this week in pictures

Daniel spent his first day at church sleepy and content, which I really appreciated because my goodness! Soloing it on the pew with all four boys while Bishop Anderson looks helplessly on from the stand is a circus act of its own!

Walking with all four to the playground. (The fourth was attached to me and thus not easily pictured.)

The two littles.

All four.

Attempting to snooze on the stoop.

Matthew likes to show me how he's gentle with Daniel.

My cousin, Kelly, her husband, Rinar, and their two oldest boys came to town and took Blake and I out to dinner (while their boys stayed behind to babysit!). The Italian food, served by our Venetian waiter, was pretty delicious, but the Nutella calzone we ordered for dessert was divine. It was fun to see them and do a bit of catching up.

Breaking in their gloves.

Matthew got a little bored waiting for dinner.

He's warmed up to his baby brother.

Architectural symmetry.

I'm so torn between wishing he'd stay tiny forever and wanting him to hurry up and get bigger so he'd cry less and sleep better.

He's not always so sad. In fact, sometimes he's really quite pleasant.

When Blake put Matthew up on his shoulder, I asked if Polly wanted a cracker. Matthew replied with an eager, "Yeah! Cracker! Cracker!"

Oops. That little parrot didn't stop asking for a cracker until I finally fished one out for him.

And now we know not to say "cracker" in his presence unless we're prepared to give him one.

Some Saturday morning t-ball.

A little snooze in the shade.

Little friends.

Story time.