8 Months

8 months has brought some more fun changes! Twice now the girls and I have heard a "Ma-ma!" It's been tucked into a string of sounds and not directed at me, but I'm hopeful! :)

Peaches continues to be our little bundle of joy! She is such a happy baby! She is almost always smiling and is rarely fussy.

 

8 months later and everyone still clamors to hold her and play with her. She is such a content baby. She will happily play wherever we set her. Whether she's on the living room floor, in her walker, the highchair, her carseat, or on someone's lap...as long as she has something to chew on she is totally happy.

Her hair is growing...very slowly. The verdict is still out on the color. We still see tinges of red, but I think it is going to end up the same as Bug/Peanut/Daddy.

EVERYTHING goes in the mouth right now. We're going to be hard pressed to keep up with her once she starts crawling!

 

She still only has two teeth (bottom), but I'm pretty sure the top left one is going to pop through any day. I can see the white beneath the gums. 

She is so squirmy when she's getting her diaper changed. I have to keep her from flipping over every two seconds. Whenever we put her on the floor, either tummy or back, she immediately flips to the other side. She has started getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. We expect her to start crawling any day now.

She seems to be growing steadily. She'll have a checkup next month and we'll see how much she's gained. She is pretty much done with 6 months clothes. 9 months is perfect except for jammies...she's pushing the limits on the 9 months and ready to move into 12. 

We tried introducing oatmeal a few days after she turned 8 months. It did not go over very well. More about that tomorrow. :P 

She has the same schedule for now, and is still napping for 45ish minutes in the late evening. If we're out and about (like at Awana or Worship Team practice) she skips that last nap. Actually she skips any nap if we're out. If she's totally exhausted she'll fall asleep for 30ish minutes and then be raring to go. At home she naps great.

Time seems to be going way too quickly for this mama. For now we'll just keep enjoying every day with this amazing girl and cherish these sweet babyhood moments! We are so blessed, and so very, very thankful!!!

Like the shirt says...she makes us happy!

Food Tasting #2

The second attempt at food didn't go much better than the first...

Funny Friday

Happy Friday! :)

Leftover Thursday

 Buggy took my phone outside to get some pictures. I thought she did a good job capturing Cocoa. :) 

Nakey baby!

"Ta-da!"

So she's not always happy. But pretty darn close. :)

Buggy's food-web for Science.

Daddy went out of town for three days so Bug got to sleep in our bed one night and Boo the other. When I went to go to bed Buggy was taking up 3/4 of it. Haha :)

Getting my toenails clipped is fun! 

Haha :)

Happy Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday

Back to It

Well it seems fitting that it is October and I'm just now posting Back-to-the-School-Year photos. It has taken a while to get back into the swing of things this year! I'm not sure what it was about this year that seems harder than usual...probably just a combination of 4th and 1st grade, Peanut in preschool, and a nursing baby, but it definitely took me a few weeks to feel like I wasn't drowning in my to-do list each day! We are finding a new "normal" though and the days are running smoother. I guess it just takes a while to leave behind the carefree, sleeping-in, fun days of summer. 

Anyway, here are some pictures from the first couple weeks of the school year.

First day of ballet. My cutie Boo.

Switch! Pick up Boo, drop off Bug.

First day of tap/jazz. Cutie friends!

Peanut with her favorite, "Miss L".

And Boo later that day. So happy to be back at dance!

 

Awana!

When your Daddy is the game leader you have to take a quick time out for a hug after you get your ball in the bucket! ;)

 The next week Noni had this cute little game for the kids. They had to run around crazy and when the whistle blew they found a dot to stand on. Then she would pull a corresponding scarf out and whoever was on the color "won". They were so excited! 

Being sweet.

Back to the busy-ness, but having so much fun!

A Day in the Life

Life is so crazy these days I thought it would be fun to do a day-in-the-life post...mostly because I KNOW I'll never remember these days if I don't write it down! Haha :) Ok, here we go...

7:27 - Wake up to feet hitting the floor. Coming from Bug's room. Roll over and hope she doesn't wake anyone else up when she comes down. 

7:35 - Concede defeat and get up. Wake up both computers and sign into the OLS (online learning system). Get them both on their home pages. Start flipping through books, circling which pages to do in various workbooks.

7:45 - Boo wakes up. She and Bug both come downstairs. Get them started on a couple of subjects (Vocab for both, Spelling for Bug and Phonics for Boo).

8:00 - Look at the clock, need to get Peanut up! Oh, wait. Not a school day today. Let her sleep. Check the baby monitor. Still sleeping. 

8:14 - Baby starts to stir. Tell Bug and Boo what to work on while I go get her up. Feed her on one side. Check on the girls. Boo is working. Bug needs re-directing. 

8:19 - Peanut wakes up and comes downstairs. They want leftover pancakes. Microwave the pancakes, spread with peanut butter, pour on syrup. Pray together.

8:30 - Say goodbye to Daddy as he heads out the door.

8:31 - Leave them to eat while I finish feeding the baby.

8:48 - Baby finishes. Change her diaper. Back to the kitchen. Read their devotion book. 

9:05 - Put them back to work. Baby goes into the walker. Make myself two eggs.

9:10 - Eggs are ready. Bug has a question. Help her. "Don't leave Mommy! I need more help!" Bring my now-cold eggs over to her station. Eat them while working on math problems. 

9:22 - Leave Bug to do the few remaining problems on her own and get Boo started on her math. Easy peasy - so far 1st grade has just been review for her. 

9:35 - Baby is tired of the walker. Pick her up. Go check on Bug. She's playing with a piece of PlayDoh and has 2 of the 5 problems I left her with finished. Re-direct.  

9:42 - Ask Peanut to clean up the three puzzles she's gotten out and finished on the kitchen floor. Get Boo started on a journal entry. 

9:45 - Go back and help Bug finish the last three problems. :P 

9:53 - Get the baby in her sleeper. Read her and Peanut a couple of books. Put her in bed for her morning nap.

10:00 - Get logged on to Bug's class connect. Send Boo and Peanut downstairs to play so we can focus on it. 

10:42 - Teacher is finished, leave Bug to do the "exit ticket". Go get Boo and Peanut. 

10:45 - Bug gets a break. Boo, Peanut, and I do Boo's Literature lesson. 

11:03 - Send Peanut off to play with Bug. Do Boo's last lesson of the day...Science. Finish the lesson on volume and measurement and let her keep playing with the graduated cylinder and measuring cups while I go get Bug.

11:28 - Help Bug with her GUM (grammar usage mechanics) and Writing Composition.

11:57 - Baby starts to stir. Leave Bug to finish her writing page and then she gets a break till after lunch. 

12:00 - Go get the baby. Feed her. Change another diaper.

12:35 - Let the girls play with the baby on the living room floor while I make sandwiches for everyone. 

12:46 - Daddy can't come home today. Gather the girls and sit down for lunch. Try to have a pleasant conversation and work on Awana verses, but end up scolding multiple uses of "poop, pee, and toot" at the table. 

1:15 - Clean up from lunch...and breakfast. Start the dishwasher.

1:31 - Girls run off to play. Sit down to check e-mail and snuggle the baby.

1:55 - Need to get the baby to bed for a nap. Sleeper. Books. Bed. 

2:11 - Get Bug back to the computer for her remaining subjects for the day - Science, Social Studies, and State History. Teach. Re-direct. Repeat. Re-peat. Re-peat.

3:26 - Done for the day. Whew. Breathe a sigh of relief. Made it through the day without tears. WIN! :P

3:30 - Gear up for a crazy afternoon of shuffling. Grab a chicken pot pie from the freezer and throw it in the oven. Thank you Summer Me for thinking ahead and making a freezer full of meals! Haha :)

3:40 - Tidy up the girls work spaces and living room. Change clothes and get Peanut in her dance clothes and ready to leave the house. Everybody eats a snack.

4:00 - Our sweet babysitter arrives (a high schooler from church). Girls run off to play. Let Peanut have 7 or 8 minutes of playtime while I get Peaches up, who is now awake.

4:08 - Take the baby downstairs and hand her to the babysitter. Get Peanut and her dance bag and head to the car.

4:12 - Arrive at dance, walk in, help Peanut get her Jazz shoes on, and kiss her goodbye.

4:16 - Back home. Retrieve the baby. Feed the baby.

4:50 - Change the baby's diaper. Run back downstairs and hand the baby to the babysitter. Grab Boo and her dance bag and jump back in the car.

4:58 - Arrive at dance. Exchange Peanut for Boo.

5:04 - Back at home. Get the baby back. Put her in the stroller. My friend B arrives to go for a walk. Bug and Boo stay with the babysitter. B and I walk for approximately 52 minutes. It's nice to get some fresh air and have some adult conversation!

5:56 - Get the baby out of the stroller. Run inside. Grab Bug. Leave Peaches with the babysitter. Jump in the car and drive back to dance. Drop off Bug, pick up Boo.

6:05 - Back home. Babysitter leaves.

6:10 - Time for another Peaches nap. Put her in her sleeper. Read her and Peanut a couple of books. Put her down.

6:29 - Mix up the biscuit top for the pot pie and spread it on. Stick it back in the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes.

6:36 - Unload the dishwasher, fill up waters, set the table.

 6: 47 - Timer beeps. Dinner is finally done. Daddy and Bug will be home in a few minutes anyway so decide to wait for them.

6:50 - Let Peanut and Boo play on the computer while they wait.

7:02 - Get everybody dished up and dinner on the table.

7:14 - Daddy and Bug finally arrive home and we all sit down to eat and talk about the day.

7:35 - Baby wakes up. Give her to Daddy while I clean up after dinner and send everyone upstairs to get ready for bed. Peanut has school tomorrow so we need to hurry and get her down.

7:46 - Read books with Boo and Peanut. Call the rest up to Boo's room to pray together as a family.

8:00 - Lights out for Peanut. Boo gets to read for a few more minutes. Daddy and Bug watch This Old House since she did a good job on her schoolwork that day.

8:05 - I head to the bedroom to feed Peaches one last time before bed.

8:45 - Get the baby's diaper changed and put her in pajamas. Hand her to Daddy and run upstairs to say goodnight to Bug. 3 down 1 to go. Come back down and get the baby in bed. Whew.

8:55 - T heads to the computer to get started on his schoolwork. I finally get to take a shower for the day! Haha :)

9:30 - Fold some towels and put them away. Walk around picking up various things that were spread throughout the house during the day.

10:15 - Get ready for bed. Read until T finishes up.

11:00 - Lights out. Try to go to sleep and get ready to do it all again tomorrow!

:)

P.S. In an effort to keep this slightly shorter than a novel I did not mention the 436 times I said, "Please be a little quieter the baby is sleeping." and "Boo please stop sucking your thumb." and "Bug please keep your hands to yourself." and "Please talk like a big girl!" and "Please don't interrupt while I'm feeding the baby." And I did not add in any of the things that keep life...interesting...like Peanut following me outside when I quickly go to take out the trash and she falls and skins her knee, needing to be comforted with bandaids and ice packs and rocking and reading for the following 15 minutes.

But I also didn't mention the thousands of special little moments like baby smiles, morning hugs, sweet kisses, sisters sharing and playing together, happy giggles floating down the stairs, sweet hand drawn notes and pictures, and impromptu dance parties when the baby hits a button on a toy that plays some music.

Yes our lives are quite crazy during this season of busy little ones. I have to keep this train moving and be on my game nearly every moment of the day to keep everyone on schedule. But for every frustrating moment there is another one that fills my heart with love and reminds me that it is all worth it and I am SO BLESSED.