New Food and Toys

Levi got his first taste of rice cereal last night and wasn't too sure about it. He actually ate some of it, but I think equal amounts went in as came back out! Notice the background - the kitchen is getting painted!!



This toy isn't new, but it is new to Levi - he just LOVES it. The downside is that Noah still thinks it's his toy and wants to play in it at the same time.



We are borrowing this toy from the Duerksen's, so again, it's not new but it is new to Levi and he just loves to bounce in it. Thanks Megan for letting us borrow it!

Night-Night Noah

Noah has started a new bedtime routine of playing in his room before he falls asleep. What used to be time spent with mom and dad quietly reading books has turned into playing with babies and diapers. We still have a few disposable diapers hanging around from when Levi was a newborn and Noah puts them on his baby dolls. In the picture above, it appears that Noah decided to put the diaper on himself, but fell asleep before he got the job done. Below is a video of Noah in action - thank goodness we make our own wipes! Sorry the video is sideways I couldn't figure out how to change it.

Church friends

We are blessed to have lots of church friends. Last Sunday, we had a Sunday school class party in the evening at the church playground and I had also been in the nursery during the Sunday school hour. Being in the nursery with two four month olds and a toddler gave me a taste of what having twins would be like - I thank God for blessing me with one child at a time.



Noah and Jake Flaming hanging out during our class Sunday school party. It was amazing to watch them fold and unfold these lawn chairs and move them around the playground - it kept them busy for a long time!



Cambry and Levi playing in the church nursery.



Allison Boese and Levi - she was born several weeks before Levi this past December. It's going to be fun watching these two grow up together!

They say it takes a village...

We've all heard it takes a village to raise a child and just this week we have called upon our "village" to help us with childcare. Our regular childcare provider had a baby and we decided it was best for everyone if Levi didn't go back there for a while. Our daycare provider is wonderful, and has said all along that she will continue providing daycare as soon as she's out of the hospital, but a four-month old is still pretty demanding and with her own newborn it just seems like too much to ask.

Our "village" stepped up to our challenge and without them I don't know what we would be doing! Thank you Vanessa, Amy, Mary Alice and Courtney!! You are wonderful people that we cannot thank enough! We pray that the next month goes smoothly for everyone.

Noah with Great Grandpa and Grandma Hertlzer

Noah playing with Great Grandma Hertzler

A bonus of living in Hesston is being close to Ben's grandparents, Lee and Mary Alice Hertzler. We enjoy dropping by their house while we're out on walks - we hope they don't mind our unannounced visits! :-)


Noah and Great-Grandpa Hertzler hanging out on the front porch.

Farm Play

Noah loves to "Play farm!" whether that's on our living room floor or at Grandpa and Grandma's farm. At least once a day Noah asks us to "Play farm!" and he often insists on wearing his black boots around the house, to daycare and even church.

Water, water, water

Noah loves to play with water, or waste water, depending on how you look at it. He can stand at the kitchen sink for 20 minutes - water running - just pouring water into different containers and filling the sink. The biggest problem is that he can also forget that he was playing with water and leave the sink...with the water still running. Here are photos of Noah playing with water - notice the running water in each photo (I think these photos were taken over a 15 minute time span...), if only Noah could understand that water should be appreciated, not taken for granted.

Levi Joshua

Levi has enough head control to sit in his Bumbo chair. He loves to be a part of the action in the kitchen.


Bubbles - making bubbles and discovering that he has a tongue in his mouth are new for Levi.



Just hanging out...he's actually watching Noah play with water while I worked to make supper one evening.

Easter with family

Yes, I know Easter was weeks ago, but the pictures are just so precious - they need to be shared and enjoyed!
Noah enjoyed receiving a bubble maker in his Easter basket, as well as playing with his second cousins! This was our first Easter without Grandma Epp (or as the great-grandchildren called her - Grandma Betty) and she was missed very much. It was also Levi's first Easter, what a blessing a baby is to remind us of new beginnings at this time of year!


Noah making lots of bubbles! He absolutely loved his bubble maker. So much so, that he insisted on taking it to daycare for two days after Easter. Then, while playing with it and playing with it, he broke it into pieces. :-(


Noah, Addison, Ty, Caiden and Cambry all with their Easter baskets!


It just worked out that we also celebrated some birthdays at our Easter gathering. Here are Ty "Policeman" Schroeder and Caiden "Fireman" Duerksen.


This picture takes some explaining - when we were kids, my sister and I, along with our cousins Megan and Vanessa, would lick the outside of the malt chocolate Robin's eggs and then use the colored candy coating to color our lips - to pretend we were using lipstick. This year, Erica and I both used blue Robin's eggs - thank goodness for silly Easter traditions!