Baby!

Bethany Ann Konop
8 lbs 3 oz  8/25/2012 4:30 a.m.

Other than complete exhaustion, mom and baby are doing great.  Thank you Lord!  We are so blessed!

Outdoor Adventures

The weather has been beautiful (on and off) already this spring.  I have to keep reminding myself it is still April!  Yesterday temps were in the 70's and the kids spent over 4 hours total at two different parks, and had a great time.  They are both able to play (mostly) without our help now, which is fantastic!  We went outside in the (windy) warm temperatures this afternoon before the rain hits later. 
Knowing from my photography friends that overcast days are great for taking pictures, and since Brandon was out playing with (and able to help corral) the kids, I grabbed the camera. 
I'm sure we will be spending lots of time outside this summer, and will try to keep you posted on our adventures!


 

 

 

 

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen...

START YOUR BETTING!!!
You have 2 days to enter your wager. Do you think Baby Konop will be a boy or a girl??
That's right, We have a new addition to our family! Baby is due in the middle of August, and we are so excited!
The ultrasound is on Monday, and if Baby cooperates, we will find out the gender and share the results afterward.

(ok, I thought there was a widget you could add to take a poll, but I can't seem to find it.  If I do I will put it up, if not you can leave a comment if you care to share your guess!)

Ruthie & Levi update, in picture form

My little Princess often insists on dressing up before doing anything else. Here she is playing with Levi's favorite Christmas gift, his cars; posing for the camera; and practicing her math and number writing.

Here are some pics of Levi, lately. Scheming of ways to grab the camera before I can stop him; trying on his polar bear mask (refused to let me actually put it on his face); climbing up on the stool byt he computer--one of his favorite naughty things to do lately (this pic is internet-appropriate, right?); playing intently with his cars; and experimenting with shaving cream.

Advent Tree

I have fond memories of waking up each morning leading up to Christmas and opening a new flap on my Advent Calendar. What would it be? An angel? A lamb? A star? Santa? :)
I wanted to start a similar tradition with Ruthie this year. But all the ones I could find (granted, I didn't spend too much time looking) were Santa-themed and included candy. I wanted something that pointed to the real reason for Christmas--Christ's birth! And, in my opinion, children don't need any extra candy, especially around Christmas. So, with a little inspiration from various blogs, and some of my own creativity, I made an Advent Tree.
I cut out Christmas-y shapes (traced cookie cutters) from Christmas-themed scrapbook paper that fold together. On the white (boring) side, I glued numbers, 1-25 (which, conveniently, were included in the Christmas scrapbook paper set), and on the printed (fun) side, I put a bible passage or paraphrase of part of the Christmas story from Luke 2. Each day, Ruthie finds the number, we open it and read the passage. Then we hang it back on the tree, pretty side (and bible passage) showing.
Nothing too fancy, but she likes it (so does Levi :), and they fit pretty well on our little tree.

mmmmm....

...gotta love a good, ripe tomato. Fresh from Grandma's garden, of course!

This was taken about an hour after she refused to eat the tomatoes (or anything else) in her chili for lunch.
Levi also sampled the tomatoes. He took a big bite, like it, took a couple more, then smooshed the entire thing in his hands :)

Happy Birthday!!

We celebrated Levi's first birthday on Tuesday (and again on Thursday, and we will once more on Saturday...boy he gets alot of parties!)
Levi thoroughly enjoyed his birthday cake--especially the cheerios (Ruthie's idea).
I can't believe our little baby boy is already a year old! This year has just flown by. He is such a fun, sweet, curious, playful little boy; I can't wait to see what the next year holds :)
We love you, Levi!!

check out the amazing photos Emily took of Levi and our family at http://emilyebelingphotography.blogspot.com/2011/08/levi-one-year-portraits-and-family.html

Friends!

We had a chance to meet and hang out with some friends this past week. Here's just a couple pics.

Matthias is about a month older than Levi (although he was supposed to be a month younger!--He's doing great!).

Isabella is my friend Melissa's 6-month-old cutie. It's so cool to be moms together with someone I've been friends with since we were kids! I hope we get to see more of eachother. We'll have to if we want to arrange a marriage between Levi and Isabella. :) Come on, they'd be a cute couple, wouldn't they? And they're already starting to pick on eachother!

Park Adventure

A couple weeks ago we took the kids to the park. It wasn't as warm as weather.com said it would be... but we had fun just the same. It was also Levi's first interactive trip to a park (i.e. he wasn't in his stroller the entire time). He had his first swing ride, and first mouthful of sand :)

Action Shot!

I took this video very shortly after I took the photos from the last post...just haven't gotten it up here yet. Enjoy!


Yes, Ruthie does say "I'm on your back" about 15 seconds in...which leads to the awesome ending :)

Getting Into (and Under...and Through) Everything!

That's right, a new post two days in a row. You're welcome!

We've been busy!

I just realized it has been over a month (ok, close to 2) since my last blog post. But I have an excuse. Many, actually. We have been busy...

...playing
...doing puzzles, and playing all sorts of games
...exercising, or flying, depending on who you ask
...going for rides

...and drumming.

Certain members of our family have also been...
...growing teeth
...learning how to crawl
...helping mom cook
...getting into everything
...eating more foods
...selling a car and buying a minivan
...putting out fires
...climbing on everything and pulling himself up to standing
...looking forward to Easter!

Half-way There!

Half-way to what? Levi is half-way to his first birthday! Well, more than half-way now, but this picture was taken on his half birthday at least :) He is taking his first sled ride at Grandma & Grandpa Konop's house. We had a great week up north visiting them and seeing cousins and friends. Check out the pictures in our Picasa album.

Craft Time 2

We got some contsruction paper the other day, and Ruthie has been wanting to make EVERYTHING out of it. She asked me to make Clifford (the big red dog), T-Bone, and Cleo (Clifford's friends). Here she is, showing you her (ahem...mom's) creations one by one; then trying to show all of them at the same time :)

Craft Time

This is Ruthie making one of her Packer necklaces for the Super Bowl party. (The other one was yellow). I'm amazed at her concentration and fine motor skills. She did at least half of the necklace all by herself!

Could they be twins?

Recently people have been telling me how much Ruthie and Levi look alike. I am beginning to see more and more resemblances too. So I decided to do a little experiment. I lined up their newborn, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 month pictures to see how they've grown. One thing I noticed is that Ruthie had much more hair than Levi does; but that's ok, boys look cute bald :) I don't think they look all that similar; but they are definitely brother and sister! (you can tell who is who, right??)

Do You See What I See?

A happy, goofy 2-year-old making faces at herself in an ornament!

Thursday/Christmas/Birthday Party

We hosted a Christmas party for our usual Thursday Night crew, plus a few more. It was also close to Josiah's second birthday, so the kids decorated cupcakes and rice crispie cut-outs. Food was eaten, games were played, fun was had. It was a great evening!

Saint Nick

One morning, Ruthie and Levi's stockings had 'bumps' in them. Upon further investigation, they contained Mrs. Potato Head, and some fun balls, respectivley. Several mornings after this, Ruthie checked their stockings for more 'bumps'. As you can see, they loved their surprises :)

Ruthie the Fashionista

Ruthie recently made quite the fashion statement when she asked to put shorts on over her pants, and then underwear over the top of everything.

Could she be America's next Top Model??