Just a few pictures from the last couple of weeks. I'm that freak of a mom that always has the camera aimed and ready...

We have spent a tremendous amount of time outside daily as the weather has warmed up. I pick up the kids up by 3:00pm daily from our babysitter, Nicole, and head home shortly after. We rarely ever even make it inside the house most days before the neighborhood kids swarm the garage and Jonathan runs out to greet them. As soon as I open the third car garage all the toys come out. I'm so fortunate that my work day ends early so that I may spend some quality play time with my kids daily. Summer is just around the corner (just a month) and an adjustment to full time mom will be in order. Although I'm nervous about this transition (with three under three), I'm so excited for the opportunity being a teacher gives me in terms of summers off to enjoy my family and hopefully make some good memories. We have a lot of summer activies and outings planned (forbid we become bored!) Jonathan and Nicholas are already signed up for swim lessons (Aquatots & Parent tots through the Liberty Community Center)... Our happy little morning boy. I'm telling you...you can be in the worst mood ever (I'm not a morning person), but walk into this little guys room at 6a.m. and you are immediately greeted with a smile and squeal of delight...suddenly, the day is already that much brighter.
He not only whines till you help him get it around his neck just right, but he strums his little fingers like a pro!
I've been anxiously awaiting moments like these (above and below). More and more they are interacting with one another and Jonathan is beginning to see Nick as less of a nuisance and more of a pal. Warms my heart.
This pretty much expresses what she thinks of the Bumpo. She has been more and more interactive lately...she smiles an coos and loves being outside in the afternoons with her brothers. We've also learned she likes watching Elmo with her older brother Nicholas.
Right before this picture, daddy was serenading her with some special Brian Crain songs on the piano. Lucky girl!
We spent last weekend in Clinton to give Daddy Kaz some R&R after his (ahem) "procedure"...no more baby Kaz's in our future. The kids had a blast in Gaga and Grandpa's backyard. Gaga spoiled the boys with some new toys for outside. Typical...Jonathan had fun with the box.
Just Nick's size...so proud that he could go up and down all by himself.
Nick playing the flute and swinging. Silly boy.
The boys enjoying the treat of a sucker after dinner.Another haircut courtesy of the downtown barber shop...buzz, buzz. My father said "give him a regular haricut"...but in Clinton, MO. that means buzzcut. So when Nick was up for his cut, "give him a medium haircut". Too funny.

Jonathan's "Tattoo"

At birth, it showed up on his left arm as light blue spidery vains. We thought nothing of it as it was the same arm his identification bracelet was placed on in the hospital. After a week, it was becoming larger and more raised. Our first trip to the pediatrician's office after he was born revealed it was a hemangioma (malformed blood vessels) We had no clue what that meant, but later realized that little Jonathan was fortunate. It was just a superficial hemangioma...a birthmark...an evolutionary birthmark (meaning it would grow worse before eventually fading and becoming virtually undetectable). For some, these birthmarks can grow to be a large tumor leading to deformation an other developmental problems. They are typically found on the head and face...rarely on the extremities. Jason and I never really notice it anymore...it's become a part of our little guy and over the last couple of years, it continues to slowly fade away. This recent warmer weather, and the short sleeves that come with it, have revealed what is remaining of this birthmark (still continuing to fade away). A child at the park last spring asked Jonathan, "Is that a tatoo or something on your arm?" Jonathan was too young to know what in the world was said or what it meant...but it gave his mom a chuckle. Yeah...a tatoo? Not a burn, or contagious rash or any of the other speculations that people have who see it...it's just a cool tattoo!

Jonathan prior to his first birthday

Jonathan this past Easter

Picture's from today...

I just love all the spring colors...the green's are so vivid and this tree just budded this week. Spring is by far my favorite season.
As long as I would show him the pictures thru the camera's viewfinder after snapping them, he was okay with me taking pictures...but not too many. He was too busy playing afterall. ;)

Mr. Smiling Eyes

I'm still trying to figure all this out (in fact I'm starting to believe I'm spending way too much time in the evenings trying to figure all this out. Laundry is a pilin' up!) Nick is by far the easiest of my four to take pictures of...so easy to solicit a smile out of this little boy and his eyes (courtesy of daddy) are amazing to photograph. Jonathan sees the camera and runs. Katherine...well, Katherine sleeps and pukes. So here's one of the first I'm semi-proud of. It has helped to lessen my frustrations with this whole learning curve...a little anyway.

There is hope!

Today (and really yesterday too) proves that spring is here...and summer is on it's way. We spent lots of time outside both yesterday (after a birthday party in Lee's Summit and a yummy trip to Cheesecake Factory with family) and especially today...it was BEAUTIFUL! There always seem to be tears when we make the boys come inside and today was no exception. Uncle Tommy and Aunt Nataliya came by and picked Jonathan up to take him to Penguin Park with cousin Daniel this morning. After a nap, he was back in action outside while mom and dad worked on the yard (mowing, planting flowers, cleaning the garage & shed, etc.). The neighborhood was FULL with kids and every type of ride-on toy imaginable littered the culd-de-sac. All the little neighborhood girls are smitten with little Nicholas and they keep a close eye on him...claiming to practice their "babysitting" (It was funny to overhear one neighborhood girl (Payton) say to another, "That Nicholas sure is cute, but boy he just won't sit still!"...haha, tell me about it!) Jonathan experienced a few falls and a bloody knee...first time in shorts this season...first of many injuries to come.

Since we moved in this house in July of last year, watching all the spring flowers and spring trees bloom have been a surprise. Here are a few pictures. And some other random ones from today and yesterday.

Little Katherine enjoyed time outside strapped on the front of mommy in the Bjorn.

Little Nickles has learned to high-five!

Jonathan jumping...Am I going to have a trip to the ER again soon?

Washing the dirt off!

Family Photos & A New Adventure...

As mentioned in a previous post, Paula Porter (an old high school friend currently living in TN), made a trek to the Northland when visiting family in the area to take photos of our expanded family. I've always been so impressed with her abilities as a photographer. (You can see our family photos at http://www.porterphotgraphy.net/ (MilesKazmaier 5234) I just think her photography is amazing...simply look at her blog linked on the right hand side and view the wedding shoot she recently completed. I wish I had wedding pics like that! She has graciously agreed to mentor me in tapping the artistic side of myself I've neglected for so long and teach me a little bit about photography. My dear sweet husband has agreed to give in to my whims in allowing me to purchase a new dig. SLR camera and a couple of good lenses (after I sought advice from Paula the expert) It's an art form in itself to sweet talk Jason into giving in to my desires...such a good man he is. Courtesty of my mom, I was also able to get ahold of the latest version of Photoshop CS3 (thanks mom and Jen). I certainly don't intend to make a career out of this as I don't think I could ever have enough talent to do so, but to simply learn to get amazing shots of my three most favorite subjects in the world(my kiddos) will be really fun for me. I plan on taking an introductory photography course with another interested friend this summer but in the meantime, I have been reading books like crazy learning about aperture settings and ISO Speeds, shooting RAW images and tinkering with Photoshop. There's definitely a lot more to it than I first realized....but it's been so enjoyable to learn! Here's one of the very first pics (of Nick) taken with my new toy straight out of the box.

Spring? Nope...

The boys were able to get outside for a bit this afternoon with dad when the sun finally decided to make an appearance for the first time in what seems like days. They helped out with a bit of spring yardwork. It was still cold...and can you believe it? Snow flurries in April? SPRING, WHERE ARE YOU? WE NEED YOU! HURRY! Jason asked Jonathan when he was playing with his yellow car outside if he was going to put gas in it. Jonathan said "NO!" A few minutes later Jason asked, "Jonathan what are you doing?" as Jonathan was throwing debris from the yard in the back of his car. Jonathan replied, "I'm putting grass in my car daddy!"

Growing, Growing, Growing

The latest picture of our littlest baby, Kate. She has been sleeping like a champ lately...typically only waking once to eat and goes right back down shortly after. We are so grateful for this as having three babies under three has been a bit physically and emotionally taxing lately.This makes it easier to get up daily at 5 a.m. for some "mommy time" running with a couple of neighborhood friends.

We attempted a pleasureable trip home to Clinton this past weekend to see Jason's parents and came to the realization that we should just remain home for the next few years! Taken out of their routine and their familiar surroundings, all three kiddos refused to sleep! And there's nothing pleasureable about that! Another good reason to postpone our family vacation to North Carolina this summer by a year. Instead, the cost of the trip will be spent by putting Jason to work by constructing a playset in the backyard for the boys. We have become homebodies...and honestly, that's where we prefer to be at this stage in our lives! Who would have thought? :)

A sneak peek at photos by friend Paula...

Once again, Paula Porter (an old HS friend) came to take pics of our family (now that our Oct. pics are outdated). Especially pics of our newest arrival, Baby Kate. Here a few she shared via Facebook. What a tease...we can't wait to see the rest! She's amazing...even though neither the weather nor the sun cooperated for natural light photography, she still managed to get some wonderful images.

The Latest with Baby Kate...

Another trip to Children's Mercy...we had the ultrasound this a.m. at 7:30 followed by a appt. with Nuclear Medicine for the Renal Scan. She had to be catheterized again after which, they hooked her up to an IV. She was strapped down for an hour while the images were collected but did reletively well despite having to fast prior to the appt. Once finished, we visited Dr. Gatti’s office (our Pediatric Urologist). Looks like what they suspected originally, based on preliminary testing, is the case. She has a duplicate ureter (connecting the kidney to the bladder) on the right side, and a uretercele (malformation). She does have partial function in her right kidney! YEAH. We are grateful for that...it appears only 15-% is not functioning. So she will go back in September for another ultrasound prior to open surgery around her first birthday (Dr. Gatti assured us the scar would be minimal based on where the incision will be). He will simply connect the two ureters and that should prevent any future problems. She will continue to be on an antibiotic daily and we are to monitor for any signs of a bladder infection..otherwise she’s doing great. She weighed in at 11.5lbs …only 7lbs shy of big brother Nickles. Chubba, Chubba. Here are a couple of pathetic little pic of her all strapped down and not the least bit happy. We are all glad that’s over. Now we have some time to mentally prepare for the next and final step.