6 ounces, really???

I am having issues with Maddie only gaining 6 ounces, I mean she eats. Just today she grabbed a loaf of bread and started chewing on it. I am trying to fatten her up (not really), so I let her go and before I knew it she ate the whole thing. OK that is not true, she ate almost half of it, but it makes a good story!!

The real reason for Tupperware

No, it is not to use to store your leftovers in, or to cut down on waste, it is for a toy, for babies. I do not know why people do not register for Tupperware or pots and pans for that matter when you have a baby shower. Children enjoy them just as much as the "baby" toys and they are a much more sound investment...

First Tooth

Maddie got a her first tooth a few weeks ago, but it is now big enough to get a decent picture of it so here it is. Why do babies look so much older when they start to get teeth?

weighing in

Today was Maddie's 9 month check up, yes she is 9 months today!! It went well, after they weighed her the nurse was filling out the chart and she said 10-25% for her weight, my jaw about hit the floor, NONE of the kids have ever weighted less than 75% for weight. Even now, they are all in the top 75% for weight and height. I thought she was a bit skinny as all her pants are loose around the waist and I do not remember them being loose on Kayla or Emily. Upon hearing that she was in the 10-25% I felt like I am a terrible mother, Do I not feed her enough?? She eats all of the time, at least I feel like it is all of the time. I guess she just won't have the belly the others had. The doctor was not bothered, so I should not be bothered, but I am.

In other Maddie news, I went to get her out of the crib this morning and she was standing in the crib holding onto the railing, I guess it is time to lower the bed before she falls out!! She does not try to crawl, but will commando crawl when she needs, however she loves to pull herself up and has gotten pretty good at falling backwards into the sitting position, maybe she will skip crawling. I am not ready for this!!

Peace...

Today after school the girls were playing nicely together on the floor, it lasted for a bout 20 minutes, but it was just so nice to see all of them happy and being nice to one another. It was soon followed by "Emily, don't touch that." or "Give that to me", "I had it first!!", "Madeline erased my picture." Short as it was, it was nice. Nathan was next door at the neighbors swimming in the pool, 2 days in row.

Emma Jane Cook

Congratulations to David and Katie on their new little girl, Emma Jane Cook was born today at 4:20 PM!! We look forward to meeting the newest edition. Congratulations!!

And so it Begins...

Today I asked the kids to clean up their mess they had made. A few minutes later they came down stairs and were wanting something, I asked "Did you tidy up your mess?" They all said yes, I took their word for it , mainly because I am too lazy to walk upstairs and check for myself. Well, a little later I went upstairs to check because I knew Paul would be home and I like for him to think that I am able to keep everything in perfect order. Yes, I know he knows life here is a mess 90% of the time, but in my head if it is clean when he gets home then he must think I am able to maintain this order all of the time, right?? Back to the story , when I entered the play area things looked pretty good, no junk in the middle of the floor, but there was a pile of toys stuffed behind the girls play kitchen, and a pile of toys hidden behind their coloring table. There were a few other things tucked in places they should not be, I was not mad, because all I could think was they are too little be doing this already!!

Junk Food

Today Nathan had the neighborhood boys over to play after school. They were here for about an hour and came downstairs looking for a snack. I told them they could have a granola bar, cereal bar or an apple. Well, none of these seemed to appeal to any of them and I am pretty sure they were looking for something sweet. I have gotten rid of all junk food and am trying to get us back to the healthy eating we use to do while overseas. Needless to say the boys went back to playing and I could tell they were a little upset about no junk for a snack. Nathan did pull out some pecans to eat, but the two boys were not interested in them. In fact, they had no idea what they were. Why is it so easy to reach for the chocolate bar instead of an apple???

Easter Day

Easter day was full of candy and hunting eggs. We started of the morning with Easter mass at 8:00 in the morning, then we came home where we ate more food than should be allowed by 5 people. After breakfast the kids joined the boy next door to hunt eggs before we had a down pour of rain. Once the rain let up everyone went outside to play in the cul-da-sac and enjoy the beautiful day. While they were playing in the front yard some eggs "popped" up in the back yard (almost as though the Easter bunny dropped them out of the sky) and I asked Nathan, Kayla and Emily to help me "clean up" the eggs that were all over the yard. They had a good day and we continue to enjoy the candy from the day. I enjoyed the happiness on their faces throughout the day. We hope that everyone had a great Easter day.

Emily's wake up call

Kayla was so happy to have a baby doll that made noise

Mmmm jelly beans!!

and they are off!!

..this says how we all felt by the end of the day

Campsite #9

We went camping over the weekend, left Thursday afternoon and came home on Saturday afternoon. It was at a campsite about an hour from the house and was very pretty. Paul and I both made the comment that we felt like we were too tired to do anything. We could have sat by the fire/lake all day. The kids however wanted to go fishing, play soccer and just run around and play. Nathan was excited to fish and we did that as soon as the tent was up and we fished on Friday morning as well. Kayla caught a Perch and Nathan almost caught a crappie, but it broke his line. Where we were fishing there were lily pads and on Friday morning the minnows were jumping out of the water and onto the lily pads (I assume there were crappie trying to eat them). Well, Nathan decided to catch the minnows and use them for bait. He eventually gave up on fishing all together and just tried to catch minnows with his net. We also played soccer unfortunately the ball ended up in the lake a few times we retrieved it all but one time it ended up down stream. Fortunately a fisherman out in a boat brought it back to shore. Emily was not a fan of walking through the grass and having it hit her in the legs or the face. She would scream and cry every time we would walk to the lake and when we went on our walk through the forest. Kayla was a trooper and just went with the flow as she tends to do with everything. The kids also enjoy just playing in the tent. The weather was perfect, a little cool on Friday, but great for camping. I just hope the weather is as comfortable in May when we go for our next outing...

Lake Stubblefield here we come!!

Laying on the mattress in the tent looking up at the sky Time to go fishing!!

WORMS!!

Daddy's little helpers

trying to hook a worm without touching the worm

Now holding the worm, this way was much better.

So sad to have walk through all that grass.

Roasting Hot Dogs

...and for dessert, marshmallows!!

on the hunt for minnows

Kayla checks out the minnows Nathan has caught

Exploring...

Kayla has conquered the jungle

Good bye soccer ball!!

Hello soccer ball

Enjoying the fire!!

Ring-a-round the rosie,

tic-tac-toe

Nathan enjoyed putting pine needles on the fire to make it BIG!!

...and of course throwing rocks in the water!!