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In honor of mother's day, I thought I'd share what made me mother of the year today.  We were reading "Caps for Sale" for about the thousandth time, and in talking about the copycat monkeys I finally lost my resolve never to say out loud "monkey see, monkey do… monkey pee all over you!" (I blame "the Office" for that) and blurted it out.  We laughed so hard… and of course the kids repeated it for the rest of the day (hopefully not in primary) and it made me laugh again and again and again.  I am sure it will get old… but today it was hilarious.  And when I wish I'd been the responsible adult (the real kind of mother of the year winner) and never told them, I will read this and remember that today I was glad I did.  :)

first smiles:  5 1/2 weeks.  we sure love this girl!

…bring new umbrellas.  

Zach mostly used his inside (waited on the porch with it before school, then threw it in to me and ran through the pouring rain to the bus without it because "not many people bring umbrellas to school, mom"), Carter mostly used his upside down (it ended the morning filled with sand…???), and Emma, my umbrella girl, has two others but would have been devastated to not get an umbrella with the others.  And she used hers the most.  :)

And our first "complete" family picture with all 6 of us.  (Even if a few of us are a little disheveled since we took this post-church.)  

Although this year was a little cold compared to the last few years (and a little lame compared to the last few years with our fun neighbors!) we managed to have an egg hunt anyways, and the kids had a great time (even though there was only candy in a portion of the eggs!)  

I loved that Emma used two baskets (one she wove out of paper strips and made herself); and how excited Carter was when he found an egg (the big kids really cleaned up quick and he didn't have that many… but he didn't seem to mind.)  And I love that Zach still thinks it's fun.  Hope that lasts a few more years… it will, right?  Nate videoed it this year and it reminded me how fun the video camera is – we will be using it more!

And I even let the kids dye eggs, after talking to my sister and deciding I was pretty lame to have all the stuff and not do it.  We had a good time… until Carter spilled the green.  And then we had a good time again after the green was cleaned up (pretty much everything survived… maybe even his pants after 2 nights soaking in oxi-clean).   I am still glad we did it.

Happy Easter!

Emma would hold Meg all day.   She loves to read her books, sing her songs, and play her the music from her Bitty Baby baby monitor.  She is a fantastic helper.

Carter will hold Meg for about 3 minutes.  But he would kiss her all day.  Every time she wakes up he says, "I want to see Meg!"  Followed shortly by, "I want to kiss her head!"  "I want to tickle her toes!"  "I want to rub her back!"  "I love you, baby Meg!"  followed by a short break, then repeated .  He is also quite the helper!

Zach loves her, too – he is just at school in the mornings when we [obviously] decide to take pictures instead of brush hair.

How Carter feels about our April snowstorm:  

And Carter showing how the REST of us feel about the winter storm warning:  

The storm didn't end up amounting to much, which satisfied everyone.   (And just FYI, this kid has the most expressive facial expressions all the time.  I absolutely love it!)

So we were lucky enough to have a friend use Meg as a newborn model for her photography business… here is the link to her website if you want to see her fantastic work (and our cute baby!)  

jolenereedphotography

As a side note:  I realize now why my "at home" photo shoots never look this good – among other things, there is serious talent (and patience!) involved in posing and capturing a newborn.  The 5 minutes I put into it just doesn't cut it!  :)

I have just put down Meg and am headed outside with an armful of stuff to take out to the recycling. Nate kisses me on his way downstairs to help the big kids "Saturday clean" the basement.  (I am in plaid pj pants, a mis-matched shirt, and my glasses , which are really crooked right now from being thrown on the floor and then stepped on in the night when I get up to get the baby.  Translation:  I look AWESOME.)   And then it hits me:  I am living the dream.  Lucky, blessed me.

(unrelated picture of everyone during "scripture quiz" – details to come as I try to catch up on the blog!)

So I obviously haven't been posting much… and Meg will be 3 weeks tomorrow!  I will be better – but until I am, here are a couple of my favorite pictures to tide the grandparents over.  :)

Meg @ 4 days

and @ 10 days