Just KaLee

Friday, September 07, 2012

The backyard: continued

You may remember my marathon of a post not too long ago. If not, you can refresh your memory.

We've made progress in the backyard!

My brother and his buddy came over last week and worked hard, they raked the dirt, shoveled up rocks, raked some more and then made three trips to get us approximately seven TONS of sand. The kids were in heaven (and still are). I neglected to get pictures of them actually doing the work, but suffice it to say, they moved up our sod date by at least a week.

This was the top soil that they put on over the raked yard.

We knew we weren't going to have sod over Labor Day weekend, so instead my awesome dad (who we owe for the rest of our lives) came over and helped Ronnie tackle the back steps. We used to have the steps you see below that our kids fell off of multiple times.

Now, after lots of work...

We have these. Just eight hours later. I am seriously in love. The kids come out level with the house and even if they fall out the door, they can't go down the stairs (hypothetically).

Then, last night we had lots of good friends show up and this happened....

And then this...

And now, we have THIS!

As I said on Instagram, I have never seen anything so beautiful. I seriously can't wait for it all to "settle" as Easton calls it so the kids can play all of the time as kids should.

This will forever be thought of as the "Year of the Backyard" but it is so worth it.

Thursday, September 06, 2012

Preschool!

My good friend Chelsea and I decided to do a small preschool with our kids and a few other friends as well. We hold it one day a week at Chelsea's house and teach 8 kids total (4 of which are our own). We have 4 kids that will be going to Kindergarten next year, 3 that will go the year after that, and then there is Kendree.

She gets to pretend that she is just as old as the other kids (her favorite).

We had to take first day of preschool pictures, so here they are!

This boy thinks he is hott stuff. He totally knows how to do preschool, this is his second year, you know!

And this girl is looking older and older (couldn't be because she is actually getting older!).

So far, we have had one day of preschool and it was a success. It is crazy, loud, fun and the kids love every minute! Chelsea and I are working out the kinks in time management, etc. but we've just about got it down. As long as the two babies still take morning naps, we'll be set. :)

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Instagram: August

Mama took too long putting the older kids to bed, so Devynee took it upon herself to speed up the process.

Baby shower invites. Love when new babies join our crazy family. #notpregnant #mybrothersfirst

And yet she didn't agree that she needed to put her headband (or band-head as she calls it) back on...

Summer evening races. Thank you Olympics for trying to teach my kids a proper starting position.

Mama/daughters night. Ice cream with sprinkles, our fave.

Thanks for the water table Grandma! We love it!

Plank!

Totally just scored a goal. I wish I would have gotten it on camera!

Like mother, like daughter...

Sand box full of sand=hours of fun!

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Devynee - 9 months

At 9 months Devynee is a little thing: Just 15 lbs and 6 oz. (10th %tile) and 27.5 inches (50th %tile). Her head remains around 50th %tile.

And now for the bullets:

Devynee continues to be our happy, sweet, smiley baby.
She has no teeth yet. Love those gummy grins
Devynee sleeps through the night and takes two 2+ hour naps daily.
She is in size 3 diapers and 9 month clothes.
Devynee rolls and army "crawls" about equally. She can get anywhere she wants to, but is not super fast yet.
Her army "crawl" is pushing up into a push-up/plank position and then lunging forward. She's faster than you think, and it looks like a LOT of work to me.
Devynee is getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. I don't have much time left!
Devynee now moves around like crazy in her crib at night. If I get up in the night for any reason, she is always in a different place and without a blanket.
She loves when her siblings entertain her and will watch/play with them for a long time.
She is starting to want to try new foods, but is happy eating baby food as well.
Devynee cares the least about nursing of any of my kids. She'll eat, but she isn't nearly as attached to it as the other two were.
She has put herself on a new schedule where she wants to go to bed at 7pm. She is still sleeping until 6:15 or 6:30 in the morning, so I'm not fighting this one.

Sweet girl couldn't wait any longer for her mama to put the other two to bed.

Two videos of Devynee's first form of "crawling"

Official 9 month shots:

Hanging out with cousin Brylen.

What's up, mama?

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Instagram: July

And here we have some Instagram memories from July:

That would be 1 boy and 11 shirts. He said he is a football player. Love that he makes me laugh daily.

This girl loves playing with mama's wet hair whenever she gets a chance.

Squinty-eyed grin. Maybe my favorite ever.

Cement truck is here! Our pack patio and side yard will soon be glorious cement. Kind of lame that I am so excited?

Totally doing laundry and dishes in heels today. Have to break in my shoes for a wedding. Don't worry, it is tonight, my procrastination skills are still going strong.