Layla's favorite word...

Watch this video and see if you can guess what Layla's favorite word is!

She is such a funny, sweet and FRIENDLY girl!

Kaine's birthday festivities...

Well, this post is a little past due! I haven't shared any of the birthday celebrations that we had for Kaine! His birthday was actually on a Sunday (the 9th) and we were off duty that day. So we took advantage of that and went to Chuck E. Cheese's! I know it can be crazy with all the kids, not to mention all the germs (shudder) but we really love taking our kids to Chuck E Cheese's! We did decide after this time, though, that we will try to make sure and go on a weekday next time...it was crazy packed with kids! So anyway, that is what we did on Kaine's bday. Oh, and we were very blessed to have uncle Kyle join us! This is what Kyle and Kaine did most of the time...

Kaine was obsessed with that game! It was like a racing game, but with boats...he just loved it. Meanwhile, Halle and Layla loved doing this sort of thing...

I think Layla was just mesmerized by all the noise and lights! She loved it:)

So then on Tuesday night, we celebrated Kaine's birthday with his cake and everything here at the Maple House while we were on duty. The residents had a lot of fun with it! Grandpa Dave and Grandma Terri were planning to come, but sadly the weather was terrible that day and they couldn't.

Here is Kaine with his John Deere cake. Thanks, Grandpa Jim, for the tractors!!

Nathan made Kaine a yo-yo pinata! (for those of you who don't know Kaine that well, he loooooves yo-yo's!) So it turned out pretty good, but it might have had a bit too much of the papier mache stuff...it was really hard for him to bust open! And he has a pretty good swing!

But he finally got it open, and our kids were loving all the candy:)

Including Layla! She got some Milky Ways and chewed them open...she was loving it! She was not happy to have them taken away from her!

Blowing out the candles...Halle is excited for her birthday! It is coming up in a little over a month!

So then, that next Saturday (the 15th) we celebrated with my family! Aaron's birthday is Jan. 7, so we celebrated them together. It was really fun. Aaron chose Buffalo Wild Wings (one of my faves!) and then my parents and Aaron, Jill and Ivy came back to our apartment for presents and cake. They had an ice cream cake, which was awesome!

Here are the birthday boys. If you are wondering about what Kaine is holding...he is now the proud owner of an airsoft gun! My parents got it for him and he loves it. It is a machine gun, so it is a little weird to see my 5 year old shooting a machine gun:) But it is something fun for he and Nathan to do together!

Again, so proud of his new gun!

Blowing out candles again:)

Kaine also is loving his new tech deck skakeboards and ramp! Dave and Terri got him some skateboards and Aaron and Jill got him a ramp...he loves those things!

And of course, Layla is again loving the boxes and wrapping paper:) Typical 1-year old!

And this is on a different day, but here is Kaine doing one of his favorite things...holding his baby cousin Ivy! He really really really loves Ivy! (so does Halle!) And it really seems like Ivy likes Kaine a lot...she looks at him and smiles and she is usually really content having Kaine hold her! It is really sweet:)

Happy Birthday again, Kaine! You are such a sweet boy and we love you so much! We had such a good time with you celebrating your 5th birthday!

Happy Birthday Kaine!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet little boy!! I seriously cannot believe he is 5 years old! That sounds so old to me:( Kaine is such a good boy, and he brings so much joy to our family. He is a wonderful brother, too! God really blessed Kaine with a great personality.

Happy Birthday, Kaine!! We love you so much and we thank God for you every day!

some news i forgot...

I also just realized that I had my doctor's appt in December...so I never blogged about that. Anyway, the ultrasound seems pretty clear that we will be having our third girl!! We know that Kaine will be outnumbered, but I think he will share a really special relationship with his daddy because of it. He is such a good brother to his sisters--he is actually excited for another sister, too! Now we just have to think of a name...if anyone has suggestions we are open to them!!

(also, see below...I posted a catch up post with pictures! Finally!)

Have a good and Godly day, everyone!!

Christmas (and other stuff)

Well, I just looked at our blog yesterday and I realized that I didn't do one blog post the whole month of December!! I guess it must have been a busy month (my usual excuse:) ).

So this is a catch up blog. Some of the recent stuff we have been doing. Which means it will probably be a LOT of pictures!

At the beginning of December, Jenna came home for a few days to surprise mom and dad when we celebrated their 50th birthdays! (Happy Birthday, dad and mom!) Dad's was in November, and mom's is coming up in a few days, on January 11. So we celebrated in December, with supper at Texas Roadhouse and then a fun time at Crazy Pinz. It was lots of fun! Here is Layla at Texas Roadhouse--she looked soooo cute sitting in her high chair. Such a sweetie!

We had to try giving her a lemon:) We like to do that with our kids...I know it is kind of mean but we get the cutest pictures! Maybe sometime if I remember I'll post all of our kids with their lemon pics:)

the kiddos with Aunt Jenna at Crazy Pinz

Nathan took Kaine and Halle sledding at his parents' house the next morning. They loved it! Halle looked so cute in all her gear!

And of course, so did our adorable little boy (soon not to be so little! His birthday is coming up soon!)

Nathan is the best daddy!

Christmas at my mom and dad's...my dad is the game expert! He did a great job with games. Halle is checking out the prize table.

This is the "string game." Pull out a string and see what color it is, then get a matching gift. K and H loved it!

a typical Halle face:)

My beautiful little niece, Ivy! She is just extremely adorable. Her facial expressions are so cute!

Kaine was soooo excited about his police stuff that he got from my parents! He loves that kind of stuff:)

A family picture

And a family pic of just our family, the next morning before church. I love my family!!

Layla wearing her really cute dress that my parents got her. She is so sweet! (I feel like I am always commenting about how sweet she is, but honestly that is such her personality! I am blown away by her sweet-ness! I hope her little sister will share her personality!)

Halle reading a book to Ivy:) Our kids are in loooooove with Ivy! (she is the first cousin that they have!)

And a cousin picture. What a bunch of cuties!

Have a great day!!