Baby toes

I just thought I'd share, because really, WHO doesn't like tiny baby toes? Ella was kind enough to model hers so I could smile over them forever. Sigh...they grow too fast!

You know the kids have taken over the house

When you cut your finger badly enough to warrant a band-aid, and when you go to get one you discover you have a grand selection of Dora, Disney Princesses, SpiderMan, VeggieTales, and Curious George. But no just plain, skin-colored band-aids.

I'm just sayin'.

Mugging

When I pull out the camera, the show starts. Some of the most fun pictures I have are the result of the kids hamming it up once they see that there is a photo op in the works. I just thought I'd share some of the recent fun results.

Open Door Policy

Well, not AS open anymore. We've been having some issues with McKay and running away. He is getting old enough it that I would let him play out front, but there have been issues of darting into the street, walking into neighbor houses, and running off without telling me where he is going.

So, we now have a locked door policy--or MORE locked. McKay has gotten very smart at defeating locks. The top slide lock was rendered pretty much useless by the window ledge (functioning as a step stool) and a growth spurt for McKay over the winter. So, we've resorted to a double-cylinder deadbolt. I was resisting this one, since it can be a lot more dangerous in a fire, but the danger of McKay getting hit by a car was becoming far less theoretical, so voila! Double-cylinder deadbolt.

We also had to put one of those code garage door opener panels up. INSIDE the garage. We moved the little doorbell-looking button waaaaaay high and then installed the panel. Now we need a code to open the garage. Plus, the backyard gates are bolted. To the outside observer, we probably look like the most paranoid family in our little rural community--unreasonably afraid of burglers. Not so. It is more concern about escapees. I THINK we are at a pretty safe level. But then, everytime I think that, McKay outsmarts me. So, watch this space for a post about McKay defeating these locks too. He's a smart one.

Still, I might just get enough time to clean today, since I won't be chasing McKay all over the neighborhood.

At the beep...

...Please close the fridge.

Yeah, the kids tended to leave the old fridge open a lot.

We just got a new fridge. The old one, in addition to being left open a lot, was quite old and had really messed up seals. So, really, leaving it open was not AS big of an issue as it could have been. Cold air was always coming out and the compressor was running constantly. Then the handle broke. It came with the house when we bought it, so it was at least 13 years old. Maybe older?

So, today the new one arrived. It is a lot bigger and there is only a scant few 1/10ths of an inch of clearance between the cabinet and the fridge top. Whew. But hey, it looks like it REALLY belongs.

BUT the greatest part?

If the kids leave the fridge door open after getting a drink of milk or something...it starts to beep. Suddenly the kids are RUSHING to close the door. I think I can live with this development!

Ella's 2 month check up

Even the doctor seemed shocked it had already been 2 months. Of course, that is probably one mark of a good doctor too. They rememeber your family enough to be shocked that 2 months has passed.

Ella is doing great. She is 22.5 inches and 11 lbs. She is actually quite a bit smaller than the other kids at this point. They have all been 12-13.5 lbs by now. Even Michael, who was so tiny at birth. They had all hit their "off-the-charts" stride by this point for sure. Some even earlier. Not just in weight, but height and head circumference too. Ella was squarely on the 50th percentile. So obviously she is not teeny, but she is teeny to us. I have to say, it is really fun that she is getting so much use from her 0-3 month clothes. The others were well out of them at this point.

She continues to be a very sweet baby. Great sleeper, good eater, interested watcher. The perfect profile of a 5th baby, no?

Ella's Blessing

Ella Claire was blessed by her dad yesterday in church. The blessing was lovely. One thing I really noticed was that he blessed her with peace. In other less formal blessings that he has given her he has mentioned that too. What a wonderful thing to be blessed to have in your life. She also was blessed with many other promises, and they were wonderful. But my mind kept coming back to the blessing of peace.


We were able to see lots of friends and family for the blessing too. That is always really enjoyable. The kids had a lot of fun with friends and cousins at the lunch and Ella slept through most of it. She was nice enough to pose for some pictures for me in the morning though.


Oh! I was really impressed with us though! Church started at 9 am and we got all the kids ready and dressed and Ella got her pictures taken and we still got there MOSTLY on time. We just missed like half of a verse of the opening hymn. Go us! There is always some question on how early we will get to church when it is 9 am church. But it is a little easier towards the end of 9 am church than it was for the 2:30 church we had most of the year thus far.