an evening stomp in the garden

we visited this horse (het paard in dutch) nearly every day this summer.. just to say hi... and perhaps pass the time some days :) tonight we noticed that the horse had on a coat.... the nights are definitely getting cooler now

we watched these pumpkins grow all summer... most of the time helen would ride her loopfiets by and say.... "looooook how big the pumpkins are getting mom!" each time we would have to push back the leaves to peak at the pumpkins but tonight we noticed that the gardeners had cleared away all the leaves and harvested the pumpkins.

the gardeners donated one of their pumpkins to the kids school for their fall festival

these "creatures" are everywhere right now... and leave a big "splotch" on the ground when they are squished by a bike (not my bike - by the way!).... i noticed a lot of them on the ground one sunday when i went for a run in the rain..... eewwww!

big zuchinni

serve yourself!

jillian sits here most evenings after dinner while i clean up the kitchen (because she's crawling now and i can't trust her around the house alone!)

before dinner - i set a piece of bread on the table next to jillian's highchair... then i went into the kitchen to mix her food... when i came back out - she had swiped the bread and started eating it on her own (and yes, ross was actually sitting at the table.... apparently he thought i had given her the piece of bread to eat when he saw her eating it!)

it was good, fresh bread from a french bakery in town!

see mom... i don't need that mushy baby food anymore... i'm a big girl!

crazy daddy!

this is what you get when you give 4 crazy kids and their daddy a camera! today while i was scrubbing the floors - ross hung out with the kids. i can just tell by their faces that they were having so much fun ...even daddy.... well - maybe jillian is not so sure about the situation :)

the bouncy seat

graham in the bouncy seat

jayden in the bouncy seat

helen in the bouncy seat

jillian in the bouncy seat

today, a major milestone has occured at our house.....the bouncy seat is being put away! this is my LAST baby to sit in the bouncy seat! i'm sad.... but also happy at the same time. i am glad to be entering a new phase in our lives... no more newborns! but i am sad to say goodbye too.

i can hum the tune that it plays by heart! .... and the vibrating seat has soothed each newborn many times. i can remember graham's first "taste" of rice cereal from this seat..... i can remember this seat safely placed on the kitchen table so that graham would not try to poke jayden's eyes out..... i can remember helen sitting in the bouncy seat watching her brothers.... and jillian has probably spent the least amount of time in this seat since it was stuck in our air shipment for about 3 weeks.... yet it still reamined a "safe haven" for her away from her sister helen! this bouncy seat has allowed me to take a shower at LEAST every other day when they are newborns... knowing the baby is safe in the seat and entertained for 5 minutes!

yes, this bouncy seat sits a little lower to the ground than when we brought it home almost 7 years ago..... tell me why is the bouncy seat so appealing to a toddler when the baby is not sitting in it? :) ... but i'm going to miss having it around!

the tooth fairy is coming!

Jayden lost his FIRST tooth today!

he has been wiggling the tooth for weeks now.... and he has been looking forward to this moment since Graham lost his first tooth a LONG time ago!

no teeth yet for jillian! i LOVE a gummy smile!

no loose teeth for helen yet! although she said she can't wait to lose her first tooth now!

here's Mr. Graham with all his new teeth! (i see an orthodontist payment in my near future!)

jillian is 7 months old!

pretty much sitting up on her own now!

i love her eyelashes in this picture... i thought she needed a little "bling" necklace too :)

...checking out the necklace...look at that light colored hair too!

...right in the mouth! ... everything goes in her mouth lately!

jillian was 7 months old on september 16... i'm a few days late posting these pictures! she continues to be such a happy baby. she is almost sitting up on her own now. she's crawling EVERYWHERE.... i can't leave her alone for even a second because she will inch her way to where she wants to go pretty fast! she likes to crawl under our bed or inch her way under the couch lately too! she smiles while she is doing it.. knowing she is not supposed to be there. that makes me wonder why babies love to crawl towards electrical outlets and cords??? really what is it about a long cord or funny looking outlet plug? here we have the transformers for the electrical devices that we brought from the states to...... make me a little nervous with little fingers and stepped up voltage!

she's eating a variety of fruits and vegetables. she even tried peas the other night and LOVED them..... i had a hard time giving her the peas since they are my LEAST favorite vegatable!! but she did not mind them :) wonder if she will like tuna-noodle-pea casserole? she will have to go to grandma's to try that one..... that is one recipe i will not make at my house :)

jillan's on the move!

just when i thought life could not get any busier :) my little girl is on the move! she's been scooting around since august 29th. the other day i caught her playing with the boy's cars... and no one "taught" her how to properly play with them... she figured that out all on her own! amazing what babies pick up on :) i often wonder what goes on inside their heads.