My girly girl

I find it delightful when I see parts of my personality in my children. It's also fun to see Nate in them as well. Asher loves to take apart toys and figure out how things work (I'll let you guess who he gets that from). All the kids have a mean stubborn streak (now I wonder who they take after?). 

What often baffles me are the traits that the kids have all on their own. So much of Piper's personality didn't come from either of us. She loves nothing more than dressing up and spending her day with lots of little girls. She is constantly asking for new dresses and to wear makeup. I wear makeup about 4 times a year, so she isn't mimicking me. A few weeks ago she asked to try on my wedding dress. It was fun to watch her in it. 

 I am so curious to see what Emmy will be like. I wonder how much Piper's influence will impact her personality.

A favorite visitor

This past weekend my brother (aka Uncle Matty) came to visit. He is a minor celebrity around here and the kids had so much fun with him here. Piper loved having him watch her recital.

The only problem is the Uncle Matt to kid ratio. You would think there isn't enough of him to go around, but somehow he manages. 

Nearly 8 months with Emmy Lu

Ember will be 8 months next week. The amount of joy she gives to me is indescribable. 

This little one is planning big things. She started crawling in the last month and is determined to get everywhere she can. 

She has a ferocious appetite, and there are no foods she won't devour. 

Her favorite activities include: sucking on people's chins while grabbing their faces, letting Juno lick her mouth, and being around people as much as possible. 

 Emmy Lu recently figured out how to get the toys out of the bins. I now have 4 kids who can make a mess. I think I'm just going to forgo cleaning until this one enters kindergarten.

 She is so stinking happy all the time. I can not handle this much cuteness in one tiny baby.

Dance Recital

Once again, Piper attended dance class this year. Watching these little girls come together every week was so delightful. They squealed, and hugged, and were always very girly. 

The dance recital was this weekend and the theme was Under the Big Top. Each class represented a different part of the circus. Piper's class was prancing ponies. 

 I can not handle the cuteness. It is overwhelming.

 In keeping with tradition Nate gave her flowers. We also celebrated with ice cream afterwards.

 I was able  to video the dress rehearsal.

Ocracoke

Our plan for Mother's Day was to head out to Ocracoke island. Unfortunately, I got tremendously sick and spent a few days in bed. We postponed our plans for a week. To get to Ocracoke, you have to drive all the way down to the bottom of Hatteras Island and take a ferry across. The kids had so much fun. We drove our car right onto the ferry, and it took about an hour to get there. 

 Asher loved exploring the boat. 

 Emmy Lu was absolutely thrilled to get out of her car seat. She wishes all rides could be on our laps.

 Ocracoke is very small, and incredibly cute. There are just a handful of restaurants and businesses. After we grabbed lunch we headed to the beach. The water was quite nice and the kids spent the rest of the day in the water.

Spring time and the living is easy

It feels like summer these days and the kids are clearly ready for it. I somehow keep forgetting that Asher has homework, so we usually have to scramble in the morning to get it done. 

Piper took the time last week to teach Dex how to use the four wheeler. 

 Emmy Lu loves being outside. She likes the texture of grass, and has fun rolling around on it.

 Ok, so this picture cracks me up. She looks a little crazy, like she is plotting something. Actually, that is probably what she was doing. There are so many good role models around here for her.

 The smallest and the tallest.

 He needs to practice his turning a little bit more.

Words With Dexter

Dexter has some unique phrases that I just don't want to correct, because they just make me laugh. Here are a few gems.

"Mom I have two apples"-he really means nipples

"Baby bumblebees are cute"-he is talking about the flies in our house

"Can I have a castle candy"-what he really wants is a hershey kiss