Monday, November 26, 2012

Klayton turns 2!

The little man of the house turned 2 this month!  Happy Birthday to our sweet and crazy Klayton!  I can't believe he is two already but thankful he is getting more independent all the time.  You would think I would have learned patience a long time ago but with three small individuals wanting to do EVERYTHING themselves, I get to practice my patience everyday ;).  Klayton loves to copy what Hailey and Brynn do - good and bad behavior!  He is talking more and more and surprises me with the words and phrases he picks up from all the women he puts up with all day every day.  Klayton is such a "boy" - he loves to play outside, he loves the mud, and he loves anything round that he can throw.  He does get picked on quite a bit by Hailey and Brynn but he is learning to give it back to them.  Jason is warning Hailey and Brynn that some day Klayton will be bigger and stronger so they need to choose wisely how they treat Klayton now...Jason has some experience growing up with two older sisters ;).
Klayton loves to choose Veggietales when it is his turn to pick a movie and that is what he picked for his 2nd birthday party.
 2 years old
 All the cousins eating supper. The menu - Papa John's pizza, veggie pizzas (crimp bread with veggie cream cheese and veggies to create-your-own), grapes, and chips.  All Klayton's favorites plus the veggie pizza for Veggietales...that is my version of a "themed" party - ha!
 Opening gifts - Klayton was excited this year.  I won't be able to leave the gifts under the tree for Christmas or they will be opened before Christmas!


I made Bob and Larry cakes

 Blowing out his two candles with help from daddy.
 It was Grandpa Van Mersbergen's birthday the day we had Klayton's party so we made Grandpa his own cake and his grandkids helped him blow out the candles.
 Singing Happy Birthday to Klayton.


Time to eat cake and ice cream!!


We are so blessed to have Klayton in our house - he makes us laugh every day.  We are so excited to see how he grows and matures over the next year!

That same weekend Makayla was baptized.  It was great to be supported by our family and friends as we step out in faith to pray for and raise Makayla to know Jesus.





Friday, October 5, 2012

Makayla Leigh

Here we are 5 days into October and I realize I haven't  blogged for 4 months!  I will try to do better, but no promises!
Makayla was added to our family on September 6.  We thought she might be born on the 7th and share a birthday with Jason but she was 47 minutes too early.  Now we will have three birthdays within five days at our house!  We were so thankful to have a healthy, full term baby.
Life is crazy but fun with four kids.  Makayla will be 1 month old tomorrow and I can hardly believe it.  She is growing well and is growing out of some of the one-piece newborn outfits.  I am so happy she is healthy and growing but I truly love the newborn stage despite sleep deprivation.
Makayla is a pretty good baby although she is not a fan when I drink milk - tummy upset = fussy baby.  The first couple weeks she would sleep through anything but now if the other kids are a bit too loud then she wakes up and lets everyone know she is not happy about the disturbance.  Makayla will sleep just about anywhere during the day (car seat, baby bjorn carrier, swing, infant seat, in a lap) and does well in her crib at night.
Brynn is the second mama in our house.  She likes to rock Makayla to sleep and does a pretty good job at it!  Both girls are great helpers with the diaper changes (getting the diaper and wipes and entertaining baby while I change her) and love to pick out Makayla's outfit each morning.  Getting the pacifier for Makayla is also a big deal - I just have to limit them from shoving it in her mouth and having Makayla gag on it.  Hailey and Brynn also think that if Makayla is sleeping and her pacifier fell out, it needs to be popped back in her mouth.  Not the case, and now baby is mad because her sleep was disturbed unnecessarily and she is gagging on something in her mouth she wasn't planning on!  I feel like God should give parents another set of eyes for each child we have!  Maybe another arm would be nice too...
Klayton loves his baby sister but can be very jealous of the attention she gets.  He loves to point out her nose, eyes, ears, toes, etc. and says "HI BABY" in a very loud voice.  It is almost as if he thinks that because Makayla can't talk she also can't hear so he needs to talk VERY LOUDLY around her.  But, it is so cute when he asks every morning where "Layla" is and gives her a whole bunch of kisses when he finds her!  We are trying to teach Klayton what "gentle" means so he doesn't poke Makayla's eyes out when he so affectionately tries to teach her where her eyes are!

Enough talking...here are some pictures since Makayla was born.









 Makayla brought gifts for the other kids when they came to visit her at the hospital.  Baby car seats for Hailey and Brynn and mama and baby animals for Klayton.


 Resting after her first bath - she was not happy about the bath at all but luckily she likes them at home.



 Watching football with "the boys".




 Klayton was just giggling to himself one day before he fell asleep.  I had to take a picture - still have no idea what was so funny.

 Lots of outside time while the weather was still in the 70s and 80s.







 Coloring at the picnic table.  
 We had to take a couple trees out of our new yard to fit the swingset so we have a patch of dirt right under the swings.  The kids love to play in the dirt!




 Klayton - looking this way because he doesn't want his picture taken.
 Making a simple tent out of people and a blanket!
 We are within a block of connecting to the greenbelt trails around the area - Hailey and Brynn have had a lot of practice on their bikes this summer and love to ride on the trails!

I don't know what was going on here but Hailey was being very silly!