four years old.

so, yes ... it's been a while.  what's new?

Zoey is four today!!!!

as we see here, she was thrilled about the mini photo session I had planned!

really I just wanted to get some adorable pics of her on her birthday, in her birthday outfit ...

before she went to school and potentially destroyed it (the outfit, that is)!

she has this little morning routine ~ it includes a diaper change, getting dressed,

having her "med milk" (that's her milk with her prevacid & allergy medicine in it - because

there's no way she'll take the medicines alone!), being offered a bit of something to 

nibble on - offered being the key word, getting socks & shoes on, and then watching one of

her favorite shows (Caillou or, her new fave, Mickey Mouse Club House) - all cozy in her chair - until it's time to get her coat on and go wait for the bus ...

no where in that routine does "mini photo session with mama" fit in!!!

in my opinion, I still got adorable pics of her ...

because to me the way she was so passionate with her cry was, honestly,

sort of hilarious!  doesn't she just look like a little princess on her throne, having a little hissy fit!!

yep, our princess!!

anyway, I could go on and on and on about how I can't believe she is four years old.

four years old?

NO.

she's my baby, how can she be a four year old?

I've even had a touch of baby fever as I look at my kids and how big they're all getting,

and it really sinks in that we are done with babies and have only years left of

even having little kids in the house.  it's weird.  right now I don't like thinking about it.

but - it is what it is.  I'm trying to focus on these four and fill in some of 

the gaps I see, as far as behavior ... all I can say is ... pray for me!!  LOL!!!

and now, a word about my lack of blogging ...

honestly, as far as this blog goes, I'm trying to remember that the whole purpose

is that we have these memories to treasure - ideally in book form, though so far I've only

afforded to get books printed through 2009!  that means I really need to find a way

to get 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 printed by the end of this year - that way I'll be "caught up"

and will be able to just print each year as it ends!  but I must remind myself that I

do not blog for readers ... I just happen to have a few people who seem to enjoy reading

this blog.  don't get me wrong, I'm totally cool with that - and I do blog for our family and friends

who like to keep up with us a bit ... but, as I was saying, I have to remind myself

that the point is to capture memories that we can treasure as a family!  that means that it doesn't

matter if everything makes it onto this blog ... it doesn't matter if the photos are

the best ... it doesn't matter if it's all in chronological order (ahem: Christmas, New Years, and

Jericho's birthday are yet to come - but today I blogged about TODAY!) ... none of it

matters ... I must repeat this to myself, often!  and so, there is my incredibly long "spout" on 

nothing in particular!  lol!  but, again, it's because I know I'll go back and read this

all one day - and will need the reminder, again!!!

happy birthday!

not only is it exciting that Gary's brother and our neice have to visit for a couple days, but to really make it fun Katie turned nine on Sunday - so, for the first time ever - we got to celebrate her birthday with her! Here's a couple pics from our cupcake celebration:
isn't she beautiful!

her daddy and I were photographers, so we had to
celebrate from the other side of the kitchen counter!

check out Liam's face - LOVE it!!!

what a nice uncle - lol

back home ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIAM! That's right, today I missed my sweet baby boy turning two ... I know he's too young to "know" that I missed his special day, but someday he'll know and so here's my message to him:

Liam ~ your mama loves you so very much and I was so sad today to miss giving you a big birthday hug and taking photos of your cute little face! I'm glad I got to talk to you on the phone and tell you happy birthday - and you told me "I love you, mama" - you're such a sweet little boy! I hope I won't ever have to be away from you on your birthday again, love you lil man - Mama

My friend was sweet enough to have taken some pics before she left my house to join me here, so now I have pics of my babies at home! I miss them all, it's so hard to be torn between your children ... but one day this will all be a distant memory and we'll all be together again - praise God!

um ... don't you have four kids???

why, yes - I do! Though you wouldn't know it by my previous posts huh ... so here's their turn, finally!

the boys ~

here's our "lil man" - Liam! He's nearing two and he is
talking up a storm! He's such a joy and such a little character!
Here he is, driving his "vroom" (aka car)!

and here's our sweet face Jericho! When he came to me looking like this,
I had flashbacks to my "preteen"/young teen years - lol! I HAD to snap
some pics! Jericho is so funny! He's always saying things that take us off
guard and/or make us laugh! A recent favorite was a few weeks back:
Annicka was acting up and daddy said to her, "you're gonna lose your
rights" ... then we hear Jericho pipe up, "yep ... and your lefts"!
He cracks us up!!!

and here he is the day he turned five! it was raining so much
that we couldn't do our "official" photos - so these ones had to do.
We went to Chuck E. Cheese, per his request - he had been waiting
to go for months! It continued to rain all week, then I had Zoey -
needless to say, his "official" photos have still not been done!

the girls ~

hmmm! apparently I haven't taken any photos of our Annicka
yet this year (with my camera, but granddaddy has been photographer
a few times and I know he has some) ... but she's here! She's nine years
old and can be - what's the word ... well - she can be anything! She's got
a sweet spirit and is very thoughtful in so many ways - she has a tendency
to be sassy with us, but has excellent behavior anywhere else!

and then of course, you've all "met" Zoey and learned about her -
so I don't need to go into detail about our precious new baby!