Spelling Tuesday

One of the things I love best about having two kiddos is watching how much they love each other. Loralie and Roman adore one another. She is one of the only people who can really make him laugh (he's kind of a serious little fellow)! She thinks of strange and silly ways to play with him... She gives him lots of hugs and kisses and helps mommy take good care of him! Hope the tender feelings last! He isn't big enough to steal her stuff or come into her room yet!

Monkey butt. Pretty girl.

Date night with the hubs: Family dinner at Mom's: And drinks and a crackling fire on the deck tonight! Happy birthday to me! May 32 be as grand as 23!

Saturday I ran my first ever 10k race. It was a beautiful day for running, and I got to do it with three other good friends. There were only 14 people running the 10k heat (there was also a marathon, 1/2 marathon, 5k, and fun run). Here we are at the starting line: And we were off! The guy in the first picture who is holding the bullhorn gave us the directions, telling us to go out to the road, take a left, go to the four way stop, and a volunteer will point us which way to go from there. Starting gun fired, we all started out, but after we had run about a mile, my friend Jessica kept saying that she thought we were going in the wrong direction. All of us. I kept saying, "we can't all be going in the wrong direction!". But we turned around and ran ANOTHER mile to the first aid station, and they told us that we HAD all gone in the wrong direction and that the volunteer who was supposed to tell us to turn had left their post. Well crap. So they told us to just g...

I got a wild hair today and decided that me and the kids needed to go on an adventure! I strapped Roman into the baby backpack (easier said than done!) and we went for a hike in the Parkville Nature Sanctuary. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, it was nice and shady, and Loralie enjoyed looking for birds, butterflies and fairies! She has been wearing my old Bluebirds vest since my mom gave it to her, so she was dressed for the occasion! PS- she also wears the vest over her princess ball gowns! My kind of girl!

Today Loralie asked me if Santa could bring her a banjo and an inflatable turkey... Where does she get this stuff?

I was awakened on Sunday morning to the sound of two kids giggling hysterically! What a blessing to be the Mom of such great kids! We went to church, and then had my mom over for lunch. Matt and Ada came over too, so that was nice. Caleb made me this cool growth chart for the kids. I give really good hints ;)

Friday night I got to help celebrate a new baby with some good friends! We had a lot of fun, ate a lot of tasty snacks and talked a lot of girl talk! Can't wait to meet baby Kennedy in July!

So there is a book floating around out there called "Cinderella Ate My Daughter".  I haven't read it, but from what I have gleaned from some parenting magazines it seems to be all about how Disney princesses, American girls dolls, and Barbie are causing our daughters to have low self-esteem which of course leads to eating disorders and promiscuity.  Huh.  That may be true if the only image your daughter has of herself is based off of those things.  But what about her relationship with her parents? And more importantly, her relationship with her heavenly Father? I think Loralie's princess obsession has opened the doors to many interesting conversations lately like, "What makes a person beautiful?"   and "How can you tell if someone is lovable?".  Short answers:  God loves you.  Just the way you are.  Because he made you that way. Sure, later in life she needs to learn that love doesn't always look like a fairytale, and Prince...

Roman turned four months old a few days ago! We had his well baby check up today. It seems like if a week goes by when we don't have a sick kid to take to the doctors, then of course it's time for a well baby check up... I should just make a standing appointment every Monday. Little man is still in the 5th percentile for height, but is up to the 10th for weight. The doctor was surprised and happy that he had gained so much when he saw how much he moves! His little legs are constantly pumping! Wish I had his stamina!!!

Since it is 1:30am and I apparently cannot sleep, I thought I would post some cute Romey pictures! He is eating rice cereal and peaches daily now. He keeps it all down, but sometimes he isn't that happy about it... Today he practically sat up all by himself! He is getting so strong! I know it won't be long until he is rolling, sitting, and crawling. That's when things will go to a whole new level of crazy around here!

I spent last Wednesday in a lot of prayer.  Not really purposeful or thoughtful prayer, more like a "Lord, help me get through this day" repetitive kind of prayer.  Loralie had spent the previous evening in the ER due to a broken clavical.  The pediatrician had just confirmed that Roman had a double ear infection.  Cranky toddler (Lord Help Me!), crying baby (Lord!  Help!)  long line at the dang pharmacy (Oh Jesus, help me...)  So Jesus heard all those little prayers, and thought to himself, "Okay, what would help Niki 'get through' this day?  She needs a fun surprise!"  So He put a little bug in my good friend Heather's ear (she knew about all my sicky kiddos) , and she sent me the following text: "What is your favorite Sonic drink?  The drink fairy wants to drop it off on the way to soccer at 5pm!" My initial gut reaction was to text back : "Oh no!  Please don't trouble yourself!  I am doing fine here!  Everything is ...