She can eat anything!

Well, she can't really eat anything, but she will certainly try!  Wyatt was sitting next to her on the floor eating an apple and she was absolutely desperate to steal it away from him!  So we got her an apple of her own and she was determined to take a bite, with just those two tiny teeth.

Since that didn't work out quite as she had thought it would, she had another plan.....

And Wy just loves that little girl so much he was happy to let her slobber all over it!  She is definitely very over baby food and ready for anything and everything she can get her hands on!

Ha ha ha!!

This little girl sooooo fits into our family!  This is what she thinks is just so very funny every single morning before I change her.  And if you have little boys then you know that absolutely nothing in the world is funnier to them than anything to do with hineys, potties, undies, or diapers.  So you know this thrills them also!  We're so ridiculous. :)

Berry Picking!

Last week we braved the miserably hot weather to go pick blackberries with friends.  And we are so glad we did!  They were delicious and we just used the last of them last night in smoothies with our dinner!  We tried Neal's Berry Farm out in Spring and it was really nice!  It was our first time picking on vines with thorns, but I think it brought that little element of danger that any berry picking event needs!  They also had a farmers market and we picked up a few veggies for dinner this week that were delicious.  And I also thought the prices were very reasonable - especially for the berries.  This ends my Neal's Berry Farm commercial.  :)

I just love this pictures of the boys with their friends.  Aren't they just the palest group of kiddos ever?  They look like an ad for sunscreen!! :)  I'm a firm believer that pale is gorgeous!!!  So at the last minute I thought I would get a cute picture of any holding a blackberry.  I truly did not expect her to try to eat it cause it was HUGE.  But immediately she popped in right in her mouth.  It looks pretty disturbing, right?

So then she drops it in the dirt.....

Picks it back up and smooshes it a bit.......

And then puts it back into her mouth....

She was really quite proud of herself....

And shockingly, with just a little soak in some Biz those stains came right out!!  Now our goal is to get out and pick blueberries before they are all gone!  But we are so very sick in this house right now - Annie, Wyatt, and me!  You know its bad when Momma is sick!!  Agghhh!

9 months old!

Can you even believe our precious little angel is 9 months old?  We can't either.  But I have to say that she is staying so very babyish I love it!  Love it, folks!


She went for her check-up today and the doc confirmed that she is precious and adorable!  ;)  She was 27.25" long, 17 lbs 3 oz, and had an 18" head circumference.  So that makes her 40% for height and 20% for weight.  She didn't say but I'm sure she is at the top of the charts for her head!  She is definitely "gifted of dome" as we like to say.  She is still nowhere near crawling and has no interest in pulling up or anything of the sort.  We are very happy to let her stay a baby as long as she wants!  I'm definitely not ready to have to sweep my floors regularly!!

 She also happens to have some sort of stomach bug, so we were glad we brought her in today for the check-up.  We tried to give her some pedialite tonight but she was just more interested in chewing on the cup.  The doc also said we should try giving her some yogurt so we can start to get an idea of how she will transition to milk.  Ummmmmm,  I think we know it is not going to go well. But we'll give it a shot.  Maybe that other reaction wasn't due to milk but just the type of formula?  I guess we'll see!

Now I know we have 2 other kids, but Annie has been so very special to us.  Before she was born we were feeling so very tired.  Tired and exhausted dealing with the life of staying home with 2 little boys.  But Annie has been the breath of fresh air all of us needed.  Sent straight from God.  He knew exactly what we needed.  What I needed.  What Josh needed.  What the boys needed.  I just can't explain the ways we have seen the boys grow in tenderness and as caregivers since she has been born.  She brought the laughter back to our house, and we couldn't be happier with our angel girl.  Especially now that it is certain she will be our last.  We love you Annie Rose!!

Noah's Birthday

So I'm a few weeks late on it, but we had a lovely little celebration for Noah's birthday last month.  If you remember we decided that this year each boy would get a birthday cake breakfast and some special plates and cupcakes on their actual birthday morning.  Well Noah J got dinosaur plates and sadly a cake from the store.  He specifically requested a store cake, so that's what he got. 

I have truly never met another child that loves birthdays as much as Noah.  He thinks about it all year long, and really relishes celebrating with his friends.  Of course this year was the first year for this special family mini party, so I'm hoping next year he will look forward to this day just as much as the real party.

His brother got him a bat man car, which was quite a hit.  Wyatt was so pleased with himself that he had to give his crazy crooked smile.  :)

And from Mom and Dad he got a big, huge Toothless that makes this horrible screeching sound.  Just what he has been wanting!  He asked for it for Christmas but didn't get it, so he was super excited with this.

I can't even imagine that he has been a part of our lives for 6 years!  We talked to him a lot about how special he was to us cause he was our first baby.  We showed him pictures of the day he was born and he was really into it.  He was especially tickled that he was our smallest baby - he couldn't believe he was smaller than Annie!  He also thought it was hysterical that Josh stuck his finger into his diaper and got poop on it.  I really love to talk to him about how much we loved him before he even took his first breath, how we adored him as a baby, and how much more precious he is to us now.  Love my sweet little baby Noah J.

Swimming pools!

You know it is officially summer when the last three weeks worth of photos we have are all in a pool of some sort!  :)  I am tempted to hop right in with the kids cause it has been so very very hot!  Of course our pool from last year had a hole in it so we got a new one for this year.  And we just couldn't resist this cute tiny one for Annie.  And she loved it even though the water was frigid!

The kids had so much fun cause Maddie came over, but sadly now they don't want to swim unless they have a friend to swim with!  Last night we pulled the pool out and they didn't play in it, other than to throw a whole bunch of plastic tools and string into it and declare it was a mouse trap.  Not sure where they come up with this stuff.  :) It didn't take long for the big kids to figure out that the tiny pool could be lots of fun too!

And of course the day ended with the familiar refrain, "Momma, would you wrap me up please?"  I think that is their favorite part of swimming!

Homeschool handwriting!

So we are just beginning the journey of officially teaching little Wy.  Last week he began his "Get Ready for the Code" book and he is doing really well.  I am quite surprised cause he has shown absolutely no interest or ability as far as letters and reading goes.  When Noah was this age he knew all the letters and their sounds.  Wyatt could care less!!!  He wants to "do school" but he really just means play with the art supplies.  So we decided to combine the two thing and did some handwriting with fingerpaints.  Since Joshua wasn't back at work yet he snapped some sweet shots.

Noah J got in on the action until the paint got into a little cut on his finger.  The boy truly fell apart!  His sad little face just melts my heart!  He seems so grown up all the time, until I see a picture like this and then I realize how itty bitty he still is.  Love him!

Milk!

So do you see all the little bumps all over Annie's head?  Well that is what happened as we started switching this girl to milk based formula.  Can you believe that?  And then she got it really bad between her eyes and it started to get read and flaky.  Just maddening!  I really thought we were finished with the out of control skin business.  So we have gotten her back on Alimentum and it has pretty much gone away, although it has taken over a month.  I'm starting to get nervous about the transition to milk in a few months!  I don't want to have to go soy!  OK, that's it - just random thoughts I wanted to get down on paper.  Well, at least digital paper.  Although one day when I have a few hundred extra dollars I really will get this blog printed! :)

Teeny tiny bow!

Ok, so the entire purpose of this post is to share Annie girl with her first bow in her hair!  You know,without a headband.  It is pretty ridiculous cause it is basically in the middle of her head, but that is the only place there was enough hair to clip it to.  I'm anxious for it to get a bit longer cause she has taken to pulling her headbands off.  But she didn't even seem to notice this bow!  I love how ridiculous and adorable this is!