The Oldest. (at only 4)

Lately Natalie asks a lot of questions. And by a lot I mean 5,345,679.
She's so very curious and wants to know, well: Everything.
So herein lies my struggle.
I try to answer everything she asks( within reason and to the best of my knowledge), but this means that lately she thinks she knows it all. Which also means we've had discussions about attitude, tone, talking kindly, etc. These may seem like mature words for a 4 yr old, but she's not shy about asking what a word means until she completely understands your explanation.
So how do I find balance between answering her questions and keeping her humble?

I've often ended her string of questions with "I don't know." "we can find out later" and even, "nobody but God knows Everything". (which is usually followed by why? lol)
I'm struggling with how much info is too much and trying to train/teach her not to be a little miss smarty pants.
It's hard.
The kid is so smart.
She listens so well.

Overheard in the van:
(on the way to Mothers morning out - ironic much?)
Nat- Mommy , there's a big truck beside us. Let's pass it.
*Brief pause as truck is passing us.*
Nat- (excitedly) pass it pass it
Mommy- we can't pass it sweetheart.
Nat - why not?
Mommy- because he's going faster than us.
Nat - well go faster and pass it.
Mommy- we can't pass him Natalie.
Nat- why not?
Mommy- because mommy has to follow the speed limit.
Nat- well why isn't he following the speed limit?
Mommy- I don't know baby, that's something we'd have to ask him.
*Pause*
Nat- how are we Gonna do that?
Mommy - How are we gonna do what? (thinking the convo was over)
Nat- how are we gonna ask him why he's not following the speed limit?
Mommy - (stifling a chuckle) We can't baby. We can't.
Nat- but mommy you just said we would have to ask him, so how we gonna do that while we're driving?
Mommy- We're not. Were not gonna be able to ask him. Sometimes we just don't know why people do stuff.

And if I have this conversation wrong or left out any part of it; if I read it to her- she'll be sure to let me know.

Lord, give me patience. But I need it right now. :)

For the Grands

The Jump-meister:

At 7 Months

Seriously? 7 Months already? *sigh* My little man will be a teenager before I know it! :)

At 7 Months he is:

*Finally eating cereal and baby food like a champ. It took him a bit to warm up to cereal and baby food. He just wasn't all about it the first few weeks we started giving him some. But now he loves it, unless it's green. In which case, I mix it with some fruit and sneak it past him.
He eats Apple sauce mixed with rice cereal in the mornings, and either a fruit or veggie mixed with cereal in the evenings.

*Not sleeping through the night consistently yet. I *try* to get him in the bed by 8:30. Sometimes it's closer to 9:00. Typically he sleeps about 7 hours. Sometimes 9. Sometimes he's up every 2-3 hours until morning. Like I said, not consistent yet but we're getting there.

*Is so close to sitting up on his own. Just this week I put him in the boppy and he sat up by himself for a few minutes.
*Is in total awe of his sisters. He watches EVERYTHING they do. And if he's not where he can see them, but can hear them, he'll nearly breaks his neck trying to see/find them.

*Will not nap unless you hold him. Occasionally he'll nap in his car seat if we're out and about. And, just this week he's fallen asleep in his swing a couple of times. But as a general rule, he wants to be held for his naps and he wakes up pretty much instantly if you try to put him down.


*I always thought John was the only boy who would steal my heart. But I was wrong. :)
Love you sweet boy!

Scrapbook Sussies *March Reveal*

The March kit is available for purchase over on the Scrapbook Sussie site!
As usual, I really enjoyed working with what was in this one. The kits are also now a $40 value for $29.95.
Here's what I did!

Natalie had her first haircut this past fall. I put it off for so long because I was afraid we'd cut off her natural curl! She did so well and her hair looked so much better (= Less stringy!) afterward.
I cut the stars out of one of the My Little Shoebox papers using my SLICE die cut machine.


Abigail had her first hair cut the same day as Natalie. Talk about a little doll. I loved her bangs! And I was so proud of her because, of the two of them, she was the one I was afraid I might have to hold in my lap while she cried about getting the cut. But, she did great! It certainly helped that Natalie went first and she saw it was no big deal.

The pictures on this one make me laugh because they acted like he was SO heavy. I guess when you're 4 and 2, 8lbs is a lot. :) Used my SLICE again for the heart.

And this one was for the AD challenge over on the Sussie Blog. You can see how a Disney advertisement made it's way onto a scrapbook page HERE on this post.
More of the SLICE with the stars and #4. (Can you tell I like that machine a little?)
I also broke out my acrylic stamps on this one. I used an Autumn Leaves alphabet. My stamps are collecting dust, so it was good to put them to use!


There you have it! Make sure you check out the other designers work in our Gallery!

It's March!

I don't like going a whole month between posts. Will try to not let that happen this month.
Recent pics of the kids:

Helping me make a cake for Daddy and Uncle Alan's Birthday:

Enjoying a beautiful day outside!