sick days

we have been laying low over here as the little people have been fighting off a fever virus since saturday. we haven't been sick in so long and honestly this has not been the worst kind. there is no throwing up or congestion. however, it is a little ironic that all the motrin and tyelnol has been recalled and is virtually unattainable. thankfully, a neighbor helped me out once ours ran out. and though it is never fun to be quarantined (sort of) to the house while dr honey bunny puts in a whopping EIGHT overnights (30hr shifts) in addition to the regular hours during his icu month, we are really doing just fine. my heart grieves for dear friends who are facing much greater trials of failing marriages and lost children and i just got a grave book in the mail about the persecuted church. we have much to be thankful for. and these little ones are among the many graces we daily experience. another one being that tomorrow i hit 3rd trimester! goodbye energy, hello HUGE tummy! we are thankful, thankful, thankful. look at these cuties:

1am fever resulted in her sleeping in the papazan chair next to my bed until 9am! talk about sacked out...


sickness always brings bumps in the sleeping schedules...graham took a few of his recent naps with me. i know those days are quickly coming to an end and i want to relish the extra snuggles when i can! he is back to his normal crib routine today thankfully. we will interrupt his sleep again when we take that pacifier away in the next couple months (before or after baby is the question).


they have been doing a lot of this. apparently marit still feels well enough to dress up in a leotard...


marit said "graham, can you doctor me" with some empty syringes...

recent roadtrip footage

the kiddos and i took a quick day-trip to a neighboring state for a few reasons:
to visit this glamorous grandma (she's wearing my 17yr old cousin's sunglasses and doesn't she look great?)


to meet this little beauty

to say goodbye (1st goodbye of a few) to the two wonderful people flanking grandma here. my brother and his wife are headed to India to teach music for a couple years.
while we were there, we were graciously welcome to the cookout on July 5th hosted by my cousin and his sweet wife kate

nathaniel is with my scary brothers

the kids had a blast with cousins and 2nd cousins. my grandma has 10 great grandchildren with one (ours) on the way.






though graham did get eaten alive, as usual

and benj got a mohawk

the fam minus the ones who left early with tired small children


of course i didn't take any of these pictures as my hands were usually occupied with little people. my sister-in-law bethany gets the credit. it was a lovely day, though rather exhausting. we are so thankful for dear family.

finally ripe!

we harvested our first tomato yesterday and it was SOOO yummy. we have bunches more that will be ripe soon. ours are a little later than usual...maybe i put them in too shady of a spot? this little fellow loves, loves, loves to eat tomatoes. can't say the same for his big sis...

footage from the most recent daddy-daughter date

adam is trying to be more consistent about spending one-on-one time with snuggle bug as she is rapidly growing up and has about 5 billion questions a day like "did God make poopies?" or "can i get into your tummy again like when i was a baby?". she loves to spend time with daddy chattering his ear off.



she has been really into the wrinkly nose camera smile lately too.


so graham and i dropped the two of them off at a local sweetery where they shared a slice of strawberry cake (because it was pink and every thing that is pink is awesome to marit lately, even if it is just sweet 'n' low) while we went on a grocery shopping date. i think they had more fun than we did because graham pretty much fell apart in the middle...he's been a bit of a mess lately, but oh so cute (and it's a good thing, if you know what i mean!).

with his children

"for you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory." 1Thess 2:11-12

sweet husband:
i am so thankful for you. for exhorting, encouraging, charging our children. for living a life of repentance before them...ever acknowledging your faults and at the same time assuring them of your love for them and striving to point them to Jesus. my love for you has been enriched as i watch you love our children...growing into your fatherly roll with each passing day and with our growing family.









happy father's day adam!

mostly recent photos of the little people

she likes to wear her helmet "like daddy does" when she rides her bike

drying off

the beginnings of our neighborhood babysitting co-op (and this is about half the kids!)

my handsomes

from a recent nature discovery walk near our house

marit is probably trying to persuade graham to be just like her in some way. seriously, graham imitates just about everything she does these days...

think his feet will be as big as daddy's? so far, so good in that respect!

dancing to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, which is appropriate since adam impulsively bought her this "ballerina dress" that she wears nearly every day

even ballerinas get tired

marit fell and hit her eye on the corner of a stool...this is when it was starting to look a lot better...SO sad!


these blocks were a fantastic garage sale purchase. adam likes them almost as much as the kids. you can see the kind of tower he likes to build and the kind graham likes to build. the main challenge is to keep graham from knocking over all in-process structures no matter the size.

ready for the summer sun!

'round these parts

my blogging of late has degenerated to a photo and a sentence post every once in a while. the heat, the baby in my belly (as marit calls it), and the two very challenging of late toddlers have pretty much sapped my brain of its ability to write much. i do have a bunch of pictures that i need to post so i can remember things. the old SI joint has already begun to give me some trouble. i don't remember when it started last time, but it seems to get a little worse with each pregnancy. and so i bring you:

the piriformis stretch

they are such little imitators lately. oh, and yes, i do wear those grey maternity shorts pretty much everyday.

and on a related note, here are my three favorites doing the downward dog

more pictures later perhaps