The boys were out of school today and they helped entertain Charli Marie in my room while I got a quick shower! They got out a lot of her toys and put them all in front of her and then they positioned their bodies and the baskets around her so she wouldn't fall over! Too funny! She was thrilled by all of the attention and constant entertainment. They were equally as thrilled by her really playing with her toys! It is great having 3 little ones!
Charli Marie surrounded by her toys and her brothers' love! When she started to cry after about 40 minutes of floor/play time, Havey told me she was overstimulated! Yes, he is only 8 and knows what that means; when they get right in her face with about 15 different toys and making loud noises, I always tell them that they are going to overstimulate her and she will cry. They have really started figuring out this baby thing. SL told me this on Saturday, "Me and Nan have rocked Charli, played with Charli, changed Charli's diaper and she is still fussy, so it must be time for her to eat! Please, nurse her!" They seem to help me keep everything all under control!
Charli still sleeps at night in the cradle in our room since she nurses around 4:30ish in the morning. The other morning she was watching her "dancing frogs" mobile (as we call it, so it sounds more girly) and she reached high enough to grab one of the frogs. She was so delighted by this new skill! The mobile will be coming down soon or hopefully she will just start sleeping later in the mornings and can move to her baby bed for sleep at night!

Somebody is proud of their 2 bottom front teeth! She shows them off everywhere we go!

SL informed me the other day that Charli Marie's teeth sure were sharp and she hurt him when she bit his finger. Good lesson to learn early: Don't put your finger in your sister's mouth!!

We went to Ben's parents for the weekend and had to go to the Bass Pro Shop! The kids love it there! Pop bought Charleston Marie her a fishing cap! It is darling- it has little fishing lures and says "My First Fishing Hat". It won't be long until she is holding a rod on her own! She already loves to be outside and has to be where the action is! The action is always where those brothers are!

Charli Marie loves her new dollhouse bookshelf that her Pop and Nan gave her for Christmas. It looks so cute in her room.

She also enjoys laying/playing on her soft giraffe mat from Mama Ann. She will sit on it in the den and pull all of her toys out of the basket-too funny to watch her spread them everywhere. She is growing up way too fast!
Havey likes to read his Accelerated Reader books to Charli Marie before he goes to school. She really wanted to get a grip on the pages!

This was one of SL's toys when he was a baby. He and Havey both loved it then and now all three kids love it! It has a fan that blows balls up and out of the top and then the balls all spiral back down into the machine to go again. However, Charli Marie likes to turn it toward her and have all of the balls shoot out at her face/body (it's okay-they come out gently) and then have the air blow in her face! The air is blowing on her in this photo- that's the reason for the funny facial expression and wind blown hair (the little bit of hair she has left)!
This is what she likes to do with the balls once they come out!! Too funny- she can almost get the whole thing in her mouth! It is as if she is saying, "What mom, isn't this what these balls are for?!"Look at those big eyes and long eyelashes that go along with that big smile!
Now she has dropped the ball and moved onto her favorite thing- PUP! Pup is a wubanub

Charli Marie loves our wiener dog! He can run past her shile she is upset and all is better! He adores her too-when she is upset, he runs to the rescue. One night before her bath we let her give and get some Kringle lovin'! She pulled his ears, nose, tail, whatever she could get ger little hands on and he loved it. He has tollerated this when both of the boys where babies too! We have had him since the year before Havey was born, so he is an old pro at this baby thing!Okay, for those of you who know what kind of clean fanatic I am, this picture came as a surprise I know! (We have hand cleaner everywhere- you can never be too clean) This photo was luckily caught on camera- look at that tongue! Gross, but too cute! She had just eaten sweet potatoes and apparently there was still some on her face. She got a really good bath after all of this fun!

Santa left a note for the boys to go to the Humane Society to pick out their cat (it was too cold for it to ride in the sleigh on Christmas Eve). This is the boys with Dave, they picked him from 3 kittens and several adult cats. They renamed him Jingle so it sounded more like a Christmas cat.The boys wanted me to post these pictures of Jingle, the cat they got for Christmas. He was so cute and playful. We had him for about a week. Super sad, he died on Monday. Somehow he got under the car while I was backing out of the garage to go get the kids from school. This was horrible, not the easiest thing to tell your kids when you pick them up from school. They dealt with his death really well and understood it was an accident-thank goodness.

We took the boysto Chuck-e-Cheese in Tupelo over the holidays. The had a ball playing all the games and eating pizza! We only take them to the place of fun twice a year- before school starts in August and before they go back in January!

Even Charli Marie had fun! She played her own games with her toys!

The boys help Charlie Marie open her present on her 1/2 year birthday!
She is way more into the remote than the new toy, maybe because SL is figuring it out/playing with it first!

She finally gets her hands on her new toy!

Look at this sad face, but it is the only one I could get to show off her new Pearly Whites!

This is what she kept doing while I tried to snap the above picture. That is my camera strap she is chewing on- she kept grabbing it! Everything goes in her mouth these days!
The boys have a "blast" going to pick out fireworks with Ben on New Year's Eve! They love to build a fire and then shoot all of their fireworks! Now they cannot wait until the Fourth of July to shoot some more!

The kids enjoyed the Gingerbread House they made! No, Charli Marie did not eat any, she just had fun trying to get some cookie too!

Happy Birthday, Jesus! The boys always have so much fun making a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas day!

Charleston Marie is still sick- we are going on almost 2 weeks of very little sleep with a miserable little girl! The teething (2 now) is really driving her nuts. As if teething wasn't bad enough, she also has a horrible cough and yucky nose. She is taking another 10 days of antibiotics for her ears- both are infected now. She is much better when we hold her upright, so hold her we do!! The boys are so worried about their little sister- it is so sweet that they are concerned.

So, while she is asleep in my lap, I am trying to update this blog!

The kids swapped gifts, that they bought each other

(with their own "dollars"), on Christmas Eve. They had to give Charli Marie a little help!

She really wanted to eat the tissue paper!

I don't know if smiles get any bigger than this! This little munchkin was rather happy on Christmas Eve. I guess because she got her front tooth for Christmas! The other tooth followed on New Year's day.

Cookie Time!

The boys decorated cookies to leave for Santa. I am sure Santa had a sugar high from all of the icing and sprinkles they used!

It is a must to leave the cookies and milk out for Santa on Christmas Eve!
Hanging the stockings with care... They were so excited! SL gets a little lift from big bro!

The boys let me take a quick, very quick, photo before they look in their stockings and check out their gifts from St. Nick!

Charli Marie loved her all of her stocking goodies, but wasn't quit sure why her feet kept rattling!

Good times are happening in the Tea Party Exersaucer!!

The boys had such a good time making our Gingerbread House and drinking hot cocoa. We do this every year and they always look forward to it!

They did a great job and actually had enough candy to go all around the house. They ate quite a bit while working, but I have to admit we always add extra to the kit!

School Parties are so much fun! I am glad me and Charli Marie were able to attend. She loves being around all the kids!

I took these cute cupcakes to Havey's Christmas party- very easy and fun to make. Of course Havey, being 100% boy, put pretzal stickss through his snowman's earmuffs to look like an arrow went in it's head!

SL loves his teacher Mrs. Wilmoth!

Nan bought Charleston Marie several precious Christmas outfits. She was very well dressed for the holidays!

Nan and Pop came for a visit and brought the kids' Christmas gifts. They gave Havey a new basketball and goal- we all have been enjoying this gift! They gave SL a Nintendo DS, which he has played with everyday- sometimes he shares it with us. Now that both boys have one (they gave Havey one in November for his birthday) there is less fighting over 1 DS- thank you Nan and Pop!

Charli Marie got a wonderful, new bookshelf! It is great and looks so cute in her room!
Wendy's for dinner and a tour through neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights was fun for all.

The kids were so pleased with the gift that we purchased Mama Ann. Charli Marie really liked the bow!


What? Doesn't everyone's Hubby dress up as Darth Vader and play with light sabers? The boys and Ben have a blast playing Star Wars!

Havey and Charli Marie are working on the wooden marble roller coaster. Of course we had to wait until she napped to get out the marbles! She puts everything in her mouth these days!

My man and the moon- 2 of God's wonderful creations!!

Havey's class went to Memphis before the Christmas break on a field trip. We went to the Pink Palace. It was neat, but there was a lot that we didn't have time to see. He loved this mummy exhibit. So did all of his buddies!

SNOW- well, at least a little!

The boys played in what little bit of snow fell from the sky at the beginning of December. They so hoped it would snow more. I wanted it to also!