A Big Change

I don't have any pictures because we're still in transition, but last Thursday we started a big change in our house.  Well, for me it was a big change.  The girls are very chatty and silly at night, and John really needs his sleep.  SO, we now have a girls' room and a boys' room!  I'll admit, it made me a little sad to separate the girls from John, but all the kids were so very excited.  So far it's gone well.  John hasn't woken up when Jake gets up early for a snack, but Jake has woken him up a bit earlier in the mornings.  It's probably a good thing and will help him transition into earlier mornings for school.  Maybe Jake will wake him up rather than me and he won't be quite as grumpy :)  We're still moving clothes and decorations, but so far it's been just fine.

9 Months!

 This past Saturday Jake turned 9 months and I turned...well, we won't talk about that :)
Today we had Jake's 9 month well check.  No shots!  Yay!  He measured 27 inches (90th percentile) head 18 inches (72 percentile), and he weighed in at a whopping 24.5 lb (98th percentile)!  The lab tech that had just drawn his blood for hemoglobin stepped around the corner when she heard he was on the scale just to see what it said.  He certainly doesn't miss a meal.  There isn't really anything that he's turned down, and he's tried a lot: several vegetable and fruit purees, fresh local peaches (who in their right mind would turn those down?), cheerios, strawberries, ground beef, pasta, yogurt, cheese, and I'm sure more.  Of course, there are perks to being the 4th child.  You get to eat all of the regular stuff and well as ice cream, cake, and chocolate chip cookies.  Surprise, he hasn't turned any of those down either.  He's crawling everywhere, pulling up with ease, but not yet cruising.  He's babbling a bunch, still doing raspberries, and also snooting a lot (although never for the camera, unfortunately).

Oh, and he's getting a lot harder to photograph :)  Watch out for the edge!!!!!

Cobbler Anyone?

 
 
 

Today we made our annual trek to Fischer's Orchard.  It is just beautiful there, and I always love the colors and lighting.  So many great pictures to choose from...green grass and leaves, pink juicy peaches, and red cheeks.  Yummy.

 

 

I'll start with my fruit ninja.  That's not what he said for this picture, but it's what this picture made me think of.  In my defense, if you're reading this years from now, John, you are always up in a tree somewhere and hard to get pictures of!  A great picker, though!

 The ground was muddy and full of half-rotten peaches, so Jake was stuck in his stroller most of the time.  On top of that, the peaches were still pretty firm, so he couldn't do much more than suck on them, but it seems to me he still had a pretty good time.

REACHHHHHHH (This might be one of my favorite all-time pictures)

 

 Eve has turned into a mighty good climber herself.

 

 Here's our whole crew for the day.  Besides our bunch, there's Morgan, Maddie, Suzie, and Lydia
 

It's a pretty picture.  If you look closely, though, Ellie is in tears.  You'd think we walked MILES to get there.  At least it wasn't super hot.

Just in case your mouth wasn't watering yet, I'll leave you with this.  It was a fun and yummy morning, although we managed to get almost all the peaches into the baskets and only eat a few for the first time ever.  We've certainly got cobbler on the dessert menu soon!

John Deere

 I can't remember exactly how old John was when I took these pictures, but they turned out so sweet.  Since my dad gave John the hat, they're even more special to me.  I just had to get some with Jake.

 I think I may have waited a bit longer to get Jake's.  Either that, or he's even bigger than John.  I could barely snap the overalls, and I think these are even bigger than the ones John was wearing.  Still, I had several sweet pictures to choose from.

 

Randoms

Here are some random pictures I snapped when things were just too cute not to...

 Don't you do it!  That's what I tell him, knowing we're going to have to put that gate back up soon.  He pulls up so easily, and it's only a matter of time before that knee pops up.  He also picks things up and tosses them to the side if they're in his way crawling (it's quite funny to watch), and rocks so hard back and forth in his high chair (it's a small chair that hooks into a regular kitchen chair), I've had to put it up against the wall so he doesn't knock the whole thing over.  John, Eve, and Ellie think it's hilarious and encourage it, but he regularly gets the front 2 feet off the ground...scary!

 No, it wasn't raining...just sweet.

You may think that looks sweet, but don't be fooled.  That's the look of double trouble.

Ups and Downs

This summer has been super fun.  I'm really enjoying having all the kids home, being on our own schedule, doing the things I feel guilty doing with the little ones because the big ones are in school and missing it, and sleeping in until 7:00!
I have to be real, though.  As always, it's full of ups and downs.  I love the sibling relationships between them all, and the fact that they love sharing a room.  On the other hand, with the days being so long, there's big fun to be had at night, and grumpy kids that are certain they aren't tired come nap time the next day (even though they really are).  The dinner table and car rides can be fun and silly, but there's always an instigator that takes it over the line and gets everyone in trouble.  The more they enjoy each other, it seems the less they listen to authority.  A day that started with a fun trip to the peach orchard ended with me separating everyone, screaming at them individually, then offering a tearful bedtime prayer with them all together for forgiveness, patience, and wisdom.  It's through the ups that I remember how blessed I am.  It's through the giggles, successes, and snuggles that I remember God has given these children to me.  It's through the frustration I remember I have no control over their hearts.  It's through God's spirit I have peace that God has control over their hearts.  It's through the tears in an honest prayer that I remember that while I have them for a time, they are God's children...not mine.  While the weight on my shoulders is great, it is limited.  Yelling may be what it takes for them to pay attention to me, but tears through an honest prayer will lead them to pay attention to God, and that is my job...and that is what I was reminded of tonight.
Praise God through the ups AND downs.

Ocean Isle 2013

We just got back from an unbelievable week at Ocean Isle Beach, NC.  We were there with our friends, the Powells, and Mom.  Fair warning - if your name isn't Buckingham (and maybe even if it is), there is an excessive amount of pictures in this entry, and they are in no particular order.  Everyone really enjoyed the week.  John and Eve jumped right in where they left off last year...loving the sand and waves.  Ellie started the week off enjoying the shallow (ankle to chin-deep) waves, but the last two days she wanted to go deeper and deeper, and had no trouble with the rough waves...as long as one of us was holding on to her to keep her from floating away.  Jake enjoyed both the sand and the shallow waves.  The first wave would always catch him a little off guard.  He'd shake a bit, but not fuss.  After that, he'd love it.  With the way he rubs his feet together, he was made for the sand.  Surprisingly, he didn't really eat sand.  We did have to watch him like a hawk with shells, though.

 As much as we've read about Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel, John should've known better.  Eventually he got out on his own, but he dug himself pretty deep, and it took several tries to get out.

 Eve and Ellie spend a good bit of time in the shallow waves splashing each other and throwing sand.  They loved it.

 Our house was on the canal,  so we were able to go fishing and kayaking.

 Jake got into a nice routine of eating and taking a nap as soon as we got out to the beach each day.  Tough life.

 John and I went on a "date" during nap time one day.  We headed out to the pier (great idea, Dad!).  At first he wasn't very excited and would rather watch TV, but once we got there he was in 7th heaven!  He had his camera, but I didn't bring mine.  We talked to several fishermen, then a boy came up to show us a shark that was about a foot long.  He held it so John could take a picture and feel it.  It was pretty exciting.  After that John basically walked in circles talking to everyone (they were all super friendly) and looking at what they caught.  They were pulling in foot-long sharks (baby black fin) left and right!  One guy let John reel one in.  We also saw several different types of fish come in.  The best, though, was the sting ray that was caught as we were walking off the pier!  It was probably 18 inches or so without the barb!  They held it so we could feel it and everything.  So cool!  We also learned that shrimp is the best bait.  We brought this little nugget home with us and...

 After years of loving fishing (why, I'll never know) and having never caught one, John caught his first fish!

 We were all so very excited!  Once we started using shrimp, there were several fish caught on the dock, and everyone enjoyed fishing on a whole new level.

 On Thursday the waves hit a whole new level of excitement.  It was great for boogie boarding!

 Strike a pose!

We went out one evening to snap some family pictures.  Here are a few.

 Unfortunately the humidity didn't mix well with my lens.

 We had a lot of fun splashing in the waves.  Fortunately Jake doesn't mind the water.

 Yummy 4th of July cake.  We watched fireworks from the roof of the house.  They were EVERYWHERE! It was awesome!  Everyone enjoyed it except Ellie, who watched with me for a while from the safety of her bedroom.

 Ellie enjoyed "surfing".

 I asked the kids if anyone wanted to go watch the sunrise with me.  Ellie and John both said "yes".  In the morning John changed his mind, so it was a pajama date with just Ellie and me.  It was a special time.

 What a wonderful week we had!