Ford was 6 months old on Sept. 13th! I took these pictures this morning after his breakfast. He's finally taking to solid food, but just bananas, sweet potatoes, and carrots. He loves just sitting in the high chair watching Charlotte and James, playing, and being a part of our meals.

My favorite parts of these pictures are his huge smiles and toes! What pure joy!

Ducky has been found!! Our church nursery worker found him a couple weeks ago but kept forgetting to tell us and this past Sunday she remembered. Charlotte was SO happy, came home and put him right in the freezer...I know it's weird, but she likes him to be cold before bed :) So, all is well at bedtime again. Yeah!

All dressed up before church yesterday!

We spent Wednesday-Monday down at Seagrove Beach on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It was a generous gift from a family in church who owns a house down there. Here are some pictures from our vacation with our friends the Smiths:

Even early in the morning, it was too bright for pictures...next time we'll try the afternoon?

In an effort to get James to look up and/or smile, Sy asked him: "How big is James?" Here is the answer!

Lost Ducky, again.

This is Charlotte with her beloved Ducky when she was 7 months old. We lost him just after Christmas this year at church somewhere. I had a back-up Ducky that she never took to, but one day I pulled him out and said, "Look Charlotte, it's Ducky!" and then she grabbed him and said, "Yeah! You found him!" She will only suck her thumb with the duck, holding on to his little wing. Well, we lost second Ducky a few days ago and can't find him either. It's hard to let go: of course she needs to stop sucking her thumb, but I don't think I'm ready for her to grow up like this??! She has been sleeping instead with Musty, the stuffed dog I slept with when I was little (I misread his name as a 4-year old...it was really "Mutsy" on the tag). Anyhow, we'll let you know if second Ducky turns up.

Our week has been a long one...
James is developing such character, one scar at a time. His dad plays rugby so there will be no stitches. Come on, scars on a guys face look kind of cool, right?

We have spent the past 3 days inside as Charlotte's battled a resp. infection we think that started with allergies. Good thing we got the bunk beds because Sy has slept in there the past 2 nights with her and is now sick himself! This morning he went ahead and took her to PriMed at 7 a.m. when they opened to make sure she was okay. A chest x-ray confirmed no pneumonia, and she's breathing a whole lot better today. We decided after everyone had a nap this afternoon to go for a walk. We got out of the car at the park and James took off running...fell head first and now has his latest head wound (we've had a split eyebrow and also chipped front tooth). When we got him home, cleaned him up, and asked him where his boo-boo was, he pointed to both of his knees (neither are even scraped!) and said, "Boo-boo." I guess it doesn't hurt that bad.

Thumbs are the all-around remedy in this house.

And then there is Ford. Always smiling, always happy, and praise the Lord has not yet had a head wound. :)

AHHH! Relief! Ford's first tooth made its appearance on Monday morning. It's the bottom right one...the other bottom one is about to come in, too.

This picture makes me laugh, but here's the proof!

New bunk beds! We drove to Columbus, Georgia today and picked up some bunk beds I found on craigslist.com for a steal. Charlotte is SO excited...She's pretending to be a pirate climbing the mast in this picture! James isn't quite ready to leave the crib yet, but he'll take the bottom bunk in a few months.

Ford is rolling over now, and here is trying to make a getaway... The other two are making their best "say cheese!" faces.

Eventually, the bunk beds will be for the boys and Charlotte will have her own big girl room.

We have backyard neighbors with a great salt-water pool that they have given us free use of this summer. Their one son is grown and our back shared fence even has a connecting gate! We can just cut through any time to enjoy their pool. On Thursday, Sy's day off, I was able to take just Charlotte swimming while the boys napped and Sy mowed the lawn. It was fun to watch how much she's grown in the water this year and play "Ariel" with her :) She did a great job jumping in, swimming with her face under the water, and doing cannonballs off the diving board. With the weather in the 100's the past 2 weeks, and the heat index usually over 105-110, we couldn't stay out long. But it is such a treat to have a pool like this to use!

Teething is NO fun!!!!

Ford is about to get his bottom front two teeth and isn't even 5 months old yet! But I shouldn't be surprised.... James had all 4 on top and all 4 on the bottom by seven months old!

In honor of Ford's first food-tasting, I thought it would be fun to post Charlotte and James's, too. It is neat that my Mom (who is now with the Lord) fed Charlotte her first bites at 5 months.

With moving and other things happening in our lives, I was a neglectful mommy and didn't actually give James his first food until he was 7 months old! (and if you're wondering what the yellow stuff is, it's egg yolk...check out the Weston Price link on the left!)

They do sure grow up fast. Even though the days are often LONG, the years seem to go by too FAST! I love seeing and comparing the features of each of the kids. I can't imagine Charlotte or James without crazy curly hair, but when they were this age I had no idea what their hair would look like. I wonder what amazing locks will sprout from Ford's head over the next few months...

Ford had his 4-month doctor's appointment today and is growing along well. Right at 16 pounds, he was in the top 25% for weight and top 10% for height. We got the green light for solids and here are some pictures Charlotte took of his first taste of "real food." I think you can tell in the second one especially that he liked it! :)

Our traveling man...
On the way to Virginia, Ford was a trooper. Those big eyes and smile kept me company in the back seat while Charlotte and James slept, ate snacks, and watched movies.

The Bumbo! We borrowed this new (to us!) baby-sitter-upper that is supposed to work for babies 3 months and up. Ford can sit fine in it and it seems to support him better than the boppy pillow. It also helps him feel like he's in on what his brother and sister are doing, too. I think he's going to crawl and walk sooner than the other two because he just can't wait to catch up!

My birthday roses are SO beautiful that I had to share pictures of them now that they have opened up!