Mason Joseph

Thank goodness he's finally here! I don't think I would've lasted much longer ; ) !!!
He was born on the 21st at 4:23pm - 8lbs 15oz. - my biggest baby yet!

Pumpkin Patch

This year we decided to try a new place, so we hit up Seigels Cottonwood Farm in Crest Hill. The kids had a BLAST! They got to ride the hayride out to pick a pumpkin, go down the inflatable slides, ride a little train and feed the animals in the petting zoo.

this goat was up on the metal roof! the kids thought this was the funniest thing in the world - Brian lifted Kaylin up to feed him a snack

Brian went to the driving range with my sisters and my bro on his birthday, and brought Kaylin along - since then she had been begging to go again, so he cut down an old club to her size and she LOVES it! you gotta watch out though, if you are anywhere near her, you are in danger of loosing your head!

Isabella has finally made the 3 year old cut - she is going to her very own dance lessons! We found a new place right down the street, so hopefully it turns out to be great. So far, she is loving it!

Her she is all ready to go!

waiting in the "train" to go into the studio
dancing in a circle with her new teacher Ms. Amy

First day of Kindergarten/Preschool

here are the girls super excited about their first day of school!

It was looooong awaited - they had been begging me to start for numerous weeks ever since they saw their books arrive. So far it's going pretty good! The hardest part is timing it right. Matt doesn't do so good at playing on his own in the basement yet (unless he is following the girls around, but they are at the table, so he wants to be there too!), so we have been waiting for him to nap before we begin. Kaylin is learning how to write upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet on handwriting paper and Isabella is learning the alphabet and letter sounds, amongst many other things!

They also just began a storytime hour at the library and have been really enjoying that.

as for myself and Brian, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the latest Engler model. we are finally down to numbers in the teens! WHOOHOO! I am very (veryveryveryvery) ready to be "not pregnant" (what's that?!?)!!!

Soon, very soon : o )

She's on two wheels!

now, she wouldn't be kaylin if she weren't wearing a fancy dress (with gym shoes no less!) while riding on two wheels all the way down the sidewalk for the first time! look at that grin : )

Matt's 1st Haircut!

somehow, I always seems to have these come up in reverse order...

so go down to bottom, and go up!

"does it look good or bad?!?"
"AHHHH! MAKE IT STOP!"

"cool dad! this thing makes a neat sound... wait a minute, are you cutting my HAIR???"

pre-cut yikes! is that a girl or a boy?!?

what on earth have we been doing all spring/summer???

enjoying summer night s'mores
trying to stop and smell the flowers ; )

campfires in the backyard

going to lansing parades with friends!

Hard at work, mopping the floors!
going to many prenatal check-ups and having ice cream treats!

planting seeds in the spring to give as mothers day gifts!

going for walks and collecting "treasures"!

enjoying time with grandma and grandpa (and our cousins! L-R:Cannon,Kevin Jr., Isabella, Matt, Kaylin and Thor)

The first prenatal!

Wasn't I just here, in this very room, a few months ago?!?

The kids were super excited to get to see Ms Gayle (my midwife) again - they LOVE helping her check the baby. Kaylin got to help find the baby's heartbeat and Isabella got to help measure my ever growing belly.

Avianna Marie Black - Amanda's birth went well, but I missed the baby being born by just a few minutes! Glad for Amanda though that she was going fast enough for me to miss it ; )

We made a deal with Isabella that if she worked very hard on telling us when she needed to go to the potty and being obedient to mommy and daddy that she would get to go to the pet store and pick out her very own fishy just like Kaylin got to. She chose this pretty one as the keeper (well... actually she chose a different one at first, but Auntie Heather and I swayed her a little since the first choice was a little nasty looking!).

The two fishies got to get a new home as well! A new bowl that has a divider in the middle, so they can share it. Since betta fish fight, there is a divider in the middle - you can slide out a piece that keeps them from seeing one another and soon as you do, they flare their gills and try to attack each other! It's kind of neat to see! But the whole time they can't see each other, they sit sadly close to the divider like they miss one another terribly. It's a love hate relationship ; )

kids..

I got a cute little kids CD from the library with several christian kids songs. The kids have been playing it constantly! I just noticed today how Kaylin is singing the words "He is the vine and we are the britches, His banner over me is love..." I could hardly control my laughter! She's been singing it all day like that!

While looking through all these old videos we found this little clip of Kaylin in her dance class in Dec. of 2007 and she wanted to post it for all to see! It was a special day where the parents got to sit in the room with the kids. She couldn't skip around the circle once without waving!

Testing 1 2 3

If I actually did this right, this is a video of Kaylin's dance show back in December - next to her with the pigtails is my cousin Marie's daughter Sydney

Matt's 1st foods!

he started out with a bit of whining that he was in the high chair... again! i always stick him in here when i am cleaning up the kitchen, which is pretty much all the time!
WHOA - SCORE! i don't care if i am in the chair now! these bananas are tasty!

chowing down!

wait, i am not sure if i really like this anymore...

Our school for the day - watching the president being sworn in and talking about what a president is!
Kaylin discovered my drawer with things I used to use! Pretty tablecloths and placemats, etc. She was sooooo excited! She decided with Isabella to set up the table all "beautiful" for dinner time.

In the same drawer she had found my napkin rings (why do people think they need to register for these things?!?) which I have never used. Since I didn't really have any cloth napkins she put the napkin rings around all the clean kitchen towels and had them set up all around the kitchen. Look at how proud she was! She did a great job

Misc.

These are some old pictures from last fall - thought I would just stick them in here for fun

Matt going in the bumbo seat for the first time - I love his adoring look at Kaylin! He still looks at her like this!
For a school field trip to go along with Five in a Row's "How to make an apple pie and see the world" we took the kids apple picking. I look terrible (I just had a baby, what can I say?!? at least I am not in PJ's!), but the kids look cute!

our growing little brood

L-R: Kaylin, Cheyenne, Isabella,Gabe,Dillon holding Matt and Moriah

So this is what I've been missing?!?!

we got a new computer!!! YEAH!!!! I cannot believe how easy it is to put pictures up here now! Something that used to take me several hours actually, I just did in about 20 minutes! Amazing!

So now my only excuse to not update is keeping busy with my kids ; )

We had a wonderful holiday season as i hope you all did as well. I included a few of the things that we did this season down below.

One of the best bits of news is that Tim and Angela are getting married! The wedding is set for September and our kids are already talking about how much fun we are going to have going on an adventure to Nebraska to be there!

Brian is doing really well at work - he got a promotion actually! He is all fancy in his very own office bossing people around now (that might be his favorite part!) ; ) So far, he is really enjoying the new resposibilities and all that comes with this position.

Matthew is getting big, but funny enough is super tiny! He is halfway to being able to sit up, he is teething (I think! drool everywhere...!) - although he haven't seen anything peek thru yet, and you have to watch it - you think the child can't move, but if you leave the room and come back he has somehow scooted somewhere new!

Isabella is really into imaginary play these days - she comes up with all sorts of friends and animals and places that she visits all day long and we haven't even left the house! She is learning how to color inside the lines and can now draw little "guys" - faces that is. They are pretty cute too, and every time she draws them, they are upside down! Of course she says " no he's not " - the girl is very rooted in her beliefs ; ) She also loves using scissors - she will sit at the table and snip scraps of paper for hours. She also loves dressing up and dancing like all little girls do!

Kaylin is into writing letters, spelling small words and family members names, and loves coloring. She is doing really well at her phonics and can read short stories! It's amazing to me that she can do this. She is my girly girl and would live in a ball gown with high heels if I let her! Her favorite thing to do these days is blast Taylor Swift from the rooftops all dolled up and dance like no one is watching...

As for me - I am just trying to keep peaceful! Learning to be content with all that we have been blessed with. I struggle daily with looking like I at least tried to take a shower and get dressed! Trying to make the house look like a bomb didn't just go off, and keeping at least a couple cups and plates clean ; ) It is truly amazing at how you can be "'working" in the home literally ALL DAY LONG - never sitting down, and the place looks always as if we have just been robbed...
I guess I just need to learn to live with it!
Especially seeing as there will be one more little person joining us in October ; )

randomness

my mom's birthday lunch at our house (back in Jan.)

the girls helping her blow out her candles

playing princess tea party with the teaset they got from grandpa harms

sledding at erfert park in lansing with their aunties!

gianna,kaylin,heather,isabella and myself

We stopped by my Dad's house on Christmas Day so he could visit with the girls and give them a gift. They got little tiny glass tea sets and they had a little tea party with Grandpa
our first Christmas dinner at home! since we celebrated Christmas with the Engler side the Sunday before, we got to have dinner at our own house for the very first time ever!!!
it was so nice, i made lasagna and cheesy garlic bread... sounds good right now actually!
it was super nice to be able to spend the whole morning and afternoon at home without having to rush the entire day.


the girls giving daddy the mousepads for his laptop they bought at IKEA

santa also brought all us girls the new Taylor Swift CD! we have all been wanting it and they spent alot of Christmas morning dancing along to it!

matt with his favorite gift, a football! he LOVES this thing! his whole body goes into sensory overload when he sees it!!!

Isabella asked santa for the wall-e movie - she was so excited to receive it, i couldn't get a picture of her looking at me with it!
Kaylin's request from santa - this bolt book she saw at the store a few days prior. she was so sad to leave it behind in the store, but the look on her face christmas morning when she got it was priceless!

he came!!! he came!!!
she bolted out of bed in the morning ran in our room with a freaked out look screaming "MOMDAD!!!!he came!!! there's a present under our tree in our own room!!!!!" he had left them each an ornament for their little tree they have in their room!

our tree with all the presents from santa

pretty cousins in matching dresses!

Cannon and Isabella

photos

Christmas at my moms (w/my aunts/uncles/cousins)

L-R: Isabella,Gianna,Kaylin,Carli,baby Ella,Cori,Bobby,Royce,Syd,Heather and Matt

Visiting Santa at the mall
Since you can't technically take photos w/santa, this is closest we got to a picture with him!

Making Christmas cookies

Matt enjoying his favorite gift of all... tissue paper!

Sledding at the hill in Lansing

sweet laughterBrian's 30th birthday (unfortunately that means it was my 30th as well!)

Isabella's 1st Haircut!

FLOOD!!!

Here is what the flood looked like in our neck of the woods!


This picture is across the street in my neighbors yard. The kids had a blast running through the water! There were about a million worms that had all floated up to the surface and that's what they are all looking for! L to R: Daisy (my neighbor Kenny's daughter) , Jackson (neighbor Kelli's son), Cheyenne, Miles (Kelli's cousin Rachel/also my good friend, son), Lili (Kelli's daughter), Zac (aka the love of Kaylins life! Kelli's son), and Kaylin.Zac and Kaylin (they are "married" don't ya know!). The girl has taste... he's a sweet sweet boy and cute to boot!

daddy and matt laughing about all that rain!

This is just a short distance from our house in Munster. This is the road that I take to go to Target and much to my surprise when I was on my way there that the entire store was pretty much under water as was the road to get there! this whole area had been evacuated. I had never seen anything like this in person before! It was like how you see on the news where the people row up to their houses in boats - crazy to see in person!

pointing out the disaster

hello 3 kids... goodbye blogging!

trying to catch up again! it's a little busy with all these babies!

In September I signed up Kaylin for ballet school again - my cousins daughter is in the class also, and Amanda decided to send Cheyenne - The girls love it!

First day of school!
The second week in September we started preschool using Five In a Row. They are having a great time doing school (their favorite part is finding the countries and putting their story disks on the map, as you can see - ping is in the backround hanging out in China!). Kaylin is doing really well with phonics and has already started reading short stories! She's a bit proud of herself too ; )

Isabella "playing" with Matt - she lays all the little people on the boppy next to him "cause he likes 'em"!

One of the several races Brian participated in while the weather was still nice!
The Human Race in Chicago

Shortly after Matt was born Amanda had come over for a visit. The girls wanted to help me out by doing to dishes - they were soooo cute in their little aprons cleaning up!

Matthew John

Alright, so I know I put up pictures without any words to go with them, but at least I put up something! Hey, I have 3 kids now - so that's my excuse!!!

Can you believe we actually made a B O Y! We didn't think we could do it, but it happened! Matthew John, born August 3rd, 7:32pm, 8lbs. He was born at West Suburban birthing center in Oak Park. My biggest fear was that I wouldn't make it to the place in time. It takes approx. an hour to get there from our house. My worry was that I would have to wait for Brian to come home to get me first (so that would be 2 hrs. min.), but it couldn't have worked out any better. We were actually at Brian's Grandma's surprise 75th b-day party (started at 3:00pm). I was having contractions (not too terribly different than I had been having the whole week) and feeling very uncomfortable (just being outside, trying to chat w/everyone), so finally around 5:15 or so I told Brian I really wanted to go home. We stopped to get gas on the way home and started timing the contractions just to see if they were a certain time frame apart or not. They were almost exactly 5 minutes apart. So I said, you know, maybe we should just drive up there just in case, since it's so far. Worst case we just took a nice long sunday drive. When we got there they were getting a bit stronger, so I said, alright - I better go in and get checked, just in case. Good thing I did, cause I was already at 7! I got into the tub and about 15 minutes later he was born into the water!

(this is my midwife)