Splishin' & Splashin'

Splishin'

Splashin'

Strollin'


Posin'


Snackin'

Laughin'

Gigglin'


Fillin'


Playin'

Smilin'


Cheesin'


Clappin'


Runnin'

Diggin'


Sharin'


Hand-holdin'


Jumpin'


Splishin'


Splashin'

4th of July Crafts

Tissue Paper Stars...



Muffin liner Fireworks (idea from notimeforflashcards.com)

Word Family Train

Caleb particularly enjoyed this activity, so I wanted to share!

"Caleb's Word Family Train"....



He needed a little help actually writing some of the letters, but he knows all of his letter sounds, so he was able to identify the missing beginning sounds for each word. He loved gluing the completed words on to the train cars and, of course, helping me string the cars together to make a train!

-an family...


-ing family...


-at family...


-ock family...




He was so proud of his work. Although he was a little disappointed that the train was too flimsy to play with (it's just made of paper), he was really excited to see it hung up in the kitchen all connected and choo-choo-like.

Park

Grass.

Hugs.


Love.


Reach.


Yum.


Climb.


Swing.


Fun.


Run.


Thumb.


Silly.


Play.


Peek.


Sweet.


Ohmygoodnessishecuteorwhat.

Some Latest Meredith-isms

Meredith is quite an animated little girl. She is intense, emotional, and sensitive. Oh, and a little dramatic. Typically, what you see is what you get with this little one. No holding back. Emotions are on the sleeve (usually along with some leftovers from her last meal).



Gene-wise, we know who she gets these things from. =) Ultimately though, it is the Lord who has created her this way, and we pray that He would use such characteristics to lead her to love Himself and to love others in a dynamic and sincere way throughout her life.



I often wish that I had a non-stop video-camera that captured the moment-to-moment "plays" of our day, as there are so so many things that my kids do and say that I want to remember forever. Then again, there are a good handful of things I am certainly glad to not have documented! So, I guess it all evens out.

Anyway, the main point of this post is to document a few cute Meredith-isms as of late. While I know that I will never remember everything about this stage of her little life, I do enjoy using this BLOG, as well as my good old-fashioned scrapbooks to serve as ways to document the day-to-day things that I might not recall otherwise.

Meredith is quite a little talker. She has a great vocabulary and puts full sentences together...here are a handful of ways that she regularly uses her words...

1. When someone asks "what time is it?", Meredith will often say "Game Time, Hoo!"

2. She loves to ask questions..."What's he doing?" "What happened?" "What's that called?" We love her curious little mind!

3. A favorite thing to proclaim these days is "I big girl." Sometimes she just likes to stand on something to make herself taller and then say "I big girl." She must know that she is teeny-tiny and that she needs a boost to be bigger!

4. She loves to sing....and is getting pretty good at stringing together the words of various simple songs. Her favorites seem to be "The ABCs" and "Happy Birthday".

5. She loves to tell us what she is doing at all times. "I stomping." "I jumping." (The girl can actually get some air ...both feet fully off the ground...her vertical jump is quite impressive), "I running." "I drinking milk.", "I watching a movie.", etc......

6. The other day, I caught her looking at her reflection in the bathtub faucet saying "I so pretty."

7. She is very independent and loves to yell "I did it!" when she accomplishes something. Oh, and when she doesn't want help with something, she says (demands?) "I do it self."

8. She has pretty good manners, and when she wants something, she says "please" and uses a decent sentence....for example: "More milk, Mommy, please." or "More crackers, please, Mommy."

9. And, maybe our favorite expression of hers is...."Oh Man!" which she says when something goes wrong. Very very very cute.



We love our little girl, and all her little ways.

Ephesians 6:1

Memory verse for June...

Ephesians 6:1

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."

1/2 a Year

Today is Shane's 6 month birthday!

He seems pretty happy about that, don't you think?

Shane is still such a sweet and content baby, and I can't even remember what our family was like without him....we are beyond blessed to have him. He loves to cuddle, and loves to pull Mommy's hair and necklace. He gets giddy when his big brother and big sister play with him. He is pretty content to hang out wherever we put him and chew on the nearest toy. He can roll in both directions, but usually only goes from back to front and then just hangs out on his belly. He sits very well independently, although I still usually put a pillow behind him just in case. He is quite the laid-back little guy (we all know that he gets that from his Daddy).




Shane is such a great sleeper...he sleeps 12 hours straight at night, and takes 2 long naps during the day and occasionally a catnap in the evening. The boy likes to sleep.



He nurses 4 times/day and has been eating solids 2 times/day (breakfast and dinner).....although today I added a lunch of solids to his schedule, so 3 meals of solids a day it is from here on out. He has tried various fruits and veggies, and I will be adding some more variety to his meals over these next weeks (including meat/veggie combos, yogurt, and other fruits & veggies he hasn't tried yet). I've made most of his baby food up until now, and just made a big batch of fruit and veggie purees over the weekend, but when it comes to meat, well, the thought of putting chicken into my blender kind of grosses me out...so, to the store we go! We have also given him some Puffs to try, and he likes them a lot, although it is difficult for him to pick them up at this point. Today, Meredith and Caleb helped him out by feeding him the Puffs. And honestly, why learn to pick them up yourself when you can have someone feed them to you?




We took him for his 6 month well-visit today, and he weighs 17 pounds, 8 ounces (51st %) and is 27.5 inches long (85th %). Our little Shaner bug is growing and healthy and just plain sweet. We love him so much.

Happy Half a Year Baby Boy!