6 Months!

Time with my sweet Sammie is just FLYING by! Last week she officially turned 6 months old. I was waiting to post about her half birthday until her doctor's appointment today. Her stats are: 18 lbs. (85th percentile) and 28 inches long (off the charts). The doctor told me that she is the size of the average 10 month old. She is two inches away from being too big for her carseat. Yeah, my Sammie is a sumo. She's a big girl. I love it.

The doctor told me that, while she is not obese and her weight and height are very proportional, her girth is making it difficult for her to use her muscles the way she should be. Justin and I have been concerned for a little while now because it's becoming more and more obvious that she's behind. She doesn't roll well (and she never rolls from back to front), she doesn't support her own body weight with her legs, and she doesn't sit up on her own well. These are all things she should be doing by now but she's not. We figured it had something to do with how big she was but it was a relief to hear the doctor agree with me. Sammie has good muscle tone, she just doesn't use it very well right now. So Sammie has a First Steps consultation coming up. Basically, First Steps is like physical therapy for babies. I'm hoping that with a little work we can have Sammie caught up in no time. If she has to slim down a little to use her muscles better, I'll be sad about loosing all these delicious rolls but glad that she's catching up. Check out those squishy legs. I love those rolls!

Other than that, our Sumosam is healty, happy, and perfect. She eats like a champ (hence all the chub), sleeps better than any baby I've ever heard of (ever), is happy and content nearly all of the time, and only cries if she's hungry, tired, or all alone in a room (a.k.a. - bored). She loves watching her siblings. They love to lay down next to her when she's on the floor and talk to her and she eats it up. She smiles for her brothers and sister so easily, I love how sweet they all are together. She is also becoming increasingly fascinated with the dog. She stares at him when she's on the floor and, if he sits too close to her, she grabs him. I can tell it hurts (baby pinches are no joke) but he's a good dog and never nips or gets angry with her, he just moves out of the way. This is the best picture I could get, but Disco loves to sit next to her (I'm assuming that it's usually because I put her down on a blanket and Disco thinks that any blanket on the floor is automatically his). She was distracted by the camera here, but after I put it away some major tail grabbing ensued.

One of the ways that we've been trying to help Sammie use her legs and core is putting her in the Johnny Jumper. We've had this thing since my baby shower with Clayton and all my kids have loved it. Sammie was unsure at first because she wasn't using her legs so she just sat there like a big lump of unhappy pudding, but over the past few weeks she's started jumping in it like she's supposed to and she loves it! She's not the enthusiastic jumper that Noah or Josie were, but she's doing it and it can only be good for her so yay! (We put it in the doorway to the toy room, so she just jumps and watches the kids play. It's the best!)

Sammie has been pulling out her headbands a lot lately. I remember when Josie started doing this and it bummed me out because those headbands are one of the fun things about having a baby girl and to not be able to use them is kind of sad. Now that Sammie has way better control of her hands (one way in which she's right on track), headbands are fewer and further between. So just for funsies the other day we made piggies!!! I died. So cute.

Sammie loves her daddy. She's so easy going and good natured that it's hard not to love and squeeze and dote on this little princess. Justin is becoming more and more wrapped around her little finger.

We sure do love our Sammie Sue and are so grateful every day that she is a member of our family. A few of my favorite things about her: her chub, her big blue eyes, her easygoing personality, her belly laugh, the way she looks when she's concentrating to grab something (my necklace and earing wearing days are temporarily over), the way she gets SO excited when she sees something she wants to grab, and the way she lights up when one of her big sibs gives her a little attention.

Check out those gorgeous blue eyes and that big toothless smile! My kids don't usually start teething until about 8 months. I'm glad because I know I'll miss this toothless smile when it's gone.

I thought it would be fun to do some comparison photos. So here are some that Kerstin took of Sammie when she was two weeks old:

 (I know these are almost identical but I love them both so I put them both in...so there.)

And here she is at 6 months (yes, Kerstin's pics are better, but we're looking at the baby here, not the photography):

 Those cheeks, that chin. My goodness my fingers are itching to squish that face right now!

Happy six months Samantha, I love you more than words can say and I'm really glad that you're mine. You complete our family, you always brighten my days, and we simply cannot get enough of you. We're addicted to you.

Beatlemania!

Clayton had his second grade concert this week. The theme of their concert was 'The Beatles'. It was the cutest concert I've ever been to (and I think all of his concerts are pretty cute)! The kids were told that they could dress in 60's attire to help them get into the mood of the concert. Since we don't have a lot (or any) 60's stuff around here, I went to Goodwill and fashioned this outfit for him. I spent $1 for the whole thing:

I used an old pair of jeans that he already had but never wore with some scrap fabric for the pants, the shirt was from Goodwill ($.50) that I turned inside out and hemmed so it would fit him more snug, and the vest was made from another Goodwill shirt (another $.50) with scrap fabric sewn to it to make the fringe. I used that same scrap fabric to piece together his headpiece and the sunglasses were a pair that he already owned. If you look closely at it you can see the bazillion mistakes I made, but from this vantage point - and at the concert - it looks dang awesome! I'm trying to convince him that this would also be a very cool Halloween costume!

On to the good stuff. When we walked in to the concert, I turned the camera on to snap a few pictures and soon realized that my batteries were dying! YIKES! I was having a small panic attack. So, in order to conserve the batteries I took zero pictures before the concert. Then, once it started I only took video of portions of each song (**I got most of each song, but not all**). I wanted to get as many of the songs as possible and if that meant not getting the end of each song, I was willing to risk it. I did get the last song in its entirety, so that's good.
One more thing. As I was recording, Josie was sitting next to me. She was constantly trying to climb into my lap. I say this because you will see the camera jump and jolt at certain points because she kept bumping my elbow - hard - in her attempt to get up on my lap. When she finally succeeded in getting up there, she kept messing with the camera itself. So I apologize now if these videos make you slightly sea-sick (hopefully it's not too bad though!).
A few things to note: 1. Watch the girl standing next to Clayton. She's fairly entertaining. 2. The big kids dressed in dark glasses and jackets are the 4th graders who were being 'bodyguards'. They took their jobs very seriously. Cute. 3. You can tell when Clayton doesn't know the songs so well because he touches his face or scratches his hair. A lot.
Without further ado, I present, Beatle-mania:
I enjoyed this concert immensly. I realize that, most likely, only grandparents and aunts and uncles will be watching these videos (especially after my glowing review about how shakey they were) but watch at least one. They're not long and the sight of several 7 & 8 year olds singing the Beatles is sure to put a smile on your face. I'm so proud of my little hippie. I have Beatle-mania for sure!

This is why...

...you shouldn't wrestle with your brother after bedtime...in the dark:

Clayton, in the dark, with the bedpost - 1

Noah's eye - 0

(**We didn't realize this had happened until the next morning. Noah was very defensive of Clayton because he didn't want him to get in trouble. Neither of them got in trouble - other than a stern talking-to. We figure, boys will be boys and Noah's black eye is the reminder - at least for now - that wrestling in the dark is probably not the best idea.**)



Sammie Laughing!

I took this video today. Sammie gets some pretty good belly laughs lately and they are the BEST! This isn't actually the greatest video, I started taping at the point where peekaboo with Noah was starting to loose it's novelty. Still, it's pretty cute to watch her startle when he pops up (you can't see him, but I bet you can tell when he surprises her) and I dare you not to smile and chuckle when you hear her sweet laugh!
(**Ignore my cluttered counters, I need to have a serious talk with my housekeeper, she's been slacking off lately.**)

Valentine's Day

This year I wanted to start our Valentine's celebrating a little early (I do love holidays). I'd seen on websites and Pinterest how people had bought and decorated mailboxes so that family members could leave each other love notes in the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day. I love the idea of love notes, but didn't want to spend the money on mailboxes that I wasn't going to bother saving for a whole year. So we made envelopes that we strung up as a garland above the fireplace.

I loved doing this, it's officially a tradition now! The kids would get so excited to write notes (at first). They tapered off as the days passed, but they continued to love checking their mailboxes everyday to see what notes I'd written them. Most of the time it was a note, but sometimes it was directions to a little treat. On Valentine's Day, their envelopes told them where to look to find their special Valentines.

On Valentine's morning, I woke up a little early to prepare a special breakfast. I'd found this recipe on Our Best Bites for oven pancakes with fruit topping. So delicious (and easy). I only wish I had a heart shaped muffin tin (perhaps next year).

They were a HIT (especially to my kids, who usually get to choose between cereal or toast and yogurt for breakfast)!

I'm trying to watch what I eat, but I couldn't resist eating a few of these bad boys myself. Yum!

My boys' current obsession is Pokemon. They can't get enough of all things Pokemon. They were both ecstatic to find that they got new Pokemon cards (but only if they agreed to be my Valentine's first)! 

I love these cute early morning pictures!

Josie got a new outfit for Valentine's Day. New pink and red leggings with a beautiful 'Pincess' skirt. I think it was the first time in...goodness, I can't even think of how long...that she didn't change her clothes at nap time! Success!

Because Sammie is a baby and doesn't really care, she got to wear Josie's old Valentine's day outfit. Here's Josie in this outfit at 10 months:

And here's my Sammie in the same outfit at 5 months (it's so wild to me that Sammie is the same size at 5 months that Josie was at 10. What a big girl!):

I can't believe how sweet and beautiful this little girl is.

Finally, Clayton came home from school with this poem. It still makes me smile to see it. My boys are best friends always. Sure they fight and get angry at each other, but at the end of the day, they are two peas in a pod. It makes my heart so happy. I hope and pray that they are like this always!

Our day was fun and special. I love doing little things for my family to let them know how much I love them and how great I think they are. Yes, this is a cheesy and overly commercial holiday, but we had a great one and I hope you did too!

Purple!

I love our house. It's beautiful and spacious and has a lot of really nice details, but ever since we moved in I knew that we needed to paint. We got the wallpaper off the entry way and got that painted, got the orange out of our family room and repainted it two lovely shades of blue, and got all the kids' rooms painted. Next up, the dining room.

Now, you may wonder why it takes me so long to get my house painted. I know people who move into a place and paint every single wall right away. I'm not like that for two reasons: 1. It takes me a while in a place to figure out my game plan. I'm not a natural decorator. I need to live somewhere for a while and get my bearings before I can decide which direction I want to go. 2. I HATE TO PAINT! Seriously, all of you who love it, why?? The finished product - certainly. The actual process, no way. So those of you who love to paint, I still have a few other rooms that need painting. Feel free to come over and do it for me.

I knew that I wanted something bold and attention-getting in the dining room. The bottom 3rd of that room is white and I intended to leave it that way so I knew that I wanted to be bold with the top. I'd done red before and I was over that so I knew that wasn't the winner. I actually wanted purple pretty bad but I didn't want Justin to hate it. So I got a few samples and taped them to the wall. A few shades of green, a few shades of gold, a burnt orange, and my purple. Justin didn't like the purple at first, but I wore him down (as any good wife would do) and he caved. I could do purple.

My mom was coming out for the weekend so I decided I'd wait for her to get here before I started. She's one of those crazies who actually doesn't mind it so I thought I'd let her help me (and let Justin off the hook since he likes painting about as much as I do). On Saturday my mom suggested that I get started while she watched the kids and then we could finish up that evening once they went to bed.

Sounded good to me so I got to work. Justin, being the good guy that he is, got on his painting clothes and pitched in. This is how I know he loves me. He used one of his precious days off (well, he had to work that night, but still he could have been sleeping) to help me paint our dining room purple. A color he doesn't even love by the way. Yep, we're gonna be married forever.

Anyway, with his help it took WAY less time then I thought it would. My mom ended up not even having to chip in and we got the whole thing done by 9:00 at night. In the end, once it was all up, I L.O.V.E. it! It's even better than I imagined. I can now see how that room is going to come together (it's gorgeous in my head). But (in the words of Levar Burton), don't take MY word for it:

This one is during the light of day. It looks kind of black, but it's not.

 This was after only one coat which is why it looks super purple (plus I think my flash was on).

 This is actually a pretty good idea of the color. Really eggplant. Love it!

 I especially love how it pops with the white of the bottom of the wall and the molding.

 Josie also loves that the room is purple.

Next up on my painting agenda: our toy room. I have the color already picked out (and actually put a little sample paint up on the wall). It's going to be green. It's a nice shade that looks especially lovely when you're standing in the toy room looking into our dining room. I have it on my to do list in the next week or so. Who wants to come help?

Just like Sissy...

Josie at 7 months old:

 Sammie at 5 months old:

I put this outfit on Sammie today and it brought back fun memories of sewing this little top with my friend Mindi. We made them for our baby girls (who are not such babies anymore). This is the one that I (very disgustingly) sewed my finger to.


As I was looking at these pictures of my two sweet little girls I was noticing that (at least to me) they don't seem to look too much alike. I was also noticing just how badly Sammie needed a haircut. She has such cute long hair, but the problem is that it's only cute and long on the sides. The back is pretty sparse and thin (like old man hair). So it's pretty uneven and I can't really do anything with it. So I made the executive decision...Sammie got her first haircut today. It's not the best haircut (I did make one kinda bummer mistake), but she's a baby and it's hard to cut little baby hair - especially around the ears.

So all things considered, I think I did a pretty good job. I think it looks so much better. I'm hoping now that as it grows it'll come in evenly all around and she won't need another haircut for a few years.

So what do you think, do Josie and Sammie look alike? Completely different? Equally cute (this one's rhetorical btw)? Love these sweet girls!