Eric's 4 year pictures

This guy was super fun to take pictures of this spring.  We threw on a nice shirt one day when the weather was warm enough to be outside and got lots of laughing smiles, forced smiles and goofy faces.  This boy's smile, laugh and silliness are contagious.  I sure love him!

Drake's 2 year pictures

Our Drake turned 2 back in December.  He and mommy took a trip to the Coralville Library for a photo shoot.  I have had much better luck taking photos of my kids outside but I did get this one cute one.

our family

Six Year Old Sylvia

My baby girl turned six in November.  She can be shy and quiet while taking in her surroundings and she can be loud and boisterous when there's a captive audience.  Creativity and generosity are two of her strong suits.  She is very, very silly and very, very active.  However, you can also find her curled up in bed looking at books or spending extended periods of time working on one of her projects.  She is a good friend and I love her deep questions about God and the Bible.  So thankful for this girl in my life!  I love being her mommy.

Drake - 19 months

My baby turned 1.5 this summer.  He is growing up so quickly.  It's fun that he's big enough now to run around with his older siblings and attempt to keep up. 

Erickson is 3!

I can't believe Eric is already 3.  He has so much fun celebrating his birthday with friends and family in March.  We can't believe how much he's grown up in the last 6 months.  Looking like such a big boy now. 

 

Three brought about potty training for Eric.  Dan took Sylvia and Drake for an entire day while I stayed home and filled Eric with fluids and took him potty many, many times.  The final count was 27, I believe!  He's still working on it but I'm proud of how far he's come.

 

We waited for some nice weather and took his 3 year old pictures in our back yard.

 

Our Dad Rocks

This was one of Dan's Christmas presents.  It took quite a few pictures to get one where they are all looking at the camera and smiling but I love how it turned out.  I set them all down, ran behind the couch and then jumped out from behind it to take the picture.

Drake - 12 months

I can't believe my baby turned 1 this month.  The year has gone by so fast and he is quickly becoming a little boy.  Drake didn't settle into a routine like our other two did.  It made Sylvia's preschool schedule and running errands easier but also meant that he was a little grumpier at times.  He seems to love noise and chaos as he's always happy when we're out and about or staying up late at a friends house.  We always get compliments on how easy and laid back he is when we pick him from the nursery at church.  We love him dearly and can't wait to see what he'll be like as he grows up.

 

My Boys

Erickson James turned 2.5 on September 6.  He is growing and changing so much each day.  Eric is becoming very indepent and likes to do things "All be myself."  He asks, "What's it is it?" when he wants to know who or what something is.  Monday mornings he goes to a coop playgroup and loves having something special for himself while Sylvia is at preschool.  He still likes to get into everything and figure out how things work.  He loves his big sister and also loves to push her buttons (which he does very well).

Drake William was 9 months old on September 10.  He's crawling around, pulling himself up, walking around furniture and working on stairs.  He loves to laugh at his brother and sister and has a very loud cry.  Drake enjoys the outdoors just like our other two.  He'll sometimes cry when Sylvia and Eric go outside and the door shuts in front of him.  He's a good eater, is growing steadily and is currently wearing 12-18 month clothes.

The Winners

My baby is really starting to look like a little boy. He is so precious to me and, like every mama says, I can't imagine life before he came. Although I do remember what it felt like to be more rested. We were blessed by beautiful weather, big smiles and a big sister who was content (for the most part) to play on her own while I was taking these.

Runners Up

I warned you that I would be posting too many pictures for most of you. This boy just makes me smile. Plus, I've been slow at blogging recently so why not take a look at 20 pictures of my handsome son.

Goofy Favs

Sylvia, Eric and I went to Kiwanis park on Tuesday so I could take Eric's 1 year pictures. I've been putting it off due to large forehead bruises, cold weather, and sickness. There are going to be too many pictures in this post and the next for most of you.

Trying to see what his sister was up to.

I believe a plane or helicopter flew over at this point.

No description needed for this one.

Trying to get away from mom's camera. This boy is always on the move. I was impressed that he actually sat still for a few of the pictures.

If you look close, you can see his tongue playing with all those new teeth.

Quite a bit of dirt and mulch was consumed.

Sylvia - 3 years

I had so much fun taking Sylvia's 3 year old pictures a couple of weeks ago. I was able to capture so many of her expressions. This isn't even all of them.

Sylvia is such an active little girl. She loves singing and drawing. It's very entertaining to listen to her make up her own songs. Here are the lyrics to a few of her recent songs...

"The back hoe's in the sky. The back hoe's in the sky. Hi ho the derry o. The back hoe's in the sky."

"We looked at some houses. I went in the rain. And now I'm all all wet."

"Jesus loves the little buildings, because they're very tall. And I love the little buildings because they're cute."

"The angel said to Mary, 'Don't be afraid. I bring you good news.' That's what it's all about."

I'm learning that this can be a difficult age but there are so many things to enjoy that it makes it all worth it!

Erickson - 9 months

I'm not sure how this guy is 9 months already but he is. It's definitely going by more quickly than it did with Sylvia. I'd love to figure out a way to slow things down. Eric is a busy little boy. He's crawling, pulling himself up and walking around things, climbing (rocking chairs and the steps to our slide) as well as putting anything and everything in his mouth and then throwing a fit when I try to dig it out. His activeness is keeping me active but makes it hard to get anything done around the house in a timely manner.

2 Year Pictures

Sylvia and I enjoyed the beautiful weather this morning and headed out to Kiwanis Park. I was thankful for the sunshine and opportunity to take Sylvia's two year old pictures myself. I figured we might be dealing with snow around her birthday and be head to Sears for pictures



Sylvia cooperated for the most part. I've learned that I have to take her pictures somewhere where she can't get away from me. Last time I stood her on a stool that she couldn't get off of. This time I stood her on a ledge. We're waiting for two more molars to pop through and Sylvia is very drooly right now. I had to wipe her face off between every shot. I also wiped the mulch and dirt off her hands numerous.


She screeched when she was all done as you can see from the picture below.