New Pictures With A New Camera

Back when Chelsea was a baby, I couldn't wait for her to hurry up and do things.  I couldn't wait for her to reach the next milestone whether it was rolling over, crawling, walking, potty training etc...I didn't take the time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the present.  Now, 15 years later, I look at all of my children and want to freeze them right where they are.  Even though I am much better at relaxing and enjoying my children, time is going way too fast!  I cannot believe that this year I will have a 15 year old!  Sometimes I wish I could just make time slow down and be able to hold on to it just a little bit longer.


Anyway, I got a new camera for Christmas this year (yay!), so I thought I would post the first pictures of the children in 2012.

Chelsea (almost 15)

Nick (10 next week) and Alex ( 8)

Anthony( 6)

Christian ( 4 1/2) and Lillian (2 1/2)

Emelia 10 months( walking with her new toy)

Emelia 10 months (I posted 2 pics of her cause this outfit is too cute not to)

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Our Gingerbread House 2011

Every year, the children look forward to decorating a Gingerbread House.  Usually, I buy the kit that has the house already put together and all you have to do is decorate it.  This year, Walmart did not have any of those.  So, we bought the only one they had which luckily came with a tray with slits for the walls to stand up in.  Chelsea helped me put the house together and then decided to occupy Emelia and let the "little kids" do all the decorating.  You are supposed to wait 15 minutes after putting it together before decorating.  It was the longest 15 minutes of my children's lives!  They were so impatient to start putting candy on.  Even after waiting the 15 minutes, we had some trouble with the roof sliding down several times but we managed to get it decorated without it collapsing.  This kit also did not come with any decorating tips, so you couldn't get very fancy with the icing.  It did come with a little gingerbread man and a Christmas tree though and the little ones loved that! 

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A Visit to the Christmas Tree Farm and a Trip Down Memory Lane

Today we headed into the "big city."  We enjoyed lunch at Olive Garden and then went to the Christmas Tree Farm to pick out and cut down our tree.  This is our 5th year to pick out and cut down our own tree and the children love it!  We usually go on Sunday after church, but it is supposed to be rainy and nasty tomorrow, so we decided to go today instead.  It was cloudy, but in the 60's, so the weather was beautiful.  We picked out a nice 6 ft tree, some of the children rode the hay ride, and we got some hot cocoa.  When we got home we decorated the tree and only broke 4 ornaments.  Keeping the baby and the cat out of the tree may prove to be challenging.

A trip down memory lane.  Christmas pictures with our trees in the past.

December 2008

December 2009

December 2010

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Getting Baby Started on Solid Foods

Emelia's first time in her high chair

All of the children brought her some toys to play with

Emelia eating bananas

Emelia is now almost 8 months old!  I thought I would write a blog post on transitioning to solid foods.  Breastfed babies do not need anything nutritionally until they are over a year old.  Breast milk contains everything a baby needs (a great reason to breastfeed.)  I am never in a big hurry to start our babies on solid foods.  Besides the fact that they don't need it, it honestly is a lot more work for me.  I like to wait until the baby shows interest in food and has a couple of teeth.  Miss Emelia does not have any teeth, but she has a lot of interest in what is on our plates.  I do not use baby food at all.  I believe it is a huge waste of money and can make for a much pickier eater.  Instead, we start feeding our babies food right from the table that they can eat.  Emelia's first food was bananas after she would not stop reaching for her daddy's one day at lunch.  Since then she has applesauce, mashed potatoes, yogurt, and ice cream (she really likes ice cream!) and the occasional taste of frosting or chocolate.  I also will cook veggies until they are very soft, puree them in the blender, and feed them to the baby.  Canned peaches or pears also puree really well in the blender.  As we gradually add in foods (easier when the baby has teeth) Emelia will be dining on whatever it is that we are eating, but still nursing several times a day.    I find this much easier and less expensive!

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Akansas Wildlife Program With a Baby Alligator!

Friday morning, our art teacher mentioned that our local library was having a program on Arkansas wildlife on Saturday afternoon.  Our library has been getting much better at becoming more child friendly and has been doing more programs for children.  We do not usually go because they have been having them at 1:00 which is nap time for the little girls.  When our art teacher mentioned that they were bringing a baby alligator to the program, the younger boys really wanted to go.  First there was a 20 minute program about the different kinds of wild life found in Arkansas and skins and skulls of the various animals.  Honestly, my older children have heard this program before, but they still like to see the skins and skulls.  Then, out came the baby alligator.  All of the children that wanted to could hold or touch the alligator.  Christian, Anthony, and Alex all wanted to of course.

Lily didn't hold it, but she wanted me to take her picture (yes that is a large bandaid on her chin, she is ok)

After the Wildlife program, they were having story time, followed by a craft, and punch and snacks.  We did not stay because the girls were very tired and had been good long enough.  We checked out our books, got a treat bag and headed home.  Another time we hopefully would be able to stay longer because Christian was very interested in story time. It was fun though. It's not every day you get to hold a baby alligator!

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Love the Creativity of My Children

Today, the children and I were reading through our Lots and Lots of Fire Trucks and Fire Fighters Book from Marshall Publishing (review coming October 24th. ) We were talking about Joe the fireman and the equipment he wears and uses.  After we finished reading and looking at the pictures, it was time for me to go upstairs and make lunch.  Anthony asked if he could keep looking at the book.  I said he could as long as he remembered to put it back on the shelf when he was finished.  When I called him to lunch, he said, "Mom, come see what I made first!"  I went downstairs and saw that re had re-created fireman Joe out of his Legos, using Buzz Lightyear's head for the fireman's head.  Isn't he creative?

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Team Work

I love watching my boys work out in the yard with their daddy.  I love that he takes the time to show them how to fix things.  I love to see them all working together!  The girls don't have as much interest as the boys (and that's ok) but sometimes they do join in or watch what the boys are up to.  Art got out in the yard on last Sunday and Monday to take care of  a few things that have been neglected because it has been too hot to stay outside very long.  One of the things that had to be taken care of was a broken picnic table.  So, the boys wanted to help him.  Instead of throwing it away  or burning it (we are under a burn ban and can't burn anyway) they took it apart and are going to use the wood that was still good to build a hutch for our rabbit.

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A Not Back to School Blog Hop: Student Photo Week

It's Student Photo Week at Heart of the Matter's Not Back to School Blog Hop.  Yesterday was our first day back at school so it was a good time to take some pictures before we got started.  I always intend to take pictures on the first and last days of school, but usually end up forgetting.  Now that I have pictures of the first day, I just have to remember to take them again on the last day.  I did not tell the children I was taking pictures so they weren't dressed in anything special, just what they put on whwn they got up in the morning.

Chelsea 14, 10th grade



Nicholas 9, 4th grade



Alexander 7, 2nd grade



Anthony 6, Kindergarden







Christian 4, pre-K

 

Lillian 2



Emelia 5 months

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Emelia Rose 4 1/2 Months

Babies grow and change so fast!  Emelia is now 18 weeks old and is such a sweet baby!  She loves having her brothers and sisters play with her.  They all adore their baby sister!  Lily gave her the doll she is playing with in the picture. She is rolling front to back and back to front and chewing on everything in sight.  Two of my children had teeth at 4 months old, but I am hoping it will be a bit longer for Emelia.  She takes three one hour naps during the day and then sleeps from 9:30 until 2 am, nurses and goes back to sleep until 6:30, nurses and goes back to sleep until 8:30.  The last two nights she has slept past two am and not woken up until 4am.  Unfortunately, my internal mommy clock has woken me up at two both days!  I wish she wouldn't grow up so fast and just enjoy being a baby for awhile.  Oh well, we'll just have to enjoy it for as long as it lasts.

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Cute Summer Pictures!

I was working on a photo project yesterday and thought I would share some of the cute pictures I took of the children.

Emelia 14 weeks

Lily 2 years

Christian 4 years

Anthony almost 6

Alex 7 years

Nick 9 years

Chelsea 14 years

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