Week 3/52

Day 15/364: double ear infection baby boy

Day 16/365: best dressed

Day 17/365: daddy mini-me

Day 18/365: family time with the big girls 

Day 19/365: surprise selfie

Day 20/365: solo bike ride with three bikers and a baby

Day 21/365: twins-different as night & day yet the tables can turn so quickly

Andrew: Five Months

this little infant is rapidly turning into a little baby! 

 

he's ridiculously fun, laughing and smiling at us and his sisters. he loves to be in the action: up at the table with us, facing out so he can see things, up on my shoulder so he can see things around us; but he's the sweetest snuggle bug. he can finally sit in the baby ergo and looks up at me and just giggles. 

everyone said boys are just different. well i'm here to tell you, that's the truth. i love my three big girls with all my being, but there's something different about this little boy. maybe it's because he was such an unexpected miracle. but whatever it is, he completes our family perfectly! 

he still loves to kick his little feet. 

 

so much so that he's been pushing himself backwards for almost a month now. needless to say, watching him almost push himself backwards off his changing table onto his head made this mama move faster than i have in a long time! 

he's got the rolling over thing and is trying so hard to sit up when we hold him. and he loves his fingers!
his laugh is precious, but his velociraptor (vi-lah-si-rap-tor) scream is a-mazing! he forms his mouth like he's singing in a boys choir and lets out this scream that sounds like he's calling his kind. and then he giggles ;0) (was that last scream not the best!) his sisters still adore him more than anything. apparently i call him little buddy quite frequently; and so they walk up to him and say hey little buddy. they soothe him with their words, hold him gently, wiggle his arms to make him giggle and attempt to make him laugh. they can all three pop his wubanub paci in his mouth. i'll often hear him start to cry and then quickly stop only to find one of his sweet sisters wherever he is gently giving him his paci or wiggling a toy near his face. they are immensely helpful, and for some reason, their behavior is immensely better when they are being helpful!

 

i've let addie briefly hold him while she's standing or carry him from me in the kitchen to someone else in the living room. while she does it well, her younger sisters think they should be able to do the same. we're working on that!

i heard the best thing at church on sunday from a daddy of nine: "children are born into a family as an addition to a family, not to be the center of the family." this little munchkin certainly isn't the center of this family, but he's the absolute most perfect additional gift and reward we could have ever dreamed of!

and if it's even possible, we love this little buddy more and more each day!

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him. Ps 127:3

Week 2/52

Day 8/365: hot doughnuts with friends

Day 9/365: sisters at the vet

Day 10/365: chick-fil-a for a local hurting family 

Day 11/365: this is what happens when you follow your big sister, the leader

Day 12/365: 5 months

Day 13/365: coconut oil rub results 

Day 14/365: cleaning out the car

Week 1/52 of a 365 Project

I've seen professional photographers do this before, but I've never been bold enough to join in. Certain that I'd get behind, give up & quit. But if I looked back over the past 4 months, my iPhone has at least one picture a day. iPhone or mark ii, pictures will be taken. Memories will be made. And I'll be challenged.

So here goes...

Day 1/365: puzzle time

Day 2/365: Mary singing Away in a Manger to baby Jesus

Day 3/365: painted nails times sixty

Day 4/365: it's-a-950pm-after-a-5am-start-to-a-full-day-of-second-shooting-and-the-cats-on-my-lap-must-have-a-picture-moment. Queen Victoria Fuzz Face

Day 5/365: baby blues & chubby cheeks too

Day 6/365: Anne Perry reading to Andrew in the waiting room

Day 7/365: coldest day in years & I can finally get my ring back on after months of not being able to wear it

Success: week 1 of 52 done!
...all from the iPhone so far.

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)