Easter 2009

We have had a busy couple of days. Here are a few things that we have been able to do this week while Nathan was on spring break.

We went and met the Easter bunny. There always seems to be one kid that isn't happy to see either the Easter Bunny or Santa. This year was Kai!

We still got the pictures just to prove to him when he is older how silly he acted when meeting the Easter Bunny! :) Even Gabi doesn't look too sure! Koa is content. He is being held by a fuzzy creature!

We got the kids pictures taken together. Gabi loves holding her little brother!

Gabi still loves to pose for pictures. She will be turning 4 in less than a month. She is getting so big!

We missed Kai's 2 year old pictures because of Koa being born early. So better late than never, here are Kai's 2 year old pictures.

Having Kai hold these trucks was the only way he would take the picture. It is still very cute.

Recently Kai has thought it was funny anytime someone sneezes. He will make fake sneeze sounds and just crack up. That is what we had to have the photographer do to get him to smile. Hopefully he will outgrow this stage!

Gabi wanted to take a picture with these fairy wings. She was very excited.

Koa is turning 2 months old this week. These are his first pictures.

Awake picture.

The kids and I made a Easter Bunny House.

Kai did really good at the beginning putting the gum drops on the walkway...then he just started eating the candy.

Gabi showing off her project. She did all the candies around the doors, windows, and roof.

Before Kai would pose for this picture he had to check to see if there were any candies left in the blue bowl.

Last week I put french braids in Gabi's hair. When we took them out her hair was cinky and he kept saying that it looked like Auntie Em's hair, and that she wanted curly hair again when she saw Emi. So, for the first time we tried sponge rollers in her hair. Look below to see how it turned out.

All her hair ready to go. Now she just needs to sleep with them in.

Opening up Easter baskets in the morning.

Kai checking out his basket.

Gabi got a new ball to play with out back.

Kai got a new ATV car. Later in the day he was trying to ride on it. It was pretty funny.

Family all together after church.

Gabi after church in her new dress Grandma got her.

Wow, curly!! I don't remember my hair ever being this curly when my mom would put sponge rollers in my hair. Gabi's hair was just tight tight curls.

As we got to church, Gabi told Grandma, "Look! I look like Annie and Auntie Em." Gabi likes the movie Annie.

The family put together an egg hunt for the kids. Kai had an interesting way to play...

He would look to see if he could open the egg, and then would stop and eat the candy. After he got some candy, he wasn't too worried about looking for more eggs.

Gabi was very excited to look for the eggs.

"Look mom, I got a Diego egg."

Eating more candy.

Check out Gabi's cute hair bows. I made them this morning before church to match her dress. They happened to match her outfit also.

Kai spending some time with his favorite uncle, Michael. (No offense other uncles!) They are walking Lolo.

Kai walking Lolo all by himself. Such a big boy!

All wiped out on the way home.

Another wiped out little kid!

A third wiped out kid = A very quiet car ride home!

Our little Easter present this year.

Obviously he was bored with me taking so many pictures. Look at that big yawn!

This was Gabi stalling to go to bed. Still super curly hair!

Spring in Utah = Snow

We are now in late March and we are still getting snow. We are so ready for spring!

This was the first time that I let the kids out in the snow to play this year. It was almost gone by this point, but they had a lot of fun.

The previous owner of our house had this dog pole in the yard. It is the perfect height for our kids to use as a tether ball pole. The kids love it.

Gabi has talked about making a snow angel all winter. Here is her first attempt at a snow angel.

Kai going on the slide for the first time since last fall. We miss being outside.


Gabi trying to make a snowball. She is closing her eyes because it was bright outside.

Scooping up more snow.

This is the first time Kai would let me put gloves on him. He was getting used to the idea of touching the snow. (Then he would wipe his hands off quickly!)

Here he is wiping his hands clean.

Another Gabi snow angel.

So the kids wouldn't throw snow at each other, I told them to throw it at the fence. They both thought this was a good idea.

We have snow angels all over the yard!

Kai doesn't like the basketball to get snow on it either. The drain was letting out some water, so he went over and washed the snow off the basketball. Funny kid!

We had to make a snowman this week. It even had raisin eyes, mouth and a carrot nose. The kids had fun making it.

And concluding the afternoon with more tetherball.

Koa's first 6 weeks home

Koa is now 6 weeks old. He has had a busy couple of weeks. He came home with jaundice, and was under lights for a few days. He is just now starting to lose his yellow color, it is mostly left in his eyes.

When he was two weeks old we started the genetic testing process to see if he had Retinoblastoma like Gabi. We got back the results a few weeks ago, and he is clear. We are very happy about the news!

Gabi and Kai have been sick since Koa came home from the hospital. We did good keeping them away from him and not getting him sick until about 2 weeks ago. Koa became sick with a stuffy nose and cough. We took him in. He has MPV, Metapneumo Virus. It hits kids the same as RSV. We are hoping he is getting to the end of it now.

To top things off, Koa has acid reflux. We can go through up to 8 burp rags a day with his spit up. Hopefully, like Gabi did, he will grow out of it soon.

Overall, Koa is a very happy baby. Gabi continues to adore him and asks to touch him all day long. Kai every morning goes "Hi Baby." He also likes to give us the baby's pacifier. He will be a good little helper too.

Here are some pictures to update his first few weeks home.

Koa pretty much slept for the first month he was home. He was so content to lay wherever and just sleep. This was taken on the bilibed before it was sent back.

Two weeks old. These were still preemie outfits.

Our bedroom in the afternoon gets a lot of sun. Koa was very content sleeping with the sun on him.

Oops! His hat was too big. Most newborn hats were too big for him.

I give up...I know I'm cute!

Koa never had the startle reflex when sleeping. He could sleep very happy with his hands out of the blankets. He now gets startled more.

Three weeks old.

Again, very happily sleeping!

I should have taken these pictures earlier. My mom gives the baby's bunnies when they are born. This is Koa's bunny. It just shows how tiny he still is. He has outgrown preemie clothes, and is now filling in newborn clothes. The 0-3 month clothes are still too big on him. It won't be long and they will fit.

Getting bigger.

The two boys.

Four weeks old. This is the outfit that Kai came home from the hospital in. Koa is now around 8 lbs, which is how big Gabi and Kai were when they were born. If he was born when he was supposed to, this is probably how big he would have been.

Tummy time.

St. Patrick's day.

The kids have been asking to hold Koa. This is the first time we have let them. They both love their baby brother!

Grandmom came out for three weeks to help out. She was a great help! With Koa being sick, she took shifts at night holding him, and in the morning let me sleep in. It will be hard getting into our normal routine now that she is gone.

Nice and awake. He has changed so much. This is 5 weeks old.

Hanging out with Grandmom while mommy worked.

Koa had been put on the burp rag at the top of the picture. He kept scooting down, until he got to this position. He loves to sleep with his legs curled under him.

6 weeks old. Nice chubby cheeks. He is now around 9 lbs.

Koa loves looking at the ceiling fans.