Finn got some new shoes in the mail today...he's very pleased with them.  

VERY pleased.  :)

Layla got a new dress in the mail...she is also very pleased, because it twirls oh-so-nicely.

Then it was crafting time.  Layla wanted to make a necklace for her teacher.
She also made one for Jonas and me.  Jonas got caught later on without his on...BIG no-no.  

They both have such serious concentration faces.

See Cora yelling at me in the background?  She is not a big fan of the Jumperoo these days...it's Mama's safe place to put her when I need to do something quickly...

THIS face.  I see this face ALL the time.  Imagine the most ear-piercing yell coming out of her mouth, and then double that volume.  It's not a cry, it's a YELL.  Usually a scolding yell.  This child changes so fast!! :)

Little Miss Sunshine

Green beans:

Why don't I use bibs more??  I don't know.  Sigh.  

She sits like a queen on her throne...

You can see some top teeth in this photo...those darn top teeth...causing 5:30 a.m. wake-ups two days in a row.

They BEGGED me to take these pictures:

Before bed with Cora:

Playing in the toy room with Cora last night, right before her bed time:

New skill: throwing

Cora looooves to watch the older two take a bath.  She stands at the side of the tub and reaches in for their toys, or yells at them constantly.  Yes, yelling...wowza.  I'm pretty sure she is our loudest child to date, and most "aggressive" in her yelling.  ;)  She was chucking these toys with all her might, but as soon as I got out the camera she only did it once...

A dedication and a New Year:

Cora was dedicated at church yesterday.  She pretty much stole the show and was the cutest baby in the history of any dedication.  Ever.  We're delighted to be her parents, and so happy to be at a great church that loves our children.

Then we came home and celebrated the Lunar New Year / Cora's dedication.  :)  Here is the start of my spring roll fixings.
We had spring rolls, egg rolls, pot stickers, Chinese spicy noodles, sushi, cupcakes, fortune cookies, and fun drinks.

The only thing NOT home-made was the sushi.  I can make sushi, but now when I'm doing 3 other things as well....
If only Uncle Ben Schaefer had been here!  He's the sushi master.  :)

Jonas making good use of the dipping sauces for the potstickers.

YES.  

Part of the crowd, enjoying our food.

Uncle Dan and 3/4 of the nieces.  

Piyush and Ruchira came!  The kids (and we!) were delighted.  

Piyush and Ruchira gave this dress to Cora...adorable (for this summer)

And THIS dress to Layla.  She LOVES it.  

Thankful for our sweet girl, and family holidays!

The past few weeks have been  bit rough for Cora, for teething.  She now has 5 teeth, and the 6th one is just days away.  She basically gets them all at the same time...so her first two bottom teeth came in just 2 days apart, and her top FOUR all came in at the same time.  The 3rd one on top broke through yesterday evening, I think, so now we're just waiting out the last one of that top batch.  Poor thing.  She's normally SUCH a happy baby, so when she cries and cries it's strange and heartbreaking.  Her sleep at night was very bad the previous two nights, but last night she slept much, much better...so I checked this morning and sure enough, that 3rd one on top was finally all the way through.  What an awful process for babies to go through.  I often wonder about God's perfect design plan when it comes to teeth... ;)

Proof:

Check out this article from the Atlantic on the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.  It's called "The Miracle of Minneapolis" and the tag line is: "No other place mixes affordability, opportunity, and wealth so well.  What is its secret?"

http://m.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/the-miracle-of-minneapolis/384975/

It's true.  We love where we live, and it's an AWESOME place to raise a family and live in a community with real depth and roots to it.  

This quote is so true:  “It bears out the old adage: ‘It’s really hard to get people to move to Minneapolis, and it’s impossible to get them to leave.’ ”  Our Winters might be rough, but once you are here you can't think of leaving...too much good balances out that nasty cold issue! ;)

Teeth:

Cora has FOUR teeth coming in, all at once, on top.  Poor baby.  :(  Two have already broken through, and two are almost there.  So, needless to say, she's had a bit of a rough time lately.  Today that equaled taking NO morning nap.  Um...whaaaat?  Who is this sad baby?  Fingers crossed for a great afternoon nap.

Time to baby proof!

Cora has figured out how to open the pantry cupboards.

Lord have mercy, it's about to get MESSY in here, folks! :)

9 months post...just a few weeks late...

The happy part of the photo shoot:

Not so sure she trusts Mr. Bear anymore...

I DIE.  Her cuteness kills me.  

Then Finn replaced Mr. Bear with himself:

His fake cheese smile:

THERE is a real smile! :)

My sweet guy.

And then Cora started to lose it: I probably like these photos the most.  :)

Blowing raspberries of annoyance...thus we ended...