How Time Flies

I'm not sure if you can it make out the pine tree in the back of the picture. My parents have a picture of just me in front of this same tree from when we moved into our house in Portage 22 years ago. At the time, the tree was my height or smaller (keeping in mind I was in like sixth grade at the time and I was a short sixth grader no less). Obviously you can't see the entire tree here, but it towers above the yard. I thought it'd be cool to get a picture of my family in front too. I wish I could post the older picture too, but alas it's buried deep within the recesses of my parent's house somwhere:) Who could have imagined at the time, I know I couldn't, that 22 years later, I'd stand in front of the same tree with four daughters! Wow, how time truly does fly by!

Here's our most recent family picture. Aah, will we ever be able to take the elusive "great" family picture where everyone is looking and smiling at the same time:) Probably not anytime soon, that's for sure

Apparently flannel is back in! Kai enjoyed spending the holiday with family he doesn't get to see all that much. Here he is with his cousin Justin.

Speaking of Kai, it's hard to believe that just a year ago there was so much uncertaintly regarding his health and birth. God is truly awesome. Kai is doing amazing; he was nine months old on Christmas day and his midsection is so wide, he can't fit into 6-9 mo. clothes! We're so thankful for this little guy. He's always smiling.

Yes, Illinois got it's first real snow before Christmas. This poor little snowman was Nadia's creation. Unfortunately, it melted the next day.

All the ladies enjoying the snow!

Happy 2nd to our sweet girl + big guy

We were so blessed to have both sets of Grandparents around to celebrate Karina's 2nd birthday this past weekend!

Karina with her two favorite characters: Cookie Monster and Curious George!

It's hard to believe Kai's seven months old and is doing so well. He's obviously healthy based on the picture above:)

The girls love their bro!

Trip to Hallowed Ground:)

Mikaya and I took a trip to SouthBend, IN on Wednesday for a funeral. We lost a very dear family member; she was 94. I always knew Dorothy as "Aunt" when in reality she was a cousin. In spite of that, I always appreciated Dorothy's love for others and her concern for our family. She'll be missed!

Mikaya didn't have preschool that day so I decided she needed some QT time and she had a nice time seeing Grandma and Grandpa as well as other family members she's never met. Her sisters were extremely jealous of course, but it was a great time just the two of us.

In the afternoon, we just had to stop by the campus of Notre Dame. Aah, the first of my children to step foot on campus:) I wish I could zoom in on the top. We're in front of the golden dome! We also visited Knute Rockne's grave (famous coach).

Lots of Smiles

How long has it been?

Uh, yeah, I realized today that I haven't written an entry since May. In the blogging world that's almost equivalent to a year, so I thought I should at least write something or explain the lengthy abscence. Well, let's just say, I set up this blog to document the whimsical/humorous moments that accompany childhood; to detail the daily things that my children do which make me smile. Needless to say, five under five is no joke and just like the Goslings from John and Kate + 8 have come to realize, having a set of multiples and/or many children is particularly challenging. Unlike the Goslings however, we do not live in a multi-million dollar home nor do we have the luxery of taking trips to say San Diego or Colorado just because we feel a bit stressed. TLC should try filming a show here: Five under five in a three bedroom townhome. Ha! Things are going fairly well though. We've been blessed to have Joy's parents come over every day for close to eight hours while I'm away at work. Not sure what we would have done without them. Kai's doing amazing. He's in the 80th percentile for weight and has doubled his weight in only two months (the average baby takes about 6 months). Please understand I'm not bragging; it's just amazing to think of where he is now compared to where we thought he'd be only a few months ago. He had his first smile the other day. I'm trying to figure out a way to post a video of it on this site. More of that to come. The twins are done with preschool and are a delight as well as a challenge. Five has brought on a whole new level of craziness (gum chewing, sneaking bags of chocolate chips from the cabinet- actually two bags, and many other antics like sneaking out of bedrooms at night and hoarding whatever they can get their hands on in their beds). Speaking of the twins, their fifth birthday party is tomorrow. We're hoping for nice weather as they decided this year to have a friend party and invite everyone from their preschool class:) Mikaya is potty training. She's a rather reluctant potty trainer I have to say, but hopefully we're making some progress. Although her screaming, "I don't want to go potty!" yesterday might suggest otherwise. Karina is a joy. Lots of smiles. She's talking like crazy and she likes to identify parts of her face (teef, noooose, chese a.k.a. cheeks).

We're happy for summer and the chance to enjoy being outside! I, Steve, start working at COD next week so the rest of the fam will be on their own here for several hours while I'm away. Pray that everything goes well!

Normal Male

We just got word last week that the genetic test results for Kai were sent to our doctor. He called me and said the report said two words, "Normal Male"! We're so thrilled with this great news!