The stress of the holidays...

has been getting to us around here.

Nathan is getting a tooth. He is not a fan:


The sign I found taped to Laura's door after a "root beer spilling incident" last evening:

Hope your Christmas season is less stressful than ours!

I'm slightly concerned.

Okay, that may be a bit of an understatement. I'm downright terrified. If this is what he's doing at *just* over seven months old, WHAT will he be doing when he's three??? Fifteen???

Pray for me...

Pumpkin Patch

This is one tradition that the girls have grown to love SO much! They ask often when we will be going to the pumpkin patch. This year we missed our original date because Laura was sick. We picked a later date - she was sick again but did manage to at least pick out a pumpkin.

Nathan was most interested in picking up dirt & rocks to eat as I frantically tried to get him to look at me so I could take some cute photos. I think I got a few but wow, nothing like making a fool of yourself just to get a couple of photos.

Auntie Beth made Nathan's pumpkin shirt - it is too stinkin' cute! You can't see it that great in the photos but his name is embroidered under the truck. She has been busy sewing away and making the CUTEST shirts and other goodies too. She is amazing - I can't believe how fast she can not only learn new things, but master them.

6 & 6

Ahhhh, I just can't seem to stay caught up with my life, whether it be blogging, house cleaning, orders from my shop, etc, etc. Actually, forget stay caught up, I can't catch up at all, let alone stay there! Life is busy, but good.

We have dealt with lots of sickness already this school year so that's not cool. Laura has been sick a bunch. I need to figure out something to get her well and keep her that way. She's always been so healthy, this is unusual for sure. She is home sick again today. She has no voice and sounds like a seal when she coughs. I keep teasing her that she sounds like a monster. Appropriate for the season I suppose.

I have been wanting to post these photos for awhile now. My little cuteness turned six years old late last month! She wanted an ambulance and a wooden train set for her birthday. She has wanted the train set for many months and she has also wanted the ambulance for awhile. She is so sweet. She thanked us at least 20 times for her gifts.

The weekend before her birthday she got a very quick, impromptu visit from her cousins and aunt & uncle. She loved that! Her cousin Karilyn is held in highest regard in her book! Karilyn is almost exactly one year older than Lindsay. We had a pizza & pinata party. Unfortunately it was getting dark & my photos didn't turn out but, trust me, a good time was had by all!

For her birthday dinner she wanted "chicken-in-a-pot" and green beans. (A whole chicken cooked in the crock pot with onions & carrots.) She had cupcake cones for her cake. She took in Play-doh with her name on it for her birthday treat at school. She chose a hot dog book (a history of hot dogs, actually) for her birthday book from the school library which Jeremy & I thought was hilarious!

As for the other six, my baby boy is SIX MONTHS OLD! He is absolutely precious, though all boy, I am beginning to see. He grunts & growls, he "passes gas" like it's his job. He throws everything on the floor, he can clear the table in about two seconds flat. He's rough, a hair puller, a head butter, a skin pincher. And, I love every ounce of him so very much! At his six month check-up, he weighed 14 lbs, 10 oz (10th percentile). He was in the 30th percentile for height.

Five Months Old

Oh, sweet boy, you're growing up way too fast! He has perfected the "army crawl" and can scoot himself wherever he wants to go. He is sitting on his own for short times now. I know it won't be long before he is crawling and pulling himself up on furniture. He is a rough & tumble boy already - look out world, here he comes!

Back to School

The girls started school last Wednesday. They were so excited they were up at 5:00 a.m!

I can't believe my baby started Kindergarten. I'm SO glad she only goes half days! So far, all has gone well. Both of their teachers seem great, which I am thrilled about.

Lindsay came home from the school the second day and informed me, "A boy likes me." I asked her how she knew & she informed me that he told her. Okay then, let's not beat around the bush. It's promising to be an exciting year...

*WIRED*

A few weeks ago, Laura began her first phase of orthodontic treatment. She has a pretty significant underbite and also some issues with spacing, jaw size. She will wear these braces for at least 15 months. After that they will let more of her permanent teeth come in (she will wear retainers during that time) and than see what they need to do in phase two (let's hope nothing)!

So, here is my girl's new "smile".

At the orthodontist - "Before" & below is "After"

Just to Catch Up!

I'm so far behind in my blogging and everything else in my life. I spent last week extremely ill with kidney stones so now I am another week behind in everything. It's so frustrating to be so overwhelmed all the time. I am hoping that as the kids start back to school (tomorrow) that I will feel a little less overwhelmed. I don't want them to go to school and at the same time, I tend to do better with a more strict routine for myself unlike the unorganized self I have been this summer.

Here are a few things I wanted to highlight this summer but never got to...

Laura spent a week at horse camp again this summer. This year she was responsible for "controlling" the horse all on her own. She did such a great job & looked so grown up on that huge horse! Her horse was being stubborn during the show but Laura did a great job.

My boy! He is now 20 days into being four months old & I have yet to post his 3 month photos. So, here are 3 months old & 4 months old.

He is an absolute joy! I am SO glad we decided to take that terrifying leap and have another child. He is so sweet and good-natured these days. He is rolling all over, army crawling himself right over to where the girls leave choking hazards out, he is *almost* sitting up. (He can actually sit by himself but loses his balance still.) He is growing so quickly, I can't believe it! A few days ago, he reached his arms out to me to pick him up for the first time. Nothing melts a mommy's heart like that does!

Tomorrow the girls start school. Lindsay has been somewhat nervous & anxious about starting Kindergarten. She met her teacher last week and seems less nervous now. Pray for them (& me) tomorrow if you think of it. Sending them (back) to school is always hard & I miss them so much. I know I will be sad to let Lindsay go for the first time. Luckily for me, she is only going to Kindergarten half days so I still get her for the other half day. :)

Beth is going to be mad if I don't post photos of "Wired" so I'll be back *real* soon to post those!

Catch a Tiger by it's Tail

I took these photos a couple weeks ago...