It's All About The Milestones, Baby!

We're hitting those milestones, left and right.  In a few weeks, Cullen turns five.  F-I-V-E.  I cannot believe it.  Cullen is wonderful for so many reasons, he's happy-go-lucky, he's hilarious, he has the best laugh, but he lacks a little bit of discipline and focus.  So, we signed him up for karate.  The first class was rough, he spent the majority of the time falling on the floor; apparently, he already knows what karate is all about- hitting, he's seen it on Power Rangers.  But the instructor had patience and made sure that he was focusing on the actual sport of karate and not just the action-shot highlights. He did a lot better during his second class, his focus and participation was much more refined.

Arden got signed up too.  He's a natural athlete and needs to harness some of his athletic skills for screaming, "watch 'dis!" as he jumps off of any spot that he can find. Arden has taken on the role of the younger brother: you fall, I fall; you laugh, I laugh; you make fart noises, I make fart noises.  Karate helps Arden harness some of his energy and also find constructive ways to show his talent, rather than just jumping from surface to surface.

And finally, the baby.  She's getting teeth.  Not going to lie, I thought for some reason that maybe she wasn't going to get any teeth, like they hadn't formed or something, so I was real happy when she started cutting the bottom two.  And as luck would have it, girl likes to eat.  She gets that from her Mama.  We started off small, baby food and what not and we've now moved up to anything Gerber that doesn't require teeth or small pieces of anything that's soft; bread, cake, pie, you name, she's tryin' it.

It's a very exciting time for our family, we're all learning and growing together.  The boys are becoming more athletically inclined old boys (Cullen yells at me when I say that he's a young man) and Jameslyn is chewing and once there's chewing there's talking and then there's everything else...  And that's what I'm looking most forward too: the everything else.

Sissy's New Bling

Babies are cute.  Girl babies with earrings are the cutest.  Naturally, Sissy is the cutest girl baby with earrings.  Ever.  I didn't ask anyone for opinions beforehand because I realize that this debate can get a little heated, but the girl was a champ.  Literally.  I was so nervous for her; piercing hurts and I don't want my baby to hurt, but she cried for maybe 10 seconds and then she was over it.  And I do mean over it.  She hasn't pulled at her earrings or shown any signs that they bother her.

Doesn't my girl look so cute?

George, She's Pulling Herself Up!

There's this movie, maybe you've heard of it: Father of the Bride (Part 1).  As I'm sure you can extrapolate from the title, the movie is set from the viewpoint of George Banks, Annie Banks' father.  George recounts the fiasco that is Annie's wedding and all of the goings ons around it.  As Annie returns from Rome, George's secretary announces over the loudspeaker at the sneaker factory that George owns, "George, she landed!"

That line has really stuck around with my sister and I.  Every trip we take or important milestone, we exclaimed, "George, she landed!"  Or "George, she sitting!"  Or "George, she's crawling!"  Well, "George, she's pulling herself up!"  Can you believe that; pulling herself up and then standing?!  This girl is something else.

I'm not sure exactly who she's going to be; maybe funny, maybe serious, maybe carefree or maybe by the book; but no matter who she turns into, she will be standing.  Standing at 7 months, standing at her wedding... You get it, right?  I'm being Mrs. Sentimental 2014; but for real, this is kind of a big thing.  And being the good mother that I am, I had to document it all.  So, here she is, George; standing!