Sisters

 

These two are starting to play together a lot more now that Hailey is getting a little older. She is still a menace though and it's hard for Maggie to be patient with her but at least there is progress :)
Maggie loves to dress up to sing and dance. Whenever she does Hailey wants to do it with her. It was so funny watching them dancing around the other day - looking at the pictures and videos really shows me how little space we have. Our 5x8 rug is pretty much the only open space.... We are surviving and I'm sure we will remember this experience forever but maybe the fondness and lessons learned will come later :)

So big

 

I can't believe how fast this little guy is growing. I know it's the 4th time I've seen it happen but I don't think I would ever get used to it. Babies are simply amazing. He loves to smile and talk to us. I try to give him tummy time but it really doesn't happen very often - maybe that will keep him from crawling as early as some of the others...... :) He loves to sit on our laps and watch his siblings play. They love to say hi to him and give him hugs and kisses. He will be three months old in just a few days. WOW.

School......

 

Jackson's started school on Tuesday. For his first day of 1st grade - he was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing - like he hadn't just had a long summer vacation. He wasn't worried about finding his classroom, meeting his teacher or anything. I am glad that we didn't have to change schools because of another move out here. I'm also glad that it is a smaller school and there is only one class in his grade. He was really excited getting off the bus - he was yelling to me the whole way up the hill from the bus stop. Apparently the next day they were going to get to work with M&M s and his teacher was the nicest one EVER!! That makes me feel better :) He has such a sensitive side that I worry about him sometimes. The bad news..... see how he is holding his tummy in one of the pictures? That night he threw up a few times and couldn't go to school the next day. He wasn't at all sad about that eventhough he missed out on M&Ms. He said they were going to use them for a couple of days so he would still get a chance. It is hard to have him gone so much of the day - he's so little!! :) yet so big. Onward and upward I guess.

Funny things kids say....

I need to remember to post these funny things more often...
The other day Jackson asked me if I played with Hot Wheels cars when I was little. I said I did and he goes "That means that they are antique!" I told him that the ones he plays with now are not antique that they were just made so they weren't old. And he says "Yeah, but the ones you played with are REALLY old!" Huh. Thanks bud. Didn't realize I would start feeling so old so young :)

Caleb

 

I just love this little face!! Caleb has been an excellent baby. It's funny how you just adjust to whatever your circumstances are. It feels like he has always been a part of our family. He is starting to play with toys a little. He just bats at things if they are close to his face - so you can put him down on the floor for some playtime now. The other kids are doing fairly well watching out for him..... His sleep schedule is still pretty erratic but I'm okay with that because he sleeps in long stints.

A little more pool party

 

Here are a few more pics from the swimming pool. A friend held Caleb so I could get in the water and swim with the kiddos. It was nice to be able to get in and spend time with them. The only rule the pool really had was that a child with flotation devices had to be with an adult. So Jackson was happy that he could go off the diving board but annoyed that I had to go down there with him.

Pool Party

 

Jackson's school hosted a back 2 school party for all the kids. These guys loved it!! They are all water bugs :) I got life jackets for all of them so they don't stress me out completely when I am the only one with them. Especially because the pools around here seem really lax on the lifeguard side....... Jackson still loves to get things off the bottom of the pool. He also really wanted to be able to go off the diving board without his life jacket so he practiced and practiced. He made a lot of progress and did go off the board without it but just a few times before he realized it was really hard work. He needs to build up his swimming muscles! Hailey will just swim around and do her own thing - I really have to keep an eye on her or she just goes off on her own. Maggie also swims around with no fear. She wouldn't go off the diving board this time though. It was a little higher than the last pool we were at. She went off that board no problem. Although Maggie was definitely more interested in the snacks at the party than she was in swimming this time. Hailey kept getting on the board and jumping but she didn't want to go off into the water. She just wanted to jump on it. She gets cold easily and once that happens her ambition goes away and she plays out of the water. After Jackson watched the teenage boys doing tricks off the board he was trying it out. Good thing that life jacket adds some padding he did a number of back and belly flops. I wish I had video of him trying the back flips - he mostly would do a back dive but with no hesitation. Sometimes he amazes me! We really need to swim more. They all LOVE it.