Babies and Birthdays

I have the cutest little pictures of Eila Kay from when she came to visit with her Mama back at the beginning of April.  Hard to believe this little gal is more than six months old and scooting now!

Here are Annie and Eila, the babies of the family.  Don't you love those blue eyes?

Eila hanging out in her bumbo on the back porch.

Papa tries to entice Eila with a bottle.

I was a little worried that Annika would be overly jealous of Eila, but she adored having a live baby doll in the house, as evidenced by her squeals of "Baby!  Baby!  Baby!" repeated 500 times.  Even so, she wanted a turn on Papa Kay's lap too.  Here she is pointing out her nose, one of their favorite games.


Not surprisingly, Brooklyn had an immediate knack for keeping Eila happy, and vice versa.

 Eila's inaugural trip in the swing.

And here's Eila on her first visit to the Joslyn Art Museum.  Next time she might even open her eyes.

Eli in front of the art work we made there.   If you look closely, you can see Papa Kay's drawing says "Keep Smiling."

My only complaint about Eila's visit was that it went too darn fast.  Callie and Adam, maybe you can talk her into postponing that whole "grow up" deal until we get together again.  We miss you guys--thanks for coming!

Fortunately, the next day's Easter celebration kept us from pining away too much.  Here are the munchkins searching for eggs at Papa Kay and NomiAnn's house.  Annika certainly grasped the idea of the egg hunt this year!

Talia looks positively amazed with her bounty.

Even though all the kids split their Easter eggs evenly, Eli still felt disappointed when his legs couldn't get him to the eggs as quickly as he wanted.  Hang in there, little guy!  Life's good.

Brooklyn on the prowl.

Look out!  Here she comes!

Papa Kay had the perfect spot for observing the hunt.  I think he enjoys the tree house almost as much as the kids do.  (At least when Annika's not trying to launch herself out of it, but that's another story...)


Speak of the little devil, how can something so innocent cause so much havoc?  :)

As my mother likes to remind me, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

This as close as I'll ever get to being a Bunny.  Scandalous.

Last but not least, a few sibling photos in the treehouse.  Eli, you look like the odd man out.

That's better!  Oh wait, Talia's crossing her eyes.  What a goofball.

Third time's a charm.

Back inside the house, we celebrated the fact that Easter was also Papa Kay's birthday by beating up on him.  Must be a guy thing.

Always generous, he and NomiAnn gave the kids gifts on his special day.  This one that Brooklyn's modeling is a personal favorite.  You can reconfigure it to make all sorts of cool forts.

Papa Kay pauses to open some gifts of his own--with plenty of help, of course.

If I remember correctly, Papa Kay was born on Easter, so his family always celebrated with a bunny cake.

Brooklyn and Talia were eager to sample.

Happy Birthday, Papa K!  Always a net giver, you make our lives as sparkly as your candle.

And NomiAnn, here's a smile and heads up.  We are so thankful for you and your special day as well.

When NomiAnn's moment rolled around at the end of the month, she specifically asked us all to not make any fuss.

We didn't listen.  Here are Brooklyn, Talia, and Eli in NomiAnn's office, having sneaked in to decorate with Papa Kay.

In the end, NomiAnn handled all the loving attention from friends, family, and students with a graceful smile.  And why not?  After all, it's not every day a gal turns 29.

Just a few hours ago I had a conversation with my Mom about one of the kids needing rescuing at school, which naturally reminded us of the very many times she bailed me out of my own sticky situations growing up.  As I thanked her (better late than never), she joked about how she's still there for the rescue.  How right she is!  Thanks, Mom, for being there for all of us, and happy birthday!