Thank Goodness for Washable Markers!

Spring Sports

Now that spring is almost here, sports season has begun. This year, Tyler decided that he wanted to play soccer, and Michael wanted to play t-ball. They both play at 9:30 am on Saturdays at two different locations. Looks like it will be divide and conquer for Ruben and I!

Tyler was a little nervous at his first practice and game. He finally went out on the field holding his coach's hand. I think some of the more aggressive kids intimidated him. He said he had fun though, and wants to play again.

Michael is very excited about t-ball. He is our sports lover and I wouldn't be surprised if he tries every sport before he settles on one. (or two)

It was lots of fun watching the little ones try to figure out the game. At one point during the first practice, the coach had all the kids standing at 1st base, and told them to run to 2nd. Half the kids ran to 2nd, while the other half ran into the outfield......most of the kids just following whoever was closest! Very entertaining for us parents.

Here's Tyler (in the orange jacket) during his first game
Kicking the ball
Michael posing with his Raptors hat and t-shirt
Hamming it up!

Lining up with the other kids. (Michael is the one in the center)

Running the bases

Yep, that's Michael...........playing in the dirt while the coach gives instructions!

Baptism and Birthday Party

This is a big weekend, as we are not only celebrating Lily's birthday (again!), but she is also being baptized. For the two big events, Grandma and Grandpa came for the weekend and my cousin Nancy and her two children drove down from Illinois. My cousin Nancy has always been like a sister to me. We don't get to see each other very often so I was very excited when she agreed to be Lily's Godmother, and wanted to make the long drive down.

The cousins had so much fun together! Caitlyn loved being the oldest and being "in charge", and Logan just loved running with the boys.

Lily was very excited to have her first real birthday party. Here she is with her Tinkerbell birthday cake. She picked out the cake and talked about it for weeks.
She loved her balloons.


Getting a lot of help from brothers and cousins!


A lady must be very neat with her cake!
The kids had tons of fun with their cousins Caitlyn and Logan
Tyler hanging with Grandma.
All the kids piled together for prayers and a bible story before bed each night.
Notice the winter pj's? I had been telling my cousin about the beautiful weather we had been having........well.........until that weekend! It was cold and dreary, but the kids didn't seem to care.

On Sunday, Lily was baptized at our church. Our church baptizes babies and children into the church family. We in turn promise to guide them and teach them the Christian faith until they're old enough to except Christ's salvation for themselves.

Our beautiful girl in her baptismal dress.


Lily with her Godmother, Aunt Nancy, and her cousins.




At church with our pastor who has now baptized all 4 of our children.

It was sad to say goodbye to all of our guests on Monday. The cousins got along so well, that we have already made plans to get together again this summer!

New Teeth

We got the call on Lily's birthday that her new appliances were in and they could see that day! Not the best timing, but it was the last day her dentist would be in for the week. Of course, a trip to the dentist is never fun for our Lily. She had been talking about her new teeth for weeks, but when she heard where we were going, she told me "I don't want new teeth". She was fine when the dentist was just checking the fit of the appliances, but permanently installing them was no fun. They appliances are shoved in hard, and then held in place while the glue tries. It's fairly quick, but still traumatic and uncomfortable. (the boys were with us for this appointment and did such a great job sitting patiently and playing quietly!)

All the way home, I could hear Lily tapping her teeth together. I knew it would take her awhile to get used to them. Unfortunately, pizza was not the easiest food for her to eat for her birthday dinner, but she had no trouble with the ice cream!

I took her a while to get used to smiling naturally. She didn't know quite how to hold her mouth.

Here she is almost a week later. Notice the much more natural smile?

Within a week, she seemed to really adjust to having the new teeth. It did, however, take a little longer for the soreness to go away when brushing. She now loves to talk about her teeth and smile at herself in the mirror!

Happy Birthday Precious Girl

Our little girl turned 4 today and celebrated her first birthday with her family!! We've been talking about her big day for some time, so she knew that her birthday was March 2nd, and she was very excited to hear that there would be presents.

Every year we take a picture of the kids with the same stuffed animal, so we can watch them grow.
Lily took cookies to school to share with her classmates. They sang to her and she got to wear a special birthday hat.

For dinner, our little American chose pizza and chocolate!! That's my girl!

Here she is blowing out the candles on her ice cream cake. She chose a Tinkerbell cake for her party on Saturday.

She had a lot of help opening presents from 3 very excited brothers.
She loves her princess piano, although she had to fight her brothers for a turn!
Notice who's actually feeding the baby doll in the high chair?? Lily is using her new camera to take a picture.

Showing daddy her new camera

What a joy it is to celebrate our daughter's birthday with her! To watch her excitement and see her smile is just priceless. We know this coming year will continue to bring a lot of growth and changes as she continues to blossom as our daughter and sister!

We love you precious girl!