It's going to be COLD this week.

So we moved this session up a few days.  This couple has four very sweet daughters.  The youngest two are pretty much the exact ages of Maggie Lu and Penelope.  Little Abigail was born in the same hospital P was just ten days earlier.  I love their dark curly hair.  One of the things that I'm inspired to do more of is have multiple people in 90% of my photos.  Even if other people are just blurred in the background, in my opinion, it adds to the richness of the photograph.  

It was a lovely November afternoon.

Halloween was saved.

D'arcy came home on Wednesday saying, "Mom, Halloween has been postponed until Friday because of bad weather."
I then made them do their usual 20 minutes of chores.  She picked up her room and then came downstairs to work on our bookshelf.  I told her she needed to organize the books by color instead of just shoving them in there.  We always do this so most of them were already done, but she immediately started crying, REAL overwhelmed tears.
I say, "D'arcy breath out and calm down.  This really won't take you that long."
She says, "I'm just STRESSED.  First, they move Halloween, and now I have to do all this work."
I still made her do the work, but I was reminded that growing up is hard.  You learn that life includes a lot of work and that plans we are excited about can get messed up.

We ended up Trick or Treated on Halloween anyway because we had a funeral to attend on Friday.  For all the hubbalu of the night before, you would think D'arcy would have been happy.  It was raining, though, and the only place we really went was the Fountain Square Theatre.  In my opinion, they got plenty of candy.  D'arcy wasn't impressed.

On Friday afternoon, just as D'arcy is descending from the school bus, I get a call from D'arcy's very sweet teacher.  He said that when he asked the kids in his class what their plans for Halloween were D'arcy shared that she would not get to go trick or treating because Stephen and I had to go to this viewing.  He said she was holding back tears and it broke his heart.  He and his wife were having friends over to trick or treat and would D'arcy like to go trick or treating with his daughter (who goes to school with D'arcy)?

I asked him if D'arcy had mentioned that we had, in fact, gone trick or treating the night before.  Yes, she had, but she had mentioned that we weren't able to get very much in the way of candy.

Life is tragic, or in D'arcy's case ALMOST tragic.  We dressed her up and dropped her off at the party.

Did I mention she wanted to be a zombie princess?  Julian was a Ninja and told us he would protect us from the zombie apocalypse.

Sadly, there are no close ups of Schroeder. We sort of hand made his costume. He helped me pick out just the right purple pants and the children's second hand store. We sprayed his hair black. He was so happy, but not happy enough to sit still for a close up.

This family is super cute.

P is five months old!

At the beginning of the year, I committed myself to taking more self portraits.  I hope that doesn't make me a complete narcissist.  It's an interesting, fun challenge for me.  I took the photo to the right in March when I was 34 weeks pregnant.  I took the second photo on the left yesterday with the help of my handy ring sling.  P is almost five months old.  

At 5 months, she is rolling over both ways and getting her chubby knees up under her bottom in crawling position.  She is eager to grab toys, and is starting to work to move herself towards a toy out of reach.  She coos and smiles at me all day.  On very special occasions she gives us a giggle.  She's stingy with those, though.  She is sleeping from 12-6 at night without interruption.  Upon returning from Florida last week, I started putting her in her crib at night (which is in our room).  The co-sleeper went up in the attic.  I'm hoping a niece or nephew will get to use it, but it will likely never be beside my bed again.  

She's eating rice cereal once a day, and is nursing is going well.  She dropped from 50% to 25% in weight at her last appointment.  I'm not worried, though.  My milk supply seems good and she always seems satisfied.  

I wanted to document what it is to nurse a baby at this age.  She uses her free little hand to grab my necklace, hair, and lip.  If I try to keep her hand at her side, she gets frustrated.  It's sweet and maddening all at the same time.  Sometimes (99.9% of the time) I just want my face to be left alone.  But, usually, she gets her way and puts her little fingers in my mouth so I can nibble on them.  It's weird but not unusual.  Her siblings did the same thing, and I'm guessing most babies do.

Stephen is looking into getting a vasectomy.  One hot August evening when I was nine months pregnant with Maggie, I rolled over and sighed.  I must have sounded miserable because Stephen said, "Melissa, I'll get a vasectomy."  That made me laugh.  I've told him it's his choice.  If I happen to die and he marries another lady, would he want to have kids with her?  I guess his answer is no because he is proceeding towards surgery. 

 A long time ago, we decided on five kids.  It breaks my heart just a bit to never use the name Ulysses.  If I was guaranteed a boy next time, I might be tempted to have another one.  But nothing is guaranteed and so we are content to stop at five.  

Maggie wanted her picture taken, too.  It was bunny's birthday.   

Julian is 7!

So this kid turned seven.

He and his cousin Gabe are still best buds. They keep saying they plan to live together when they get older. He has a best bud at school now, too, named Leo. He also seems to really like his siblings, or maybe he just relies on them for entertainment. The other day we went to the YMCA. While D'arcy was in her tumbling class, Julian played on the indoor playground. The younger kids weren't around because they had fevers. Julian just sat there saying, "It's no fun without Schroeder."

He's a pretty reluctant kid. He knows how to swim, but refuses to without floaties. He knows how to ride his bike, but prefers to ride the one with training wheels which I've been trying to give to Schroeder. I finally put him in swim lessons so he can gain confidence. I'm trying to strike a balance between letting him do things at his own pace and demanding that he try it AND like it. Remember, I've never parented a reluctant kid. D'arcy is the opposite. I was proud of myself. We went to Disney World last week. I encouraged him to ride Splash Mountain. He doesn't like roller coasters or anything with too big of a drop. I'd never been on Splash Mountain, but for gosh sake, it's just a log flume! How bad could it be? He trusted me, went, and liked it! Two years ago, I probably would have tricked him into going on Space Mountain because, really, how bad could it be? I'm glad I've earned and deserve his trust.

I got an email from his teacher today saying he is a smart kid but a lazy learner. He told her he likes video games more than reading. We are working on creating a better reading routine. Two years ago, he wouldn't even pick up a crayon. He hated drawing, but we overcame that. I'm hopeful.

He played football last spring. He ended up playing center most often. After he hiked the ball, he would stay in a the same triangular position (head on the ground, feet on the ground, butt in the air) until the play was complete. I never want to forget that.

I've tried to start singing to him to help wake him up in the morning. Well, only if my first, "JULIAN GET UP!!!" doesn't work. Neither of us are morning people. I sing things like Zippidy Do Da! It usually makes him laugh. Our mornings have greatly improved.

It's getting cold outside. He was getting dressed yesterday and said, "All my pants are short sleeved!" Do you mean that you can only find shorts in your closet. Yes. This made me laugh.

When we were on the way to Disney World, he rode with my parents. At each stop, he would run up and say hi and give me a hug. He does the same thing if I come to school. He's a pretty cuddly, affectionate kid which I like.

He really loves his baby sister. He always has a kiss for her. It's fun to see him take joy in watching her grow.

Julian has such big eyes. The get bigger when he's excited and smaller when he's angry. When I think of him, I think of those eyes. He has the tiniest bit of brown in his blue eyes really close to the pupil. I thought brown eyes were dominant, but that's the only brown I was able to pass down. That brown makes me happy.