Belly Button???

I can't believe it has taken me this long to post this! I know some of you have heard this story already, but for those that haven't, get ready to laugh! I can always count on Maryella to provide lots of laughter in our house and this time was no exception........

A couple weeks ago, Jeff's family was visiting, including his sister, Heather, and her little boy, Elijah, who is a bit younger than Elianna. During one of Elijah's diaper changes, Maryella happened to be present and was being very quiet as she observed everything that was going on. Keep in mind, we're a house full of girls - Maryella has never had the opportunity to see "boy parts"! Heather said that she could tell Maryella was thinking very hard about what she was seeing and Heather just waited because she knew some comment was coming. As she was finishing up, Maryella, quietly and in awe, said, "Wow! That's a really cool belly button!"

Ah Maryella! I love that crazy, funny girl!

Marmie and Granda visit for Kaylin's Birthday

We enjoyed a wonderful weekend with Marmie and Granda this weekend. They came to celebrate Kaylin's birthday and we had SO much fun with them! They got to stay extra long this time and that was a wonderful treat! They arrived late Thursday night and were able to take the girls to school on Friday, which the girls thought was a great thing! And then, of course, they were able to go pick them up too! Kaylin opened gifts from them that afternoon and we enjoyed a cake that they brought.

Opening a Hannah Montana Barbie from Uncle Max and Aunt Trista. The doll sings and, oh my, we've heard that song a million times since she opened it!

Calling Aunt Linny after opening an outfit from her and Uncle Chris.

Showing off a dress up dress from Marmie and Granda.

Magnetic earrings from Aunt Linny and Uncle Chris.

Blowing out candles on her cake.

With Marmie and Granda.

On Saturday and Sunday, we had tons of time to visit and play together because Marmie and Granda didn't have to leave until Monday morning!!! So they were able to see the girls off to school one more time. We had lots and lots and lots of fun and can't wait until the next visit! We love you Marmie and Granda!

After church

Playing outside on Sunday afternoon

Granda feeds Elianna on Monday morning

Kaylin Turns 8!

I can't believe it! Kaylin is officially 8 years old, as of last Wednesday!

She is a fun, smart, loving and sweet girl! I love her so much! I can remember so well the day she was born and how excited we were! I remember them putting her in my arms and all I could say over and over was, "She's so beautiful". And I still think that today. She really is so beautiful!

She is such a sweet girl. She loves to help out whether it's helping me in the kitchen, or helping her sisters do something. She holds Annlee's hand every morning as they walk into school and she is so good at calming Maryella's temper tantrums. She'll help Maryella get dressed in the mornings and loves to fix drinks and snacks for herself and her sisters in the afternoon. And she's always willing to feed Elianna a bottle if I ask.

She loves her friends and loves going to school to socialize with them! She's got a sweet group of friends both at school and at church. At school, she's doing really well. We're half way to the first report card and she's got all A's except for Math and we're hoping to pull that one up a bit by the end of the 9 weeks.

I love you my sweet Kaylin girl! Happy birthday!

Kaylin's Birthday Party!

Kaylin is about to turn 8 years old!!!! I can't believe it! She had her party with her friends this weekend. I think they all had fun. We had a Hannah Montana party and Kaylin insisted on dressing up like Hannah Montana for the day. At the party, the girls colored guitar pics that we had strung on chains to make necklaces. Mostly, they played either in Kaylin's room or outside. We had cake and ice cream, opened gifts, and at the end we put on a video of the Hannah Montana tv show that one of her friends gave her. She got some really neat gifts - so many craft projects! She's going to be busy for awhile doing all of them!

Cake that I made

Kaylin dressed as Hannah Montana with her cake

Everyone colors their guitar pics

Blowing out candles

Kaylin celebrates with Mema and Papa

Mema and Papa were here to celebrate with Kaylin and after the birthday party with her friends was over, she opened gifts from Mema, Papa and Aunt Heather. She got some fun Hannah Montana stuff for her bed and some cool clothes.

Elianna enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper!

It was also lots of fun to get Elianna and Elijah together again! They are only 2 months apart, but gosh, that makes a difference!

Now That's Tired...

Just had to share this picture of Elianna. I was trying to keep her awake for a little longer the other day so she wouldn't go to bed too early (and thus be awake too early!) so I put her in her Jumperoo while I cooked dinner. I realized she was suddenly very quiet, turned around, and here's what I saw...

Kaylin's Glasses!

Look how cute and studious Kaylin looks with her new glasses!

We went last week to get Kaylin's eyes checked because she had been complaining that the words in her books looked too small. Sure enough, the result was that she needed glasses to help a little with up close work like reading and computers. She isn't near sighted, but rather has what is called Accomodative Insufficieny. It's basically the same thing that everyone gets as they get older when they start having trouble with not being able to see things clearly up close (presbyopia). But in people younger than 40, it's called by this other name. Anyway, she got her glasses yesterday (she insisted on the purple frames!) and she says it makes a difference in reading. I'm not sure I could tell a huge difference when I was listening to her read, but maybe she read the wrong word less and lost her place a bit less as well. I'm anxious to see if it makes a difference in other areas! And just because she's so cute, here's one more picture of her doing her homework yesterday...

Elianna's 6 Month Stats!

We finally got in for EllieBell's 6 month appointment. My guess was that she was somewhere in the high 18/low 19 pound range. And I was right! She was 19 lbs 1 oz!!!! Geez! She's about the same weight as the others were at 9 months!!! She's in the 97th%.
She is 26 inches long (75%) and her head was 44cm (90%). She got several shots, including her flu vaccine.

Elianna is such a joy! She's always smiling or laughing and we all enjoy her so much!
Her favorite things are still her jumperoo and bathtime.
She loves her sisters and gets so excited when she sees them.
She will grab any hair that is within reach.
She is sitting very well - better than most 6 months olds, according to her doctor. (She sat on the table for the entire appointment)
She is trying new foods all the time, all that I've made. She's had sweet potatoes, carrots, avocados, pears, peaches and bananas. I've also made broccoli and mango, but she hasn't tried those yet.
She's sleeping better in her crib at night, but we still have some work to do with that. I'd like to get her to the point that she sleeps from 7-7 in her bed.
We're working on getting her to stay in the church nursery, but we've also got a ways to go with that. I really need her to stay there 2-4 times a month when I teach Sunday School or Wednesday nights.
She's napping twice a day, typically. One from 9-11 and the other from 1-3. Those times vary depending on our schedule for the day, but that's the times that seem to work well for her.
She has recently cut her first two teeth - the two front bottom teeth.
She has just started trying to push herself off the floor when she's on her belly. She can get her chest and tummy up, but she's still working on getting all the way up to her knees.

Time for More Laughs...

I've got a few "Maryella stories" that I've been meaning to share!

Maryella went to dance the other night and while she is having the time of her life in class, there are a couple little girls who aren't loving it so much. This past week, they were crying in class and afterwards on the way home, I asked Maryella about it. She said, "One little girl named Zoe missed her Mama and Daddy, so she was sad. Another little girl, um, I can't remember her name. Um.... let's call her Ariel, because that's a nice word. Don't you like the Ariel word, Mama? Ariel was missing her Mama too."

We were at a birthay party a couple weeks ago and Maryella had been eating lunch. The other kids had mostly already finished and gone back to playing. Maryella wanted more fruit though, so I put some on her plate. As I put it in front of her, she suddenly realized that she was missing out on playing with the others, so she started walking away, calling to me, "Let's just attend (pretend) that I already ate that fruit, Mama"

Maryella came home from school after her first few days and said that she had made a new friend and they had played and played on the playground. I, of course, wanted to know who this new friend was. She told me her name was Zoe Cancer. Um, ok. I asked the teachers and there is no Zoe in her class (this makes me question whether or not there is actually a Zoe in her dance class also!). There are 2 Chloe's and a Sophie. We think it was Sophie she was talking about, but we aren't sure where the "Cancer" came from!

She Melts My Heart

This little girl just melts me every time I look at her. And when she smiles - forget it! What a sweetheart she is. I love her so much! I have really enjoyed my mornings with her while the others are at school. So special!

Blowing Bubbles!!
If you look really closely in this one, you can see her little tooth peeking through. (You may have to blow it up to see, lol!) She actually has cut 2 teeth so far!

And I thought I'd share these as well. When Maryella came home from school, I snapped this one of the girls together! Awww, how sweet!

And one of my beautiful, silly, fun, happy, sweet, smart, mischievous, wonderful Maryella!