Home Decor

I've been updating some pictures in frames in our home trying to incorporate some new favorite pictures with Addallee.  It has been really fun to see that, without even trying I'm starting to see parallel pictures from different seasons of our lives and different ages of our children.

My favorite home decor is pictures of our family.

A friend came over once and complimented all the family pictures I have on our walls.  She then told me that she had read a magazine article in some Home and Country or Martha Steward magazine that said you are not supposed to decorate your home primarily with photos, but she said how much she liked my home with all the pictures.  The almost back-handed compliment made me laugh, and I thought about it long after she left.

The truth is I absolutely love our home -- it was such an unexpected blessing from God for Hubby and me to be able to purchase this amazing home for our growing family.  I love being the home-maker of our family.  I am not a painter, and I certainly am not going to spend our money on expensive room renovations or window treatments.  I love that our furniture is hand-me-down because my children can play on the furniture and enjoy our furniture without my stressing about wear and tear, or accidental spills.

Also, my husband is the love of my life and our marriage is one of the best commitments I've ever made and continue to make every day.  Our four children are my dreams come true and I want to see pictures of them, and my husband -- of this dream that I built, these blessings that God has given me, around every corner and on every wall of our home.

I am the one who has to live here, and I love seeing my walls covered with pictures of our family.  Martha Stewart has yet to invite herself over to my home for dinner... and if she ever were to do so, hopefully the warmth and the joy of our happy family and smiling children would help her overlook the fact my walls are covered with photos.  Well, photos, and children's paintings, and fingerprints -- see my walls have variety.

Back to the intention of this post -- the juxtaposition of different pictures:

Tracey holding Howard

Caroline holding Addallee

Tracey loving on newborn Caroline

Caroline loving on newborn Addallee

Tracey in pigtails when Caroline could barely sit up

Caroline in pigtails when Addallee could barely sit up

 

Growing Pains

About two months ago (give or take... sometimes my weeks and months run together and I lose track of time) Howard was driving me absolutely crazy.  Everything we asked him to do, he refused and ran away laughing.  It felt like he was getting in trouble all day every day.  I felt like all I was doing was disciplining him and reiterating rules that he already and knew and enforcing boundaries that he should have already known.

Then, one day he was my sweet little boy again.  It was like he literally grew out of it overnight, and it was no longer testing every boundary, and he was such a joy again.

It was then that I developed a new appreciation for the term "growing pains."  During those weeks of testing every limit I set for him, Howard was indeed growing and developing... and it was a pain everyday -- he was a pain everyday.  But I wanted to try to remember that situation because there was an end result to the challenging behaviors -- he was growing through them.  I wanted to remember the growing piece the next time one of my children went through a period of growth... and thus, a period of becoming a pain.

Well, after a months hiatus and enjoying my children, now Tracey is developing some behaviors that are driving me crazy.  I have taken to saying at the end of the day, "Tracey was especially four today."  In this situation, I need to remember that in every pain that is occurring right now... she is growing through each and every one.  These behaviors will not last forever and when we come through this season of pains, she will have grown.

Seems Reasonable...

I read this a few weeks ago, and it seems really reasonable to me.

 

Notes From Tracey

A few months ago Tracey's teacher was really sick and Papa had a hurt leg.  We decided to send Get Well Cards to both Papa and Tracey's teacher.  I asked Tracey what she wanted to say in the cards, and then wrote exactly what she said she wanted to say.  The resulting notes were so sweet and adorable.

 

Strut for Mutts

Last Saturday was a really fun day with the kids.  Hubby ran a track meet so he was gone all day (from before dawn until well after dusk) and so the kiddos and I had an adventure.  It was spur of the moment because all kids were up and in my room by 6:15am... so we had to get out of the house.

First I made blueberry apple pancakes (Tracey's idea) and the kids ate them on the floor (Caroline's idea).

Then, I took them to the Rifle Animal Shelter road race -- which was actually a trail race (I did not know that).  Since we had had rain earlier that week, it was actually a mud race (I did not know that either).

It was fun though... I pulled the wagon as far as I could... about half way (and up a big hill I might add) until the wagon wheels were so caked with mud that they they wouldn't roll anymore.

I was so glad I put the kids in their galoshes and they had fun getting out at one part of the race and splashing through the puddles.

 

We finished our shorter-than-5K race, and headed home to change clothes, eat lunch, and enjoy a nap.

What a fun day with my little ones.  It is so nice to be able to do things like this now that the twins are old enough.  They may not always obey... but they at least know the expectations when we're out together, and they understand me when I direct them.  We never would have done something like this a year or two ago.

 

All Aboard!

All Aboard!

New Favorite

This is my new favorite family picture...

 

Addallee Marigold -- Six Months

 

Addallee Marigold is six months old -- so halfway to her year birthday.  She is my first October baby, so I will be the first to admit that I had no idea April was six months from October.  Not only are we six months from Addallee's first birthday -- we're six months from Halloween.  Wow, these years really do fly by now that I'm a mother.

Here she is at five months:

Here she is at four months...

and three months...

 

and two months...

 

and one month...
 

and as a sweet newborn.

And... for added fun.  Here are all four children at six months of age:

Weight: 

Oh... good question.  I have not stood on the scale with her.  A month or less ago, she was about 18 pounds so my guess would be that she's about 20 pounds now.

Length:  

She's getting longer and taller all the time.  She can comfortably stand in her exersaucer and her 3-6 month old sleepers do not fit anymore.

Clothing size: 

Speaking of 3-6 month clothes, I'm trying to move it out of her drawers.  She wears a lot of 6 month clothes, but I'm also putting her in some 9 month clothes because most of the 6 month clothes I have from Caroline and Tracey are summer clothes and its not quite warm enough for Addallee to wear yet.  I hope they still fit her when the weather is warm enough.

 Eating:  

She exclusively nurses but we give her spoons to chew on and play with at the table while the big kids eat.  She loves chewing on spoons, and as of today, we've officially given her a piece of celery to chew on, I gave her the tiniest little nibble of a strawberry at a birthday party yesteday, and she got her first spoonfuls of applesauce last night while the big kids had dinner.  So, we've officially introduced solid foods.

Sleeping:  

Earlier this month I disassembled her bassinet and put her in a pack and play to sleep to get her ready to sleep in a more spacious crib.  As of two nights ago, we started her sleeping in the nursery and it is going okay.  She's been up more times each night since I moved her to the pack and play, and crib... but hopefully this month she'll settle into a more restful routine.

 

 

New things/discoveries: 

• She can manipulate her pacifier really well on her own
• She can nearly sit up
• She can scoot around on our hard wood floor like the hands of a clock when on her back or tummy
• She can smack her lips
• She's ridden in strollers for the first time

   New Accomplishments: 

• She is playing on her tummy more and I set up more playpens around the house so she can get more tummy time without being at risk of her siblings hurting her accidentally.
• She can nearly sit up -- or rather she can sit up for brief stints of time when surrounded by pillows.

 

 

Likes: 

• Attention
• Being around any activity
• Exersaucer
• Pacifiers
• Nursing
• Her siblings
• Warm baths/showers
• Being worn in a Moby wrap
• Sitting up in the panda chair or bumpo chair 

Dislikes:

• Being hungry
• Being cold 
• Baby-sitters at bedtime -- I have now been called home twice from evenings out with Hubby to calm Addallee and put her to bed

  Places She's Gone:

•  Competed in her first race -- Strut for Mutts 5k
• To Colorado Springs
• To Frozen on Ice in an Ana costume
• To Casa Bonita in Denver
• Easter Egg hunts
• Swimming for the first time

 

Special Memories: 

•  Her first Easter
• Spending time outside as the weather gets warmer
• Our trip to Colorado Springs
• Her first road race
• Trying solid foods for the first time
• Watching her laugh at her siblings -- especially Tracey

Nicknames:

• Addallee Marigold (Tracey calls her this, which is adorable)
• Lee Lee