4 months...and a Comparison

i can't believe this little guy is already 4 months old!

(and taking progressive pictures over a series of months and making them look remotely similar is a serious challenge. from putting something soft under him and not having it show to figuring out sweet angles; i've learned so much and still have so much to learn!)

i have no idea where the time has gone. he's such a joy to us and the girls. he loves to giggle and smile. his favorite thing to do is kick his sweet little legs when we lay him down. he loves his bouncy seat and rolling from his tummy to his back. he adores his sisters. he wants to be in on the action, watching and observing. he loves to snuggle right before he goes to sleep. he was sleeping like a champ for almost 2 months. not so much right now...but that too shall pass. he weighed a whopping 16lbs-14oz and was 26 inches at his 4 month checkup, landing him in the 75th%ile. (Addie was right at 16lbs, Anne Perry 15-6 and Audrey Kate 14-9; all smaller than this sweet little chunky boy!)

i thought it might be fun to see the three big girls at 4 months...

addie at 4 months:

anne perry & audrey kate at 4 months:

paul and i still say he favors anne perry, but i see more of addie in him every day. personality wise, he's super laid back/go with the flow...and that is probably the biggest difference between him and his sisters (besides the fact that he's a he!)!

little buddy...we love you and we're so thankful that God chose us to be your family! 

the Miller's Goat Farm

Friday, it was 82 degrees in Montgomery. When we drove up to the Miller's on Saturday morning, it was a mere 39 degrees. Seriously, a 40+ degree drop in temperature. But it didn't stop us from exploring! Dr. Miller mentioned that they had some brand new kids (goat kids!) last Sunday and invited us to come visit. I'm not sure they knew what they were getting into with our crazy bunch, but we came and saw and I'm pretty sure both the goats and the Miller's needed a nap after we left!We were greeted by this handsome fella. They have one male each in two separate herds; and this young goat took his job seriously. The other goats all hid behind him and he stood his ground. he wasn't mean or aggressive, but he took care of his ladies!

We headed into the barn where the nursery was. I'm not sure i ever counted the nanny/kid ratio or total, but there were at least 10 total with kids ranging from 2 weeks to 2 days old. That's Dr. Miller. My family grew up with the Miller's older two boys, so we've known them a while and have truly enjoyed getting to know them better at Grace...and our girls adore them!

Addie wasn't sure about holding a screaming kid goat, but she was all about petting them! (and paul took the picture on the right! impressive, huh?!?) Mrs. Marcia let the girls pet the kids and told us all about them. The kid goats would scream mwaaaaa mwaaaaa mwaaaaa calling for their mama's. And after Andrew settled down and fell asleep in the Ergo, I was able to take a few pictures. Cuteness!
look at that sweet face!  the older kids were pretty playful too.  this mama goat stood her ground right up until i could practically touch her. then she moved off. she was carefully guarding her two day old kid! poor thing was born in 80 degree weather and was now having to adjust to almost freezing temperatures!  this kid was ready to head back to the house and warm up after we tried to pet the teenage male goats! At one point,  Addie started chasing some of the goats, which apparently most two legged kids do upon entering a field full of goats. Shadow, the Great Pyrenees dog, herded all the other goats away from the "chaos" and apparently would have returned to get the other goat had Addie not lost interest in chasing it...just like he would have done had danger (coyote) been in the field. It was amazing to watch these animals work & function so well together!

so we headed back to the little office to warm up before lunch...and to potty. if you're on f@cebook, you most likely saw the picture of Dr. Miller and Paul trying to figure out a way to open the bathroom doors...where Audrey Kate had locked herself in and couldn't get out. We had told each girl before they went in NOT to lock the door...two thirds obeyed. At one point, i was seriously considering that we might have to buy them a new set of doors. Can we say natural consequences? Thankfully, Dr. Miller decided to just pull and they opened up! that was the result of a lot of prayer!
and a sleeping baby!

but this picture has to be my favorite from the day. peaceful. sweet. precious on so many levels.   Thank you Dr. Miller and Mrs. Marcia for letting us visit your beautiful home and sharing your little lawnmowers with us. We're so thankful for your friendship and how much you love our girls! Next time, we'll make the girls leave the bathroom doors cracked! ;0)