it's been a long day

It's been a long day...

and I just can't wait to go home...

Relax and...

Have a drink.

baby in the blue dress

Avery graciously offered to pose so that I could test the lighting.

Standing Lou! (that's Cathryn's hand holding her up)

Mady in her blue dress.

I can't get over those blue eyes!

From time to time, Cathryn and I get an idea in our head about a photo that we REALLY want to have and will go to quite some lengths to get it. Well, Cathryn really wanted a picture of Mady standing in her blue party dress and after 2 other photographers failed to capture the shot, she requested my services. So, last weekend, we played photo shoot to try and get the picture. No pressure.

Mady wasn't in a terribly smiley mood, but I think I got a couple of beautiful shots. The blue dress does wonders for that girl's eyes!

monday

Behold the cuteness - two ponies. Pigtails!

Just your friendly game of mouth tug-of-war.

Ha! We did get dressed today even though I had the day off and someone needs a haircut.

Who doesn't hang out with their sibling in a pile of clean laundry (it took me all day to get it folded/refolded)?

And these are called rings...They hang out/play together all. of. the. time.

Okay, so we got dressed but eventually ditched the pants.

Orbeez. Quite possibly the most useless 'toy' ever, but he liked them. Hey they were 80% off on the clearance rack at Target and I needed a project for him.

the pink sweater

I guess by the looks of it, you can surmise that this was a successful photo shoot. I wasn't planning on holding one today but after I got Vivi dressed I wanted to take a quick shot to send to Mrs. Feldt to show her the sweater she made. Mrs. Feldt is mom to two of my high school friends and we reconnected via facebook a few years ago. She was quite the knitter/weaver back in the day and when she found out I was pregnant with Viv, she wanted to make something for her. The sweater is absolutely beautiful and wonderfully crafted. I'm thrilled Viv is old enough to finally wear it.

vivienne | 6 month stats

Waiting for Dr. Noah with Daddy

I LOVE this picture. I love how she's looking at her Daddy.

We had Vivi's 6 month well baby visit today and actually ended up talking more about Avery, even though he wasn't there. There was really nothing of medical or developmental concern that we wanted to discuss. She is a delightful, happy, easy baby who has had more good nights of sleep than bad in the past week or so. Plus, I'm happy to report that even after 4 shots she is happily playing on the floor and watching Avery with rapt attention as he distributes 1 million Risk pieces around the room. Not to worry, there is an appropriate distance between the baby and any of those pieces - like a no-fly zone.

Here are her current stats:

Weight: 16lbs 9oz | 60%
Height: 26.25" | 60% (truth be told, I don't think her head was all the way to the top of the measuring device)
Head: 17" | 73% (50% cheek & 50% hair)

men

Today at school is Daddy Breakfast. It started at 8am and for us, that's a pretty early start time. Yes, I know we're spoiled but luckily the boys got out of the house on time in full winter gear, lunch packed and teeth brushed.

Now that Avery is supremely aware of 'boys v. girls' Daddy has moved up in the rankings quite a bit. If he needs something in the middle of the night, he now calls for Daddy which is a-okay with me! Plus, they boys are usually the first up so they have their Super Secret Morning Man routine. I guessing it involves peeing, but I'm not privy to such things.

Both Scott and I are thrilled that Avery has taken a liking to Daddy and that it only took 3 years!

On a completely separate, non-man related issue: I am blogging and can hear Vivi waking up from her nap and she is laughing hysterically. I wonder what's so funny in there?

princess party

Princess Hannah

Um...'Prince' Avery?

I'm not exactly sure what they're all looking at, but the parachute was FUN!

Hell no, we won't go!

Blowing out the candle...please note how Annabelle is 'helping.'

The last of the big kids is 3 (sigh). We celebrated Hannah's birthday in full princess style at Gymboree last weekend. The kids are just on the cusp of being able to enjoy organized activities, but not quite. At any given point, someone was having a fit, running in a different direction, or exploring alone. Most of the them enjoyed dressing up and when I asked Avery if he wanted to put on some dress up clothes, he said no and gave me this look that said, "Why would I ever want to do that?"

It has been so interesting watching the older kids' personalities develop and see their interests grow. Avery, as you might imagine does not play dress-up, nor have I ever seen him pretend to be something other than a 3 year old boy (dog, fireman, etc.). "I just want to be Avery." I'm putting money on it right now...Engineer.

This is our last year of toddlerhood, heading directly towards KID. I can hardly believe it. So, happy, happy birthday, Hannah! It's amazing how much you've grown.

if I had a dollar...

...for every question Avery asked me today, I would have made $355!!!

Yes, I specifically bought a tally counter for this particular experiment.

This photo is seething with attitude.

If you need some free time, just give your son who happens to love letters and numbers a tally counter.

Mama, what's in your pocket? Click.
What's that noise I hear? Click.
Can I see what's in there? Click.
What are you doing? Click.

Okay, so we all know that toddlers ask A LOT of questions. It's how they learn. But, just how many are we talking about? (Click). Is it as many as it seems? (Click). Well, I just had to get some answers and decided that for one day I would count how many questions Avery asked me. I kept a tally counter in my pocket all day and clicked away as we went about our business. I actually don't think I counted every question because sometimes they came at me at such rapid succession that I couldn't click fast enough.

So what feels like millions of questions, turned out to be about 355. That is a staggering number to me.

This post could be alternately titled 'How Many Questions I Answered Today.'

vivienne | 6 months

Smiley and eaty (Daddy just coined that term) were his answers when I asked him what he wants to remember about you at 6 months old. My goodness you are a smiley baby even when you're cranky, you're smiling. You also constantly have to have something, preferably fabric, in your mouth (Avery did not show this obsession). I think you self sooth by bunching up the clothes you can reach by your neck and shoving them into your mouth. Frankly, I'm surprised you don't have a rash under there because of the constant moisture.

Okay, Lou. Tomorrow I'm contacting the sleep consultant because Daddy and I cannot sustain this lack of interrupted sleep and we would like to get your brother and his camping bed off of bedroom floor. I know it's not your fault, you're just a baby, but we haven't figured out the best way to teach you or encourage your sleep. Your napping really stinks if you have to sleep by yourself. You will however, sleep for 3 hours if I lay down with you. I am very hopeful this woman can guide us and in a few weeks time, we'll all be sleeping soundly.

I've back off the solid foods until we get the sleep thing figured out. You are so interested in what's going on around you and cannot possibly eat if your Daddy or brother are anywhere near you. Watching you and Avery play together, something you do all of the time makes me so happy. He adores you and the feeling is mutual.

Oh, Lou, I am so madly in love with you and savor every moment I have with my sweet 6 month old.

***UPDATE***
Vivienne bought herself a few extra days in regards to the sleep consultant. Scott and I decided to eliminate the 'one and done' method of going in and shushing her. On Saturday, we put her to bed, shut the door and said see ya no earlier than 4am, you're on your own. Well, she did wake up a few times, but never cried, just grunted (oh, I forgot to mention the grunting and I thought the raspberries were loud) and put herself back to sleep each time. She didn't wake up until 5:30am to eat, so we were encouraged. The next night she went to bed and we didn't hear a peep out of her until 5:30am again. Fingers crossed and everyone must speak in whispers and hushed tones as to not frighten the sleeper away.

first pony

Vivienne had her first pony today and well, it might have been the cutest thing I've ever seen. At the end of the day, the pony was gone and the rubber band was suspiciously missing, but I'm not too concerned because she hasn't mastered swallowing.

snow day

Aren't we cool in our Thomas shades?

Snow angels.

Making tracks.

Grandma Carole came out on the porch to play.

This got him to smile those smiles I'm always trying to capture.

Then inside for some hot chocolate with marshmallows.

Even though we didn't have a white Christmas, Denver finally got some snow this week! Avery and I bundled up and braved the 7 degree temperature to play outside. It was so nice to have this one-on-one play time with him (Vivi was inside with Grandpa Arlin and Grandma Carole). We then, of course enjoyed some hot cocoa upon returning inside. Avery had two sips and was done.