I've neglected you.

Sorry. :)

I get so caught up in "relaxing" in the evenings after the girls go to bed that I don't post on here very often. I'm seeing a pattern though, that's for sure. Lots of posting, then no posting, then I feel bad, so I post a lot again, and the circle continues.

We've been busy I guess since Spring Break. We've been spending a great deal of time outside in the yard, getting it ready for the spring and summer plantings. Adam's been working like crazy and we've accomplished quite a bit.

With all the digging in the yard, Alaina has learned that she LOVES worms. She tries to keep them - she quickly learned that keeping worms in potted soil makes them die, so that ended quickly. Cami just throws them (literally) back into the dirt when she's had her fill.

Adam ran the Mini Marathon again this year. (I opted out because I learned last year that I'm a very poor runner and that my knees hate me for running.) He beat his time by more than 11 minutes! He ran 13.1 miles in under 1:51. Pretty impressive. The girls and I had fun waiting for him near the end to cheer him on the last 1/4 mile. Here's the unimpressive (and only) picture I took (I can't get Blogger to post it the right way).

This past weekend was Alaina's Spring Ballet Concert. It was sweet - she did a great job. (She just loves ballet.) We had quite the section with me, Adam, Cami, Nana, Papa, Uncle Kevin, Grandma, Aunt Jenn, Vanessa, Aunt Clea (Jenn's mom) and Grandpa and Grandma. We cheered loudly for her! :) (she's on the far left below)

Alaina is nearing the end of kindergarten - just 2 more weeks of school left. Can you believe it?!?! She's going to be in FIRST grade! Craziness I tell you.

And Cami - she turns TWO in 1 month and 2 days. Sorry no pictures of her - I haven't been very good at taking pictures lately unless it's an "event". She is doing good on potty training though - she's still in pull-ups, but making it through awake times with just 1-2 times per day of wetting in the pull-up. She doesn't like wearing panties, which is weird to me, since they HAVE to be more comfortable than pull-ups, but she always says "no" to them. We'll keep trying. I think it's the only thing that'll get her dry all the time. We had to do the same thing with Alaina. I sure am happy not changing as many diapers!!

And she's talking much more - still struggling with complete words, leaving consonants off the beginning or end. But I'm also comparing her to Alaina, who spoke very quickly at a very early age. Cami is putting more words together though and I can almost always understand what she's saying at least.

Well, off to watch American Idol. I think Syesha's getting kicked off tonight, so I must go see! :) You know, the night Alaina was born Kelly Clarkson and that other guy with the afro were singing in the finals. It was turned on right after Alaina was pushed out. I have a sweet spot for the show. :)

Feeling old...

Alaina's reading. Yep, actually reading simple books. I felt old when she went to kindergarten, but feel much older now that I have a child who's READING.

Our niece is with us today - my sister-in-law's grandmother died late last night, so Ness is spending the day with us. At the table during lunch just a few minutes ago, I looked at Adam while all the girls were singing crazy loud, and said "THIS is why we're not having another child!" It was so nuts. We were totally outnumbered and they were all just feeding off of each other's little antics.

Thank goodness for birth control.

Spring Break at Casa de Hern

As you may know, our good friends the Hern's moved to Puerto Rico last summer. What a great place to go for Spring Break!!!!!

On the plane (Cami's 1st!)

Adam's favorite pasttime (though not 1 on 3 when the kids cheat!)

Amy at the beach we "snuck" onto :)

Alaina (you'd think she was born in the ocean)

Alaina & Jackson riding the waves

And Luke, happy to be away from his pool

Cami refusing to smile for the camera

Little Man Emmitt

Sweet friends (they were born 3 days apart)

The plane trip home :(

We had a great time with our friends. We had gracious hosts. The kids played and swam. Kevin told great bedtime stories that the White family made an appearance in - then he and Adam watched Sweet Sixteen basketball each night. Amy and I hung out after dinner our last night there and talked for hours.

Good fun. Sad to say goodbye.

Easter

Lots of pictures coming, rather than words.

Coloring eggs...

Easter baskets...

Easter dresses...

Except for an explanation of Cami's forehead.

After church on Easter, Cami fell down the steps at church and smacked her forehead on the edge of concrete steps. Ouch. Nice Easter "egg" huh?

YEA for Cami!!!

Today, Cami went potty on the "big girl potty" for the first time!!!!

Cami found some of Alaina's first panties about 2 weeks ago, when we were getting down the next size clothing for the spring and our trip to Puerto Rico. Ever since, she's been asking to wear them. She LOVES to wear them, and then gets mad when she has to put a diaper back on - BUT, she would NOT go to the bathroom on the toilet. She would just hold it as long as she could (up to 2-3 hours!) and then pee all over the floor.

Today, she did that same thing. Was dry for hours and then peed on my bedroom floor. (Luckily, we have no carpet in our house, so cleaning it up isn't that big of a deal.) So, I finally decided to ditch the panties idea and not let her wear them for a while. Well, after a LONG time of fighting to put a diaper on, she told Alaina and Alaina's friend Addie that she had to go "poo-poo". (She calls both #1 and #2 "poo-poo".) I ignored it, and she kept coming back to me saying it. So, I thought, what the heck.

I took her diaper off, put her on her little seat on the toilet, and walked away to finish making lunch. All of a sudden I hear her tinkling away!! I looked over and she was looking at me with this HUGE grin on her face!

Hopefully she's not scared of it anymore. I'm tired of diapers. :)

I'll post more this weekend about Easter and our trip to Puerto Rico. We have fun pictures to share!

Love you all!
Katie

Sweet Cami

A couple cute things about Cami today: she learned to take off her own shirt. I know that's silly, but you know you're baby isn't a baby when they start to unrobe alone. :)

The other: Let me start by saying that during Lent, our Pastor has invited the children to the front of the sanctuary to sing and dance to the last song of each service on Sunday mornings. Alaina and Cami have truly loved this part of the service and look forward to the end! Well, tonight we attended our church's Good Friday service. Man, was it amazing. There was a ton of music and it was so intentional - emotional, powerful, beautiful - increasing in intensity throughout the service, as we neared the culmination of Jesus' crucifiction. The lights were a bit dim, and got dimmer through the service - as the sun started to set and the lights were dimmed even more.

But there were lights near the stage, so the musicians and readers could see. As the service went on, Cami's attention span became quite short (it didn't start until 7pm!). As the service was smaller than normal (and the congregation is truly our extended family) I let her wander, quietly, throughout the sanctuary. She made her way to the front - to the lights. She wanted to dance and sing to the music.

I thought for a moment about making her stop - anticipating the screams and tantrum at the front of the entire congregation. Then, as she smiled, sang with the music and danced in the spotlight, I saw the perfect picture of what being a "child of God" was.

Simply enjoying HIM.

Knowing that today we mourn His death. Knowing that in three days, He will rise again. Giving us hope, that our sins are forgiven and that He will finish in us what He has started.

I let her dance.

Happy Easter.

Some cute pictures

Thought I'd share some pictures of the girls over the last 3 weeks.

The girls & I had President's Day off, so it was a fun day at home, just like 5 short months ago before Alaina got into The Oaks for kindergarten!

Here's a sweet picture of Cami - cracker anyone? Or would you prefer some crazy hair? :)

The girls gave me a concert that day as well. They make a pretty awesome girl band, with Cami on vocals and Alaina on the guitar and background vocals.

As only Indiana can provide, we had a beautiful spring day the first of March. Crazy, but it was 65 degrees with a bright shiny sun. It was so nuts - but we LOVED it. We took advantage of the day and played outside for most of the afternoon. We even tried to eat dinner at the picnic table, but by the time dinner rolled around, the sun was setting and the wind picked up, so we headed inside after only about 5 minutes. It was fun trying though!

Alaina climbed her first tree (with some help)...

Cami was reunited with her favorite pasttime in the backyard...

And the girls shared some lovin'...

Cami wasn't so cooperative while I was trying to take pictures. Alaina, of course, was all over it. Here's the best one of her.

We're eagerly awaiting spring. With open arms. I've been ready all winter, so I guess I can wait a few more weeks.