May

July 2015 to May 2016- Lexi has grown so much! 

Tulip Time tulips

Tulip Time 5K

Some Mother's Day love

They call me Mom

Someone learned how to ride his bike 

Kinderparade

Whitecaps baseball game

Lacrosse tournament

Wooden shoe dancing

We began May with baseball and lacrosse games and practices- almost every night of the week.  Oy.  Nate, Caleb, Isaac and I ran the Tulip Time 5K!  After my last 5K a couple years ago I said I would never run one again.  And yet, there I was.  Caleb ran it in 27 minutes, Nate and Isaac 30 minutes and I think my time was around 35 minutes.  This was Isaac's first 5k and he did great.

Julia and Caleb had braces put on.  Julia only has some on her top two teeth.  They still have the expanders.  We enjoyed the tulips during Tulip Time.  Isaac and Julia walked in the kinderparade- and looked adorable.  The rain held off right until we got to the car.  Unfortunately there were still kids marching who got very wet.  We did not go to the final Tulip Time parade because it was freezing.  Michigan springs are so fickle.

The older kids received free Whitecaps baseball tickets for a reading incentive.  We left Lexi with the Shoemakers and bundled up for the game.  It was chilly, but the sun made it pleasant.  We had a fun afternoon!

Stephen is now an expert training wheels bike rider.  We spent an afternoon learning the all important skill of braking.  And Lexi loved to run behind Stephen and give him a push when he got stuck.  Stephen was so excited to ride his own bike with me to the kids' school.  I could barely keep my bike upright he was going so slow, but he did it!

I had the fun experience of going to church with Enedina.  She attends a pentecostal, Spanish speaking church.  She failed to tell me about the dress code.  Most of the women were wearing black long sleeves and long skirts with a lace shawl on their heads.  I came in wearing capris and flip flops-ha!  The service was long, over 2 hours but very interesting.  I am glad Enedina has found this church, the people seem to love Jesus and care about her.

The following Sunday we attended the local Korean church's 5 year anniversary.  The church is really more of a small group, but the pastor and his wife have always been kind to our family when we visited over the years.  The best part was the Korean lunch after the service.

Lacrosse ended halfway thru the month- thank goodness.  Caleb's team won their last couple games, nice to end the season on a high note.  Overall Caleb seemed to enjoy his season.

Oh, Mother's Day.  The kids were very sweet.  They made me breakfast, but not in bed.  Nate convinced them that no one really enjoys being woken up so they can eat in bed. Mom would rather sleep in. They were so excited to share their gifts with me.  Julia decorated a coffee mug and Isaac painted a wooden tulip.  Caleb filled out an ABC's of Mom.  I was surprised with Caleb's list, it was very thoughtful.  He is beginning to see me as a person and not just mom who makes him cinnamon rolls (although he does appreciate that!).  He said things like; mom prays for orphans, keeps a blog, wishes she could do everything at once and gives her time to church.  I love watching my kids grow and mature.  I am blessed to be given the title Mom.  Some days I want to ban everyone from saying 'Mom' every other minute.  But, I am so grateful for each one of these kids that call me Mom.

Lexi is 2

Birthday cake from Mrs. March

A roller coaster toy! 

Adorable

Elmo

Spunky 2 year old

On April 25, Lexi turned 2 years old!  She is now 23 lbs and 31 1/2 inches tall.  And according to my Mom, if you double a child's height at 2 years old you get an estimate of their adult height. So she may be around 5 ft 3 inches?  I was surprised when the doctor said she is in the 3rd percentile for height.  She is our most petite child.  She is healthy and growing well.  She may be our pickiest eater. She doesn't eat vegetables, except sweet potato-sometimes.  For fruit, she only eats grapes, diced peaches, and banana-sometimes.  She does not really like milk. We stopped giving her formula in a bottle a couple months before her birthday.  She would drink whole milk out of a bottle, but once we got rid of the bottle she will only drink a little milk during the day. And she doesn't like most meat.  Ha!  But apparently, she is getting enough nutrition.

Lexi loves gross motor activities.  She loves to climb, run, jump and hang from things.  Her language is developing.  She still prefers to shriek when she wants something, but if we prompt her with "use your words" she will attempt to say what she wants.  She understands everything we say.  She seems very quiet compared to Stephen, but that may be because Stephen is in the 3 year old non-stop talking stage.  She can't get a word in! Lexi is desiring more independence and wants to do things herself.  She still enjoys shoes and hats and she can almost dress herself.  Lexi scratches anyone who upsets her.  But, after a little time out she says sorry and gives a hug.  She loves being outside!  She is a little bit of a wanderer, so we have to keep a close eye on her.  She is in the mischievous 2 year old stage of getting into things that are off limits.  I know if Lexi is too quiet, I better find her.  Lexi's laugh is contagious and we love to cuddle with her.

For Lexi's birthday we celebrated with a cake Mrs. March made.  Mrs. March is from church and sometimes watches Stephen/Lexi when I have appointments and so forth.  We gave Lexi a kiddie roller coaster.  She loved it, as did all the other kids.  Later in the week I made the 2 year old Elmo cake.  She wasn't sure how to blow out the candle, but she loved hearing us sing happy birthday to her. Last year we knew about Lexi on her 1st birthday, but we had to celebrate from afar.  We are so grateful to celebrate this birthday with her!  Lexi brings joy to our family and we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with our sweet baby girl!