Birmingham

Easter weekend we loaded up the car and headed West to Birmingham, Al.  The purpose of the trip was to meet our new niece Gretchen, and celebrate big brother Aaron's birthday!   It was a short but good trip filled with lots of family time.  The pictures tell it better than I can.

Celebrating Aaron's 2nd birthday

Awesome cake made by Uncle Rod and Aunt B

Opening presents

  Joanna

Gretchen

 Aunt B and Joanna

 Aaron going to the neighborhood egg hunt

 All the babes

5 months!

Joanna is 5 months....and some change.  I'm always a little behind with her pictures and these posts, but better late than never.  She is so much fun these days!  She is "talking" up a storm.  She is now rolling front/back, and back/front.  The first time she rolled back to stomach, I was working and Ben was home with her.  He went to another room to get something and when he came back, she was on her stomach.  A few days later, I put her down for a nap and noticed that when she was fussing, her cries sounded muffled. When I went to check, she was on her stomach!  She has a happy little disposition until 6-7 pm when she lets us know it's time for bed.  She's sleeping from about 7:30 pm to 7:00 am.  Nice!   She is starting to reach for us when she's being held by someone else, which makes me so happy!  She has also recently discovered her feet, which I was able to capture in a couple of these shots.  Check 'em out:

Check out those teeth!  They've been coming in for about a month now.  So far, no sign of any others.

Last week we started cereal twice a day.  Some days I think she enjoys it, and some days not so much.

She's a sweet girl and so curious about everything!  It's so fun to watch her discover new things and learn how to move her little body in new ways.  She's such a blessing to us and we are so thankful to the Lord for this precious gift.

Speaking of precious gifts.....Gretchen Elizabeth Crabbe was born last Wednesday!  She is two years and one day younger than her big brother.  Melissa and David opted not to find out the sex of the baby before delivery.  They were pretty certain they were having another boy, but nope!  Can't wait to meet this little one this weekend and celebrate Aaron's birthday!  We are hitting the road to Birmingham on Friday as soon as Ben gets home.

How cute!  We love her already.