March

March! The weather broke! We saw the grass again, played outside without snowsuits or requiring hot chocolate when we came in. 

We even went for a hike. The fresh air was doing Mommy good - pulling her out of the yuckiness of morning sickness.

The kids pulled out their bikes and roller skates again and put on a cul-de-sac circus. 

Sarah still wasn't doing the best job taking time to sit and play with Simon. And he still wasn't all that interested in listening to book after book after book on the couch. BUT we did discover he likes sticker books.

And if a sticker book got us talking and playing together, then it was the perfect thing to get Mommy through until the next opportunity to nap!

We also celebrated Uncle John's birthday. He was pretty jealous when the little boys (Simon and Elijah) blew out his candles...so we re-lit them to give the big boy a chance at making a wish.

We hosted a bridal shower for John's fiance, Ande, and Tim took Simon to a train "museum" of sorts at the local outlet mall. It was Simon's dream!

Near the end of the month, Simon woke up one morning breathing oddly. Almost struggling to get a breath. He was lethargic and barely wanted to move. Mommy - who rarely takes the kids to the doctor - felt all kinds of alarm bells going off. She dropped the girls off at school and when Simon had fallen asleep on the way home it confirmed that something was definitely wrong. The doctor agreed to see him right away. We think the world of our family doctor and she again proved she's worth twice her weight in gold. Within moments of observing and listening to him, she stated she thought he had pneumonia. She ordered a chest xray, had the nurses give him a breathing treatment, and ordered a prescription. The xray confirmed her diagnosis. It was just a sad day. He could not keep his eyes open in any of the waiting rooms we visited that day, cried through the xray but Mommy couldn't hold him because of the pregnancy, and went from extremely active to a dazed sitting. It came on very suddenly, but with the help of modern medicine he was almost back to normal in 48 hours!

About a week later, the girls were on Spring Break and we were on our way to the Toledo Zoo to meet Sarah's sister Annette and her family. It was a little chilly but we were happy to be with them and have everyone busy and healthy. No xrays for broken bones or hurting lungs in sight! At the zoo, Simon was astonished at how big an elephant really is!

After Toledo we made our way to Windsor to spend the weekend with Annette's family and visit their indoor water park (you'll remember this was a special gift from Santa at Christmas that we were FINALLY able to take advantage of!). Mommy was already in her maternity swimsuit. Everyone warns you the baby bump shows up faster with each pregnancy. In any case, it was the perfect way to kick off a whole week having our girls home!

The Felicity Show

Some months it just seems like a particular child has the spotlight. Looking back, March was all about Felicity. So many pictures of Felicity. Generally with her creations and buildings. She even won a free painting class from the library's winter reading program. The girl was charmed all month.

When we weren't looking at the cutest four-year-old in the house, we were probably all eyes on Simon...he's been our focus for months and months, as you can tell. Won't give up his 15 minutes of fame that easily.

It's especially crazy when you love your little brother so much you try to be him. (How did Miriam manage to zip a size 12 month coat on her 8 year old body!?!)

But come to think of it, the oldest two girls had their fair share of attention smothering them too. We had our two week Spring Break! All those extra hours having them home each day!!! Kids are so much work. So. Much. Work. Just the constant demand to be fed. This is no joke - just this evening as Mommy put Felicity and Vivian to bed they claimed to be hungry. They had eaten an entire, huge dinner and two helpings of dessert. More food!?! Nope. No. Mom's clocking out, checking out, kitchen's closed. Bar's closed, too. They're work in many, many ways (some of those ways are significantly more complicated than food) and doesn't it seem so easy to screw up parenting? Yet we adore them, we cherish them, we watch them sleep, eat, run, laugh, cry, play, bathe, fight, learn. We just love them and even the hard moments are precious to us. We'd hit the rewind and live it all over again to keep them little and close. So every extra minute, all the school breaks...they're ours.

This Spring Break we had no big travel plans, but a couple day trips. We went to Battle Creek - complete with a stop at Horrocks for a pint and groceries. 

The real reason we were in town: Tim and his dad took possession of the '57 Chevy Monte Carlo that his aunt had owned. It's a classic now and so well taken care of that no restoration is required. 

Aunt Shirley and Papa inspect the car

It's extra special to Phil because he actually walked it though the factory assembly line as it was being made. 

Great Aunt Shirley and Uncle Roger - two peas in a pod

Now Tim and his dad will get to take it to the many classic car events in our area. Tim loves old cars. And he loves his dad. So this car is a gift that will keep giving for years and years.

Over Spring Break we went roller skating as a family for the first time. Vivian has been a couple times for friends' birthdays. It was harder for Felicity and Miriam than either of them expected. There were tears. Felicity's backside ached for days. But they want to go back to practice some more. Love that they won't give up. Roller skating for Simon meant riding around in this little car. By the end of the night when we had to give it back...more tears.

The kids and Mommy took day trip to Toledo to visit the zoo with Aunt Annette and Aunt Bridget and the cousins. It turned out to be a great weather day and we basically had the zoo to ourselves. Plus the zoo recently opened a really hands-on, lovely aquarium. We would absolutely do this again...but then we're pretty likely to say yes to anything that involves hanging out with family.

Spring Break in Indiana was peaceful and the weather was perfect for playing outside. 

Welcome, Spring. We are so happy you're here.