Miss A

I haven't spent as much time as I would like to comparing baby pictures of my babies (the joys of a 4th kid) so I'm mostly going off of memory but it seems that A has less hair than the other 3 and it is probably the lightest of all of them. M had black hair and the others were a darker brown. The hair of the other 3 all fell out and came in a different color. A. has super blond eyebrows and eyelashes so I expect she'll have the same color hair as E and Mg. And yes, her hair stands up on its own. With Mg J helped it stand up but A's hair is shorter and does it all on her own. I'm looking forward to watching the grandmas battle daddy (armed with gel!) when they come next week. I probably won't recognize my child!!! :)

When A was born daddy and I both immediately said that she looks like Mg - who also had chubby cheeks. However A has definately decided to prove that she is her own little person! Again, I haven't looked closely at pictures but I think she has the same shape face (including the chubby cheeks!) as Mg and E but her mouth is definately like M's (it makes the same cute shapes and facial expressions I used to love about M). I'm not sure about the rest of her though. At a quick glance with the kids of their baby pictures right after A was born she didn't really remind us of any of them! Each one is certainly different!! She is adorable though and finally starting to be awake a lot more and showing us some personality which I am really enjoying (but just me because she likes to do it from 8pm- 1am when everyone else is asleep!!! and it's quiet!) :) She is a joy though and I love having her. M has had fun showing her friends at school her new sister and still likes to be my big helper. Mg loves to play her with her hair and always tells me when A is awake. Daddy loves his new napping buddy and loves her hair. E has REALLY loved having A around. She always needs to know where A is, she loves to talk to her (it is so cute!) and find the special baby brush to brush her hair and to put a blanket on her (even when it is 100 degress outside!). At naptime she loves to wind up the swing (so mommy can get an extra 10 min of quiet to lay down!!) and push it and talk to her and show A her toys and such. It is adorable and I am really enjoying seeing this side of E. She was never worried about Mg (an age thing) so I didn't quite expect this but I love it. I love families! Life is busy but good and they give me so many opportunities each day to smile and be grateful to have each of them.

Growing like a weed

At her 1 month appointment she was 10 lbs 5 oz - gaining a pound a week! She has just started to be awake more (most especially from about 8pm-1AM) but I haven't remembered to get the camera that late at night but hopefully I'll have some "awake" pictures soon!

M's new window

Sunday night (an hour after she was put to bed) M came running down the stairs "My tooth came out!!!! My tooth came out!!!!" It had been loose for a couple of days and her first tooth finally fell out! It is one of her bottom teeth and you don't notice the "window" much when she smiles but she is so happy. I tried to tell her there was a hole in her mouth but I was informed it is a window. :)

Our budding scientists

So I won mommy of the year award a few days ago when I spotted a HUGE dragonfly resting on a nearby apartment and bravely got out a chair and captured it, much to the delight of the girls. We have tried for years and never been able to capture one. It was on it's last days of life (which is why I was able to capture it!) and the girls were so excited to be able to look at it under daddy's microscope. One of the microscopes was one of daddy's Christmas presents he received as a boy :) He enjoys sharing it with his girls and they enjoy their special time with him :)

Growing like a weed

Isn't she a doll!! It's hard to see but she has really chubbed out and has some cute fat folds on her. And of course the spikey hair (thank you daddy!). She is finally starting to wake up more during the day so maybe we'll get some better pictures soon!

Quality time together, both doing what they love to do! I love these guys!

death to all mosquitos

So Tuesday night I am at M's back to school night with A. She wakes up crying for the last 10 minutes so I stand at the open classroom door so I can still hear the teacher but the baby crying does not disturb the other parents. I get bit three times on my left foot. I am allergic to mosquito bites. Of course one of them swells but not too bad and the other two go away until the next evening when one reappears and swells up a LOT. So me and the benadryl get together again and the next morning I wake up WITH ANOTHER BITE on the same foot. Grr. The next evening J and I are watching the Cosby show together and I have my foor up on a chair with ice on it and I GET BIT AGAIN - 2 TIMES!!!! Yes, one on the same foot, the other on my arm. I wake up the next day with yet another bite on that same foot. This is now getting extremely obnoxious. I have 5 bites on my left foot and one on my arm. But wait - the story does not end here! While doing chores outside with the girls this afternoon I discover yet another bite - on my arm inches away from the first bite on my arm. All you can do is laugh. So tonight I was holding A on the couch and my foot itched so I hit it with my other foot and something flew off. I realized it was a mosquito and my heroic husband leapt into the air and went after it and had to clean lots of my blood off of the wall when he destroyed the stupid thing (I knew I married the right man!). So now I have another bite on the original foot (yes, basically most of the foot is swollen) and now one on the other foot. What a life.

U2

So I'm driving the kids to school a few days ago and we're listening to "daddy songs" - a collection of daddy's favorite songs including several from the group "U2." We were listening to one titled "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" and this phrase is repeated lots during the chorus. We have been listening to this song for years. All of a sudden M pipes up "I wonder what he is looking for?" I responded "I don't know!" All is quiet for a moment and then she decidedly says "I bet it is one of his toys." I told her that that was a good idea and it becomes quiet again. She then tells me that she wishes she knew what it was because she could help him look for it. I told her that was really nice of her. Quiet again. "Maybe it was a barbie. Or a stuffed animal. Or maybe it was a different toy." I told her those were all good ideas. As we approach the school she says that she hopes the he can find whatever it is. I hope so too.

Innocense

I (the mom) am completely innocent of the previous post. Dr Chicken (my husband) has some interesting ways of keeping himself entertained!!! The video is made of highlights from the computer game he plays with some friends over the internet every Wed night. It is quite amusing actually - his friends all play from their home that evening but they like to work together as a team so they have some program that lets them talk to each other with microphones over the computer. So while I have always been entertained by the husband who moves his real body to dodge bullets and such (I'm told it helps) now I also get to hear him telling other guys to watch out for snipers and grenades (this is all very realistic). I am also very entertained by the fact that after they die it takes about 5 seconds and then they're alive again (which is why you see the helicopter pilot taking off in his helicopter again even though he had just been blown up!!). Boys and their toys. At least he is a responsible gamer! :)

BF2 fun

Here is a little of the online fun the boys and I have with Battlefield 2.

This enemy chopper pilot is about to have a bad day...