Wednesday, February 29, 2012

What Kids Say

The kids are outside playing and I overhear them from the open window. Ga's imaginary friend Banana Daughter is apparently living in the playhouse, and she doesn't want Linc to go in there.
Ga: Don't go in Banana Daughter's house. She has some parents there- and they are mean.
Linc: I have some parents in my house.
Ga: Are they mean?
Linc: Yes
Ga: (pauses for a minute, then decides it's worth the risk) I wanna come- I like mean parents!

We are riding in the car. The topic of where God is comes up.
Mommy: He is everywhere, all the time, and in our hearts.
Georgia: No mommy- we only see Him on Mondays. (The day her school has chapel!)

Daddy is leaving for work and gives Lincoln hugs and kisses. He walks out the door, closing the door, but Lincoln rushes out behind him, with a granola bar in hand.
Lincoln: Here, Daddy, you need your breakfast.
(sticks the granola bar in the outside pocket of Daddy's bag.)
Lincoln: And watch out for crocodiles today.
Good advice.

Lincoln: Mommy, what's a booby?
Mommy: What did you say?
Lincoln: A booby- what's a booby?
Mommy: Lincoln, we don't say that...
Lincoln: like a pirate booby trap? What's that?
Mommy: OH!! A Pirate BOOBY trap...

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Introducing: Georgia's Blog!

When Georgia got a camera for Christmas, Larry had the thought that he'd set up a blog for her as a place to highlight all the pictures she's taking. So- here it is!!






Life from the perspective of a 4-and-a-half-year old! She only posts pictures she has taken herself, and it's funny to see what she captures. Of course, this is only a fraction of her photo gallery. She has definitely inherited her mommy's shutter-bug-ness! We have a ton of pictures of blurry Lincoln, her special rocks, her taking pictures of herself... ;) She's a natural! And she loves putting the pictures on "her website"! Enjoy!!   Georgia Kate- My world at 4 years old.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Rosemary- 8 Months

Dear Rosemary,
What a busy month! And I don't mean around the house- we've just been keeping the usual pace around here. But you have been the busy one! You have taken off!! Lets get right into our highlights:
~You are now not only an official crawler, but a fast, curious, into-everything explorer! Because you not only crawl super-speedy, all over the house, but when you get there you pull up to standing on whatever is there, pull things down, chew on what's laying around... you keep mommy very busy keeping up with you. You have gained a lot of balance and coordination, and can get yourself from laying to sitting to kneeling to standing and all in-between with ease. You are even standing holding on with just one hand, and have been cruising some along the couch.
"Look, mommy- one hand!!"
~You have teeth! After over a month of drooling (my kids are the slowest teethers), your bottom two teeth came in right together. So you didn't just get your first tooth- you got first teeth!! Your chewing and drooling hasn't really slowed down much, though- you'll chew on anything. Some bizarre teethers- the metal handle on the oven door, the wooden threshold on the wood floors, matchbox cars, a water bottle, a thumb drive on a stranger's keyring at music class (she assured me it didn't work anymore b/c her baby had done the same thing!)... I promise we have lots of your own toys and chewy's around too! 
~As the third child, you've already realized you have to speak up to be heard! You are quite the babbler, and even try to imitate sounds you hear from the kids. You've adopted a fake laugh- a staccato"eh-eh-eh" that is really funny to hear. You yell "Ah AH AHHH!!" to get someone's attention- particularly daddy, who has learned to tune out kid noise by this point, so you have to yell extra loud at him. Some mornings, when you're getting your first bottle in our bed, you won't even take a sip till daddy acknowledges your "ah AH" and wakes up to give you a kiss!
~Just past 7 months old, some kind of switch flipped and you woke up HUNGRY. I don't know if it was an extended growth spurt or all the crawling or both, but you wanted to EAT. Some days I had to include an extra bottle to satisfy you. And you were scarfing down your oatmeal plus a couple jars of baby food 3x a day too. All this from the baby who was barely eating the minimum ounces before! Who I had to hold down her arms and insist she drink some milk!! Who thought 2 ounces was a meal!!! It was a really nice, though completely surprising, change! You've leveled out some now, but are still eating MUCH better than you used to, averaging four 7oz bottles, 3 meals with a combo of oatmeal and baby food, and usually a middle of the night extra feeding of 3-4 oz. Still can't get you to shake that one!!
This picture is funny bc you fell asleep sitting up- then just folded over onto George! Your legs are extended straight under you!
~You and Georgia have ended up being great roommates! You are finally in there full time, though you nap in our room in the afternoon so Georgia can have "the girls room" for her "quiet time" during naps. But the nights work great because you have learned to fall asleep even if there's still some noise around you, and she will sleep through a lot of noise once asleep. So- our typical routine is dinner, baths, bed by 8pm for all three of you, and if you get bathed and in bed first, you'll fall asleep while the other kids are still getting ready for bed. And Georgia will sleep through your late night feedings and noise! And the mornings you sleep late (past 7am, like Ga), she loves to play with you till mommy gets there!
~Some other little highlights: you absent-mindedly pull on your hair a lot. It's getting quite long on top, so that we have to use a bow to keep it out of your eyes, and you like to reach up and pull on it. I agree it's quite silky-soft! :)
You spend many an afternoon watching out the window at the big kids' playing!
-When you're in the highchair you know to fuss with your mouth closed, or mommy may try to sneak in a bite of food! But when you're being fussy about eating, I can usually just call one of the big kids over to distract you till your meal is done!
-One morning, when Lincoln asked where you were- I realized you'd climbed OUT of the excersaucer somehow, without ending up on your head, and were crawling away down the hall! Only after raising the seat were you allowed back in there!
-You've become quite the little vacuum, finding all kinds of things on our floor- matchbox cars, bits of paper and fluff, and -your favorite- dry leaves tracked in!
-You love to ride in the wagon, and don't even try to escape! You just love being outside, watching big sister and brother play around you!
It's been so fun to watch you get up and GO this month- I wouldn't be surprised if First Steps are right around the corner! It seems I'm raising yet another independent, inquisitive, busy girl, so I love it that you'll still share sweet moments of snuggling and slobbery kisses! We thank the Lord for you, Rosemary Rae, and love you so very much!!
love, Mommy

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's a great day to "Love one another" (John 13:34)... Sending our love to you this Valentine's Day!




Georgia shared these treats with her classmates. She wrote all the name cards by herself, and helped me make them all!

We practiced making these treats last weekend with these Rice Krispie footballs. Yum!
Lincoln got a special treat from Daddy- his first pair of Converse to match daddy's shoes!
And we started our day out right with heart-shaped french toast and strawberry smoothies... since the rest of the day would be filled with candy!

PS- Wasn't that catch up week fun!? (or total Hipp overload!!) Now we can continue on with blogging as normal- whatever that means! ;)

Monday, February 13, 2012

Circus Time

January 7, 2012
Grammie and Grandad gave us an awesome present of tickets to the Ringling Bros, Barnum and Bailey Circus while it was in town. It was SO awesome!! It is truly the "greatest show on earth" and something everyone needs to see at least once. I hadn't been since I was a kiddo. The animals- the acrobats- motorcycles on tight wires- trapeze artists- it was ALL incredible! Well, that's how I felt about it! The kids definitely liked it, though there was a dragon theme they weren't too sure about. When I'd ask them how they liked it, they kept saying the dragon was scary- but the motorcycles were cool! When I asked them what they'd want to do in the show, Georgia answered "ride on the elephant" and Lincoln wanted to "ride on the motorcycles up in the sky" (on the tight wire). And Rosemary- she miraculously fell asleep about 20 minutes in and was actually snoring in my arms as all this was going on around her, for over an hour! There was literally a circus going on when she finally awoke right before the finale! Thank goodness- she would have been a wiggle monster! Thank you, Grammie and Grandad, for an amazing show!!


Sunday, February 12, 2012

Disney- Christmas Time

December 27, 2011
We thought it would be a fun adventure to take Nana, Aunt Heather and Uncle Jon to Disney with us- and it was a blast! Rosemary stayed home with Grammie and Grandad so we would 't be slowed by the stroller. And even though we were worried about Christmas-time crowds, the rain that day must have kept some away. I think we got to do almost every major ride- some more than once. And Georgia surprised us all by hopping on Big Thunder Mountain (a major roller coaster) and loving it! After that she insisted she go on Splash Mountain too- and even rode up front! That girl is braver than her mommy- but now Daddy has someone to ride with him! The whole day was a blast, and even more special with our family, and also knowing it was Jonathan's first Disney trip! I definitely think it was Magical! :)

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Christmas at the Beach

December 26, 2011
While Heather, Jonathan and Diane were here, we spent a good afternoon at the beach. It was so beautiful! We ate lunch and hang out, letting the kids play in the sand. It was actually Rosemary's first time to get sand in her toes. She seemed to like it, and I bet she'll be rolling and digging it it in no time, like big brother and sister! We definitely have some Beach Babies!



As much as I love the picture on my blog title of the kids at Auburn, it's hard to resist baby-toes-in-the-sand! Don't be surprised if you see that picture change! ;)

Rosemary actually fell asleep like this in my arms at the end of lunch, and stayed that way for 30+ mins while we walked down the beach- the sound of the waves + mommy's arms = perfect nap!