Happy Half-Birthday Princess A!

Guess who's 6 months old already?!!

Happy half-birthday Princess A!

You're magnificent!

POW!

We woke up this morning to this scene in our front yard.

Whoever plowed it may have taken out the fire hydrant and our mailbox, but we can only imagine what their car looks like! Pieces of it were strewn all up into the front yard.

Driving FAIL!

The M Gang

My gang at the farm with me this evening...Little Sis was too enamored with the barn cat to turn around for a picture.

Oh, this was also before our hike...where I got them stuck in a mess of poison ivy and had to go rescue them with the RTV. Mom, FAIL!

But more on that later.

Mommy's tired!

Cousin M

The kids got a surprise visit from their Cousin M this evening, who is in town for the next 10 days. She lives in Arizona, so the kids only get to see her once or twice a year. They were sooo excited!!!

M is the same age as Big Sis.

They got to have dinner together and play all evening.

And Princess A got to see Grandma M, which she was very happy about!

Biggest Brother got to open his belated birthday presents...

...one of which, Younger Brother promptly turned on him. :)

Thankfully, the weather cleared up in just enough time to go outside.

It's good to have Grandpa M out of the hospital and back with us again!

M and Libbs really hit it off.

And Libbs was thrilled with all of the extra attention.

Okay, so not a "perfect" picture. But that's what makes it a perfect picture!
:)

There's no better place from which to launch missles than the roof of the playhouse!

The girls didn't have much luck catching butterflies in their butterfly net...

so they caught a big bumblebee instead.

I had a great close-up picture of the bee, but I forgot to upload it. And the way Blogger works, I would have to reload every picture shown above this one to add it...so you get to use your imagination instead. I'll give you a hint: It was yellow and black, and furry.

Little Sis caught herself.

I told the boys if they break an arm, they won't be able to swim for at least six weeks this summer.

It's tons of fun to get to use your "outside voice!"

As the evening wound down, the girls came inside and played princesses.

It was more excitement than Princess A could handle.

Thanks for visiting, Cousin M!

We hope you get to move closer to us soon!!!

Movin' On Up!

The last time I took pictures of Princess A working on a new skill in this room it was for Tummy Time - Take One. She has mastered that skill, as well as rolling over in both directions, and now it's time to work on getting upright! So yesterday, she got a new toy for just such a purpose.

Well, new to her. You can tell by the label, she's the fifth one to get to use this exersaucer... seventh if you count my two friends that borrowed it. But never mind that, being the youngest has it's perks for sure! To name one...

...four big brothers and sisters with which to celebrate your milestones!
Anytime Princess A tries something new, the big sibs are always right there cheering her on!

So many things to try out

and chew

and grab

and try very very hard to reach to chew!

And it makes her legs look fabulous!

:)

After exploring all there was to explore, this toy emerged as the undisputed favorite. It's a ladybug with three red lights on its back that blinks and plays a little song when you press it.

Every time it would play, she would make this face...

...as though contemplating the depth of her favorite symphony.

(cracking Mommy up!)

Mmmm, yes, that's nice.

Mmmmm

I'm glad you like your music Princess A,

and your new independence.

Just think what fun you'll have when you can sit up and play with your brothers and sisters!