This boy continues to win our hearts over and over again. Look at those big eyes and that darling little expression! We call this "periscoping." Henry is so alert and curious about his environment these days that some nights he's just too busy to fall asleep. We go in to check on him and this is what we see: little Henry craning his neck as far as his little arms will let him, peering over the edge of the crib. So stinkin' cute. We even forgive him for his middle of the night periscoping because it's so hilarious to see his small head popping up and down in the dead of the night.
Madelyn's sense of fashion lately is, well, fearless. She lays her clothes out for each day the night before and proudly gets dressed all by herself without even having to be asked each morning. Only occasionally do I intervene with some matching help (you know, church, preschool, etc.) because I find it truly inspiring to see what she chooses to clothe herself on a day to day basis.
Say what?!
Henry's first bite of solid food. He has been fascinated with watching us eat lately and reaches out to grab our forks, plates, sandwiches, fruit, etc. He gobbled up a little bowl of rice cereal and seemed to really like it...and then barfed the whole thing up about two hours later. Hmm. Not sure what to make of that, but I guess we'll try again in another couple of weeks.
New sand box! Kurt built a great little sandbox for the kids in our backyard, and Maddie christened it yesterday afternoon. Kurt found real beach sand to put in it, too, so it's soft and fine and lovely, just like being at the beach. Now if we could just figure out how to fall asleep to the ocean waves...
Captain Chin to the rescue!!!
And finally a couple of great videos for you. Henry loves his Mommy and Daddy but he LOVES his sister as you can see :)
Which you're allowed to do as much as you want on your wedding day! Kurt's beautiful sister, Kari, and her fabulous fiance, Brad, got married a few Saturdays ago on May 21st, and we were absolutely delighted to be a part of their special celebration. The weather held, the church was gorgeous, and the bride and groom were radiant. Madelyn had the honor of being their flower girl, and she had a great time! We spent the week before the wedding practicing walking down the aisle in our house -- we created an "aisle" with the chairs in our living room, and she walked in between them scattering tea bags from her Easter basket while I "oohed" and "aahed" and tried to prepare her for the inevitable wedding-guest paparazzi. Ultimately, she did a great job. She got a little shy just as it was time to walk down the aisle, but Cousin Leslie (Maid of Honor) was there to save the day, and the two pretty attendants walked down the aisle together. It was a lovely day, and we are just thrilled for both Kari and Brad. Welcome to the family, Brad! You and I can be "out-laws" together :)
Brad's little nephew, LJ. Don't mess with him.
Henry chillin' in his favorite place during the rehearsal.
Madelyn only placed the rose petals this carefully during the rehearsal. During the actual wedding ceremony, she was too shy to scatter the petals until she could see that everyone's eyes were closed during the prayer; then she threw fistfuls at Brad and Kari's feet :)
Love this shot of Maddie and her Mimi!
We had to take a photo, because we might never again see Madelyn sit this still.
Love our expressive children!!
Henry is fascinated with our faces lately and is always reaching out to touch us (or grab fistfuls of Madelyn's hair...you can imagine the reaction that gets).
Kari and her dad before the ceremony -- so happy!
Henry's cute little outfit. He didn't make much of an appearance that day because he was sick :( My fabulous aunt, Jenny, and cousin, Sydney, jumped in at the last minute to stay with him at our house so he could nap -- so thankful for them! Kurt and I actually got to enjoy the ceremony and the reception because of them. Thank God for loving family!
Some princess-dress twirling. Fabulous. Madelyn's dress was a miniature version of Kari's which was so special.
Peep toe shoes that necessitated Madelyn's first official pedicure at Nana's spa.
My rough-and-tumble girl somehow instinctively knew just how to walk in her fancy, swirly dress.
Love this photo! Kari was radiant with joy all day, and this photo perfectly captures that.
The beautiful couple. Brad's heritage is Scottish which he chose to honor with his very masculine, regal kilt. Super cool.
Cousin Leslie and Madelyn walking down the aisle. Madelyn has just spotted Papa, Nana, Kelsie and Ben in the pews. You can see Papa smiling at her on the far right -- so cute.
Kari and Brad had their first dance and then invited some of the wedding party to join them. Kurt went up to dance with Maddie but she was NOT going to budge. I mean, NOT going to budge.
Daddy telling Maddie how well she did and how proud of her he was.
Kari tossing her bouquet. Evidently Madelyn just saw it as another opportunity to do some twirling.
Madelyn and Henry are about two weeks apart in these photos. If their clothes were swapped, I'm not sure even I could tell them apart.
Maddie has a bazzillion pairs of sunglasses, but what hip mom can say no to purple kids'-sized aviators? Not this one.
We had Henry dedicated to the Lord on Sunday May 8 at our church Mosaic. It also happened to be Mother's Day, which was pretty cool.
Feels like just last year we were up on that stage having Madelyn dedicated. Now look at those long legs of hers!
I will hold this little boy while he sleeps as long as I possibly can. Someday when I'm looking (up) at his grown up chiseled man face, I will treasure these memories.
Madelyn showing off her freshly dilated pupils. We've had some concerns about her vision, so she and I visited a pediatric ophthalmologist the other morning. I cannot overstate how proud I am of how she did. It was a long appointment and there were a lot of demands on her sitting abilities. But she followed every direction and took three rounds of stinging eye drops like a champ without crying or protesting (although there were some pretty rad facial expressions). Ultimately, she is slightly near sighted, but the doctor doesn't recommend prescription lenses at this time. Madelyn was devastated by this news. She had her heart set on a darling little pair of purple Betsy Johnson frames...that cost three times as much as my current frames. She has solid taste, that's for sure. Dodged that bullet for now :)
One year ago today we found out that Henry Finn would be joining our family. Of course, we didn't know at that time that he was Henry Finn -- he was just a bold little plus sign on a stick. But we were overjoyed nonetheless, and we celebrated with tacos, chips, and guacamole, as we did tonight it being Cinco de Mayo and all. Huck will be four months old this Saturday, and he is absolutely delightful. I think if someone could just hand me a four month old, I could entertain the idea of having a third child. I never want to be pregnant again, and even though newborns are tiny and miraculous, the sleep deprivation is not at all fun. But four months old is fabulous. Henry is smiley and giggly and content nearly all day long. He fusses when he's hungry or tired and then promptly eats and falls asleep, and he's doing such a good job learning to fall asleep on his own -- not an easy skill to learn as all of you parents know. He has also discovered that his sister is an excellent source of entertainment. Kurt and I had a sign of things to come the other night at dinner when Madelyn was acting up and was about to be sent to a time out. I looked over at Henry who was glued to his sister, smiling from ear to ear, and realized that she was continuing the behavior because it was getting a reaction from her brother. Four months old and he's already egging his sister on to get her in trouble :)
Finally a real live doll to put her her doll stroller! I'm pretty sure this presents some serious safety issues, but she just took him for a short spin around the house and we got a good laugh out of it.
