Scooting Around

Coye has started scooting around. He's mastered going backwards, but hasn't quite yet figured out how to go forward. He can also get up on his hands and knees but doesn't move forward yet. I'm excited for him to start moving around, but saddened at the same time because it's just another sign that he's growing up.



Kids + Mess = Fun!!

Nic and Ingrid came and stayed with us for a few days before they left so that we could spend more time with them and the kids would have more opportunity to play together. While it was crazy having that many kids together under one roof, we had such a great time together. The first two nights the four older kids had a sleepover in the girls' room. Both nights they were so excited that someone had to go in and lay with them for a while before they would settle down and go to sleep. They spent a lot of time playing outside (it was so nice out for January), which was great to run off some of their energy. While Aubrey was at school, Chloe spent a lot of time playing with the boys. And then when Aubrey came home, she and Maximus were inseparable. Both girls were very sad when the Timms had to leave. Aubrey missed playing with Maximus, while Chloe missed having the boys to play with while Aubrey was at school. The house was definitely too quiet when everyone left. It was so sad to see them go knowing that it will be awhile before we see them again, but I'm so thankful for the time we had together.



Coye and Elora in the tub

Aubrey and Maximus sleeping on the floor

Colton and Chloe sleeping in the bed

Colton and Chloe watching a movie together

Maximus and Aubrey playing house together - Maximus was the dad and Aubrey was the mom

Colton and Chloe reading books with Grandma

Colton, Maximus, Aubrey, and Chloe before bed

One last picture together

Christmas with the Timm Clan

As you may have seen from earlier posts, my brother and his family flew home for Christmas from Okinawa. It had been almost two years since we had seen them (and we had never seen Elora before), so it was so amazing to be able to see them and spend time with them. They split up their month of being in the states between Ingrid's family and ours. They spent Christmas with Ingrid's family, so we had our Christmas with them over New Years' weekend. My parents drove to Iowa to bring my grandparents back and several of my aunts and uncles and my two cousins also came down on New Years' Eve to celebrate too. There were a lot of people and a lot of catching up to do in a short amount of time, but we made it work. The kids had a blast together and got to open up presents again. The girls spent two nights at mom and dad's having a sleepover with the boys (Maximus and Colton), while I just drove back and forth for several days. It was so great to all be together again!

Gabe and Aubrey playing in a box

Aubrey and Colton - I LOVE this picture!

Colton, Chloe, Aubrey, and Maximus - Nic took them outside to run off some energy!

Grandpa and Grandma Leininger with the Timm grandchildren

The name sake picture - Grandma Leininger, Chloe, and Danielle

Grandpa and Grandma Leininger with me and my siblings

Coye trying to steal Gabe's pacifier

Coye's first big bath tub experience - he wasn't quite sure what to think about it

Elora Maeryn - she's such a doll!

The babies - Gabe, Elora, and Coye

Timm grandchildren

Mom and Dad and the grandkids

Mom and Dad with us five kids

The five of us

Wagner Family Christmas

We had Calvin's family's Christmas December 29th, after everyone was finally better. We got together for supper and then presents. The kids were so excited again to be able to open presents. I'm pretty sure they think that Christmas lasts for at least a week with all of the family Christmases that we attend. The kids, even the littlest ones, were all happy and in great moods. They again got terribly spoiled and brought home numerous new things to play with.

The Wagner cousins

Coye and Edwin - they are about 8 months apart

One of Chloe's favorites from the night - a Barbie and a Barbie horse

Coye happily playing with the ribbon on my present

Sophia reading a book to Coye

Christmas Day

Christmas this year was different with my parents living closer to us now. For the past few years, we've had Christmas at our house, so that the girls could still attend the Christmas Eve service at church (plus I've been in charge of the service for the past two years so I've had to be here). This meant that everyone stayed here for at least three days, which was fun but chaotic. It was nice to be able to visit with everyone and see them at mom and dad's but still be able to come home and sleep in our own beds.

Christmas Eve night, the girls participated in the service at church. Mom teaches Sunday School at her church, so she and dad had to go to their own church for Christmas Eve. Danielle and Jenna came up though to see the girls. The children did a wonderful job sharing the news of Jesus' birth. I was a little worried how Coye would do since it was past his bedtime, but he was good throughout the entire service. After the service, we came home and took some pictures and then put the kids to bed. The girls, however, weren't tired and were up past 10:00 p.m. talking in bed. We decided to let them sleep a little later on Christmas Day and just stayed home in the morning. Coye, of course, was up early, so by the time we had breakfast and were ready to open presents, he was tired and went down for a nap. We opened presents without him (the girls just couldn't wait any longer). It was so much fun to watch them pass out the presents and then try to reign in their excitement to take turns opening. They loved all the things they got. After opening, they got dressed and then waited around for Coye to wake up. After he woke up, he opened his presents. He tried to rip the paper, but the girls would get impatient waiting for him to tear the paper that they would insist on helping him. He didn't care. Once all the presents were opened, we headed down to my parents' house for Christmas with my family. We spent the afternoon there opening presents and then ate supper with them before heading home. It had been a wonderful day and the kids were thoroughly spoiled by all of the new things they received. We all went to bed exhausted with plans to relax the next morning (except for Calvin who was planning to go to work). Around 1 a.m., Calvin got sick and ended up throwing up for about twelve hours. He was also achy and cold and his back hurt terribly. (The flu had been going around his family for the past week so I was expecting someone to get sick in our house.) I quarantined him to our bedroom, the living room, and the downstairs bathroom. I disinfected the bathroom and kitchen once I got up and kept the kids either upstairs or in the basement for most of the day. I was scared one of them was going to get sick. We stayed away from Calvin for two days and Lysoled everything! None of us ended up getting sick. He finally started feeling better Monday evening and went back to work Tuesday afternoon. It took him several days to start really feeling better though. He hadn't been that sick in a long time! I'm just thankful that the rest of us stayed healthy.

Christmas Eve family picture

Chloe, Coye, and Aubrey

Chloe and her pile of presents - waiting patiently to open them

Aubrey with her presents

Aubrey's favorite present - her American Girl doll

Chloe's favorite present - her Leapster

Coye and his presents

Coye's "favorite" present - some sensory balls

Opening presents in their stockings from Santa

Ch

Coye and Gabe at mom and dad's

Eight Months Old!

Coye turned eight months a couple weeks ago. He's growing so quickly and getting so big. He's such a good baby and loves being around people. The girls just adore him and fight daily over who gets to be by him and talk to him. I wonder how long that will last. They are so anxious for him to crawl, yet they don't realize that as soon as he does, he will be into all of their stuff, which I'm sure won't go over well.

Here's what he's been up to this past month:

• He has become a great eater. He now eats all sorts of food including brown rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, carrots, peas, applesauce, pears, bananas, and prunes.
• He can scoot backwards on his tummy, especially on slick floors.
• He took a bath in the real bathtub for the first time with cousin Gabe over Christmas. He was a little confused by it - I think it was the big tub and the fact that Gabe was crawling all over and splashing.
• He met his Uncle Nic, Aunt Ingrid, and cousins Maximus, Colton, and Elora when they came home for Christmas from Okinawa.
• He loves to watch people, especially when there is noise involved - i.e. the kids playing. :)
• He continues to get up in the middle of the night to eat at least once. I'm not sure if it's just a bad habit or if he really is hungry.
• He is still a really happy baby.

Surprise!

My brother and his family are here!!! They came home for Christmas and landed in Chicago Tuesday afternoon. It was supposed to be a surprise for us girls, but we kind of ruined it. Apparently mom and dad have known for a month and a half that Nic was coming home, but weren't supposed to tell us. He wanted to surprise us. So for the past few months, mom's been talking about Nic, Ingrid, and the kids coming home, but we (me and my sisters) didn't think it would really happen. So we began to get worried that they wouldn't be able to make it and then mom would be heartbroken for Christmas. Over Thanksgiving we talked and decided that we needed to ask Nic for sure what their plans were so mom could be prepared if they couldn't make it. So I e-mailed Nic. A few days later he called me and told me that they were coming home. I was so excited! I didn't tell the girls because I wanted them to be surprised. They love surprises. Tuesday night Calvin put Aubrey to bed and told her that there was going to be a surprise for her the next day. The next morning she got right up and asked me if her surprise was inside or outside. When I told her that it could be either, she was confused - she thought her surprise was snow. Then she asked me if the surprise was at school or at home. When I told her it could be either, she was really confused. I told her that she'd just have to wait until after school to see her surprise and that she'd never guess in a million years what it was. She went to school. After lunch, Chloe looked out the window and told me that someone was here. When I asked her who it was, she said it was Grandpa and Grandma Timm. She went to the door to open it and there stood Nic and Elora. She looked at me and I asked her who it was. She said Uncle Nic. The rest of the family came in and it was so fun visiting with them. The boys have gotten so big and Elora is a doll. Nic and Ingrid looked great too. :) The kids played in the basement for a while. Maximus asked about Aubrey. My plan was to take Maximus with me to pick her up and have her be surprised. So he and Nic went with me to school. We stood outside the door where she comes out (in the wind and rain) and waited for her. Nic and Maximus kind of hid their faces and she came out. When I pointed at Maximus and told her that there was her surprise, she just looked at me with this look like "I know who they are but how can they possibly be here!". We've always told her that she wouldn't see Maximus again until they were seven. She almost looked like she was going to cry and then she went and gave Maximus a hug. It was so sweet! I about cried. After we got home, the two of them were inseparable. They played games together, just the two of them. Then they played in the basement. After supper they played upstairs and made pictures together. It was so sweet to see them getting along so well. Ingrid and I discussed how they are the perfect age to play together. They are old enough, yet not too old that they don't want to play together because they are different genders. Chloe and Colton didn't do too much playing together, but they are younger and don't have the bond that Aubrey and Maximus seem to have from spending time together since they were little. I can't even begin to describe how happy and excited I am to have them here for a little while. I didn't realize how much I missed them until they walked through those doors. Christmas is going to be so great!!

Aubrey and her "surprise"

As soon as their coats were off, they went and found some games to play.

Playing a fishing game

Grandma reading to Chloe and Colton