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.

graduation, thumb, and such

Last Friday (not yesterday), Nathan had a little program for his preschool graduation. His class and the other three day four year old class sang a bunch of songs and then got their diploma from their teacher (it wasn't the real certificate).


Nathan didn't really do much when they were singing. He was all excited about it and telling me how he was going to sing loud...until that morning. Friday morning, he told me that he was scared to sing in front of a lot of people. So, he mostly just stood there. I am including one little video we took. Ignore all the shaking if you can. Caroline was sitting in Matt's lap when it was taken. (This is the most action we got all morning, I think.)



I am also including a short little video of Caroline during the graduation program. She did more of the hand motions than Nathan did. It's just more her thing.



Sara LOVES her thumb. It didn't take her long to find it and she sucks it all the time now. She has no trouble getting it into her mouth. I haven't gotten too many pictures, but here's one.


Of course, when I went to get the camera to take pictures of Sara, Caroline also wanted her picture taken. (If Nathan would have been there, he would have too.)


Caroline loves her sister...and Sara loves for someone to talk to her. Here are my sweet girls together.


Last weekend, we got to see Uncle Jason, Aunt Jenn, and Kaitin for a little bit. We didn't get many pictures, but here's one of Aunt Jenn with Sara.


And last but not least, here is a video of Sara talking. I have been trying to get one, but she is usually to interested in the camera to talk for me. I managed to get a few this day, but she was making funny contorted faces while she talked. Who knows. It's cute anyway.

Sara's two month visit

Caroline and I took Sara to her two month doctor's visit on Monday. She is very healthy and everything looks great! She is now 12 pounds (they said 90%, but it looks more like 80% to me) and 24 1/4 inches long (97%). Just because I thought it would be interesting to know, I looked to see at what age her numbers would be average. Her weight is average for a 3 month old and her height is average for a four month old. It looks like she's headed to be a tall girl! Oh yeah...and her head measures at 75% - the smallest of any of our children.

Sara also had to get three shots and an oral vaccine. When she woke up from her nap later in the day, she was in pain. It was very obvious that her left leg was hurting her. We didn't have any infant Tylenol here (neither of the others ever needed it), so Matt left work and picked some up for us. I didn't think a screaming in pain baby needed to be taken to get medicine. Luckily, she calmed down as long as I held her and didn't move too much. Later in the evening, she seemed to be fine and didn't have any more problems. Thank you Tylenol and Daddy!

water day

Last Friday, Nathan had water day at school. Caroline also got to go and play. They had a great time! Caroline has no fear and is really going to enjoy the water this summer. Nathan had a great time playing with his friends. Here is a picture of his whole class as well as Caroline and another little sister.

Caroline's trick

pictures

I put a good number of pictures - some that have appeared here and some that have not - over on Dropshots. Just an fyi...

about Sara

I definitely have to say "I'm sorry" to those of you who don't live close. I have not been very good at updating about Sara. I will try to do better in the future.

Sara is becoming so much fun. She has started really looking at people and responding with smiles. She has such a beautiful smile! I love this transition. It makes so much of a difference to go from a baby who lays around mostly stares to one who can interact with you in such a precious way. She will also "talk" on occasion. I love her little baby sounds!

Sara is a big pooper. I know you wanted to know. But really, at this age, eating, sleeping, and pooping are the big three! :) Unfortunately, big pooping means big messes. I could do without that part for sure. Rather than smelling like butter popcorn like the other two, Sara's poop has a sour smell. Again, I know you wanted to know. And it's runny. Ok. That's all the details. Really. In all seriousness, though, it's possible that she has some sort of minor problem that are causing these things. I took her to the doctor last Friday (she's was fine) and she weight 11 pounds, 11 ounces. It's still up there on the percentages, but she hasn't gained weight as fast as they would like. We go back for her well visit (and shots) on the 18th, so we'll check it out again and decide if there's any cause for concern.

Nathan and Caroline love their little sister. They occasionally like to hold her, but not for very long. Caroline often wants to cover her up if she's crying. She wants to make sure she's not cold. So sweet!

Sara is not a big fan of baths. She had her first real bath on April 11th. It started out ok, but quickly turned into not a fun experience! She especially doesn't like having her head washed. Fortunately for her, we don't bathe her too often. She did, however, have her first shower on Saturday. She had a big mess, we were in a hurry, and Matt was in the shower at the time. Honestly, she didn't fuss as much as she has with most of her baths. I am including a couple pictures from her first bath below.





Sara is a good sleeper. Really, I should say that she's a GREAT sleeper. She sleeps well during the day and at night. Lately, she has taken a longish nap in the afternoons when the other two are down. I am so thankful that I usually get a good two hours alone still. Sara has slept well at night even from the beginning. She rarely woke up more than once at night even from the beginning. And she quickly started sleeping through the night. And getting a full night's sleep makes all the difference in the world! For the last several weeks, she has been sleeping about 11 to 12 hours at night.

Like the other two, Sara is a fast eater. Honestly, she doesn't have much choice. The milk comes fast so she has to eat fast. Unlike the other two, she is a good burper. I think that it may be helping to keep the reflux at bay.

Sara is a pretty calm baby. She doesn't need too much most of the time. And when she does, holding her often works. If not, walking always does. It's so nice to have one thing to do that always works. Her preferred way to be held most of the time is "football style". To describe - she lays on your arm on her belly with her head at the elbow and arms and legs handing to either side of your arm. Truth be told, I'm very glad that she likes to be held this way. It's an easy way to hold her securely and still have a hand free to do other things.

While Sara has not ever taken to the pacifier, she has found her thumb already. It didn't take her long to find her hand...maybe 3 weeks at most. Then, she started getting her thumb in. Now, she gets her thumb in her mouth regularly - several times a day. It's really cute. I guess the girls will at least have one thing in common!

That's about all I can think of at the moment. Oh yeah...she doesn't like to be in her carseat. For the first six weeks of her life, she would cry every time she had to ride in it. On rare occasions, she would go to sleep. She is finally starting to settle down. It's so nice to be able to ride across town, to the store, to church, whatever, and not have a baby screaming the whole way! We might just start to think about leaving town one day. :)

about Caroline

I decided that using descriptive words with Nathan went well so I'm going to do the same thing for Caroline. I hope it will help me to give a good description of what she is like at this point in time.

Caroline is girly, talkative, copycat, smart, fiery, silly.

Girly - Caroline has jumped into her girly role early on. She loves shoes and she has definite preferences. Even last summer (at 18 months or so), she was already expressing very definite opinions on which shoes to buy. She likes bows. She doesn't have a ton (but enough), but she will ask for them. I try to let her pick out which ones she wants to wear, but also encourage her to match her clothes. In that area she hasn't learned to be too girly yet. She could really care less if everything matched or not. What she does prefer is to be wearing purple. It is most definitely her favorite color. If she can wear purple...underwear, shirts, bows, whatever...she's a happy girl! Now, don't get me wrong. This little girl may be a bit girly, but she also has no problem getting in the dirt to play!

Talkative - When Caroline can get a word in edgewise, she is quite the talker. She really only began talking at the beginning of December, but she has picked it up very quickly! In fact, her ability to speak is sometimes more advanced than her ability to understand what she's saying. It's funny when she uses a word or phrase correctly but in the wrong context. I enjoy when I get to go out with just Caroline. That's when she does the most independent talking. It amazes me how well she is speaking these days.

Copycat - Nathan is her leader and she'll do just about anything he does. If Nathan runs down the hall yelling some nonsense, she is often just behind him...running and yelling the same nonsense. If Nathan says he wants something to eat, she does too. If Nathan plays trains, so does she. Kids at this age learn by copying, but I think this goes a little beyond the norm...well...maybe it's the norm for a second child. Anyway, I get a kick out of her direct copying at times whether it be actions or words. I also want to encourage her to be more independent sometimes. But honestly, I don't think that will be a problem as she gets older.

Smart - Caroline is a smart little girl. She knows many of her friends names from church. It's so cute to hear her talk about them and what they did. She also understands concepts like who is a boy and who is a girl. I think this is the right age for that to happen, but it's still neat to watch. As of this morning, Caroline is counting to eleven. It's so cute. She has begun to take an interest in letters, but I don't think she knows any of them yet. The main way that I think her intelligence manifests itself is through her speech. She can put ideas and thoughts together that I don't think are typical for her age and also express them well with her words. I honestly can't think of an example right now, but when I do I will let you know.

Fiery - Caroline is already developing a little temper and an independent mind. I know from experience that these things will help her in life, but she's going to have to learn to manage them first. One of the best examples that I can think of is from when she and Nathan play. When he doesn't do what she wants, she will holler at him. She gets quite upset at times. She also has a look - you know, THE look. She doesn't use it intentionally now, but I think that look is going to get her in trouble as she gets older.

Silly - Now I have to say, Caroline comes by this trait honestly. Her brother, father, and grandfather are all a bit silly. One of my favorite parts of her being silly is her laugh. I love it when she laughs! Most of her silliness, though, comes in the form of copying Nathan's sillyness. And he has more than enough to learn from!

I feel like I'm forgetting some things, but at the moment nothing else is coming to me. If I think of more, I'll be sure to add them along the way.

purple dresses

Ok...so maybe they're not purple. But that's the important part as far as Caroline is concerned. I tried to get a picture of the two girls together, but I didn't have the best cooperation (or much time). I had one of them together that was decent, but these two were better.



I also tried to get a good picture of all three of the kids. I'm rather impressed that I got one this good since I added in yet another uncooperative child. I think Sunday morning just isn't the right time for trying to take pictures!

to earn some money

Nathan has been itching to buy a firetruck set at Walmart. Matt and I don't really want him to get it because it has about five billion little parts. But he continues to ask if he can buy it on a regular basis. In addition to us not wanting him to get it, he hasn't had enough of his own money. We decided to use this as a learning experience about saving money. It would take him several months to save enough money to buy it, so we have added a way for him to earn money. Ever since we said we would make a list of jobs for him to do, he has asked several times a day if it was ready. Well, we finally got it ready this morning. As soon as I gave it to him, he set to work. He is currently in the playroom vacuuming. I'm very interested to see how this goes!

three kiddos

I was looking a few minutes ago for some pictures to compare what the kids look like and I ran across these. They are all from about the same age...Daddy holding a sleeping baby. (These were added after the original posting.)