We appreciate Cows!

This family will gladly dress up like cows for some free Chic-fil-A!  We made "moo" noises in the car on the way there!  Yum!

 

9 months

Mark is 9 months old!

 

Mark . . .

 

is the best baby!  He is so content and very easy to travel with.  As long as he is fed, he is very mellow and comfortable anywhere we go. 

 

loves to eat!  and if he sees someone else eating (even if its something he can't have), he immediately wants to eat.  I have to feed him first before we eat dinner and if I have a snack I have to sneak so he doesn't see me.  Ty likes to tease him by showing his food and eating right in front of him.  Mark gets so mad!

 

has mastered the spin on his belly.  He usually ends up in the middle of a circle full of toys and spins as he plays with each one.

 

puts everything in his mouth.  He has me vacuuming constantly. 

 

will sleep just about anywhere, in his bouncy seat, in a crib with his blanket, in the car and being held.

 

has tried some puffs and did well with them.  We will start to try some new finger foods soon.

 

has been sleeping through the night for about 2 weeks straight now.  He wakes up early like his brothers and usually goes down for a morning nap shortly after.

 

 

 

 

Movie Time

 

 

My two big boys and I went to the movies today to see The Lorax- part of the dollar summer movie series.  We attended last year and when we came in, we saw all these other moms with large bags full or snacks; bags of pop corn, juice boxes, candy, etc.  I was the inexperienced mom and paid the $8 for a small popcorn for us to share.  Not this time . . . I learned and did the same for this time; I had all my snacks prepared.  Aiden loved the movie and would laugh out loud at the funny parts.  As I predicted, Ty got a little restless, so I brought the leapster for him to play and it kept him occupied.  It was fun to have some "big kid" time with them.  Mark got to spend some fun time with Aunt Mandy, where he played with her pups, and took a nap. :-) 

Independence Day Weekend

We finally made the trip up to Dayton, TN for a weekend.  Janice and David invited us to spend the 4th of July weekend at their house on the river.  We were ready to swim, go boating, water skiing and hang out on the river.  Well, it rained and it was cloudy pretty much the entire time.  We kept hoping the next day would be better, and it actually got worse; on Saturday it rained pretty much non-stop.  Despite the rain, we had fun.  We had to get creative to entertain the kids inside, but they always have a good time with their cousins.  Janice made a camp sight in the garage where the kids slept; it had a tent, trees, and even a camp fire (with battery lit candles).  They loved it and hung out there a lot!  We did get in the river, but it was chilly, so it didn't last for long.  We played Wii, board games and took walks- even in the rain!  Of course there was always lots of yummy food.  The guys did fireworks on Saturday night and to our surprise, Aiden (who loves loud noises and fire) wanted nothing to do with them.  He had an intense fear and didn't even want to be outside when they were going off.  Ty watched and thought they were cool, but after the sparklers Aiden, Mark and I went in the basement where we couldn't hear them.  It was a fun trip, and we are looking forward to going back when the sun is out. :-)

 

 

Norm's Lake

We went up to Lake Allatoona today to visit the Coheleys!  They took us out on their pontoon and the boys loved it!  The weather was nice; a little cloudy, but not too hot.  We made our way out to a quiet spot, anchored and swam for hours.  The boys liked swimming under the boat and all around it.  Charlie is a little fish and just loves the water.  It was so cute to see all of them playing together.  We had snacks and Aiden was so excited to get to drive with Norm, but he pretty much did it on his own.  Of course he was more focused on all the gauges and depth finder than where he was going. ;-)

 I swam to shore with each of the boys individually for potty breaks, they both had to go and sometimes you just do what you have to do.  I was happy to get the exercise.  We all had a great time getting to spend time with friends and relax on the water.

 

 

Sitting!

This little cutie just learned how to sit up . . . and he's pretty excited about it!  He is still learning how to keep his balance and falls down a lot.  We usually put a pillow behind him to cushion his fall.  He likes to fall forward and maneuver his legs behind him so he'll end up on his belly.  Sitting up makes bath time with brothers a lot more fun too!

 

Pool Play Date

We met up with the Dove family for a pool play date today.  We got to the pool and as Emily and I were setting up our chairs and unloading, Braden decided he wanted to crawl right in the pool- I snatched him up just as he was at the edge.  Turns out, he is such a little fish and wanted to be in the pool the entire time; screamed when he was taken out even if just for a minute.  The boys squirted and splashed the girls and they screamed.  I encouraged them to splash back.  Aiden and Ty got them to jump in; Sadie was so nervous, but finally did it.  Mark is very content in the water and the kids took turns dragging him along.  We had lots of potty breaks; I think they timed it out where one child asks to go about every 10 minutes. :-)  Having 6 kids 5 and under is always a good time!