Winter continues, but we're having fun!

Hello from the Rainbows on St Pat's Day!  The kids are growing and keeping busy.  We are soaking up our last few Saturdays with dad before his 6 day weeks start, whenever the weather warms up.  Joy has been really sweet lately and very interested in playing with her babies/stuffed toys.  There are two younger kids that go to our larger church body whom she has named her babies after.  She will spend hours reading them books, putting them to bed, taking them for walks in her stroller, etc.  This baby play has re-emerged since we started taking care of a 6 month old twice a week.  Joy has one swim class left and the experience has been very positive and fun for her.  Lastly, Joy is going to start preschool this fall.  We got to visit last week.  She has been talking about it ever since and was tearful the rest of the evening because she didn't want to wait until her birthday to start preschool.
Noah continues to be a bundle of fun.  He isn't talking much outside of: mama, dada, ge (Joy), key (kitty), and eeee (eat).  He also just started walking by holding onto just one of our hands or with push toys.  He is so proud of himself.  He turns 1 in just 1.5 weeks!  I can't believe it.  We are having a small celebration with family, balloons, and cake over Easter weekend for him.  Below are some clips of the fun we've been having despite the continued cold weather (which isn't all bad since that means we get to see more of dad).  :)

random stuff

This video is a peek at what's been happening in our house lately.  Danny got a new golf toy for putting and the kids love it.  Noah insists that we help him walk most of the time.  And when he is not walking, he is throwing a ball around.  Joy is in a swim class and is really enjoying it.  She put her head under the water once tonight, but only once because she was worried the fish would get her.  :)  They keep us busy, but we love it and them!

Noah is crawling!

Hi.  Noah is crawling, finally!  He started right around his 10 month birthday.  His pattern, so far, is to hit milestones about a month after Joy did.  If that holds true, we can expect him to walk on his own around 14 months.  And, yes, he has started walking, with the support of our hands.  Noah is very excited to be able to get around on his own.  He has developed a love for toy balls, evident by him throwing and rolling them all over the house, creating obstacle courses for the rest of us.  Noah has been sick for the past week with a cough and REALLY runny nose.  We had him checked for an ear infection and other things last week and he got the all clear.  So, we are anxiously waiting for him to get better because he is pretty uncomfortable.  He also remains our little snuggle bug.  Danny and I really enjoy all of this baby bear's affection.  The video will show how busy this little big guy is lately.



And, our sweet 3.5 yr old, Joy, has become a kid and officially has left her toddler self behind.  She has lots of opinions and ideas (good and bad), loves her little brother so much he is nearly smothered everyday, and is crazy about books.  She has piles of books around the house that she bounces between throughout the day but doesn't use 25% of them.  Of course, when I try to put some away, she has an opinion about that.  And, the first thing Danny has to do when he gets home from work is play freeze tag with her.  If she really begs, the whole family might even join in sometimes.

We did an impromptu photo shoot of Noah and Joy in their Packer gear.  Here are a few of our favorites.

Noah picks on Joy

Joy whistles at Noah

Here's a glimpse at a moment during one of our days last week.  I'm so thankful to be able to capture moments like this on video.  These two are so much fun, most of the time.  :)

Noah Shakes It!

Noah is really close to crawling!  And, he's perfecting his dance moves.  Check him out below...

Thanksgiving 2012

We spent Thanksgiving with the Krafve family this year.  We drove up to the farm and arrived in time for Thanksgiving dinner (or lunch) and returned home on Friday evening right at bedtime.  It was a nice visit with mom and dad, Christi and Bart, Nancy and Ralph.  Jenni and Aaron were with Aaron's family and we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of their little girl, who is due December 6!!  We ended up getting about 1 in of snow on Thanksgiving Eve too.  And, of course, we have a video to share of Joy and Noah...