Seven Months!

 

Elizabeth is on the move!  I suppose I should add that she is doing the military crawl, but I consider that "moving."  None of my kids crawled on their hands and knees until they'd military crawled for awhile...and even with military crawling they can get into things!  She is still getting on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth.  I keep thinking she is going to move, but she just collapses back onto her belly.  She likes going over to Caroline's Little People house and grabbing the toys. 

Caroline loves that! (*sarcasm*)

Elizabeth is also doing better with sitting independently, but I don't leave her by herself.  I will usually sit behind her or put the Boppy pillow around her back.

The biggest change this month is her "talking."  She says "a-ga," "dada," "ba," and my personal favorite: "mama."  She will also combine these into "words."  I love hearing her when she starts talking.  She still does the high-pitched squeal, and I must say I've never heard a baby sound quite like she does.  I think she's imitating her big brother--ugh!

Notice Caroline right next to me--she loves helping, sometimes too much!

We started food with Elizabeth at the beginning of August.  She was not really a fan of cereal, and after trying it several times, I decided to move on to fruits/veggies.  She just never seemed to like it, and I figured there are enough other foods to try that she doesn't really need to eat cereal anyway.  I'll mix it with something else if necessary. (Plus, if I'm completely honest, I hate pumping just to feed her cereal--that's my truly selfish reason...and since she's my fourth, I'm okay admitting it!)  She has loved all the first foods except for peas.  I thought she was literally going to vomit after eating those.  Who needs peas?  Not my girl, and again, I'm okay with that.  If she picks them out of the chicken pot pie when she's older, it's not the end of the world.

We are having so much fun with her, and I can't believe how quickly the time is passing.  I still hold her every chance I get, and she loves it.  My favorite part of the day is when all the other kids are still sleeping, I've fed her, and I just get to snuggle with her.  It is the best!

Happy sisters!

 

Back to school

This has been a GREAT summer!  People have asked me, "Oh, are you so ready for school to start?" 

My answer: "Umm, no, not really.  "

I sound like Mom of the Year if I answer the question like that, right? 

Yes!

Actually, I usually add the disclaimer, "Well, it might be different if Ryan wasn't a teacher and didn't have the summer off, too."  That makes people nod and look at me much less sympathetically, like they were about to commit me to the nuthouse for saying summer should be longer.

Oh well, such is life.

I think, though, we ALL had a good summer and none of us were really quite ready for school to start.  I have my own personal reasons for wanting summer to last forever (homework, getting 4 kids ready and out the door by 7:30, making lunches, my job drama), but I guess it doesn't matter how I feel because time marches on...

So here are our first day of school pictures:

Grant ran to the bus stop.  It wasn't because he was late, but since this picture was taken he's already had to run because was late.  He will be my "I missed the bus" kid.

sweet Grant on his first day of kindergarten

my big second grader

My boys!  Ryan took this picture and can't remember why Grant was holding up one finger.  First day??  I don't know.

Jack set out his stuffed animals and faced them towards the windows so they could "see" when he came home.  Isn't that precious?

Caroline started school a week after the boys did.  I felt bad because it was also my first day, and between getting the boys off to school and getting myself off to school, I feel like her first day sort of got lost in the shuffle.  Fortunately, I took two seconds to take her picture before we went into school.  And yes, she did wear the crown to school.

All smiles after her first day.  See?  At least I thought to take after the first day, which the boys didn't get.  That counts for something, right?  And you can see that she was still wearing the crown.  They said she kept it on the whole day.  I love it!

 

Everyone seems to be doing well. They all enjoy school and their teachers, which is all I really want at this point in the year.  I don't need any more drama because this mama doesn't have time or energy for that stress!

 

Ohio Reunion

For the past few summers we've met up with Ryan's parents, siblings, and their kids at a hotel in Northwest Ohio.  The kids have a great time because they get to swim and play with their cousins for a weekend.  The adults have a great time because the kids are having a great time.

This year was more of the same...delicious food at The Barn (the restaurant on the property), fun times at Sauder Village, and pool time at the Sauder Inn. 

For Elizabeth's first time at Sauder Village, she enjoyed just hanging out on Mommy.

Braden and Caroline took good care of the hens in the hen house and had fun collecting all of the eggs.  It's great because they have these interactive areas for the kids to play and pretend.  That is the favorite part of Sauder Village for the children.

 

Braden was so sweet.  Caroline was scared to walk across the wood path, so Braden took her hand and helped her cross.  Aren't they precious?

Happy 6 1/2 month old girl!

All of the kids made these foam visors (boys)/crowns (girls) with their initials on them.  Even Elizabeth got in on the action--and got some lovin' from Aunt Jill!

The Ringenbergs

 

Roger and Carol with their grandkids

The pictures apparently wore Elizabeth out!

The rest of the cousins, on the other hand, were ready to burn off some energy!

Caroline, my little daredevil (actually, she's not so much, but we caught her in a rare moment), being thrown into the air by Uncle Brent

 

We all had a great time and were thankful for a bit of time away from the monotony.  Next summer we'll be going somewhere else, so it makes these memories even sweeter.

One last summer trip

We try to head to Chicago to visit my sister at least once a year.  It's only 3 hours (or so) away, but for some reason it's just hard to find the time.  I guess that's what happens when you have kids and jobs and stuff.

You know, life and all that jazz....

The last weekend before the last week before school started (got that?) we headed up north to the Big City.  Actually, most of it was spent in the 'burbs but whatever.  On Saturday we took the train into Chicago.  The weather was unseasonably cool, which was great for walking around, especially with a little one strapped to my front!  We had a lot of fun sightseeing with Megan, Tim, and their kiddos.



Jack climbed the steps at Grand Central Station. I guess there was a scene from a movie filmed here ("The Untouchables"??), but I haven't seen it.  Cool staircase, though. 



On the way to Millennium Park we passed this Picasso-like sculpture.  The kids loved playing on it, climbing up and sliding down again and again.  They probably could've stayed there all day.

Even adults go in on the action!

Whee!

We also passed the stock exchange.  All the cousins (well, except Elizabeth) rode on the bull.

This picture makes me both smile and wince.  I love Caroline's uncertainty as she's looking at herself (like she's totally scared that she'll fall or something), but I hate that my kids are lying on the dirty ground under the bean!

The boys had a great time running around the reflecting pool area.  They stood under the faces/waterfall to get wet.

Caroline and Barrett (my sister's son, who is 8 weeks older than Caroline) waded in the water, too.  However, they were a bit more cautious and less interested in getting soaked!

I think the boys weren't quite as excited about being wet after they got out of the water.  It was a little chilly when the sun hid behind the clouds and the wind picked up!

a tired Grant on the train back to Megan's house

The girls played tea party while the boys raced ride-on cars around the house.  Caroline did a great job serving everyone!

On Sunday we went to a park by Megan and Tim's house that has old tanks that you can climb.  I love this picture because it shows perfectly both boys' reactions to the park. 

Grant on a cool tank--This boy absolutely LOVED this park: the tanks, the museum--even the old WWII movie of Normandy.  What a BOY! :)

We had a great visit, and of course it went by too quickly.  As we add more children it gets harder to plan these trips.  Thanks, Megan and Tim, for letting us stay with you!  We had an awesome time!

Family Vacation 2013

So this summer Ryan and I decided not to do any big trips.  Because we own a timeshare we usually take a big vacation of some sort each summer.  That's how they sold it to us.  "A timeshare forces you to take a vacation."

But what if you don't want to take one?

It's not that we didn't really want to take one--it's more that, having done long car trips three times with nursing babies I finally wised up by the fourth and said, "Why are we doing this?"

Enter Mimi and Papa's lake house.  Yay for my parents' vacation home an hour or so from St. Louis.  We all had a GREAT week in and by the water.  The weather was perfect, and it was so much fun to see how much more the kids (especially the boys) are able to do now that they're older.

(*prepare for a billion photos*)

Our first night there we went to a concert. Jack (in the foreground) was a whirling dervish, Grant played soccer (with a glow necklace on the ball), and Caroline danced in rhythm to the music.  Even Elizabeth had fun sitting on my lap or on my hip.  Good times!

The boys always like early-morning fishing at the lake.

Caroline got in on the action, too, this year. 

The kids love listening to Papa read, especially when it's the Berenstain Bears.

Ryan and the boys took advantage of the lake by swimming in it.

Even though it was hot we had a fire with s'mores.  Grant did a great job roasting the marshmallows.

Caroline liked eating the s'more.

Jack wasn't so sure about the fire.  He kept trying to find the best place to sit so he wouldn't be too hot.  He was the most patient because he didn't want the marshmallows to catch on fire.  In fact, when they did, he ran off, thinking it was a big deal.  We quickly put his mind at ease by telling him that some people (his mama included) don't mind burned marshmallows.

All of the kids caught something.  Grant and Caroline caught fish, but Jack caught some sort of mussel.  That's the first time we've ever had anyone catch one!

the pink-shirted ladies

the kids playing with nesting dolls that Caroline and Elizabeth got from Mimi and Papa's Scandinavian cruise (the boys got the captain hats)

Elizabeth ate her present: a stuffed animal moose.

 

Caroline took a kayak ride with Papa and was so excited to go.

They returned about two minutes later because Caroline saw ants and started freaking out about bugs being in the kayak.  Good thing they were still close to the dock and not in the middle of the lake!

The boys and Ryan had a great time kayaking around the lake.  Notice the captain hats!

our attempt at a picture with Mimi and Papa--we always try, but you know how it goes...

Elizabeth is so well-loved!

Happy girl!

 

Mimi and Elizabeth