Easter Egg Hunt

This month has proven fun for the kids. They've waited sooo long for Easter to arrive. It's almost as if Christmas was coming. Well, we are celebrating the Saviour, so...I guess there is some correlation. But they've been so eager for the candy too. Ah well, they enjoy all parts of the season.

We had a church egg hunt a week before Easter and that was a lot of fun. Bekah got lots more eggs than her brothers or sister. She's got this game down! Jack had to be coaxed into looking for his eggs; but once they were all found, his shining moment was eating the candy from everyone else's egg and handing back the empty "shell." He didn't care if it was a golden egg or not. He only wanted the candy. Smart boy!

Joe didn't get much into the thing of things. But he was a good sport and let everyone else find the eggs.

And here are the pictures from our family egg hunt. We had two visitors that are the kids' friends. Christopher and his sister wanted to help look for eggs. We had enough to share and it was fun to see them all scampering around the yard looking for eggs.

John kept saying it was too easy. And it probably was, but we're dealing with a large age range here. Jack wasn't as interested in finding the eggs today. He like picking them up and throwing them. Thank goodness we left the hardboiled eggs inside. The joy of finding plastic eggs was enough for them all.

Happy Easter! From our family to yours.

Teaching Jack to "Smile!"

So, Shawn decided to teach Jack how to smile for a camera. And we got some interesting results. Most of the kids know how to pose and smile for their pictures. They all want to see their pictures instantly (thank goodness for digital pictures). Gone are the days of guessing how the picture will turn out once it's developed.

Well, the kids (minus Jack) were all ready to have their pictures taken, and they were more than eager to show Jack how it's done. Well, we got some good shots that really show the personalities of our children.

Say, "Cheese!", Jack Jack!

Welcome Home Lil' Joe!

And we added number seven to our family this past March! Joseph Michael was born on March 21st at 6:14 pm. Amazingly, he was also 6 lbs. 14 oz. Talk about coincidence! And it wasn't even a hard labor on Mom! Yea!

Joe had to spend a week in the NICU because of various reasons that all turned out to be fine. He couldn't keep his blood sugars at levels that satisfied the doctors and then they ran some more tests only to find he might have an infection/inflammation somewhere in his body. All of those blood tests came back normal/negative, so he cleared that test just fine. Then, to help him keep his sugar levels higher, they force fed him through a tube.

Anyway, long story short, he gained weight nicely and is now home. He has surpassed his birth weight (which usually happens by the second week of life, not the first 8 days!) and is working on a schedule that matches more of our family's needs.

My stay at the hospital wasn't all bad. I had some great visitors and the hospital food was actually awesome! They are starting a new program at the hospital where you get to choose from a menu, so every meal has an individual touch to it. The above one was my lunch. Loads of food available and when it came, it was enough to share with another adult too. Wow! Shawn was a little jealous that I got pizza for two days. Ah well. I told him he could have the next baby and get pampered.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of our newest member! He is everyone's favorite. John and Kelsey are constantly battling as to who gets to carry/hold Joe. Bekah calms down as soon as she has her little brother in her arms. And Jack's first words on waking up are "Joe? Joe?" He loves his little brother. And I can't complain either. Joe's a pretty mellow baby and I get plenty of help holding him when he needs cuddle time. It's been fun to see the kids interacting and caring for Joe. It's nice to see them getting along over little Joe.