Easter 2011

We retreated out to my parents' farm for Easter this year.  This year our newest cousin, little Dane Bennett, joined us!  The little man held his own pretty well being the only boy cousin.  Not many of these pictures need an explanation... most of them are just showing off how cute my kids were at Easter. You know, you can do obnoxious things like post a million pictures of your kids in the exact same pose (with only slight deviations in facial expressions) when you're a mom.  I'm embracing that right today.

Avery held Dane like that for a good 10 minutes... he didn't move.  Impressive. :)

I'm still waiting to see the genetic contribution Brenna made to this child.  

My three... seriously, when did I get old enough to have THREE?

And they're off!

Mallory content with her two eggs

Dane, bored with the entire hunt.

Checking out the loot

And we'll end with Mallory's reaction to having tasted her first marshmallow.

Spring Randomness

So I'm about to update with several blogs all in a row as is my tradition.  I've comfortably settled into a cycle of season of drought followed by a season of abundance when it comes to blogging.  

No real theme here just some fun pictures...

Mallory and her friend Tate

This is how I find the girls at some point of each day.

The mommies with their swaddled babies

Apparently lunch under the picnic table is more tasty than lunch at the picnic table.

"Go away Mommy!"... Seriously. That's what they said to me.  No love.

Mallory's 8 month pictures.  Yes, she's already 9 1/2 months.  I'm sure I'll get around to posting 9 months pictures sometime around her 11th month.

Springtime means turtles in the backyard.  This one was great.  He bravely faced off with all three girls...

... And then charged!  I wish I had a sound bite of the screaming that went along with this retreat.

Looking for more turtles.

Who can resist a picture of a sleeping baby?

Why do kids look so old when they ride their scooters and bikes?

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.