Blue Eyes

God has given all 3 of our children the most beautiful blue eyes. And look at those eyelashes. Just gorgeous!

And if Will would slow down long enough for me to get a picture of his sweet face, you'd see his blue eyes too!

Skytop Apples

We headed up to SkyTop apple orchard last week to pick some fresh apples. We've done this the past few years and the kids really enjoy it. This year my Mom went with us. She had never been and we really enjoyed having her with us. Even though it was still summer-time hot that day, we had a great time and now have apples to make some yummy desserts.

Even Anna licked an apple

The expert apple pickers
He's in there somewhere (can you tell he still insists on dressing himself??)
The apples were heavier than Anna, so we pushed a stroller full of apples out of the orchard!

6 months old!

Anna turned 6 months old yesterday! Wow, I can't believe it's been 1/2 a year. She's getting to my favorite baby stage of 6-12 months, when they're still a baby and snuggly but things are a little more normal than with a newborn. She's so much fun. (This is the stage when I always think that I want to have lots more babies!)

In celebration of her 6 month birthday, she got her first tooth today! Just a little sharp point on her bottom gum, but it's definitely through the skin. She also has been loving her baby food. She usually eats oatmeal with fruit (banana, apple, or pear) in the morning and rice cereal with vegetables (carrot, sweet potatoes, or squash) for dinner. Her favorite part is holding the spoon to try and feed herself, so I have to keep her arms strapped underneath the top of the high chair. Today she figured out that if she "talks" to me while eating, it blows baby food all over the high chair. She thought that was very entertaining!

(This was before we started keeping her arms under the tray)

Anna is the first of our children to not love a pacifier. She much prefers these 2 fingers and that how she is almost all day and night. It's very much a Hatten trait; both Jay and Melissa have pictures like this when they're little.

And on the off chance that she gets her fingers out of her mouth, whatever else is closest by goes directly in there.
Happy 1/2 birthday sweet baby Anna!

Conversations with the Kids

I love listening to our kids talk. I wish I did a better job remembering and writing down the funny things they say. Here are a couple from today:

*Will came down at 7am dressed in his shorts, polo shirt, and shoes. I told him he looked fantastic. He said "and handsome too."

*In the car tonight we were all taking turns telling stories. Will started with "One time...." (which is how he starts every story), to which Catherine replied, "Make it fast, Will."

*Jay and Catherine take turns asking each other questions at bedtime. Tonight Jay asked her what her favorite day of the week is. Her answer, "my wedding day."

I can't wait to hear what little Miss Anna will have to say when she can talk too. She's starting to make all of those sweet baby coos and babble, so I know she has something to tell us!

Starting School

Catherine and Will started their preschool this week. Catherine is going 3 days a week and Will 2 days a week. They were both very excited to get back to school to see their friends and learn new things. I think after an entire summer of playing together, they are glad for the chance to play with other people :)

Catherine and one of her favorite friends at school, Anna Louise.
Will and his favorite friend, J.C. I think Will has asked almost every day this summer to play with J.C. He was so excited to see him on Weds morning that I had to ask him to come back and give me a hug before he left. So much different than last year when he cried as I left him.
We're excited about a new year for both of them!

Taking a Stroll

Now that the weather has been slightly cooler and less humid, we have been enjoying walks in the neighborhood again. We love to take a quick walk after naps or dinner. Sometimes on a nice Saturday or Sunday we go for 2 or 3 strolls. A house in our neighborhood has a little koi pond in their front yard and the kids always want to go see the fish. They also enjoy seeing the neighbors' dogs, looking for pretty rocks and leaves, watching the clouds, and jumping over manholes in the street. Since we don't have much traffic in our neighborhood, we can leisurely stroll along down the middle of the street.

Will really likes to push Anna in the stroller. This is his favorite way to push her so that he can see her smile while we walk. (and yes, Will dressed himself)
Catherine, of course, wants a turn pushing Anna too. (and yes, Catherine stayed in her pj's this entire day.)

New Tastes....

Anna tried some rice cereal for the first time this morning. Doesn't she look thrilled about the taste???

We'll keep trying the rice cereal for a few more days and then maybe we'll trying something a little more exciting like carrots or sweet potatoes. She also drank 3 ounces of the no-allergy-but-tastes-bad formula today! So that was definitely progress for her. It's exciting to watch her grow and try new things, but that means she's already getting big so fast. Bittersweet for me, I guess (but better tasting than the rice cereal!)