This and That in January!

Since our family size increased (a lot at one time!) a little over a year ago, I’ve become quite the slacking blogger.  I do miss blogging regularly, but find that life just gets in the way.  :)  I do love having it to look back on, so I’m going to keep plugging away as I can!

This shot is actually from the very end of December.  Michael looks so big and so tiny all at once here.

This guy!  He climbs on everything.  I’m pretty sure he’s signing “more” in this picture.  I can’t remember why though.

I have lots of school things as well as papers, books, DVDs stored in these drawers in my living room, and I don’t want Thomas in them!  So far, these fancy dry-cleaner-hanger baby-proofing devices are keeping him out.  :)

Michael is really getting around more and following his brother’s example.

I must have taken this picture at meal time.  Some cheese, avocado, and pear for the babies.  Yum!

This boy looooooves his biggest sis.

Technically this next picture was posed, but that’s only because they moved before I could snap one of them actually sitting there together, looking out the front window.

One day my mom took us out to eat lunch.  She even treated the bigs to dessert.

They approved.  :)

I’ve started (become obsessed with) this show called Arrow, and this picture of Thomas makes me think of it. The main character runs around doing vigilante stuff in a hood.

Joanna realized one morning that she had a dress that matched the babies’ onesies.  Love them all.

One morning a couple of weeks ago I woke up with terrible neck and back pain.  I was thankful this little one with strong fingers gave me a couple minutes of her time.  :)

Mr. Michael has been having various appointments, tests, and studies to discover if there’s a reason for his teenyness.  One day I managed to leave the other four with various people near home, so I got to take just Michael downtown for a swallow study.  Actually, Pop drove us – it was fun!

Don’t Michael and I look snazzy!

A friend passed along a set of Thomas the Train sheets for James, and he looooooves them.

I like taking pictures in the nursery.  The light is good. 

Look at this tiny boy pulling himself up on the bench!

This is pretty much the story of my life.  When I posted this on Facebook, the kids’ cousin posted a great caption: “Sometimes Superman needs his mommy too.”

I just love having another reader in the house!  She loves to read to her siblings, and they love to listen!

I’m pretty sure someone put Michael on the little car, but then he was kind of pushing himself around on it.

Doesn’t he look like he’s in the middle of explaining something here?  Oh how Thomas loves to climb on things and be up off the ground.

I’ve seen her walking around with a book on her head too.

Super James comes up with the best outfits. (Side note: the floor in my house NEVER looks like this.  I’m amazed just looking at it.)

Natalie turned SIX a week and a half or so ago!!  We always like to do a birthday tree for her.  I think sixes were the hardest ones to cut out so far.  :)

It was Sunday, so she got to wear the birthday crown to Sunday school.

That Sunday also happened to be our very best friends, the Vandenberges, last Sunday at church.  They moved to Kentucky so Tony can attend Seminary.  We’re excited, but saaaaaaad!!

I was helping James finish his snack from Sunday school.

Those girls – love em!

James getting some snuggles from Bonnie.

This was one morning at breakfast.  James invited Nightmare Moon to the table with him.

I love these Advent workshop crafts the big kids did.  They looked so pretty in my kitchen window.

Last week my new six year old lost her first tooth!

The weather was wet and dreary on and around Natalie’s birthday, but when we got a dry day, I took her out for a few pics.

Love this adorable girl!

Last Friday Lisa and the kiddos stopped by on their last day here.  We miss them already!  Here’s Lisa and me with our brood:

I used my poor man’s tripod (trash dumpster) to set my camera on.  While I was fiddling with settings, the girls were working on their posing.  :)

These girls have been best friends since the very beginning.

Here’s an early Joanna and Anna picture:

And the little sisters:

(Lisa – we’re mailing those three pics to you this week, along with notes from the girls.)

Sometimes it’s the evening and the light is gone before I realize I’ve forgotten to take a daily picture.  Since we STILL had not managed to get the Christmas stuff packed up yet, I decided to try and get creative using the lights from the tree. 

I love my stained glass nativity and enjoyed taking some pics of it.  I pulled it away from the tree in my bedroom and focused on the creche so the lights would blur out.  Pretty!

This must have been Saturday or Sunday – and clearly the weather was warm!  Everybody spent some time playing outside, and I came out to snap a few pics.

I like the light in the nursery, so Thomas and I posed for a pic in there one day.  I set the camera on the changing table, which is why the top of my head isn’t in the frame.  Instead of using the timer setting, I had Joanna push the button for me so that the camera would focus on me instead of the wall.  I love this sweet snuggly boy!

Well, it took me three days to write this post.  Hopefully it won’t take as long to read it.  :)