those girls again

Just a few of our girls, being our girls. Love them.

8 months.

Our girl is big. 8 months worth of big.

She weighs in at 18lbs 5 oz.

She can get into a sitting position from her tummy.

She can almost clap.

She loves the badge daddy wears on his uniform.

She says "doy, doy, doy" incessantly. Only to be rivaled by "da da da"

She loves to bang on mommy's chest. (that's real fun, lemme tell you!)

She feeds herself rice cakes like they're going out of style (and pretty much anything else she can get in her mouth - tonight it was a flower bloom and a 4 inch piece of straw from one of my baskets. She coughed that one back up.)

She's well on her way to crawling.

She's big.

I had quite a time getting 8 month shots today...I think our days of "photo shoots" are numbered.







And we're done...

the babe in the mirror

These pictures bring a particularly bad pop song to mind. They're enough to give you an earworm for sure (you know, the songs that you just can't shake. Interestingly enough, women are more susceptible to "earworms" than men). So, check out the pics at your own risk. Don't say I didn't warn you.

And, do you think #3 looks like I'm growing a little televangelist?









BTW, the other day when we were playing this mirror game, Sarah just could not understand why the baby in the mirror would not share her ball. The injustice.

random fun

Thought I'd post some of my favorites from the last few days. The first two are of Sarah trying to escape her crib and Brent giving crawling lessons, respectively. And, Aunt Lu, more of the orange shirt just for you...

Ron, J.J., and Alla have been visiting on their way to their new home in Minnesota. I'm a little jealous that their Air Force journey is over and they're finally getting to put down roots somewhere. That'll be us soon enough so I'm thrilled for them and their new start. It's been oh so fun watching 14 month-old Alla scramble around everywhere, testing out her new walking legs. She's made it her personal mission to babyproof our house for us and I'm seeing things with a new set of eyes. We'll definitely need to pull the rubber stoppers off of the door stops, put away the small glass tables, store scrapbooks up a little higher, and pull out the baby gates. Thanks, Alla, for the demo!

I think Sarah has been inspired by her new mobile friend because since Alla's been here she's started pushing up onto all fours consistently and last night, for the first time, she pushed herself into a sitting position from her stomach. I didn't see that coming! She had quite an audience when she did it and I don't think she expected the boisterous applause that followed. That baby is learning by the minute...it's amazing to see her little mind and body soak up so much new information. She has become a big fan of finger foods lately and loves feeding herself hunks of rice cake. Pretty soon she'll be grown. Sigh.

Anyway, here are a few shots of our fun over the last several days. We get at least one more day with the Killins, maybe two, so I'm sure there'll be more pics!

just a day at home

I seriously think days like this will be the days I long for when Sarah is grown. Days when we just lay around together. Visit with friends. Play with stuffed animals. Hang out in her room. Splash in the bathtub.

I love this baby. Have I mentioned that?

Wish I could remember who said this cause it couldn't be more true...

Enjoy the little things. For one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

Sarah - every time you smile, every time you say "dada", every time you squeal with delight, every time you do every little thing that you do - those are big things to me.

This sappy post brought to you by Ms. Joyce and Aunt Lori, who both made me cry with their thoughts today.

can you resist these babies?

I can't.

Had an eventful playgroup today. Not only did we have a fun little photoshoot but we got to see Noah crawl and wave for the first time! Hip Hip Hooray! He's definitely the leader of the pack.

We got lots of great shots

but then SHE...



did THIS...



Pulled the backdrop right down over everyone and that was the end of that.

Oh well. It was fun while it lasted!

sometimes I wonder...

...if she'll ever forgive me for days like this.

We headed to Hobby Lobby after her morning nap to pick up some background fabric. We had lots of fun (yes WE, not just ME) playing with the white. But it's soooo hard trying to get it to actually come out white. I have a long ways to go with that. Tomorrow we'll try black. And watch out, Caroline, we're coming after you too!

my take

Occasionally Samantha and I like to play the "wonder what they're thinking" game. It's oh so fun to make up what might be going through your little one's head. Since Caroline and Sarah see each other, literally, everyday here's my take on the following scenes from this evening...

C: Yes, Sarah, I will share my toys...



C: And yes, Sarah I will share my toes.



C: No way, Sarah. I will absolutely, positively, NOT share my daddy. Get your own.



Don't worry, Pigbear, your daddy will be home soon...

summer evenings

For the past several days Sarah has been a champion napper. I'm thrilled to report this because for a while there I thought we would never have a happy afternoon nap again. Apparently that was just due to RaeRae withdrawal (a tale for another time) because she's over it and is now taking several hours worth of naps a day. God bless her. I finally had to wake her up at 5:15 this afternoon so she wouldn't ruin her nighttime sleep. The great thing about her taking longer naps and going to bed a little later is that it gives us more time to enjoy the amazing Colorado evenings. On most nights there's a gentle breeze, temps around 65, and, the best part for this Alabama girl, no bugs.

Tonight we took a stroll down the street, picked up a couple of neighbor kids on the way, and headed to the park. There were tons of "big kids" there (we're talking preschoolers) that Sarah was enthralled with. I brought bubbles for her to enjoy but, as it turns out, the "big kids" chased the bubbles and Sarah preferred watching the kids over watching the bubbles. And eating the grass. That was a big hit.



When we headed home we still had plenty of time before bed so I strapped her into her new porch swing and spent some time pushing her. Let me rephrase that. I originally sat her down on the porch to play with me but she kept looking over her shoulder at the swing and whining. I'm smart enough to know what that means. So we did the swing thing. And as she was flying through the air a little girl rode by on her tricycle with her mother in tow. As she pedaled down the street she yelled over her shoulder to her mother, "Mommy! Look at that baby on that baby swing! I wish I had one of those when I was a baby!" Poor, deprived dear in her leopard print cowgirl hat. Sarah, I'll say it again. You're one lucky girl, baby swing and all.

It's All About the Daddies

Our playgroup got together tonight to celebrate Father's Day together. The boys barbecued in the backyard but the mommies and babies spent lots of time on the front porch enjoying our new outdoor living space (I'll have to post some pics of that later) and hanging out in Sarah's new swing (Thanks, Grandma!). We had yummy, yummy food and way more of it than 8 people can really handle. It was the first time that the daddies have seen all 4 babies playing together and I think it was a real treat.

The four of us girls have often said how lucky we are to have such supportive and involved husbands. Our children will reap the benefits of that for a lifetime. I, for one, thank God daily for the Daddy Sarah has. I've said it before and I'll say it again, that is one lucky, lucky girl. So here's to the daddies...and Dan, go ahead and alert the blog-police cuz I'm posting your picture...




(Sarah's muppet face compliments of her habit-of-the-week: sucking her top lip.)