August pictures - part 1 (swimming)

This last month, we have taken the kids to swim several times. They have really done well. Caroline is a little fish. She is everywhere in her swimmies. No fear. Unfortunately, no fear isn't always good. The last time we went, Caroline decided that she could swim by herself (while no adult was beside her). Grandma had to get in the pool with her clothes to get her. Afterwards, Caroline's recollection of the event is that she got in the pool and was jumping (and it was fun).



Nathan has improved SO much since last summer. He swims pretty well with swimmies and will even jump in the deep end and swim. He will also jump in the shallow end with no swimmies (since he can stand up). He has started working on swimming without the swimmies. Right now he can't keep himself above the water so he's working on swimming under water.



What's better for an after swim snack than some popsicles?


Oh...maybe fresh blackberries!


And then it's off to work. Nathan jumped in to help granddad mix concrete. Caroline looked but couldn't see any way to help. She tells me that there wasn't anything she could do.


So she headed off to the back to do who knows what by herself.

watch out

It's dangerous around here!




PS: There are more pictures and videos from the last couple weeks. Maybe I'll get some up here soon. It just takes a little time to decide what to include.

quick notes

Sara was 5 months last Friday and is wearing 6-9 mo. clothes and some 12 mo.

Caroline was overhead last night saying "Here'm I are" to Sara.

Nathan thinks that 5 1/2 is too old for taking baths anymore.

rice cereal

Sara has seemed to be extra hungry lately and I don't seem to be keeping up the supply. Maybe this is because I've been trying to eat a little better so I can lose some weight. Maybe not. Either way, we decided to go ahead and start Sara on some additional food. Monday night, we gave her some rice cereal. She also had some last night. I don't know that we'll jump into additional food with both feet quite yet, but we also don't want her to be hungry. So...bring on the stinky poop! (Yes, I did have to go there.)

a family portrait

A couple weeks ago (sometime in July), Caroline created a family portrait while we were sitting at Sonny's. I thought I would share it here. I have labeled it so that you'll know which figure is which person. Since it's not entirely clear, I'll identify a few parts. The scribbles toward the center top of each figure is the hair. Anything coming out the bottom is a leg and/or foot. The most central scribble is the body. :) Sara does not have any hair. I do not believe Daddy has any legs. It's not much to look at, but it's fun to see her start to identify what she's drawing rather than just scribbling.

how do we compare?

Kindergarten here we come

Yesterday, Nathan started Kindergarten. He is going back to the same school where he went last year. He will still only go half days, but he will be there five days a week instead of three. Nathan was all good to go until we actually walked through the door of the school. Then, he grabbed onto my hand and held on tight. He never said anything, but he wasn't ready to let go. Once we got to his room and I got him settled at his seat, he said "Bye, Mommy" and off I went (right after taking a few pictures). As best I can tell, Kindergarten will be much more structured and "school-like" than his pre-K was last year. Two of his friends from his class last year are in his class again and one friend from church is also in his class. I think he's going to like it.


Caroline wanted to get in on the picture taking as well. No being left out for her!


Here is Nathan and his new teacher, Mrs. Jackson.


And here is his class before all the parents left (including me, of course).


I took his picture by the school sign again this year, so I thought it would be fun to see how he's changed in a year. The funny thing is that he is wearing the same shorts in both pictures. He's grown up but not out apparently. Every time I compare pictures from the year before, I have to admit to myself that my baby is growing up.

a new bed

Last Tuesday (July 28th), Caroline finally got to move back into her own room. We bought her a twin size bed that is low to the ground so that when she falls out (and she does) she won't get hurt. As you can see, I decided to make her a purple quilt rather than the one that I had originally planned. We have not finished decorating the room, but at least she can sleep in there. One thing has changed, though. Sara's mattress has been lowered and she is no longer using her bumper pad. That has made things extra interesting trying to get both girls down for a nap in the afternoon. They're doing pretty good, though. We'll just have to keep working on it.


This is how I found Caroline sleeping the first night. She is definitely one to move around in her sleep...explaining why she falls out of the bed. She is enjoying her new bed, though, and usually wants to be covered up with her new quilt. Yay! Oh yeah...you can also see her purple polka dotted sheets. Next to purple, I think her favorite thing is polka dots. It's so fun when I can find things that are "her".

As many of you know, we headed out last week on a "tour of Georgia" to visit extended family and friends. Our visit was cut short, but we did get a little time with Gramma, the Bailey's, and the Johnson's. I didn't get too many pictures because things were a bit hectic, but I thought I would share a couple.

This is Matt's Gramma with the kids.


And here is ruffly cousin Rachel with mohawk Sara. Sara found her feet about three weeks ago and started putting them in her mouth about a week later.


On Saturday, after Papa's funeral, we had a little time to hang out with the Ferguson's. Caroline loves Uncle Jason!


Kaitlin has been a bit hesitant about being around Uncle Matt before, but he got some good cuddles this time!


Here are all the grandkids on the Ferguson side. Getting four kids to look the right way and not make a funny face it hard! So...I faked it. :) One of these faces has been imported from another picture. Can you tell which one?


Sara has recently figured out that she can use her hand to touch or grab something that she sees. She has quickly gotten very good at moving objects around. She also loves to smile. She loves for people to talk to her and will usually respond with a smile.


Nathan loves his sisters. And they love him.


Sara is a sweet baby. She's been good from the beginning. Thank goodness! She still sleeps well and eats well. She only really fusses when she's sleepy. She loves people and is happy if somebody will hold her or talk to her. She's getting so big! She is now wearing size 6-9 mo. clothes and size 3 diapers. In the last few days, she has started jabbering again. I think she is experimenting with using different mouth and tongue positions to make different sounds. Even though she's the third, it's still tons of fun to watch her grow and learn.

Sara's four month checkup

I took Sara to the doctor on Friday for her four month checkup. She is very healthy. She weighs 15 pounds, 12 ounces which is 90th percentile for her age. She is 25.5 inches long which is also 90th percentile. I actually think she's longer than she was measured, but we'll go with it.

Sorry for the short post, but this Mommy is quite busy! I'll get more up eventually.

just overheard

Caroline: unn unn unn My house is on fire! unn unn unn My house is one fire!

Nathan: whoo whoo shhhhh shhhhh

Caroline: That's not my house!

a couple pics

(Don't miss the post below about Uncle Sean & Aunt Lisa's visit.)

a special visit

Last week Uncle Sean & Aunt Lisa came to visit us. It was nice to get to spend some good time with them for a few days. One day, we went out to our local peach packing plant to check out the process. We had lunch, and the kids played on the playground. Here are Uncle Sean & Aunt Lisa with all three kids. They look like naturals, don't they! (Where are our cousins?)


This is the norm around here. :)


Apparently Aunt Lisa's arm tastes very good.


Nathan was enjoying playing on the tractor, but it sure is far to shift.


Watch out, Caroline! The front loader's coming!


Thursday night, everyone but Mommy and Sara went out to our local 4th of July celebration. While they waiting on the fireworks, they had fun with the jump rockets that Uncle Sean & Aunt Lisa gave Nathan for his birthday last year. Look at Nathan getting some air!


I think somebody needed to explain to the girls how this things works.


I just couldn't resist including this picture. Sweaty Caroline in her Daddy's hat sure is cute!


Thanks to Uncle Sean for all the pictures. I only got a couple and they weren't all that great.

if you're bored

If you're bored, my kids are here to provide a few suggestions of things you can do to occupy your time.

count your money


look at yourself in the mirror


read with your feet in the air


These suggestions brought to you by the letters C, S, & N and the numbers 2, 0, & 5.

overheard, seen, sung, and done

"Mommy, when I grow up I want to be an underwater river slash waterfallologist." - Nathan, 6/15/09

"ham-b'ger" - Caroline, regularly

"yes yam" - Caroline, every day

Sara is a wiggler. She's really never still unless she's sleeping. Here is a very mild example (along with a little talking). You can also see all of her so you can get an idea of how long she is. According to my measurement, she is now 26" long. That puts her significantly above the 97% line on the growth chart.



Nathan and Caroline really love each other. They play together all the time - most of the time pretty well. This particular morning, I decided to grab my camera to document this activity. I promise that I did not pose them!


I managed to catch Nathan reading to Caroline one day. (Yes, we do stay in our pj's a lot...when we're home all day anyway.)


I am including this video of Sara mainly because at the end you can see her put her thumb in her mouth. You can also kinda see her rolling over motion. When she rolls over, she puts her feet on the ground, sticks her bottom in the air, and turns it to the side. I have actually only seen her roll once, but she does it every time she wakes up...I find her on her back every time these days.



Sara's right foot (and leg) turns in. Her doctor said that it was because it didn't have enough room in the womb so it grew curved. He also said that it will straighten itself out. I was taking pictures one afternoon and thought this was a good example. I tried turning it out like the other one and it just wouldn't go that far.


I wasn't sure that this was going to end up being Caroline's quilt, but she decided that she wanted it. This is just the top without borders or any quilting done. I was actually just going to take a few pictures of the top, but Caroline loves to be in pictures...so I had to get a few with her first. :)


Caroline has really started to pick up songs lately. I think I need to start singing with her more. I'm not entirely sure where she has picked up "Jesus Loves Me", but she's been singing it a good bit. Here is a video (she's a much more cooperative entertainer than Nathan was at this age). Oh yeah...and the swaying to the music might make you seasick. You've been warned.



Nathan doesn't have a problem turning it on for the camera anymore. As soon as he realized that I was taking a video of Caroline, he wanted to get in on the action. He kept saying "Mommy, can you record me singing the 'birdie song'?" I agreed and this is what I got. It makes me laugh.



Nathan's hair has been way too long lately. Here is a before picture...sort of. Can you see how his hair angles up to the right? When his hair was longer and I took him to the barber, I always wondered why he couldn't cut the front of Nathan's hair straight. When I started cutting it myself, I found the answer. Nathan's hair on the right side grows sideways. I guess it will always look a little odd. It also grows sideways in the back on the right (but toward the inside instead of the outside like the front). As a side note, Sara's hair also grows sideways in the back.


And here is the after...the summer short cut. Right now, it looks a bit strange to me. It's just never been this short...well...at least since he was a baby. If you look at the bigger version of the picture, you can probably see his sideways growing hair.


Sorry for the long post, but I just didn't feel like making a bunch of separate ones.

quick notes

- Sara will be 3 months in 3 days and she's starting to outgrow her 3-6 mo. clothes.

- Sara has rolled over in her bed twice (stomach to back) and she scoots around pretty good.

- Sara is sleeping about 13 hours at night and takes two naps (one about 1 hour and one about 4 hours) during the day.

- Sara LOVES for people to talk to her and she will often talk back.

- Sara loves to "sit" these days (with help, of course).

- Caroline has grown an inch in the last four months...but I think most of it has been within the last two.

- Caroline got some new size 7 shoes a couple months ago and now her toes are hanging off (she wore a 5 last summer).

- Caroline loves to talk but has some trouble with prepositions - for example, she will say "I'm going to kick the ball from Nathan." She has also been caught several times saying "I'm are going to do so-and-so."

- Caroline rarely has a potty accident anymore (but is still in diapers when sleeping).

- Nathan will no doubt move up to boy size shoes before long.

- Nathan made me a sweet note on a napkin today while we were at lunch and I was upset. He wanted to help me feel better. I'll try to remember to put a picture up soon.

- Nathan's new fascination is with roly polies. He wants to keep them as pets.

- Nathan is a great big brother.

first haircut

Normally, a first haircut comes on a baby. But not in our house. At least not with our little girl. Caroline had her first haircut on Saturday. I had been thinking about it for a while. I loved her long hair, but it was beginning to get a bit broken at the ends (mostly due to removing tangles caused by food - yogurt, syrup, etc). Her hair had always grown where it looked nice so it wasn't necessary to cut it before. I had planned to take her over to the lady who has cut my hair a few times to get it cut. I was just working on gathering my courage. Well, on Saturday, I decided that it might be a good time to just go ahead and do it myself. I was getting Caroline out of the bath, Sara was sleeping, and the boys were gone. Caroline was up for it, so we gathered what we needed and took the plunge. Honestly, I've been a bit sad. I'm missing her long hair. But it looks really cute short, too. It's just an adjustment. Matt, of course, was surprised when he got home and her hair was cut. It wasn't planned, so he had no reason to expect it. He's had a similar reaction to me. If nothing else, we'll have less food-in-the-hair tangles for a while! :)


Caroline did a great job sitting still while I cut her hair. I cut it all in the bathroom while she sat on the stool (where everyone gets their hair cut). After it started to dry, though, I decided that it needed to be trimmed up a little more. We went outside and I straightened up a few areas. Then, we took some pictures.


It really was coincidence that she was wearing the same shirt that she was wearing in the most recent pictures that showed her hair well. But I think it works.