1 Year Birthday Month!

What a crazy month.  I went full-time to start the school year to cover for my jobshare partner and it... well it was a whirlwind of constant running from one place to the next, daycare almost everyday, and sickness up the wazoo.  I am SO glad it's over and we are returning back to normal again slowly but surely! I went picture happy this month since all our time together had to be intentional.  Lots of great stuff!  Loads of pictures and videos at the end.

Abigail turns 1!
We are pulling ourself up but not really cruising yet BUT she will grab your hands and make it very clear she wants to practice walking with you.  Just this past week she has gained a new sense of stability while doing it and she can do it one-handed but doesn't have the confidence yet.  We'll see if she chooses to walk at 12 months and 2 weeks like her siblings (ah that's 2 weeks from now!).  I have a feeling she may take an extra month or two to take off but I could be oh so wrong.
Words: "All done" "tsa!" (I think it's "that").   She also very clearly said "outside" the other day while pointing outside but we're going to hold off on calling that a word she knows for now ;) "Dat" for that. 
Dolls: Still LOVES her dolls!  She loves to hold them, squeeze hug them, pat them, and hand them to a friend. 
Shhh: Has learned to put a finger to her mouth to say "shhhhh" but she does it by putting her pointer in her mouth and blowing.  So sweet!
Personality: Her personality has developed and I LOVE it!  She is just so joyful and so much fun!
bananas: She sure loves her bananas and green beans.  This girl could live on this purely
Milk issues?: I've only tried whole milk in her bottle (2 oz with 5 ounces of formula) and both times she seems to have had a lot of gas and was very uncomfortable and even spit up a bit.  But if she's going to have issues with milk, wouldn't she have had an issue while I was nursing?  And even her formula is milk based?  Anyone know anything about this or could it just be a fluke?
Grew up!?!?: This little girl grew up overnight!  Even just this past week since she's turned one, she's now crawling up on things and getting down semi-safely, has a HUGE personality, riles up the kids, initiates play and silliness with them by leaning her body on them to wrestle.  She is also making her wants/dislikes very well known.  She is

Kate turns 4!
Bike: She got a bike with training wheels for her 4th birthday.  Evidently we're behind the train on this but oh well.  She's trying to learn pedaling and a little balance and brakes!
Human: Katelyn turned 100% human on me this month.  Let me explain- she was starting to throw a HUGE fit like she normally does.  I sent her to her room fully expecting the stomping and hitting the door like she normally does before she calms down but it's fully quiet.  So I go to check on her to see if we can talk about what happened and she had turned off the light and was laying in her bed sniffling.  (Oh my heart!).  That made my heart melt and I cried with her while we talked about her behavior and a better way to deal with it (like we always do) but I think we're turning a corner on being able to control emotions.  We're not all the way there yet (heck- I'm not all the way there yet either) but I can see a huge difference.  She's growing up on us so quickly!
Preschool: Kate is in preschool 3 days a week in the mornings at CCE.  She loves her friends and her teacher.
Big girl bed: Kate is now not only in a big girl bed but a "bunk bed" (loft bed) and she LOVES it!


Luke turns 3!

Articulate: Luke is getting to be a bit more articulate with his ability to describe things so we better understand.  He still is our ltitle tiggery-lou loving to hop everywhere, but he sure is starting to seem like a little boy.
Early Riser: No matter what his nap looks like the day prior nor what time he goes to bed (early or late), he is always up by 6:30 singing at the top of his lungs.  I've given up on trying to find a way to get him to sleep longer and am just trying to find ways to deaden the sound so he doesn't wake the girls every morning but haven't found great luck in this yet.  And this is so funny because by 10am, if you go in the car anywhere, this kid is out cold.
Big boy bed!: Luke has moved up in the world as well!  Except it's a mattress on the floor for now since he would still fall off the bed if it were any further up off the ground so it is what it is for now

9 & 10 months

Abigail

-Clapping now and quite proud of it!
-Can crawl finally at 9.5 months! She loves to crawl using her left knee and right foot.  It's pretty funny!  Sometimes she'll use both knees but every now and then it comes back to the foot/knee/foot combo.
-"Dada" I think we're claiming as her first word.  She will look straight at Tyler and say "Dada!" or when he comes into the room.  I'm pretty sure she's also now knowing the word "hi".  It started like a southern drawl but has turned into a short "hi" with a "wave" along with it (open and close her fingers held out to someone) and as of last night switched to "mama" when she saw me.  I think she's starting to understand how to make that sound purposefully now.
-Still loves balls and loves to palm them!  She's got some strong little hands!
-Loves to play with her siblings.  Her sister/brother will be playing with figurines and she'll grab one and make it fly and make a "pbbbbbbb" sound while she does it.  She also loves to make high pitch "wa wa wa" sounds while holding a little character mimicing her siblings playing with their dollhouse.  This girl is going to fit right in with the other two and they welcome her sweetly! (just as long as she doesn't take the figurines they're playing with at the moment ;)
-Sleep: She usually naps around 10 and 2 and stays up until 8:30ish, wakes to eat at 6, then back down until 7:20 when Kate gets up.  We finally got her back sleeping through the night again last night when I discovered that the cold she has is actually a little white tooth trying to break through her top gum.  Motrin to the rescue!
-Dance: she loves to do a body roll and a head bang when she is excited or hears music and we think it's her dancing

Luke

-Becoming a little boy on us! Growing some long legs!
-Sing sing sing- Lucas is always singing.  In fact, the other day at supper, Tyler and I are talking and suddenly stop because we hear down the hall in song form we hear "I caahn't pull mah pahnts up, I can't pull my pants up"  This kid lives his own little musical

Katelyn

-BIG news!  Katelyn accepted Jesus into her heart on July 2nd!  We were sitting having a picnic outside on a blanket and Luke started talking about Jesus being in his heart and I asked Katelyn if she had ever invited Jesus into her heart and she said no.  We started talking about what that actually means and that it's a forever relationship with Jesus that this is just the start of and she told me she wanted to ask Him into her heart!  So she did!

Family
-Visited the Pattons in Michigan in July!  Lots of swimming and special time with cousins.  Tyler and I even got to take the convertible (!) to cedar point for the day!  I'm officially old and get horribly sick from rollercoasters now so it was a rough day :/ But it was fun to get away with my hubby!
-Fair!  We enjoyed lots of family time at the fair including rides and all the sites to see.  In fact, between two days, we didn't get it all in!  Tyler and I went to the beach boys one night at the fair.  So good to get away!
-Tyler had the opportunity to preach at a friend's dads church on a Sunday morning.  Fun little trip down to Iowa.
-Tyler took a trip to Kentucky with youth for National Fine Arts
-Natalie started a new venture- joined Usborne Books and More and is learning the business while raking in the free/cheap books!  I'm pretty certain our kids are quite happy with mama's new venture as they are loving the books and ask for them often!
-Tyler's birthday! We didn't do anything huge this year but the normal celebrations of swedish tea ring, a pizza supper, and some small gifts.  Hopefully he feels how much we love him through what we did.

June 2016

Abigail

-Imitates us: We sneeze or joke saying "A-choo" and she does the same "Ah-pbthhhh"
-Lots of new sounds- purses her lips as she tries out new sounds "mama, dada, aaaaaaah"
-When sitting up, she kicks her feet forward as she gets excited
-Starting to accidentally scooch a little when sitting on kitchen floor.  Not happy about it as it takes her further away from toys
-Easily bored.  Hates to be in a room without all the excitement.
-Toys: Miss Abigail is enthralled with dolls!  She'll talk with them and touch their faces with her pointer finger.  She also loves balls!  She gets so excited that her eyes get big and her arms get stretched out straight and she shakes!
-3rd tooth.... on the bottom!?  She still has no top teeth and they aren't erupting yet either but she has 3 bottom teeth!
-Finishing nursing- She certainly prioritizes seeing/being involved in excitement over eating and if you know anything about our household, there is always some excitement happening. I've tried to wean her down to just once a day right before bed but even if I get the older two in bed first, garaunteed one of them will get up for one of the many reasons toddlers come up with thinking they'll get away with it tonight (even though it's never worked before) and the nursing thing gets very very frustrating and painful for me with all the interruptions so we're calling it quits.  In the next week or two we'll be done for good.
-Bottles: Finally taking cooler bottles (even cold on hot days- probably feels good for her incoming teeth!).  She still takes warm bottles better but at least she'll eat if she's hungry.

Luke

Potty trained!  (yep, past tense!  it is SOO worth it to wait until the kid is READY!)  One accident the first day and that was it!  Of course he's had a couple of accidents since as he just got distracted but he's potty training.
-repeats everything Katelyn says.  Everything...
-Now learning to dress himself!  Sometimes needs a bit of help but he is very proud of this and mama is enjoying the bit of freedom that it brings as well and makes bedtime so much smoother when it's just me.

Kate

"Look at my tummy!" (to see how full it is after she eats a big meal.  She thinks it's visually huge because she feels full)
-Cleaner:  She loves to clean!  She walks into the family room and says "let's clean!"  Or rather, she likes it to be clean.  The actual process of cleaning is a little slow.  Except when it comes to messes.  She loves to take wipes or napkins and clean up messes that she or anyone else makes.
-Nurterer: as always but to the point where sometimes I wonder if she thinks Abigail is her personal baby :)  She is always looking out for her, sits next to her, wants me to stop feeding her sometimes just so she can plan with her, and even fed Abigail one day when I was putting Luke to bed.  She just picked up the bottle and fed it to Abigail since she was fussing. 

Family

-Tyler and I took an anniversary trip to Minneapolis.  It included a twins game, mall of America including the ropes course and all kinds of rides, lots of rest, and a day of biking on a tandem bike around some lakes.  It was SO great to get away where our focus could be directed in the same direction for more than 2 minutes at a time.  I love my man so much!
-Family trip: to Brookings.  Included swimming at the hotel, children's museum, a park in Brookings, watching airplanes, and up to Watertown for the zoo for a day.  Kiddos slept on a pull-out couch together as a sleepover and watched lots of cartoons.  Fun memories made!

-Car wash- we washed the car as a family activity.

-I've felt like this month has been very intentional in connections all around.  Great memories made before camp season begins!

7 Months Abigail and kid updates

Abigail

-Sitting up!  unsupported.  She likes to rock back in forth when she's excited
-Babsigail is the nickname Tyler has given her and boy has she lived up to that this month!  (See video below).  She opens her mouth and sees what sounds come out.  Lots of "baba" and "mama" and when she gets excited, loud Squeels! (Like ear-piercing!) But my favorite sound? "Kyeah"
-Rolls both ways.
-Sleep: oh glorious sleep!  It has found its way back into the family again!  Abigail was sleep trained (to learn how to sleep without a swaddle) this month and it really didn't take much.  She figured out how to soothe by arching her back, throwing her head way back (so her head is facing the top of the crib and her body is still facing the side, rolling on to her side with an elbow up in the air and conks out.  Sometimes she falls back onto her back during sleep and other times she makes it all the way to her tummy but she typically is not a fan of getting stuck on her tummy so I go in and help her get back until she's a bit more mobile.
-Favorite game: Tug of war!  She loves to hold on to something and have someone pull on it.  She giggles and giggles with this
-Food: not consistantly but eating purees maybe once a day.  I need to get better at this
-Nursing: but I'm ready to call it quits.  With her teeth coming in and her interest in the noises and sights going on around her, she likes a bottle better to be able to look out.  The problem is that she won't take straight formula yet but we're working on transitioning bottles to more and more formula.  We're almost at half and half

Katelyn

-When asked what her baby's name is or anything that she's supposed to make up in the spot, she doesn't use names she's heard before, she makes them up from whatever sounds come out of her mouth.  "Arella" was a recent one.  (This is ironic because Tyler very much does not like "weird" baby names that people make up)
-Special connection with Abigail.  I can't explain it but Kate has a very special connection with her.  Abigail looks at Katelyn differently than she looks at Lucas or any other baby.  Maybe it's just the sister connection that I've never known but boy is it sweet to see!

Lucas

-Potty training is in our near future.  He tells us when he goes "pee pee" in his diaper.  If I catch him with a dry diaper he'll go on the potty.  In two weeks I think we're heading into official potty training territory... Wish me luck! (Have I mentioned how much I hate potty training?)
-Pooopiedoop is what we've tried to transition all his "poopie" talk into.  Now we're trying to find other ways to be silly because the poopie ship has sailed in this household. 
-Full conversations with Katelyn these days. 
-Rides in the car with daddy: this kiddo LOVES rides in the car with daddy.  Everytime Tyler leaves the house, Luke asks "I come with you?"which is funny because the times that Tyler does take him with, it only takes a couple of minutes for Lucas to say "BEin LOng Tiiiime"

Family

-Circus with the toddlers (Kate loved the clowns, Luke loved the cannon)
-Very sick this month.  Kids and I caught a flu that had miserable fevers and fatigue and a little throwing up followed by a cough that lasted a while.  Mine turned into bronchitis so it's been a rough month- very overwhelming.  It reminds me of what pregnancy felt like all last year being unable to take care of my family's needs, the house needs, and barely able to take care of my own needs.  I'm feeling better.  Still getting rid of the cough but it no longer hurts to breathe! And now that I'm back on my feet I feel a little less underwater.
-Instruments: Everything is an instrument!  Went to the mall for supper one night and within seconds, the umbrella was a trumpet and the milk/straws became drums.  Tyler hoped for musical children.  I think his prayers has been heard! They alternate between guitars, drums, violins, flutes, trumpets, and microphones.  As of yesterday a trombone got thrown into the mix

6 months- April 2016

Abigail- 6 months

Teeth: First tooth!  Actually, both teeth popped in rather quickly  I'm pretty sure she's working on her top teeth too.  When we give her motrin before bed, she sleeps almost all the night through!  Some nights trying without to see if she truly needs it.
Sleep: Better now with the motrin but she also unswaddles herself and that wakes her up.  I am dragging my feet about no longer swaddling her because she sleeps so well swaddled!  But she's getting rather mobile so I really ought to transition her... I say it knowing it but honestly in no hurry to do so. 
Focus: She loves to concentrate.  Often her smiles are short-lived because she goes from pure joy to a face of pure concentration and taking everything in.  We heard a message recently about Abigail from the Bible and that she was "astute" and I honestly wonder if she fits this description. 
Friendly: When she sees a baby around, she gets VERY animated and rocks back and forth, gets a "perma-smile" on her face (opens her mouth WAY wide that is more than just a natural smile) and blows raspberries, and giggles, and tries to get them the other babies to smile or talk back with her.  I'm thinking she is an outgoing little girl!  I wonder if it's because she loves to watch her siblings entertain her and now gets the opportunity to entertain others?  I'm thinking she's an extrovert!  That makes 3 for 3 extroverts if I'm guessing right! 
Reaching: for everything.  Loves to feel everything around her (except for her toys.  She gets bored with those very easily)
Blankets: She loves to snuggle a blankie up to her face.  We may need to break out the small lovies I made for Lucas.  (Both her and Luke we struggled to get a good ultrasound picture of because both of them always squished their faces up against the walls around them so I wouldn't be surprised if she becomes a blankie girl too)

Luke - 2.5 years old
Sayings: "Awe bye mye shelf!" "All by my goodness!" "Bein Long Tiime"
Constantly playing an "instrument"- Anything and everything is fair game.  A straw at a restaurant becomes a flute.  A candlestick becomes a trumpet, two sticks become a violin.  Then drums.  He is very musical- just like his daddy! And I think he has some good sense of rythym.  Taught him and Kate "7s"- a Quantum Learning thing I use with my students all the time and these kids blew me away by knowing to rest on the 8th beat, by staying with the beat... Such fun!
Visiting Grandpa Tufte's grave: On Steve's death anniversary this year, we brought the kids out to the gravesite and they helped daddy leave flowers in memory of their Grandpa Steve.  It was a very cold day and with Abigail being young, we couldn't stay out quite as long as we would've wished, but because his grave is in a beautiful park next to the water, we got to enjoy some time outside there thinking about grandpa and Tyler telling us some stories about this amazing man that someday we all look forward to meeting in heaven.  

Katelyn- 3.5 years old
Positive vibes: The other morning, I had to wake her up and get her ready for school.  It had been a late night prior and she was a tired little girl.  She tends to wake up a little cranky and snuggle time is the best thing for it.  Well, that morning I hadn't woken her up in time for both of us to be able to sit around for 5-10 minutes unfortunately- we had to rush rush to get out the door in time.  Me knowing this, I woke her gently to which she responds "No! I'm NOT getting up!" and rolls over.  (So like her daddy ;p)  I give her a 2 minute warning and desperately trying to think of how we're going to have a good happy morning and get to school on time without physically forcing her out of bed.  So I go in to nurse Abigail next to her bed and start a conversation:
Me: "Kate- Hey I-"
Kate: "I'm NOT getting up!"
Me:  "Okay.  Hey, I wanted to know what your favorite thing about school is"
Kate- JUMPS up in her happy mood and proceeds to tell me all about calendar time and play time and painting and playing in the jungle gym..."
This girl loves conversation!  and if I can get her to focus on positive things ("Siiiiii, dios!"- thanking God for what we're thankful for) tends to change her attitude 180 degrees.
Rolling with her brother: See video below.  These kids are hilarious!