Good things come in packages from Pennsylvania

Four of the five of us had the stomach flu last week and goodness, it was miserable. We're not quite sure how Brinnly survived--it's certainly not a result of her diet. However, a few lovely gifts arrived via mail to make our week manageable.


First, from the Wilsons, three fancy-shmancy tutus all in the "right" colors!  Orange!  Purple! Pink!  In that order! As you can see, the girls don't even make it out of jammies in the morning before they come on. 

(She thought Johnny Wilson would approve of the Steeler shirt)

Sometimes Brinnly even wears two of them at the same time. It goes really well with her early-morning hair.

Carrigan just learned how to "cheese" for the camera.

And speaking of Miss Carrigan...

look what Kellie created for her:

Isn't it incredible?  It completely captures our baby girl and I immediately remember the details of the day I took that snapshot every time I look at it.  It will perfect next to her sketches of the other girls on our living room wall.  Have we mentioned lately how thankful we are for our dear friends?

Crayon-berries.

"Mommy, I don't get it.  Why are they called cranberries?  They are only one color."--Brinnly

Not even an ear infection can keep this one down

Girls' Night In

The girls and I had plans the other night that ended up cancelling so we were all a little bummed.  Jonathan went for a much-needed guys' night and I told the girls they could set our agenda. After a yummy dinner of "brinner"--that is, chocolate cheerios, egg bake, and fruit for dinner, we broke out the play-doh.  It was Carrigan's first real go at it and I think she's hooked.  Then they stamped and painted away before we tucked the little one in and ended the night baking pumpkin bread for the next morning. All in all, a "lemonade out of lemons" evening.

Halloweeen 2010

Carrigan finally got excited to wear her pumpkin costume--I made a half-hearted attempted to look like a pumpkin farmer.

Aunt Kara and Uncle Josh joined us for trick-or-treating.

I mean, Woody and Jessie

After weeks of planning to be Snow White and a clown, there was a last minute change into an elephant and giraffe.

Carrigan was fierce about not letting anyone interfere with her stash.

Happy Halloween (and Reformation Day, of course!) from our family to yours.

Fifteen Months Old

This is quite possibly our favorite picture of Carrigan, ever.  It sums up her current state of being--in motion, dressed in "pretties" like her big sisters, and blonder than ever.  She just had her well-child check up and weighed in at 20 lbs, even, and 30 inches.  That puts her right in the 10th percentile for weights (just like the other girls) and 54% for height.  Pretty tall for a member of the Ward family!  Her sound vocabulary is growing and her vocal cords get PLENTY of exercise, even without many words. She has become more of a snuggler lately and we're all happy to indulge her.  She's also picking up more of the nursery rhymes and games that we play at the library and at home and plays them well with her sisters.  But mostly she's climbing and running, and carrying things everywhere.  The bigger the better.

Grandma Deni came to carve pumpkins! And more!

"What in the world is Grandma Deni going to do with ths?
(She ended up carving a C.G. for Carrigan Grace in it for her)

Mali wanted a mad face which she practiced.

Practicing for Halloween

Quick break from leaf "helping".

A great weeken for Grandma and her girls.  And their parents!

ArtPrize and Sprinklers and Nature Walks and Fall...all with the Kurths

Special thanks to the State of Michigan for the fanstic warm weather and the beautiful display of fall colors.  Way to impress our favorite Texans! 

What else have we been up to?

1)  For starters, planning our nine-year anniversary celebration.  We're spending a weekend (sans kids!) in lovely Detroit, MI.  Seriously!  We've never spent time there it all and we figured it was time for somewhere other than Chicago to get all of the glory and travel business.

2)  The Kurths were here!  Those wonderful friends of ours drove all the way from Texas to Grand Rapids--via upstate New York.  With three kids!  It was a fantastic visit.  But when is that ever not the case?  Pictures to come.

3)  We're not sure what is cutest about Carrigan at the moment--her six teeth or her new word, "apple".

4) The big girls are continuing to do well in school.  Mali enjoys it more than she did last year and has no separation anxiety to speak of.  Brinnly has surprised us all about that.  She treasures her "individual" time at school independent of her sisters.  Poor Carrigan wants a turn there too.  Two more years, we tell her.

5)  We've been thinking about this blog and how best to continue it without becoming burned out or boring our "audience".  Is Facebook really killing the family blog?  More pictures?  Less pictures?  A running theme?  Time off?  Hmmm....suggestions welcome.

October 27, 2010

Nine years ago today, this particular Ward family was established.  We lived in a small apartment with a Milwaukee address.  Two degrees between us with hopes of more. Two beginning careers. No kids or babies but dreams of a full house someday. Quite a bit of mismatched furniture.  And lots of plan  for the future.

Fast-forward to 2010.  We now live in a four bedroom house with a Grand Rapids address. We love how filled it becomes for holiday celebrations and visiting friends.  The bedroom across the hall from us is painted bright yellow and has a crib, a toddler bed, and an orange 4-year-old's bed. Lots of princess clothes are draped over our now slightly matched furniture.  We've added two master's degrees which we like to think have helped us in the recent years navigate the difficult economy and run our household.  We still have lots of plans for the future--probably more now than ever.

Thank you to all of you who joined us in windy, rainy Berrien Springs nine years ago today.  We love remembering what a speical day that was.  We pray God's blesssings on your families as well.

The Ryans!

Blogger is giving me some issues when it comes to formatting (or maybe it's because I'm a social worker by trade, NOT a web designer) but here's a glimpse into our fantastic 24 hours with the Ryans.

This was the first time we were all together with six kids, all of whom were out of the womb.  Wow!  It was refreshing to be around the family we learned to parent alongside with.  We like the same foods, bibs, toys, midwives, doctors, blogs, hobbies that we don't have time for, and potential future cities.  The kids picked up right where they left up and chased each other around like old times. 

There were so many combinations of kids. Nine, actually, Mike informed us. Including  Jack/Amalia, the first borns.  Brinnly/Jack, the chatty, 3-year-olds armed with stuffed animals.  Brinnly/Abigail, the higher-maintenance middles with a strong dislike for baby-sitters and bottles when younger.  Abigail/Carrigan, the blondies.  Carrigan/Iris, the sweetheart babes.  Maybe someday we will actually take pictures that include the CMU-alum dads and the running, blogging, knitting moms.

The June-Girls

The firstborns



The book-ends



We went down to ArtPrize but the huge lines led us to the children's activities at the art museum and that was pretty much it.  Oh, and ice cream of course, but that's a given when the Ryans are town,

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Jack loved this pom-pom.  Or should I say, the wind-fan/street-sweeper

Happy Birthday Grandma Sandy

We celebrated with a trip to the beautiful Meijer Gardens to check out the Chihuly exhibit again.



Carrigan loved the excuse to show off her walking

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Mali likes any excuse for a tea party

Yes, Carrigan really is in there--can you find her?

A picture-perfect afternoon