background

Lilypie Second Birthday tickers
Lilypie Fourth Birthday tickers

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

6 Month Photos, The Out takes

Whenever I take the kids' pictures, it seems like there are always a few that are....not quite what I was going for. Take a look below:



All the piggys are in her mouth...


It would appear that she hasn't eaten in years and is now going to gnaw off her toes....

The expression on this one...
Keep your eye on the prize!
Those eyes! Always finding trouble!
I actually really like this picture. This is what our life is like right now. It is chaotic. The bed is never made. The kids are up to some kind of mischief (see what the innocent baby is doing?) and the adults are just trying to stay sane. But, we laugh all the time and our lives are so much richer and a thousand times more beautiful.
Say "ch-ch-ch-cheese!"Getting a sibling picture proves to be more difficult than I realized.


Grumpy Amelia, William is trying to find his Thomas train in the grass.

William! Come back here! *click*
The secret camera setup: a camping table, a 2x6? piece of scrap lumber. The lawn chair is William's addition to the mix.

The Half birthday party


I read about someone online (the internet is a dangerous place, people) who celebrated their baby's half birthday. They had some neat ideas...although we only used the cake idea. At the end of Amelia's 6 month photo shoot, I really wanted to try and get a newish family picture to post over there on the right side of your screen. Because I am tired of looking at myself in a hospital gown. I was also inspired by my cousin in law (or something like that), Kara, to try and get some pics outside....
Daddy and his baby girl

Mama and Amelia - also titled "Kelly has much to learn about outdoor lighting"
William was thrilled to be having a birthday celebration. He is a fan of anything involving cake. This is Amelia's half birthday cake. I took a round cake pan and cut the cake in half, stacked them and frosted. Not to worry, I did not throw out the other half. I just turned it into cupcakes. At William's insistence, we sang to Amelia (although we did NOT wear party hats, go get balloons, blow out candles, have presents or follow through with a few of his other requests). The half birthday girl - she did NOT eat cake. She ate birthday cereal and birthday squash.
During Amelia's photo shoot, William woke up from a nap. He actually WANTED me to take his picture. I wasn't going to argue!
My handsome big boy
I am so proud of you big boy!A serious face...I think Daddy was talking to him maybe?

Happy Half Birthday Amelia!


Oh, Amelia Ann. How can you be six months old? Half of a year? You have grown so much and are doing so many exciting things! Tomorrow we have your doctor appointment, so we'll know how you measure up to other kids. You measure up just perfect in our eyes.

Oh Amelia Ann, what a stinker you can be. Can you see it? This is close to the flirt face. It's in the eyes....
Thinking, deciding...can I get the camera?
It is worth a try! Also, I'm seeing that the cute dresses I have stocked up on are going to be put away for awhile. They certainly interfere with our crawling and make this little one very frustrated! PS I know you all told me, but I did it anyway.
Watching Daddy and big brother here...






Crawling...I think our bed photo shoots are coming to an end for awhile. It was VERY hard trying to keep her on the bed and aim the camera at the same time. We'll be somewhere different next month!


William is such an eager big brother. He is [usually] so gentle and loves to hold his baby sister. He does silly things to make her laugh and sings her songs.My babies. I love having two kids. I was so....afraid before Amelia was born of how difficult it would be to balance two kids. Now, I'm singing a whole different tune. If you don't have two kids, I think you should go out and get two right now. Immediately.

Loving her toes!

Why yes, she does have all five toes in her mouth! Can't you do that?

This look right here is pure Amelia Ann. Sheer determination. She will get the camera strap and she will put it in her mouth. Nothing will stop her. Later in the evening, I saw her applying this same intense stare to the steps going up from the basement.
Profile...
It was such a gorgeous day and I was particularly inspired by my cousin in law Kara from Fargo. She recently took some GREAT family pictures outside and I wanted some of us!
Amelia wasn't so sure about the grassI don't think I got her to crack a smile once while we were out there!




You are working on learning to eat solid foods. You're eating up the rice cereal now pretty well. I think you're actually eating it down as opposed to putting in your mouth and then scraping 95% off of your chin to try again. I think you like it...but it is hard to tell. You don't outright refuse it, so I guess that is good. We've also added bananas and squash to your line up. I think you really liked the bananas and you tolerated the squash. This is of course, just interpreting from your facial expressions. We've tried the sippy cup a little as well as some Cheerios. Neither one appear to be your favorite thing so far. Although I just don't understand why you are perfectly happy munching on a piece of newspaper and won't eat the Cheerio. Just a matter of taste, I suppose.

Physically, you are in a hurry to catch up to your brother. You work and work to get to be in the same area as he is. He can make you laugh those big belly laughs that bring a smile to everyone's face by simply paying attention to you. You sure love him. Your army style crawling is getting quicker and quicker which means I keep finding you all kinds of places you shouldn't be. Like in the bathroom tipping over the garbage or trying to lick the potty chair (seriously, what is it about the potty chair? When I can't find you, that is the first place I look these days.)*.

You are also inspired to move fast for our cats. William now leaves them alone most of the time, so they've gotten more brave with being around him. Amelia giggles immediately when she sees them. She can be having an all out fit when I take something away from her and all it takes is a kitty walking by to put a smile on her face. She wants nothing more than to run her fingers through the kitty's fur, pull it all out, and then bite it's nose. It is the funniest thing because she tries to charm the cats into coming to her. They aren't having any of it, but it is still funny to watch. First Amelia tips her head to one side and smiles. If the cats (she does this to people too) don't respond, she throws out an adorable squeal and smiles bigger. By this point she has people eating out of her hand, cooing, laughing and talking to her. But, the cats don't get it. They don't buy this cute baby stuff. So, she moves a little closer and tries again. This time with a big arm swoop finishing in the sweetest clasped hand pose. Still no dice. But, she keeps trying...until the cats get fed up with the noise and relocate.

You are sitting up and crawling on your hands and knees a few steps at a time. You can go from your tummy to sitting up on your bottom like you've been doing it your whole life. All you want is to be on the floor practicing your crawling and finding things to put in your mouth. A friend of ours held you at a party last weekend and summed it up pretty well "This baby girl is as sweet as can be, but she is like trying to hold onto a very wiggly piano wire". I couldn't agree more. My arms are going to be incredible in another month if you keep it up. It is a workout trying to hang on to you!

The babbling continues and is so much fun! You study our faces and I catch you mimicking some facial expressions and swear the other day you waved and said "hi" after I did it to you. But, you wouldn't do it again, so it isn't official. You've also discovered a loud voice. There is a baby pterodactyl screech you make...frequently. There is no ignoring it. The first time it is utterly charming and by the fifth time I'm searching for the ibuprofen.

Another recent addition is peek-a-boo. This is something you're brother never did - so it is doubly special that you've picked it up. You pull whatever is handy (blankets, towels, your dress) over your head, wait a moment and then yank it away with a big smile on your face. When we say peek-a-boo! you laugh and laugh. And so do we baby girl.

Baby girl, you are wonderfully delicious. I wish I could bottle up the grin you give me from your crib each morning in its total sweetness. I love how you lay on your belly facing the door, waiting for me to come and fetch you out of the bed in the morning. As the door opens, so does your smile along with a giggle. You fill our hearts with joy - we are so thankful for you!






*If you come to visit our house, please excuse the bathroom. The garbage sits on the counter, the toilet paper sits up on a shelf, the door doesn't shut with the step stool in the way and the potty chair usually lives in the bathtub. Yes, we have adapted the entire bathroom to fit the needs of our kids...and now it is adult proof.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Slow down Amelia!



I came around the corner to find Amelia had pulled herself up on this box to [finally!] get the toys her brother was putting out of reach. Such a silly girl!

I thought she was just looking around....

Turns out she was thinking about giving her poor mother a heart attack. Shouldn't a baby behave like a.....baby?














Milestones

Friday: 9/25


Amelia is getting to be more stable all the time with her sitting. I consider her officially sitting up now with rare moments of toppling when she is very distracted. It is so fun to have a baby that sits up (not spits up)!




Amelia sitting Pretty - this is my new favorite color on her: navy blue


Sitting pretty and talking to Mama


Drinking milk from a cup - what a big boy!



The shirt William picked out today.



Friday nights we've been trying to have Family Nights. We try to pick something active (ie: not watching TV) the kids will like and have fun spending time together. We're hoping we continue spending time together as the years go on doing fun family activities. So far we've spent time at parks, played games, and gone to the pool. This Friday we decided would be Amelia's first swim at the pool (and also Mama's first swim at the pool after Amelia's pregnancy - EeEK!).


Amelia before getting in the water - so cute!

We don't have any pictures of her swimming because at this point, both of us have to be in the water with both kids for safety reasons. Camera +water= bad news. So, we don't have any pictures with all of us in the water. This seems like the best place to tell you that she wasn't thrilled. Amelia was pretty overwhelmed by all the different things going on. The music, the water, the kids, the splashing, the temperature, etc. She is usually very outgoing and wiggly. She like to charm people and see what is going on. She spent most of her time in the pool turned into our bodies and hanging on tightly. No sign of my spitfire girl. She smiled when we sang and dipped her in and out of the water, but as soon as the song was over, the smile was gone too. So, I think we'll wait awhile before we try this one again with her.


Mama is making me kick!

This time we opted to check out a life vest from the pool. I wanted to see if William would "swim" a little on his own if he had a little support. Currently when we swim, William spends most of his time hanging on to our necks and not attempting to propel himself through the water at all. I was looking for a little....motivation.
Jumping to Mama....or at least thinking about it.




William jumps!