Work Your Hair Finley

Finley has a new trick up her sleeve that she started today. All you have to say is "Work your hair" and she shakes her head full of locks all over the place. It is so cute!

She is almost 6 months!!

I can't believe the time has come that we need to post about Finley at 6 months! She has brought so much joy into our lives and has such a wonderful personality! She is very laid back and LOVES her sisters and brother. They are always singing, talking, and playing with her and she just sits and smiles and takes it all in. I love seeing the close bond these 4 have with each other. Here are some random pics of our sweet Fee!!!

We took her to the pool for the first time. The girls were so excited that she was coming with us
She liked splashing in the water

When Daddy comes home from work, some days he doesn't make it very far into the door. This day, he grabbed his baby and plopped right down on the kitchen floor to see her. These kids are so lucky to have such a loving father! I just had to take a pic because they looked so cute together.

The ladies snuggling watching a movie after baths.

My terrific family

The girls had to dress Finley up in a costume. She has on their dress and shoes (we had just finished dinner - notice the vinegar all down the front of Chloe's shirt! Good thing Daddy has become a pro at stain removal!)

Finley's first bath with the big kids!! Carly took up the oldest sister card and got to go first. Chloe and Harper are awaiting their turn in the tub with her!

On Sunday, she had her first bites of food. Homemade butternut squash - yum! She ate it right up and acted like she knew exactly what she was doing.

We took the kids to see Matt's grandma - Great Grandma Broome (the kids like the way that sounds). We enjoyed our visit. She gave Harper a plastic horse to play with. As soon as he got it, he broke the leg right off! I guess the toys hadn't been played with in a while and that combination with Harper - look out!!

Look at Carly holding Finley's hand - so sweet!

I will call the next session of pictures - bad hair days! I bet Finley could pose for one of those 365 desk calendars and each day be a saying about bad hair days. She has had some very interesting mornings - we joke that she is going to be one rough looking teenager when she wakes up!

The helmet look

The electrocuted look

Getting her hair styled. After baths I have to mousse her hair and blow dry it. I don't know too many people who have to go to all these extremes with a baby, but as you can see from the previous pictures, that if it is not done, she becomes Medusa in the morning!

Valentine's Day

Here are my little loves! Aren't they so sweet! They has a fun Valentine's day. I put out little mailboxes and filled them with treasures. They loved their prizes. Grandma and Grandpa had given them cards with 2 gold dollar coins in them. Harper takes off and goes to his room - he said one was for him and one was for Fi Fi because her piggy just has a little bit in it. It was so sweet - and then she opened her card and he said the same thing - he said she was a good sharer!!
Part of Matt's present was a new pair of shoes. Chloe wakes up from her nap and the first thing she tells Matt is that he can play with her doctor kit. Confused, he asks why. She says, "So you can wear your new shoes Daddy!" - they were Dockers!! I love these kids!!

Dentist

Today, Feb. 4th, the girls went to the dentist for the first time! This is getting too much for me - too many firsts in one week! They did so good. They were all smiles and giggles and they were very respectful and talked to their "hidentist" :) and dentist. They were supposed to go back to back, but they ended up just doing them at the same time. So I stayed in the room with Carly and little miss Chloe marched herself to another room next door (but there was a cut out in the wall so I could see both of them). This was our big turning point with the thumb sucking. So now we are trying to quit~! This is going to be fun. The girls said good bye to cow and D-dog and we put them in their memory box (they said they could have them back when they are 16). Now it is Poodle and Giraffe's turn! It is actually nap time right now and they don't have them and they are not sleeping, so I am guessing nap time is going to be shot from now on! This is going to be an adjustment - a needed one! But, it is also sad to see their last bit of "babiness" dissipating. Do you know how many pictures I have with their loves in it?! Way too many! Another major hurtle in my babies lives. Here are some pics from the big day!

Chloe proud as she could be waiting to get her teeth cleaned.

Carly was so excited - look at that Cheese (now you see why the name Cheese has stuck with this kid)!

Open wide

Carly got to wear glasses - she thought she was hot stuff!

Registered!

Yesterday, February 3rd, I did something that I have been dreading for years: I registered the girls for Kindergarten! Oh boy! They were very excited (even though all we did was fill out paperwork), but none the less, they thought they were hot stuff. I can't believe my time with these precious angels is coming to an end. Yes, it is coming to an end. Spending 24/7 with your children for 5 years is alot of time to be together. We are so close and I am so glad that we have had so much quality time. I am so thankful that I was able to stay home with them - thank you Matt! Our lives will change big time this year - they are growing up! At least I still have 6 more months with them - I love you Carly and Chloe!

Our House

And here we are again hitting on an ever lingering subject: our house. People have been asking what is going on, so I figured I would write an update. Well as of the moment, the house is not on the market anymore. Our realtor changed companies, so we took it off and was going to put it back on with him, but we aren't sure that is the best bet for us. Quite honestly, we are very settled in here with all our babies, and I am very happy with this house, so I am in no rush. I do enjoy not having to go up stairs and that everything happens where I am! One big factor to a move now is school. I don't want to move the girls out of their class once they are in Kindergarten, so I am thinking of only keeping it on the market until school starts and then taking it off again. Have we found where we want to move? No! We stopped looking, because we have had no one looking here, so we don't want to get our hopes up. There are a few houses I found on MLS that we liked, but have not checked them out yet. I do know that we are looking for more LAND!! We live on .4 of an acre now (I think) which is a good bit of land, but I want more space between houses. I am kind of over the neighborhood thing. We had great neighbors, but things have changed in the past year and I am so fed up with situations around here. We have renters next door and they are the most inconsiderate people on the planet!! I mean, we have 4 kids 4 and under (one of which is an infant) and I have had more sleepless nights because of the immature boys next door. Who in the world tows a car at 1:30 am??!! That was last night's endeavor. I was brutally woken by big chains slamming onto a trailer coupled with the loudest male voices I have ever heard!!! Police are getting to know the end of our street very well! And the revolving door that they have makes me uneasy about who is next door! There is a different car in the driveway EVERY morning! So I don't feel as secure as I once did in my own house. And Miss Cindy, if you still read my blog, we love you to pieces and hate that these boys turned out this way (Miss Cindy owns the house and she is wonderful)! Anyways, they are not the only annoyance, but I am grateful in a way that the boys moved in, now I do know with out a doubt that land is not something that we will compromise on!! So that is the house situation. Sure wish I had more of a "plan," but we are just waiting for God to show us his plan (that is why I have stepped back - I know his is so much better than mine)!

Making My Mark

After an inspiring sermon this Sunday, http://www.viddler.com/explore/kennhucks/videos/56, I was left with the task of how I was going to leave "my mark in 2010 (MMX)." Alot of times I leave feeling, how in the world am I going to touch lives when I am a stay at home mom. I mean, there are a lot of days that I don't even leave this house!! So this morning the Holy Spirit showed me exactly how I was to accomplish this:




This is Carly reading from my Bible. The story: I was needing to send my Mom a little message today to make her smile. I sat down at the table, took out my Bible, and explained to the kids what I was doing. I found what I needed, left my Bible on the table and then proceeded to go about my morning duties. I came back into the kitchen later on and found Carly looking in my Bible. She told me she was looking for something to help Grandma. How awesome!! My daughter knew exactly where to look for answers. This is how I am to make my mark! My mark is not out in the work force, but rather, here in my home teaching my children everything about the Bible and its teachings. I have 4 children who need to be lead in the right path and it is my responsibility to guide them. Yes we take them to church, we pray with them, we tell them all about serving and helping others, but they need to see it - all the time!! Do my children usually see me reading my Bible - NO!! I do this at naptime when it is quiet and I can concentrate. I know that I cannot have quiet time while they are all awake, but just showing them that I went to my Bible today to look for answers and inspiration was all that they needed. My Children need that constant model of how to have faith! It blesses me so much to hear and see my children expressing what they have learned. Last week the girls went back to dance class after Christmas break. During dinner the weekend before, we were talking about going to dance and they were concerned about Juliet. She was sick the week before the break and she was not in class. Carly made all of stop eating because she needed to pray for her!!! Yes, my 4 year old had the faith and the courage to stop everything to lift up her little friend. What a blessing! A few days ago, Harper just couldn't let Christmas go. He was wrapping up toys in blankets and they were all having a birthday party for Jesus. Well, they needed someone to play the part of Jesus. And I was nominated. They brought me presents and sang happy birthday to Jesus. Harper went the entire day and the next day calling me Jesus! (I think he realized that it softened me up a whole lot and he didn't get in trouble as much)! But he was right! I am to be Jesus in everything that I do, so him calling me Jesus really kept me on my toes and made me think about how I show Jesus through my actions. Therefore, I am challenging myself to make my mark in 2010 on my children. I will strive to show them how to live out a life of faith and pure trust in the Lord. I love these children and I have a whole lot to teach them and my mark is a lot more important for me to make than I initially thought!