sleepy baby

Duke recently came down with a low grade fever for a couple days. The two days leading up to that, I caught him putting himself to sleep in his bouncer.  He would wake up from his nap, I'd feed him, I'd put him in his bouncer, and then the next thing I knew, I would turn around and he'd be asleep.  It was odd because he normally would be awake for the next hour or two.  I should have known he was getting sick.  After a few times of this happening right in a row, I finally caught him in the act.  He would lay his head down and fiddle with the red bird and slowly start to sway himself back and forth...and soon would be asleep.

qotd

Maisie's morning greeting to me:  Mohnee, Mommy! Hot cahfee an' Duke!

Yep, that sums up me in the morning.  :)

chubby baby

This is the baby who at 7.5 months still doesn't want to eat food.  Just Momma's milk, thank you very much.

 

That definitely hasn't been an issue when it comes to weight gain.

Oh how I love a chubby baby!

zorro!

It's official.

Between Maisie and Duke, Duke wears the pants in this family--ahem, the BIG pants, that is.  ;)

They're in disposables right here, but for regular daily use we use cloth.  Maisie wears the small size cloth prefolds and the small covers, and Duke now wears the large size cloth prefolds and the large covers.  

She's got him on height, but he's taken over on girth. 

qotd

Braden took Maddie out on a Daddy-Maddie date, so after the babies were in bed, Caleb and I had some ice cream together.  It was special ice cream from Braden's and my "home date" stash.  Caleb took a bite and said, "Mmmm!!!  Mommy, I PRO-CLAIM this to be the best ice cream ever!"

the great london fire

Recently we learned about the Great London Fire that burned 4/5 of London back in 1666.  To help Maddie and Caleb understand part of the reason why London burned so terribly and how they finally were able to stop the fire, we did our own experiment in our fireplace.

We made a few paper houses.  We set 3 up really close together, just like the London houses were.  One house we set a distance away.  That house (and the space between) represented how the soldiers blew up parts of the city in front of the fire, creating separation so that the fire didn't have anything to continue to burn.

So we lit our first house and watched it quickly burn...

 ...and spread nearly right away to the next house...

...and to the next house...

...but then once those houses were burned, the fire stopped because there was nothing nearby left for it to burn.  And thus, the last house--set apart--was saved.  

I love how taking a few minutes to complete a hands-on activity can reinforce important concepts and events in Maddie's and Caleb's minds.  Both of them can now explain the Great London Fire to you.  We haven't done many hands-on activities this year because of the little ones.  But I look forward to returning to more of these next year. It makes learning memorable and it brings it to life. 





 

Nana

My wonderful Nana went home to be with Jesus early yesterday morning, about 5:30am.  We miss her deeply.  My parents had taken the night shift at the hospital that night and were right by her side praying for her as she died.  My aunts and uncles were also there with Nana while she was still alive, and I got to talk with Nana twice before she passed away. That was very meaningful to me as I was able to share my heart with her.  Nana's passing was rather sudden.  It was only Friday morning that she was taken to the emergency room.

Nana was an amazing woman, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.  She had a beautiful combination of strength and laughter, and she was also a memory-maker through her cooking, crafts and the stories she would tell.

While there was a small memorial service for her in Florida this morning, the whole family will be gathering at Arlington National Cemetary in May for her burial. 

I so wish I could have seen you one more time, Nana, but I think that no matter how many more times I saw you I still would wish I could have seen you just one more time. You have been a wonderful grandmother to me and have left me with such a beautiful legacy, and for that I will always be grateful!

duke in the heirloom suit

Years ago when my dad was a baby, Nana was visiting Grandpap's parents and his mother was getting rid of some items...

...one of them being this suit which had been Grandpap's as a baby. Nana asked Nannie for it, and she gave it to her. 

Nana proceeded to have each of her boys wear it.  And she really didn't think much beyond that.

But somewhere along the way...I think when Cauthen was born...it was decided to carry on this tradition for the boys in the family.  

So Cauthen wore the suit, and Aunt Marissa had his picture taken in it.

And thus the album was born. 

The album that contains photos of the boys in the family, either wearing the suit, or at least a photo of the boy, because some boys never got a chance to wear it or never got a photo taken in the suit. 

Upon Duke's birth, Nana sent me the suit.  It's been waiting in a safe place in my closet for 7 months. 

Duke was finally big enough to wear the suit.  And my was he a round ball of cute chubbiness in this dapper heirloom suit!

(Summer can't come fast enough...this boy needs to be in short pants and shirts that show off all his rolls and dimples.)

I wished he could wear the suit all day, because he was just adorable in it--and it fit perfectly.

But the suit must be preserved!  More babies are on the way this year, and some or all of them could be boys.  

(Oh my goodness, what a face!)

I'm happy to say we made it through the photo shoot without a drop of spit-up...a MAJOR accomplishment for the Duke-ster aka The Spit-Up Champ. 

And here I am with my boy...in all my morning bathrobe, not yet showered glory. Duke was really cheerful, so I seized those minutes of happiness to do a photo shoot. 

And more than lookin' good, I wanted a picture of me with my baby in the suit.   

So glad for this fun tradition, and so glad  these pix came out! 

(As you can tell, I couldn't choose a favorite photo.)

silly sisters

Maddie "sitting" on Maisie's lap.

big and round

Here's Maisie showing the moon, big and round.

Her favorite song is "Moo-moo-moo" or Moon Moon Moon by Laurie Berkner.  I think I've probably mentioned it before, as it's been her favorite for a while.  She loves for us to sing it to her, and she joins in at her favorite parts, namely calling out and pointing up, " 'OokUP da moon!" (Look up, it's the moon) and "pichoo" (pizza).

Moon Moon Moon, Shining bright
Moon Moon Moon, My nightlight - chk, turn it on
Moon Moon Moon, I can see
Moon Moon Moon, You're shining down on me (I changed that line, because the moon just does not watch over us!)
Look up! It's the moon, Look up! It's the moon
Look up! It's the moon up in the sky
It's big and round, And I have found
That it looks just like a pizza pie

And at the end we'll repeat the last line, It looks just like a Maisie pie.  And then she'll say, "Daddy," so we add It looks just like a Daddy pie...and she'll go through everyone's names.

caleb's morning spot

This is how we've been finding Caleb lately, first thing in the morning on these chilly mornings.  In jammies with his blanket snuggled next to the heating vent.

qotd

Maisie woke up from her nap as Braden, Maddie and Caleb were finishing playing a board game. They were counting up their money to see who won.  Braden said, "Go ahead. Count your money!" to which Little Miss replied, "One two fwee foh figh."  We didn't even know she could count.

february

Back to not sleeping well at night, but oh so happy during the day.

Special Outfits

I have a small stack of special outfits knit by Nana for my kids.  I was excited to pull this one out for the first time for Maisie. I got her all dressed for church, and she looked so cute!  Then we went to leave for church and the van battery was dead.  Bummer. We missed church.  Since we weren't headed to church, I decided to take a few pix of Maisie in her dress and hat.  Well, let's just say she was a bundle of energy who didn't want to sit still for any pictures! 

 This is the "see if Maddie and Caleb can make her smile" shot.

 The "I'm being silly, Mommy" shot.

 The "Look, Mommy, I can get out of the chair" shot.

 The "I'm all done, Mom" shot

 The "dimples" shot -- she's got the cutest dimples!

A great shot, but you can't really see the outfit.  Oh well!