Papa and his grandkids!

Well, his two oldest grandkids that is. There are plenty of pictures of Papa holding the babies, but those aren't as entertaining! With Lexi in town, Mark stayed home from daycare a lot and Papa was the entertainer. He bought them bouncy balls, bubbles, and chalk. He took them to the park and to Bounce U twice. Not to leave out Gammy, but she isn't retired and had to work a lot, or she was behind the camera, or the few pics I do have of her she wouldn't approve of me posting! So this post is about Pops only.

Here they are taking a snack break at the park.




Here they are playing with bubbles.





Here they are on their bouncy balls. What I love about this picture is that Mark is a typical boy and laughing as he falls. And even better than that is that Papa is laughing harder than Mark about his fall! You might have to zoom in to see it.

Papa and ?. Pretty sure its Lexi hiding in their make-shift tent!



Thanks for the fun times Papa!

Kate is here!

Geez! I felt like I was pregnant for as long as an elephant! (Aren't they pregnant for like 22 months?) Anyway, Kate Elise Wingerter came into this world on 4/4/11 at 1248pm. She weighed 6lbs10oz and was 19.5 inches long. Labor and delivery went ok. I'll spare you the details but lets just say there was some drama. I mean whats a birth without drama right? (Only there was no drama with Mark and I kinda prefer it that way!) So far, Kate is an angel baby. I keep saying that she is still in that "newborn comotose phase" but really secretly I'm hoping she is just an angel but I don't want to jinx it by saying it out loud! I'm sure any day now she'll wake up and keep things hopping! For now she sleeps all the time! She rarely ever cries, and the only way I know when to get up and feed her at night is when I hear her going to town trying to eat her hands! All the noise from big brother doesn't seem to phase her at all. Oh! And she laughs! So usually right after eating she falls asleep - you know in like REM where her eyes twitch and she breathes really fast and she smiles - well about 4 times now she has gotten a HUGE grin on her face and given a little chuckle. It is so cute! Speaking of big brother, he has been great. He LOVES his baby sister and is so gentle with her. He is constantly "checking" on her, "petting" her head, and giving her kisses. He loves to hold her "all by himself." The other day he said, "Mommy, you know what my favorite things about babies is? Petting their heads." He loves to say, "Its okay sister, you're okay." And he is VERY concerned if she cries. I think he has had a couple of attention issues, for example if he hurts himself nowadays he doesn't jump up yelling, "I'm ok" like he used to, now we are having some major drama over little injuries. But its ok cause its hard to get to hug and cuddle with him any other time lately! So, here are some pics from Kate's birthday and first week at home. New family pic - just the four of us! Big brother holding his baby sister for the first time! I think its funny to see what little room they take up in their crib at first!

All loaded up with two car seats!

Mark and Daddy carrying Kate out to the car! I had to ride in a silly wheelchair! (Ghetto OSU let me walk out)

Opah was Kate's first visitor when I was in labor and delivery and was also the first one there the next morning. He went from no grandkids to 4 grandkids in just three years!

Kate (not making the prettiest face) and her cousin Gracie! Gracie is just 6 weeks old!

Mimi and Mark waiting for Kate to come back from the nursery! They were our first visitors when we finally got to the post-partum room.

So I know these pictures are all scrambled, but Brandee, Lexi, and Lillian are in town from Norway! They got here just in time, the night before Kate was born! It has been super because Mark has been so busy plaing with Lexi I think it has distracted him from the lack of attention he's getting at home! Here is Lex on the trampoline!

Aunt Brandee and baby Lillian! Lillian just turned 5 months. Speaking of happy babies...

Gam and Pops with their two newest grandkids!

My two twinkies - I think they were about to head out for a bike ride.

So can you tell which one is Mark and which one is Kate? The blue and pink kinda give it away!

Here is a pic from today - today is her actual due date. I think she is starting to fill out!

Racing on the River

Today was Mark's very first pedal bike race! He was so excited to wear his new 918 team jersey. He's done a couple of races before, but this was his first race with pedals. It was actually a time trial and I was worried he wouldn't understand why no one else was on the starting line with him, but he got it I think. I told him they would put one biker at the starting line at a time and say ready, set, go! and then they would say, "ok Mark, now your turn. ready, set, go!" To which he replied, "No, they will say, 'Spiderman, its your turn. Ready, set, go!'" He cracks me up. Apparently he told my parents the other day that he is spiderman, he just acts like Mark. Hee hee. Anyway, here's some pics of his big race! Mark and Daddy ready to go! Uncle Tanner holding his bike steady at the starting line! Coming down the home stretch - pedaling his little heart out!

Post-race bananna re-fuel!

Uncle PJ and Britton came too. They had a great time riding across the pedestrian bridge and all over riverside after the race.

Here's what happens when you hand the camera to Gammy - pregnant pictures! But I guess I oughta include a pic of Kate too! She'll be here Monday unless she decides to come sooner!