Elise laughing

Her first laughs caught on video.

I don't know if that is a snort or a toot before her laugh.  Sounds more like gas to me.

Lydia's Two!!!

The plate Colleen makes for all the kids when they get to be 1-2 years old, including nieces and nephews. "Lydia Joyce Mathews ....Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14"

Lydia posing with her plate.

Sporting the Elmo PJs she got from Papa and Nana. She made out with pajamas for this birthday with three sets.

Loving her new pink shoes.

She had to put them on as soon as she opened them, and has wanted to wear them around everywhere all day. She even wanted to go to bed with them on last night.

Notice the Jayhawk sock and the purple sock. Maybe she is trying to please both sides of the Kansas family?

More clothes.

Present time is fun for all the kids, even if the older ones don't get to do the opening.

Getting ready to enjoy her Elmo cake.

Colleen's handiwork.

Lydia posing in front of the couch. She was running through the kitchen earlier in the day and fell and hit her face against the stove, thus the red stripe down her nose.

Sitting next to her giraffe that used to dwarf her 2 years ago.

She's always got a big grin.

Below is a few video clips of Lydia's birthday.

Soccer and other pictures

Katelyn and her friend Alison were on the same team this year, so they were excited about that.

Holding hands during warmups.

They were the only two girls on the team, so they would always get split up when it came to game time. Their team always split into two teams and would play another team 3 on 3 or 4 on 4, so they were always placed on separate fields.

This is Titus after a fudgesicle. Apparently we forgot to tell him he was supposed to eat it and not smear it all over himself.

A side smile from Elise.

She enjoys her bouncy seat, although unfortunately the music has broken so when she kicks it won't play music anymore.

Another smile from Elise.

A profile of the little 2 month old.

Lying flat on the floor.

Katelyn soothing Elise with the pacifier.

Here's a video clip from Katelyn's last soccer game. Sometimes she is more offensive minded and does better at scoring goals, and some games she takes a more defensive position and lays more towards the back, which is what she was doing this game. Maybe she is taking after her mother who always seemed to take more joy in playing defense than offense.

Some more pictures

These pictures are a little dark, but mowing time is the highlight of Titus' life right now. He is constantly asking if we can mow tonight, and he's always insinuating that "the grass needs mowed, dad."

He must be the son of a speech pathologist, as he's very concerned about the loud noises from the mower, thus the headphones. Dad, on the other hand....

It's not just Titus that enjoy mowing times, though.

Katelyn has started pulling Lydia around in the stroller in the back yard.

Colleen caught this cute pose of Elise sleeping.

A little closer up of the sleeping girl.

And a little closer.

Baby feet.

Elise is starting to smile a lot, though we've had a hard time catching the smiles on camera.

A little better.

A half smile.

Everyone still loves to hold baby.

Katelyn wore this same dress as well when she was almost 2.

Sucking on a lime on the front steps...a lime from Sonic no less.

This is a great climbing tree, and the kids love climbing through it. Unfortunately it is in our front yard, which means the kids are only allowed access to it when an adult is outside.

Lydia is not quite up to climbing status yet.

A little blurry, but grampa helping hold the football. In the off chance Titus isn't asking to mow, he's usually asking to play football.

Even Lydia likes to get into the football action.

Miss Elise stretching forward.

Katelyn posing in front of our beautiful flower bushes off the back deck. She was dressed up for her first birthday party. She went to a friend's house from church who was having a birthday party, complete with twelve 6-7 year old girls.

Posing again.

Lydia loves to give kisses.

All four kids on the couch.

And a couple pictures of the house, which continues to occupy much of our free time. With the weather warming up, we've been able to focus our time more on outdoor/landscaping stuff, though there is still much to do. But we just take it one day at a time, and slowly by slowly, things get done. Just as a reminder, this is what our house looked like when we first bought it.

And this is where we are at now. Much improvement, though we still haven't done much planting yet (obviously). But, like I said, slowly by slowly, it's coming.