Sickies

I stayed home from church yesterday morning with three sick kiddos.  Sierra slept most of the morning. 

 The other two laid around on the couch,

and drank hot drinks while reading the comics.

Hopefully everyone will be on the mend soon.

Second Grade

Here is my big boy on his first day of class for 2nd grade.  When did he get so big?

Sierra's Surgery

Before picture of her toes.  I'll have an after picture in 3 weeks or so when the casts come off.

Sleeping after surgery.

Riding home with her pretty pink casts on.

Snuggling with Daddy.

Feeling a bit better.

First Day of School

We started the 2012-2013 school year on Monday.  Caleb is in 2nd grade this year, and Alexa is in kindergarten.

Caleb reading a book to his sisters.

Smile!

Alexa watching her math lesson.

Caleb hard at work, and Jordanna practicing with scissors.

Our school room (also known as the kitchen).  It's only been a week, but this setup has worked very well so far.

Basketful of books in the living room.  These are our devotional books and read alouds.  I have NO idea why it didn't occur to me to put them all in one basket in the living room last year. 

Summer Portraits

We had a friend of my mom meet us at a park several weeks ago to take some pictures of the kids.  I think they turned out great, and I love the way the girls' dresses coordinate.  Here's the photographer's website if you want to check her out.

Eight Months

 Where has the last month gone!  And how can Sierra already be 8 months old?

 Here's what Sierra is up to at eight months -
-Weighs approximately 16 pounds and is about 28 inches long.
 -Wears mostly 6-9 month clothes.   We still have half a pack of size 2 diapers left, but then it's on to size 3.  All of her cloth diapers are now on the medium setting.
-Still spits up some and drools a lot!
-Still just has 2 teeth.
-Is doing better with eating baby food.  I just added breakfast this week, so she get solids twice a day at breakfast and dinner.  Her face still gets a bit red when she eats fruit, but a visit with the allergist confirmed that it is not an allergy.  We'll probably see a gastroenterologist next to get to the bottom of her spit up and tummy issues.
-Nurses every three hours.
-Naps three times a day at approximately 9:00, 1:00, and 5:00.  Goes to bed about 7:30 and sleeps until 7:30ish.  I'm SO glad that her schedule has gotten a bit more predictable before I go back to school this month.
-Still waking up 1-2 (or more) times a night.  She often seems like her tummy is bothering her.
-Seem to be happiest when she is playing sitting up.  She still needs pillows behind/around her in case she falls.
-Is still pretty fussy in general and prefers Mommy to anyone else.
-Is having surgery on Thursday to remove her extra toes, so here's one last picture.

 Jordanna made me take a picture of her baby, too.

Patrick and Lauren's Wedding

My cousin Patrick got married in South Carolina last weekend.  Therefore, we spent 10.5 hours traveling with 4 kids in 2 days.  Plus they stayed up WAY late at the rehearsal dinner.  And I had surgery on the Tuesday prior to the trip.  All in all, it really went well.  Even better than I thought it would.  And we enjoyed spending time with family and, of course, witnessing the marriage of two wonderful people.

Here's where I spent most of the service - in the lobby with Sierra.  She was happy, but loud.  And she pooped in the middle of the service on the diaper cover that matched her dress.  Fun times.

Here was my view from the lobby.

  

At the reception, they had all sorts of fun hat, glasses, wigs and stuff, and they had a photo booth set up.  The kids had a great time trying on the stuff.

And so did Dave apparently.

They had a really pretty cake with a cute topper that actually looked like them.

 

 Close up of the topper.  I think I heard someone say that the bride's sister made it, but I'm not sure.

Congratulations, Patrick and Lauren!

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

So, sometime about a week and a half ago, Audrey turned one (yes, I am horribly behind on blogging).  Her party was at a park.  The kids played on the playground and in the woods, and we had pizza and cupcakes.  A fun time was had by all!

Sierra hung out in her stroller.

The birthday girl and Aunt Emily

Jordanna and her buddy

Cake!

Sweaty Jordanna