bit larger at this stage of my pregnancy. November 18th is right around the corner and I'm trying to enjoy each wonderful day that I have left.

Koen is blissfully unaware of how life will change, and thinks Mom is cooking up a baby "grill" in there. He's lovingly named her Allie. If it's a brother, he is to be named Kaven. We may have other plans.

And baby makes four!

Seriously, best Mother's Day ever. We planted this lilac tree on the Mother's Day before Koen was born and every year at this time we take a photo by it. Somehow Koen seems to be growing better than the tree, which suggests I'm a better mother than green thumb. This year, Ko and I get to share this photo with our special guest and newest family member, who's cute face will make their appearance in the next Mother's Day pic. We prayed and waited, then prayed and waited some more for this day to come. With no idea what our family would look like in five years, we are so appreciative for a second God-given miracle. How could we ever take for granted how blessed we are to have these children in our lives? "Children" applies to us now, woohoo!! I love getting older because life is constantly providing new perspective and wisdom that hopefully we will successfully pass down to our kiddos as they navigate this world. We have learned so much about patience, staying optimistic and appreciating how wonderful our lives are even if the journey is not what we expected. Priceless.

Time. Stop. Please.

This is an older picture, November '14 perhaps? At the moment we have no snow, and it's much too warm for a coat like this. But, for the sake of getting something, anything, on this blog, this will have to do. This little dude is swiftly approaching 4 and it takes my breath away. I'm sad and enjoying the journey all at the same time. I'm taking my fourth annual trip to Arizona with him and each year is so different as he reaches different stages in his development. No more diaper changes, nursing five times a night so he won't scream and wake the guests in the hotel room next to me, or wild tantrums making the trip more interesting. We have a kid that can't wait to get on a plane "in three movie nights" (three weeks), will swim by himself (with a life jacket), knows to look out for golf carts driven by occupants who lost their licenses long ago, and will sit through dinner because we ask him to. Each year feels a little more like vacation, and we have the special bonus of Dad/hubs joining us this time!!

Ko's interests at just over 3 1/2 years of age are peeling paper off of crayons - really, peeling labels/stickers/decals off of everything, making fire-starter out of his books and finding new enjoyment out of baby toys. He brought to me a crate full of current, age-appropriate toys and asked to switch them out for the baby toys in the barn. Fair enough. Makes no difference to me once I remove batteries... We now have an imaginary friend, (who can blame him?), and a cousin who miraculously shows up when he gets in trouble. It was Henry, Mom. The kid cracks me up daily, and I find serious contentment in our quality time together. Father time, just please go a little slower, because soon he'll be 18 and I just don't think I can handle him leaving our home.

Yikes, it's almost 2015

So nice to live right next to a pumpkin patch.

This family loves Fall.

This was his bed for awhile, then he tried the top drawer and broke it to pieces.

Plenty has happened since August and I thought I should try to get another blog post in before it's the New Year. We leave in two days for a nice long Christmas vacation to Wyoming to see family and we are more than excited for this trip. Koen is delighted he gets to stay in a "hotail". Just mention a hotel and he gets quite excited; he often brings ups random lodging experiences that are clearly etched in his memory. Ko is now 3 1/2 and cracks us up daily. He is happy go lucky and thinks just about everything is funny. He dotes on every baby he sees and he loves, I mean loves his friends... to the point that some of them come to me and ask for some space. I'll take all of that love I can get, so as long as he lets me, I will cuddle him til he cries. Wait, maybe that's where he gets it. He's an odd sleeper. He only sleeps in his bed for a little while at night, then he tries different places, like his clothes drawer, the couch, and our floor. Sometimes he snacks at 2 in the morning and we wake up to find bread and fruit shrapnel sprayed all over our living room. At this age Ko particularly adores Curious George, garbage trucks, seaweed snacks, babies, riding bikes, mud, grocery stores, the Ants go marching song, eggs and bacon, "hamburbers", hotails, playgroups, the list goes forever. He clearly dislikes tomatoes, cheese, loud noises, and dad going to work. I'm sure that list will grow once he gets into high school.

Justin and I are doing well, and it's been nice having him home a little more often now that it's winter. We enjoy talking about our future, trips we'll take, investments we'll make and what our family will look like in the next five years. One thing for certain is we are so blessed to be living where we are and to have such important friends and family in our lives. One major blessing we can't dismiss is that he was home with his family this year and not serving in Afghanistan. We're looking forward to what 2015 has in store for us and we hope the blessings continue.