Jack holding Cora:

Jack is pretty darn sweet with little kids!

She really likes to chew on her tongue these days.

Layla and Leah singing Frozen songs:

I'm sorry for the shaky camera-work at time...I was laughing so hard and trying to keep it under wraps...

Cora and her friend Zoe:

How cute are these girls???

3 months today!

The slow lean, demonstrated:

Oh, forgetful Mama...

So, not only did we forget to do anything special for wonderful Grammy's birthday, but we also didn't know (and therefore didn't CELEBRATE!) about Cousin's Day!  Gah!  We shall make it up eventually.  For now, here is our mea culpa:

Zoo day (Saturday) for the older two and Jonas:

Jonas took 37 videos at the zoo today, so I'll try to find a few cute ones and upload those.  :)  For the record, I asked him to take videos, and now I can't upload any videos longer than 60 seconds, so that's likely why there are so many... ;)  Here goes!

(Shoot, I can't choose the videos in an educated manner, so...this will be a fun surprise what you get to see...)

REAL cake-making:

With so much fake-cake-making going on around these parts, Layla decided it was time for a REAL cake.  So we made one this morning.  Here she is filling her toy cupcake tin.  

Finn is the only one who can lick the batter because Layla is allergic to raw eggs.  Bummer.  :/

SPF Life Group backyard party:

Our Life Group (small group) from church meets 3X a week during the school year:  The 1st Thursday evening of the month all the adults get together at our house.  The 2nd Thursday of the month only the men get together.  The 3rd Thursday only the women get together.  The last (or last 2 sometimes...) Thursday is off--no one meets.  This way, as many of us are families with young kids, we only have to get a babysitter once a month.  And the Schaefers luck out--we never have to get a babysitter to be able to participate in Life Group, as they meet at our house after our kids are in bed.  Score.  :)  

In the summer we only meet once a month.  2 of those times are family events, and one time we go out for a fancy dinner on the town, just the adults.  SO, this past Wednesday night was one of our fun family events.  We had a BBQ/Pool party in our backyard, and it was fantastic.  The weather was perfection.  I only remembered to snap a few pictures one time, in between taking care of Cora/food, so I just quick snapped these from the back porch.  

SO much fun was had in the pool!  I think next year we should figure out a way for the slide from the playhouse to end up in the pool...

There were 15 kids hanging out in the backyard at one time...

This configuration of chairs cracks me up.  They started out this way due to the sun, and where the shade was positioned...and then they just stayed this way for the rest of the night.  ;)  

Fake cake-making at the Schaefer house:

Layla got Finn involved in her fake-cake-making.  It was a cake for HIM, she said.  :)

The sludge.

Layla the other day:

Layla is WAY into baking these days.  Often she "bakes" without my knowledge.  Usually this involves flour and water "cakes" in her play cooking gear from Aunt Andrea and Uncle Greg.  These "cakes" become cement sludge...super fun to clean.  ;)  Here she was in in action earlier this week...

Layla also loves to sing...and "Let it go" from Frozen is a current favorite.  She was singing SO loud and doing all the actions, but when I got out my camera she saw me and just stood there, facing the TV, singing quietly.  Darn it.  Next time... :)

BUSTED.

Layla, honey.  If you want to be sneaky and steal the frosting from the top shelf of the fridge, then you need to learn to also hide your chair ladder and close the door afterwards.  That'll give you at least a 15 minute head-start on Mama, until your silence upstairs becomes suspicious...

Babywearing month #2: my first woven wrap

If you remember, this year I'm trying out a bunch of new styles of baby wearing...and this month was my first month with a hand-woven wrap.  This time I had a size 6 Natibaby brown and cream "Astro."  I learned a wrap carry called a "front wrap cross carry," and 75% of the wrap technique for this one is very similar to wearing a baby in a Moby, so it wasn't too hard to learn--the only tricky part is learning to "tighten the rails" without the baby fully secured in it already.  It's a very "beginner" wrap to learn, but it was still fun for me.  I go tonight to return it and get a new one from the lending library, since I can't go to the next meeting.  I think this next month I'll just get another size 6 or size 5 wrap and try to master the "Kangaroo carry."  ;)  Good times, folks!  Cora is less than impressed, at time, but oh well--she needs to get over it.  She HAS to be carried, as I've got 2 other kids and only 2 hands!

A few pics I quick took yesterday so we could document this wrap:

The passes that are going under her legs here can be spread out across her back for more support/to keep her closer to me.  But I think we both prefer it where she can lean back and bit and look around more. This is a great carry for newborns and feels VERY secure and supported.  I feel like I could go for a jog with her like this and we'd both feel fine.  

Blurry because I was jumping trying to make her happy... :)

Finn with Papa at Home Depot:

Getting ready to build another shelf...

This one I LOVE:

Keeping the old.

"Make new friends, but keep the old..."

I know they say you'll lose touch with all your high school friends but keep in close touch with great college friends, but for me that isn't really the case.  I've kept in close contact (read: getting together 4X a year or so, and FB stuff...) with a group of 5 high school friends, and it's been totally delightful.  :)

Saturday 3 of us got together with our babies for a pre-dinner happy hour.  (Side not:  It's delightful to drink freely again.)  Kate has 6 month old Peter, and Jessica and I had babies born 13 days apart, I believe--Zoe is an early May baby and Cora is the end of April.  Here they are, for your entertainment!

Cora, Peter, Zoe