5 months!

Sweet Parker is 5 months old! 

Parker has had a really good month.  He's growing like a weed, and he's starting to show off his personality!  Accomplishments include:

• Grabbing his feet.
• Rolling from back to belly.
• Has rolled from belly to back a few times.
• Sometimes sleeps on his belly now.  And he seems to hate it. 
• He took his first out of state trip to South Carolina!
• He is about to bust out of his 6 month footed onesies.  I'm starting to wash the 9 month clothes.
• His personality includes crying when he hears one of his sisters cry, laughing when one of his sisters gets close to him and talks to him, and definitely gets mad and shows it sometimes!
• Lots more "talking" is going on.  He's said "dadadadadadada" so Stephen is convinced that he is saying his first word, dad.  Hmmm.... I don't know about that.  Trying to work on his /m/ sound now.  I'll show Stephen.
• In the tub, he kicks his little legs like he is dancing a jig.  He looks like the penguin in Happy Feet.  It's hilarious!
• Parker is now eating solids!!  So far, he has tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, bananas, and applesauce.
• He celebrated his 5 month birthday today with croup! :(

First time trying rice cereal.  Mmmm.

Beach bum.

Ladies, ladies... there's enough of me to go around!

Week off

I've been enjoying a week off of school this week.  It really makes me miss maternity leave.  I would go crazy if I was off for too long, but I must admit that I enjoy being able to catch up with everything life has thrown at me.  Or, to do things that I have been itching to do but haven't had a second to do it.

We got back Monday evening, and Tuesday was spent unpacking and trying to stay ahead of the cleaning ladies who came.  Isn't it funny that you almost have to clean up for the cleaning ladies?  I just couldn't fathom leaving the piles of laundry (yes, piles, and we were only gone for 3 days) for them to have to move around just to vacuum. It was good motivation for me to get things actually put up!

My mom came down and spent Tuesday night with us (I won't elaborate on Tuesday evening/night... let's just say I had 3 miserable little campers) and Wednesday we started painting!  I have painted most rooms in my house a color, but the basic "builder beige" that is in our kitchen, den, foyer, and upstairs hallway drive me nuts.  Mom and I ended up painting the entire den and some of the kitchen.  The color is basically what you'd think of when you hear the word "tan".  I love it- it makes the crown moulding actually show up, but it's not too dark.  It makes the house feel a little more cozy!

Thursday, I went to the dentist, shopped a little, and then finished painting the kitchen.  I had a guy come over to give me a quote to paint the foyer, and to do the hallway was only a little more.  Yeah, that's worth it to me!  Sadly, my painting "mojo" is gone, probably for a while.

Tomorrow, I'm going to run some errands, possibly get some bushes to plant in the garden, and call it a week!  Looking forward to a weekend of a birthday party and a date night.  Then... back to work!

Bad lighting, but here is the before and the after!

 

After

Before

 

After

Charleston 2013

Stephen, the kiddos, and I went to Charleston for a long weekend.  My sister and her fam made the trek, too.  We went to visit our cousin, Sharon, and her hubby, Rus, at their vacation house on the Isle of Palms. 

I guess to summarize... I think I could live there.  For the rest of my life.  Period.

It certainly helped that Sharon completely waited on us, hand and foot.  I didn't wash a single bottle all weekend.  I didn't cook a thing, I didn't clean a dish.  There were so many extra hands around that my 3 kids were always with someone.  It was so nice.  I felt incredibly lazy.

I'll recap the weekend with pictures.  We got there kind of late Friday night, around 10 or so.  Both girls had fallen asleep in the car, and Sydney was Miss Cranky Pants having to be woken up.  They did wake up, though, saw the house and everybody, and played for a while.  Sharon and Rus' 4 year-old granddaughter was there, too.  My kids didn't really go to bed until 11 or so!

Saturday morning, we woke up and Sharon had made us some heart-shaped pancakes, bacon, and fruit.  The guys went golfing, and the girls (and Parker) stayed in and iced some cupcakes.  This was a lot of fun, and after some mini-frosting fights, the clothes went in the washing machine and the girls went in the tub.

That tub time turned into play time for about an hour.  Hey, whatever works, right?

We then all got dressed and headed to the beach!  It was actually very nice, temperature-wise on Saturday.  It was probably in the 50s, but warm in the sun.  The kids had fun running around, letting the waves chase them, and digging in the sand.

Parker's first trip to the beach!



After our beach trip, it turned cold!  The rest of the day was spent playing games, doing puzzles, watching movies.  I was able to take an interruption-free hour-long bath, and I was also able to take a 4 mile bike ride.  That is my most favorite thing to do at the beach- ride bikes. 

We ate a delicious dinner and then had a little surprise celebration for Madeline's 10th birthday!

Then, we bundled up and headed back to the beach to chase crabs with the flashlights!  The crabs must've thought it was too cold to be out, so we ended up just having a nice night-walk on the beach.

Sunday morning, we woke up to homemade Belgian waffles and strawberries.  Kendall and I went for a bike ride together, and then we braved the (32 degree) cold and went to the beach to take some family pictures.  You can tell in the kids faces how cold it was!  We took about 1 shot of each group and then ran back home.

Sharon took the girls (minus Taylor, who stayed home to nap) on a tour of the College of Charleston and also to see some historical sights in Charleston.  We walked around a cute area of Charleston with little shops.  Sharon got Sydney a cute cupcake necklace, she was so excited.

When we got home, we hung out the rest of the night.  The kids had so much fun running around and playing together!

Monday morning, we packed up and went to downtown Charleston.  We went on a carriage tour around the city.  It hit right at Parker's nap time, so he cried for a good 10 minutes (I was cringing, thinking of all these people on the carriage who paid money and had to head a baby cry for so long!).  But, thankfully, he finally fell asleep.  It was a cool way to see the town.



I'm already dreaming of our next trip there... it was so much fun!

Busy, busy, busy!

We have been busy beavers here in the K-Bash household lately.  Lots of stuff going on, lots to keep up with, and these precious kiddos of mine are growing up so quickly!  Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans, right?

Anyways, just wanted to give an update on us. 

Sydney:  Sydney has become Miss Socialite lately.  She's had a bunch of birthday parties in the last few weeks, which are nice outings on a weekend.  She started up gymnastics last week, which she really enjoyed.  She's thriving in her class, and was the first to get the "Best Reader" award for the first week of reading groups in her class.  She has this drive to want to learn, which is very exciting.  She's learning her states, thanks to a placemat with a map of the US that she stares at while we eat.  She's developing good friendships... some too good... this little boy always hugs on Sydney when she gets to school in the AM, or puts his arms around her.  He's kind of the "bad boy" in the class, so I'm hoping this is just a phase.  Goodness, I can't imagine what it'll be like to have teenage girls!

 

 

 

Taylor:  Taylor is hilarious.  Period.  I don't know how else to describe her.  She is part mess, part sweet, part sneaky, part adventurous, and the rest just plain funny.  She is talking so much now.  She and Sydney have the best time together, and it's really funny to hear their conversations with each other.  They also fight like cats and dogs.  The fights usually last for about 2 minutes, with screams and cries, and then they'll be running around holding hands again.  Taylor is in the midst of potty-training and is actually doing pretty well!  We're not very close to being 100% by any means, but she's come a pretty long way in a short period of time.  Sydney has given her her "Georgie" monkey doll (looks just like her "Monkey" but has little beans in his bottom, unlike her Monkey).  Now both my girls are obsessed with monkeys.

 

She would climb up on her own...

...and then slide all the way down.  This entertained her for a good 30 minutes.

Parker:  He is still pure sweetness.  He is getting so big, holding his head up so well.  He is enjoying things like his Bumbo chair and his little play station thingy.  I'm starting to wonder if he has a milk allergy... he has had these excema-looking rashes on his face, and he's started spitting up more.  Sydney had a milk-protein allergy, so I'm wondering if that could be genetic.  We're going to try some things out to see if it can get better.  The good news is that he's not very fussy, so it doesn't seem like it's really bothering him.  He just scratches at his face, which leaves little scrapes all over his head.  I try to keep those nails cut/filed daily, but I apparently am missing a little corner each time I do it.  Parker has started eating solids, and has tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and carrots.

19.5 weeks

 

 

Me/Stephen: We've been keeping very busy.  Work's been crazy and Stephen has been traveling a decent amount.  Stephen is still training for the half-marathon and is up to 7 miles now.  I'm very proud of him!  We are hosting a church Sunday School group every Sunday evening at our house.  Our minister is leading it, and there are about 18 adults that attend.  We have a babysitter keep the kids in a separate part of our house.  It's been a really great experience so far.  We've been doing a lot of socializing lately, including a Superbowl party, guys/girls' nights out, and me working out with the neighbors nightly.  Besides that, I'm looking forward to a whole week off next week, taking a mini-vacay, and getting things done around the house.  5 more days... I can do this!

Have a good week, everybody!