sisters & cousins

with 4 kiddos...this is as good as my group shot got. i think uncle sunidh got some goodies...

i'll share if i ever get my computer on them!lu was a natural with baby lila do you see those sweet smiley eyes? gus saying 'cheeeeeze', and asher being cinderella. he even wore the heels. we loved it.

my other sis, dr. aunt brookie nae, came for a visit this weekend. lucky for us uncle sunidh grew up in the houston area & has to come down about once a year for a wedding...so we get lucky and get to have them hang out for awhile. the kiddos did surprisingly well together...lu has definitely been missing them since they left.

and, brooke & i had a blast catching up in between diaper changes, feedings, meltdowns & tears.

not the most flattering photo, but hey, this is what we look like when we wake up.

funny how similar our complexions & eye color is. or maybe not so funny?

we are sisters, after all.

thanks for coming & staying brookie nae.

more visitors!

unrelated photos...of my peas reading.

the final contingent of the rosonke family march visitors arrive tonight. my sister brooke, her husband sunidh and their two peas asher & baby lila will be here around 11p. luci is very excited about the possbility of asher sleeping in her room with her on her trundle bed. we'll see how asher feels about this, and then if he's up for it, if they actually sleep!

and on saturday, clay & i are watching all 4 kids for the night while brooke & sunidh hit a wedding downtown. should be interesting, and if you have time, say a few prayers for us!! :)

my aunt baylee & my mr. drew

as the lu affectionately refers to them, blessed us with a visit. these two early twenty-somethings had the energy of, well, two early twenty-somethings. and they focused all of that energy on our peas. lucky lil things. aunt baylee happily played princesses for hours while mr. drew chased gus gus around. on friday night (their last night here) i asked g to give aunt baylee a hug. he promptly walked right over to mr. drew & gave him multiple hugs. with two hands. of course i didn't have my camera ready. but trust me, it was sooo sweet.

buddies
girly girls

aunt baylee & mr. drew needed to complete their last week of P90X while they were here. and they did. baylee isn't messing around. luci did a few 'exercises' with her.

and clay did a full workout with her last night. i have photos, but i may have received some threats when i started snapping them. so i guess i'll keep them to myself...
taking a milk break post workout...or like 3 yoga poses. luci declared it a successful workout!

and the lu also took swimming lessons over this spring break. m-th at 10a. she was in the 'white turtle' class at our gym. and a white turtle she stayed...sweet lil thing. she still doesn't want to put her face in the water. because she's afraid she'll 'choke' she says. i think we need to work on exhaling vs. inhaling. super swim lesson teacher mr. drew had some good suggestions for us so we'll continue to work with her until we are confident she can re-take the white turtle class & graduate to a red frog!

on friday we went to opening day of the outside pool at the gym. i have some photos, but again, received threats regarding making them public. so you'll just have to trust me...it was fun!

sunday best

m'peas...in their sunday best!

this last one is such a typical gus face...

g @ 14 months...better late than never

new words are coming fast & furious this month. dada (all.the.time.), mama (although not very often), zizzy (sissy..luci, that is), nana (banana), turtle, oh tootles (mickey mouse clubhouse show), nigh nigh (night night), uh-oh, no no no no (with the finger point & all), and all done.

i wish he'd say cup or drink or something like that. i also wish he'd say more, please, thank you, and help. but so far no dice. he repeats many sounds, but doesn't use words to communicate as often as i'd like. for example when he wants to go outside he doesn't say 'out', he bangs on the door & makes that aggressive boy sound.

he also will respond with adorable, mostly correct sounds when you ask him what different animals say. cat, dog, monkey, bird, tiger, bear, and cow.

he's a walkin fool. he's also into standing on chairs and lil kiddo picnic tables. he's also all about the perch on a few non-perchable toys.

he's sweet. so, so sweet. gently puts his arms around my neck, plays with my hair. such a snugglebug. at least when he's tired.

he's a great eater. his favorite foods are bread and bread products. he eats carrots & peas & corn, but doesn't want anything to do with broccoli or zucchini. he loves sweet potatoes. and all berries. and bananas. he also eats a good variety of meat & fish.

he drinks unsweetend, organic soy milk. and he loves it now.

he loves balls. there was a random football at the park last week & he picked it up & dropped it/threw it up & down the entire length of the park.

he loves our cats. they sort of tolerate him.

he's in size 4 huggies lil movers diapers, 12-18 month pants, 18-24 month shirts, and 18 month pjs.

he likes pretty much all of the shows that luci likes, but is still calmed only by baby einstein.

he LOVES the bath. and to play outside. and to 'chalk'. and get his hands on sissy's things.

another holiday, another cookie

look at us grandma myrtle! sugar cookies from scratch!

yes, i own a rolling pin!

although to be fair, i'm pretty sure it was a gift from my in-laws.

the work in progress...

can you tell luci's vs mine?

they were all boy approved

and here is my lu. she came in looking for her scissors.

she wanted to "cut flowers" like snow white.

Ash Wednesday

an unrelated photo i've captioned in my head as

"because sometimes mama just needs a break"
It was on Ash Wednesday, 7 years ago, that Clay & I had our first official date. It didn't go all that well (we later discussed how we were both surprised by that), but it is a good thing we decided to give it another go, cause on date number 2, I knew he was different from the rest.


As for Lent this year? I'm not giving anything up. Instead I'm working to make our household more holy. We are going to say a blessing before every meal. I'm going to start saying prayers with Gus at night (Lu already does). I am going to read my new Catholic Mom inspirational books and try to find new ways everday to teach our kiddos more about our faith.


So far for the Lu I've started a "kindness jar." Every time Clay or I catch her doing something kind or showing/expressing gratitude we are going to put a coin in her "kindness jar." And at the end of Lent we are going to give all of the money in the kindness jar to a "friend who doesn't have a nice bed to sleep in." Said friend will be picked by Luci from the Compassion website, probably during Gus' next nap (he wouldn't tolerate Lu & I hanging out at our dumputer). I think seeing a photo of friends in need will hopefully make it more real for her. It is hard to teach true gratitude to a three year old.

I'll keep you posted on how well it works.

a visit from grammy

yes, that is a bow in lu's hair

my mom, lu & gus' grammy, blessed us with a visit. she spoiled luci by playing 'princesses' for about 4 hours a day. seriously. that isn't even an exaggeration. the girl was in make believe heaven! they went to target, got lattes, bought diapers & wipes, etc.
those princesses were busy, busy, busy!

and gusgus was delighted to have another snuggle buddy. at one point i walked into the living room & he was just sitting on her lap as she played gently with his hair.
he was chillin...and lovin being loved on.

mom arrived in the middle of clay's latest week away with the navy and served as an extra energy boost for me when i'd normally start to fade. especially since i was super sick. there comes a point during those week long trips when adult conversation (for me) is really needed. and usually i'd just call her everyday & ramble, but this time i had her as a live, captive audience.
flights were a pain for her....in fact, she's still in her 3 hour drive from msp to new hampton as i type. it'll be much better once the merger is finally all said & done. on many family fronts.
i hope.

thanks for making the pain in the you-know-what trek, mom.
we miss you already...please come back soon!