Kids at 6 months...

Just for fun, I did a second collage of the kids....this time at 6 months old.

Here is the one for 3 months, that I posted earlier in the year.

Back from beautiful colorado....

Sitting up happy...

to see more pics, plus the slideshow of his 6 month portraits, go here

open the eyes of your heart....

Most mornings, I wake up and go through the morning routine of fixing lunches for the kids, the daily battle of getting them to eat breakfast before school, kissing Katherine and daddy and sending them off to school and work, getting the boys showered and changed for school; then getting myself somewhat put together before heading out to drop off Joshua, or getting errands run...it's almost autonomous the mode that I work in most mornings. And while I enjoy it, I always just feel like I'm on the go. Lately though, I've had some mornings when I wake up with a song in my heart. I get up and start going through the day, and suddenly I find myself humming, quietly singing the lyrics, and sometimes even belting out the words that touch me the most. It's amazing that difference that it makes, in my attitude to serve. A few mornings, I've gotten up with the song, "You are beautiful", I don't know the entire song, but the lyrics that speak to me and I find myself singing over and over are "you are so good to me. you heal my broken heart, you are my Jesus who loves me. You are beautiful my sweet sweet song, you are beautiful my sweet sweet song, and I will sing again. You are my strong melody, you are my dancing rhythm, you are my perfect rhyme and I will sing of you forever" What a sweet reminder that He is my Jesus who loves ME! Yesterday, though the tune in my head was different, and I found myself singing "open the eyes of my heart Lord, open the eyes of my heart, I want to see. To see you high and lifted up, shining in the light of your glory, pour out your power and I sing Holy Holy Holy..." After school yesterday, the kids were playing in the backyard. The light was absolutely beautiful, and without giving it much thought, I grabbed my camera to capture my kids playing outside. After I downloaded the images onto the computer, and looked at what I had captured, I was brought to tears. The images in front of me: nearly every single picture that i had taken of my three oldest kids were close ups; their eyes being the focus of attention. The eyes beamed with beauty, there was a sparkle; a twinkle and I was reminded again of the song that God had put in my heart that morning, "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord" I want to share with you the images that spoke to me...

6 months old...

A two year old....

Eating Cereal for the first time....

He's my fourth child I know, but the excitement of each milestone has not dwindled. And reaching SIX months is by no means an exception; in fact, I think it's one that I anticipate the most--well it's up there with ONE year. "why" you may ask...I'll tell you. SIX months old, is half way to being a year old, obviously, and baby is no longer a tiny baby. By this age, he is smiling, playing, enjoying his surroundings, and interacting a whole lot more. Sure, he can't speak, but his expressions, his eyes, speak loudly...Noah is doing all of these things. He is certainly a happy baby--the dimple on his right cheek is just the best. He is making all kinds of cooing sounds, giggling, and squealing with excitement. He loves, LOVES his brothers and his sister. They can always make him LAUGH out loud with their silly faces. He is rocking back and forth on hands and knees, and he's certainly got the backward scoot down pat; we're just anxious to see him go forward. The kids get SO excited to see him rocking back and forth and are convinced he's going to take off soon, very soon. Noah loves his tummy time, he loves chewing on his toys, and he absolutely enjoys jumping--be it in the johnny jumper or his baby einstein jumperoo. He can sit in there for long periods at a time. As long as he is in the middle of the action, there is really no need to hold him unless he is hungry. One of the most exciting things that I look forward to at six months is baby's first taste of solid foods. Up until this point, Noah (and all my other babies) have been nourished solely on breast-milk; so I look forward to their first serving of cereal. Let me tell you, I had another little lady so excited for this day. Katherine has been counting down the days to when she can finally feed Noah real food! And she did...TODAY. I waited until after school, so that Katherine could feed him his first meal, and she was excited to come home and do just that. It took him a little bit to get the hang of opening his mouth for the spoon, but he caught on rather quickly. I remember Joshua and Oliver were desperate eaters, even their first meal they ate rather quickly. Noah liked it, but he was in no hurry to finish his serving. He smiled, and grabbed at the spoon, he wasn't too quick, but I'm thankful he wasn't a slowpoke either. And here are some fun pics of today's milestone....his first feeding with a spoon!