A new picture of our fabulous four!

I am still feeling guilty about making you all wait so long for pictures, so I took some more today of all four kids. I think this one turned out well, and I couldn't wait for a better excuse to post it! Just as a reminder, Benjamin is now nearly 7 months old, Jonathan is 5 years old, Mae is 3 1/2 years old, and Grace is just-about-two. Enjoy!

My bad

It has been a month since my last post! Sorry everyone!! I post mainly on my homemaking blog these days, because what I spend most of my time doing is homemaking, naturally. And then remaking, and remaking, and remaking, and undoing what the kids did, and remaking some more. Yeah. It's like that.

So, anyway, I got to thinking today about how I really should post *something* on this blog, but there really hasn't been much of interest going on here (other than homemaking, obviously). Larry is back at school (sob sob) and I am busy moving furniture around, decluttering the house, painting, etc. Trying to stay sane, or get sane, one of the two. So we haven't been going out much, or having any raging parties, or things of that nature.

I decided just to go around my house and take a photo of each child, doing whatever they were doing at that moment. Here is the result:


Grace and Mae were playing in their room. Probably jumping on the bed at some point there, but smart enough by now to stop when they hear me coming! So, while I may *know* they were jumping on the bed, I can't *prove* it. Joke's on me, I guess...

It strikes me, looking at the photo, that my girls have unusually long hair for their ages. Grace is not even two yet! She kind of looks like a chimp with a wig on, but don't tell her I said that! (Of COURSE, I don't mean it!!! Come on now, what kind of mama do you take me for??)


Jonathan was taking it easy, watching Transformers. He is getting over a cold. I know he didn't sleep very well last night, so he is relaxing today. What a sweetie! And such a boy!


Benjamin is sleeping in a fairly typical Benny-pose. Oh, how I wish I could crawl in there and sleep for a while, too! Or, better yet, in my own bed...


Yes, this baby is exactly as sweet as he looks! He really, really is. I can't wait for him to meet his Grandparents!!! They are gonna love this little guy.

So that, basically, is what they have been doing for the past few days...jumping on the bed, watching Transformers and sleeping. :) Happy days! They are good kids. I love 'em, and I *think* I'll keep 'em. :)

He's mobile...

Benjamin (at not quite 6 months old) has been really working on crawling over the past couple of weeks. He has the commando crawl pretty much down now, and is already causing trouble with his newfound mobility. He is also up on hands and knees throughout the day, although he hasn't figured out how to coordinate the arm and leg movements, yet. It won't be long, though. I imagine we'll have a full-fledged crawler by the time he's six months. I hope he's not too precocious, though. His Grandpa R. was reportedly walking by eight months of age -- I don't know if my brain could handle that.

From time to time (well, okay, daily) we put Ben in his walker, and he is now quite the accomplished walker-walker. Here are a couple of pics -- he started out two rooms away and got all the way to here, and BOY is he happy with himself!!

*Edited to add:* Sometimes it takes a photo to really highlight the chubbiness of my babies. This guy is still 100% breastfed, and I just gotta say it: I must be doing a GREAT job!! Click on the photos to get a closer look at that squishy little guy!! :D

The awesome foursome

I am pretty sure there should be some grandparents needing a fix of baby pics by now... so here are just a couple! Sorry it's been a while. Larry and I have been busy again, with the beginning of the new semester and also with preaching engagements.

The kids are doing very well. All healthy, happy and full of energy, just like they should be. Boy oh boy, I can't wait to have another one! (Did I say that out loud??!) It won't be for a while, though, so nobody panic. ;)

As you can see, Benjamin is growing. And growing. And growing. He is starting to really move around, too. I call it a pre-commando crawl. He's still not sitting up too well by himself yet, but he's a big boy. It must be hard to manage a head of that size. :o) Oh, and you should see the boy eat. He's not eating solids yet, but if we do happen to give him a taste of something, he knows exactly what's going on. He's the first baby of mine that doesn't spit out at least half of what you spoon into his mouth. Nope, down the hatch!!

The others are doing well, too. Jonathan is reading now -- very basic words still, but he understands how to sound words out and he can spell lots of words by thinking about the sounds. Jonathan looooves school -- we tried to have a couple weeks off over the holidays, but he kept asking for it! :o) He's already got some basic math concepts down and he has an impressive list of memory verses under his belt.

Mae is going to be starting Pre-K this year -- she'll be joining in with Jonathan, with a few simplifications to the curriculum. She's only three, after all. Jonathan will wrap up his Pre-K curriculum about mid-year (we started at an odd time, I think) and then I'll go over it again with Mae. I don't think she'll notice if we repeat a few.

Grace is still nursing about four or five times a day. It seems to agree with her. We have eliminated gluten from Grace's diet, due to some digestive issues. We have seen a great improvement since doing so, and now are trying her with rye bread and other non-wheat breads and such, to see whether her sensitivity is to gluten, or just to wheat.

We can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa T.!!! We've been trying not to talk about it TOO much with the kids, because then it will be "When are Grandma and Grandpa going to be here??" all day, every day, for the next few months!! But Jonathan, especially, remembers last time they were here, so he is one very excited little boy. :o)

These little monkeys, oh how we love them!

A pink one and a blue one...

Larry was just asking me today, "When did Gracie grow up??". I don't think she has yet -- she's still my baby girl. It's hard to remember that, though, when she's screaming at me or stamping her feet, hot-headed, tempestuous little thing that she is. But, every once in a while, you can catch a glimpse of baby-ness in her still.

This was a moment when Ben and Grace were saying goodnight to one another. Grace loves Ben, and although sometimes she appears to be intensely jealous of him (generally when I'm nursing him and not her, naturally) she's always gentle towards him (because she takes it out on me, but anyway...). She obviously adores him. Sometimes he gives indications that he finds her interesting, and sometimes he smiles at her or pulls her hair, so I'd say Ben kinda likes his big sister, too. :o)

Benjamin at 16 weeks

We went on a mini-vacation this weekend, to the tiny and beautiful beach town of Binningup (http://www.harvey.wa.gov.au/binningup). Larry preached at the Binningup Church of Christ (http://www.binningup.org.au/).

Now, this was our first family vacation since Jonathan was three months old, so, in almost five years. We had a wonderful time of relaxation and I think Larry and I both feel refreshed. We didn't have a TV or a phone, just a few books and our four babies, the beach, and some very good, new friends.

While in Binningup without many of the distractions of our everyday lives, we were able to focus a little more on just being with our children. What a blessing they are! Here are some photos I took of Benjamin. I was struck by his lovely coloring and the smoothness of his skin and tried to capture it, although the lighting wasn't ideal in that room. Oh well, he's still adorable...

Somebody help me PLEASE!!!

Yes, I need help! Well, not really, I just need to vent a little...

The following are pics of our home. WARNING: not for the faint-hearted. Be brave, be VERY brave...

Dining room














Family room














Bedroom














Craft table












Living room














The problem, as I see it, is that I seem to be capable of only concentrating on one or two things at a time {besides making sure my children are dressed, diapered, fed, etc.}. Right now, I am trying to get a small business off the ground, and trying to regain my fitness since having Ben. I am having reasonable success with both endeavors, but EVERYTHING else has gone south. That and the once-a-month cooking I have recently undertaken, which, I have learned, leaves me so burnt out for a few days that cleaning is the LAST thing I want to do. Want more excuses? I've got more!

Now, in fairness, it is difficult to maintain any kind of tidyness with three rampant youngsters who think it's their lifetime career to make messes {the fourth is still easily containable}. They don't LIKE it tidy. I do, however. I can't think straight in a messy home. Therefore, at the moment, I am most certainly not thinking very straight at all.

Originally I took these photos so I could do side-by-side before and afters to cheer myself up on a day {like every day} when I have spent a couple hours cleaning up only to have children unclean everything in half that time. Only, I haven't gotten around to the afters yet. *SMACKING SELF IN FOREHEAD*

Tales of a twelve- {nearly thirteen-} week-old!

OK, first and foremost, Ben discovered his thumb this week. He is now officially a Thumb Sucker! :o) I love the way he wraps his forefinger around his nose, just like Mae did {and still does}. It's such a baby thing to do!









I love this photo because it shows how pretty Ben's eyes are...just like his daddy's. I don't really understand how we ended up with three blue-eyed babes -- Larry's are blue, mine are hazel. Until we had Mae I had assumed they were brown-green hazel, but apparently they're brown-blue?? I guess so.







He's not always that serious...here are a few smiles for ya!

And to end on a sweet note, here is a pic of Ben and Mae, our two blondies...Mae is a super big sister {most of the time} and these two adore each other {most of the time}!

Baby Body Double

A friend shared this photo {on the left} of her son, Elijah, when he was about Ben's age {Ben is two months in this photo, Elijah was about three months}. We were both amazed at how similar the babies are!

Just for kicks, I asked her for a current photo of Elijah -- so here's what may be a future glimpse of what Ben's going to look like! :D

Tobin James

This is our new nephew/cousin, Tobin James. He's a beautiful little guy belonging to my sister, Moey and her husband Tom. Congratulations, Tom and Moey! :D