Brooke's 1 Year Pictures

We had Brooke's 1 year pictures taken yesterday. I have done a little editing to the files they gave us, but of course they give you tiny files, so some of the pictures might look a little blurry. It took a little while for her to warm up to the photographer, but we were able to get some great pictures. It is so hard to believe that my baby is now a year old! The only thing I have left to hold onto as my "baby" is that she still isn't walking and we haven't taken away the bottles yet.  The bottles will be gone soon, and I know that walking is right around the corner.  I'm not sure I am ready for her to grow up!

She is getting really good at showing everyone what the bottom of her tongue looks like.  She started this a few days ago and we had the hardest time getting her to put it down for the pictures.

I can't get the last two pictures to separate, but the last one is my absolute favorite.

Cowgirl Kayla!

Last week was cowboy/girl week at school.  They learned lots of fun things about the Wild West, dressed up for school, ate a cowboy lunch, and even took a pony ride! Kayla was beyond thrilled about everything going on that week, especially the pony ride.  There was a chance they wouldn't be able to ride due to rain, but it all ended up working out.  God knew there would be 18 little boys and girls that would be highly disappointed if they couldn't ride a pony. :)

Mrs. Hollenbeck took pictures of the kids enjoying the ride. 

So Sweet

We went in to give them a good-night kiss and found Kayla curled up in Macy's bed. 

And then the next morning Kayla told us that she tried to wake Macy up.  She even tried to pry her eyes open.  I guess Macy was TIRED.  Kayla finally gave up and went to sleep with her sister.

Macy Macy Macy...

Macy was working on a "project" for her daddy.  This usually means she wants a piece of construction paper to cut and then glue the little pieces back onto the larger piece of the paper.  She will usually draw a little picture.  We were headed out for dinner tonight so I went upstairs to get her ready.  Her project turned into quite a mess. 

See those little containers.  They were completely full before she got her hands on them.  Full of glitter.

On her desk was a pile of paper.  Under the paper I found this mess. 

She pulled out every single little container I had and dumped them completely out.  On top of the glitter she added buttons, googly eyes, safety pins, brads, rubber bands, and popsicle sticks.

Oh how I love my Macy.  

New Games

Our house went on the market yesterday.  Perfect timing for Brooke's new games of opening cabinets and dumping the contents.  As if I didn't already have enough to do...

I heard her whimpering and turned around to find her stuck in the drawer.  Yes, I ran and grabbed the camera before rescuing her.  When I told Marc about it he "got onto me" about leaving her there while I got the camera.  

The next morning he did the exact. same. thing. when he found her whimpering in the dishwasher.  

I promise we keep a close watch on our baby, but goodness she's fast!

A Couple of Random Pictures

Oh the squealing that went on with these 4 girls in this inflatable. It was loud. It was high-pitched. And it was fun!

She may hate ice-cream, but she loves her some cookies!

It's Snowing Again!

We've had more snow here in Georgia.  We knew it was coming.  We were pretty sure we'd be snowed in for a day, and school was already cancelled in the area, but we never expected it to last all week.  Of course when you homeschool you don't really get days off for snow, but we (well the girls and Marc) found time to play outside.  I have been pretty lazy.  We have stayed in our pajamas a lot more than usual, prepared our house to go on the market, finished picking out cabinets for the new house (that was a chore!), and enjoyed some family time.

We ended up with about 6" of snow and the girls had a hard time walking through it.

Brooke and I were outside for about 5 minutes before we were both ready to get out of the cold.  She did reach out to touch the snow, but she quickly drew her hand back in.

The fluffy, white snow was covered by a layer of icy snow that had fallen later in the morning.  The girls called these "snow cookies."

Marc pulled them around on the sled.

Even Brooke got in on the fun!

 Kayla decided to pull the sled up the "hill" and push herself down.

 She wasn't too happy about how she ended up at the bottom.

Macy pretty much spent her time eating "ice cookies."

Macy came in before the snow man was made.

We really enjoyed our few days being stuck inside.  The roads have been pretty good around here for the last few days, so we have been able to get out and about. However, I am SO ready for the snow to be gone and even more ready for spring to arrive.

Brooke's Birthday Party

Brooke was blessed to share this day with family and special friends.  She was in a great mood and enjoyed her party.

We bought this hat for Kayla, but forgot to have her wear it at her party.  We tried again with Macy and forgot again.  Marc found it in our party box and we remembered to put it on her this time. God gave us 3 girls so we'd have 3 tries to use this hat. :)

She wasn't really paying attention to the cake.  She just wanted to play with the plastic table cloth on her tray.

She wasn't too sure about the cake, and really didn't make a huge mess. I ended up having to cut into it so she would quit eating just icing.

A friend of mine made these fabulous cookies for the party.

I made Kayla and Macy's birthday cakes for their 1st birthday parties from scratch.  With preparing our house to go on the market and having 3 kids I knew that would be hard to do.  I ended up ordering the big cake from our favorite bakery and just made Brooke's smash cake myself. 

To Work or Not to Work

Marc: "Kayla, I have really enjoyed staying home with you a 19th straight day. I want to stay home everyday with you."

Kayla: "I'd like that too, but then we wouldn't have any money!"

Birthday Celebrating!

Be forewarned.  There are a lot of pictures coming up in the next couple of posts.  It's so hard to narrow pictures down to my favorites, but since it is my blog I get to do what I want with it. :)

We took Brooke to the aquarium for her 1st birthday.  We took Kayla and Macy on their 1st birthdays, so of course we did the same thing with Brooke.  All three girls had a great time.

A little perspective on the large tank.

Brooke had her first taste of a cookie and LOVED it.

After the aquarium we headed back to our house and let her open her presents from the family. Let me tell you, it is HARD to find presents for a 1 year old that has two older sisters and  Christmas was a week and a half ago. 

After dinner we gave Brooke her first taste of ice-cream.  She was not a fan.  I think it was too cold for her.