Lydia and Cereal

So, I wanted to squeeze this post in before I am overwhelmed with trying to recall the activities and festivities of Christmas

Last week we gave Lydia cereal for the first time. She isn't quite 6 months old, but you know, since the AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PEDIATRICS says to start them around 4 months, I figured it would be ok to start her a week or so earlier than I did her brother or sister.

Anyways, she wasn't such a fan. She did however enjoy feeding herself (amazing what you will let 3rd children do!!) and we found that she loves to chew on pretzels and toast.

I will try again on the cereal when we return from our Christmas travels and I am sure I will have more humourous pics to post as we transition into solid foods!!

Stay tuned for Christmas posts, but for now, I must get to bed so Santa can come!
The mom.

Christmas Preparation

The last week has been filled with preparing for Christmas. We were in Chattanooga last weekend for The Cousin's Christmas party and Alex's birthday. The Cousin's Party is a girls-only event and I got some cute pics of my girls in their Christmas dresses.

We finally got around to putting our tree up the other day. The kids had a fun time getting the ornaments out adn hanging them on the tree. Their favorite is Harbin's new ornament that is "Rocket" from Little Einsteins and sings the entire theme song. Sadly, this is my LEAST favorite ornament not because to of the music, but because the kids are continually fighting over who gets to hold it- and it hasn't been on the tree since the first time they took it off!!!!

As you can see, it is getting increasingly harder to get a good picture with all three chldren in the frame. I suppose it's good that the process to get a pic is always fun, filled with everything from trying to make them laugh, to trying to get the older ones to stop clapping, tapping, or acting silly like we are to get Lydia to smile. It made for a few good silly shots, but I have still yet to- and may never- capture the "traditional" Christmas photo!!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the pics of some of our Christmas happenings, and that everyone is having fun enjoying the season like we are!!!

The mom.

Hudgens Art Center and Boxes

Last weekend, the kids and I joined a friend at the Hudgens Art Center. The art center has a children's museum and was free until the end of the year. We were upset to find out that they had removed most of the kids stuff and there was not a lot to do, but the kids had a blast playing with the puppet theater and doing stencil rubbings. Harbin really enjoyed the puppets and cracked me up with his "Ladies and Gentlemice..." before each performace.

Over the past week or so I have really been working on packing up some stuff we don't use and reorganizing the stuff we do. The kids had a great time playing in the boxes that I was using. They also enjoyed decorating them by drawing all over them. I guess if we ever do move, we will have the most decorative moving boxes ever!!!

More blogs to come soon!
The mom.

Lydia was 5 months old...

...on Monday.

As usual, this week has been terribly hectic and I am just now getting around to posting. Lydia was 5 months on Monday, December 1st and thankfully she woke up feeling much better than she had been the last few days. She seems to be ver her infection and back to herself.

She hasn't mastered any major things yet, like sitting up or crawling, but does love to "talk" to us, grab a hold of anything in front of her and eat it, and "play" with her brother and sister. She does not like to be left alone in a room and will usually beckon for someone to come back and pay attention to her. She is definitely wanting table food, but I am still holding off a bit longer, trying to make it closer to her 6 month birthday.

She loves her Tigger jumper as you can see in the picture. She will even fall asleep in it at times when she has worn herself out. She doesn't jump as much as she likes to push herself and kid of swing in it.

Sorry for the lack of pics, but she has been ill and I have been ill and the camera has just not been a priority!

The mom.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful time- eating at Grandma Skillin's on Sunday, spending a few days in Chattanooga and then celebrating with Mom and Jonathan yesterday.

Unfortunately, I have been battling a cough/cold for the last week, so my energy level wasn't up-to-par at all of these events, but the kids have had a good time. Lydia came down with a fever today and the doctor said she has an ear infection.

We are enjoying the time Scott has off of work. We are quickly trying to finish up some projects around the house so we can see about selling/renting it. We have found a house in Suwanee that we would like to make an offer on, but until we find someone to occupy this house, we will have to wait. More to come on this process, I'm sure!!

Enjoy the pictures!
The mom.

Halloween and Scott/Skylar's Birthdays

Last weekend we went up to Chattanooga to celebrate Halloween as well as Scott and Skylar's birthdays. The kids and I drove up Friday and went with the Tinney's to their church's fall festival.

Harbin went as a chef from the movie Ratatouille. He even wore a little Ratatouille figurine underneath his chef hat- all his idea (if you haven't seen the movie, you won't understand).

Catherine was a Ladybug and she was content to eat suckers and candy the whole time, having no desire to put the sucker down and bounce or play any of the games.

Lydia was a Sweet Pea-in-a-Pod and once again loved her comfy, warm outfit.

After the festival, we went and Trick-or-Treated on Aunt Peggy and Ma and Da's door. The kids loved knocking on the door and saying "Trick or Treat" and I enjoyed getting to go into the warm house (it was awfully cold that night).

Sunday we celebrated Scott (Nov.5) and Skylar's (Nov.3) birthdays. Skylar hit a big milestone, turning 18 this year- just in time to vote. Scott just got older :)

I have started using the slideshow to add pictures as some of you may have noticed.I have done this for two reasons- 1. it's easier and faster for me and 2. it allows me to show you all more pictures. I have updated the sidebar with how to print pictures from the slideshow. If you have troubles with it, email me. If it ends up causing too many issues, then I will go back to the old way.

Hopefully I will post again soon, but there's no guarantee!!!
The mom.

Lydia is 4 months old!

Well, I am a little late reporting, but Lydia was 4 months old this past Saturday. She had her doctor's appointment yesterday and she was 12 pounds 3 ounces (dropping to the 20th%ile) and 24 inches long (50th%ile).

She has been growing so quickly and impressing us with her abilities. She can now roll over in both directions, and she wants to crawl so badly. She can scoot just a little, but mostly she still just gets around by kicking her feet and spinning herself in circles. She has found her thumb and although I wouldn't classify her as a thumb-sucker yet, she definitely can pull her paci out and put her thumb in.

As you can see from the picture, she has been wearing herself out these days and will fall asleep almost anywhere, including sitting up in her bumbo seat!!

Enjoy the pics...

The mom.

Brittany's Wedding and Disney on Ice

Not this past weekend, but the one prior to that we travelled to Chattanooga for Scott's cousin, Brittany's wedding. Friday night we attended the rehearsal dinner and Saturday we got dressed up and headed to the wedding. Everything was beautiful, especially the bride, and we send out congratulations to the happy couple. (I apologize for all of the red-eye pics- I didn't take the time to fix them, because time has been precious lately!)

Sunday, Crickett and Melissa took us to see Disney on Ice, featuring The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch, Peter Pan, and of course, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy. Cade and Benjamin both joined the us (boys Crickett has/does nanny for) and Bo and Sarah came along too. The kids were amazed at everything and watched the show with great enthusiasm.

Stay tuned for more posts soon. I am behind and I am hoping to catch up on the events over the past few weeks!

The mom.

Fall is finally here...

Well this past weekend confirmed that fall is finally here. The weather started cooling off (chilly even) and we had a fun weekend of Fall parties and pumpkins.

On Saturday the kids and I went with some friends to the Gwinnett Reading Festival. We did the same event last year and it was just as much fun again. The kids enjoy a free book and tons of free storytellings and games. This year's highlights were climbing in the firetruck and getting to see SPIDERMAN!!!

After the Reading Festival, we met up wtih Scott and went to a Halloween Party our one of Harbin's friend's houses. The kids got dressed up in their costumes and all the kids were so cute. Harbin had a last minute costume change the day of the event- he was supposed to be a football player, but the costume is still too big, so he decided to go as a train conductor. Catherine was a ladybug and got really frusterated with her wings (which was so funny), and Lydia was a Pea-in-a-Pod- she LOVED her costume and was so comfy, she just fell asleep.

The party was great. Catherine loved to play in the sandbox and spent most of her time in it. Harbin had fun running around with his friend Gabriel and racing the other kids.

We carved pumpkins, but the kids weren't too much interested in it. Catherine liked looking at the goop but neither kid liked to touch it. Harbin had fun drawing the face on the pumpkin but quickly gave up on carving it (good thing his momma likes that kind of stuff).

Sorry I have been so bad about posting, but my computer has been having major-on-it's-deathbed issues, so I haven't been on as often and when I am, I try to do crucial things like checking emails and paying bills. We are hoping to get some fall pictures this week at the pumpkin patch so hopefully I will have those up later this week.

The mom.