7 months

What a month! Poppy's been at it again! More and more milestones. 

She stood on her own.

Cruises the furniture.

Says  "dada".

Loves ice cream and her daddy.

Is wearing size 3 diapers and 9 months clothes. 

Some 12 months stuff too.

When I sing to her she claps her hands.

She loves playing with her rattle and the boys' legos.

They're already fighting over toys.

She loves riding in the jogging stroller "chasing" her brothers.

She's a fast crawler and disappears as soon as she hits the ground.

Still hates the bottle, but goes after the boys' cups.

Doesn't know what to think of dogs. Nena has barked while playing with the boys and she flipped out, but if Nena's laying down next to her she's usually fine.

She's starting to make peace with baby food and eats much more of it now. 

I'm still giving her some table foods, like mashed potatoes, avocado, sweet potatoes, bananas, etc and she likes those, too.

Loves that thumb.

Has been fighting her naps lately. Not pretty.

Is constantly trying to eat paper. She will find it. Even if we think we have picked up every trace of paper in the entire house, she will find some more and give us a heart attack as she tries to devour it. She knocked a magazine off the coffee table the other day and ripped it to shreds and started shoving pieces in her mouth. Thanks for the panic attack, Poppy.

When she gets shy, she'll raise her little hands and clasp them above her forehead.

She dances when she gets real proud of herself for standing up.

No sign of teeth so far (thank God).

Some nights she sleeps in her bed all night, with no problems. 

Other nights she'll go to sleep just fine, but wake up around midnight to claim her rightful place smack dab in the middle of our bed so she can snack for the rest of the night. She's just so busy during the day that she isn't interested in eating much and by nighttime she's starving.

She's a happy baby. 

The princess.

Constantly surrounded by her boys, friends, and everyone loving on her.

She's so cute and she knows it.

We got her Halloween costume this week and she is going to be the most precious baby elephant ever. She just giggled away when we tried it on her.

It's feeling like fall in Georgia so I've been breaking out her adorable sweaters. 

By noon it's smoldering all over again so she's stripped back down to a onesie.

But for mornings--it's on!

There's so much excitement ahead in the next few months:

first holidays

trips to visit family

first move

and a very-fast-approaching first birthday

(that I don't want to think about just yet...).

Love that chocolate-face!

Three

My baby boy is three today.
We had a huuuuge party this weekend. 14 adults, 21 kids, 6 pizzas, 10 waterguns, a million presents, and the biggest bouncy house ever!
I threw his party here at the house last year, 4 months pregnant with zero help. In my post-party exhaustion I swore I'd never do it at home again. This year I can swallow my words with a hefty serving of help from both my husband and my awesome friends. My friend Julie was over nearly every day last week cleaning and organizing, digging up some empty babyfood jars and helping paint them, juggling babies and prepping snacks. I would have been a mess without her!
Between homework Jason ran errands and vacuumed. Gave orders to the boys to get them to clean their playroom. Pumped me full of Starbucks pumpkin lattes. And retrieved the bouncy house and pizzas. I sent him to the Rec center Saturday to pick up the bounce house I'd made reservations for, thinking he'd cone home with a little 12x14 thing like we had last year. He pulled up 2 hours later with a rental truck filled with the biggest freaking inflatable I've ever seen! It had a massive monster truck on the top and rolled out onto a pallet and dolley. It took two blowers to inflate it. The kids were thrilled!
It was pretty perfect for as many kids came. The weather was perfect, there was plenty of food, we didn't run out of sangria or koolaid, everyone behaved and took turns and had the best time. Riley was in heaven all say and went to bed with the biggest grin on his face.
At about 1am, when we'd all crashed , we heard screaming from the boys room. I ran in and James said, "Riley threw up!" Sure enough. Wouldn't be a party if no one got sick, right? After two sets of sheets, two pairs of pajamas, and a bunch of towels, he was okay and we all got a little sleep. This morning he was feeling better so I made him some "birthday pancakes" with sprinkles. We're making it a new tradition.
Happy birthday my big 3 year old! My big boy who still needs his mama and wants me to hold him even if he hangs down to my knees. My big boy who loves shoes and sports, Barbie and batman, helping me cook and throwing down serious combatives-style wrestling with his brother and daddy. My big boy who is fiercely independent, uncompromising, and stubborn, but still loves others and understands their feelings. My big boy who is unafraid of adventure and would climb a mountain or jump off a cliff without a thought, but buries his head in my shoulder at Halloween decorations. My boy who loves his brother and sister, even if he has to constantly battle them for toys and snacks. My boy who is always dancing, always smiling, making jokes without trying.
I love you my boy, my big three year old, my middle child. You are forever my baby boy. This is going to be a big year for you! I love watching you grow, discovering yourself. You are such a precious part of our family. We love you so much.

6 months

Somebody just had her half-birthday!

Our little wiggle worm is now 6 months old, 16 lbs 2 oz, and 26 1/4 inches long!

She is sitting herself up, full-on crawling (no more scooting or Army crawl), and pulling herself up to a stand. It seemed like she was in a hurry to hit a new milestone every week! She had her check up at the pediatrician this morning while brothers were in school and was showing off all her tricks for the peds staff and waiting room. The other moms kept asking how old she was and couldn't believe she was already doing so much at only 6 months. I can't believe it myself! She's in a hurry to catch up with her brothers.

She's eaten several "real" foods. Started with the rice cereal and she's had sweet potatoes, carrots, avocado, pumpkin, and bananas. She still won't have anything to do with a bottle, so we're going to try a sippy cup and see if she'll take that. She won't even take anything out of a dropper! The nurse had to wrestle her to get the oral vaccine down this morning, and she won't even take Tylenol after her shots. I'm hoping tonight won't be too rough...

She's a fast mover and she likes to crawl over to wherever her brothers (the action) are.

She's more interested in toys now, especially her Sophie giraffe, squeaky crab, frog rattle, and her plastic links.

She sleeps in her pack n play for the most part, but she's so busy now that she'll eat like a bird some days and want to eat constantly all night.

She's very vocal, making some mmm sounds. I'm sure in the next month she'll be saying "mama". Or "dada" since she's her daddy's girl. No matter how long he's been in the field, she knows exactly who he is when he walks through the door. She always grins right at him. When she's napping and I go in and whisper "Wake up, your daddy's home!" she starts grinning in her sleep. Precious.

Feeding and changing her is a struggle. She wiggles and turns--its like wrestling a bear cub!

She's wearing 9 month size clothes, size 3 diapers.

She's too big to give baths in the sink, so we throw her in the tub with the boys or before we throw them in.

She covers herself in babyfood. I find it in her ears, her hair, her eyebrows, the stroller (when did we even feed her in the stroller?).

She scrunches her nose up and makes funny faces at the camera.

Her eyes are officially brown!

She's looking more like Riley did, when he was her age, but she's still pretty much a combination of both brothers.

No separation anxiety yet, but the ped already warned me that it's coming in the next couple months. Hopefully seeing the girls at the daycare so often will avoid any meltdowns there.

She's a little social butterfly and loves being the center of attention. And...let's face it, she always is.

Its hard to believe half a year has gone by since our little peach joined our family.

Happy half-birthday Poppy Jane!

First day(s) of school

Another school year has begun! We're off to a great start. James started last Monday--my baby is now in the five-days-a-week preschool. He was super excited, armed with his new Star Wars lunchbox. He has had all "purple clips" (his class's good behavior system, purple means "you're having a good day", yellow means "you're not having a good day" and blue and green mean you're "ready to learn"). He cracks me up coming home saying all these big things like "I got 5 stars for making good choices!"

He loves his teacher and his class and still talks everyone's ear off. He's already assumed the position of "teacher's pet" and tells me all about the bad kids in the class. 

Riley started on Tuesday, and it couldn't have come any sooner! He was so disappointed when he didn't get to go to school on Monday like big brother, so I spent the morning entertaining him with fro-yo and train tables at the bookstore. He was still grateful when Tuesday got here and he could take his brand new Batman lunchbox and backpack to his own classroom.

He did so good! While the other little boys and girls cried and clung to their mommies, he went straight in like he owned the place, put his backpack and lunch in his cubby and went straight to playing. I had to actually ask for a good-bye kiss! It was a complete 180 from last year. He loves school and his teachers are always bragging on him when I pick him up. I was afraid he'd have to readjust or that 3 days a week would be too much, but it's just perfect. He's starting the actual curriculum now and loves getting to be one of the big kids.

I'm so proud of both of my boys! 

Happy Birthday Kelly!

We'd like to wish Aunt Gee-Gee a very happy 23rd!! Love, the fab five!!

Summer wrap-up

It's only a short week til the boys' have open house and school starts. All the public schools started today.

It means summer is coming to a close.

Mind blowing.

I was going through all the pictures in my phone album from this summer. Here's a recap of our adventures.

• Story time and trains/legos at the bookstore
• Mother's Day date with James
• Dates without the kids
• Shooting range
• Callaway beach
• Swimming at the pool
• Feeding the ducks at the park
• Trips to Tennesse
• Bridal Shower
• Kelly and Drew's wedding
• Visits from friends
• Homemade pizza
• Shaving cream baths
• Mud puddles
• Playing in the dirt
• Races
• Girls' nights out
• Girls' nights in
• Lego store
• Making messes
• Family vacation to Savannah/Tybee/Fort Stewart
• Sewing 
• Running with friends
• Ate our weight in fro-yo
• Fishing 
• Museum
• Picked strawberries and blueberries
• Built forts
• Watched the fireworks
• Fifth anniversary
• Danced
• Movies at the theater
• Sandcastles
• Swimming in the ocean
• Antiquing
• Shopping
• Storytime
• Baked with the kids
• Yardsales
• Preschool summer camp

It flew by. Faster than last summer. And the summer before. I'm left with the sensation of standing in one place as a big gust of wind blurs past leaving my hair and clothes disheveled, not really sure what just happened.

Another gust is headed our way. Moving. 

To be continued...

Proof