7 months

Little Khloe is moving into the second half of her first year of life! She is already seven months old, and I can't believe it! She is one lovey, little girl. In the past two weeks, she has gotten TWO teeth! She got her second tooth a week ago. Now, she has both of her front, bottom teeth. And she is chewing on EVERYTHING! She's bit my finger a few times when I'm not fully paying attention, and her little teeth are sharp. She is, also, trying so hard to crawl or army crawl or scoot. She will move her hands ... she'll grab onto the carpet or pull hard on the floor, but she won't move her legs. OR she'll move her legs and get her little buns off of the floor, but she doesn't move her arms at all ... so she just face plants! Each time she tries, she grunts really loudly like it's the hardest thing ever to do in the world. I'm sure it is for her! She will get it, though. She's almost there. She moves slightly ... about an inch or so, but no long distance moves, yet. I'm hoping it will come very quickly, though, because I can tell she's frustrated, and she wants to move--especially to follow Colton around.I had to throw these two pictures in, because I got them when I was trying to get her monthly picture ... I thought they were too cute! In one, she was trying to get out of the carseat. The other one, I love because I had just tickled her under her chin, and she gave me this look! How cute!This silly girl is not like her brother ... he would just lay still until I was done changing him. She wants to shake, rattle, and roll! She rolls and knocks everything off of the table ... she tries so hard to roll off. (Don't worry! I was watching closely for this shot. It didn't take more than a second!)These two pictures show her teeth. It's hard to get a 7 month old to smile in just the right way, so she doesn't hide those teeth!I put a ton of pictures of Khloe in, because it was super hard for me to just pick one or two! I am bias, but I think she is too cute!!!

We had another busy week, but it was a fun one. We met with MOMs club a few times. We did a park outing on Monday, and on Friday, we went to one of the Mom's houses and had "Kids in the Kitchen" where the kiddos made quesadillas. Colton always has a fun time at MOMs Club.During "Kids in the Kitchen", the kids made quesadillas. Colton ahd fun making his, but then he wouldn't eat it! I guess we should have just put cheese in it.Colton and his buddy, Mason, hanging out in the wagon together. Colton said, "We're going to Sabbath School!"This is Khloe with the little girls from MOMs Club ... Adalyn and Rochelle ... Rochelle is 9 months old and Adalyn is 3 months old. Aren't they all so cute!?! Khloe was so sleepy, so she was a bit cranky ... which is why she has a sour-puss face followed by a HUGE cry. I think it's cute, though!

Last weekend, Billy and I got the chance to go to another concert in the box at Tampa Bay Times Forum. We saw Van Halen featuring Kool & the Gang. It was really fun--even though, the one Van Halen song that I knew wasn't played ... I'm guessing because it was a Sammy Hagar song, and David Lee Roth was the frontman for this show. Anyway, Kool & the Gang was really good! We knew tons of the songs they played.This is Kool & The Gang. They were fabulous!And here is Van Halen with frontman David Lee Roth. They were ... uh ... loud! But it was still fun, and Eddie Van Halen is incredible! Also, David Lee Roth can do some mad high kicks!

We, also, spent last weekend tearing out and replanting some of the flower beds. We have a lot left to do, but we were pretty excited to get started. A few flower beds got fresh mulch, but we still have a lot of mulch to lay. We are excited to see some new life in our yard!

Billy and Colton washed their cars on Sunday, too. He had a great time! He loved rolling the window up and down. And Colton got a few items from some garage sales this week. I think he'll be pretty happy with his new items. He already had supper on his new picnic table.Cole's new ride.Our new bike stroller.

We ended up having a super fun Sunday. We played a little baseball with the new glove we bought at the garage sales for Khloe. She enjoyed chewing on it a bit. Colton really did well. He learned how to catch and throw it like a baseball player, and he was getting really good at hitting it off of the tee.This is how Khloe plays baseball.

I've posted these on Facebook, but I know not everyone who reads this has Facebook. So, I thought I'd share it on my blog, too. Colton will sit and play with his cars, or sit in the cart at the store, and I can hear him quietly singing to himself. This week, he was singing "I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy". I got him to do it on video.It wasn't too much later that I realized he knew it in Spanish, too. (Thanks to our Sabbath School teacher, Pastor Claudette, who has been teaching this song to them in Spanish.) So, I wanted to get it on video, as well.

This weekend, Billy is with his sisters and Mom celebrating Cherrie's upcoming wedding. He had a little bit of a delay getting out to Vegas to see everyone. His flight here in Tampa was delayed an hour, so he missed his flight in Miami. They didn't have another one until 7 a.m. this morning! Luckily, they gave him a free meal and a hotel room, but he was pretty unhappy with the airline and getting stuck nowhere near Vegas and only 4 hours from home! I got a text from him after church, and he finally made it. I'm happy he gets to spend time with his extended family, but we miss him here.The kids got to take a bath together, since Dad was gone. Colton usually takes a shower with Daddy, but it is much easier to wash them both at the same time when I have them by myself.Bubble-fun time at Sabbath School.

This week, I am planning on working on a long-overdue project. I am painting a kids table for the kiddos. I am excited about the end product. I will try to remember to take pictures along the way. We have a few MOMs Club events this week ... but I may only make it to one. I can't believe this is the last full week of April. Time is flying by so quickly! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Goodnight.

"nutbucket!"

We have had a busy week! MOMs Club had several events this week, so we were out and about all week long. I have some projects to get done around here, but I still managed to get one done this week--even with being out of the house a ton!While replacing the sod that the armadillo destroyed, Colton found a worm! He wanted to show everyone his new friend.

I finally got my guest bathroom painted. It's a very cool, light color. It's super pale ... and it allows for color to come from other places. I like it, because the bathroom looks fresh and clean now ... and bright and light. I wanted a wall color that didn't take over the bathroom. I can now accessorize in color without the walls bearing down on the atmosphere in there. If you can't remember, the color in the bathroom was previously a dark, reddish brown. Here are some before and after pictures.
Before--this picture is pretty sad. I thought I had a better one, so I didn't take a picture of the bathroom right before I painted it. Oh, well. You can kind of see the pukey brown, but it really doesn't do it justice.After

Monday, the kids and I went to a place called "Nanny's Zoo". A lady who owns some land has rescued and been given some animals. She opens it up for free to let families, groups, and schools come to visit, pet, feed and learn about the animals. Colton loved it! He wanted to feed the goats the whole time. We, also, fed horses, rabbits, and pigs. He got to see baby raccoons, baby opossums, baby birds, baby squirrls, snakes, a tarantula, rats, bunnies, owlets, chickens, roosters, ducks, and turtles. He got to hold ducklings and chicks. It's really a great little zoo. We'll go back there, for sure.He got to pet and hold the chicks and the ducklings.His FAVORITE activity was feeding the goats!

Another event we went to is Wiregrass Wednesdays. Mr. Tommy (a guy who sings kids' songs) was playing there, and there was a bouncy house and a guy who makes balloon animals. Colton got a snake balloon made and had the guy make a pink flower for Khloe. He loved the bouncy house and didn't want to get out. But he finally did, because he wanted to go ride the train. I rode it with Mason and Colton while Gwendy stayed behind with the babies. It was a fun (and very slow) ride.Riding the train with Mommy and Mason.The kids' balloon animals!

Friday, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI). It was really fun. Colton enjoyed running around in their "Kids Take Charge" section--a hands-on play area where the kids can learn and touch and climb and get experience with science and technology. After we played there for a while, we went outside to play on their playground for a little bit. It was a fun day!Colton and Landon "driving" the delivery truck at the Museum of Science and Industry.Colton with his friend, Dase, playing with animals.Cockpit simulator ... flying a plane is fun!

We had another pool lunch date this week. This time we went with Gwendy, Mason, and Carson, as well as, Duska and Landon. It was really fun! The boys love playing in the water. I wish Khloe loved sitting in her stroller just as much! She isn't so keen on the cold water ... but she did put her feet in it for a while before she got too cranky and needed to head home for a nap. I think it was a pretty fun time. We'll be doing this a lot this summer!

One day this week, Colton was sitting down playing with his cars, and I heard him sing in his best falsetto voice, "Jesus Loves the Little Children". I wanted to catch it on tape so badly, but I couldn't get my camera out in time. I asked him if he would sing it again. So, here's a less "caught on tape" and a more "singing for the camera" rendition of this beloved song about Jesus.

As you all know, we had a run in with an annoying armadillo a few weeks ago. We captured it, and now it is gone. Well, one evening this week when Billy and I were out for a walk, we saw another armadillo sniffing around a tree in the front of our yard. We immediately went inside and bought a trap off of Amazon for just under $50. Now, we can capture as many of these buggers as we need to without having to pay a heafty fee to a wildlife trapper each time we have an armadillo--and living this close to forests, we will probably have plenty of them!

This week, we got something in the mail! Khloe's passport finally arrived. You never know when and where we might decide to go next, so now we have that freedom ... and we don't have to leave Khloe behind. It was a lot easier to get hers than it was to get Colton's. The government office was really empty, so we got in and out in less than 30 minutes! I wish they were all that easy.

Tonight, we are going to see another concert! I'm pretty excited. We got box seats to Van Halen featuring Kool & the Gang. Is it sad that I'm more excited about Kool & the Gang? It will be a fun night, though. Judy, our neighbor, will watch the kids again. She only watches them for about an hour before they go to bed. So, it's not a bad gig.

Two Colton funnies this week:

One morning, Colton was carrying the basket of cars from the living room to the family room. He walked by me (as I was sitting next to the high chair feeding Khloe), and he said, "I'm using my big muscles to carry these cars, Mommy!"

At dinner one night, we were all sitting around the table eating (except for Khloe ... she was chewing on a toy in the high chair next to us) when Khloe dropped the toy she was chewing on onto the floor. Colton said, "Khloe, you Nut Bucket! You dropped your toy! You Nut Bucket ... you dropped your toy, Khloe!"