Oh, this girl

Nico go goolo?

I used to ask my mom if my sister, Jana, was at school each day by saying, "Jana go goolo?".  Here's my Nicholas ready to "go goolo" as it were.  I love this Nicholas.  He is spunky, sweet, and thoughtful. Oh my dear man, your sweetness is a gift.

Nicholas and Ben waiting at the window for his "goolo" carpool.

Because of my dad's sudden passing we are living with my mom until the summer.  It's been a special and important time for us to help each other in meaningful ways. And I have to say, there's something sweet (and definitely surreal) about sending my boysies out the same front door I marched out of each day as a child.  A bizarro full circle that somehow works.

Beautiful Morning

Sometimes a sweet baby, her big brother, the lighting and cleanliness of the room, and the blanket and outfit all come together.  And sometimes I remember to pick up my camera and document it all.

Ben is a wonderful camera man and singer and Liesl is a wonderful subject and audience.  Baby girl has softened her big brothers.  If only that softening would work brother to brother, too.  

A disinterested nativity

Meh.

(It was a special treat for a child of mine to be the baby Jesus at my extended family's Christmas party...I've never had a newborn on the few occasions we've been in town for it.  At least Liesl seemed into it!)

"My feet are up!!"

Yes, Benny!  Thanks in no part to the recliner function of that chair and thanks in all part to your 3 year old height.  But yes, they are up!

Brotherly Love

This rigamarole is a common occurrence in our house.  Nicholas and Benjamin fight for the best position to coo, smile at and talk to our Liesl.  I think Benjamin won this battle.

Is she saying "help me" with her eyes?

Girl, you loved.

Nicholas, the answer is Nicholas

I think the questions is fairly obvious:

And Nicholas couldn't be prouder.  

During Liesl's pregnancy I imagined a baby with Nicholas's blue eyes, dark hair, and fluffy cheeks.  I sort of took it for granted that Liesl would be a Nico mold baby, since I already have two of a similar make and model.  In fact, on the drive to the hopsital I tried to remind myself that this baby probably wouldn't look like Nicholas.  It was a special little added joy to see my imagined baby come to life.

Oh Liesl, you are a lucky girl to favor big brother Nick.  Trust me, you won't be sorry.

A nap in three pictures

Liesl has become a true cuddler on occasion.  My first child to do so at such a young age.  You could almost call it a hug.  This nap was the product of her awesome cuddling.  Darling.   

A thousand words

Jacob has become a huge fan of my blog.  He will sit for hours on a Sunday afternoon reading post after post.  Things I've forgotten about the details of our life have been remembered as he is wont to say, "Mom, listen to this!" and then proceed to read my own words back to me.  

Considering the many zigs and zags our life has taken in the past few years I have taken to viewing life on a macro level.  Moves, jobs, deaths, births.  And yet, this blog has always been about the micro.  The moments.  His love of our blog has brought me back to trying to focus on the blessed, little, present micro.

Jacob asked that I write a post about him and I am happy to do it.  This man is a whole lot of everything.  The pictures I found for his requested post really do tell the story of Jacob right now.  His facial expressions, interests, attitudes...they're all here almost in caricature form.

An undying Alabama fan.  Untied shoes.  Always untied shoes.

A casual BYU fan.  His face also highlights his love of prestige items and experiences.  A football game on the front row with a swag bag in tow?  Yesssss.  (Thanks to Matt's boss for this night.)

Big brother.  Full of tenderness for his little sister and full of somethin' for his little brothers.

His begging face.  I love this face and find that when he does it he's in on the joke and is ok with whatever I say with a laugh.  That's not always the case with this passionate boy.

Football.  Homeslice comes home every day from school happy because he played football during recess with friends.  Whenever I ask him how his day was he says, "Good!  I caught a 15 yard pass!  Etc, etc, etc."  His candy cane "mouthguard" is featured below.

This dance move is so Jacob.  He does sort of a river dance thing with his legs while doing a DJ sort of arm move.  Always while beat boxing.  Always.

Another more posed dance.  I love Liesl's face as she watches this ball of frenetic energy.

Yeah, this.  So this.

And sweet face.  I still see my baby in there.  The big brown eyes and confident smile.  He is growing up so fast.  He has been on this wild "macro" ride with us during very formative years and he's still smiling.  I'm proud of this little man and love him always.

 

Can you see the baby in this picture 3.0

That's right readers, we've yet another baby to find!  Much like the earlier versions of this game, this round was orchestrated almost completely by chance.  A pretty easy chance when you have as extensive a pink wardrobe as Little Miss has.

Five points to anyone who sees the bear, too!

Photogs

I have three little photographers running around.  They love anything to do with my phone and abscond with it often. Due to their not knowing the passcode the most they can do without explicit permission is take pictures.  Lots and lots of pictures.  Most of the photos they take fall squarely into the gag, selfie, or gag/selfie categories (see previous post).  Once in a while, however, they take a really nice little picture.  And, if you can believe it, I'm in them!

by Jacob*

by Benjamin

Good job, boys!

Two Tooths

Nico's baby teeth are just like mine were: tiny.  They are like premie teeth.  And they've stuck around forever.

Two of his baby teeth have finally worn out their welcome.  He even had a permanent tooth partially in behind one of those little chick-lets.  

It was about time for them to fall out, because I think we can all agree that this is no baby.