Natalie's new tricks

Natalie's personality is really starting to come out. She is sitting up now which is great for her and me. Before she wanted to be held ALL the time but now that she is sitting up she can entertain herself much better. She is eating solid foods now and LOVES them. I can't feed her fast enough. She always has her mouth wide open waiting for the next bite. She loves to laugh at the boys. Any time they walk close to her she gets excited and squeals. Her latest trick is making this cute face where she wrinkles up her nose, pokes out her cheeks, and breaths really hard. I tried to take a picture of it but it doesn't do it justice.

She loves to hold her feet when I change her diaper and just recently discovered that she can suck her big toe.

She also gives sloppy, wet kisses.

She went for her 6 month check up today (even though she turned 7 months 2 days ago). I was happy to see that she was back on the charts in weight. At 4 months she was off the charts. She weighed 19 lbs, 14oz. which was still at the 91% but at least we were on there. She was 26 inches long and very healthy the doc said.

Go Fish!

Uncle Clay and Michaelanne came to visit from Nashville. The boys were excited to see Clay. They gave them a tour of the house, showed them all their new toys and played Go Fish over and over again. Thanks for entertaining my boys for so long.

Merry Christmas

I have very little pictures of Christmas because - being the organized person that I am - I could not find my camera. I finally found it the day after Christmas. It was in the outside pocket of the diaper bag, which I swear I looked there, but oh well. We had a great Christmas. It all started Christmas Eve. We went to Nina and Daddy Daddy's house for our traditional Christmas Eve meal which was delicious. Then we opened presents. The boys got a lot of cool things like boxing gloves and a punching bag (I see many black eyes in the future), a basketball goal, Ryan got lots of Diego things, Cale got some pots and pans and a picnic set, knex, magna doodles, guns, coon skin caps, clothes, books, cds, games, and many other things. Natalie got a cute book shelf, table, and chairs, clothes, and toys. My parents gave all of us kids a trip to the mountains which we are going to take Feb. 1st. It was very late when we left Nina's and the boys were worried that Santa may have already past our house. They put out cookies and milk for Santa and hurried to bed. The next morning we saw that Santa had come. He brought a trampoline, and lots of toys. The boys were so excited they could hardly contain themselves. Later that morning, Granny and Chief came over and the presents continued. They got a cute table and chairs, bean bag chairs, and lots more. You literally could not walk through the living room. That afternoon we went to Harleyville to see Grandmama Dixie, Pappy, Robin, Tracy, Micah, and Owen. The boys were VERY tired that night. The next day Bart had to go back to work but the kids and I went to Abbeville to see my family. We stayed up there for a couple of days and had a great time spending time with Grandmama and Pop. When we got back Friday, Grandmama Rose and Paw Paw had come from Nashville. It was also great to see them. Seven different times the boys opened presents. Needless to say, I had to spend the next week cleaning out toy boxes to make room for all of their new things. It was such a great Christmas I hated to see it all end. I loved spending time with all of our family. We are so blessed.

Ryan also goes by Diego these days. Sometimes if I call him Ryan he says, "Mom, I'm Diego now!" So for Christmas he got lots of Diego stuff. This is his Diego costume. If you don't know Diego comes from a cartoon "Go Diego Go" He is an animal rescuer. Ryan is very proud of his Diego gear.

Bart gave me Guitar Hero which goes with the Playstation. It is a lot of fun and addicting. I have a good time at night when everybody goes to bed. Here, Natalie is helping Bart play.

A visit from our famous cousin

Hillary came down for a visit a week or so before Christmas. It was great to see her since it had been so long. It was the first time she had seen Natalie. For those of you who don't know - Hillary is Bart's cousin. She is part of an up and coming country group called Lady Antebellum. They have just recently released their 1st single "Love Don't Live Here" and the video is on CMT and GAC. Check them out at http://www.ladyantebellum.com/. Good luck Hillary!!

Christmas Card Attempts

We tried on many different occasions to get a cute picture of the kids. It is extremely difficult to get three children to smile and be still. Here are some of the pics we got.

1st attempt - Paris Mtn. State Park The whole gang - Thomas (2), Cale (3), Natalie (6 mths.), Ryan (3), and Sarah (11 mths)

2nd attempt - CA Fundraiser

3rd attempt - Our house4th attempt - Prayer Garden at FBC Elloree

And the winner is......

The lighting wasn't the best in this picture but with a little editing I thought it turned out ok. Plus, I was tired of trying AND running out of time.