Nora is 3 months

      As of January 21 Nora was 3 months old. It is going as fast as I expected it would, do I want time to slow down sometimes? Yes.  She is so beautiful and getting so big. Nora is a really social little girl, she gives us a lot of good giggles now! She looks you right in the eyes and chatters on and on, only I don't know what she is saying yet.  She loves her play mat and is trying to bat at the toys on it but she isn't coordinated yet.  I may be biased, but her little toothless smile just makes me melt even if she did just wake me up at 4 am!
       Nora was doing a good job sleeping more and was only waking me once in the middle of the night but I think she hit her 3 month growth spurt or something because she is waking me 2 or more times leaving me very sleepy for her siblings. Hopefully my milk will adjust to her and fix the problem otherwise I am not sure how to get her back on track. 
     She loves her baths now and doesn't scream like she did as a newborn at getting undressed and the shockingly different feeling of the water.

even her sad face is cute

Riley 3 Months

August 3 Months

August's 2nd Birthday

         This year August turned 2! He is such a chatty guy, its fun to hear all the things he can tell me now. For example at lunch today he was eating some pasta and he doesn't always love all the other stuff in it and as hes digging around he laughs a little when he finds another noodle and says, pawstee(pasta) hiding, and scoops it up and eats it.
     He loves his sisters and gives really good strong hugs.  He like to vroom his cars around just as  much as he likes to play babies with Riley. He will sit for a long time and just flip through books. He gets scared if you toss him up in the air but he loves crawling all over daddy's back when he gets home from work!  I now have two helpers in the kitchen a lot of the time too.
   This year he was diagnosed with a peanut allergy and eczema so that has been interesting. We carry around epi pens and finally have the hang of mostly keeping the eczema at bay.

This is August eating his birthday breakfast!

Augusts Party! January 21 
 

 This year the morning of his party was very foggy so my half of the family didn't make it and was missed. August had fun wearing his birthday crown (he liked borrowing Riley's so i made him his own), running around, being crazy with some of his cousins, eating cake and playing pin the nose on the Olaf.

Nora enjoyed the party too

Sitting on his throne

Wearing his new penguin mask and getting ready to dance!

New Family Photo

   Every time we have a new addition we like to have a family photo and some newborn pictures taken. We have been going to Kristin Zehner since she did our NILMDTS photos in January of 2014.  It is so comforting to go back to see her since she took pictures of Kyla for us. I feel like our family is connected in a very intimate way.  The pictures she took for us of Kyla are irreplaceable and all that we have left from a time in our lives that was very traumatic.
       I love all of the pictures she has taken but I really like that in the photo of Nora and I below that you can see the necklace we had made for Kyla, it has her name and birth date on it.  She got some really great ones of the kids. Nora is 2 weeks old here.

Christmas 2016

Christmas in Ottumwa

   This year we visited our Ottumwa family at the beginning of December. It has been a relief and more special to break up all of our different family gatherings.  The kids had so much fun playing and opening presents together.   Riley loves how many decorations grandma puts up and that there are lights on everything. The next morning snow was coming down in big fluffy flakes but it wasn't too bad for driving.

pictures to come later



Christmas in Ames

   Keenan and I are enjoying staying home for Christmas and are trying to create more of our own traditions with the kids. The Christmas eve meal is going to be a simple but hearty one. Chili and cornbread muffins, Riley and August can never get enough cornbread for some reason. Then we all snuggled up with blankets and watched a movie together while enjoying popcorn and fruit!
    Christmas morning we opened our stockings together then had some raspberry kolaches and bacon. Thank you Sheryl/Mom/Grandma for the sweet dough recipe. After breakfast the kids opened their gifts and Keenan and I read our Christmas letters to each other, my favorite and most meaningful tradition.  I can picture our kids reading them someday and getting a glimpse at what their parents were like or how they felt as they were growing up.  I want them to have so many great memories from childhood and to know how much we loved them and still love them.  I want to always grow closer to Keenan and for us to be a living breathing example for our children what it means to care about someone and what that should look like. When our kids are old enough I want them to write their own letters to put on the tree.
      mmmmm.  Planning dinner was tricky, you want something special but not something that will take time away from family. So I settled on a roasted pork loin stuffed with caramelized apples, onions and toasted cornbread croutons. Then its glazed with orange juice with a smidge of brown sugar. It was perfect because I could prep the entire thing during nap time or even the day before then just sear and put in the oven an hour and half before dinner. I served it with roasted sweet potatoes and a brussel sprout salad. The kids didn't dig the salad so maybe I will just do something like green beans next year!  
     I have been writing down ideas for next year for mouse pocket(advent calendar) to do with the kids.  This year would have been too much for me with Nora being so little. Most of them are things we are already doing but will be fun for the kids to retrieve it everyday and find out what we are going to do. I am excited already!

   

Christmas in Marion

We did Christmas in Marion a few days after Christmas.  The cousins had a great time running around and playing. They also had fun ringing the mistletoe and watching Grandma come running to give them their kisses. Riley enjoyed making some Christmas tree crafts with Aunt Kendra to bring home.

 

Butterflies in January

Kyla's Birthday

This year would have been Kyla's third birthday so we released 3 balloons.  It's a great way to celebrate our little girl and to share her with our other children by talking about her. They love seeing the balloons and watching them disappear into the sky. We love her still and miss her.

Kyla's 3rd Birthday

Today our baby girl would have been 3 years old. I feel her absence often. Sometimes when I go places with Riley, August and Nora there is a nagging feeling like I have forgotten something at home. It's just a feeling that doesn't go away and cannot be repaired.

Riley talks about her and includes her in drawings of our family, which comforts me.  It makes me happy to say her name and feel like I am doing something for this child, too.

Riley made this butterfly to attach to one of the balloons that we will release in memory of Kyla.  It was cute, she said she wanted Kyla to know who it was from and that she is loved.  In the midst of a chaotic day at home I am reminded at how thoughtful and loving children are

Today there was an ice storm so we are delaying the balloons.



Christmas Cookie Day

This year Riley's preschool class sent her home with a gift of a pouch of sugar cookie mix and a star cookie cutter (her class name is the Monstars).  We found a good day to make a glorious mess and went to town.  Normally, I love to make everything from scratch, but I really enjoyed this mix because it was easy enough that with very little help from me the kids could mix it up themselves. I supervised the cutting and did the baking. Now the fun part, decorating!  There was a sprinkle explosion.  
     This difference between this year and the last with Riley was amazing. She could do so much more on her own. She did a lot of decorating and licking her fingers, so these are not the kind of cookies that you give away; these are just for fun and learning how to do things.

to be continued...