April part 2 - 15 months

To finish off our month of April... Craig wasn't up to having our friends over last Friday due to his stomach bug thing. But, by the next day, he felt better so we had Craig's sister, Lisa over and her family. I don't think we've ever had them over as a family - hanging out and having dinner together as two couples. We cooked out and all 7 of the kids played and had a great time. Lisa's two older kids loved playing with Lacy (our dog) but the two younger kids warmed up to her eventually. Craig and Byron (Lisa's husband) took B & L's oldest son, Austin for a ride in Craig's hot rod and they had a great time. We had a delicious meal and really enjoyed ourselves.

The next day we were able to go to Craig's parent's church for baby day. This was the first time we've been to their church since we had the babies so that was fun to let all of their friends see the kiddos. We got their picture made and some of it was successful and some of it was not. The babies did fine in the nursery and I got a break! Yeah!! We finished off the service with a baby parade - the parents take all the kids across the stage and announce their kids names and ages. Then, all 18 of us went to Spring Creek Barbecue and had lunch - it was a lot of fun.

I had a couple of play dates scheduled this week but had to cancel them due to the rain and sick kids (not mine but my friends). Hopefully one of these days I can make it to my playgroup with my church.

This weekend we had one of my very good friends from high school over for dinner - Kelli, Jesse and their son Andy. I am so glad they moved back to Texas. We've gotten together a couple of times now since they moved back a year ago and I truly cherish her friendship. We didn't always keep in touch real often while she lived out of state for many years but we have kept in better touch now that they are back and living so close. Kelli and I have been friends since the 4th grade so we've been friends now for probably 23 years and I think that is just awesome! She is my oldest friend by far!

We are becoming quite the little entertainers these days - as we are having more friends over tonight. Some of Craig's friends this time. Well... they are my friends too but you know what I mean... We are looking forward to having them over and having another BBQ if it doesn't rain. Things have been so tough around here with Craig not being able to help much with the kids and it is hard to manage 3 babies out and about so we've been really living it up by having people over. We've never been big entertainers but we've enjoyed the entertaining we've recently been doing.

We already have several exciting things planned for May - play dates, adult socials, birthday parties, mother's day celebrations, church socials, school finals, book club outings, college graduation parties among other exciting things! Stay tuned... :)

Hannah is still our little "Riblet" - she is so tiny, it isn't even funny. She loves loves loves her fingers. This girl used to only suck her fingers when she slept or if she was upset but now she is beginning to suck her fingers a lot more frequently. Guess we'll have to cut those two fingers off! ;) She kind of slowed in the walking department but still walks some - I'd say probably 30% of the time. Hannah has 6 teeth now (4 on top and 2 on bottom) and her hair is growing like a weed. Yay! She took a break in the biting department and has recently picked the bad habit back up! Ugh! Hannah is loving stuffed animals now! Hannah's new best friend is her daddy - she loves to sit in his lap. With Craig being around so much more, any time he is in his chair, she wants to sit in his lap. She is melting her daddy's heart that's for sure. Hannah still wants to chew on everything - I figured she would be past this stage by now but not so much. Hannah is not really talking much - still just mostly baby babble.

These are pictures from the mall when we went a couple of weeks back. This girl will not sit up in her seat.

This was at home - having lasagna for dinner. Notice how the orange brings out the blue in her eyes??? Ha!We didn't even attempt to wash hands and face with a wash cloth this night - they all went straight to a bath.
This was a casual day around the house. Mommy was being silly dressing the girls.
Whitney is definitely filling out and getting a few little "baby fat roles" and "baby love handles". It is so cute! She has two new teeth - she now has 8 (4 on top and 4 on bottom). Whitney is learning how to use a regular sippy cup rather than the straw sippies. And I will be so glad when she gives them up all together - those things leak so bad (every kind I have). Whitney is developing a little stranger/separation anxiety again. Whitney's primary mode of transportation these days is walking on her knees. She still will not pull up or walk but at least she is moving past the crawling stage. She knows how to climb up on her push toy/riding car and is very close to being able to move herself while sitting on it. Isn't it strange that Whitney is the only one that can do this and she is also the only one that doesn't walk??? Oh and Tyler likes to push Whitney while she rides on the car. It is so cute. She is really starting to like dolls and stuffed animals. Whitney is not really talking much but she babbles in baby jargon a lot more than she used to.

Again at the mall...
The lasagna...


Being silly around the house...
Whitney is growing a mustache and beard. J/K - They had blueberries for breakfast.

Tyler is staying about the same weight-wise. He is still a nice little chunk! He has 8 teeth now too (4 on top and 4 on bottom). Tyler is going through stranger/separation anxiety the worst right now but he gets over it pretty quickly. Tyler slowed in the hitting department but has now picked up a new fun habit... whining, crying and squealing (at pitches so high only dogs can hear :)) almost all the time. It's making for some fun and loud times around our house! Ha! Tyler's primary mode of transportation is walking! That's right - he is walking probably 80% of the time or more. He is really good and rarely has bad falls. He can also walk really fast. He tries to put his shoes and socks on and it is so funny to watch! He is starting to associate shoes with going bye-bye. He brought me his shoes yesterday and wanted me to put him on him - I guess he wanted to go bye-bye! Tyler talks the most although, he doesn't say much either. He says mama and dada a lot more frequently than the girls and has occasionally said a few other words like buckle, yummy, tree, and dog.

The mall... getting ready to go.

He and Hannah wanted to see how messy they could get! Fun times!Casual days around the house...

Ready for bed with his paci and tiger!
All three are into the toddler tantrums - some more than others (Tyler & Hannah mostly). We tried switching to one nap a day a few weeks back but I could tell they just weren't ready. So, we'll try it again in another month probably and if they are closer to being ready, I'll push them to get them transitioned. I'm ready for the one nap so I can have more time to get out and do stuff in the morning (errands or play dates) and have a longer period to do chores etc. during a longer nap.