Lauryn "Otis Campbell" Pittard

On Sunday I tried to get a good picture of Lauryn wearing a new dress from her Grammie. As you can see, it didn't work out so well. I thought I'd do it right after she had eaten, thinking she'd be nice and content. Unfortunately, she was in a state we affectionately refer to as "milk stupor".

"So then I shez to the guy ..."

"The shnozberries taste like shnozberries!"

And this was the best I managed:

On another note, I got school books ordered today! We've been slowly getting our feet wet and I'm ready (if the kids aren't!) to dive back in. Life is settling into the "new normal" pretty nicely. Or maybe I'm just overly optimistic since Lauryn has let me sleep in blissful 5-hour stretches for the last 4 nights. As I told a friend the other day, it's funny how your standards change!

Front Porch Photo Shoot

On a recent visit to Jeff's parents' house, the girls and I had a little photography session on the front porch.

Kaity took the next two:

Selah is fascinated with how tightly Lauryn grips her hand.

Beautiful Girl

Pictures from our latest post-prandial snuggling and playtime:

Name that show in the background!

 Going ...

Going ...

Gone!

I just LOVE those smooshy lips! And that double chin. And those tiny fingers. And the chubby cheeks.

The "New Dad" Pose

With each of our babies, we have dozens of pictures that could be titled, "Baby sleeping on daddy". It's such an irresistible photo op!

I hate to tell him that the admonition to "sleep when the baby sleeps" isn't exactly aimed at dads ...

Jeff pondered last night why pictures of "baby sleeping on mommy" aren't as common. Several reasons sprang to my mind:

1. I'm always nursing!
2. My hair looks awful.
3. I'm still in my pajamas.
4. I'm not wearing make-up.
5. Who's going to take the picture?

I'm sure you mothers out there can relate!

Daddy gets to shower and get dressed and go to work and talk to adults and act like a grown up, and I'm all like, "I changed 37 diapers and stopped a toddler from putting Cheerios in her nose!"

I have no idea what's up with her hand.

Disclaimer: Seriously, I'm crazy happy (emphasis on crazy) to be a stay-at-home, home schooling mom. I wouldn't trade it for anything! Especially not a job where I'd have to get dressed and leave the house every day.

Keepin' It Real

Don't get me wrong - Lauryn is adorable. But sometimes this is life:

I love the irony of the "mommy's sweetheart" onesie.

Thankfully, those moments are pretty rare and we mostly get times like this:

Grammie and Bobba

My parents came for a visit last Saturday, mainly because they had some furniture to deliver to us, and also because my mom was going through baby withdrawals.

Here she is getting her fix:

Bobba's turn!

Joe, getting in his iPad fix:

And here's a bonus picture of Lauryn being adorable:

(Wearing another of her daddy's outfits)

Snapshots

In Selah's opinion, one of the best benefits of her new little sister is access to baby wipes. I have to watch her like a hawk to make sure she's not getting into them. That said ... naturally, she got into them the other day and used a couple to "wash" her car.

When she heard the camera go off, she immediately struck a pose and said, "Take a picture me, Mommy!"

On another note, the boy has been in desperate need of a haircut. My '80's pop culture nostalgia does not extend to the mullet. Any-hoo ... I have a friend who is a hair dresser and she, thankfully, agreed to make a house call to bush hog cut Joe's hair, and also to give mine a nice trim and add in some layers. I haven't gotten a picture of my new 'do yet, but here's Joe:

Lauryn ~ One Month

Birthday Boy(s)

For Jeff's birthday last Saturday, I asked him if he'd like to go to his parents' house at some point that day, and he readily agreed that would be great. After a moment of thought, I called his mom and arranged to cook dinner over there for all of us. I was planning on making one of Jeff's favorite meals anyway, and I had plenty to include his parents, too. Along with the ice cream cake his mom provided, we had bacon cheeseburgers (with a fried egg for the birthday boy!) and Seasoned Potato Wedges. Jeff offered to have two slices of cake so we'd feel like his twin brother Joe got to celebrate with us, too. He's thoughtful like that.

And of course, yesterday was our Joe's birthday - last year in single digits! I know parents always say this, but it really is hard to believe he's 9 years old!

My parents sent Joe's gift to our house so he could open it on his actual birthday ...

His very own "Going to Grandma's" piece of luggage! He loves all the pockets.

And speaking of pockets, I hid the presents from us inside the bag.

Found one!

A "vintage" (ha-ha) 1995 Star Trek: The Next Generation playset! It's a model of the Enterprise, complete with Data, Riker (with beard) and Picard action figures.

Searching for the next present ...

Kaity: "Cool!"

Lego: Lord of the Rings Wii game!

For obvious reasons, Joe hasn't seen the movies, but he's familiar with the story since Jeff read the series and The Hobbit to the kids a while back.

Joe's birthday dinner was chili dogs, with apple cobbler for dessert.

Tonight we're continuing the birthday tradition of our friend Eli coming over for dinner, because his birthday is two days after Jeff's. I'm frying chicken, and we'll have red velvet cake for dessert.

Funny Face

I snapped this shot of Lauryn on Thursday last week, and then Kaity got hold of the camera. She took the rest of these pictures.

This is what we call Lauryn's "Marty Feldman" face:

See the resemblance? She also has a "Spock" face. I haven't gotten a picture of it, but when she arches her left eyebrow, one of us says, "Fascinating, Jim." It makes me giggle.

Cupcakes!

For Sunday School last week, the kids wanted to take a special treat. Since I had a 2-1/2 week old baby, I opted for a boxed cake mix to make cupcakes.

Mainly due to said baby, we ended up making the cupcakes Saturday night after dinner - that's why the kiddos are in their pajamas. I promise we get dressed around here! (Side note: Apparently Selah doesn't think so. She announced to her Sunday School teachers that Mommy doesn't wear clothes anymore! Um, awkward!)

So I cheated on the cake part, but I wasn't about to use canned frosting. That stuff tastes just like the chemicals it's made with! It takes about 5 minutes to whip up a nice cream cheese frosting, and it's much tastier.

Kaity chose to color her half of the frosting purple.

And Joe went with his favorite color, green.

Selah wanted a purple cupcake because it matched her shirt.

Star sprinkles!