Love, Hate

 I think these two are going to be buds. And probably drive each other bonkers too. Owen and Ethan have never really had to work at sharing with each other because they don't really like what the other one likes. Owen blissfully rides his tractor and cooks on his grill while Ethan is super hero land. Harper, however, seems to gravitate towards the things Owen likes. I can't decide if it's because it causes him to flip out, or if she actually really wants to play with his things. (probably a little of both) I listened to Owen try to talk Harper out of playing with his grill the other day..."No ma'am. It's too hot for you. You'll burn your fingers. Go find your doll, she's safer." Luckily Harper can't catch him on his tractor...yet.

13 Months

I never thought I could get so excited about pig tails...but I was giddy. Ethan kept looking at me like I was crazy. But come on, how cute are they?! Of course they didn't last long, and I've only managed to get Harper to hold still one other time to get them back in her hair, but at least I know it's possible.

This past month has had other fun things occur in Harper Laine's life. She's all over the place crawling and climbing up on stuff. I finally had to put the gates on the stairs up after having Harper disappear and then hear her from upstairs. (she's fast!) She hasn't started walking on her own yet, but she enjoys pushing her stroller and walking behind it. The way she greets people is by punching them in the face. Yeah, we're trying to work on it. The bad thing is that it's hilarious when she punches her brothers; it's just not so funny when it's me. Her facial expressions communicate really well these days too...I swear I saw an eye roll yesterday.

Her brothers still have the ability to crack her up, and I truly thinks it's the sweetest sound ever!

Silver Dollar City

We went to SDC this past weekend as a family, and while I was a little nervous about how Harper would do, it ended up being a great trip!

 We got there about 10 and headed straight to the kid rides. Sadly, Owen was a HALF an inch too short to ride most of the rides, but he had a great attitude and still managed to ride a few. Of course Ethan had a blast and would have gone on every ride if we'd let him. I think next year will be a whole different ball game when both boys will (hopefully) be tall enough.

Harper found a slice of her heaven in the ball house. She sat on the floor watching the big kids forever, and then finally got comfortable crawling all over chasing the balls. She did get run into by a big kid at one point, and I took her out to make sure she was okay. I'm pretty sure she was more mad that I took her outside than her getting stomped on.

After lunch the kids found a "creek" to play in, and I think they would have stayed the rest of the day there. Chris made the comment, "We sure drove a long way for them to play in something my dad has in his back yard!"

We left right before they had to shut the park down for lightening, and I think it was fabulous timing all around. The kids didn't melt down one, and it ended up being one fun memory!

Easter...a little after the fact

I know Easter was awhile ago, but I just emptied my camera and found all these pictures I'd forgotten about. It's getting harder and harder these days to keep thing straight!

 We started Easter morning off by making "resurrection rolls". The boys probably ate half the marshmallows while making them, and Harper enjoyed watching. Inevitably we had to scramble to get out the door and this was the only picture we managed to get of the kids in their new Easter clothes (thanks, Mimi!)....

Ethan's face pretty much described the morning!

Luckily, after church, a good lunch and long naps, we were ready to continue the Easter celebration with friends. The Harris fam had us over for dinner and a big Easter egg hunt. I think this was our 3rd year to do this with them, so it's been a fun tradition to have away from family.