6 Months Already

Calden is now SIX months. Half a year!! He still feels very much like a little baby. Maybe it's because this is our third time around and we know how fast it goes.

He's trying to keep up with (within reason) his sisters and is sitting very well now with a few topples here and there.

He can get somewhere if he really wants to. A few rolls and scoots usually does the trick.

Food is a priority. He gets all squirmy when he's being held by Mommy and wants to nurse. He can be tricky to hold when he's got something else on his mind. He's also VERY aware that food goes in our mouths at the table and squawks for it. 

The newborn baby days of him sitting snugly on our lap are gone. He's not a huge cuddler but would rather explore. I'm banking on more cuddle days once he hits the 'I am not happy with anyone but Mommy' stage. :-) 

Anything within grabbing distance goes STRAIGHT in his mouth. He also loves to slobber up our faces and giggle up a storm!

Calden is SUCH a happy fellow. Such a small being has snuck right into our hearts and we wouldn't have it any other way!

ps- shutterfly is updated :-)

Just Imagine

Imagine you were young again. Would you be hiding from queens and monsters and bears?

How about playing 'funeral' and walking past your wooden toy box 15 times in a row, pretending it's a casket? Then mournfully sitting on the couch, hand clasped, while the "mommy' plays the piano (who knew night time piano music would turn into a funeral?)

What about holding sermons where the congregation gets to partake of the bread and wine over and over? Then, no limit to how many times you can say 'someone have a hymn?'

Oh what fun it is to enter into this world of endless mind-wanderings. The girls play pretend at least half of their play time. There are babies, kitchen creations, and all sorts of other mock happenings.

Right now the queen is a very big offender. Every single moveable item in the living room is shoved behind the lazy boy because the queen can't see it there. The queen has been known to bite hind ends and chase kids. The girls have to run away very fast, yelling "The QUEEN is coming!!! Hurry!" I have no idea how they decided to have a problem with the poor queen. I hope it doesn't cause bad dreams! :-)

Now, just imagine you have a smiley 5 month old in the house. How does this mom not melt at the sight of him? He is SO INCREDIBLY' happy. Just ask anyone who sits behind us in meeting. They will get BUSTED if they make eye contact because he WILL smile and make happy noises.
I can't believe how much stuff he thinks is just hilarious that the girls do to him. I am about to get after them for pulling his leg to hard but then he starts delightfully laughing.
Calden is at that hilarious stage where he FRANTICALLY tries to grab anything in site. Even as we're walking down the hall and in and out of rooms, he's huffing and puffing, lunging at anything he thinks is even remotely close to his little stretched out, flailing arms.
I was looking forward to the stage of being able to hold him on my hip while he supported himself, but he's too busy lunging at things for that to work.

We are at such a busy, chaotic stage right now, but it's kind of sad to stop and think..."Just Imagine. What will life be like when the kids are grown?" 

Everyone tells us that it goes SO FAST. 

Yep. It does. Everything else can just chill out for a few years while we enjoy our kids to the fullest!

A Visit from Kayla

Our family has GROWN since she was home one year ago!

Rayna will be one next week.

Calden is 5 months old today!

Mom and Dad got a new Great Pyrenees puppy that was 9 weeks old on the picture.

Oh, and AHEM, Kristina will be 30 next week! Couldn't leave that one out.

We soaked up every moment of Kayla's visit. We even had an ITINERARY. :-)

Oh Where, oh Where did our Summer Go?

Sigh. It's been good. Real Good.

These little toes have been bare for most of his life.

Nothing quite like fresh cow's milk for an after-school revival. As our family says, "Thank you, Clydette!"

Barefoot bike ride, lost in her endless wanderings.

Just pondering. This girl does lot of it.

First summer with three. 

Third try for family picture. Too bad Rhya had a swollen cheek.

Soaking up Auntie Jen time. 

Getting better acquainted with Uncle Bill. 

The blog somehow missed most of the summer. You'll have to check out Shutterfly for the full scoop!

Meet Quiet, Reserved, Brielle

....depends on the scenario!

And She's Off

Four year old kindergarten. Who would've thought there'd ever be such a thing?

My Mommy brakes were on big time but Rhya was very enthused. In fact, she wished to wait for the bus by herself (big girl mode) but Brielle and I accompanied her to the end of the driveway.

Brielle asked, "I go to school too peese, Mommy?" She was very sad about it but had enough time to process it that she was fine when the moment actually came for Rhya to go off.

Rhya picked out all of her outfits for the week and combed her own hair for the day (she hardly ever wants her hair down, but that's what she chose)

The bus driver had to wait a looonggg time for her to get up those big steps and sit down. She walked turtle speed and stopped and stared for a while before passing the bus driver. :-) (I think she was waiting for him to say something to her because I had told her ahead of time to wait til he beckoned her in but he was busy talking into his intercom)

Part of me drove away on that bus. 

Rhya is ESPECIALLY lucky because she gets her very own GRANDMA in her 4YK class!! Grandparents day is every day for this girl!

Kid Quotes

Brielle got full eating popcorn and still had a few kernels left on her plate. Off they went, flying through the air, one at a time, and plopping on the floor with a glorious tap. She looked at me, like, whatcha gonna do?
I informed her that she'd be picking them up before she left the kitchen. She pretended to have the greatest time in the kitchen for at least 15 minutes (even though I could tell she wanted to leave). Finally she ran over, picked them up as fast as she could and asked, "Make you happy, Mom?"

Gma Mo generously doled out a piece of gum for each girl before leaving to go home. I reminded Brielle about five times to SPIT it out, NOT swallow it when she was done. She wanted to show me everything she could do with gum. She picked up her milk glass and took a couple of swigs. I asked, 'Brielle, do you still have your gum?" She said, "Yep! Look, Mommy! Bielle's gum is waerpooof (waterproof!)"

Last week I spent a good ten minutes digging craft eyeballs out of Brielle's nose. Yep, there was one in each nostril. I couldn't even see the 2nd one so I showed her how to plug one nostril and blow OUT really hard. She plugged one nostril and breathed IN very ferociously. We finally got the thing out, but evidently she's in an exploratory stage with her body cavities. Yesterday she came up to me with two coins (from Rhya's wallet) and said, "Here Mommy, gum! One a (for) Mommy and one a Bielle!" Then she popped a nickel in her mouth. SCARY!!! The coins will be hiding for a while!

We talk about age quite a bit. The other day I casually told Rhya, "Four is a really fun age!" She responded with, " Yep, I am glad that God did that number."

We went camping with BethArlene and Heidi. Heidi lived with us for a few months a couple of years ago and Rhya got to know her very well. However, two years is a long time to not see someone for a 4 year old, so it took Rhya a few hours to get acquainted. The next morning she told Heidi, "I didn't know you very well before, but I know you now! I like you. That's why I follow you EVERYWHERE" :-)
Heidi and BethArlene sure knew what it was to have sidekicks on that vacation!