Chicken Weasel Nugget Head

Bo is obsessed with Legos. OBSESSED! He would sit all day and build stuff with them. I used some of his Christmas money to order him a few Lego men. It came with 10, but I've only given him 3 so far, because I expect him to lose them. :p

He named the Pirate there in blue 'Chicken Weasel Nugget Head' on Saturday, but he kept forgetting what he named him.

He very seriously asked me how I remember his name. Ha! I told him that it was easy to remember his name because he's my little boy and I didn't name him something silly like Chicken Weasel Nugget Head. Once I said his Lego man's name, he perked up and said, "You remembered!!!" and he hasn't forgotten the name since.

Oh yeah, see the sheriff there in brown and black? His name is Jared, since that's easy to remember. haha!

This silly little boy always keeps us laughing!!!

Homeschooling 2014

Yes, we are still at it! Arabelle is doing great in first grade. The entire first half of the school year was pretty much a blur with the pregnancy sickness going on, but we pushed through and got a surprising amount of work done. We stuck with the basics though. :)  She completed Level 1 of All About Reading and All About Spelling just before Christmas. A good bit of the reading program was a repeat from last year, but I wanted to start at the beginning instead of skipping right to level 2 and I think that was a good call. She really surprised me with her spelling, which wasn't really covered last year!

The package included a little certificate of completion at the end and she was really proud to get that.

We have worked through most of part 1 of her Singapore Math. She did a lot of work on her math facts using the Splash Math app on the iPad, which was a BIG help to me as well.

We also did a lot of read aloud books. We read several of the C.S. Lewis books from the Chronicles of Narnia series. I know we spent a lot of time in the bed reading because it required no movement. :)

So proud of all her hard work the first half of this year! We're continuing on in level 2 of the All About Reading and All About Spelling, finishing her math curriculum, and adding some fun science and art stuff.

Elmo

Mae LOVES this little (big!) Elmo doll and says "Ehhhh-mo!" over and over. The other day, I turned on an Elmo DVD for her for the first time and put the Elmo in a chair beside her. She was mesmerized!! She kept looking at the TV, back at the Elmo doll, back at the TV, and back at Elmo. She couldn't believe he was on TV! Ha! 

She was mesmerized for a few minutes, then it was OVER. ;)

24 weeks with baby #4

This pregnancy is kind of flying by at this point! 

Pregnancy highlights:

• How far along: 24 weeks on Wednesday the 14th
• Size of baby: Average is just over a pound and the length of an ear of corn
• Total weight gain: Oops....I was up 21 lb at my appt on Wed! I did start weighing less with Mae's pregnancy than Arabelle and Bo's and less this time than I did with Mae's, so I'm still right about where I was at this point with all 3 other pregnancies. I figure I'll end up right about where I did with the other three. I've been so happy this last month that I enjoy food, so I've been enjoying it to the fullest!
• Gender: BOY!!
• Movement: Lots of little kicks when I'm sitting still, especially if I've just eaten. 
• Sleep: I'm sleeping so good these days! I get a pretty solid 8 hours with one bathroom break in there. I have been having a lot of crazy dreams, which is annoying.
• Cravings: I ate a lot of pizza this last month, but the novelty is wearing off. Not really having any cravings. I like all the food I usually do now, except grilled beef.....I think it's because Jared grilled a lot when I was sick. The smell is still repulsive! 
• Symptoms: No more nausea!!!! I'm feeling really good these days. My back will hurt in the evenings some times, but otherwise no complaints. I'll take aches and pains over nausea and vomiting any day!
• Best moment of the week: Listened to the baby's heartbeat at the Dr. appt on Wed. I took all three kids with me since it was going to be a quick appointment with the nurse practitioner and she asked, "Are all these kids yours??". Ha! I thought that was pretty funny. :)

Next month's appointment will include the gestational diabetes glucose test (yuck!) and maybe an u/s to check the baby's growth? 

There's definitely no hiding it now! 

Sweet Mae

Mae is growing and changing so much these days! She's more and more like a little girl than a baby and has such a funny personality! 

She loves to look at herself and grin. 

She has figured out how to blow dandelions. Arabelle showed her how one day and when Mae tried the first time, she ended up with a mouth full. Ha!

She loved wearing her mittens on Thursday!

She's just a fun loving girl!

And here's Mae watching the UGA bowl game awhile back....she says "Go Dawgs!". 

Winter Wonderland

We have been enjoying pretty warm weather through December and the beginning of January, so when the cold weather was coming, Arabelle and Bo were ready for Jared to create a "Winter Wonderland"!

They loved all the icicles!

Mae was happy to stay inside and help Jared get breakfast ready. :)

They enjoyed playing outside on Thursday, despite the cold! 

2014 in Review

I say it EVERY YEAR, but I can't get over how much kids grow in  a year! We started 2014 with a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a 7 month old and they grew so much, especially Mae!

January was the usual month we spent a lot of time at home and inside. Mae was such a little baby!  We painted a lot, Arabelle lost her first tooth, and the kids had dentist appointments.

February: February looked like another fun month! We went to Atlanta for Caleb's birthday and visited the Children's museum, played a lot, Jared and Arabelle had a father/daughter date, we went bowling, and Mae turned 9 months old!

March: This was a big month for Mae....she started walking! The weather was warming up, so we had a lot of park days and we also took a field trip to the Jekyll Island Sea Turtle Center with our homeschool group. 

April included a family trip to Athens for the UGA football spring game, a few days at Papaw and Mamaw's for Spring break, State Park days, Easter, and Arabelle's kindergarten graduation. 

May was so fun!! Blueberries were ready, we celebrated Mae's first birthday & Mother's Day, played outside in the water, picked strawberries, had a amazing few days at Fernandina Beach, and celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary!

June included Father's Day, swimming, Vacation Bible School, soccer camp for Bo, and lots of outside fun! 

July held lots of watermelons, a mini beach trip for the big kids and me, family time, Arabelle started speech therapy, and of course, swimming!

August: I think this was my favorite month of the year! We started the month in Haiti for the VBS mission trip in the mountain village of Maissade. We came home to happy kids! Bo turned 4 this month, Mae had her first day of pre-school, Arabelle began 1st grade at home, and we celebrated Arabelle and Bo's birthday with a little trip to Disney World! Oh yeah, and on our Disney World day I discovered baby #4 was on the way. ha! 

September: Arabelle and Bo had a beach trip with Papaw and Mamaw, Arabelle celebrated her 6th birthday, and Arabelle and I went to Atlanta for a wedding shower and girls weekend away on her birthday, and I was pretty much miserable the entire month. 

October was a blur....Fall parties, church festival, playing outside, and trying to survive. 

November included family pictures with the Bloodworths, sick kids for about a week, Thanksgiving, and getting a Christmas tree. At the end of the month, I was finally feeling somewhat human and we found out this little baby is a boy!

December was full of fun activities...Christmas crafts, the Nutcracker for Arabelle with me, Cinderella play with Papaw and Mamaw, visiting Santa, bowling with friends, and Christmas with our extended family! 

Christmas 2014, part 4

Friday morning, we got Arabelle's antibiotics for her finger and the bandage supplies, then headed to Pineview for our family Christmas!

We started with lunch at Grandpa and Grandma's that day.

I can not even get over Mae in this picture! That little smile and how big she looks sitting in a booster seat on a regular chair.....

Mae was a pro at present opening by this point!

I love how they all hovered around whoever was opening the gift.

Bo was so excited about his Captain America Lego set from Aunt Dawn!

Arabelle's new UGA shirt came in a cool mailbox!

This just makes me laugh! Bo and Anderson were the only kids that were camera ready.

After lunch, it was nap time for the youngest 3 while all the older ones were out playing (keeping the noise outside!).

Tasty food again!

Lowndes took to Arabelle that afternoon/evening, so was ready for the picture this time. Ha!

Bo and Arabelle both love his Monopoly Kid's game!

Pop gun!!!

Mae got a set of quadruplets from Mamaw and Papaw, so she's been busy taking care of babies! Bo said, "We need more baby doll strollers now!". Ha!

We all spent the night and had more yummy food and lots of fun!