Kiddo #2

Kiddo #1

Half a Year Ago...

...I was sitting in the grass right here planting my daffodil bulbs. It was sunny and beautiful. I could barely bend over so I sat and planted sideways. :) Abigail played with her bike in the driveway and Derek worked in the garage.  When I finished it was almost suppertime but I chose to sit in a lawn chair and lazily enjoy the afternoon on a rare late October day. Contractions started and I let them come for about an hour before I really knew this was it. We decided we better get Abbi fed and arrange to just have to her sleep at my brother's house for the night. We hung around at home for awhile and went to the hospital at 11pm. This little guy was born at 2am: 

 He's never seen or touched grass before so I won't be able to get him to look up. But I just want to capture a photo of him in front of "his daffodils" while they're in full bloom. 

These two bring so much joy to our home.

 I never saw it coming but it hit me like a train. Love. 

 I'm so glad these two will have each other to lean on, pick on, laugh with, cry with, and love for the rest of their lives. You're going to be bigger than her one day, Elijah, but she'll always be older than you. :) 

Springtime

 When we went north this weekend the river was flooded. See the orange poles from the bench swing in the photo above? That's the actual bank of the river. 

 The boys were napping so the girls went exploring outside. 

 I read somewhere that the 5 best toys a kid can have are dirt, rocks, sticks, water and a box... well, we had 4 out of 5. 

 These waterfront cabins aren't supposed to be THIS close to the water. 

 Signs of spring!

 A happy camper:

Twins

 I couldn't resist buying this outfit for Eli when I spotted it at a garage sale. It's the boy version of one of my favorites from Abigail. Here they are both at 5 months. I should've pulled the pacifier out of Eli's mouth before the photo!