News!

Dan and I are expecting our fourth in December. We will have an ultrasound the very end of July to possibly determine the gender of this baby. Pray all goes well.

Our June

Look at this little girl! Natalie is now pulling herself up on furniture. She does not move around very fast yet but she is up and trying to take all she can from her sisters. Fun

Here are the lovely sisters. They had to have pictures of them when I took Natalie standing.

We enjoyed some time with our camp cook, her husband and their grandkids. The grandkids came to visit them for a couple of days so our kids made new friends. We had a campfire and roasted marshmallows.

The girls and I went to a wedding. The wedding was for a young man that I babysat alot when I was in High School. Crazy. They are very cute. So fun. We went to the reception and danced as well.

Outing with Staff

Yesterday we had a staff outing with the camp summer staff. Most of the staff took out Kayak's. They had a good time. Our family took a canoe out first and it was nice to be able to leave baby and be able to canoe. Kylie and Alyssia were funny. Kylie was nervous the whole time because it would rock and she was afraid that we would tip over. She had Alyssia pushed to her side of the canoe so she was more in the middle. Alyssia was great. She had her paddle dragging the whole time (helping us paddle). She even sang songs which made Kylie even more mad. Crazy. So we took the canoe back and then took out a paddle boat. Kylie was much better in that. She was paddling with her dad some and was fine. Natalie was well taken care of by Cliff, Marcia, Ralph, Juanita and Jennifer on the shore. She is now almost 8 months old and crawling some. She gets around pretty fast.

This was before we went out on the canoe. The girls were really cute in their life jackets.

We had a fun day at the park. Dan, Kylie and I also played Frisbee for a little while before we went out for lunch with everyone. It was a great day to be outside.

Kylie in Mother's Day Program

Kylie's class put on a Mother's Day program. They recited a few things and sang songs. They also gave all the mom's a flower and a brotch (pin?) that they had painted in class. Very cute. They of course did a great job.

These are a few of the pictures that I took of the girls on Mother's Day. They were all cute in their dresses.

Happy 5th Birthday Kylie!

Kylie and her many faces. She is so excited to be 5 today!!!!!!!

Fun!

We put up the swingset this weekend. It use to be at Dan's parents house but they gave it to us. They had to try it out yesterday morning even though it was kinds sprinkling out. It will be nice to have.

After Kylie's birthday party, Kylie and Alyssia put some of the fun accessories from the party on Natalie. It was pretty cute and she enjoyed the attention.

Ressurection Sunday!

Dan's brother and family were here for Kylie's birthday party this weekend. They stayed until this morning and then drove to spend Easter with more family.

Alyssia was not a happy girl until about the time we got to church. Busy weekend and over tired.

Here are our girls cousins, Hannah and Blake all dressed up today. They are growing up so quickly. Hannah was born the week before Dan and I got married. Crazy.

Natalie is in her pretty dress today. She is now 6 months old.

Here is my attempt with happy children to get a picture of them this morning. They still look beautiful even if not all happy at that moment.

Kylie's 5th Birthday Party!

Rafael was holding Natalie during the party. She was well taken care of while I ran the party.

We had another Pinata at the party today. It was fun to get all 16 kids rotated through. They each got to go at least twice. Don't worry it looks like he was going to swing with the girl close but we were very safe and all kids were organized and far enough back.

I had fun decorating for the party. We had a Hawaiian Theme. Pine Ridge was nice and gave us the right amount of space that we needed. All went well.

This is Kylie's best friend from preschool. She is a cutie.

Kylie opened all of her gifts. She got wonderful things from all of her friends and family.

We had all the kids color their own beach balls and then later we let them blow them up and play with the beach balls.

Aunt Katie made the birthday cake. She made it so it went with the Hawaiian theme a well as have Tinker Bell on top of course. Turner out very nice. Thank you Aunt Katie.

Kylie had chosen the Hawaiian theme for her party today. We got her a hula skirt kit for her to wear. She really only wore it for a couple of minutes and did a little hula dance and then off she went.

Birthday Party Weekend!

We are having a birthday party for Kylie this weekend. Right now we have Dan's brother and his family of four and my mom, my sister and her family of three running around our house. Grandpa Augenstine and some family friends are still coming tonight later. Then tomorrow for the party we are having quite a crew. Eight kids from Kylie's class at school are coming and most of the parents are staying with them. So in total we will have 15 kids and many adults. So we have a fun filled party planned.

Discovery Center!

This in an impression of Kylie and Alyssia's bodies in this. They had fun putting hand prints and body prints.

There was a play area that was set up as Papa Johns Pizzeria. Kylie really enjoyed taking orders and making deliveries. She met some other kids and played with them as well. Their were 5 phones throughout the room and you could actually call back and forth to eachother.

This was a slide that Alyssia had fun on going down and back up as you see.

Alyssia also played at this water table for at least an hour. She loved it. We sat and played here while Dan took Kylie to the Planitarium show. Kylie loved being able to see the stars and the constellations.

There is a huge play area outside that our girls explored. They didn't play to long since there was so much to see inside.

Kylie and Natalie really liked these gears. Kylie sorted them by color and then lined them all up. Natalie was so facinated by these. I would put her close and she would get them turned a little.

They liked walking on the big piano. That was one of the first things that we saw so they were just getting use to what this place was about.

We all put our hands in this before we left at the end of the day. We had a great time. Afterwards we ate at Perkins and it was a night where kids eat for free (yeah) and the balloon guy was there. He was one of the best balloon artists I had ever seen. Kylie got a butterfly and Alyssia got a dog. All fell asleep on the way home so ended well also.

The Kids

Natalie is getting bigger and doing a little more. We have started her on baby foods. She is funny about food. She loves it.

Alyssia is so funny. This girl keeps us on our toes.

Kylie had to pose with her items. Today she posed with Ariel and an airplane she got out of the prize box at church. Cute.

Somewhat Nice Weather

My parents came to visit for the weekend. My mom was originally coming to watch kids for me because I had something else to attend for the weekend but that did not take place but my parents came anyways. It was nice to have them here. They were a big help with the kids and my dad helped get a few projects around our house completed.

The girls played outside on Wednesday while they waited for Grandpa and Grandma to arrive. The weather was sort of nice so it was good to be out. It was in the 50's.

Kylie loves to pose for pictures. She is so funny

Here is Kylie and Alyssia in their dresses. Kylie especially likes dresses and so I occassionally during the week will put them in dresses. They enjoy being able to get back outside.

Update on children

Today we went to Natalie's 4 month Doctor appointment. She weighed 13 1/2 lbs and was 23 1/4 inches long. I forgot to see how that compared to the chart and to my other two at this age so I will get that in three weeks when we go back.

We have to return because she had been running a fever and we discovered that she has an ear infection. Poor thing. So we have to give her amoxicillin for the next ten days.

The good news is Dan and I can finally return to work tomorrow and get back into our normal routine.

Thanks to all that have been praying for us and our girls this week. Dan and I have tried to, through everything, remember that our problems were very small compared to others and we were very thankful that we live in a country where we can get our children the doctors and medicine that they need at any time when they need it. Thank you Lord for usually very healthy children.

Alyssia is home. She is still thin and weak but getting back to her normal self. We are glad to be home though. She had a virus. We are thankful nothing else was wrong. Thank you all for praying for her.

We hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Alyssia in the Hospital

This the room that we are in. Alyssia is in the hospital with some dehydration. She will be here until morning. She has had several tests taken but we do not know results as of yet. Kylie, Natalie and I will be going home to sleep tonight so Kylie can go to school tomorrow for her Valentine's Party. She seems to be doing better already but we will keep everyone posted as to what is really going on. To catch some of you up Alyssia has been throwing up for 5 days and is a little dehydrated so we took her to her Doctor again today and so after 5 days of this we are in the hospital making sure that nothing else is wrong. Hopefully she will come home tomorrow and start to bounce back to her crazy self.

Kylie and Alyssia are watching a movie while sitting here in the hospital.

Alyssia is hooked up to an IV to get fluids into her. She is doing really well.

Family Fun Night!

Our friend Mike came with us and took the girls around to games. He became the balloon man at this point.

My sister and Emma came down for the fun night and we had a good time with them. My sister was a great help with Natalie as well. Always good to have them here.

Kylie and Alyssia were decorating cookies here. The cookies were pretty good.

Alyssia LOVES the pick-a-duck game. She did last year as well as this year. I got her to go get a balloon animal and as soon as she got it she said "Now can I go back to the ducks?" and took off. She is so funny.

Kylie loves to go fishing. She probably did this the most. The seniors did a good job. I think this was the best Family Fun Night we have been to in the three years we have gone. Except for the part where we probably picked up our household sickness.

Sick, Sick,Sick

Alyssia is so sick. She was up every couple of hours last night throwing up. Dan is so good. He got up with her everytime. He is very good at the disinfecting stuff and he also kept the laundry going all night since she got it on blankets and towels some. Hopefully this will not go through all of us. Also, my sister and her daughter were here for the weekend so we pray they didn't take it home with them.

We had a family fun night at Kylie's school and so we took all the kids. It was a lot of fun, however, there have been quite a few kids out sick this last week at school and Dan heard one dad say that his son had thrown up at 2:00 that day and was not in school that day but he brought him to the family fun night. He was in line in front of Alyssia. Dan was NOT happy at all. I wonder how many other kids could possibly be home sick.

So to all parents out there, if your kids are sick, keep them home. If they are not in school do not take them to special events. Please.

We have a TV in our kitchen now and so our girls often sit here at watch Word World or something while I make supper. They were cute all sitting here watching together.
Natalie was given this Bumbo for Christmas and it works really well for her right now. I love it because it is easy to transport around and I can sit here anywhere. I sit her in it on my desk at the office as well. Then I can talk to her while I work and she is right next to me to keep an eye on.

Alyssia is now getting into our refigerator. She has learned to open it and get what she wants. A great thing to learn but NOT as well. She is constantly going in the fridge and getting apples, cheese, strawberries or whatever and so we are constantly having to go close the fridge and pick up the apples. She doesn't always eat what she gets. The apples she likes to play with as people. She acts out scenes with them. Creative but why does it have to be something from the fridge. Dan is in town today for camp so I hope he can find a fridge lock while he is out.


Natalie is also learning to giggle. It is really funny to hear her giggle. She giggles at her hands, sisters or if you tickle of course. Very cute.

I have been shopping for swimsuits for my girls online. Kylie really wanted this first blue one from Gap.com. She says it looks like silver mist from Tinker Bell and so this is one that we got. I also got one from Target that was a little cheaper that is a basic blue stripe but cute. I couldn't get a picture of that one, but oh well.

I really liked these from llbean.com and I do have gift cards to use there, but we didn't get these. I thought I would share them because they were so cute. So if you are needing a cute swimsuit and are willing to pay a little bit these are good ones.