visit with Jay and Sara Grace

(and their parents too)

On Friday morning we got to visit with some friends that we don't see very often. Jay is about 6 months younger than Nathan and Sara Grace is about 3 months younger than Caroline. I went to Tech with their Mommy and Daddy. We don't get to see them very often (in fact, this is the first time since the girls were born...well...the first time we've all been together anyway).


Here is our attempt at getting a good picture of the boys together.


And here's what they really thought of this picture taking adventure. Thankfully, they really had a good time together otherwise. If they lived near each other they would probably get in lots of trouble together!


Somehow, we managed to get a better picture of the girls. Aren't they two beautiful blue-eyed girls! I didn't notice when we were taking the pictures, but...look...they are holding hands. Is there anything cuter?


We exchanged presents and Sara Grace's little ball popper was the favorite of all four kids, I think.


Jay and Nathan insisted that they didn't need any help opening Jay's trains.


The kids had a good time playing with Sammy and Matt.


I just thought this was a cute picture of Sara Grace so I had to include it.


And here is Michelle with Caroline. I miss her lots! I'm so glad that we were able to spend a little time together.

just life

There's nothing exciting or unusual about these pictures. It's just life. Nathan in his Thomas pj's...with William...and a train (that you can't see)...watching a train video...with a crusty nose...just life.

sometimes I forget

I realized the other day that we hadn't gotten many pictures of Caroline walking holding people's hands. Pictures (and this blog) are like my scrapbook. They're how I remember and document what my kids are doing. So, I got Matt to take a couple pictures while she was walking with me. I thought I would share a couple with our interested readers out there in cyberland.



Nathan loves to paint. Unfortunately, we don't take the time to do it very often. It takes some planning to do it in a short period of time with little mess. Plus, these days, we don't do it when Caroline is up. Well, last week, I asked him what he wanted to do for the day. He said paint...so paint we/he did.

things he says

Yesterday, while riding down the road, Nathan said something like this to me: "When we went to see Grandma at the hospital the first time, we had to take the 2nd elevator. Then, we had to go around the corner to her room." He was right. We had to go to the 2nd floor to see Grandma when she was in the hospital in WR. Given this random remembrance, I asked him what about in Macon. He responded like this "We went to the 4th elevator. Then, we had to go back to the 3rd one to walk across the bridge to the parking deck." I have to say, he has a memory for some very strange things! It amazes me that he can be right about such a little part of the memory. Maybe it's just an ability to remember numbers?

This morning, I was singing "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" while working in the same room where Nathan was playing. He stopped and said to me "Mommy, you are praising God." I am so glad that he at least has some concept of that idea. It's often hard to know just how much kids really "get", but it's nice to see some sparks.

it's party time

Today was Nathan's birthday party. He will be four in two weeks, but we have decided that it's a little calmer to have his party early. Matt was in charge of a lot of the planning and he did a great job! It was nice because I was able to take pictures and enjoy the party this time. In the past, I've been pretty busy running around and taking care of things.

The first thing the kids did was to play outside. They had a good time playing in the sandbox and on some of the outside toys.


They also colored on the driveway with chalk. I included this picture just because I like it.


This year, we let him invite some of his friends. We limited the number, however (if we didn't, we would have to invite all the 3 year olds at church and that's like 30). He made his list and it was 4 girls and 3 boys. As it turns out, only the girls were able to come.


Since the ice cream wasn't quite ready, he opened presents before we ate. He did a very good job this year of being appreciative of his gifts. The funny part, though, is that he thanked each person before he even opened the present. But you know, I'll take what I can get. Nathan had lots of help opening his gifts. I think he enjoyed getting inside them faster, though.


Nathan got all kinds of things that he will really enjoy! Cars...trucks...trains...GEORGIA TECH clothes...a hard hat (yeah...what other kid has a REAL hard hat?). And to think...there's only more to come with Christmas just around the corner.


After the presents, we had cake and ice cream and chips and such. Nathan requested a strawberry cake "like Grandma had for her birthday that was red". For months now he has been asking for sprinkles on his birthday cake. So...here is the result.


Thanks to everyone that was able to come to his party and celebrate Nathan being around for four years (almost)!

another carseat

Well, I finally got a picture of Caroline's new carseat. We ended up getting the company to give us a 50% off deal for a replacement seat. It's basically like Nathan's old seat. It's not necessarily the colors we would have picked, but it works. It was delivered last week, but I just haven't thought to get a picture. Before that, we were borrowing a seat that my parents have had for Nathan (though it will soon be Caroline's). Anyway, here are the pictures of Caroline in her old and new seats.

first steps

On Tuesday, Caroline took her first "real" steps. For a little while, she would take one step while falling towards us, but wouldn't take any controlled steps. Well, while we were at Mema and Papa's house, she took a couple controlled steps. Mema let go of her and she took about three steps to get to the couch. I missed it, but she did the same sort of thing a couple times for Matt and I later that evening. As she gets close, she'll still fall towards us. She trusts us to catch her. Sometimes, she won't take any steps. She just enjoys the falling and catching. I think we may have a little thrill seeker on our hands. :)

like my big brother

(this is the second post for today)

As I have said before, Caroline loves her big brother! and he loves her! I caught the scene in this picture the other day. I thought it was perfect. I think she'll always be looking up to him!


Today, I caught her following Nathan through the kitchen with a train of her own. Of course, by the time I got my camera she was no longer following, but you get the idea. She loves to play with anything that Nathan loves!

singing in big church

Last night, Nathan's children's choir class sang in "big church". Actually, all the kids sang. He is in a class with just three year olds (as of Sept. 1st), but the 3, 4, and 5 year old classes all sang together. They also had a live manger scene. Nathan was a shepherd.


In true Nathan form, he decided that the music was too loud for him when they all started singing...so he covered his ears. Later, he waved at himself on the big screen where they show the service. Aren't 3 year olds fun!


Here are the rest of the kids. The first row and the far end of the second row are kids in his class. Do you see the little girl on the top row in the blue? She's five. She's coming to Nathan's birthday party. Oh yeah...already checking out the older girls! :) The little blond angel in the first picture is coming as well.

just two

Just because I haven't lately, I took a couple pictures of Caroline a little while ago. I picked just two pictures to share. The first is just Caroline being silly. She loves to hang upside-down or look at people above her. Taking this picture from directly above got the same "I'm having fun" smile.


If you look closely, you can see that Caroline is standing by herself in this picture. She has been able to stand by herself pretty well for at least a week. However, she will only do it if she doesn't realize she's doing it. If she realizes that she's not at least leaning on something, she will quickly sit down or grab onto something. When I caught this picture, she had been standing for a minute and was just starting to "fall" toward the chair (that's why she looks a little like she's leaning to the front).

new playmates

Nathan and Caroline enjoyed spending time with Nana and Granddaddy and Aunt Erin last week. Somehow, we missed getting any good pictures with Aunt Erin (sorry, Aunt Erin). Here is Caroline walking with Nana. She roped Nana into this activity as often as she possibly could. I'm sure that Nana's back is still recovering.


Every time we visit, Nathan enjoys playing the piano with Nana. This trip was no exception. The funny thing this time is that Nathan picked one song that he liked, and told Nana (after the fact) that he didn't like the others. How funny!


Nathan and Nana made turkey hands. Nana traced Nathan's hand and then Nathan traced Nana's hand.


Nathan wanted to play on Granddaddy's computer, but Granddaddy was already playing. So, Nathan decided to climb up and watch. Granddaddy joked that Nathan was keeping an eye on him to make sure he kept playing his game...so he would finish and Nathan could have the computer.

socks, a thumb, and a computer

I was taking this picture in particular because I wanted to show off Caroline's new socks. I went looking for some socks with non-slip stuff on the bottom. I found these and thought they were much too cute to pass up. Aunt Erin approved. :) We have also started pulling a bit of her hair back with barrettes to keep the long hairs out of her eyes. Any tips from the moms of girls out there would be great! I'm not so good with this girly stuff.


This night, Nathan wanted to lay with me on the couch. Caroline decided to join us and we just just lounged there for a while. Mommy heaven!


Caroline is a thumb-sucker. Ever since she gave up pacifiers, she has loved her thumb. Until recently, she only sucked it when she was sleepy. Now, she has added sucking on it when she's hungry as well. This is a just before bed shot.


Nathan enjoys playing on pbskids.org. He didn't pass up the opportunity to play on Granddaddy's laptop last week.


On a completely unrelated note, Caroline now has four teeth. The third one broke through about two weeks ago and the fourth one about a week ago. I'll see about getting a toothy grin picture soon.

recent things

Today, when we were leaving lunch, there was a sign that read "My Father's Place will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. Thank you." Nathan read the sign. By himself. He read the sign. Ok...he didn't get "Thanksgiving" but read "Thanks"...but that's pretty close. Matt and I were very surprised! I know that he knows a lot of words, but I didn't know he knew all of those. Wow!

It's so much fun to watch Caroline develop. Her personality comes out more and more. One of the funniest things that she has started doing seems to be the beginning of temper tantrums. I think we're in for it. When she's not happy, she'll just plop herself down on her belly. The next step is kicking her feet and pounding her fists! :)

carseats

Caroline has grown too big for her carrier/carseat and we have been thinking about getting Nathan a booster...so...

Here is Nathan in his convertible carseat that he has used since he was a baby.


Matt bought Nathan a booster seat while I was running back and forth to the hospital. Nathan really likes having a seat belt like Mommy and Daddy. *sniff* *sniff* My little boy is growing up. Here he is in his new seat.


Well, I was originally going to put pictures of Caroline on here, but we have a problem with Nathan's old carseat. We either have to fix it or buy Caroline a new seat. So...at least for a few more days, she'll still be in her infant seat.

Fall Festival

Last Saturday, we managed to fit our church's Fall Festival in between errand running, Papa's 75th birthday celebration, and visiting the hospital. Nathan had a good time, so I think it was worth it. Matt and I did a lot of swapping off, though. He got there with the kids before I got there from the hospital. Nathan did some playing on the inflatable stuff outside.


After I got there, Matt was starving, so he and Carline went to get some food while Nathan and I went to play games, do some crafts, etc. He was much more interested in candy!


Later, I fed Caroline while Matt and Nathan went in search of snow cones. After Nathan and I stopped to have some real food, Nathan rode on a Thomas train and continued with the crafts and games. Matt helped him with some and I helped with others.


We might not have all been together much, but we all got to be a part of the experience and had a good time!

fall is here

Fall is finally here. The weather is nice. The leaves are falling. It's just nice to be outside. Today, the kids and I played outside for a little bit. Here are a couple pictures.

recent pictures and such

I know that I haven't been very good at putting updates of the kids lately. In thinking about what they are doing new, there are two things that immediately come to mind. For the last couple weeks, Caroline has been looking around things. I know that this might seem silly, but it's one of those things that you don't realize a baby doesn't do until she does. It's funny to watch her lean this way or that way to look around things. She's also been exploring things inside of others - particularly her toys. Oh...one more on her before I head to Nathan. She does lots of jabbering. For a couple weeks, Matt has been able to carry on conversations with her where he repeats the sounds she makes and then she makes another sound and he repeats and so on. The most popular sound in this game is and airy "hah-dah". On Sunday, Caroline was playing with some things while I was getting dressed. She dropped it and then said "uh-oh". She did it about three times and I would have sworn that she was saying it on purpose. I'm very hesitant to say that it had meaning, though.

Nathan's BIG thing lately has been spelling. He is learning how to spell words left and right. He spends some of his down time in the afternoons spelling out words with his alphabet puzzle letters. For a while, he was using the toy laptop that he got last Christmas and learning words. I am going to attempt to list all the words that he knows how to spell (with Nathan and Matt's help): stop, yo-yo, dog, cat, sheep, pig, cow, jacket, rocket, one, monster, two, Bible, bingo, Jesus, God, eye, and, web, superwhy, now, big, William, Mommy, Daddy, Caroline, Nathan Eli Moseley, ball, queen, next, go, three, baby, you, Nana, yes, no, ladder, frog, key, mouse, house, log, pie, Matt. Ok. That's all we can come up with for now. He also knows that if you add and "s" to the end of a word, it makes it plural. The other day he said to me "S-H-E-E-P was scared of the M-O-N-S-T-E-R." I laughed out loud to hear this sentence come out of my 3 year old.

I thought this was a cute picture of her smiling while chewing on the zebra.


Here is Caroline in her crib. I really want to remember my camera one day when I go to get her up. I want to catch the excited smile that I get when I walk in the room. It's absolutely the best!


This afternoon, we were outside waiting on the mail lady to come. I decided to grab my camera and tried to get a picture of the two of them together. I got one with them both looking and sorta smiling, but I thought this picture was much more "real"...Caroline thinking about eating a leaf and Nathan putting his feet all over her.


This is our neighbor, Mrs. Crenshaw. She and her husband were out in the yard and she came over to chat. She took a seat right down on the grass with us and Caroline crawled right on over.


Nathan was just being his silly self running across the yard.


Tonight, Nathan helped Daddy wash the ice cube trays after Caroline's food was emptied from them. (He also helped me to empty them into bags and put them back in the freezer.)

DOWT - Part 4

After visiting Thomas, we went to do a few more things before leaving and heading out for a late lunch. Nathan had James painted on his hand.


Then, we headed back up the hill where most of the activities were. Nathan wanted to go play on the dinosaur bouncy thing, but it was closed so he headed to the castle instead.


Daddy and Caroline were trying to catch up.


Then, Nathan went to do the little maze. He went straight through the first time. It really wasn't hard. Then, he ran back to the beginning and explored all the wrong ways to go.


In the meantime, Caroline found her own use for the hay bales.


Well, that's the end of our adventure. I hope you enjoyed experiencing it with us in pictures.