We’re baaaack!

After a wonderful spring break in Char-la-stin with Uncle Christopher and “Uncle Yaur-wa” (pictures to come, I think . . . I have to say “I think” because it is now the end of April and I have yet to post Christmas pictures!), we are doing our best to settle thud back into reality.

Between trying to get back into our routine, unpack, and just be together for Easter, we were able to snap an Easter picture or two.

We’ve been singing “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus” with the boys for weeks now, and we talked lots about Jesus rising . . . we’re not sure if they get it, but they did try to remember to say Happy Easter!  Hudsey likes to call this song “whole again,” and they love to sing it over, and over, and over . . .

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

 

Happy Easter from the Reppards!

My three blue-eyed little loves! 

I love William’s face in this one!  So sweet!  Giggler!

Hudson was so eager to hold his sis . . . I love seeing his hand on her arm.  And, I love seeing William’s little fingers poking around her shoulder . . . and his eyelashes.  Oh, those eyelashes!

Sneaking a smooch! 

Some Easter morning family playtime . . .        

And, Easter Day pictures . . .

What our family really looks like:

And, what we can do after having 800 attempts . . .     This one makes me laugh out loud!  Hudson’s face is PRICELESS.  Hatch and Anna are not looking anywhere near the camera, and William is in professor mode and stoically looking over his glasses (Cheese cracker in hand)!

Bumpa’s Girls!

He is Risen!  He is Risen, Indeed!

And, that does, in fact, change everything!  Alleluia!

*****

Life as we know it:  I would like to call this Naptime Regression.  It seems that toddlers do not just drop back into bed when they return home from vacation.  They destroy and have to learn to sleep in their beds all over again.  Here we go.

I have a basket in my room full of little things for Anna (clothes, blankets, pacis, burp cloths, etc.) so that it’s easy to grab what we need in the night . . . well, Mr. William grabbed them and dumped them into his bed and fell fast asleep.

But, he didn’t sleep well ontop of all of those things . . .

So, our little hornet woke up mid-nap and was very sad . . . and had his sister’s pink paci in his mouth!  (Rascal!)

And her “Anna” paci clenched in his chubby little hand!  (Double Rascal!)

Meanwhile, Brother napped in the wrong bed, facing the wrong way.  Please note the clothes spread on the floor.

I was starting to feel badly about having only put away the clothes from the boys’ suitcase, when I saw that Hudson pulled EVERYTHING out of their drawers.  I am now beginning to wonder if we should all plan to live out of suitcases until the boys outgrow this wild-man habit.

And, a quick update on our Littlest Love:  After a painful (for her and for me) antibiotic injection followed by 9 days of oral meds, Anna finally began to act more like herself—eating better, sleeping more soundly, and feeling less sad.  We are so thankful for that!  We have now finished her oral meds and have been off them for a little over 24 hours.  So, we will see what the future holds.  She is still yanking on her ear, so I am wary of a potential lurking infection.  We head back to the doctor for an ear check on Wednesday if things don’t get worse before then . . . Thank you for your prayers.  Please keep praying for Jesus to completely heal Anna Kathryn’s ears!

And, think of us this week as: 

a) Daddy goes back to work and we will all surely cry about that (Hudson cries almost daily when he realizes Daddy is at work anyway, so after a week of having Daddy home, this one is going to be tough) and

b) Uncle Christopher will not be anywhere that we are going this week.  Oh, how sad!

But, we did have a wonderful time together.  More pictures and fun to come! 

Happy Easter! 

even more quickly . . .

we are back from the doctor, and it breaks my heart to say that anna kathryn’s ears are still infected. i had thought that might be the case after another rough night last night. these ear infections are worse on us all than the newborn sleepless nights, for sure! anna had an injection of a strong antibiotic (she screamed the whole time and for 10 min after—it was horrible) and will continue on oral meds as well as the numbing drops. it takes 6 infections in a 6 month window or constant infections for tubes. we are half way there . . . in just under 3 weeks.

please pray for jesus to fully heal anna. for rest for her and for Jesus to restore her ears as well as her appetite. Her weight the other day (18 lbs.+) seemed unusually high to me considering her appetite, so we re-weighed today, and she is 16lbs. 12 oz, so she only weighs .5lbs more than she did three weeks ago. Not good. Please pray with us for Jesus to heal those tiny ears right now!

Have to hurry, because we’re getting ready for some fun with these people . . . (these pics are from Feb and I forgot to post them! ooopsie)

We’ll be having some fun with Judah, too . . . both this “Judah” and the real Judah will be with us!

We hope to do some reading . . .

And some swinging . . . and napping . . . and relaxing . . .

Allow the wind to blow through our hair . . .

Collect some great treasures . . .

Enjoy new sights . . .

Point out our great finds . . .

Hopefully, we’ll have some time for some diggin’ and collecting . . .

And, some pictures . . . Where’s bumpa? (the look on my brother’s face here is priceless.)

Perhaps, we’ll have a ride in wago’ with that sweet Mr. Precious!

And, if we’re lucky, will admire some diggers . . .

Steam roller!!!!!

HI MAN! HIIIIIIIIIII MAN!

These sweet loves will surely enjoy being together . . .

We hope you’re feeling well rested Uncle Criferferferfer . . . you’re about to encounter three toddler-sized balls of energy and one chubby giggle box of a baby! Rest up, and get some caffeine. (Seriously.) Love you!

quickly . . .

We are tired, so have to be fast . . . but, Anna Kathryn seems to be feeling MUCH better.  She ate better today than she has in the last three weeks, and I was so grateful for that!  We head into the doctor tomorrow for an ear check, just to be sure.  And, tonight, she was laughing hysterically at William, who dropped his pizza onto the deck.  How she knew that was funny is beyond me, but she got a good ole giggle out of it.  I was so glad to see and hear her feeling better and seeming so much more like her little chubby self!

  

Remember when I said that the boys found my camera wedged between the cushions of the chair in their room?  Well, I just remembered that that event actually happened, and when I downloaded the pictures, I found these gems . . . all taken by William, budding photographer!

  

I call this one “CHINS”

A view of the brother

a view from below . . . 

And, we were sad to have our last daytime playtime with our beloved “Miss Steph,” or Miss Steffi, as the boys fondly call her.  We met Miss Steph at our Tuesday Bible Study—she was a teacher in the boys’ class, and they adore her.  She has helped our family several times a month since Anna was born, and we are so grateful for the ways that she has loved our boys, helped to care for them as they transitioned to being big brothers, tirelessly helped me with laundry and random things around here, and I have loved getting to know her and having her as a sweet friend of mine.  Miss Steph starts her job in “the real world” on Monday . . . but, fear not, she’ll still be free some nights and weekends, when she isn’t living the dream as a YL leader!  We love you Miss Steffi!  Thank you for loving us!