Kid Pics

Let's all remember that one time when all I wanted to get a cute picture of all the kids and every shot had either a kid with a weird look on their face or Roy's shoe.  After about 5 minutes, I just gave up.  I'll try again when Nora will look at me too :)

I'm pretty convinced that the world's best baby lives at our house.  Our other kids have been good babies, but Nora sleeps well, puts up with the crazy, and can turn her crying into a smile at the drop of a hat.  We are all so grateful that she is here, safe, and happy.  I just can't get over the complete and overwhelming gratitude we have for this little girl we knew about before she was coming and prayed for for so long.

It was school picture time again!  Unfortunately, Lydia was sick that day (and yes, she cried when she heard she missed it), Sam wore his shirt backwards (and yes, that happens frequently), and Abby had her hair in a ponytail and took it down for the picture (and yes, we were sad that her normally curly hair was flattened).

Everyone has a special connection with Nora, but for some reason, the relationship that Sam and Nora have is especially surprising and special to me.

This is what happens when you say, "Andrew, smile!"

Nora is growing up super fast and is so fun to watch.  She recently started cooing and playing with her tongue.

This week for Cub Scouts, Roy taught the kids about boats and buoyancy.  The kids each built a couple of boats this afternoon and waited and waited for Nora to get up from her nap.  You see, Abby and Sam went exploring yesterday as part of their bike ride and found "a river" they wanted to show us.  It was more of a wide creek in the woods between our neighborhood and the next.  It was the perfect place to put their learning into practice.  Besides being a little muddy and steep to get down from the path to the creek bank, it was a perfect spot.  We got there and they floated their boats.  Abby's boat got stuck on a log and out of reach so Roy decided to jump across.  It was about 6 feet wide so he got a short running start, made it across the creek...and sank up to his hips.  Instead of being concerned about the possible patch of quicksand Roy was in, the kids and I laughed until we cried.  Then Roy had a choice to make: try to jump across the creek again or take 4 steps to the path.  He chose the second and began sticky, sinking trek to the path.  At this point, the tears were streaming down my cheeks, the big kids were belly-laughing, and Nora secured her position as Roy's favorite family member.  Roy made it out, also laughing, and then had to do the walk of shame all the way up the hill back home.  The kids loved it, awarded him merit badges, and I'm pretty sure they will retell this story many, many times.  It was a great end to our weekend :)

Cub Scouts and a Hike

Sam started in Cub Scouts when he turned 8 and he has loved it. Roy has been really good to spend time each Sunday checking in with Sam about the goal he set the week before and then do a new activity, challenge, or set a goal.  We decided to knock out the 1-mile hike in the beautiful UNC Botanical Gardens last Saturday when the weather was nice and cool.  The kids were SO pumped about going.  Roy went through the checklist of what to have in your backpack and the safety rules and everyone could recite it by the end.  We had a buddy system set up and set off exploring.  It was a really great morning!

There is a giant chess board on one path.  Roy taught the kids chess and they played boys vs girls.  The girls were not happy to lose and Abby has doubled down and been practicing this past week so a loss to her brothers will not happen again. :)

Always one to find the strange and incredible, not to mention funny, things in life...Sam found a "hairy" pine cone that was bigger than his head. 

Spring Break

We had a very low-key Spring Break and it was fabulous!  The kids got to play alone and together.  They created several imaginary worlds.  We planted a flower garden.  We put up a birdhouse and hummingbird feeder.  We played games.  We got bags of books at the library.  We watched movies.  We played outside.  We were in pjs until 9 every day.  Lydia lost her first tooth.  Everyone got Nora time.  I think it's safe to say that we checked off every important item on our Spring Break list!

Easter morning began with an obligatory photo shoot:

And now for a series of happy baby pictures:

Our Week

We had a fun week celebrating Lydia's 6th birthday and my birthday.  It was also a busy week with our normal fun stuff and being down to just the van for 3 days, but we did make time for "The Greatest Showman" for the whole family, the spring festival at school, and a date night for Roy and I.  All in all, a pretty successful week!

March Madness

These last couple of weeks have been filled with incredibly busy moments of bouncing a crying baby while fixing dinner, finishing homework with a kid, getting another kid to practice piano, clearing out the dishwasher, rushing to get out the door to get somewhere on time, etc.  It's chaos and I love it.  It probably sounds very weird, but I love the time we are in and appreciate the insanity as much as the times of calm and quiet.  I have been so impressed to watch the big kids adjust to life with a baby and do it happily.  They love Nora and are so curious about what she's doing and why.  I'm grateful for that love and curiosity.  Because as crazy as it is at times, these guys are definitely worth it.

I was in charge of the 4th grade raffle basket for the school spring festival.  We collected Nerf items and this huge Tupperware was stuffed to overflowing with Nerf fun.  Some family will have all they need for a legendary battle!

Nora is wearing the pjs that Grandma and Baba Z gave to us when we announced that Abby was going to be born.  Now all 5 kids have worn these pjs :)

Lydia was in the kindergarten concert this week and was awesome :)  She even had a short line to share.  They did a concert/play about a garden so there were weeds, gardeners, and flowers with super cute songs and dances!  It was the cutest thing to see 80 kindergartners on stage performing.  Loved it!

Look at our sweet baby!

Sam found mini bananas at Walmart and was so excited about them he needed a picture :) I love his brain!

So pitiful, but so cute!  I grabbed her before she started to cry though!

Sam loves his baptism quilt made by Mor Mor!  He loves to cocoon himself at night and has added this blanket to the top of the pile and it is now perfectly warm!

Nora Grace

Nora Grace Zwahlen was born on February 21, 2018 at 3:48pm.  We had anticipated her arrival for months, but once February hit we were waiting not so patiently for her to get here.  We made it to her February 14 due date and then it felt like forever before her induction of February 21 arrived.  We were so excited to get Nora into our arms and have been wrapped up in the wonder of a perfect new baby ever since.  She is an angelic addition to our family and I am so incredibly grateful she is here and safe and already a perfect fit for our family.

Nora and I woke up early so we could do a quick video chat with the kids before school and hit the ground running so we could get out of the hospital that day.  We ended up home that night to some very anxious kids and Grandma Z.  The kids had agreed that they would take turns holding her going youngest to oldest so Andrew got the honor of holding her first.