6 Months

I meant to share the six-month belly a while ago, but this is what we looked like in mid-July!  

The end of the second trimester means that it's time to get into baby mode again... and WE STILL HAVE TO SETTLE ON A BOY NAME AND A GIRL NAME!  

This month I've been craving watermelon, iced coffee, and air conditioning.  It's been a hot summer.

Compare 6 month bellies here, here, and here.

Quotes from Two Kids Playing Church

Gus (the pastor):  Let's sing... AAAAAAAAAMMMMMENNNNN!  AAAA-MEN AAAAA-MEN!

Grace (the opinionated congregation member): Pastors don't sing, they just sit down.
...

Gus: God decided He wanted to make peoples, so He said "I want to make peoples!" and POOF!  There they were.

Grace: Nuh-uh, "How did God make you? [paraphrasing the shorter catechism?]"  Out of mud!
...

Gus: OK, excuse me!  Starting!  Once upon a time there was a guy named Mary and Joseph..

Grace: No, no, no, you're reading about the part when Jesus died.

Gus: OK, Jesus died on the cross; the next day, they put Him in a tomb; the next day, He rose again...

Grace: No, no, Gus, try to talk about me, my name is Mary..

Gus: That's the end of the story!
....

Grace:  Gus, I have some math problems you could solve...


On to the next thing!

Another Hair Cut

Avery's hair was getting out of control!  I really wanted her style to be all one length (as if a one year old really could have a hairstyle) but the combination of long bangs, humid summer, and her refusal to keep hair clips in place let us to make our decision:  Snip, Snip!

Steve had to abandon the camera and put her in a vice-like grip, so we handed the camera over to Leah:

Avery didn't like it.

Cut it Off!

Before:

After:

Grace LOVES her new short 'do.  It was sad to see the long beautiful curls go, but Grace doesn't like brushing hair and her neck was very hot!  She decided to donate her 11-inch ponytail to Locks of Love.

We visited the basement salon of a friend from church.  She was wonderful with the girls, who until now have only known haircuts given by mom in the kitchen...

Leah had the chance to hop up in the salon chair, too.  She opted for a side braid until her hair is the required 10 inches long.  I don't think we have much longer to wait until it's her turn to donate.

Independence Day '12

We decided to go to the morning parade in Towson this year.  It turned out better than we had hoped-- a shady, grassy place to watch the parade...

...time before the parade began to ride scooters in the street...

...news that a man was trying to set a new Guiness World Record for the most people blowing bubbles at one time, and all parade-goers got to participate in the attempt (no word yet if we were successful)...

... and a whole bunch of marching dogs!  Avery LOVES dogs, can you see her little lips making a doggie sound in this picture?

Steve had to hold her back; she was ready to join the pooches...

We made sure to wave our flags when the Fire Department began to march by...

Then we stopped by Station 8 to visit Lieutenant Poppy with our lunch...

Our visit was cut short, though.  Duty called...

We finished up the day with a nap and a swim in our new big swimming pool with cousins!  Then Grace and Leah and Steve went to see the Annapolis fireworks.

5 Months

5 Months pregnant at the Boston Public Garden

Last week I tagged along with Steve on a business trip to the Boston area.  I think I could get used to doing things like this, and am encouraging him to take more business trips (as long as I can come too, that is).  

I'm beginning to experience hip and sciatic nerve problems again (had a rough time when pregnant with Avery), so a call to the chiropractor is now in order.  Baby 4 is very active, so much so that the doctors usually have a hard time getting a heart rate because he or she won't keep still long enough!

At 24.5 weeks, I am craving spicy food and lemonade still.  I have an aversion to salads and most vegetables, which isn't ideal.  I also have an aversion to cooking dinner, but I think I may have had that problem before, when I was only feeding 5 of us instead of 6, so I can't totally blame that on pregnancy.  Haha!

Compare 5-month baby bellies here, here, and here.

Introducing...

our littlest one, whose gender remains a mystery!

We have another thumb-sucker on our hands

Ten toes!

My due date is still October 16th, so let the countdown officially begin.  Oh, and I also want to record the big sisters' latest name picks:

Grace:  Stephanie or Jack Sportacus
Leah: Benna or Benny