Easter Sunday

 Happy Easter! Today we celebrated our Risen Lord!

We tried to take a family photo at church. It's not the best photo, but considering Kyle bumped his head and Karis just found out we were too late for the much anticipated egg hunt, it's not that bad...

Easter Eggs

There were so many Easter egg hunts, both big and small, in our area last weekend. We had planned to take the kids to one but it was rained out. Instead, I sent the girls upstairs and hid some eggs in the family room. I think the girls had just as much fun. Makena actually collected about as many eggs as Karis for the first time. 

      

Kyle happily played with all the empty eggs. He didn't even miss the stickers and candy!

  

Happy Birthday Makena!

Our little girl is 3! We had a low-key family celebration planned for her. Karis was more excited about this day than Makena. Karis kept asking me questions about the day and wanted to know and see everything. She even put a dress on first thing in the morning for the celebration. Makena didn't have any expectations, stayed in her pajamas for most of the morning and just enjoyed the day.

 We started the morning off with chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

After breakfast, the girls did a couple of crafts.

I think Makena ate just as much cereal as she glued onto her paper. 

Later in the morning, Makena opened up her gifts and then spent the rest of the morning playing with them and talking to family on the phone.

We ate an early lunch because Karis couldn't wait for the cake and goodie bags. We then sang to the birthday girl and ate cake.

I loved that Makena felt special by getting the owl cake she asked for. 

  

Our party was officially over after the cake and goodie bags. A nice surprise was that we found out her friends were down the street at the park right before dinner, so Derek took the girls over there. It was a nice ending to her birthday.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!  We love you!

10 Months Old

Our little guy is 10 months old today! 

He's such a fun little boy who loves to smile, laugh and move. He laughs when others laugh; he laughs when you startle him; he laughs when you tickle him. 

He loves to crawl up the stairs and often gets upstairs before I notice he's missing. Thankfully, one of his sisters follows him up and watches him until I can get up there. 

He's pretty stable on his feet. He loves walking with the walker. He has stood up on his own a few times, but only when he doesn't realize no one is holding onto him. 

He loves to move to music ... and off-key singing by his mama!

He loves to eat finger food and would much rather feed himself than be spoon-fed. He thinks that he has to kill his food before he eats it. He slaps his hand down all over his tray before he starts to pick up what's left of his food. 

This past week he finally went down to one feeding per night. Yay! He slept through the entire night once, so hopefully we're close to doing that regularly. I'm loving the extra sleep and definitely notice extra energy and patience throughout the day. Since he's been waking up only once, he's been harder to put down for the night. I'm not sure why, but he doesn't fall asleep after I nurse him and he refuses to sleep when I put him in his crib. He's definitely making me work for that extra sleep!

He has become a Daddy's boy, wanting to be held by him whenever he's in his sight.

And lastly, he's finally cutting his first tooth and getting some crazy curly hair.

Some Random Thoughts...

This may be a Derek-like post. Just a few thoughts and no pictures. =)  I'm enjoying a quiet morning today. I fought the pressure I put on myself to get the kids out to do something and decided we would spend the day at home. The girls are both tired (perhaps still adjusting back to our time zone along with daylight savings). Karis also may be getting sick -- all three kids were sick-free for about a week but sadly that short, long-awaited streak may be coming to an end. 

I've been spending the morning organizing and finding places for things that have yet to find their spot since they were unpacked months ago. I'm still trying to make our home the way I would like it to be. I'm still looking for things that are packed away somewhere, but at the same time slowly losing hope that they'll be found until we move and unpack again.  

It's been about a week since we returned from California. Our clothes are clean and put away. The refrigerator and freezer have been re-stocked. Karis returned to preschool and we enjoyed going to our church last Sunday. All that to say, life has resumed for us here in Texas. 

We've been here now for about 3 1/2 months. Each week I meet more and more people at church to where I now feel like I recognize a good number of people on Sundays. Derek and I are a part of a small group where, for the first time in over four years, we are not hosting at our home. We bring our kids and help pay for teenage babysitters at the house. I joined a women's small group in the morning where I have met some great ladies. I'm looking forward to meeting more people and getting to know a few people better. I'm so ready for the weather to warm up so we can spend more time outside and be done with this cold season. 

Needless to say, Derek is enjoying life back to normal with us all together at home. He's been busy at work preparing for all the Easter festivities our church has planned. It's a great time of year as we celebrate our risen Lord! 

This week, Kyle turns 10 months old and Makena turns 3! There will definitely be a couple more posts later this week.

Our First Trip Back to California

In early January, one of the airlines was having a great sale. Tickets were almost half price. It was the last day of the sale and Derek didn't know his work schedule and whether he would be able to take time off. Too good to pass up, I purchased the tickets with hopes that Derek would be able to join us for some part of the trip. Because the sale required that we only fly on certain days, the trip was for 14 days... and Derek ended up not being able to join us.  =(

My kids and Julie's kids were so excited. They were all counting down the days. It was a long 41 days!

Thankfully, we learned about an escort pass that would allow Derek to come with me through the airport and to the gate. I wasn't too worried about the girls on the plane. I knew a new coloring book, some stickers and my iPhone (along with the excitement of seeing their cousins) would keep them busy for the 4 1/2 hour flight. I was most worried about how Kyle would do. He loves to stand and cruise and needs constant entertainment. But he ended up sleeping for half the flight and doing great the rest of the time! 

When we got off the plane, Marzano was at the door ready to help me. Yay! It was nice to have an extra set of hands with the stroller, car seat, carry-ons and kids. Julie and Jessi were waiting for us at baggage claim with balloons. So fun!

We spent the next 14 days just being a part of the Lee family. Each day, we ate breakfast with them, saw them off to school and welcomed them when they came home. The girls joined in on their cousins' bedtime routine, brushing their teeth alongside them and listening to a Bible story. It was one big, 2-week slumber party!

The kids and I went down to Irvine a few times to visit some friends. It was good to see and catch up with them. But the majority of the time, we spent with the family. The girls loved spending the afternoons playing with Jacob and Jessi. They also loved playing with new toys and in their backyard.

  

We spent a lot of time outside in the warm sun. Jacob, Kyle and I took a walk to the grocery store one Sunday afternoon. I got Diet Coke, Kyle got some celery and Jacob got some Nilla wafers. It was fun to have alone time with Jacob and talk to him all about school, his friends and what his favorite car is.

We also went to the park a couple times and had a picnic.

On our last Saturday, we all went to an outdoor mall to play in the water fountain, eat frozen yogurt, visit the bookstore and go on a train ride.

  

We went to Julie's church on both Sundays. The girls love having Julie for the teacher and Jacob and Jessi as the teacher helpers. Here they are praying before their snacks.

Julie loved on the kids like she always does, she fed them, and helped take care of them. We hate living so far away from her and her family.

Fourteen days was a long time to be away from Derek. We missed him terribly and he didn't enjoy coming home and sleeping in an empty house. With as loud and busy as our home typically is, it was quite an adjustment for him. We talked and/or Facetime'd him every day. Karis was especially having a hard time, not knowing how to deal with her emotions. At times she didn't want to talk with Daddy because it made it worse. We were sad to leave California, but so happy to see Daddy. 

Derek met us at the gate. The entire terminal could hear the squeals of "Daddy! Daddy!" from the girls. 

The plane ride back was definitely more challenging. The kids were exhausted. Kyle fought taking a nap, slept for only an hour and threw down everything I gave him to try to keep him entertained. The girls were whiney and cried over everything. Thankfully the flight was only four hours on the return and just when I thought I couldn't do it anymore, we started our descent. As we were deplaning, a lady across the aisle complimented me on how great my kids were. I rolled my eyes and thanked her...

When I Grow Up...

I want to be a tooth fairy!

- Karis

Nana in Texas!

The kids and I just came back from a two week trip to California (more on that later), so time to catch up on the blog!

Grandma came to see our new home at the beginning of February. She stayed with us for ten days and was able to see Karis' preschool, Derek's office, our church and the town in which we live in.

The girls loved playing with grandma every chance they got, especially their Hello Kitty game.  Grandma loved feeding Kyle and playing with him too. He soon became attached to her, following her wherever she went. He loved to be held by her.

As usual, Grandma watched the kids for us so that Derek and I could go out alone. We went out to eat a couple times, used our massage gift cards and ran errands. 

Hopefully Nana will be able to come back again soon!