Thanksgiving craziness... or boys

I am not sure if it is being home on a weekday or the smell of yummy food or the furniture being moved out of the room (I will bet it is that one) but for whatever reason my kids ALWAYS seem to wrestle on major holidays while I am trying to get everything together.


This morning I was busy in the kitchen with the Turkey and its sides when I saw the kids doing this.... Of course they were having fun, enjoying each other. Spinning around and wrestling. So I didn't say anything. Besides, Dan was sitting right there showing them more appropriate wrestling moves for the most damage.


Not long after I took these pictures I was peacefully cooking when I heard crazy screaming. I go in and sure enough Ethan managed to get hurt (It is always Ethan). Thankfully, It was nothing too major but I was worried we were going to be spending on Thanksgiving dinner in the ER.

The saying "It's all
fun and games until someone loses an eye" has a whole new meaning in our house now!

Walking

Olivia is now officially destro... ahem ... I mean walking. She has actually been attempting to walk for several months now, but finally she has the confidence to walk mostly. I love it when babies first learn to walk. They are such sweet milestones. I was so proud of myself too because I took actual home video footage of her taking some of her first steps and I went to upload it onto the computer (so I could blog it!) but guess what.... I need to purchase new software because we switched over to Vista and the old drivers are not compatible. RRRGG. So I have cute Livy footage on the camera and someday hope to get it onto the computer, but for now still photos will have to do.

I just thought I would include some other photos of Livy so I can try to explain some of her little quirks.

She is a HAM. If you are taking a picture she will smile for you before she goes in for the attack. This, by the way, is her interpretation of a smile - raised eyebrows and a crazy mouth! Hilarious.

Olivia loves to attack the camera. If she sees you taking a picture she runs to you as fast as her little legs can carry her. She will then proceed to jump on your lap, grab for the camera and if she is successful she will eat it.

She is also in love with herself. She loves to carry this mirror around with her and give herself kisses. Of course I don't blame her. I am in love with her too!

mmm mmm... yummm

Olivia has a new love. Her thumb. She loves to suck her thumb with this purple blanket my Aunt made for her blessing. It is so sweet. In the morning when she wakes up she will snuggle with me and Dan in bed and just suck her thumb. I love it. None of our other kids sucked a thumb or pacifier so this is totally new territory to us. Dan is stressing about future dental bills but I am not so worried. For now she is happy and cute and I am just trying to love each and every moment as it is.

Christmas Card Time

We had a quick photo shoot this afternoon, hoping to find that perfect Christmas Card shot. I have QUICKLY learned that with 4 kids there is no "perfect shot" I might need to learn how to switch heads in photoshop really quick!

We got lots of cute pictures of the kids. Livy was so much fun. In the pictures with the yellow leaves she is actually smiling on demand. We would say "Livy, SMILE!" and that is what she gave us. It got a great smile out of the rest of us anyways.