It’s Mama?!!

A while back, upon the recommendation of the wife of one of Gary’s co-workers, I signed the kids up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.  It’s a great program, and every month the kids each get a new book, at no charge to us.   Through this program, I was first introduced to my now favorite children’s book of all time – Llama Llama Red Pajama.  I laugh out loud when I read this book to the kids. 

Anyway, every time the kids open up one of the Imagination Library books, they always point and yell, “Mama!” 

I’ve questioned the kids extensively, and they all insist that there is indeed a photo of their mama in these books.  Just in case you need a close up of that. . . .

Awesome. 

A Little Father-Son and Mother-Daughter Time

Last weekend, Gary decided to take Henry to the barber shop for a haircut.  The girls need a trim, too, but the last time we took everyone out for a haircut all they did to the girls was give them a tiny trim across the bottom and charge us $15 for each.  I’ve decided that I can pick up a pair of scissors and do the same for free.  But there is no way I’m going to try to cut Henry’s hair.  I took some photos of the “boys” before they took off.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the girls, but I felt like we should do something special – and girly.  Then it came to me. . . .

The girls had never had their nails painted.  Overall, it went very well.  The only problem is that Rosemary kept yelling, “I DO MINE!” and I was not willing to turn her loose with a bottle of nail polish.  So, the result was that Piper had all fingers and toes painted, and Rosemary just had one hand’s fingers and one foot’s toes painted.

I don’t think that Penelope was quite ready to have hair nails painted, but she hung out with us while we painted and seemed to have a good time.  I’m sure she will be ready for her turn soon enough.

Time for Sweet Potatoes

Penelope is really growing up.  I’ve been waiting for her to show that she was ready to move onto solids, but I just wasn’t seeing much indication that she was.  I decided that I would definitely just start feeding her solids at 6 months whether she was ready or not, but was really hoping that she would start to pay attention to food before then.  Well, last week she surprised me.  I was carrying her and taking the kids’ plates to the table when she reached out, grabbed a handful of food, and almost got it to her mouth before I stopped her.  So, we ordered her highchair and, this past Saturday, decided to start out with some sweet potatoes (and I am making her baby food, like I did for the kids).

Let’s just say that the kids were a little confused, and not very happy, when we brought in Penelope’s highchair.

Penelope was really excited about having her own highchair at the table, but tried to play it cool.

But I think she was even more excited about eating her sweet potatoes!!

Next up is winter squash!  I hope that Penelope enjoys that dish, too.

Two Things

First, please remember to VOTE for Penelope. Instructions are HERE.

Second, Willette is offering a free online photography class in February. I took her Finding the Holiday Joy class and it was fabulous. You don't have to have a DSLR to get something out of her classes. Please consider signing up -- just click below for more information and to sign up.



I have some photos from this past weekend that I hope to get up BEFORE this weekend, so please check back soon!

Little Feet

Penelope has recently discovered a lot of things.

Like her feet.

  And Penelope really loves her feet.

But I suppose that if my feet were that cute, I’d probably want to eat them, too!!

Shamelessly Participating in an Internet Contest!

Well, I usually avoid posting about such things, but I can’t help it this time.  Our awesome photographer, Heather Swanner, is having a photo contest and my sweet Penelope is in it!  Please vote for us.  You can vote once per day in two locations (meaning you can cast two votes per day – one in each location) through this coming Friday, January 21, 2011 at midnight.  Here’s how you vote:

(1)  Go to Heather’s blog post here and comment that you are voting for #13 Pink Baby!!

(2)  Go to Heather’s FB page here, “like” the page, find Heather’s post where she says to vote there (please don’t vote directly on her wall), and comment to cast your vote for #13 Pink Baby!!

Please vote once daily for us!  The first place prize is a really awesome session and package with Heather, which we would love to have!

I do have some photos of Penelope to post on the blog, and will be doing that as soon as I can sometime this weekend!  I hope you all have a great weekend and thanks for voting for Penelope!

First Post of the New Year

It’s amazing how quickly everyone is changing and growing up.  The big kids are really starting to talk up a storm.  Everyone is talking in sentences now, but our main problem is understanding all the words in the sentences.  I’m sure we’ll get there soon – the change so far has been just amazing. 

Piper is definitely the leader.  She keeps everyone in line.  I always will quickly investigate when I hear her start yelling “no no” to her brother or sisters.  Piper is also so entertaining to watch when she thinks she is alone.  She just does the funniest things – like marching or walking funny or singing to herself. 

Henry never stops moving.  He literally runs everywhere.  Henry got a stuffed dinosaur from Nana and Papa for Christmas that he really likes – when there’s a light on.  So far, the dinosaur cannot sleep in bed with him.  He’s fine with the dinosaur during the day and chases everyone around with it while growling, but we think he’s actually a little scared of it at night!  Not only does he not allow the dinosaur in his bed, but Henry will not allow the dinosaur to be within eyesight while he’s sleeping.

Rosemary is very into her baby dolls (and stuffed animals) these days.  She calls them her “buh-aye-bies” (it comes out sounding very “Southern”).  Once or twice a week these sneaky little creatures jump out of her bed at night and she wakes us up crying, “My buh-aye-bies!  My buh-aye-bies!!”  Gary and I take turns going upstairs to rescue her babies and return them to Rosemary.

Penelope has changed a ton just in the last week.  On New Year’s Eve she rolled over from tummy to back, and she started rolling over from back to tummy this past Wednesday.  On New Year’s Day, Penelope found her feet and has been grabbing and trying to eat them ever since.  She also has suddenly gotten a lot better and grabbing and manipulating her toys – especially to get them in her mouth.  Penelope also has developed this strange habit of sucking on her bottom lip, which makes her look almost exactly like a cabbage patch doll.

This past Sunday we went to church, and when we got there we realized that we had forgotten that the nursery was closed.  Although I was prepared to just leave right then and there, Gary thought we could make it, so we ended up taking the kids in to “big people church” with us.  They actually did pretty well, and only Rosemary had to be taken out for a few minutes.  I think we made it because Auntie Ann was there – and because of the 3 bags of goldfish we found in the diaperbag.  When they’re eating, it’s hard to talk.  Penelope considerately slept through the whole ordeal.  Anyway, everyone looked so cute that I took some photos before we left for church. . . .