Top of Your Christmas List

Last Christmas I asked for a screen door that had a doggy door for our back door. I wanted to be able to hear the girls while they were outside playing and also not have to run back and forth to the door to let Franklin in and out. People, if you have kids you should DEFINITELY ask for this for Christmas this year. My kids are so entertaining. They take their shoes off outside and then toss them back through the doggy door. Ruthie is constantly lifting up the flap to squeal at her big sisters. Lindsay's little girl Madison is pretty sure it's a door just for her and she goes out the doggy door with no hesitation. And every now and then I get some cute surprises popping their heads in! (Plus it works pretty great as a door for Franklin too.)

USC game

This weekend Carolina played South Alabama so we took all three of the girls to the game. This was Ruthie's first South Carolina game! 

The game was at noon so we had a breakfast tailgate. Paul cooked us up eggs, bacon, hash browns, and biscuits. My friend Susan stopped by tailgate. I hadn't seen her for over a year so it was lots of fun to catch up!

Normally we go and watch the band march through the old Farmer's Market but we didn't have enough time this year. 

The girls had lots of fun at the game. Ellie had fun learning some cheers and was so proud that she could cheer with everyone else in the stadium! Emmie's favorite of course was the band and she loved listening to them at halftime. Ruthie was really good and had a great time hanging her head upside down and looking at the person beside us...she thought it was hilarious. 

The girls were all pretty tired so we left after halftime...they were all asleep by the time we got halfway home!

Family Pictures

In October I got my crew rounded up and cleaned up long enough to have some family pictures taken by the super talented Kennerly Jordan. Kennerly has done lots of pictures for us over the years and I'm always so thrilled with her work and her ability to capture the perfect moments!
This is one of the pictures she took of Emmie during her 3 yr old photo session and it is my absolute favorite picture of Emmie.





I got our CD in the mail yesterday and I'm so excited to share some of my favorite pictures!

Mommy's Little Helper and Catching Up

This post is going to be a random collection of pictures from this past week. I've been busy planning for birthday parties, ordering Christmas cards, working on Christmas list, buying Christmas presents, sewing, and chasing a very cute, but into everything, baby around.


Today I was doing laundry and Ruthie crawled in to the laundry room. She normally will play around with the clothes in the dryer. Today she held up a sock for me so I took it and she thanked her and so then she started taking everything out and handing the clothes to me. It was so cute. If she dropped something on the floor she would pick it up and bring it over to me. I love her.



It's been so cold this week but on Monday it was close to 70 but POURING rain. My girls love to play in the rain so after we picked Emmie up from school those crazy children insisted on putting on their bathing suits and going out to play. They didn't last too long out in the cold.



On Tuesday it was super cold outside but I knew Franklin had to get a walk as he hadn't had one the day before due to the rain. I decided it would be easier to take him in the chilly morning while it was just Ruthie and me than to wait for the afternoon when I'd have to take all of the girls. Ruthie won't keep a hat on and it was FREEZING outside so I pulled out the moby wrap and snuggled her next to me and then wrapped a big fleece jacket around both of us. I must say she was a warm little walking buddy!



Ellie generally doesn't wake up very happy from her naps (or in the morning...it's possible she takes after her Mom). Usually she just has to deal because I'm trying to get Ruthie awake and fed. The other day I woke up Ellie first and she just wanted to snuggle. She's such a snuggle bug and just seems to melt into you when you hold her...I love it.



On Wednesday Lindsay, Mason, and Madison were in town so they came over in the afternoon. We played outside for a little while and the kids had so much fun in the leaves! (Also my children were asleep in record time that night...school/church nursery in the morning, no naps, lots of playing outside and church again that night...they were worn out!)

I LOVE the expression on Mason's face!

Ellie has always been my more laid back child but the other night she was playing with the magnets on the refrigerator and apparently she has a bit of Type A personality in her!



Ruthie has become obsessed with our super obnoxious ride-on cars (thanks Abby). If you've read my blog for awhile you know that these toys are the worst.present.ever. so of course my kids have all loved them. Since Ruthie became interested in the cars it has caused the big girls to want to play with them often. I got a big kick out of Ellie the other day.



Emmie loves to play teacher. Today she was sitting at the table teaching her imaginary class how to pray...it was so, so sweet. Then she read them bible stories. I love that.



In addition to being a pro at climbing stairs, Ruthie has also learned how to climb into our little rocking chair. She LOVES to sit there and just rock, rock, rock. If she's feeling especially wild and daring she will try to stand up but normally she does really well about staying sitting down. She's even figured out how to get back down safely (most of the time...I did move it out of the den and into the big girls' room so that it was at least on carpet).

Up, Up, and Away!

Ruthie has learned to crawl up the stairs. She started out a few weeks ago just going up and down the first step so that was ok. Then all of a sudden she figured the whole thing out and was GONE. She is so fast getting up the stairs (and I've NEVER practiced stair climbing with her). I love when my girls can crawl and walk...it really makes things so much easier but I do NOT like when they learn to climb stairs! Plus the playroom is up there now so Ruthie has lots of incentive to get up the stairs and wants to go up there all the time. I've had to work with the big girls about closing the door if I'm not where I can watch Ruthie closely. You can't just mostly close the door either...she knows how to open it if it's not all the way shut! The big girls of course think it's just wonderful that Ruthie can climb the stairs!



Oh, and Ruthie has learned to climb into our little rocking chair...and today she's learned that she can stand up in it...eep.
Tonight she also discovered that if she slams herself back really hard in the highchair she can move it across the kitchen...and make her sisters laugh...lovely.

Everyday Moments

Most of the time I post pictures of "events" but while those things are fun and are great memories, my favorite memories are the everyday moments. I was upstairs reading in my favorite chair the other day and looked up to see this scene. These sisters love each other so much and these are the moments I strive to capture in pictures, however usually by the time I've rounded up a camera they've moved on the other things.

I love watching their personalities develop and seeing how, while very different, their personalities compliment each other so well.

Emmie is my oldest child with the personality to go with it! She is the leader (that's a nice way of saying bossy) and the mommy and always has to be the loudest. She watches out for everyone and is generally looking for a way to help whether it's helping Ellie get dressed in the morning or helping her make her bed, reading a book to her little sisters, helping Ellie wash her hands, or helping feed Ruthie. She loves to write and she loves to teach her little sisters. She has a wonderful imagination.

Ellie is the fun one. She's generally quieter than Emmie and is usually fine with not being the center of attention. Ellie is pretty content to go along with what Emmie wants to do but when she puts her foot down you know it...she screeches! She loves books and would let me read to her all day. She loves to snuggle and swing and color. If you can't find Ellie then she's probably off somewhere having fun...which usually means I'm going to have a big mess to clean up but I'll laugh the whole time. She is our comedian and has the best facial expressions.

Ruthie's personality is still developing. Ruthie is pretty laid back. She goes with the flow and right now is pretty content to let the big girls dictate the play. As soon as she gets up in the morning she looks for them and her eyes light up when she sees them. She doesn't really get upset about too much but when she does you know it! If something happens that she doesn't like she gets MAD. Ruthie is very decisive. If she's decided she doesn't want to do something (or that she does want to do something she's not supposed to) there's no changing her mind. Ruthie loves her sisters. She's pretty sure they hung the moon. She's my rough and tumble kid. She loves to wrestle. She's always on the go. She loves to swing and she loves to "dance" when she hears music. She definitely has a silly side to her. She loves when her sisters make funny faces and she loves to be silly with them. Ruthie has a tender side. She often gets upset when her sisters cry and wants to check on them.

I love these sweet sisters and I love how much they love each other!