8 Month Pictures

Okay, I realize that the kids will be 9 months old tomorrow, but here are their 8 month pictures anyway! Thanks once again to Michelle for her wonderful photographic skills, particularly as the kids get older and harder to capture on film. They are so much more interested in doing anything other than smiling directly at the camera!

Jonathan

Zachary

Reagan

Thomas

The kids had so much fun with their blankets that David and Abby wanted in on the fun too, so they had "blanket-head" pictures taken as well!

David

Abby

You'll have to excuse Thomas. Although quite capable of sitting up just as well as everyone else and certainly of smiling just as nicely, he refused to do either for this picture (or any of the other group pics we attempted to take that day!). Nevertheless, here they all are!

Happy 8 Months Old!

AND thank you Sabrina for the adorable outfits!

Fun with Cousin Kinley!

Last week my family came to visit. It was an extra-special visit because Aunt Jodie and Cousin Kinley came with KayKay and Daddy Bud. It was so great to see them since we hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving! Kinley is getting so big! She's talking now and loved to tell me every so often who everyone was, just in case I had forgotten. She would look at me and point at Jodie and say, "Mama!" so I would know that that was her Mama. She would do the same with KayKay and Daddy Bud, whom she calls simply Bud. It was terribly cute, and fun to think that this time next year, that's what my kids will be doing!

Aunt Jodie and Cousin Kinley

It was also fun to see Jodie all pregnant! She's due July 1st, but I'm hoping the baby comes a little early so she can be born in June like all the other grandkids!

We love Aunt Jodie!

See, we can all fit in one bed!

Playing with Daddy Bud

Thomas watching TV with KayKay

David and Abby came over to play with Kinley, and although it doesn't really show in this picture, she had a blast! David was the life of the party for her, and she and Abby just cackled at all the funny things he did to entertain them.

Kinley shows her cousins how the toy works

Mom and Jodie were a big help at feeding time!

Aunt Jodie and Zachary

Daddy Bud and Zachary

KayKay and Zachary

Jonathan says, "I won't look at the camera, and you can't make me! A-ha-ha-ha!"

Zachary says, "You think I'm the cutest, right?"

Reagan says, "Zachary's the cutest? Seriously?"

"You guys are all crazy! Obviously I'm the cutest!" replies Thomas

"Crazy?! Who said I was crazy? I'm not crazy!"

Okay, maybe we're all cute!

Now, this is the way to drink a bottle!

A full house!

Just Hanging Out

Just a few pics of everyday fun at the Harris House!

Look what I can do!

Hi, everybody!

(He's not really waving. We haven't learned that yet!)

Yeah, I'm with momma, I know I'm lucky!

This jumper is SO MUCH fun! You have to try it!

Check out my dimples!

Time Conspires Against Us

We haven't gone to church much this winter. Fear of RSV and the flu lurking behind every corner, waiting to jump out and infect all four babies at once, kept us at home where we were much less likely to encounter such contagion. However, with the end of the sick season drawing near and warmer weather all around, we decided that if it wasn't raining Sunday morning, we would go to church! We were really excited about it, having been gone for so long.

Sunday morning came, and around 7:30 I heard the first peeps over the monitor that signal babies will be waking up soon. I got up, looked outside the window to happily discover sunshine, and jumped in the shower. At 8:00 I put the first two bottles in the warmers and headed for the nursery to get Reagan, who was being the most adamant about wanting to be out of bed. As I passed through the living room, I glanced at the clock on the cable box. "Oh, good, 9:00," I thought. Then I stopped. I backed up. "9:00? But...but...crap! Stupid daylight savings time!" I turned around and went back to the bathroom and informed him that he needn't hurry. We were so disappointed! And mad at ourselves because we knew the time was changing! I'm just glad the cable box clock adjusts itself or we would have continued our morning, gotten ready for church, and arrived just in time to watch everyone driving away.

Oh, well. We did manage to make it to church Sunday night instead, which was also nice. Actually, it was great! It was just nice to be there. To sing and worship and see everyone. Hopefully it will happen much more often from now on!

The Family That Plays Together

Just a few shots from this weekend!

All Aboard the Dada Train

All the babies can now say dada. Still no mama, but that's okay. I am patient. None of them knows what it means yet. They don't say it and then look at Jim, so it's not their first word or anything. I am curious about what their first words will be. Will they all say the same word first? Probably not, but I can't wait to find out!

Also, on a completely unrelated note, Hey Becky! I got Lucas' birth announcement! I keep meaning to send an email, but forgetting, so I'm telling you here! He is just beautiful! I hung it on the fridge.

And, by the way, since it came up, we didn't send out birth announcements. So no one has to feel slighted for not getting one. There weren't any to get. We meant to, but somehow time got away from us. Something about four babies...you know, excuses, excuses.

We Are Go for Teeth!

Thomas finally got a tooth! Now everyone has teeth! Jonathan has had a tooth explosion, as he now has SEVEN teeth! He has four on the bottom and three on top, which I don't think is the way they usually come in, but that's what he has. Keep an eye on the tooth totals in the right-hand sidebar for more tooth updates!

Hurrah for the End of RSV!

Well, we had quite a pleasant surprise when we went for RSV shots yesterday! They told us we didn't need to get them anymore! We thought we would have to get them in April too. And we won't need to get them next year! Yea! Some kids have to get them for two years if they are at more risk for having problems. Since my kids aren't having major upper respiratory issues, we don't have to have them next year. Thank goodness!

Here are the current weights for my porky little children: Zachary weighs 19lb 10oz and is followed very closely behind by Reagan at 19lb 8oz. Jonathan is next at 17lb 11oz. Thomas brings up the rear at an even 16lb. They are getting SO big! I can't wait for their 9-month checkup at the end of this month to find out what their percentiles are! And I can't believe they're almost 9 months old! This first year is flying by!

Goodbye Sudoku!

I have had many inquiries about my eyesight. I thank you all for your concern and any prayers you may have said on my behalf. My eyesight has not returned to where it was before the babies were born. As you probably know, I lost my eyesight after delivery, due, I believe, in part to the magnesium sulfate that was given to me to keep me from progressing to full-blown eclampsia (this is what my ob doctors told me) and in part to damage to the blood vessels that go to my eyes caused by the massive blood loss I suffered (this is what my eye doctors told me).

What I am left with is blind spots in each eye. Well, they are really more like splotches since they are not nice, solid, uniform circles. The blind splotch in my left eye is significantly larger than the one in my right eye. It is also right in the middle of my field of vision, unlike the right one which is sort of off to the side. The last time I went to the eye doctor, I tested at 20/400 in my left eye and 20/20 in my right. That's with my glasses on, by the way. 20/400 is really bad. In fact, the only letter I could identify while looking directly at it was the giant E at the top, and I only knew it was an E because I could see the outside edges of it and knew no other letters looked like that. I could identify other letters, but only by getting them into my peripheral vision.

Happily, my right eye is 20/20, and I am also 20/20 when using both eyes. So for the most part, the blind splotches do not affect me. I can see to drive day and night and have done both successfully many times. I can do pretty much anything I need to do. I often don't even notice it anymore, just every now and then when I'm looking at small things. Where the two blind splotches overlap, I have true blind spots, but these places are very small, so they only affect me when I'm looking at something tiny. For example, when I'm trying to sweep up Cheerios on the kitchen floor or follow the mouse arrow as it moves about the computer screen, these tiny things often move into a blind spot and I lose them until I can move my eyes around and get them back into my vision. Still, this problem has not stopped me from sweeping the floor or using the computer. I persevere!

So far, the ONLY thing in my whole life that I find I must give up on totally is Sudoku puzzles. It's just impossible to get the numbers in the right places when other numbers are hiding in my blind spots. I've tried and tried and it's just too frustrating, so I have given them up. Alas!

And I have to say, it's a small price to pay for my four beautiful children and the life to enjoy them.

A Taste of Warmer Weather

Here we are all out on the front porch enjoying the lovely weather the other afternoon. It was so nice for it to be warm enough to get out of the house for a change! The kids really seemed to enjoy the fresh air and change of scenery! I know I did!

Development Update:

Monday, Thomas started saying dadadada! It was very exciting! Now, it just leaves Jonathan to jump on the dada wagon. The mama wagon is still quite empty.

Tuesday, we discovered Jonathan's fourth tooth! Also very exciting! Still no teeth for Thomas.