James Pictures

First day of kindergarten

Heading to school. James insists on packing a lunch. I think it was the juice box that persuaded him.

James is built like Tim. Can you see that baby six pack on his belly? His entire musculature is that detailed. Add to that his incredibly low body fat and you are left with a Seriously Not Fair situation.

I woke up for an Eleanor feeding to find James sleeping like this. Sometimes James is seriously weird to me. (Weird in a good way.)

Gillian Pictures

sk8er girl

When she was bad she was Horrid

(this is more of a james scowl, gillian is generally a pouter not a scowler. she has the most amazing frown, a perfect little upside down U. it is incredible. just like beaker from the muppets).
Sumo Wrestlers

Slumberjacks

Virginia Beach hosted the National Lumberjack Championships a couple weeks ago. That's right, I said Lumberjack Championship. We got there just in time for the Ax Throwing competition. Tim and I spent some time deliberating on the life path that leads to being a national contender for ax throwing. I wonder at what age we can start James?

I have started a new thing that whenever I take the kids someplace fun, its with the clear understanding that if they do not let me take pictures, we will go straight home. The exact instructions are: stand still, look straight at me, put your arm around each other and smile. It has worked really well for us.

The kids fell asleep on the way there, which could have ended in disaster, but luckily they woke up happy.
The Monster Firetruck

(gillian has a problem with loud noises. in this case, the chainsaws)

Rockin' the Day Away

Eleanor has always loved being on her belly. Her tummy time will last as long as 30 minutes (a record in this house). Recently, she spends most of that time on her knees rocking back and forth. It is adorable.

I love the Ingrid Bergman jaunt to her hat.

Eleanor and her Timmy

Eleanor's First Bath

That's the story and I'm sticking with it!

(at the very least, it is her first bath picture)

Sweet Lenore

I just love this dress on her. It is reminiscent of the Mini-World dresses Utah girls of my generation wore.
Eleanor found her toes.







My parents and Tony came to visit for the day at the end of August. I can't believe how big Eleanor has gotten.

Doesn't my dad look great?

















Tim, unable to deny his children anything he considers "good," snuck Eleanor a few furtive sips of Root Beer a couple times. Now whenever she sees a soda can, she absolutely flips out: shaking her arms, opening her mouth and eyes wide and lunging for it.

Doctor Boyfriend

(Ryan, you have to read this post considering you are likely the only person who will get it. I think Tim's occasional girly scream only adds to the humor).

Self Buttered Bread Anyone?

Ah, the buttery buttery taste of independence.

(i think her overall strategy was to keep using butter until the container was empty~a goal which she achieved. you go girl!).

Where is My Mother?

Somebody obviously forgot to tell these poor children's mother how essential a Consistent Naptime is to a child's overall Growth and Development.

First Time Swimming

Okay, obviously this is not a swimming picture, but it is a "super cute in little girl's swimming suit" picture. It is amazingly and surprisingly hard to take essential first time pictures when you are the one holding and supervising the first time participant.

Eleanor is also shockingly lacking in "first time bath" pictures as well. She doesn't even have the faked first time bath picture that Gillian had.

Far Out Man!

I grew up in an awesome little town called New Paltz. They never really made it out of the 60's. My best friend Lia (also a New Paltz native) bought this for James when he was born as a reminder of his heritage.

I have passed the sacred Tie Dye on to all my children so they could feel the weight of the non conformists who have gone before.

(of course the tradition and even the "art" of Tie Dye itself belies the non-conformity not unlike the classic conundrum of whether anarchists assemble).

James: 1 month
Gillian: two months

(doesn't her head look like one of those cut and paste Jib Jab jobs?)

(it's not.)

Eleanor: 5 months

(poor little third. don't worry the enthusiasm is still there, just a little slow.)

Five Months

Although I have very chubby babies, they never grow out of their clothes until about a month or two after the sizing, which is fabulous because it means I get to see these adorable sleepers for two or so extra months.

This is what Anne of Green Gables must have meant with her "delicious babies."

I love seeing her little neck. I don't often get to see my babies necks underneath all those chins.

Primary Caregiver

We gave this past Saturday to Tim to play xbox all day (Civilization Revolution). I figured he deserved it; he never gets time to just do something for him. I did take advantage of Tim being home however and grabbed a short nap with Eleanor, during which Tim learned what moms everywhere know: you can never really have "time to yourself" when you have children.

Gillian kept pestering Tim for an apple to which Tim would reply, "Just a minute." (Gamers out there understand there is never really a good moment to stop.) Then James started in with "Could you get me some bread and butter please?" Tim just kept putting off their requests.

Concerned at being ignored, James came up to Tim and said in an earnest voice, "Timmy, you have to take care of us." He apparently decided the problem was that Tim just didn't understand the job requirements of the primary caregiver.

Self Dresser

Gillian loves wearing clothes and changes her clothes often. James however, can't get them off fast enough. We had preschool at our house today and as soon as his last friend was gone, and I do mean the second the door closed, his clothes were off.* But Gillian is the opposite. Ever since she started dressing herself we have more and more of these "double layer" ensemble.

*we have a very flexible clothing policy when in the house with just family. But when we have company or are outside the house--we are always fully dressed. James, apparently, understands the limits of this distinction perfect.

Sleeping Girl

Bedtime Routine

I often read about the importance of having a bedtime ritual, especially with babies. I have largely ignored such advice in favor of just throwing them in bed. But Eleanor is such a touchy sleeper and would sleep okay for naps, but at night would be getting up every hour. So I started a routine.

First, I give her a baby massage with olive oil. I tried doing baby massages on my other children when they were young, but both of them would get all angry about it. Eleanor however will stop mid cry as soon as she realizes that is where we are headed. It is terribly cute how much she loves them.

I also started swaddling her again (one armed) on Melanie's advice. Then I nurse her and put her in bed and she just falls right asleep (occasionally she will cry for a couple minutes), and she will sleep at least 3 -4 hours all night.

So over all, much improved. I couldn't resist sharing some pictures of the massage. Naked babies are just so cute and rolly.

Pretty, Pretty, Princess

My sister-in-law Melanie taught me how she makes Kate's hair look so cute. Well, she tried to explain it, but my brain really doesn't grasp things like well, so she did Gillian's hair for me while I watched. She did it all around her head so it looked like a little crown and then we just spiraled the end hair around in in the middle. I think it looks adorable and it stays in forever. Thanks Melanie.

North Carolina Jiggity Jig

Tim had two days off in a row this week, (generally, he just gets one), so we took advantage of it and drove to NC to visit his family. We also spent a day with my family since Chauncey and Melanie were visiting and we can't pass up seeing them whenever they are willing to make the 10 hour trip.

Trying out Nanna's new juicer and having a marvelous time.
On Friday night I dragged Tim out with James and I to the midnight launch of the new Star Wars toys at Toys R Us. From the advertisement, I assumed they were having a big party, much like Harry Potter. But no, they were just selling toys. So not worth being up at midnight for. But James did have a good time and loves he new Lego ship. We caved and spent more money than originally planned and got a bigger ship than pictured. Ahh--Toys R Us's evil plan works again. But Legos really are cool.

Nanna and Grandpa Jim took Gillian out with them grocery shopping and couldn't resist coming home with many new toys for the farm. One of the purchases was glitter "make-up" for Gillian.
James had a great time playing ball with Jim. The rules seemed to change every couple minutes or so, whenever a change would favor James' overall outcome.

Gillian sulking because she didn't want to pose for a cute picture on the cute bench in front of the pretty lake.

Picking Blueberries

Nanna and Grandpa Jim have a couple rows of blueberry bushes that they let fill up for us to pick when we got there. James was thrilled but Gillian seemed only interested in picking the pink ones. I guess she was looking for color preference vs. taste.

Eleanor and Grandparents

Just Plum Tuckered

...and the hair pulling starts.

The New Adventures of Spider Man and Spider Girl

This is James and Gillian in their "secret identities." They have their spidey suits hidden under their clothes, ready for whatever comes their way.

I just thought this was a cute picture of Tim and Eleanor. They both just have such sweet smiles.