March Madness

We had such a fun March - filled with family..... friends.....and getting to know the new "normal" for our family of 5!!!

We've slowly fallen into a routine and the kids are all doing great coming off of a 2 week "vacation" of having Mormor here. We ran around like crazy, ate lunch out, shopped, explored and just had a blast! What a blessing it was to all of us to have her and my dad here to love us, serve us and play with us.

Mormor and her girls!!

Our good friends, the DeKorne's, came back for a quick visit - it was so wonderful to see them and have a fun lunch with our girlfriends....(and all of our crazy kiddos!!)

Our best effort at a picture of the 6 of us -

plus 3 of our 13 kids who wanted to also make the picture☺

Paige reunited with Ava - a true highlight of her month!!!

Meredith also hosted another fabulous get together and her wonderful mom did her make up magic on us. What a fun night out and what a treat to get pampered!

My mom, channelling her inner "Annette Benning" (she looks like her, RIGHT?!?) after our makeovers

Love my cousin - she's such a sweet, thoughtful, giving and caring friend.

I am blessed!!

As for Ben, he really did watch a lot of March Madness this past month (and beat me in our annual bracket competition) Good job, honey....

That sure went fast!

Well, Annie is officially one month old today. This past month has FLOWN by and Annie has brought such joy to our family. She went to the doctor last week and I'm proud to say, she's already gained almost 2 pounds (chunky monkey!!!). She now weighs 9 pounds, 4 ounces ... so clearly eating is going great for her! She is eating every 3 hours - even at night. I would LOVE a few extra hours of sleep but know her longer stretches will get there eventually. For now, I'm savoring those extra moments of time with just my baby and me. I know how fast they go!!!

She is a very content little girl and her siblings just adore her. I love hearing Paige use baby talk with her. Her voice gets higher and she uses words like "sweetie" and "honey". Too cute for words. Will loves to address Annie using her full name, with an emphasis on the JOY. It sounds like, "Annie JOOOOOOOOOOY!" Keeping up the tradition, here is Annie's 1 month picture. I did this for the other two kids - it's so fun to look back at how they change throughout a year.

We love you, Miss Annie Joy!

Precious

The other night, Ben was praying with Paige before bed and was having her "fill in the blanks" as he prayed. I overheard the prayer and it went a little something like this:

Ben: "Thank you that Mommy....."

Paige: "....is smart!" (I'll take that - I just love my 3 year old and that she still thinks her mom is smart:) I'll show her this when she's 13!!!!)

Ben: "Thank you that Daddy....."

Paige: "....is tall!" (stating the obvious on that one!)

Ben: "Thank you that Annie....."

Paige: "....is PRECIOUS!" (melt my heart already!)

Annie really is a precious addition to our family. It's been so wonderful to have Mormor here for the past 2 weeks and Grandpa joining us on the weekends. We've made so many fun memories and have had an absolute blast. Here are some pictures from our week.

Documenting Annie's first "hairbow" experience

Sunday brunch with the Ten Haves

Sisters!!

Paige and Will having fun with Grandpa Ron

Hola!

Since Annie came two weeks early, I was able to make it to the Mother's Tea at Paige's preschool. I was so disappointed when I thought I would have to miss it and am SO so glad that I was able to be there for Paige. She just lit up showing me her classroom - the theme was "Mexico" so the kids all wore sombreros, sang some Spanish songs, and shared a little Mexican-themed meal with their moms. I'm so thankful for a wonderful preschool for Paige and will treasure our date together at the Mother's Tea!

I thought this was so sweet....Paige's friend, Lindsey, was crying during their performance so Paige put her arm on her and was trying to make her feel better.

Paige and her sombrero

Our week with Annie went equally as great. She is such a great baby - very calm, sweet, and is sleeping great:) Her and I are waking up only twice a night so it is now manageable!! The highlight of this week was introducing Annie to her Mormor, Grandpa and Aunt Erika. We also got to spend Saturday with our dear friends, Marc and Kendra. We loved being able to spend time with all of them and are loving having Mormor here for 2 weeks!!!

Grandpa Ron and Mormor with their THREE grandchildren!!!!

Annie, sporting her "I love my Aunt" onesie from Aunt Erika

Kendra and Marc loving on Annie - we can't wait for their little girl to arrive in about 2 months!!