Tootles

Caleb has come up with a nickname for Karis. He wants to call her Tootles. He's also been calling her his Cutie Baby, but thinks Tootles is a better nickname. He's such a good big brother.

Karis is starting to smile at us a little now. She smiled a lot just randomly, but we can tell they are real now!! Early morning is when we get the most--she must be happy from all her sleep! Can't wait to catch one of those smiles with the camera.

Thanks for the meals

Thanks to all who brought us meals. It's been so helpful to not have to get dinner ready for a little while. They were all so very yummy - You know they taste good when Caleb says, "Mom, did she get this at the Olive Garden?" The kids also enjoyed one meal that came with baggies of their own brownie muffins just for them!

Thanks again everyone!!

Another new baby!

Scott & Rebekah announced last night that they are going to have baby #2!! We're excited to have another cousin arriving soon. Great Grandma H. thought she was done making baby quilts for a while. I guess you can have a small break, Grandma - baby is coming in November!! (Gma H has made all the grandchildren quilts in the past and now she makes a baby quilt for every great grandchild!)

Bird Meeting

Have you ever looked up at the telephone wires and seen a ton of birds flocked together? Well, my kids call this a bird meeting. Every time they notice a big flock sitting together they yell, "BIRD MEETING!" The other day we were in the car waiting as Joel went into a store to get something quick when Caleb made an observation. He said, "Look there's just one bird sitting on that wire over there........ He must be early for the meeting."

Circus Wagon

Joanna wanted to share her quick story she wrote today. It was based on a picture in her book.

Anatomy Floor Puzzle

Here are the kids putting together a big floor puzzle they got from Grandma. It's a double-sided puzzle so it took a little bit to figure out which side they wanted to put together.

Prince Caspian

The kids are excited that Prince Caspian is coming out in theaters this year. Because of this, Joel is reading the book to them before they watch the movie. Eliana may or may not be understanding much of the story. As for Karis, well, you can see the effect the story has on her.

Sprinkler fun

We turned on the sprinklers the other night and the kids jumped in almost immediately. They didn't seem to mind the cold water!

Karis has a belly button

Everyone's excited around here this morning. Karis' umbilical cord fell off. The other 3 were singing, "Karis has a belly button, Karis has a belly button." They thought it was sooooo cool.

My neglected plants

Can you tell I haven't wanted or been able to climb up and take care of my plants?

Are they and the others beyond help now? Maybe I'll get to them this week??

2 weeks old

Karis is already 2 weeks old. She's only been waking up once a night which is really nice!! She's also getting lots of love and attention. Her cheeks are so kissable. As Caleb was emptying all the trash cans, he had to come back and give Karis a kiss between each room.

Cash-Strapped Parents!

This week Joel asked the kids if they would pick the dandelions in the yard for 5 cents each. Of course, the kids jumped right on that one and were picking like crazy. Caleb at one point ran through the house to get to the back yard and he was so excited--He yelled "I love our yard!" Well, Joel & the kids started counting the dandelions. Joel underestimated how many dandelions are really in our small yard. Are you wondering yet how much? $32 worth of dandelions. Joel has now adjusted the price to 1 cent per dandelion

She likes her fingers!

Karis really likes her fingers and seems to find them often. Once she gets some more coordination, I think she'll be sucking on them more.

A letter for Grandma

When Grandma got here, she found the following note from Joanna on her bed. Pretty cute huh??

Of course, Grandma has already gotten to these requests!

Grandma's here!

Grandma F. finally made it. She got stuck trying to get here because of some troubles with American Airlines. She finally got close enough where Scott could go drive and get her. The kids are having a blast. Patty is also here for the weekend with Baby Katie so there are lots of little babies.

Karis' first couple of days

Click on the picture of Karis to see more pictures!!

(Then click on slideshow)

Our New Arrival

Our new baby girl is here! Her name is Karis Grace. It's pronounced like Paris with a K. She arrived on April 4th at 4:11pm weighing 9 lb. 1 oz. and 19"long. We're all doing great. The kids came to see her yesterday. It's fun to see their reactions. Eliana came right in and put her hands on Karis' tummy. It was so cute. She wanted to know where the pacifier was because she was ready to mother the baby. They also brought gifts. Uncle Scott took them to the store and let them each pick something out. Caleb, in true gentleman fashion, brought me a dozen pink roses. Joanna bought dad a laser pointer - which actually will be quite useful at work, and Eliana picked out a set of princess games for the baby - and for her of course!!

Caleb made an interesting observation when he was holding Karis. He said, "Mom, I didn't know that the baby would look like that when it came out of your tummy." He then looked over at me and my stomach and said "I think maybe there's another baby in there."

Thanks to all for your prayers and to those who have watched the other kids. Here's a couple pictures. We'll add more when we get home and have a faster connection.

Sheep's brain

Joanna reminded me that I forgot to write a post about them looking at a sheep's brain this week. They talked about the different lobes of the brain and the brain stem. They got to look at a whole sheep's brain and then one cut in half. They said that it felt like rough, squishy skin.

One very important lesson that was reinforced was for them to wear their helmets. Caleb says, "it's to prevent head damage bleeding."

Happy Birthday Caleb!!

Caleb is 6!! We had a small party for him last night. One of his friends joined us, as did Scott and Rebekah as well as Nannie. Caleb got very excited about his gifts. Uncle Scott remarked that it's easy for him to shop for Caleb -- all he does is go to the store and see what he (Scott) would like, and then he buys that for Caleb. It's a hit every time. This year it was a small hand-held device that lauches little helicopter-like discs. At the end of the evening, the kids had a lot of fun trying out Caleb's new marble track set.