The Kluesner Clan Visits!

We love having family/friends come to visit and stay with us.  We were excited to have our good friends, The Kluesners coming in town for a weekend earlier this month!  The kids played and the adults caught up on life over food and drinks.  It was pretty perfect.

 We made dinner at home on Friday night and then hit up the pool for a bit.

 Livin' the life!

 Boys and their baby girls!

 Funny transportation to and from neighborhood pool ;) while the rest of the crew took the golf cart.

 It was a movie night and sleepover in our room!

 Laney missing because she had pulled her sleeping bag up on my side of the bed while everyone else was still awake!  What?!  That is so not Laney, she is usually the last to leave the party.

 We had a quiet Saturday morning (well, not really quiet but you know what I mean!), then grabbed lunch and caught Coop's baseball game in the rain.

 The kids LOVED the rain puddles, they were soaked by the time we left.

 At times like these, he seems so big yet still so little all at the same time.

 His cheering squad was very vocal in their matching dresses :).  Yes, this the best picture I got after 22 takes.

 The kids were having fun!  They had to clean this up to go to the pool again...and they did! 

 The golf cart was a hit!

 We can't forget about the sweet babes!

 Lots of dress up!

 These 2 have been buds since they were little toddlers!  

 Cuteness!!!!!

 Raise your hand if you had an awesome weekend!!!!!!!!

Thanks Kluesners for coming to visit us, we loved having you here!!!!!!!!!!!!

1st half of June!

June is almost over!  What??!!  It's been a fun month with lots going on!  Here's some snippets of the first half...

 She thinks it's so funny when she wears sunglasses.

 These 2 went to Grace Church's vacation Bible school a couple weeks back.  They put on such a great few days, my kids have been singing the songs and talking about what they learned ever since. 

 The weather has finally taken a turn for SUMMER!  We have been hitting up the pool in the afternoons after naps.  It took a few times for me to get a pool routine down with 3 little ones...it's basically the opposite of relaxing.

 This girl is loving the pool this year!  Our pool trips are so much easier this summer than last.

 Think he was hot??  Our backyard faces west so the afternoons get h-o-t.  Coop is often out in it playing baseball with the neighbor boy and this is how he comes in for dinner.

 Cute kids headed to VBS!

 We made our own popsicles with orange juice, strawberries and a banana...yum!

 Those balls didn't get up their accidentally.  

 She adores the twins!  She says after holding both of them and changing a couple diapers that she's ready to babysit ;).  

 It was just us girls one night after dinner so we played outside until bath/bedtime.  We did some serious work with the chalk and then it poured rain that night and washed it all away.  Can you tell we were working on shapes and counting??

She wanted a family portrait, clearly I am a natural artist.

 Piper gets so excited when she sees Adam mowing the lawn.  So excited that I had to go out on the deck and take some pics of her.

 She's laughing and screaming, "Daddddeeeeeee!!!!!!!!"

I am so close to be caught up on the blog!!

Happy 1 and 1/2 years Piper Marie!

Our sweet baby Pippi is somehow already 1 and 1/2!  How did that happen??  Seriously, I swear she was just this...

and now she is this...

A big girl that apparently is already annoyed by having to stop for a picture.

 Adam and I say, "she's so sweet!" about a million times a day because she is so so sweet.  And our other 2 sweet children know how to talk back and she doesn't ;).   I kiss those cheeks hundreds of times a day too!!!!

 Here's one of her favorite activities.  She goes to our shoe bench and gets out Adam and I's shoes and brings them to us.  She drags shoes out at least 10 times a day, it's usually an obstacle course to get in and out of the garage door.

 Adam wasn't home but she brought to me saying, "Daddy."

 She likes to climb, especially all over the baby doll furniture.

 Her and Laney are starting to play babies together.  Even though I don't have any pictures, she adores books.  We read in her rocker before naps/bedtime and any other time she spots Brown Bear lying around.

 Lola just might be her favorite companion.  She looks for her as soon as she wakes up and is often in her pillow with her.  She also gets so so excited when we see other dogs. She used to call every dog Lola, but is now saying dog.  

 I often fold laundry in her room when she wakes up from nap.  She used to flip thru books but now she puts on all the underwear.

 Showing her love for Lola...I am not sure the feeling is mutual, Lola looks highly annoyed but she puts up with it.

 She is such a happy girl!  And even though she is the 3rd child, her milestones are just as exciting as with Cooper and Laney.  Maybe even more so, because the big kids love it too!  We are in awe everytime she says a new word and excited to see what she does next.  Right now she is saying...Mom, Dad, Lola, Laney, ball, book, baby, dog, and a few more.

 They play a serious game of tug of war...Lola always wins.

At her 18 month check up.  I never think she is 'big' for her age until I get her around other 18 month olds and she seems like a giant.  Her doc appt confirmed that, she is 34 inches (97%ile), 24lbs (54%ile) and in the 91%ile for head circumference.  

Some other fun tidbits on Pippi at 1 1/2...

*she is sleeping about 12 hours every night, usually 7-7 but with summer here, she is rarely in bed by 7.  If we are home, she will take a short snooze around 9:30am.  Naps anywhere from 1-3 hours in the afternoon.

*She sleeps with her 2 blankies and sucks her thumb at bedtime but she seems to be sucking her thumb more and more lately.

*Sibling rivalry has started and it's mostly one sided with her sister.  If Laney is in her carseat, stroller, sits in her chair, has her drink, etc...she screams "Naneee" and pushes her away.  As of right now, Laney just laughs at her.  

*She's pretty good eater, her faves are chicken, peanut butter sandwiches, fruit, goldfish...will eat any vegetable I put on her tray.

*We can't get away with anything anymore.  If the big kids have a popsicle, she wants one and will do just about anything to get one.  If I drive thru Chick-Fil-A, she is screaming for the food before I even get it from the window.  She's had her fair share of Capri Suns already this summer ;).

*Pippi loves the bath and now the pool.  

*She is likes to brush her teeth, carry around toothbrushes, push her stroller/shopping cart, puzzles and read books.

Happy 18 months to our sweet baby girl, we love you so much!!!