Lauren loves bathtime!

The other night at supper Drew decided he was still hungry, so he stood up and starting taking food off Lauren's tray. She just smiled.:)

Reagan helping Grandma Renee make chicken fingers.

Lunch time!! They love it...Mommy dreads it!

Daddy & Drew

Big brother hangin' with his little sis.

Silly kids

The kids have been doing funny things lately....we are humored at least. When I was feeding Drew his food the other day I had the spoon in front of him and was turned around talking to Ryan. He obviously thought I was taking too much time and was ignoring him so he decided to take matters into his own hands. He grabbed the spoon and put it into his mouth by himself. It was quite funny to see.
Luke went to his 5 year check-up on Monday. Ryan took him and so I was asking Luke about it later that evening.
Me: Did you see Dr. Williams?

Luke: No I didn't see Dr. Williams. A lady came in...and then a man.

Me: That man was probably Dr. Williams

Luke: Does Dr. Williams look like Uncle Howard?

Me: I don't know...did he look like Uncle Howard?

Luke: No:)
He also told me that Dr. Williams told him he was growing up good. I hope he learns some proper grammar in Kindergarten!

And today on the way home from school Reagan saw a Blue Bunny ice cream truck and commented on it. A minute later a truck with a picture of a lady laying on a mattress came by. She said to me..."That truck is for carrying mommy's!".

Drew & Lauren also had their 9 month check-ups on Tuesday. They are both doing well also. They are the same length, but Drew continues to weight 2 lbs. more than Lauren. He was impressed by how much they eat and their skills. We moved them up to "big" car seats last weekend. I thought they would enjoy sitting up more and I was tired of hauling two car seats around.

Things continue to go well around here. We spent last weekend in Orange City, which the kids always love. We visited friends and family and the kids got to go swimming at the Sioux Center pool.
I have some new pics and videos, but I have a few things to do before my haircut and highlight tonight (woo hoo...a mini vacation for me!!), so I'll post those soon.

Busy!

Drew & Mommy

Reagan insists on posing strangly for pictures lately....hence the lack of pictures of her on this post!

Lunch time!

Lucas loves to play on the computer.

Drew & Dexter longing to be set free.:)

One muddy backyard...but a lot of fun for the kids!

Luke helping me make cookies.

Drewie

Mr. funny face

Our pretty little lady and her dolly

Things just seem to be getting busier and busier around here. Drew is on the go now, which adds to my workload considerably! He is crawling all over and pulling himself up by things. He loves to climb on the fireplace hearth and crawl back and forth. He also loves Dexter's dog bowls. We've had puddles of water on the floor more than once! It makes it much harder for me to get things done upstairs. I used to have a difficult time getting their clothes put away and now it's even tougher. I usually just stick them in their cribs while I do it so that I can keep an eye on them. Lauren is finally sitting up by herself, which makes us very proud!:) We worked with her a lot, but she just needed to do it in her own time. She is the ultimate roller also. She can make it from one side of the room to the other in no time. When I go to get her out of the playroom, it always takes me a minute to find her. She always seems to find a good hiding place from me. They continue to be happy babies. We have their 9 month checkups next week, so I'm anxious to see how they're growing.
Luke is continuing with pre-school. Tomorrow I get to go help out in his classroom, which will be fun! It will be nice to see him in a different environment. We had his Kindergarten round-up two weeks ago and Ryan and I had our parent interview at Des Moines Christian, so now we're just waiting to hear if we got in. I'm not really too worried. This past year they had a waiting list for Kindergarten, but the principal made it sound like we should be okay. He's excited to go, but it's already hard for me to believe that he'll be going to school all day five times a week. I just try not to think about it yet!:) We just got his roster for tee-ball too. He'll be playing on the Yankees this spring. The season goes from April to June, so soon we'll be squeezing in practices and games.
Reagan's getting excited to attend pre-school next fall also. She wishes it was today because September is a long way off! We decided to send her to Des Moines Christian also. We really like our church pre-school, but with scheduling it just makes more sense. Luke didn't go to 3 year old pre-school, but it will definitely be good for both her and me. She is already itching to pick out a backpack.
Lucas has to bring snacks for school tomorrow and he picked chocolate chip cookies, so I better get on that! Plus...I'm pretty sure there is play-doh all over the kitchen.:)

Happy Birthday, Oma Elli

Happy 79th Birthday!

Finally finished

Our basement is finally completed after we had a pipe burst. Here's a few pictures from when they were fixing it up. We don't have any pictures of the new carpet, but it looks nice. I was hesitant at first, but it's grown on me.:) The kids are so excited to be able to play down there again and I love having a place to send them when they start getting wild. It's also nice to be able to walk down the stairs again and not have to worry about stepping on a nail!

Ahoy, Mateys!

Luke celebrated his golden birthday this year on the 5th of February. We went to Famous Dave's on his actual birthday. Grandpa & Grandma Van Mersbergen joined us and Luke was super excited about the HUGE hot fudge sundae he got for dessert. The next weekend we celebrated with family. Luke chose a pirate theme for his party, which was fitting for his golden birthday. We played pin the flag on the treasure map and the kids went for a treasure hunt. Luke helped me decorate the treasure chest and he like it so much it's still up in his room!