{noodling}

Thanks to a craft exchange at MOPS, we're keeping busy today with noodle necklaces.

It is interesting to see the difference in fine motor skills b/t the two & four year old. They're both having fun though!

- Posted from my iPhone

{the ten second tea party}

Range of emotions there, right? It's pretty typical of our very-much-a-two-year-old these days. Kalea is talkative, interested in everything, imaginative, helpful with her little brother, instigator to her big sister, snuggly, kind, silly, wiggly, expressive, curious, creative and beautiful. Love her to pieces.

{four months}

Four months already!?! It seems like just a couple weeks ago the girls, the belly & I had just arrived in Georgia. Apparently though the sleep deprivation is in full effect because I clearly can't keep track of the passing of time.

Yesterday we went to Cade's 4 month well child check. According to Dr. Sarah & the scale he is seriously growing. He grew 2.5" in the past two month! His current stats are: height - 26" (87th percentile), weight - 15 lbs, 12 oz ( 60th percentile), head circumference - 16.5" (62nd percentile). He was all smiles & coos for the nurses & pediatrician, even showing off by rolling over while we chatted. Up until those nasty immunizations. He's had different reactions than my other babies with immunizations. The girls never seemed to mind them, aside from the initial screaming they'd just sleep the rest of the day away & be a little lazy the next. Poor guy has been miserable - fever, whining, interrupted sleep and just wanting to be held all.the.time. :(

Besides rolling over, the little guy has recently discovered his tongue & fingers. There's a pretty constant state of drool down his chin & on my shoulder lately. And as he begins to reach for toys they've begun ending up in his mouth. Unfortunately the motor skills are quite developed yet & we've had multiple instances of toy or finger ending up in his eye. I hate to giggle about my poor little baby's sadness, but man he's cute when he makes the "I'm-incredibly-sad" face. One day I'll get a picture of it. For posterity, right? 

He's napping pretty regularly - a short snooze in the morning after preschool drop off, a short snooze around lunchtime, a longer nap in the afternoon, a doze during dinner then to bed in his crib around 8:30. Up until a week or so ago he was waking up around 4 am to nurse & then sleeping again in the co-sleeper in our room until about 7:30 am. In the past few weeks though, he's made it a few nights until 5:15 am or 6 am. While I'd love for that to continue, I'll be happy that he generally falls back to sleep quickly whatever time he wakes so we're not up at all hours of the night, like his sister Cassidy used to be! 

The months have flown by & we're looking forward to summertime, being outside & all the milestones to come. Here's the little guy telling you what he thinks about being 4 months old!

{cheeeeeeese}

- Posted from my iPhone

{mama's boy}

- Posted from my iPhone

{sisters}

reading together.

- Posted from my iPhone

{happy valentine's day}

I must kiss him 100 times a day. Happy V-Day!

- Posted from my iPhone

{three lumps on a bl....}

...blanket. You thought I was going to say blog, didn't you? 

I cannot believe how big these three little lumps are getting. Cade is sneaking up on his sisters weight-wise - closing in on 15 pounds; Kalea is honestly the funniest little person I know; Cassidy may as well be 14 instead of 4. The big girls each act their age - both in good and not so good ways & I'm proud of them for generally making good choices, being polite, loving & empathetic toward each other and toward others. We have our days where they about end up sold to the gypsies but at the end of each day I know our little family is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I admit that the transition to being a stay-at-home-mom (hereby abbreviated SAHM) has been tough for me. You'd think that things would be all rainbows & puppies since I spent a couple years as an early elementary teacher so seemingly should have lots of tools in my arsenal for learning, behavior and everything, but with your own kids - and with them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - it's just different. Everything seems bigger - the highs of laughter, giggles, snuggles and baby kisses and the lows of tantrums, talking back, all out fits on the floor and disobedience. It's a work in progress here at our house, one that I'm guessing is going to be progressing for a long time! 

{family of five}

This fall we were lucky enough to "win" a photo session with a local photographer and fellow preschool mom during the annual fundraising event, Bids 'n Bites, at Cassidy's preschool. A very persistent Grandma Betty got into a pretty funny bidding war over this particular item with another preschool grandmother. We were in no way surprised that Grandma Betty won & were very excited to have some portraits taken of our family with the new addition. 

It's taken a few months but we're hoping to use some of these to fill some of the very beige space on our new home's walls! Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa for the gift & to Jessica Bampton of K & B Photography for the wonderful images!

{love}

- Posted from my iPhone