Happy Birthday Gramps!

Today we had a party to celebrate someone very special!!  Grandpa DeVries turns 85 next week!  We had a wonderful afternoon enjoying each other's company.

Henry loves parties!  Blowing out candles, eating cake and ice cream, and singing are among his absolute favorite activities right now!

This silly little girl loves to be center of attention!  She was a giggle box all afternoon and didn't nap even though she was exhausted.  She didn't want to miss any of the fun.

My sister complied everyone's pictures of Grandpa into a dvd.  It was so neat to watch!

Grams and Gramps with their grandchildren (missing a couple!) and great-grandchildren.

Auntie Sar with Caroline

Five Months Old!!

Caroline Jean- 5 Months Old

Caroline continues to be such a sweet, happy baby!  She is so smiley and happy- the boys love to talk to her and get smiles in return.  She is definintely a mama's girl lately- it warms my heart :)  We love her to pieces and can't really remember life without her! 

At five months Caroline weighs 14lbs, 7oz.  Henry was 16lbs, 8oz and I don't have a weight for Tommy at this age. 

What is Caroline up to at 5 months?

- She sleeps from 5:30pm- 6:30am, quickly eats and then goes back down until 8:15am.

- She naps from 9am-11:20am and then again from 12:30pm-2:45pm. 

- She eats about 5-6 times a day and eats 2 servings of rice cereal a day. 

-She is in 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers.

- She LOVES her activity gym and will happily play under it for an hour.  She is also starting to enjoy her excersaucer and jumperoo.

- She has found her hands and likes to play with them.

- She also likes to grab at small blankets and chew on them. 

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Recently

Just some recent pics of Henry and Caroline

Henry always wants his "eyes" and then always wears them upside down.  Makes me smile every time.

Caroline all bundled up- it's been cold outside!

Caroline in her new jumperoo!  Her feet don't even touch the ground yet, but she seems to enjoy playing with all of the little toys and her brothers always restart the music for her.

Cereal Time!

Caroline got the okay to start rice cereal when she was at the doctor last week and so Sunday was the big day!  She really wasn't too sure about it and only ate a couple of bites.  Her brothers were really excited, but lost interest quickly when they saw how slow of a process it was!  She started gagging after a few bites and we called it quits for the night.  She did a little better last night though, so I'm sure that she'll slowly get the hang of it!

The big day!

First bite

This is the look she had the entire time I was feeding her- she didn't know what was going on!

All done!

Fun with Christmas Toys!

Just some recent pictures of the kids playing with some of their new toys!

Construction worker Tommy- complete with a "construction worker" look!

Henry's big into playdough these days and loves his new stuff!

Caroline hates tummy time- it frustrates her beyond belief!  Here is a quick shot of her with her new quilt and octopus toy before she started crying!

Caroline's Four Month Stats

Caroline went to the doctor today for her four month visit!  She is right on track with growth and development and did a great job until it was time for her shots :(  Nothing worse then holding a baby down to get their little pokes. 

Caroline weighs 13lbs, 6oz (35%) and is 24.6" long (53%). Her head was 16 1/8" (50%). She is pretty comparable in size to Henry at this age. At four months Henry weighed 13lbs 8oz and was 24 1/2" long and Tommy was 17lbs, 8oz and was 26 1/2" long. Both boys' heads measured 16 1/2".

Just for a fun comparison- I was 13lbs, 5oz and 25 1/2" long at 4 months and Nathan was 17lbs, 8oz and 26 1/2" long (exact same as Tommy!)

Big Girl Bath

Caroline finally grew too big to take her baths in the plastic tub on her changing table, so she moved to the big girl tub!  She seems to like it- she doesn't cry, but she just sort of sits there without any expression.  The boys, especially Henry, love to help and pour water onto her tummy to rinse her off.  They are both really gentle with her and it's sort of nice to have an extra set of hands to grab towels and talk to her.  Here are pictures from her first time in the tub!

All snug and warm after her bath!

Christmas!!

Christmas was SO fun this year!  The boys were at great ages for it and loved every minute.  We are blessed to live close to family and be able to see both of them for celebrations.  Christmas Eve is spent with the Plaisiers- we eat dinner, go to church, and then back to my parents to open gifts.  Caroline was awake for dinner and part of church, but slept through the entire gift opening.  Christmas morning we did stockings and ate a nice breakfast at home before heading to church again and then coming home to open gifts.  Caroline once again missed all of the gift opening!  Christmas evening is spent with the Batts- opening gifts and then eating dinner.  Caroline did hang in there for presents at that party :)  I am so disappointed that I forgot to bring my camera to the Batts (keeping track of three kids and all of the stuff that comes with them keeps me busy!) so if anyone has pictures from that party to forward on I'd appreciate it!  

Christmas was a wonderful time spent with family and reflecting on the greatest gift of all- Jesus' birth.  As Tommy prayed at dinner last night- "Jesus, I hope that you had a wonderful birthday and aren't too sad that it is all over."   Enjoy the pictures from our celebrations!

Tommy

Nonnie and Tommy- he was SO excited he had a hard time sitting still!

Henry would open a gift and then be satisfied with whatever was in that box for a long time.  He would have been happy opening one gift all weekend.

One of Henry's absolute favorites- Papa gave both boys a toy construction set- it has a hat, safety goggles, tool belt, clamps, hammer, screwdriver, and a bunch of other things that I don't know the name of!

Reading a new book with Uncle Trevor

Testing out Henry's new sleeping bag!

Checking out cousin Andrew's socks

How does this work?

Tommy was thrilled to discover that Santa had come and left a note!  He was really into Santa this year- he even took a pair of Nathan's white socks, decorated them with glitter paint and markers with drawings of reindeer and wrapped them all up to leave for Santa.  Tommy was so happy to read in the note that Santa loved them and couldn't wait to show Mrs. Claus :)

Tommy with his new toy from Nonnie and Papa- he could hardly put it down Christmas morning to open the rest of his gifts!

  

Probably my favorite picture out of all the Christmas pics- Nathan and Henry with their new toys- figuring out how they work.

Proof that Caroline was around at Christmas- testing out the Bumbo chair with her new tray and rattle :)