December Randomness

 Just a few more posts on our December journeys and we're all done.  So, it's time for some random cuteness of my kids.

Let me set the stage...Tracy's in labor and I'm her friend-doula.  However, we committed to another friend's son's birthday party that very afternoon.  Mark comes home gets quick instructions and I leave.  And then he takes seven children to Chuck E Cheese with my friend Kristina.  Super dad of the year!  Especially since there was excitedness and smiles all over the place when I got home!

They are building the last house on our street and Bryant frequently has to sit down and watch the construction workers.  I love his thoughtful observations.

He yelled, "I Superman!"  That's Malachi's bib on Bryant's back.  Backwards.

Ready for his first day on the job!  That shirt has a tie on it but Mr. M decided to keep his hands in front of it.  I thought the diaper matched exceedingly well.

Zoe has taken sewing lessons this past fall.  And she loved them!  She told me she would be able to help sew pj pants this year and she did an amazing job, from cutting them out to sewing them together!  She made three pairs.  She helped pass the time and saved me quite a bit of it as well.

We saw the UGA Accidentals in concert.  It was the Tuesday after Alabama barely beat them.  We all resisted wearing our Bama gear though.

Ceili Rain wanted to "wear" her baby and Bryant told me he was feeding Enoch (the Elephant).  My adorable MIT and DIT!

Now both the DIT and MIT in their slings!

Nine Months Ago...

Nine months ago we got our seventh little gift!  Malachi is growing stronger and has more personality every single day.  I can't believe how much he has grown in changed in the past few months.  I know everyone says that but it's true.

I think he's outgrowing the basket!

Here's what he's up to:

Waves hi (mainly flails his arm around) and says, "Hi!" on occasion.
Up off his belly more when crawling.
Pulling up on everything, including pants legs and furntiure and brothers and sisters.
Cruising around furniture.
Laughing and smiling and generally loving his brothers and sisters and mom and dad.
Totally picky about who he will go to (besides immediate family) and very rarely will stay with them long...but bonus is if you are wearing a lot of clunky jewelry.
Eating table foods mushed up or blended.  Refuses baby foods.
Eating finger foods.
Drinking from a sippy cup.
Wanting "Beary the Bear"" always and chewing on his ears and tail.

Doctor stats:
19 lbs 3 oz (56%)-That makes him the biggest at this age.  Mainly he wins the title because Josiah went on a nursing strike at seven months as he cut four teeth at once and had a virus so he lost a few ounces.  I think he also wins the title because when he started baby food I put avocado in everything. Bananas and avocado, Squash and avocado, sweet potatoes and avocado.  Nothing like fattening a baby up with some good ol' super foods.
28 1/2 inches long (58%)
18 3/4 inches head (96%)...Big heads...ah yes.

"Um, I love smiling for you mom, but why am I in here?"

It's pretty safe to say that we are all as smitten with him now as we were nine months ago.  We are all totally in love with this little man!

First Christmas Celebration

We traveled to Ge and Granddaddy's house to celebrate Christmas with my cousins and their families. It was a blast with thirteen kids and twelve adults! See...

Ge and Granddaddy with Aunt D and Uncle E

A Bunch of Characters vs. Chattanooga

Believe it or not, Chattanooga survived us!  We met up with Mark's family in Chattanooga and toured and visited and laughed and giggled for a few days.

How fifteen children in one house can get along so well is nothing short of amazing!  They continue to grow close and it just blesses this mama and aunt's socks clean off (How's that for a Southern colloquialism?  Oh, and ya'll will be happy to know that I didn't need a spell check on "colloquialism.")

 How's that for posing!  We rocked the quick pictures before we left.

 Grandmere and a helper getting ready for supper!  Just so ya know.  When we're all together we typically rotate who is in charge of supper and go light on lunches and then rotate breakfasts.  And yes, we plan out each meal ahead of time.  It's really a necessity with our large crew.

 My nephew T.  Ceili Rain was in Baby Heaven.

 Chattanooga has the Tennessee Aquarium.  Everyone enjoyed acting trapped in the piranha tank.

Group photo...at least we got them all in the pick.

 And a train ride for my train lover.  I was informed by him that the train ride was boring but he loved the tour of the machine shops and watching the train on the round about.  He's an engineer to be!

 All smiles after seeing the trains in the trainyard and listening to the tour guide talk about restoring trains.

 Visiting Civil War Battelfields.  The lives lost were tragic and the courage of the men on both sides was amazing.

 The matriarch and patriarch of the family!  I think Ace took this picture.

 I walked outside to get a picture of the beautiful scenery and hear, "Aunt Abbie!" above my heads.  My nephews were having some quiet play time on the deck.

 A beautiful view!

We'll be back

Ah, Christmas season is upon us and while our calendar looks decent there are still so many things that need to get done so my blogging is sporadic right now.

Here's two funnies to tide you over (well, only if you're not on facebook...hi mom).

***
Before breakfast I told Ceili Rain that she must go get dressed.  She walked off to her room saying, "If you say so."

I said, "I say so."

"If you say so."

"I say so."

This went on until I ended with a stellar rendition of "Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So."  She was not really impressed.


***

At supper, the kids decided to name all of the people in the Nativity (which is in our dining room). 

Obviously, Joseph, Mary and Jesus were named first. 

Then the rest of the Nativity visitors had to be named. 

The wise men include Frank, Murray and Goldberg. Their camels were George, Bob and Roger. The donkey's name is Don Quixote (get it. Donkey-Don Quixote). 

The Shepherds were Tim, Ben, and the boy shepherd was Jotham (a character in the Advent story we're reading). The sheep include Joshua (from Lucado's The Crippled Lamb), and all the rest are Barbara (at which point Mark and I launched in to Barbara Manatee). The one cow we have is Bessie. Josiah wanted to name one of the sheep Cold Cuts though.  He came up with that on his own.

One Day

I am about three days late with this post but I thought I would share anyway.  The "assignment" was to photograph one day in your house.  The date set was for November 14th which happens to be my birthday.

So, I documented our day with a few hours break because I was clothes shopping.  Alone.  And it was awesome.

Here's our day:

Starting the day off with a little bling.

 Breakfast!  My dear, sweet husband brought home cinnamon rolls so I didn't have to fix breakfast in the morning.

 How can you not start out with a good day when you see this sweet face? And his brothers and sisters as well!

 Morning Table Time-Bible, Greek, Giggles

 Time to get dressed. 

 And brush our hair (and pose)

 Diaper changing time.  On the floor.  It's much easier with a wiggley baby.

 Time to brush teeth.

 School time

Meanwhile...

 Ceili Rain and Bryant put baby down for a nap.

 And played hide-n-seek.

They hid in the same spots over and over again and thought it was so funny when they found each other.

Special treat with supper out at the pizza buffet.

And chocolate cake made by Mark and the rest of the bunch!

And then off to Awana for some chocolate pudding Bible memorization.

Not a totally typical day but close to it.  This was fun to document and is a must to do again!