Nothing cute has happened around here

I doubt you believe that, despite the lack of posts since New Year's. :)

Here are a few cute incidents:

Seth and Marcie sharing a swing (those are Seth's blue socks) and watching each other.

 - David or Will running by and stealing Marcie's pacifier, leaving her to chase them with her cute little side-to-side "Frankenstein" walk, hands outstretched and crying for her lost property, moving at a snail's pace compared to her brother's running! She didn't stand a chance.

- Seth, Grace and Will emptying out my entire purse contents, and Marcie putting back in every last thing. (This could be VERY useful to me in future!) I turned around to clean up the mess and instead saw her shoving in the last dollar bill!

- Marcie busily stacking my kitchen spices, and filling up and emptying a huge container with them. She loves to stack, organize, put away. She put away the boys' clothes yesterday when I was rooting through their drawer.

- Marcie refusing to leave the nursery after waking up one morning unless Gracie came with her too. Gracie had laid back down and was playing with her doll, but Marcie would not let her sister be a lie-abed! It sounded like she said, "Grace, get up!"

- Gracie's continued walking practice. She is SO proud of herself! She grins and chuckles at us while she's walking.

- Seth's laugh making more of an appearance than ever, although he steadfastly refuses to walk unless we can trick him into it somehow. He knows how to do it and can, but he just doesn't want to!

- Isaac getting giggles and belly laughs out of his siblings with the various games he plays with them. David likes to be tickled, Will likes to be chased, Gracie likes to be bounced and spun, and Marcie and Seth like peek-a-boo.

- Seth eating as well as his siblings (sometimes better) and sucking on a pacifier just like the rest of them, wanting it for his nap and while crawling around the house. We stopped his tube feeds completely almost a week ago, and he's done wonderfully! The last time we weighed him he had actually gained a tiny bit. It seems like a lovely dream, too good to be true, but it is! He just loves food. When he sees food or drink in anyone's hands, he insists on having some. :) Thank you for praying, and please continue!

- David and Will BOTH climbing onto a tiny little planter shelf on which both could not fit at all. They screamed at each other and the situation for a little bit, then David won out.

- David and Will running around the yard kicking the soccer ball. Such little men!

David and Will playing with the New Year's clapper

- Marcie and Gracie loving on their little dollies, bears, and stuffed monkeys. Even Seth and David have started talking in affectionate little voices to stuffed animals or books.

Gracie and a monkey (we got five little monkeys as a Christmas gift from Naomi's aunt!)

- All the kids barking like dogs, saying "dog-dog," "nigh-nigh," "bye-bye," "uh-oh," "Isaac," what sounds like "thank you" (ambiguous two-syllable word); Will's "mo" for more, his "a'done" or "done-done," and Gracie, Seth and Marcie's "Da-da" for Gavin. Seth and Grace have said "ma-ma," but I don't know for sure if it's really about me or just babbling. :) Disclaimer: It's REALLY hard to keep straight who has said what and when, so no doubt there are inaccuracies in this list!

The kids survived their last cold very well. Will ended up with an earache which caused some misery for the poor little dude (and his parents). Seth's oxygen saturations never dropped, so that's a huge praise!

I think it's hilarious when the babies, especially Marcie, bark at squirrels outside. :)

They are SO entertaining now! Gavin said he thinks of them as really being fun now, rather than mostly as a lot of work. They're both. :) We wouldn't trade them for anything, or their precious big brother either! He's been such a huge help to us, increasingly so as he and the babies grow older.

And some photos from this afternoon:

It's a lot of work getting five babies/toddler dressed for a stroller ride in 30-degree weather. Football helped entertain them meanwhile. (Love the gloves from  "Aunt" Barbara Jueneman! Thank you!)

Besides being a cute picture of Gracie, this is hilarious because in the background you can see Seth being put into the now-tight snow suit the way we shake plump pillows into pillowcases! Lynn wanted to protect him from the cold most of all. :)

Marcie ready to go.

Ready to roll - finally. Whew. Notice Grace in the back has taken off her glove already and is using it to hide her mouth and nose. Poor Seth looks like a sausage, but he loved the ride!