Easter 2013

Happy Easter!  The Melder boys were in good spirits this morning and they were also in handsome, somewhat coordinated outfits.  Here's my attempt at a portrait before we headed to the 9am service at church.

We had a really nice time at church.  Koen had requested if he and Tavin could join me for the music portion of the worship service and I conceded.  I figured it was probably going to make it more difficult to enjoy the service, but it turned out that it just made it so much more special.  They were well-behaved just taking in the beautiful music (lots of instruments today and such powerful songs about Christ's victory over the grave!).  And I was just overwhelmed by all the blessings to reflect upon, not to mention the 3 specific ones I was surrounded by.  After church, I strayed a little from this reflective, euphoric state as we made a stop at Whole Foods and the big boys had a little trouble getting along and listening and obeying.  Actually it is such an ironic reminder of the dichotomy of life.  The truth of our new life in Christ (i.e. the happy thoughts/sweet boys at church) and yet we are still strapped in these earthly bodies for now (i.e. the boys' behavior at WF and my impatience!). It'll be so great to be in heaven one day with nothing to distract us from focusing on how good our God is and praising him for it constantly!  For now I'll just try to do better day by day!  Thankfully when we got home things rebounded and we had a really nice time together before naptime came around.  Right when we got home I had prepared a simple little egg hunt for the boys around the house.  I just used the plastic eggs from the other day and had put an Annie's bunny graham in each one.  Here was my most clever placement (and the last one for Koen to find).

After they had gathered all the eggs, they got to break into them and eat up their snack.  They were pretty happy about that!

After lunchtime we did an impromptu Easter craft.  Koen had been playing with Tav, but randomly asked if he could color for awhile.  I love it when he wants to sit and apply himself to an activity like that, so of course I said yes.  He said he wanted to do some cutting and coloring, so I suggested that he could cut out some Easter eggs to make as cards for Uncle Nate, Aunt Megan, Alex and Andy (we are going to their place for dinner).  He jumped on the idea and for the next two hours worked on this project.  Tavin heard the word "scissors" and decided he was interested too, but he finished up after about 10 minutes.  Koen did such a great job applying himself, I love to see that!

After the little guys were napping, Koen took a break from his egg creating to help me make pumpkin bread to take with us tonight.  Here's my handsome helper.

Around 4:15pm we headed out to Nate & Megan's.  It was such a great family night.  Koen and Tavin played so well with each other and with Alex, Nate & Megan's oldest (2 and 1/2 yrs.).  Koen was such a good leader.  It was great to see him playing well with his little brother.  They were just all so happy together.  Here's a picture of Tavin and Alex at the dinner table.

Alex gets lots of credit for being such a wonderful host.  He didn't mind Koen and Tavin playing with all of his toys all over his house one bit.  Here's Tav enjoying the kitchen (Alex is in the background just waiting for dinner...super cute.

Penn was making new friends.  Also joining us at the dinner were Paige and Josh, some North Way Oakland folks that are mutual friends.  Penn kept a close eye on them, but Paige was able to get pretty close...she even fed him a few Cheerios and later picked him up and he almost stayed happy. =)

After dinner Penn also got to know Andy a little better.  They sort of played ball together.

We pushed Penn to his limit as this tired, teether was ready for bed practically when he woke up from his afternoon nap.  We headed home after a super fun family night around 7:20pm.  Thanks so much, Nate and Megan!

Penn Says, "da, da, da"

Notice that I did not call this post, "Penn's first word" as this is more like his first pronounced sound.  And I'm really, really hoping that Penn's first word is more like, "Ma ma."  But whatever.  It's amazing hearing his little voice making phonetic sounds.  He started doing it with Koen and Doug while I was laying Tavin down.  It's crazy how these little babes just start doing things out of nowhere.  Well, I soon got my hands on him and got to hear lots of it as I gave him a quick bath.  I decided to try my luck and see if I could get it on video.  He totally kept gabbing and I got to capture this sweet adorableness.  Enjoy!

Party Morning

After such a weird week and then Doug working yesterday (usually his day off, but of course not the case on Good Friday), we were excited for a fun, family morning.  Doug and Koen left around 9am for some last-minute Easter Sunday errands for the church.  Here's Koen helping Doug unload the lilies at the church.  Doesn't he look so grown up in his cap?

Turns out Koen was actually a really big help to Doug and then some friends arrived to set up a birthday party (which we were to attend altogether shortly).  Doug ended up leaving Koen to help with the setup and he shot home to pick up Tav, Penn and I.  The party was a one-year-old birthday party for Tuff & Mary's daughter, Grace.  But it was really a great excuse for Tuff & Mary to get all their Pittsburgh friends together during their week-long visit to the Burgh after being away the past 10 months.  It was such a special, fun time.  I didn't get any pictures of Grace (oops!!), but I did get a few of some of the kids present.  Here's Penn playing on his own a bit.  Seems to be saying, "I wish I had someone to hang out with."

"Oh wait, now who is this?"  Well, Penn that's Malone.  You too are both getting so big so fast and sitting up so strong.  Malone is 6 months, Penn is 9.

"What did you say?  We're cute?"

"So what are we supposed to do now?"

"Hmmm...I could steal her toy?"

Ok, so enough of the uber cuteness.  I told Kyndal that I could've sat there with a video camera for 30 minutes.  The two of them interacting and watching everything going on was just addicting.  Anyways, here's all the big brothers to these 2 super cute babes.

And back to the cute babies.  In this picture I think that Penn looks like he's saying, "hmmm, now what can I do to impress Miss Malone?"  Well, you'll have to check out the next blog post to see what he came up with...

Tavin's First Egg Dyeing

I have had eggs ready for this project for the past 10 days, but we have been in such a holding pattern in pretty much every aspect of our lives just waiting to get Koen better that we haven't had a chance to do this annual Easter tradition.  Finally, this morning Koen woke up in great spirits, with a great appetite and hopefully far enough removed from the illness that he is no longer contagious.  Although I've kept the brothers separate most of the day, during Penn's morning nap I decided to set them up in the kitchen (far apart at opposite ends of the island) and finally engage in an activity all together again.  Amidst the running up and down the stairs 80 times as has been this week's routine with caring for kids I'm trying to keep from breathing on each other, I forgot to hard-boil the eggs in advance.  So, I had the two boys all set in their seats and realized this and was so frustrated!  I rallied and got those things to boil while the boys colored.  Tav wasn't impressed, but Koen was super excited to be out of bed and acting like a normal kid again that he happily took part.  Here he is working on a train for Tavin.

He was also super kind in letting his brother use his big kit of supplies which got Tavin a little more excited about my stall tactic.

Finally when the eggs were boiled and quick-cooled, it was time to start!  

Tavin was excited, but really had no idea what this was all about.  Koen, the experienced older brother led the way, calm, cool and collected.

Tavin wasn't able to do a whole lot of the dropping in/scooping out, but he really enjoyed the process.  It was so cute the first time I took one out of the dye, he said (in his way), "oh my goodness!" after witnessing such an exciting transformation!  I'll have to hold that one in my mom pocket of examples for Christ's transforming work in us through his death and resurrection, but I think it would've been lost on these 2 today.  We just talked about how eggs represent new life like the new life God offers us because of what Jesus did on the cross and in his resurrection.  And with no further adieu, here's their finished products.

And big brother's too...

Here's the finished product...didn't they do a nice job?

Now, Tavin was headed to watch a little show using his DVD tickets, but Koen has watched so much TV this week with his inability to do much else, that I was racking my brain for something else he could do for awhile during Penn's nap.  I also was sad to throw out perfectly good vinegar/water dye.  Then I had a fantastic brainstorm and dumped a bunch of baking soda in a 9x13 pan again for Koen to make volcanoes.  He was very happy to play around with it for awhile and Tavin even enjoyed watching it before he headed for his little DVD treat.  

This all ended up being a great way to occupy and interact with the boys this morning.  I've so missed our normal routine and even more so missed my Koen Douglas.  It's so great that he's finally bouncing back.  Now, tomorrow, we HAVE to get out of this house!

Penn's 9 Month Checkup

This doesn't usually happen, but Penn's 9 month checkup actually fell on his 9 month birthday.  I can't believe he is 3/4 of a year already.  A little heartbreaking that my baby is growing up so fast, but I also love this phase, so I'll just have to enjoy it while it lasts!

Photos first before details this time.  Here's my happy, healthy Penn Rye.

So now for the stats.  Penn weight 17 lbs., 15 oz. (15th percentile).  Oddly, this is the exact same weight that Tavin had at 9 months (and also odd, that was the 20th percentile back in 2010).  Koen, my chunkiest baby, was 19 lbs., 9 oz. (40th percentile) at 9 months.  As for height, Penn is my longest still at 28 and 3/4 inches (75th percentile).  Koen and Tavin were both 28 and 1/2 inches at 9 months.  

After these rough days with Koen's stomach bug (which is still rearing it's nasty head, Koen took a turn for the worse around midday today), I was particularly thankful that Penn checked out completely healthy, happy and growing great.  Hopefully there's no stomach bug germ incubating in his adorable little frame.  It's been heart-breaking enough watching Koen deal with this, I sure hope my littlest one (well, and the rest of us for that matter) is spared!

Tavin's Snowy Morning with Daddy

Koen was home from school today as he's still recuperating (at a very slow rate) from the nasty stomach bug.  Had he been well enough for school he would've had a 2 hour delay due to the overnight snow.  Since Koen couldn't take advantage of the outdoor fun, Doug was happy to have a slow morning and help me by taking Tav out in the winter wonderland for awhile.  Tavin was overjoyed to again have another special one-on-one experience with Daddy.  Well, this picture says that for itself!

That picture was taken atop one of their sled runs.  Doug managed to video that experience.  Tavin's delighted squeal is fantastic!

They also made a snowman amidst their shoveling job.  (Doug gave him a pipe and said he was C.S. Lewis).

Then snow angels...

When Doug was all done playing outside, Tavin still had a little more energy.  Doug made a game for him...Dino rides.  Yep, Tav pulling a dinosaur watering can on a sled.  He did it for 15 minutes.  This kid loves the snow!

Thanks for a super fun morning out in the snow for Tavin, Douglas.  You are an amazing Daddy!

Palm Sunday 2013 - updated

After a rough night with Koen battling this nasty stomach bug (that poor kid!), he and I were exhausted this morning.  But Tavin, on the other hand, who had pretty much been separate from Koen all day yesterday, was spry as a Spring chicken singing to himself in his room and playing happily right at 7am as usual.  Doug had a fantastic idea that he should bring Tavin to church with him.  A "go to work with Daddy day" of sorts (except bonus for pastors' kids...you also get to get your church in too).  I was particularly excited about this idea because it meant another whole morning where Tav wouldn't interact with Koen at all, Lord-willing helping keep him safe from these disgusting germs.  Also, with today being Palm Sunday the Kidz Church was supposed to perform at the morning services and this was going to be Tavin's first time taking part.  I was a little worried he would run out of energy or miss me too much, but apparently neither of those were issues at all.  Here he is hanging out in Doug's office (reading his Bible no less) while Doug had to go to the pre-service meeting.

And here he is waiting to go on stage at the first service.  Thumbs up, Daddy!

Tavin seemed to just be checking it all out during the first service.  Here's a video of "Our God is Greater."  

Here are a few pictures from the first service as well.  I was so thankful for Doug's texts.  I was so sad to miss this morning at church.  The kids singing is always so special and sweet!  Tav's happy clapping...

And then a thumbs up for Daddy mid-song (like father, like son...nearly every college picture of Doug he's giving a thumbs up).

It seems that Tavin got a little more comfortable with himself on stage at the second service.  I should also mention that he's a cat today...yep, that's right.  You can hear my child "meowing" during the song!  Click here to see the hilarious video of Tav!

On Wednesday, my friend, Kyndal, sent me a few more pics she snapped of Tavin during the services.  They are just too precious to store away on my computer and not share here.  Thanks, Kyndal!!

Well, a big thank you to my amazing husband (also an amazing Daddy) for alleviating some of my workload this AM and giving your Tavin Dale a memorable Palm Sunday morning for sure.  Thanks to the Kidz Church team for welcoming my middle man for a very long morning.  One final picture...snacky lunch (and another thumb's up).  

Tav was exhausted when he got home a little before 2pm, we didn't even read books and he might have fallen asleep before I left the room.  The house is quiet.  All 3 boys are sleeping.  Poor Koen is so sore, exhausted and weak from his horrible health day yesterday/last night.  Lord-willing he is truly on the mend though and I'll be able to post some happy pictures of him soon.  Please keep praying for the rest of us that we remain healthy!

Egg Hunt, Gone Rotten - updated

Today was the North Way city campuses' Easter Egg Hunt.  We were so excited about it as a whole family.  We invited a bunch of friends and were so happy to see that the forecast was for sun and we could finally be outside catching up with our friends (still in the 30's, but we'll take it).  We arrived right on time all set for the fun.  Koen and Tavin went into the bounce house right away (Penn was in his carseat sleeping).  Tavin loved it, 

but Koen was low on energy and just off in general as he had been all morning.  Doug and I figured it was due to the late night last night, but turns out that wasn't the case.  The poor thing totally got sick at the Egg Hunt.  Thankfully it didn't bring a lot of attention and we quickly got him cleaned up, in the car and home.  Tav stayed at the park with friends and then Doug went back to join him.  They had fun the rest of the morning.  The egg hunt part was of course the highlight.  Doug sent me these pics from his phone.

Here's Tav after a successful search.

On their way home they stopped at Whole Foods to get a few groceries (including some real ginger ale for Koen) and they had a little impromptu lunch date.  

Tavin came home happy, a little tired and definitely muddy, so he enjoyed a long bath before naptime while I was caring for Koen and getting Penn ready for his nap.  It was quite a morning of juggling trying to keep Koen away from his brothers, comfortable and cleaning up after him.  I am praying (and would covet your prayers as well) that the rest of us would remain healthy.  Oh, by the way, I have to say a big "Great Job!" to the North Way Family Matters team as they did a lovely job with the Easter Egg Hunt.  I was so sad to leave.  It looked like so much fun was still yet to be had!