I am learning how to post slideshows, so please forgive any little hiccups. I compiled a few pictures from our past week, including our little family Christmas (the four of us), Christmas with Marc's dad's family, and my birthday. I am terrible about taking pictures, especially when there is a lot going on, which is why there aren't any pictures from Marc's mom's house, or my parent's house, oops! It was a good week, full of activity, and a bit of relaxing. Click to enjoy the photos!

Highlights from the past month

A whole month flew by with no blog entries entered by me! Between preparing for Christmas, celebrating Thanksgiving, and being out of commission for the better part of a week, I have been forgetting to blog! We had a great Thanksgiving celebrating with lots of family! We've been enjoying preparing for Christmas especially now as a family of four. Marc and I had a chance to go to a beautiful concert at Wheaton college with some friends. And we also went downtown to celebrate 5 years of marriage. We ate at The Cheesecake Factory - YUM! Now Marc has two weeks of vacation, after having been super busy at work. It's so nice to have him home and we're looking forward to some extended quality time as a family. Here are some highlights of the past month along with some pictures of other random things. I don't actually take many pictures, so the ones I do take usually get posted here!


Grandma L. getting great joy from feeding Joey his bottle.



Lydia really loves Grandpa L. It's very cute!


Grandpa L. feeding Joey his bottle


Just a cute one of Joe


Happy Birthday Papa! Eating dinner with Papa W. at Jason's Deli.


Shopping Trip.... Costco! Love those double seated carts!


Last but not least, M&K's 5th anniversary. This is us in front of the tree in front of Cheesecake Factory. It was SO cold!


AND.....Mr. Giggles


I doubt I'll post anything else before Christmas, so Merry Christmas! Love came down that first Christmas...Immanuel, God with us!

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Here's a Christmas prayer (I found it in on the internet)that I hope will bless those who read it.

NOT ONLY CHRISTMAS DAY

Lord, this is my prayer
Not only on Christmas Day
But until I see You face to face
May I live my life this way:

Just like the baby Jesus
I ever hope to be,
Resting in Your loving arms
Trusting in Your sovereignty.

And like the growing Christ child
In wisdom daily learning,
May I ever seek to know You
With my mind and spirit yearning.

Like the Son so faithful
Let me follow in Your light,
Meek and bold, humble and strong
Not afraid to face the night.

Nor cowardly to suffer
And stand for truth alone,
Knowing that Your kingdom
Awaits my going home.

Not afraid to sacrifice
Though great may be the cost,
Mindful how You rescued me
From broken-hearted loss.

Like my risen Savior
The babe, the child, the Son,
May my life forever speak
Of who You are and all You've done.

So while this world rejoices
And celebrates Your birth,
I treasure You, the greatest gift
Unequaled in Your worth.

I long to hear the same words
That welcomed home Your Son,
"Come, good and faithful servant,"
Your Master says, "Well done."

And may heaven welcome others
Who will join with me in praise
Because I lived for Jesus Christ
Not only Christmas Day

November

Yesterday was Nov. 17 which makes Joey 7 months! Also, last Friday was Nov. 12 which makes Lydia officially 2 1/2 years!

Joey is getting even bigger and stronger. He is standing a lot these days (when held of course - not on his own quite yet!) and loves the telephone. I have a feeling he is going to be a gadget lover, similar to someone else in this family. :) He loves to eat eat eat, and there never seems to be enough food! We are enjoying him very much and loving the way him and Lydia interact. Here are some pics of Joey:

In his Chicago Bears jersey



With Daddy ( I love these!)




Lydia is starting to talk in sentences and asking more questions. This age is so fun! She loves Elmo and still loves music as much as before. And she loves all of her stuffed animals, so much in fact, that at times she will drag about 5 at a time around the house!

Here is pic of Lydia loading up her shoebox for Operation Christmas Child. (We want to instill the importance of giving to those in need)



We are gearing up for the holidays, and looking forward to starting some new traditions as a family. One tradition we're starting this year for Thanksgiving is reading a book called Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember. It is about the pilgrims and their journey here to America, and the history of Thanksgiving. We'll read a little bit each day before Thanksgiving.

Since I probably won't blog again before Thanksgiving day, Happy Thanksgiving!

1 Chronicles 16:34 "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever."

Bonfire time

Marc and I decided we were going to get a bonfire pit this fall. Though we've only had one bonfire so far, we look forward to many more with friends and family. Our first fire was interesting. Marc used an old cardboard box to help get the fire going, as well as a ton of newspaper. The cardboard box had some vegetable oil on it from a little spill. Check out my photo story.

The fire - way bigger than it probably is supposed to be....


Marc, frantically trying to get the hose ready in case we need it.


20 seconds later, all is well. :)


A very relieved Marc.

Trick or Treat

Marc's sister, Nicole, and I took the kiddos trick or treating this year. Lydia was our little elephant, while Joey was our little spider. We only went up and down one street, but surprisingly that took an hour, and we also collected a ton of candy!

Lydia didn't really get that into it, in fact I think her favorite part was handing out candy at Marc's mom's house. But we all had a good time.

Afterwards we had dinner with "Grandma" and "Papa".

Some pictures from the day:

Daddy & Joey

Grandma with her grandkids

Lydia with Aunt Nicki

Mommy and kids

A few updates…

There is really not that much new at the Revoredo household, but the kids keep growing and doing new things, so that always keeps things rather interesting!

Joey is now 6 months! These 6 months have gone by so much faster than Lydia’s first 6 months of life. I know this is not really possible, as 6 months is 6 months, but maybe because there’s more going on, the time has really flown!

Joey’s stats: At his 6 month appt on Monday, Joey weighed 20 pounds exactly. He’s continuing on that 90%ile with everything: head circumference, height and weight. However at the rate he eats, I thought he’d actually weigh more, lol!

He’s as fun as ever, with his smiling, laughing, and “screeching”. He loves to sit in his bumbo chair and watch what’s going on. He still loves to be held and looked at, which is cute, and at times somewhat inconvenient. We’re starting to notice some major differences between him and his sister. One is that he’s starting to reach and grab for EVERYTHING. He’s also much more active than Lydia and swats more and kicks more. This is normal baby behavior I’m sure, and I know once he’s crawling/cruising/walking, he will probably keep me on my toes! And after all, he is a boy! He is very reactive too. What I mean by that is when we smile, he smiles back or laughs instantly, but he also cries when I sneeze, or use the blender, etc.! Lydia slept through the vacuum cleaner being run, and loved when I blended things in the Magic Bullet, and we had to put on a circus show, to get her to laugh! Joe, well, not so much! It is neat to see how God created them to be very different.

Lydia is saying more sentences and cracks us up with so much of what she says and how she says it! Just this morning as Marc was leaving for work, she said “bye” with the same intonation that Marc says it. She also continues to love singing and can even sing a few songs all by herself (ABC’s, Jesus Loves me, Twinkle Twinkle). She loves her little brother and loves to touch his “soft” and “fuzzy” head.
All in all, the two of them keep mommy very busy and also keep us laughing!

Joey at 6 months:





And a few pictures from the past month

Didier Farms Family Excursion:





Walk to Park:




Go Pack!

5 Months and more!

Joey is 5 months, how did that happen!? Almost half a year! We had his 5 month check up, and he checked out OK. :) He seems to be riding along the 90% curve as far his growth goes. He's been 90% for weight, height, and even head circumference now 3 months in a row. He loves to move, roll, and squeal. I have a feeling we'll need to some major babyproofing soon.

Joey at 5 months:



Here's a picture of Lydia at 5 months, to compare:




And just a few pics from some of the things we've been up to.......

Our first trip to a real zoo (Lydia liked the goldfish):



Craft time(painting a Snake, that is also an 'S':



What happens when mommy leaves the room for a second:



The morning of Lydia's first day of Sunday school:

Our little bookworm

Lydia loves to read books (or page through them at least :) We knew this. She's been a book lover for a while now. She also loves to crawl out of her bed and read books during her naptime. However, bedtime is different because it is pitch black in her room and she always stays in her bed(we thought this was because she couldn't see anything). Until last night. I went to check on her about 1/2 an hour after Marc layed her down for the night, and she was in the pitch black "reading" books in the corner of her room. Maybe she has eyes like a cat? Although this was slightly frustrating, because we're trying to teach her to stay in her bed, it was very amusing to Marc and I. We knew the girl loved books, but this took things to a whole new level!

Belated Birthday Blog

This past weekend we celebrated the birthday of our beloved husband and daddy dearest. :) Here's two haikus(cuz I know you love haikus!) for you, Marc:

Husband to Katie
Dad to Lydia and Joe
Oh how we love you!

You like computers
You enjoy helping others
We love you so much!

Happy birthday Marc!

Wrapping Up August

We spend the final weekend in August visiting some of my(Katie's) family in WI. Marc also got to go to a preseason Packer game with my dad, and we both had dental visits as well! Needless to say it was a very full few days. I didn't get many pictures, but I did get a few while we were visiting my Grandma and Grandpa Lohela.


Lydia with Grandpa (eating an apple from Great Grandpa's tree)


Me with Grandma Lohela


Lydia with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa


Lydia picking tomatoes with Great Grandpa


Click here to see last year's trip to Berlin.

In other news, Joey is now turning over (all the time!) and Lydia is in a toddler bed. Always something new!

Reality Check.....

Kids grow up SO fast!!!

Lydia rode a carousel ALL BY HERSELF! This may not seem like a big deal to some, but this was a big deal (maybe more so for mommy!). Lydia is very tentative about many things, and to see her ride on this carousel made us beam with pride. She is really growing up!

Please enjoy the video of this experience.

Notice her death grip on the horse.. :)



AND "little" Joe is getting so big. Physically and just in what he's able to do!

He is now 4 months and eating cereal. He had his 4 month check up this morning, and he's still 90% across the board. Are we surprised?!



Everyone comments on how similar Joey and Lydia look. What do you think? Here's a picture of Lydia at 4 mo. and a picture of Joey at 4 mo.



I thank God for these kids every day, and am so blessed (and challenged!) by them! I am amazed at the love I have for them. To think that God's love for me is even so much greater than that love is an overwhelming thought!

What we've been up to

I haven't blogged in a while, I realize!

We haven't been up to much. A lot of the days have been inside avoiding the heat (for anyone who knows me well, they know how much I loathe heat!) I am excited for the average temp to get back to at least the mid 80's! There have not many trips to the park. Thankfully we have a pool in the back"yard". I have also started doing more crafts during the day with Lydia, which has been fun!

Most of our "nights" are spent doing P90x which is apparently the latest craze! The kids go down, Marc and I get our workout gear on, and we do our workout. It's actually been very difficult, as it's time consuming and when the kids go down, I just want to wind down. However it has been nice to get in better shape, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel (in about 60 days!), and hopefully when itis over we will be glad we did it and resume a workout routine that is more normal for having 2 little kids. It is definitely an extreme workout(at least for us) and has pushed us. It is also fun to be able to do it together.

Joey has been a delight. He is a smiley and content baby and even laughs a lot! And Lydia continues to spoil him with hugs and kisses, and she loves to rub his fuzzy head. So cute. :)

That's all for now. Joey is 4 months next week, so I'll put up more pics then. Until then, enjoy our 3 mo. professional pics done by our friends Rich and Leeann Chang(see previous post for link to pictures).

Professional 3 month pics

Go here to find our professional pictures of Joey. They were done by our friends Rich and Leeann Chang (Chang2Studios).

Joey is 3 months!

We made it to 3 months...woohoo! 3 months was actually a few days ago, but I finally got around to do the blog. The pictures were taken today. :)





Lydia showing some love!


Lydia wanted to put a "flower" on Joey's head. We don't eat sunny side up eggs at our house, so I guess it kind of does look like a flower... :)


Joey's is talking a lot these days, saying "ooo" and "ah-goo", very cute! We had his 3 month appointment, and he is in the 90th percentile across the board. Lydia is enjoying her little brother and is quite the little helper, always ready to get mommy a burp cloth or Joey his "patsifier". And Joey loves to just watch Lydia as she swarms around him.

Time off, time together!

Whew! We've been busy! We've been enjoying Marc's time off by going here, there and everywhere! So far we've been to the Indiana Dunes, Botanical Gardens, Rockford, the city, and now we're in WI for a few days. It's been nice to have a lot of time together. We've also been able to see a lot of family, which has been great. Here are pics from some of our outings/visits.

Visiting Kristin and Ethan at the Indiana Dunes



Botanical Gardens with Grandma Woerner





Visiting Neighborhood Park with Grandma and Grandpa Woerner







Children's Concert Downtown Arlington Heights

Joey taking a snooze...





Porch time at Grandma & Grandpa Wise's house





Harrington Beach State Park, WI
Lydia walking with Grandpa in the lake