Happy Valentine’s Day!

This year, since the kids are in playschool, they need some valentines to pass out to their classmates.  There were some great free templates out there for valentines, so this year I made valentines for the kids.  Here is the front and back of Piper’s valentines:

 

The front and back of Henry’s valentines:

And the front and back of Rosemary’s valentines:

I hated for 3 of my 4 kids not to have valentines, so of course I made some for Penelope!

I actually designed the back of Penelope’s cards myself.  The main reason was that her card template didn’t have a back to it.  The secondary reason is that I wanted a place to write a note to the recipient.  See, within a month after Penelope was born I was done with the thank you notes for her gifts.  Back in December I found the entire stack of thank you notes in my bedside table, not mailed.  CRAP.  I would love to blame that one on Gary, but I haven’t figured out a way to pin it on him yet.  Some of the thank you notes still didn’t have addresses, but apparently I just thought I was done with them all and had sent them on their way.  AND I remembered putting such things in there as “I can’t wait for you to meet Penelope” which would be incredibly outdated as almost all of the recipients have met Penelope, so it wasn’t like I could just drop them in the mail.  I sent out Penelope’s valentines with a note on the back so that they also served as a thank you note.  Hopefully the adorably cute baby on the front of the card made up for the lateness!

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all!

A Big Argument

Last weekend, when the kids were supposed to be taking a nap, I overheard an argument.  As far as I know, it was their first argument made using real words with each other.  Lately, everything is “mine” or “my _____,” whatever that may be.  Although no one has explained the rules to me, it appears that whoever says “my _____” first becomes the true owner of _____.  And _____ could be a blue doggie, a paper bag, a set of keys . . . just anything that the kids see and decide that they want to be their own.

So, I was sitting downstairs and I hear the following conversation:

Piper:  “My moe-ee.”  {Translation, “My Elmo.”}

Henry:  “No.  My Elmo.”

{Repeat a few times.}

Henry:  “My box.”

Rosemary:  “Noooooo.  My box.”

{Repeat a few times.}

Rosemary:  {Very smug.}  “My Daddy.”

Piper and Henry:  {Screaming like you’ve never heard, followed by crying.}  “Noooo.  Noooo.  No.  MY DADDY.”

Rosemary:  {Quite sure of herself.}  “My Daddy.”

It was hilarious.  Rosemary really got Piper and Henry fired up.  They went on and on for a while, and then finally went to sleep for their nap.  First, I’m thrilled that they are finally talking enough to have such discussions, but second, I love hearing what goes on in their little heads.  And hopefully one day they have not been traumatized by that little argument and realize that they all have Daddy.

I hate to make a post without some photos, so I want to throw in a series of some photos of Rosemary, still sporting her now-not-so-new smile, which she still is perfecting and gets better almost every day.  In a way, I hope she never outgrows it.  I’ll just have to ask our photographer NOT to ask her to smile for our next session!!

Another Snow in Alabama?

We’ve had more occurrences of snow in Alabama this winter than I remember happening the entire time Gary and I have been married.  Anyway, I’m a bit of a weather nut, so I’ve followed this last snow storm for a little over a week.  I was actually quite surprised that it even happened.  This past Wednesday night, this is what it looked like in our backyard when Gary and I went to bed. . . .

When I went to bed, I had no doubt that we would at least be delayed at work the next morning.  No doubt.  I woke up the next morning and kept checking my e-mail to find out when the office was opening.  After a while, I got a little suspicious and called our work emergency line and found out that we were not delayed AT ALL.  Usually the tiniest bit of snow shuts our city down, but not this time.  The roads were perfectly clear.

Since I wasn’t sure that the kids would ever see snow in Alabama again, I wanted to be sure that we all went outside to play in the snow before I left for work.  Gary, Alecia, and I spent about 20 minutes getting everyone ready to go out.  We were probably out there 5 minutes.  We put the kids in some new boots – they’re rain boots instead of snow boots, but in Alabama, that’s really just more economical to serve sort of the same purpose.  Everyone was REALLY excited about their new boots.  The problem is that when the girls would step into the snow, they would then start yelling, “my boots!” and then step back onto the patio, take off their gloves, and wipe off their boots.  We finally got them to go out into the snow, but by that time they kept coming up to us, holding up their hands, and saying, “cold!”  Eventually all 4 kids had a meltdown and we just came in.  I did get a few photos though. . . .

Maybe we’ll see snow again sometime over the next decade or so, and hopefully by then the kids will really appreciate it!

Already Six Months Old

Penelope is 6 months old today.  I find it hard to believe that it’s been six months since she arrived and joined our family.  She is an unbelievably happy and sweet baby.  She rolls everywhere, and has been going up on her hands and toes and trying to scoot forward.  Unfortunately, she’s just moving backwards now, but I’m sure one day she’ll make it forward.  Penelope can sit propping herself up for a good 30 seconds, and I’m sure that she’ll be sitting up all by herself soon enough.  Penelope enjoys “talking” and trying to be louder than her brother and sisters, which is no small feat.  We have a very loud house! 

Penelope also loves socks.  She enjoys taking them off her feet and chewing on them, and she enjoys finding the kids’ socks that are left laying around and chewing on them.  It’s a little weird, but then our family does have some pretty strange habits, so I suppose she fits right in. 

Penelope wakes up around 7:00 or 7:30 each morning and usually takes a morning nap, an afternoon nap, and a short nap in the late afternoon.  She nurses when I’m around, or if I’m not takes about a 6 ounce bottle of breastmilk, 4-5 times a day.  She loves eating solids, and eats solids for breakfast and snacktime with the kids.  So far Penelope has had sweet potatoes, butternut squash, avocados, bananas, and pears.  She loves it all, but she really LOVES pears.  She has storytime with the big kids each night, and goes to bed around 8:00 or 8:30 each night.

Penelope woke up sick on Sunday.  She had some horrible chest congestion and sounded really awful.  That night she got up 3 times in the middle of the night (I gave her Tylenol and nursed her back to sleep each time), so on Monday morning I took her to the pediatrician.  It turns out she had a left ear infection and got her first round of bubblegum medicine, which she loves.  Monday night she only got up once, and then returned to her normal sleeping habits.  She is feeling a lot better now and barely has any congestion left.  What is amazing to me is that even though she clearly felt sick, she was still such a sweet baby.  She would lay her head on my shoulder, and then look up at me and grin, then just lay her head back down.  I really was feeling sympathetic toward her because I found out on Tuesday that I have an ear infection, too (playschool germs are going to be the end of us).  I’m feeling a lot better now, too. 

Today was supposed to be Penelope’s 6-month well baby check-up, but we had some snow this morning so Penelope’s 8:15 a.m. appointment time was moved until 11:30 a.m., which didn’t work with our schedules today.  Unfortunately, I can’t get her in for a well baby check-up for 3 weeks, so we will have to wait until then for her official statistics and percentiles.  She was weighed on Monday, though, so we know that she is 15 pounds 13 ounces!  She weighs almost as much as Rosemary did at her one year appointment  Wow!! 

I have photos to post and more things to say, but that’s enough for now.  Happy Half Birthday, sweet Penelope!!

Caught Red-Handed

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.