4 Wheelin!

When Casey's mom was here a few weeks ago she brought up the family's 4-wheeler for him to use on some of his land hunts. Since then Reed has been infatuated with it, and everytime he sees it in the garage he can't stop talking about it. So the other night when Casey had returned he let Reed ride up and down on it in the driveway. I think it made his night!

A little brother and sister "4-wheelin" on the tonka truck!

One photogenic girl!

6 weeks old!

Happy 6 weeks old Mary Etta!

Look at this happy, chunky girl!

A little brother love.....

Today Mary Etta is 6 weeks old.......I often feel most days we are still in survival mode, but then at times like these (hitting the 6 week mark) I feel the time is flying by too. She truly is such a sweet baby girl, and we are enjoying every minute of her! Casey and I especially love it when she sleeps in 6-7 hour stretches, like she has been doing on and off the past 2 weeks! I don't know that the other 2 did it quite so soon, so the Lord is being gracious to us by allowing #3 to fall into this pattern rather smoothly and quickly! Casey has been super swamped with students returning to campus last weekend, and he's been full force on the campus pretty much all day and night the past couple weeks as well. So needless to say, it's been very tiring for me around here. Hopefully it will calm down into a more normal routine some next week, which I think I'll be very ready for! I haven't done well capturing many pictures this week, so here are a couple that I did take from this week.

These days......

Not sure what Mary Etta is thinking here, but big brother is adoring on her as usual. He is such a sweet big brother, very affectionate too affectionate at times! He loves his sisters and wants to always be with them!

Strong girl holding her head up!

One of Emery-Claire's favorite pasttimes, toothbrushing! She giggles and laughs and is so excited to brush her teeth! But when it's my turn to actually make sure she is actually brushing them, well, the party has ended and the battle has begun!

First smiles!!! So here at 5 weeks old we officially have a smiler! These pictures take me back to this post, seriously this was just yesterday right?!!

These days this is pretty much what is going on around here. Brushing of teeth, smiling babies, toys everywhere, books read.....etc., etc. It is a busy season, very exhausting at times with so many little ones to care for. But at the same time my prayer is to savor every moment, soak them all in, for I know in the blink of an eye we'll have an empty nest. As tiring as it is at times I also know God has so greatly blessed us with these 3 healthy and beautiful children. He has entrusted their care to us. Then of course I feel so overwhelmed and unworthy to be given such sweet little blessings. It wasn't really all that long ago I was single watching all my married friends start their families and praying God would bring me a godly husband, and bless us with children to raise them in the way they should go. So I know He has answered my prayer, it is His will and perfect plan that we are in this season! So for that we have so much to be thankful for, so much to again PRAISE HIM for!! He is a great and mighty God, and He is sanctifying us, carving us into the image of His Son..to be more like Him!

Happy Birthday Mom and Gigi!

Here is to you Mom/Gigi....Happy, happy, happy birthday!!!! We love you so much and hope you are having a wonderful day! We wish we could be there to celebrate with you; I'm sure Reed would love making you a cake! He is a little confused and keeps thinking it's his birthday...I guess all this birthday talk is a little confusing for the not quite 3-year-old. But since we are not check back for our soon to be added video for you, and be on the lookout for our surprise in the mail (mailed not quite on time so it probably won't arrive today). We are so thankful for you and for all you do for us. Especially all your help over the past 3 years with all your grandchildren...you are a jewel to us and we don't know what we would do without you! We cherish all our time with you and look forward to seeing you again soon! We love you so much!!!!

One month, walking girl, and more!

Look who is 1 month old today! It's hard to believe that sweet little Mary Etta has been here with us for 1 month already! She is so sweet and such a joy to our family. She is a great sleeper and eater, which is mostly all she does these days! And believe it or not she has gone some 5 and even 6 hour stretches at night, woohoo!!

Sister love!

Nana came to visit this week. And both Reed and Emery-Claire loved having her here! We all had a great visit with her, and were she was so excited to finally meet her 2nd granddaughter little Mary Etta Caroline (who is named after her--Carolyn/and "Caroline" was her grandmother) and Etta (her mother).

Look who got her first pair of big girl shoes! They look so cute on those little feet! She seems excited to have them, but has already figured out how to take them off. So I can tell socks and shoes will be "fun" to keep on this little gal!

In the past week our little miss, just a week or so shy of 15 months, is on the move! I guess Reed started walking around 14-14 1/2 months as well (no early walkers in this family). But she is very much on the go now. We call her our little Frankenstein, as she walks holding her hands up in the air to support herself. And as you can see in the second video she is a climber as well. We always can tell when she has climbed up on something, as she laughs continuously letting you know she is so proud of her achievement (so you know what she is doing when she is out of view!)

Week 3

So our girl is now 3 weeks old! We survived our first week without Casey--but thankfully my mom/Gigi, was able to come up and "HELP" us lots! So it was wonderful, as always, to have her here. We are so thankful for you Mom/Gigi, and all you do for us! It's been a treat to have you around so much the past month, and so sad we don't get to see you as often normally. But we look forward to seeing you again! Casey just returned from the annual staff training, and is now gearing up for the fall semester to get started on the campus. So as for everyone else too, our summer is coming to a close and the craziness is just getting started! So here are a few more "summery" pics from our busy time at home.

Reed's usual attire...shirt and underwear (as we continue to work on potty training). And he picked out theses lovely navy socks to wear with his tennis shoes.

Mary Etta is now 3 weeks old. Still such a sweet baby girl! So does anyone think she looks like the other two? We're not sure who she looks like, but definitely different than her brother and sister.

First real bath!

Big girl here LOVES her sunglasses! And she is our climber too! She'll climb on anything, chairs, stools, in and out of things, this rocking horse....you name it she'll try to climb it! And over the past month or so she is attempting to take 2-4 steps at a time. But in the past day or so she is really attempting the 4-6 steps more and more, and often throughout the day. So I do think she'll be walking more than crawling here very soon! And she is really trying to imitate so many verbalizations, she is so fun and so sweet!