Christmas 2011.

a whirlwind, as usual. i can't believe it's already come and gone.

we started at my parents' on christmas eve.

 fake smile from jacob, real one from casen, and a half-smile-half-cry from mya.

 money from granny.

 shell shocked from the craziness that is my family.

 this was the scene christmas morning as we waited for the boys to wake.

 santa gifts.

 not quite sure what this look is.

 new bibles.

 then christmas night at jerry's mom's.

 pretty sure the shiner on his head will never go away.

 this is as good as it gets.

 hmm...

 again, hmm...

 she really only cared about eating the paper.

 see.

my boys declared it the best christmas yet. i'd have to agree.

late thanksgiving post.

as usual, we made a trip to my parents' for thanksgiving this year. my granny's been pretty sick, so the festivities occurred at their house this go round. 

now, in case you don't know, i'm one of six children. holidays around our house get pretty crazy. this one was sure to not disappoint. in fact, for the first time in who knows how long, we were supposed to have every kid AND grandkid there (sixteen of those!).  i was beyond excited, mainly for the opportunity to get a picture of everyone there.

well, life happens and a few ended up not showing up...or at least not on time. :)

nonetheless, it was loud, crazy, stressful and fun. and we'll do it all over again in a few weeks for Christmas! 

here are a few pictures i captured. there are so many more, but due to the potential of them being Christmas presents, I'll have to share those later. :)

my children. are they not the cutest things you've ever seen?! you can agree silently...so you don't hurt your own kids' feelings. :)

my boys with their cousin, jaycee. now, she certainly gives my kids a run for their money. she's sassy and country and just cute!

and this is what i was most excited about. i wanted to have a picture of all the grandkids. there are four of them missing from this picture. bummer.

anyway, i told my sister the vision i had and that the older kids would probably not be happy about it. but we like to torture, so we did it anyway. we laid all the big kids down first and then piled all the little ones on top of them. mya's the youngest...and most likely the last...so she got the middle spot. it was so much fun! on a side note, we made them do it again later in the living room when some of the other kids showed up. it didn't turn out as well, but we had fun making them suffer.

clockwise starting with jacob we have jilleana, kenzi, lexi, haiyden, cutler, jaycee, kalee, casen, garet and jay t. and the missing ones are kandice, kristen, kendra and shaun. (shaun was there, but he's two and was not having any part of it.)

oh, and don't you love the funny faces?!

Eight months.

a half-smile for me. :)

here are her eight-month stats:

• 17 pounds.
• 27 1/2 inches. the girl is growing!
• her blonde hair is multiplying daily.
• still hope for keeping the blue eyes.
• and yet still...NO TEETH! i have a feeling we're in for it when they finally do come in.
• holds her bottle really well. she can even manage it in the car now. sweet for me!
• sits up like a champ now. she still topples over sometimes...but remember, her head is above-average. toppling is to be expected. :)
• really trying to crawl. still can't manage to get both ends of her up at the same time.
• mom's day out is a breeze now. she kinda has a boyfriend there. :)
• wears a size 3 diaper now. not because of how much she weighs, but because of how much she pees!
• total momma's girl. i kinda like it.
• been babbling for a while...and just started her "m" sounds. i might actually have a child that says momma first instead of dada!
• sits in her bumbo in the middle of the table while we eat dinner. really bad habit. must break it. she gets really upset now when no one pays attention to her.
• still only eats vegetables if a fruit is mixed in. but hey, at least she's getting them!
• has kinda gotten over the crying-anytime-someone-other-than-momma-holds-her phase. that is, until she sees me walk away.
• loves to roll under the christmas tree and look at all the pretties. (or pull them off.)

happy eight months, miss mya! love, momma.

to document...here she is putting her very first ornament on the tree. (i guess it's more like trying to pull off her very first ornament.)

and i don't know what it is about this picture...but i just love it. even with the awful quality, yellowy tone, noise, blurry hand, etc. :)

Family Photos 2011.

we had a few technical difficulties and it was bitterly cold, but we stuck it out!

a smile from the baby girl!

thanks, jenny!

Seven months.

just realized she's wearing the same sweater that she wore in her six month picture. (gasp!) :)

here are her seven-month stats:

• right at 16 pounds.
• 27 inches. (either this or last month's measurement is wrong, or she grew 2 inches in one month. she does seem a lot longer...)
• much more blonde hair.
• bluer than ever eyes.
• once again, no teeth!
• will lay on the floor in the morning and drink her first bottle by herself. other than that, she gets easily distracted and i usually have to hold her for the rest of the day's bottles.
• can sit for quite a while unsupported, but as soon as she gets off balance, she falls over.
• rolls all over the place.
• has not coordinated her legs and arms together to crawl yet. she'll get one set up and the other set will be flat on the ground.
• is doing better at mom's day out. today, she didn't even cry when i dropped her off. progress.
• still not much of a napper. i'm still having hard time accepting that. :)
• loves to sit in her bumbo on the kitchen counter while i cook or do dishes.
• discovered the game of throwing things on the floor to see if anyone will pick them up.
• definitely knows she has a voice. she yells for no reason.
• has the cutest little shy smile. most everyone gets it...as long as momma's holding her.
• does a weird head shaking thing now.
• gets really excited when she's the center of attention. flails her arms and shakes her head. (hence the blurry hand in the next picture.)

happy seven months, baby girl. love, momma.

pumpkin patch.

we made a trip out to the pumpkin patch in grape creek this past weekend...which i never even knew existed, by the way. it was really cool. complete with tons of photo op set-ups and even llamas.

 jacob is super sensitive to light so his eyes are always squinty, and casen is going through a weird smile phase. cute, nonetheless.

 this is baby girl's snort smile. she gets really excited and breathes heavy through her nose. weird.

there's the sweet girl.

 daddy's girl.

the pumpkin was her drum.

two out of three looking at me...not bad.

told you there were llamas. casen thought he was the coolest.

any resemblance?

you must excuse my boyish look compared to my daughter's all-girl demeanor. :)

six-month kid comparison.

Six months.

she's smiling at casen.

(although those boots look really large, it's really only the angle of the picture. the girl is six months old and these boots are an infant size one. can we say, tiniest feet ever?!)

here are her six-month stats:

• 15 pounds 3 ounces (below average)
• 25 inches (below average)
• 17.5 inch head (above average) oh, come on! don't act like you're surprised. :)
• blonde hair
• blue eyes (incidentally, i looked back at pictures of casen. at eleven months, he still had blue eyes. they're now brown.)
• still no teeth! i'm hoping the breaking of the first-tooth-at-four-months trend (by both boys) does not mean that there will also be a breaking of the waking-up-with-a-new-tooth-with-no-discomfort trend.
• not a fan of veggies. i've been trying to find any kind of veggie-fruit mix that i can. they're mostly in those squeeze pouches from target. i'm just too lazy for the hassle of mixing them myself.
• starting to hold her own bottle more and more. it gives me a little glimpse of freedom. i'm diggin' it. :)
• can now suck on her toes. proof to come.
• spits...alot. and not just like drool dripping out of her mouth. full out lips vibrating, slobber spraying, noise making spitting. and she thinks it's hilarious.
• also does a weird snorting/breathing heavy thing through her nose. mostly when she's snotty. she thinks that's hilarious also.
• getting closer to sitting. the problem is, as soon as she's in the sitting position, she locks her legs straight out in front of her. not the best for balancing. she then just topples over.
• goes to mom's day out one day a week. last week, she cried as soon as she saw her teacher. not a good sign.
• hardly ever naps. i'm just having to accept that with four must do trips out of the house by 3 o'clock in the afternoon, any kind of napping schedule will.never.happen.

she says hi. 

not sure what the whole fist-on-the-cheek is...still cute as can be.

such a dainty girl.

but not always very lady-like. :)

happy half a year, baby girl. momma loves!