Spring Program

Last sunday the kids had their spring program at our church. Sabrina was so excited to perform her songs that she had been practicing from her CD for FOREVER! :) Thankfully, they are cute songs and totally adult friendly...even catchy! They all had to wear summer attire and really boogied down. :) So awesome to see some many kids enthusiastically praising God together!

Sabrina is the one in the pink tank top :)

Disney on Ice

Some bunny loves me!

Anabelle made this sweet mask at school and wears it around all the time. The other day, she came up the steps with it on and Emeline started belly laughing at her! It was so cute!

Sisters

Oh I love watching my girls fall in love with each each other! Since Emeline has gotten older, she has begun to develop such a little personality. She is so smiley and giggly and always is looking for her sisters to provide a little entertainment, and entertain they do! They put on shows for Eme and show her toy after toy, explaining in great detail all of its features and why she should love it. They hold her, and plop her on their laps and pretend she is their own baby. They sing songs and play patty cake and crack to pieces when Eme shakes her head furiously.




All of this stirs my heart and brings me so much joy!...It also gives me a small window into what my parents watched unfold as their three girls, all born within 5 years fell in love with each other. Don't get me wrong, there was fighting and all...but those moments, those magical moments when it all clicks, when everyone is getting along, are what forms that bond...that lifelong, undeniable connection that will hold together through those rough years. I just hope and pray, day after day that my girls will love their sisters and cherish and support each other in the same way we do :)


The Hoogie sisters and baby "Tilly"!

Florida

Our first vacation as a family of 5 was a total success! We were a little nervous about travel with a 6 month old who has a hard time napping when out and about, but overall she did great! We couldn't have asked for more! We spent the majority of our time in Ft. Meyers beach relaxing. The girls swam, swam, collected shells and swam some more! We had a little trouble with the kids and Brad getting a little sick (croup, colds, and fever) but largely, it didn't slow them down too much. Just a good reason to get everyone to bed a little early. Eme had a few firsts while we were down there: she experienced sand, swimming and mastered sitting up!



After a few days, we went to Port Charlotte to visit Brad's Grandma Gert for the day. We played games, fed the turtles and went to visit the place where she volunteers. Last year, I was pregnant when we visited and this year we were able to introduce Grandma to Emeline. It was so sweet to see them get to know each other!

After a few more days in FMB, we packed up all our stuff (and let me tell you, there was a crazy amount of stuff involved in traveling with a baby! YIKES) and headed to Orlando to Brad's other Grandparents. We got to spend two nights visiting with them and swimming in their pool.

WHile there, Brad was able to hit the Daytona 500 which had been rain delayed and got to see the fireball track dryer incident unfold! We also got to surprise the girls with a day at Disney with Nana and Poppy! It was a truly magical day seeing the Magic Kingdom through the eyes of the girls. They were over the moon! They continue to pray every day "thank you God for letting us go to Disney". Such seriously amazing family memories! (It would not have been nearly as enjoyable without the help of my parents...they were so awesome about taking Emeline while we took the big girls on rides.

Seriously, it was a busy vacation packed full of fun stuff and lots of memories made. Best of all, I got to have my Hubby with be 24/7 for over a week, AWESOME!

a swing and a miss

Time is flying past though Eme could have started solids a while ago, I'm bigtime dragging my feet because lets be honest, the "lets eat and drool mush" stage isnt super fun. A week or so ago I decided I should at least give the food thing a test run and well...this is what happened:

Spoon in

gets "the willies" aka that shiver thing people do when something is gross

and a solid GAG (I look at this pic and can HEAR it!)

So sadly, Emeline does not have the same love of food as her mother! We worked at it for a bit with very little improvement but at least at the end we got this:

Yep, she's a doll!

We've postponed more food feeding while we try to get a handle on the reflux that has just come uo (no pun intended!). Hopefully we'll find the right combination of formula, prune juice and temperature to keep her rolly polly as ever! :)

Turning 5 is hard work!

SO hard to believe that the honey that made me a mommy is already 5!!! The time has gone way too fast! Sabrina has been our bright, sweet, thoughtful, talkative, energetic little buddy from moment one! Her quest for knowledge is unending and her passion for life can be so contagious! We are so blessed to have had these 5 years with her in our care!
Thisyear since she was a "whole hand" we told her she could have a friend party. She has recently developed a love for gymnastics and wanted to share that with her friends so we headed to a gym for her party! It was so fun to see all the kids running, jumping, tumbling and burning off the sugar from their cupcakes! :)


We also had parties with both sides of the family.
At the Hoogland party we celebrated with dinner and an ice cream cake....the cake was stored in a freezer in our barn that was not so frozen and as a result, the cake was....welll.....a MESS! Thankfully Sabrina did not mind a bit :)


With the Iversons we headed out to Alpen Rose for brunch. The girls always look forward to spending time with their cousins! After, we came to our house for cake and gifts.



Lastly, we celebrated at home on the actual big day. We made a homemade confetti cake (her fave) and had the dinner of her choice: Ham loaf and corn, applesauce and rolls (not quite as crazy as in years past, although until the day before the menu was ham loaf and pancakes!!)

The birthday girl with her little sisters. :)

Cannot wait to share the next year with you Brina-Bo! :) You are a treasure!