Boushka Baby

Who's Boushka Baby you ask? Well, none other than my little one who turned 11 months old today-- but we'll get to that in a minute!

Let me explain the nickname thing. You see, M&M is one of her many silly names we call her, but she certainly prefers Boushka Baby. This probably has something to do with the fact that Peach and I constantly say the following to her, "Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba Boushka!" And the giggles keep coming! So, over the past 11 months, Boushka Baby has made its way into our routine nicknames. As of today, I'll refer to her as Boushka or BB (for Boushka Baby); now that you're all filled in...

BB turned 11 months today. Oh yeah, I already said that-- but I still can't believe it. I've even said it aloud and it still doesn't seem right. So, I decided to take myself out of "denial state" and I told her she's 11 months old. That's right, I sat her on my lap, looked her square in the eyes and said, "You are 11 months old today!"

I thought she'd say something like, "Oh, my gosh! There's no way I'm that old today, mom. I swear, it seems as if you just gave me life! By the way, you're looking great for having just had me!"

Nope!

The sweet Boushka just sat there and gave me a look like, Uh, Duh mom! I know!

So, here we are! A month away from the day my baby turns one! This in and of itself is huge, but there's another reason why it's kinda major for me! This will be the first time I've celebrated my one-year-old's birthday without already having her sister on the way. She has officially been the baby the longest. You're welcome, Boushka! Consider yourself spoiled lucky!

To celebrate our big, almost one year, here's a little bit about you, dear:

-You are sleeping so well these days. You hit the hay around 7:30 or 8 and you wake for your early feeding usually between 6 and 7. Now, there are some days where you get up at 4 or 5, but for the most part you have been sleeping rather well!!! You also like to nap late morning into the early afternoon (if we stay at home), otherwise you nap around 1 with your sisters.

-You love food. We usually chop up a small portion of our dinner and set it on your tray. You always go straight for the biggest piece of food you can find and shove it into your mouth. From there on out, your hands are constantly dropping food off in your mouth. And then you like to demand more by fussing. We must work on verbalizing that!

-Favorite foods include: bananas, avocados, wheat bread with garlic hummus, cheerios, oranges (you just suck on the little clementine pieces), chicken, seasoned ground turkey, black beans, rice, Quinoa, homemade pumpkin bread, apples, cooked whole-wheat penne, wheat tortillas, sweet potatoes, baked potato, broccoli, zucchini, even our homemade pizza. With these foods, you create a great-sized mess!

-Piggy backing off of your fav foods list, I must say that you are the messiest child I think I've had. There are several outfits that have lasted 3 kids, but when you get a hold of them they are permanently stained. This has happened several times despite my attempts of stain-removal!

-You love bath time. 'Nuff said!

-You constantly want to be held. And to keep the peace, both of your parents oblige (but not all the time). This is certainly a down-side to having 4 so close in age. There is always NOISE!! And I mean screaming, giggling, LOUD noise! So, when you add a crying baby who just wants to be held, well..., it's just that easy to hold you and erase one of the screams that bounce off our walls.

-No crawling for you, yet! Every time we lay you down, you eventually just flop down. You'll sit there and play for a bit, but it never fails that one of your sisters comes and plays with you, or brings you a toy... so really, I know you think you have no use for that silly crawling skill.

-You weigh in at a small (but still plump in the cheeks and thighs) 17 pounds. I think a quarter of that weight hangs off your head. Your hair is very, very long!

-You like to stand and hold onto your walking-push toys and the entertaining table. These are quite thrilling for your little hands. I can see the concentration all over your face when you are trying to balance on these toys. Very cute!

-Mama has worked with you on waving good bye, touching your nose, and clapping your hands. You conquered all three in the last month. Now we're working on "Where are your ears?" And you're starting to get it.

-You smile and get excited when people come over-- especially grandmas. Somehow you already know that they are "spoil factories."

-Still snuggles-- yes!

-Still needs many hair clips--yes!

-Still enjoys stroller rides outside-- yes!

-Built-in entertainment (in the form of 3 older sisters) still the best-- yes!

Boushka, you are one snuggly (like Peach), determined (like Brownie), ornery (like Bug), silly (like you) little girl! I simply can't imagine life without you--not even for a minute. You are such joy, and I can't wait to watch you evolve into a toddler, preschooler, and eventually (after many tears are shed) little girl. Thank you for letting me live and learn as I love! Blessings my sweet.

-Mama

A Whole Lotta Nothin'!

March Madness has taken over--well, now it has more or less dissipated because our beloved Jayhawks are out! If you have anything nasty to say about them, don't bother!! There will be none of that on my blog :)

Really it seems as if much has been going on around here lately, but to anyone else but me it'd look like a whole lotta nothin'.

Up to what exactly? Well, I'll let you take a peek!



Sisterly support for bike riding!



The first ice cream of the season!

Mmmmm... this gal loves chocolate!

Oh yeah, so does she. Can you tell what I craved with each of my pregnancies?!?

I simply love this picture. It makes me smile everytime I look at it. This captures my family!

I'm not sure what she's fretting over..., oh wait, I had just told her about the Jayhawks. Poor girl was so disapointed!

Took 2nd place at her car derby!!!

She was looking at Daddy; I swear she was saying, "Please get these things off of me. Mom is totally off her rocker!"

She kinda liked her ears though!

Brownie and crew decorating an Easter tree!

We seriously can't decide which holiday to celebrate! St. Pat's, Easter. St. Pat's, Easter!

Lotsa nice weather. You can see that here and from the ice cream photos above and directly below!

So this is another one of my fav photos. My girls are pretty goofy, most of the time!

Oh, yeah, and these are picnic-at-the-zoo pictures.

Yep, she's always the cheeseball!

We pushed through nap time-- well, not all of us!

And then, on the first day of spring I had to take this photo of our backyard to show my husband (who was out of town) that it was indeed snowing!

And there ya have it. That brings us up to last weekend. Throw in the time change, spring "break," 2 weeks of screaming fits from my 3 yr old, a husband out of town, some weight loss (for me, yeay!), a St. Patrick's day meal out (though it was not an Irish meal, but we're Irish, so it was and Irish meal, right?), some reading (I picked up my old habit, finished 3 books in the last week or so), 2 loads of laundry per day, play-dates, walks, and... well, that's about it. See, I told ya it'd look like a whole lotta nothin'!

Got Picasso?

This cute-as-a-button girl is all heart!

She wears her emotions on her sleeve (though she may outgrow this once she is past the age of 2). While this can be frustrating for the adult in charge (usually, yours truly), sometimes it can be a good thing. For instance, you never have to guess how this little gal is feeling.

If she's frustrated, she screams.


If she's tired, she whines.


If she's mad at somebody, she screams and throws herself on the floor.


If she's happy, she's all giggles.


If she's doesn't feel well, she's cuddly.


If she's feeling ornery, she's, well, ORNERY!!!!



You get the picture.



One thing you can't tell just by looking at her is how creative she is . She is probably my most creative child thus far, and I have pretty creative kiddos. She can make-believe right along with her two older sisters, but this gal takes it a step further.

She's a little Picasso. (I chose Picasso because I think his work as a child might be similar to what my Bug has been producing-- they're both kind of out there).

Really, she is quite the color-er. Given the chance, this gal would carry around a crayon everywhere. Sometimes she sneaks the opportunity in when I'm not looking and she colors on stuff. Yes, she manages to land on paper every once in a while-- papers that include cards for or from friends, notes for work, magazines, my other children's drawings, grocery lists, books, a notepad, etc., etc.


And sometimes she colors on whatever is close by. Be it a



Beanbag




Kids table







Bouncing zebra




Kids desk

Kids vanity table

The arm of our futon

The futon's cushion

Our storage ottoman

The wall that covers a beam in the basement

Even my treadmill

And these are just the things that were close by in our basement.

Thanks, my little Picasso. I love you because you are always yourself, and you don't care who knows it!

A Daddy and his 6 Girls

So, you know this guy,

who can multi-task by pushing one girl in a swing and kiss her all while holding another girl (yes, this picture is from Oct 2007 2 days before Bug was born).


Well, you know he has an adorable wife whom he loves so much (my words, but I'm sure he would say them if he were actually here).



And they had 4 lovely daughters-- all of them their hair of plenty.


Did you know he had two other daughters? One predates our four human children.


And then there is the other baby of the house

She joined our family shortly before this past Christmas. And just like all the other girls in this house, Daddy seems to be wrapped around her finger paw.





This, my friends, is how the two of them head to bed every night. Our baby makes him carry her to her crate. Oh, the spoiling that takes place under this roof!

Two Weeks!

It happened again. I abandoned my blogging for two weeks (again). I was hitting a stride and then...

I fell off the blogosphere. I have been reading and keeping up with your blogs, but I have not paid mine the least bit of attention. This is what happens when you are elbow-deep in training for a new job that takes up every waking hour after your four young children are in bed. Oh, and throw in 5 sick people--things are bound to get pretty harry. Yes, the stress level here is finally mellowing out this Sunday night, and I am hoping to catch up on some much needed sleep.

By the way, the 5 sick people included all children and yours truly. It all started with cold-like sypmtoms and Brownie. That turned into three doctor's visits--one was even for moi. I can now say that at the ripe age of 27 I have an ear infection, or what the pro's know as Acute Otitis Media. But seriously, I didn't think people over the age of 6 ever got ear infections. I honestly thought I had served my time in that department. Guess, not. The moderate to severe pain only lasted half a day (thanks to some ear drops), but the hearing loss and dizziness are lingering.

Anyway, after buying one neubulizer (for M&M) machine with medicine, three RX for cough syrup, 3 RX for Amoxicillin in liquid form, 1 RX for Amoxicillin in pill form, 1 RX for azithromycin, and one RX for ear drops, we are finally on our way toward healing. Despite my earnest attempts at keeping this family of six healthy, we fell pray to these little devil bugs. Oh, except for my husband-- isn't he lucky? I'd like to say that he stayed home and nursed us all back to health, but he was out there makin' money for his girls. But still all healthy!

So now I am back. And I am back to show you our last two weeks. What follows is all what happens when...

... you leave the bouncy seat out and your three-year-old gets a hold of it and puts her babies to sleep in it.

... you have one very excited girl all ready to go to her Bible class and she is running a fever; therefore, she is terribly bummed when you decide to keep her home, so you try to make up for it by telling her to pose in her favorite clothes and promise to make pudding.

... you have a craving for Chipotle and you eat their guacamole despite your random allergic reaction to avocados

there, now do you see it?


... you get to join your second-born at school for part of the morning and you pose as silly as you can for a picture.


... you catch your third-born calmly relaxing (for once in her life) and looking super cute!


... you let your four-year-old take pictures with your camera.




... you have a baby who is photographed quite often but is still not quite used to the bright flash.


...you read Food Network magazine and decide you need to make the Whoopie Pies, and they look so pretty you just have to photograph them-- you know, before you eat them.


...you let your nine-month-old express her independence by allowing her to feed herself herb-roasted root veggies. And this is just the tip of the messy iceberg.


...you let your three oldest children frost cupcakes-- did I say frost, I meant lick every last inch of frosting.


... you have a baby who has hair that is totally out of control. So you put it in a rooster-tail (like a pony-tail, but on top of the head).


... you snap a photo of your child devouring a cupcake and surprisingly discover that you captured a moment you can use as blackmail when said child reaches middle school.

Not that I would, umm..., ever do that?


And I wish I could show you all video from the many dance parties we've been having around here these past two weeks. If I had recorded our dances, you would see us dancing to Train's Hey Soul Sister and All the Single Ladies from Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeaquel. These have been getting tons of play in our family room. And hopefully I've burned enough calories to get rid of my Whoppie Pie booty.

Since I can't show you videos I don't have, here's one I do have. This is Peach when she was 5 months old on her very first Valentine's Day doing one of her first dances! Enjoy, and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!


Please excuse my laugh. I had a cold at this time and I sounded awful manly!