Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year spending time with lots of family and friends. We got to meet our new cousin Lily for the first time and she is a doll! We also ate lots and lots of yummy food and I got to do lots of Black Friday shopping - so fun!

Posing with Aunt Sandy who was in town for the holiday.

We also celebrated Pop's birthday and he shared his cake and ice cream with Lucy.

Uncle Mason with his tiniest niece.

10 Months

So I'm a week and 2 days overdue with my monthly update, but since I just wrote about Lucy at almost 10 months, nothing major has really changed. She's still our sweet baby girl, who loves to laugh! Just over the past week she's figured out how to sit up from lying down. She also gets on all fours and rocks back and forth, but then goes back to her commando crawl when she wants to get something. She loves to eat table food and prefers it over baby food, and she loves to make messes! We love our messy, happy girl!

The Rest of the Pictures

Here are the rest of the highlights from our family photo shoot about a month ago. Even though the kids aren't smiling in this first one, at least they are all looking in the right direction, and that is progress! I consider this photo shoot a success!

Lucy at almost 10 months

We could not have asked for an easier baby. This sweet girl is so easy on her Mama and Daddy that we feel so blessed. I know being the fourth baby born into a family in 4 1/2 years has a little to do with it, but I really just think she has a pretty chill personality.

She really is happy almost all the time. Some days, the only time she cries is when she gets accidentally stepped on by a sibling, which actually happens quite frequently.

Our baby girl is great at the commando crawl. She looks hilarious pulling her body along the floor, paddling with her left hand along the way. She hasn't attempted to get up on all fours yet, but she's fast enough the other way that she doesn't really need to. She will stand if you help her but hasn't pulled up on anything yet.

She puts everything in her mouth and will make a beeline across the room if she spies even the tiniest piece of trash on the floor. She seems to have some kind of special radar for shoes, as that seems to be her most favorite thing to chew on. Don't worry, we take them away pronto, and give her something more appropriate and less germy to chew!

Already, Lucy seems to be a sports fan. When we're watching football, her eyes are glued to the tv, but she could care less about it if it's anything else. Baby Einstein being the exception. She does love to watch those toys dance to the music, which is very helpful to me while trying to cook dinner without stepping on a baby in my kitchen!

Our happy baby girl really is a joy to have around. She has added so much to our family in her almost 10 months with us. We love our fourth baby, our little Lucy-Lu!

Sam at 2 1/2 (almost)

This boy . . . sometimes there just aren't enough words to describe his personality, but I will try. He is just a hoot! He can have a pretty solemn look on his face sometimes, but when he gives you a smile, it will melt your heart. And that giggle, oh how I love that giggle!

Sam just adores his siblings. He still wants to do everything with Jack and Anna. At 2 1/2 I think he's moved on from typical preschool toys. He wants all the things his big brother plays with, but is not afraid to wear a princess dress with heels when it's time to play dress up. His favorite toys right now are Buzz, Woody, and Lightning McQueen, but I think he will always have a soft spot for his first love, balls.

He's making great progress in speech therapy and his vocabulary has just exploded. I am also able to understand most of what he says, even with his quirky sound substitutions. Like Anna, he loves to sing and will "sing" any song he hears, even if he has no idea what the words are. His favorite phrase right now seems to be "I do it myself!" Guess that's pretty common for a two year old.

Also, like any typical two year old, he will go from happy to throwing a fit in 2.7 seconds! If we don't understand what he's saying, or he doesn't get to do something he wants, he will melt on the floor kicking and screaming. Most of the time it's pretty comical, unless it's happened for the 275th time that day and I'm starting to lose it as well!

Sam is a great sleeper and still naps about 2 hours every afternoon. If he has his special white blanket then all is well with the world and he goes right to sleep. He is not a great eater, though. He usually picks at his breakfast and lunch, but usually eats a pretty good dinner. However, he would seriously eat chips all day long if I let him. He loves them! At meals these days he requests a "boy cup," just like his siblings (meaning he wants to drink out a regular cup like a big boy).

Our baby buddy has grown up right before our eyes into a 2 1/2 year old big boy. He is still the child who challenges our parenting skills almost daily. When we think we have something figured out, along comes Sam and changes the rules. We wouldn't have it any other way, though. We sure do love our Sammy-boy!

Anna at 4

Not to be outdone by her big brother, here are a few bits and pieces about Anna these days as a new four year old.

She's currently in a 3K class with a total of six kids. Her BFF is in there with her and they are the only two girls so they definitely stick together. According to her teacher, she gathered all the kids together one day during free play and told them it was time to read a story. She held up the book so everyone could see the pictures and proceeded to "read" to her class!

She's progressing on her letter writing skills. That's not something they work on in 3K, but we are doing a very small amount at home and she's getting better every time we work on it. We're still not sure if she's right or left handed, though. When writing a word, she switches hands after every letter. She does this when painting, coloring, and cutting, so the jury's still out on that one.

She loves music and art. She loves to make up her own songs and sometimes just sings her little heart out while playing with toys. She picks up lyrics pretty quickly and can memorize songs easily. She also LOVES to paint. Whenever she wants to paint she asks if we can do something fun. Every time I ask her what she means by "fun" she says "PAINT!!!" She's very thorough and would do this for hours if I let her.


She also really enjoys playing dress up. She and Sam have the best time together trying on clothes and shoes and dancing all over the house. She has a quirky sense of style and I try to save my battles for something more important than what she wears out in public. One thing I'm still trying to comprehend is this girl refuses to wear jeans. She will not do it. It's dresses, skirts, or "soft pants" for her and there is no budging on that matter!

She has a huge imagination and enjoys playing with tiny figures (over Barbies or baby dolls). She creates all kinds of plots and storylines and it's so much fun to sit by and listen to her play.

Our girl is really developing into a compassionate child with a heart for serving. She's really become invested in our service through Mommy and Me Missions and wants to help others. She's truly concerned for people who don't have enough food, clothes, toys, etc. and wants to do what she can to help.

This girl loves to read stories and she has a thing for reading the stories in her children's bible. She asks tons of questions about who everyone is and I hear her lying in bed (when she's supposed to be napping) talking about King Nebuchadnezzar.

Anna is a huge help to me and she's a loving sister to her siblings. She has so much fun playing with Jack and Sam but will stop at any time to give Lucy toys or make her laugh. She's finally starting to say some of her /l/ sounds correctly and that's just another sign that she's growing up.

We certainly are blessed to have Anna-banana as our second baby and we love our big girl!

Jack at 5 1/2

It's hard to believe my firstborn is 5 1/2 years old. I thought it would be nice to have some important things recorded here about him.

We had a conference with his teacher last week and she had nothing but good things to say about Jack. He's a rule follower, slight perfectionist, budding reader, and friend to everyone. We're pretty proud of that synopsis.

At home he is a huge help around the house. He plays very well with all three of his siblings, and tailors his play style to whoever he's with at the moment. Sometimes we have to remind him he's not a parent and cannot punish his younger siblings, even if they do deserve it!

He seems to be a real gadget lover. He can do more on the ipad than I can! He loves video games and would seriously play them all day long if we let him (right now he's only allowed that privilege on the weekends). He seems to have moved on from Thomas the Tank Engine (I'm crying on the inside with that one) into Super Heros and Transformers. He still enjoys playing Buzz, Woody, and Lightning McQueen with his brother, though.

He's becoming more interested in sports and asks tons of questions when watching the games with us. He seems to really like football - or maybe it's just that he likes to stay up late and play while we watch the gamecocks play! He really started to "get" soccer the last few games this past season and seemed to enjoy playing.

Jack is a lot of fun. He really is transforming right before our eyes. He asks real questions, good ones, not just "why." He's reading and spelling and he's just growing up. He's kind, compassionate, silly, loving, and just a great kid!

We love this boy who will always be our "first baby!"

Bat Man

The Friday before Halloween, Jack's class put on another performance. This was a Halloween play complete with trick-or-treaters, bats, ghosts, hairy monsters, and skeletons. Jack was a bat and once again, did a great job with his lines. He seems to really like these plays, and of course, we love to see our boy perform!

Jack and Dylan, the hairy monster!