More from Burke Lake Park of the kiddos...

The shoot at Burke Lake Park R(5.5) M(3) Regan (8mon)

Slow Down Regan!

Ahhhhh! My baby pulled up on her own today from a laying down position to standing. I was really hoping my last one would wait until after her first birthday for these shenanigans. It was so cute because I was working in the kitchen and both boys were right next to her and started yelling.."Mommy, look at Regan..she is standing up all by herself. She pulled up onto the train bin all by herself!" They were so excited. It was like they could not believe their sister was actually in a vertical position b/c she is always in a horizontal one. Regan is 8.5 months. Started army crawling at 7 months. She is our first army crawler and very fast. She loves cords, paper, or anything small that she can put into her mouth. It is comical how long it takes me to complete one task b/c she is on the move. She loves to find Doah's water bowl too. The boys compete (b/c everything is a competition with boys) to see who can get her to laugh the hardest. She will play for a small amount of time in the pack and play as long as she is near her brothers and she has their entertainment. Regan is still such a happy baby who LOVES to smile. One thing that lights my heart is her love for her Daddy. It is amazing. As soon as he walks in the door, she starts swinging her arms, kicking her legs and shaking her head with a huge grin from ear to ear. Then she reaches for him and puts her head on his chest. She does not do that with me. It is like she is telling Logan, "I have missed you so much and love you." She loves to say "Dada and Mama." All our kids said Mama first I think. For about a month, she has been on a 2 nap schedule which is great but confines you to be home most days beside taking River to and from school. She is flexible, enjoys the carseat most days and still has a gummy smile! I think I will be sad when her smile shows teeth! Regan, you bring us so much joy...ALL of us! ox

Snow Leaf Falling Day by River Welsh

One day River and his family were outside playing in the leaves. River had a leaf fight with Daddy. Daddy threw the leaves at Mason and Mason said, "I do not like that." Then Daddy threw them at Mommy. Daddy pushed Mommy over in the leaves. Daddy got up and pushed Mason and River in. Then Mason and River pushed Daddy in and Daddy said, "This is the best day ever on the week." Daddy said, "We are going to have the picture lady come." The picture lady took a lot of pictures and fixed too many pictures because the family wanted her too. They all jumped in the leaves and the picture lady took a picture of them. The End

One of River's Original Stories...word for word

River-5.5 years

Most days, River and I are alone for about an hour when Mason and Regan are still sleeping. One of River's favorite things to do is to make up a story and tell it to me while I write it down word for word. I love his stories and he is so proud of them. He loves to have Daddy read them when he gets home from work. Here is one from today...

"Christmas Eve Now" by River Welsh

One day River and all of his family were sleeping in bed. Santa Claus came while they were sleeping. Santa Claus and his reindeer came. Santa Claus went down the chimney. He left presents under the tree. Then Santa Claus went up the chimney and the entire family came downstairs and looked under the tree and there was presents. When River was looking under the tree, he saw a bird's nest. They happily opened their presents and got on the couch and watched a Christmas movie. The family went outside and Daddy went to the shed and got the sled. River went down to the house and got Doah to come out in the snow. Daddy put Doah on the sled and they pushed Doah down the hill. Then the family came inside and had some hot chocolate. When the hot chocolate was done, it was night time. River and Mason got to stay up the latest the whole entire night. Then the whole family wend to bed. The end.

Not a big fan of rice cereal...

Regan had her first food today. Rice cereal. She did really well with the spoon and swallowing but by the 5th bite was making some pretty awful faces. I had some great helpers either taking pictures, wiping her face, or feeding her. Mason and River were so excited to help Regan with eating for the first time! Mason then tried to feed her a pretzel. A bit too early for that though. River is getting really great at taking pictures too. I cannot believe it is already time for me to start making baby food. But for now, we will work on just rice cereal for a few days.

Mason's Cousin Birthday Party

We cannot believe Mason is turning 3 this month. To celebrate, we had a combined pool party at the Wellness Center with Dawson and Ayla. The kids loved swimming in the heated therapy pool. Then we went into a large room to enjoy pizza, opening presents and cake of course. Mason requested a huge cake that looked like a doughnut with sprinkles. It was loads of fun. We also plan to have a small family get together with Mimi and Pop, Aunt Erin, Uncle Todd, Cedar and Eli closer to his real birthday.

A visit to see the Harrisonburg cousins...

Mason

I feel like I need to jot down more posts to remember all the "moments" with the kids or at least some of them. Mason is 1 month shy of 3 and still loves to nap for 3 or 3.5 hours a day. Today, he woke up at 3pm. (only after 2 hours) crying very loudly. I think it was a bad dream. I went up there and told him River and Regan were still asleep and that it was still nap time. I had just put R and R down at 230, and I needed some more "Mommy time." He obeyed and I gave him 3 books to look at and turned his light on and told him I would be back to get him when Riv gets up. He was very happy and when I left, I thought to myself, "When did he grow up? I felt like I was talking to River in a way. Too weird." He is turning into such a little boy too fast!

Back to a quiet house...for a few minutes anyway. Yep, Regan just woke..ha!

Boys will be Boys...

Took the kids to see all the harrisonburg cousins all day Tuesday. For quiet time, I put River and Marley in a bedroom to play quietly. I opened the door to find River laying down, with his legs spread open and hands behind his head laughing. Marley had a nerf gun out and was loading it above R. "What are you boys doing...?" R says, "We are taking turns shooting eachother's penises."

At 1000am this morning, I had already done 2 crafts with the boys to keep them busy. Then I just went outside to check on them and Mason had peed in a cup outside and River dumped it into the sandbox. Lovely.

This morning, River was singing at the top of his lungs..."Oh no, you never let go of me...through the calm and through the storm..." A beautiful thing for a tired Mommy to hear. Then I hear Mason shouting, "No, stop singing..." There went the moment:)

They keep me on my toes and laughing...love it.

Krista

"Blessed are those who mourn..." I have been comforted by this verse as we heard the news this weekend that Belle, Krista's Mom, has pancreatic/liver cancer. She has been having odd, unexplained symptoms for awhile which reached a new level of concern and landed her in the hospital Friday. They found the mass then. She was jaundiced from head to toe and not doing well at all. My heart absolutely breaks for Krista and the entire family. I am so glad Chris and Kevin are so close since Kevin and Dia have gone through this with loosing Dia's Mom recently to cancer. I spent so much of Saturday crying and praying and trying to wrap my head around what was to come. Mason caught me crying Saturday morning, put down his toy and walked over to me. He looked so concerned and asked me, "Mommy, are you sad?" I told him my friend was sick and I needed to pray for her. He climbed up onto my lap and hugged me so hard for the longest time. Then he positioned himself next to me, grabbed my hand to hold and put his head on my shoulders. Like Dia said, "he just paused to be there with you." I was reminded that he is just shy of 3 and already thinking outside of himself. Chris and Krista's faith has been inspiring. They are keeping there eyes on Jesus! They were told most likely her cancer was stage 3/4 due to the mass and her symptoms. With pancreatic cancer, the symptoms usually do not show until the later stages when it is too late for any treatment. It is a cancer that is very aggressive. We all prayed and waited to hear how her surgery/biopsy went today (Monday). My prayer was that there would be a miracle Lord willing and that Belle would have more time with us than the doctors think and they we would be surprised with good news. After phone tags with Chris and Mom today, Mom called to say, her cancer is TREATABLE and that they are going to send her to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Her earlier test did not match what they found in surgery today and the cancer had NOT progressed beyond a treatable level. Praise God! This was the great news we all had hoped for. We are also so happy to hear that Belle has Jesus in her heart and that when the time comes for the Lord to take her home, she will be in heaven and Krista will see her again. This was Krista and Chris' prayer going down to WVA for the weekend. I wrote Chris and Krista this past weekend an email. It basically said that I cannot imagine their pain now and no words can help. That life is not fair but that God is good. That we are to trust HIM even when we do not understand why horrific things happen! But how, when the pain is so deep and new??? I turned to the bible and was reminded of some verses for times like these in life....
"I waited patiently for the Lord, he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord." Psalm 40:1-3

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1Peter 5:7

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me." John 14:1

" Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Matthew 5:4

Movies

River just started a story with..."You know Mommy, back in the old times like when you and Daddy were born or when you were kids..." I mean seriously? I had to laugh.

Last night, we loaded the kiddos into the minivan and took them to see Winnie the Pooh. They all loved it! Including Regan:) Hard to believe it was Regan's 2nd movie and she turned 4 months yesterday. Mason ate popcorn for the entire movie and asked for more when it was all gone. That boy can put it down. I even caught him lifting his shirt up and patting his growing popcorn belly. He would dance and laugh in his chair every time music would play during the film and say, "Mommy watch me." River just starred at the movie smiling and in amazement. He even laughed at the jokes and then of course, Mason had to copy him and laugh out loud. We shared the entire theatre with 2 others. So it was nice for the boys to move around a little and for Logan and I to take turns holding Regan. Mason kept asking, "why is it getting dark in here." Logan only had to leave the theatre 2 times for pee pee breaks:) When the movie was over, we let the boys run up and down the isle. L and I were talking about what movies the boys have seen and I wanted to jot them down.

River at the drive in theatre when he was a baby-The Jungle Book

Toy Story 3

Yoggie Bear

Rio

Winnie the Pooh

Mason Rio

Winnie the Pooh

Regan Rio

Winnie the Pooh

Next on the agenda, Cars 2. The boys cannot wait. We'll get a sitter for Regan for that one...

Bumbo Seat, Rolling Over, and Loving Her Bros

I was able to capture Regan rolling over for the first time after church last week. She was 3 1/2 months old and very proud of herself. Momma was too. Regan is teething like a champ and eating very often during the day and night now. Must be a growth spurt along with the teething causing the night waking. She loves her bumbo seat and is learning how to hold objects better. She continues to love her brothers so much. She just lights up when they talk to her and she talks back now along with many smiles.

Summer Fun