General update on everyone:

Elizabeth looooooooves cows. Loves them. She has some toy cows that she carries around everywhere. She loves giraffes, too, but not as much as cows. She turns 3 this coming Saturday -- where did our baby go? Yikes! She's growing so fast! Her blonde hair is long enough for a ponytail now, and she is always asking for a "pony" on her head. She can sleep anywhere, and we have a whole collection of photos of her crashing and sleeping wherever she happens to be playing at the moment... under the kitchen table, on her knees at the table, upside down on the couch, head back in the chair, on her knees with her head on the back of the sofa... Elizabeth is a real joy and we are so blessed by her antics.

Noah still loves his trains, but has branched out a bit into Hot Wheels cars, too. His favorite thing in the world is to go play at his buddies' house. Brandon-and-Brady is like one word here; they are the brothers who live down the street, and fortunately, their mom seems to like our kids a lot and invites them over frequently. Noah is doing well in Kinderprep, and his speech is also improving greatly. He is proud of his efforts to say sounds he couldn't say before, like "c" and "k" in particular. He's a happy-go-lucky little guy, and although he makes a lot of mischief, he adds the lively spice to our lives and we are so blessed to have him!

Hannah has turned into the most compliant, obedient child on the planet lately. She aims to please, and she tries very hard. She is our Curly Girl, and the care-and-feeding of her hair has become a bit of an obsession since we got the Curly Girl book and found the Naturally Curly website to teach us how to take care of it. Hannah loooooooves horses, and spends much of her day drawing them. When she's not drawing, she's checking out movies about horses at the library, reading about them, or dreaming about them -- not to mention playing with her toy horses. She is very much looking forward to "horse camp" this summer. She discovered "The Apple Dumpling Gang" and Herbie "The Lovebug" movies recently, and is enjoying the old Disney movies I grew up with. Hannah is a bright spot in every day for us, and we are so blessed to have her as our daughter.

Hope is such a little lady these days, and very helpful with her younger brothers and sisters -- of her own accord. She has also become very self-conscious and a bit shy. Her teacher mentioned the other day that Hope has a strong, clear singing voice that we should perhaps help her develop -- and Sunday at Mass, we heard that voice singing loudly and proudly during one of the hymns, and it was the voice of an angel! Hope loves reading, especially about the American Girls, and playing with her dolls. It's hard to pick out just one thing she loves most, because she has so many interests, but she is enjoying 4-H and is looking forward to arts & crafts camp this summer. Hope lives up to her name, and while I can't believe my baby has turned into this gangly, silly, loving girl all of a sudden, I also can't believe our good fortune in being blessed with her as our firstborn.

And then there is Ainsley. Our newest addition will be 3 months old this coming Sunday, and the time has flown! She rolled from stomach to back the other night, taking Mommy by surprise. She has been smiling since mid-January, and her smile lights up her eyes and shows off her adorable dimples. She was baptized Jan. 30 at St. Alphonsus Church, and so far has refused all pacifiers and bottles but loves to suck on her daddy's fingers. Ainsley loves her swing and will sleep for 5 hours in it sometimes! And once again, we think we were incredibly blessed to have been given the gift of Ainsley in our lives!