Cole's 1st cereal

Ok, well not quite the first. But the first that actually got into his belly.

Emily was especially excited Cole is moving onto real food.

Not happy Daddy moved his hands out of his mouth!


All done!

Full belly.

Adventures in kayaking

Meet James' new hobby.

Kayaking.

He's had his eye on a few different types of kayaks that he wants to buy. So today he rented one and they boys (minus Cole) headed out to Conroe to try it out and do some fishing.


He told me that he rowed for miles which I thought maybe was an exaggeration... but they went to the furthest part in this picture! I bet he will be sore tomorrow.

The girls, Cole, and I headed to my step class this morning, enjoyed a delicious Chick-fil-A lunch, then headed out to a closer lake to check out the kayak.

Emily was excited to get in. No fishing, more rowing.


Emily thought that she was keeping "everyone" safe with her life jacket. "Don't worry, Dad... we won't sink. I have on a floating jacket! This lake doesn't have sharks, does it?"

Austin fished some more from a pier. It was more of a scouting trip. More fishing, less catching.

Cole did what he does best - just goin' with the flow. That child amazes me... up at 6:30, 2:00 we headed to the lake - slept 30 minutes in the car to get there, woke up when we got there, back to sleep for the 3o minute car ride home and that's it for the day. Not sure where he gets the energy!

Even I got to join in on the fun.

So after all that hard work I thought we deserved a special treat.

Yum! The girls didn't even know what a sundae was - but they were happily surprised.

Our 4 kiddos

the princess

the prince

the cutie-pie

and the vocal little diva who does NOT enjoy having her picture taken.

Visit with Ms. Rona

Ms. Rona came and visited us a few days ago. We absolutely love her - she watched the girls when they were little for a few years while I worked and I'm so happy we stay in touch. She actually worked for the day care we had all the kids in, and eventually we were able to steal her from there! ha! It was one of the best decisions we made when they were younger. In the two years she stayed with the girls, she never once called in sick. Crazy! Even though we don't see her often, the girls still talk about her and it's always so nice to see her :)

4 months old!

Cole - you are 4 months old now!

What are you up to?

I know I have said it before, but you have to be the happiest little baby ever. Seriously. You are so easy going, constantly smile and talk to us.


You wake up in the morning and are ready to go for the day. First you get fed anywhere between 5:30-7:00. Then I put you in your bouncer and you watch me make the older kids breakfast and get their lunches packed. We then drop the kids of at school, go to the gym or store depending on the day - and you just go with the flow. The rest of the day consists of eating and playing. I tried giving you cereal one day last week and you didn't want to have anything to do with that.

You are officially sleeping through the night, I think mainly because you are such an anti-nap little boy!! Sometimes I can get you to take a little nap in the afternoon, but not very often. This is one of the main reasons I'm not able to blog as much - there is no time! You do get cranky at night sometimes - I think because of your lack of sleep during the day!

You weighed 13.3 lbs at your 4 month appointment and you were 22.75 inches long. There were three other 4 month old babies getting their check ups too - I originally thought they were at least 6-9 months old because they were all ginormous. Then I took you in and found out you are only in the first percentile in height (17% in weight!) so they weren't gigantic babies after all... I know you will catch up soon :) You are in size 2 diapers and still fit into your 3 month clothes.

When I'm making dinner in the afternoon you usually sit in your bumbo and watch Baby Einsteins. It's crazy how much you like this! I can hear you laughing from downstairs. You crack up at this little puppet every time you see it.


(just please ignore your pink bib once again...)

Your siblings continue to be smitten with you. You love watching them and they love making you smile.

Weekend in Bastrop

Our first night away from the house with all 4 kids - it went pretty smoothly.

Goofing off in the car while James was paying for our entry fee into the park.

And the hike begins. James bought Austin this bird book with a checklist of all the birds in the region. We only saw a couple - because his "sisters were scaring away all the birds."


Austin led the way


Some of the wildlife we saw.

Emily happily skipped most of the way...

until the end when we had to go up hill. Then she got too tired.


Nature baby - had to be carried the whole time since I forgot the sling.

10 minutes later nature baby falls asleep.

I think the real highlight for the kids was staying in a hotel for the night. Not for me though - didn't sleep at all. They loved the elevators, sleeping on a sofa that turned into a couch, and a breakfast where they could pick whatever they wanted to eat.

Discovering himself in the mirror.

Emily wanted to know why a surfboard was in the room. Obviously I don't do much ironing.

Admiring the fish at the hotel.

Touchdown!

Thought I'd share some pictures since this is what is consuming our lives these days - for FOUR days a week. Sigh.

Game 2 Highlights
1st TD - I just got the tail end of it. The play started around the 50 yard line... eventually my camera caught up to our little speedster.


Abby very rarely leaves Cole's side. He loves listening to her "stories."

Chubby cheeks (with a little help) enjoying the shade.

The 2nd TD - this time I was ready. For all of the defensive coordinators out there - you can tell he's about to get the ball by "the stare."



He cuts to the inside...

and turns on the jets!

Running to daylight...

adding more, and more separation with every step. Did we mention that we're proud of this kiddo?

After the game the opposing team's coach asked where Austin went to school because they lost their 2 fastest kids and were in need of some speed. Already recruiting in 2nd grade flag football - ha!

And here are some random pictures of Austin and his tongue.