Spring Trip to MD

Rosemary was named after both of her paternal grandmothers. Here she is meeting her Mimi, Roberta Rose, for the first time.

All ready for their egg hunt!

After gathering all his eggs. He's a happy camper. Candy he can eat!

 

Showing off his spring craft he made with Gigi.

 



 

 

We celebrated this beautiful lady's birthday while we were there!

 



Sneaking in some March Madness with GranRan.

Couldn't help but take this picture for Annabelle. A VW beetle with "Hello Catty" on it!

 

Roly Rosie

Putting a baby on the floor with 3 other siblings is pretty much a recipe for disaster in this house, so I don't do it that often. I knew Rosemary would be ready to roll if we gave her the chance to, I just wasn't thinking about it all that much.  When the boys asked if I would put her down to try to see if she would roll one day, I did. I turned away for a few seconds, and sure enough, she rolled over. The boys were thrilled. Here's the after shot. She has no idea why we are all clapping and cheering.

Super Sam

Samuel has taken pushups to a new level these days. Andy (of course) has taught him how to do them impeccably. He's doing so many he needs his abacus to help him keep track. His max has been 200 but I'm seeing him break that PR pretty soon.

Since being invited to join the developmental team in gymnastics, his strength has significantly improved. Daddy is determined his son will not outdo him physically, so the competitions around here have been fierce. I love seeing their relationship mature and sharing so many similar interests. Sam is so much like Andy its shocking at times.

 

 

A snow masterpiece of Sam's that a neighbor snapped for me.

The Eckert Eyes

Nearly every single person that sees Rosemary declares "she is an Eckert alright!" We definitely have a look to us. I love seeing each and every one of them and knowing even by their looks that we are all knit together.

Joe's Trip to Luray Caverns

Turning 5 is big in our house! It means a special getaway with just Daddy but a special getaway with Gigi and GranRan, too.

The next weekend after the camping trip, Joseph had his night away with his grandparents. They stayed in a hotel, went swimming in the hotel pool and out to dinner. The next day they went to Luray Caverns. He of course had a blast.

Now as you can imagine, Annabelle keeps asking when she turns 5.

March Madness

While Joe was away with Gigi and GranRan, Daddy was away on a retreat with men from our church. After we put Annabelle to bed, Samuel and I were able to have a second date night in 2 weeks!

I grew up frequenting the Carrier Dome to cheer on either Syracuse football or basketball. My love for Syracuse sports goes deep. Since Andy would much rather play sports than watch them, I knew if our children were ever going to have an appreciation for March Madness it was going to come from me. So, Sam and I (and Rosie looking the other direction) made a night of watching the March Madness Tournament.

After the Olympics, Sam's only memorable reference to sports teams on TV was countries competing against other countries. It took quite awhile to understand that these were just different colleges. It was so cute. I couldn't help but pull out the US map and turn it into a geography lesson. He now understands.

We had such a great time. We ended up staying up way too late, but it was well worth it. Oh, how I love this kid and all of the moments we are able to spend together.

 

Rosie's view.

 

Samuel wanted Rosemary to be in her rocker so he could lay on the floor and put tons of pillows underneath him to be at the same angle as her and still be able to watch the game. Looks horribly uncomfortable, but he loved every second of it.

Bald and Chubby Never Looked So Good

Cribtime Cuddles

Rocking My Baby

Annabelle loves washing windows. Good thing, because her and her sidekicks sure know how to make a mess out of glass.... and well, everything else they touch.

 

Simply put...our home is always dirty. With 4 kids living full-time in our home, I can clean something and moments later it's dirty. I'm consistent about tidying up most areas of our home, but I learned a long time ago to embrace the dirt. And, honestly, I have (in a strange way) grown to love it.

As much as we painstakingly try to train our children to respect property and be good stewards of things, the fact remains that they are still kids. Not miniature adults. Spotless homes with flawless furniture no longer impress me. Instead they just make me uncomfortable because I know that when the visit is through, and my children say their goodbyes they will be leaving their marks behind.

 

Behind every spec of dirt in our home is a story. A beloved son or daughter is behind each fingerprint, each crumb, each piece of laundry, each dirty dish. It means my children can walk, can run, can eat, are growing, and I will even go out on a limb and say, are thriving. The messes that lurk around every corner...It all means that my children live life with me, day in and day out, moment by moment. We are making our memories together as a family inside this messy home and I wouldn't change a thing if I could.

During the first days after Samuel and I came home from the hospital, Andy's mom told me about a poem she had up in their home when she was raising her children. I meditate on it's lesson quite often.

Rocking My Baby

      

Cleaning And Scrubbing Can Wait Till Tomorrow...
For Babies Grow Up We've Learned To Our Sorrow...
So Quiet Down Cobwebs...Dust Go To Sleep...
I'm Rocking My Baby, And Babies Don't Keep.

Old Friends

Some close friends who moved away came to town for a visit. It is always wonderful when we can get our gangs together. The number of kids has dramatically increased over the years and so has the fun! Look at these precious treasures! Such a blessing to have friends who have been around for so long.

Joseph's Thank You Notes

With boys as young as ours are, I am not requiring a lot of handwriting in their schooling. So, multiple thank you notes could be very stressful for the little guys.

 

But, thanks to pinterest, I found a great way for the kids to say "thank you". We used a similar method for Christmas and it was a huge hit, so I just tweaked it for Joe's thank you notes.

 

Who wouldn't want another printed picture of this precious boy with what they gave him?!

 

Mama's Craft Buddy

I am just now getting back to working on the braided rug. In theory it would have been great to braid while I was constantly nursing at the beginning, but I just couldn't manage them simultaneously. Rosemary was too squirmy from the start. I was however able to get through several books I had on my list for this year. So that was a plus. I still don't have a plan for when I will actually work on this rug, but I am hopefully a few minutes here and there will eventually add up to what's needed to finish it before I realize it's a complete waste of time. We shall see. At least my craft buddy is super cute.

New Dress

I just love this picture of Annabelle in her new dress, even though it's a little blurry because it's from Joe's camera.

Joseph's 5th Birthday Camping Trip

For Joseph's birthday Andy took him camping. Since it was fairly cold out they decided to get a cabin. None of us have ever stayed in a cabin before, so that was a very special treat.

Joe got to sleep in a bunk bed!

I sent my nice camera and an old camera for Joseph. He came back with out about 200 pictures of each item they brought with them and that was in the cabin. When they arrived home, he sat me down immediately to go through them all. Here are just two of them below.

They had such a great time together. I'm so glad Andy does this with each of them on their 5th birthday. Such sweet memories were made.

Rosemary - 3 Months Old

Miss Rose started sucking her first two fingers on her left hand this month. It's absolutely adorable.

She started talking SO much this month. I don't remember any of our other children talking as much. She just loves her little voice. We do, too.

She is out of our bed sleeping for the most part and is sleeping in a swing in our bedroom. As soon as we put her in there, she calms down immediately, puts her fingers in her mouth, turns her head to the left and is out.

Is It Bedtime Yet?

During our nighttime routine of singing and praying as a family, Andy propped Rosemary up in the chair with him. She could hardly stay awake. Sweet girl loves her sleep.

But before bedtime Andy thought it would be funny to put her in his jiu jitsu gi. Haha!

Rosemary - 12 Weeks Old

I have no time to narrow down these pictures to the best ones, but also don't think I could if I sat here for half an hour comparing them all to one another. They are all just way too cute. I love every single thing about her.

Rosemary has had this precious swirl of hair over her eyebrow since birth. This picture below captures a bit of it.