Mallory, Mallory, Mallory

So I ignored Mallory in the last post.  I'm making up for it now.  

Let me tell you, I LOVE this girl!  She is such a sweet-natured girl... with a bit of hidden spunk and stubbornness in her.  That combo makes for fun days (not always fun nights, but you can't have it all, right?).  Truly, it amazes me how I love each of my children.  Just looking at this first picture makes me want to squeeze her; you know, the kind of squeeze where you have to tense up your arms so you don't squeeze too hard. :)

The girl loves baths!  She has taken a few in the sink, but really she likes to be in the big bathtub, preferably with her sisters.  My girls aren't very modest yet so I probably won't be posting those pictures, but they are all so stinkin' cute in the bath together!

Mallory's a big fan of Grizzly Adams, er... her daddy, I mean.

Weird kid... loves vegetables, but we're having to sneak in the fruits.  This can make things hard sometimes.  For example, she had a nasty ear infection and had to be on antibiotics... yeah, all the medicines are fruit-flavored and she would spit them out.  We need a green bean flavored one!

Santa brought a frog who, when squeezed, has eyes that pop out.  Best toy of Christmas... Mallory loves that thing.

Her 6 month picture

This picture makes me laugh... She was so content to sit like that.

Mallory's also crawling all over the place now.  She is a lot like Landry in that she has no issue just taking off and not caring at all that Mommy isn't in sight.  I love the independence, but I'm definitely going to have to keep an eye on her.

Sweet bath time laughs with her GayGay

She LOVES the sandbox (Clay is still earning brownie points for building that for us).  Yes, she eats sand and some leaves, but outside dirt isn't really dirty anyways.

The older girls like to keep Mallory confined.  She stays out of their stuff that way.

I love that tiny little head watching TV from the box.

Mmmm... So sweet.

I can't believe I never took one of the older girls' first year pictures in just their diapers.  Mallory doesn't like me to put clothes back on her, so we just went diaper-only for her 7 month pictures.

See her two little teeth?

You can see them better here.  Sharp little things they are.

More Snowy Day Fun

So since I'm on a roll and tend to ebb and flow in my posting frequency, I'm going to go ahead shock you with more pictures of some recent fun.  This winter has been surprisingly easy on me (I have historically gotten a little stir crazy).  Between the fun snow play, the short bouts of nicer sunny weather and having two girls at some wonderfully fun ages (not to knock Mallory, but there is just so much engaging interaction you can have with a 7 month old), we have had a great time together lately!

Avery and Landry have taken a keen interest in cooking.  I hope it continues because, from personal experience, it's really no fun to try to force yourself into loving cooking.  Landry is the official "dumper & stirrer" meaning she dumps contents of cans into bowls for me and stirs them up (yes, it does get all over the place, but it's pretty cute).  Avery is a legitimate help.  She can crack eggs without supervision better than most adults, flip pancakes (I LOVE breakfast for supper!), wash pots and pans and set the table quite nicely.  I love listening to her inform me of her reasoning each night for the shape she chooses to fold the napkins in (apparently there is a lot that goes in to choosing between triangular or rectangular shaped paper napkins).  I wish you could see her little apron better here.  It is SO cute!  My friend Katie custom made it for her with her initial on the front pocket.  You should check her out here at her Etsy shop.

How many times a day did they go outside in those boots to get snowballs to eat?

Clay loves this picture.  He says she looks like a natural snowboarder.  I know she has the attitude for it. :)

Sweet Lu chunking a snowball right at the camera.  She thought it was hilarious.

Avery chunking a snowball at her Daddy.  What you need to know about Avery and Landry is that they are very loyal to opposite parents.  Avery would NEVER throw a snowball at her sweet mama, but daddy better beware.  Landry, on the other hand, has zero allegiance to me and will protect her father at all costs.  I guess Mallory will be the tie-breaker.  Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

No, we do not make snowmen at this house... Poor Clay can't even find a pretend male friend.  Here is our snowgirl.  She has some awesome hair.  Landry insisted on the camellia flower for a bow.

Daddy turns into a horse pretty regularly around here.  I feel like those little heels would hurt digging into my calf muscles.

I came in the kitchen to clean up after their snack time and found this on the table.  Avery had formed the letters of her and Landry's names in pretzel sticks.  It was really cute to me.  Had to share.

And another random Valentine pic.  Clay left these ridiculously large balloons out for the girls with little letters for each of them telling them things he loved about them.  You should have watched their faces as I read their letters.  I wish I had it on video.  

So I kind of ignored Mallory in this post.  Maybe I'll do one of just her next.

Snow Days

Well, I thought I was going to sit down and write a legitimate post for y'all... but now Mallory is crying in her crib and there's a significant chance that I'll forget to post anything if I don't just do it now.  Soooo... here are our snow days... fill in with your own witty/cute commentary. :)

My Valentine's Day Card

I mean... that was the sweetest card I've ever gotten...

Thanksgiving

So I don't have a clue why I didn't post this when I uploaded the pictures... I think I just forgot to hit "publish" when I uploaded the photos.  Oops!  Oh well.  Here are some photos from Thanksgiving.  I'm going to try to upload some more recent ones now.

We had a race Thanksgiving morning... You can tell who the real runners are in the family by the scanty running shorts. :)

It was part obstacle course as well. 

Mallory and I came in almost dead last... don't judge till you've tried to run up an down hills with a 4 month old strapped to the front of you (we did finish in front of my very pregnant little sister).

Less words = more posts :)