Halloween Part One

Halloween pictures of our little pumpkin! The shirt was a gift from Grandma.


Look at those cheeks! I wonder what she is storing in them.


We carved our pumpkin this evening. The boys loved helping get the slime and ooze out of the middle.

Fall is Here!

The fall weather is here. We had a great time yesterday gathering fall objects and observing and sorting them. Then, we did a special art project - acorn art. We took acorns, covered them with paint and shook them in a covered container, lined with paper. It made beautiful art. (Yes, Pop, we found yet another use for those coffee containers.)

Oh my! 10 days!

If I have any faithful readers left out there, I must apologize for the 10 day delay. To be quite honest, three children is somewhat overwhelming at times.Well, really it's the combination of a newborn who is on no schedule and boys who think that chasing each other up and down the hall is a good way to pass the time while I'm nursing or changing a diaper. Add to that the fact that the newborn is quite picky as to where she sleeps - in someone's arms or not at all! Needless to say, that doesn't leave me much time for blogging (or laundry, dishes, etc.)

But, the great news is that we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just this weekend, after rejecting the cradle, crib, bouncy seat, and swing, Amanda decided she could tolerate sleeping in the car seat. She has given me five hours between feedings for the past three nights! Today, she took two good naps, which gave me time with the boys and time for myself (to start this blog.)

And, the brightest light we have seen is the beautiful smile that pops up on her face every once in a while. It's just a glimpse that maybe she appreciates what we do for her. Of course, we won't really get that "Thanks" until about 30 years from now when the next generation is born.

Here is a photo of our five week old in her new sleeping quarters:

Apples...

Derrick was on Fall Break last week (don't we love vacations!) While most of the week was spent at home working on projects, Monday we went on a field trip with our Homeschool Co-op group to an apple orchard in North Georgia. We had a great time taking a wagon trip around the orchard, picking apples, and seeing how they were processed. Here are some pictures:

Here is Scott using the right technique to pick the apples. In case you are wondering, you twist the apple off of the branch. Don't pull it or all of the apples on the branch will fall to the ground.


Aren't these apples beautiful. I wish I remembered the name of them...black something. (Derrick remembered - Arkansas Black; I was close.)



Daddy helped Andrew pick his apple.

After we picked the apples, we walked to the area where they process them. It is a small orchard, so their process was fairly simple. Here you can see them being washed.


Below is the entire processing machine. They are first washed and then sent over a screen, where the little apples fall out. At the end of the line, the man boxing the apples checks for bad apples while boxing.


The boys were so interested in the process.

...and waterfalls

After we left the apple orchard, we decided to venture further into the North Georgia mountains. After all, we were already halfway there and did not see another time in the near future that we would be able to go hiking again.

We ended up at Anna Ruby Falls, near Helen. Monday afternoon is a great time to go hiking, since there aren't as many people around.

Poor Andrew was working off of a thirty minute nap that he took in the car. Here he is hitching a ride on Daddy's back while heading toward the falls. Amanda is snuggled in the baby sling. Most people we passed had no idea there was a baby housed in there. One asked Derrick if he was carrying Andrew's stuffed animal.







Amanda finally came out of the sling at the end of the hike. Here is proof that she was with us, and not, in fact, Andrew's stuffed animal.

Four Generations

Another highlight of Derrick's Fall Break was visiting my parents in Atlanta. It was Amanda's first overnight away from home (not counting the hospital, of course.) While we were there, we visited my grandmother. Gramma's name is Christine and she is the first in a long line of Christines. My mom and my middle names are Christine. When I was little (well, actually, up until five weeks ago), we were known in our family as the "Three C's." I guess now we will be the "Four C's," as Amanda Christine has been added to the list.

The sad part of the story is that Gramma now has Alzheimers and does not recognize any of us. But, she absolutely loved Andrew. Of the 50 or so pictures that we took that day, all of her smiles came from her watching Andrew.

Puzzle Time!

Here is something fun to get us ready for Halloween. My cousin-in-law (is that what you call your cousin's wife?), Holly, made us this super-cool puzzle. Richard (the cousin) cut the pieces from wood and she painted them. I think the hardest part would be figuring out how each little piece should be painted, as she did not have a design or directions for it.

And here is the proof that my Carolina education wasn't all that bad (Richard and Holly are NC State grads and fans.)

my, hasn't she grown!

Look how much Amanda has grown this week!


OK - so that isn't really Amanda. My friend, Sara, and her 6 month old came to visit this week. It was such a blessing having another adult in the house, especially when she came with her beautiful baby. We took the picture below with the self timer. Have you ever tried to gather four kids together when the timer is ticking? Well, this was as good as we could get.


It was slightly easier to get the picture of the two girls together, but we were afraid to put them too close together. Hannah is rolling and grabbing everything in sight! She was fascinated with Amanda. I guess it is true that babies just like looking at other babies.

We may live in Georgia, but...

Saturday was another football Saturday around here. We all decked out in our red and black to head to Walmart in the morning and then drop Derrick off at the game for work. I even found a red outfit for Amanda - to this point, I think I've only posted pictures of her wearing pink because that is 95% of her wardrobe.

But, can you guess who dressed her? That's right...me! We may live in Georgia, but I'm still a Carolina fan at heart (and she will be also.) These socks are compliments of Pop, who brought them to Scott when he was a baby.

all dressed up!

Just wanted to share these cute pictures of Amanda all dressed up for church. The sweater was knitted by my Mom and the booties were given to me by a dear friend. You can't see the pretty dress very well, but it was the dress that I wore home from the hospital (and Amanda wore it also.)



And look at this beautiful smile! I know it is just gas or something, but it is a great preview of what is come.

Answers to the baby pictures!

I've marked the baby pictures from my Sunday post, so feel free to look to see if your guesses were correct.

What are the boys doing?

All of my postings for the past two weeks have been focused on Amanda. Don't worry...Scott and Andrew haven't disappeared completely. They still must be entertained. My Mom was here the past two weeks and that made entertaining them easy. But, this is my first week solo.

As luck would have it, I remembered a box that we were given this summer. It has sat in the carport folded up since June! I pulled it inside and the boys have had a blast playing with it and coloring it. So far, it has served as a bedroom, house, garage, houseboat, surprise box (filled with treasures), and spaceship. Plus, it is a lifesize coloring book! Here are some pictures of the boys enjoying it.



Yes, in the picture below, Andrew is using his car as a ladder. Not the most stable choice in my opinion, but he was able to achieve his goal of coloring the roof of the house.


Here are some pictures of the boys from the library family fun day this weekend. I particularly loved the camel, although he was a little pushy. The boys are feeding the animals from bowls.




Amanda slept the entire time upside down in Derrick's arms.

2 weeks old!

Today is October 7. When I awoke this morning and looked at the date, it stuck in my head. Since January, today is THE day I've been looking forward to. Today is Amanda's due date.

It's hard to believe that she is already two weeks old. In some ways, it seems like she has been a part of our family for a long time. In other ways, the last two weeks have passed so quickly.

It's funny...even though it hasn't been that long since Andrew was so little, there are things I have forgotten. For instance, even when I take everything but the kitchen sink to the library for storytime, it is still possible to leave the pacifier in the car (happened today!)

Also, the fact that babies really like to poop in a clean diaper. So, I go through the trouble of changing the diaper and am washing my hands when I hear her go again. Now all of our friends have told us that girls are very picky about dirty diapers and get very upset if they are forced to sit in one. Our boys never have cared one bit, but Amanda has a fit if she has to sit in one longer than a few minutes. The way we go through diapers around here, I'm really glad that we use cloth diapers. Otherwise, we may have to take a 2nd mortgage out on our house! As it is, we are still using the same diapers that we used for Scott and Andrew. At this point, I consider them free, we've gotten so much use out of them.

Unlike my first child who did not leave the house for two weeks, Amanda has slid right into our routine. She attended her first family day at the library on Saturday morning (and slept right through it). On Sunday, she slept through Sunday School, but we didn't stay for church. She also attended her first storytime today (and was awake) and later in the week, we'll go to bible study.

Here is a picture of her taken on Sunday after church. The outfit is a little day gown given to Scott when he was born. All of our children have worn it.

Name that baby!

I'll definitely have to label baby pictures...I notice that all of our kids look alike!! Guess who these are. I'll add names in a few days.

Scott:



Scott:


Andrew:


Andrew:


Andrew:


Amanda:

A new friend

Do you remember Noah, who was often featured in our blog last year? Well, he has a new little sister! She came four weeks early and was 5 pounds and 11 ounces. On Monday, I took Amanda to meet her new friend. In this picture, Amanda is 6 days old and Elizabeth is 3 days old. Isn't it amazing what a difference 3 days and 2 pounds makes! Not only was Elizabeth smaller, but she was still in that scrunched up, brand new baby phase.