sweet baby

Tess had her four month appointment this week. She is 15 pounds, 13 1/2 ounces and 25 3/4 inches!

grandma time

Happy kids, happy Grandma......because she is soon to be rescued by Grandpa.

My parents are here for a few days....more pictures to come later. The girls are thrilled to have some grandma and grandpa time. They shower them with attention, and my mom brings them handmade dresses. We're all pretty happy over here this morning!

Tess is 4 months!

Four months old! She's changing so much, everyday. Sometimes it's hard to keep up. Bigger smiles, longer chats, sleeping in her own crib, rolling over....adored by everyone!

kiddo

We had a long, wet, rainy Wisconsin weekend. Lots of time to relax and lots of time wondering how to entertain four restless little kids. Yesterday afternoon Dan and I baked zucchini bread with Kate and Erin. Kudos to those of you who can say that you love baking with your children, because I always end up in a corner doing some sort of deep breathing exercise to get me through it! We also played on the computer a lot (alas, the photos), sent a lot of goofy videos to our family....and survived. It's Monday morning, and I am so happy to see the sun.

middle ground

Middle ground.....middle child.....Annie girl. Yesterday, she came into the kitchen with an "uh-oh, Mama" and my glasses in two pieces. This morning she threw a 20 minute temper tantrum because her warm. chocolate. milk. was in the wrong sippy cup. (a plain pink one, not the elephant one....I soon realized when I deciphered through the screaming and tears that she kept saying "e-phan!" over and over) She tap dances in the kitchen and rides the big girl scooters. Unassisted.

Every day, she has lots of highs and lots of lows and very little in between.

I have to say.....for the middle girl, Annie is holding her place in this family pretty comfortably.

the best

When Missy left yesterday, Kate said "Mama.....Missy is the best."

Yep, kiddo....she sure is.

new views

Tess is upright and enjoying the views!

mini-me

Kate loves helping out with Tess, and Tess adores Kate. She's actually pretty helpful with keeping her entertained when I am busy. Imagine my surprise the other night when I was in the kitchen making dinner and Kate walked in with Tess in her arms! (I didn't take the time to get a picture!)

zoo

Today was Tess's first trip to our beloved zoo.....and our first trip of the year! It was a cold and blustery morning, but we rode the merry-go-round, played on the playground, rode the train, and even managed to see a few elephants and hippos and other friends along the way!

baby mine

This sweet baby girl, who used to get up once a night to eat, is now getting up three times a night to eat.....yawn. This morning, Dan made the delicate suggestion that perhaps she'd sleep better in her crib, and I should put her back there after feeding her. I know he's right, and she's probably ready for that, too.....but am I?!

blurry and noisy

The pictures are, that is.....which is perfect.

Because at the end of the day, those kids sure are noisy.

And I sure am blurry.