A Smile is worth...

This is not the best picture, but I just happened to be holding the camera during out little photo shoot this morning, only to look over and see this beautiful grin and I was actually able to get a picture of it. I love that she is smiling, I love how she looks at me so intently and then will just break into the toothless baby grin! Love it!

Hard to Believe

Hard to believe that this beautiful baby is 6 weeks old, so we had an impromptu to photo shoot She is awake a lot more and is smiling and discovering she has a voice. Maybe it is the 3rd child thing but she makes her needs and wants quite apparent.
We love her and although I don't want her to grow up I am having fun watching her take in the world around her.

Happy 6 weeks Mckenzie!

Changing

There is a change going on in this beautiful little girl, I took this picture the other day and was looking at it and if you look at her nose and cheeks she is getting so many freckles! She is changing and growing up I can hardly believe she will be 6 in June! (You can really see the freckles if you click on the picture)

T-ball Beauty

T- Ball is in full swing now and Madison seems to like it. It is quite humorous to watch the kids all race after the ball, not really knowing what to do.

Opening Day was a beautiful day that started with a parade, Madison thought this was so cool being in a parade and she went the whole route waving to everyone and taking it all in.




A little warming up in the outfield.


She got up to bat and looked so little next to that bat! With her cute pink helmet she insisted on having an I gave in (one thought lice, they share helmets during the game if you don't have your own). The look at the next picture, she swung the bat before the ball even got there, proof in the picture. We will have to work on that one. They get 5 coach pitches and if they don't hit they get to hit off the tee.



She was off and running and this was the assumed position on the base, hands on those hips.



Her favorite position, pitcher, she loved it. Except she would get the ball and then just stand there, forget throwing it to first base =)
Look at that form, butt down to field that ball. YOU GO GIRL!


Madison had a blast, her pants may have been too big, she just kept pulling them up. The wind may have been outrageous but it was still fun. Thanks to her daddy for getting the pictures I spent the whole game keeping an eye on Garrett and trying to keep Mckenzie out of the wind and the sun. What a fun Saturday spent at the ball fields.

Isn't her little ponytail sticking out of her hat so cute, it took major talking to her to get her to wear it like that. She wanted to wear her hair down.

The Battle

(Click on pic to enlarge and really see it)

This is what poor Mckenzie battled this last week. Luckily as mysteriously as it appeared it disappeared too. She didn't seem bothered by it and we are not sure what caused it either. The Pediatrician had no idea what it was, she wasn't sick. It was everywhere, arms, legs, face, back, tummy, scalp, ears and even in between her toes and fingers. So basically it is something that I ate or she came in contact with something. I am just glad as the Pediatrician put it, my baby is not a spotted baby anymore.

A great Visit

We had a great weekend visiting with our good family friend Rod Steiner. He was in Ohio for business and we got to visit with him. What would have made this even better would of been to have his wife, Roy and three kids here too. We miss their family terribly. It has been I think almost 3 years since we say Rod, about 2 years since we saw Roy and the kids and we hope that it is not that long before we see them again. Thanks for coming to visit Rod. I am sure the kids reminded you of home =)

Why come to town

You ask yourself why come and visit the Walling House? Here are a few really good reasons.

You get to sit on a huge bean bag and get lots of reading in. The average book length may only consist of 25 pages and the subject matter may not be your first choice. But when you open a book you get two great listeners no matter what the book is. Even more points given if you can imitate voices of characters in the book. And the books keep flowing you could get your whole book quota met in one visit.


Next you get to sit in some comfy couch recliners and hold the cutest little baby around. Beware holding a sleeping baby makes you look like you are a little off in pictures. (no offense Dad, sleeping babies make you want to sleep)



If you are starving for attention definitely come and visit. I have two kids that will give you more attention then any person may want or desire. They will talk nonstop, try to get you to play every game imaginable. These two host will be there the whole visit keeping you company, you will not feel lonely at all.
CAUTION - They can get wild and crazy that is your first and only warning. If you provoke giggles and mass chaos you will have to play your own version of Survivor.


And last on the list eventually the kids will sleep and you will get the vacation time you came in search of, we have extra rooms for you too and a permanent alarm clock that rises about 7am pretty frequently, think of it as your personal rooster just like on a farm. We wouldn't change it for the world. And when you look at the picture below how could I ever wish for more then two cute girls snoozing on the couch.


SO WHAT IS HOLDING YOU BACK! COME AND VISIT SOON!

Too Much

Sometimes life is just too much and it is times like this that you just curl up next to Grandpa and just go to sleep! (For the record he insisted for quite a while that he just was not that tired)

Go Speed Go

Oh my take a look, he has to be the best Grandpa out there, Garrett thinks so. As you look at the picture this is the assumed position for Grandpa this weekend, reclining taking it easy, Mckenzie napping peacefully on his chest. Only in this picture if you look closely Grandpa is living in the world of Garrett's fascination with Speed Racer, playing the leading role of the famous racer himself. Way to play along Grandpa, I am really impressed it fit on your head!

Can't forget

Oh we can't forget the yearly dying of eggs. My mom helped the kids and I get the task completed. Grandpa was so gracious to volunteer to hold Mckenzie on the couch (okay really he wanted to take a little nap). It is amazing the million of choices of egg coloring kits at the store, we stuck with the pretty basic kit that came with neat little collapsible containers to dye the eggs in, and some little eye and mouth stickers. There were little hands featuring a broad range of colors, reminded me of really bruises. Madison was all about getting the eggs the perfect color. Garrett really got into the egg dying this year. His face tells the whole story in his picture featuring his favorite egg.

Special Day

Sunday was Mckenzie's special day.
She was given a blessing at church by her dad.
She looked beautiful in her white dress! The day was beautiful!
We had many friends and family members there to be apart of her special day.Our friends Doug and Janae drove from Cincinnati to be here, my parents came from Wisconsin, Bryan and Buffy, Shawn and Donnelle, Josh and Jen, Dave's mom. Thank You all for coming to Mckenzie's day.
What made it even more special was that this special occasion took place on Easter Sunday!

Easter Cuties!

Today was full of two candy eating kiddos, probably loaded on more sugar than two children need before going to church.
Oh but they looked cute!! In their new Easter attire.
Mckenzie was just as cute but will get her own post, she was blessed at church by her dad.
My parents are here this weekend too and all that fun and info coming in future post.

Here is a little sneak peek of the three cuties together.

Loving it...

Loving that these two people are here visiting, not only am I loving it but the kids are loving having Grandpa and Grandma here to play with. Mckenzie is glad to finally meet them, she has been held and loved on all weekend by these two. I think it was secretly a race to see who held her first when they got here.
Too bad the weekend is going way to fast!

Looking Out

Here is where we can find Garrett when the weather is good and he can be outside.



He loves to sit out on the deck railing, eat a snack and just sit here looking around. Annie makes her home laying on the deck right by him. You ask him what he was doing out there and he says, "just thinking and sitting." How cute is he! When I took these pictures he sat there for about 20 minutes.

Where did this come from.

And to think she is only 3 weeks old. She is already trying to grow up to fast. She loves her belly and holds her head up so well! It was so cute to watch her holding her head up and looking around taking everything in.

A cute boys Birthday

Garrett had a little birthday party today. Friends and Family came to celebrate the special little boy. This boy is loved and very spoiled by many! He called the shots today, the cutest was when he wanted to open his "prizes" i.e. presents. The he asked everyone if they wanted to eat cake.
We even had a pinata, which is something we have always done on their birthdays.

The cake of course had to be speed racer, and this mom had to complete the task. I must say I need to take a class on fondant (secretly this stuff scares me). The cake would have been been better, I carved out the cake but after putting the icing on you couldn't see all the details, fondant would have definitely helped. But Garrett was happy and that is all that matters.



He received some great gifts, many of his favorite things. He is really gotten into batman lately and Madison and Mckenzie got him this dress up outfit, should have known what was coming. I mean really he was on the chair! Logical way off is to jump to the bean bag.



He is our cute little man! I can't wait to see what the next year brings us. This last year has been fun with trips to the ER and a stay int he hospital. The biggest change was watching him grow up and learn so many new things. He is a smart kid, finds a way to get what he wants, new words, questions and answers.

We love you Garrett! Hope you had a great party day!

Mckenzie - 2 weeks

Each of our kids has this very picture taken of them. Dad holding them in his hand. It is amazing to see how different they fill his hand. Looking at this picture we can really see the similarities of Madison and Mckenzie. Granted the similarities happen looking at Madison's 3 month pictures.

And who can resist cute hands and feet pictures, complete with mom and dads hands!






She sure is cute! And a keeper!

Was I really that far behind?

So here is to post number 3 in one day! WOW!!!!

Mckenzie had her first bath, finally the umbilical cord fell off. She loved it. Even with the sponge baths she loved getting her hair washed and that continued with the regular bath.

And yes, look at all those rolls!

Mckenzie had he 2 weeks check up and weighed in at 9 pounds 14 ounces. 21 3/4 inches putting her well into the 90% for her weight and height. She is healthy and growing great. Next checkup at 2 months.

(She is always giving us the pirate look!)

And last of all today...Garrett is really warming up to having a little sister, about once a day he ask to hold her. He still has his moments of wanting all of the attention but we are working through that. There is no denying that he loves his sister.