And we're back...

It has been a full season, a quarter of a year since I last posted so I guess better get right down to it.  Here are the highlights of our last three months...at least the ones we have photographed.

In honor of our new baby and the fact that from time to time some small child will need to be contained around here for at least a couple more years I decided to splurge on a fancy baby gate.  You know one that actually works.  One that doesn't make a toddler throw her head back and laugh at the preposterous notion that it could stop her from doing anything that she set her mind to do.  One that doesn't make me cuss like a motherless sailor everytime I try to use it.  I love my new baby gate.  I never knew one could love a baby gate so much.

Rose continued her habit of taking her naps anywhere but in her bed and anytime but nap time.

Our family (each in his or her own way) endured seven brutal weeks of paralyzing morning sickness.  As you can see it was not pretty.

But Daddy and the girls got pretty good at meal prep while Mommy was on the Disabled List.

We managed to get in a few laps around the lake at Furman.

Our daffodils bloomed.

We got a new kitchen table.

Rosie got pneumonia.

Then the next day Sissy got bronchitis.

So Mommy got lots of snuggles.

K-4 had pajama day.

Sissy blossomed as a ballerina.

Afton attended her first friend birthday party.  Also her first time to Chuck E. Cheese's.  (That she remembers.)

The whole family attended Granny's 90th birthday party in Florida.

We got to meet baby Winnie!

Afton started soccer.

Jelly weekend continued in all its glory.

Baby Winnie got a new bed discontinuing the Babington sister's tradition of sleeping in a recalled crib.

Baby Rose got a new bed too!  Uh oh, Baby Rose is a big girl.

                                         

Sweet Afton turned 5!

Rosie Posie turned two! 

Our dryer broke and was fixed but not before the girls and I got to take over an entire section of the local coin laundry for approximately half a day.

The grilled was fired up for new season.

Afton got pretty proficient on her Strider Bike.

Flip flops were purchased in preparation for the partying of summer that is about to ensue.

And our cups overflowed with precious moments like this.

Whew!  And we're back...

Let the good times just keep rolling...

I have fallen behind again.  The holiday season will do that to you!  So let me start off 2012 with one last whirlwind catch up of the final exciting days of 2011.  Perhaps I will stay on top of things better this year.  Only time will tell.  Here goes...

We had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving with my brother and sister-in-law, my niece Scout, and some of my sister-in-law's family.  The girls are still talking about Nanny and Tigger and Alex (and of course Bubba and Ashley and Scout).  It was fun getting lots of new family members this year!

Thanksgiving quickly gave way to Christmas.  This was our first year celebrating Christmas at home.  We loved it!  And we weren't lonely at all because we had all of Ron's family here to celebrate with us!  I was kinda lame at taking pictures of Christmas this year because I was making a conscious effort to stop taking them the moment I felt like it was diminishing my enjoyment of the actual moment at hand.

My Christmas present was our first trip away since our kids were born!  We flew to Oklahoma City to see the Thunder beat the Mavs in a buzzer beater that we will never forget.  We are in a limo in that first picture.  Yes, sir, we are.

And then there was the most exciting part of this holiday season.  We got to share with our families the biggest news of our year...

In August of 2012 our party of five will become a party of six!  Let the good times just keep rolling...

It is a good thing we have to waiting room to ourselves ~ Our Story

Every week Rosie and I have a about 45 minutes to kill while Sissy is in her ballet class.  All the other moms go home and come back but it is too far for us to do that.  It is a good thing we have to waiting room to ourselves because we usually spend that time doing embarrassing things.  You know things like me catnapping on the surprisingly comfy catch while Rose tears up the room and then when she gets bored and wakes me up having an improptu iphone photo shoot.  What a sweet little waiting room buddy she is!

And they LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their Daddy!

What is the best thing about having a birthday the day after Halloween?  Halloween candy on your birthday cake, of course!  My girls come up with some pretty amazing ideas.

And they LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their Daddy!

As if it were your very first time. ~ Our Story

This year was our first year to take the girls trick or treating.  What took us so long?  Mostly the fact that they were too little to know what it was and I never felt like going to the trouble of getting them costumes when they didn't even care about it yet anyway.  I remember one year my mom asked me what they were going to be for Halloween and the conversation went on like this,

"Nothing."

"Oh, do you not believe in celebrating Halloween?"  

"Nope, I believe in it.  I am just a little cheap and a little lazy and a lot busy."

I have had moments of feeling bad that my little ones were missing out on fun even if they didn't realize it.  I mean it is my responsibility to make sure they know about all the fun there is to have in the world, no?  Most of my friends dress their kids up for Halloween as soon as they can. Baby elephants and lady bugs and pumpkins galore!  Though, now that I think about it, none of those friends were already several weeks pregnant again by the time their oldest child reach its first Halloween, but I digress...

Anyway, we knew this was the year to get the Halloween party started.  All the girls were old enough to really enjoy it now and make some special childhood memories.  Our discussion of what they would be began in early fall was continued pretty much everyday from that moment on.  They came up with some pretty crazy ideas like a birthday cake, and a lot of fun but more traditional ideas like a pirate, or a cowgirl, or a ballerina. 

One night while we were eating dinner on our back deck Afton asked me what Rose should be for Halloween.  I looked over at her. She was wearing just a diaper and had her dinner spread all over her body and throughout her unruly, one-year-old girl hair and said immediately, 

"A mad scientist, of course!"

This would be the last year that I got to pick out what she would be and also because of my slackerish momness the first time I got to dress a defenseless little baby up as whatever I wanted.  Rose's hair was in that crazy place between baby and little girl hair - perfect for a mad scientist!  I told Ron that night that I was as excited about Rose's halloween costume as I had ever been about any of my own as a child.

She pulled it off perfectly!  Her "what exactly is going on here" expression adds so much to the overall look.  What a cutie!  Afton's take on it was "Rose doesn't look pretty, but she looks awesome!"  

You did look awesome, pretty Rose!  Thanks for humoring me!  Next year you can pick out whatever pretty little costume you want!

As for my other little girls, after a month of discussing costume options they settled on being....PRINCESSES!  Yes, princesses.  They same thing they dress up as EVERY SINGLE DAY.  At first I thought it was crazy that they were passing up their chance to be something fun and new but I finally I agreed.  They dress up as princesses everyday because that is what they love to pretend to be.  When I thought about it that way I realized there couldn't have been a funner costume for them.

We fancied up their everyday princess dresses a bit.  They got to put on some of Mommy's make up.  I even agreed to straighten Afton's hair for the occasion (something she had been asking me to do for a long time).  They were feeling and looking extra beautiful when we had our little pre-game photo shoot.

Two of the prettiest little treasures God has ever given me!

 "Belle"

 "Sleeping Beauty"

The trick or treating itself was a blast.  Watching them run from house to house, their eyes wide with amazement that people were just giving them more candy than they had ever seen in their lives, as trite as it may sound, made me feel young again.  One of the best things about having kids is the chance they give you to experience the wonderful, beautiful things of life once again as if it were your very first time.