Hot MamaJama

I bought Ella a cute little shirt on clearance at Target last week. It was just so her, what could I do?! It's very true that everyone loves her. She's getting so big! She loves to be walked around holding her hands. Tonight I was trying to get video of her, because she can totally just stand by herself & then tries to take a step toward where she's going, but falls flat on her face. But then she just giggles, like she was doing some sort of trick the whole time. It's been 2 weeks now that we've been in school. Here is what my stuff looked like before we started & I was sorting through all my curriculum & organizing each kids pile of subjects & my answer keys, etc. Whew! And look at those cute chubby legs! Oh & Savannah is a big goofball. Tim's dresser after I cleared it off & put back up his picture frames. From left to right: Me & him, Savannah age 1, Tim holding Hunter at 1 year, Tim holding Dawson at 1 year, Tim holding Ella at 6...

I just needed to get another post up of our lives before we delve into school starting Monday. Ella doing her favorite thing...feeding herself. Me, doing my favorite thing...socializing. Savannah taking a picture of herself with a big gaping hole in her mouth! Kids playing in the torrential downpour that we had here 2 weeks ago. Cherri (My niece) doing her favorite thing...holding Ella. Me doing Internet friends favorite thing...posting pictures of Ella.

Ella really enjoys blueberries. She also enjoys cheesepuffs afterward. What a combination. Hunter is such a great big brother. He held Ella like this for a little while the other day when she was so tired & getting cranky, but she had to wait for her room for a few more minutes. And don't tell anyone, but he actually lets Dawson wins things sometimes, just to be nice. :-) Savannah is so excited she has lost her first top front tooth! Her smile is now cuter than ever!

We each should all be growing up everyday. We should be growing in the knowledge & grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have been working through a little book called Learning and Living God's Word - How to Study the Bible. Yes, it seems like I've done this in Sunday School classes, church services, other devotions, etc. But for some reason this one seems clearer. Plus it gives you a hands on activity for every single step of the way. So it makes sure you do it yourself, not just read about how to do it. So yesterday, I was knee-deep in our Strong's Exhaustive concordance for the first time ever. I know, shocking - I should have been in there lots of times before. It was actually quite exhilarating. One of those moments that you think "Why don't I do this more often", but you know in reality it was a lot of work to haul that book out & look up words & then find the number in the back in the dictionary, etc. But well worth it. Moving on - Hunter is gro...

So I broke my right arm playing softball a couple weeks ago. It makes life interesting, to say the least. For example, this post is being typed by pecking at the keyboard with my left hand. So it will be short & sweet. Here are Tim & I enjoying watching the 4th of July fireworks redneck style. In the back of his truck with the grill. :-) I do love that man! He goes to work all day, comes home & has to help do all the stuff I couldn't all day 1-handed, take care of the kids (tie the shoes, button the pants, change the diapers), help serve us all dinner, get the baby ready for bed & handed to me, then help me shower & dress for bed & fall into a bed that I'm hogging with my splinted arm! Not to mention that he has things of his own to get done somewhere in there.

Pictures galore of our irresistably cute baby. People that see her all the time say how they could just eat her up. Well I get to! She's such a happy baby too. And here is her new thing with sticking her tongue out & smiling at the same time. I think it's because she can feel her bottom teeth. Savannah put a pair of her baby doll glasses on Ella. She thought it was funny that we were all laughing at her. I thought this one was a good view of her 2 tiny bottom teeth too.

Let's start with last week when Ella ate her first baby cereal . And this week she had her first baby food, which was a smashed up avocado . So today I'm marking Ella as officially mobile. Here is where she was laid to play on her blanket with her toys. Here is where she was less than 5 minutes later. So now I have to be constantly picking up & vacuuming. The older kids are having to learn a whole new set of rules, such as: No playing UNO on the ground unless you like a baby showing up to drool on your cards. No doing beads on the coffee table or floor, due to the likelihood they will get dropped & Ella will try to eat them. And finally, my baby that will be 5 months old on Friday has her first tooth! One of her bottom teeth is fully cut & visible & feelable & the other is right on the verge of both. So by tomorrow I"m sure she'll have 2 bottom teeth poking up. Crazy! I say this, because my oldest 2 kids got their first tooth at 8 1/2 months old ...