Snow Day!

La Cueva hike and picnic

While Daddy was away...

Squirrel bite!

As a mom, I sort of feared that the same dumb things I did as a kid would be repeated by my own children.  Thankfully, though, they continue to surprise me--not a single one of them has ever severed part of their finger by slamming a door, or cracked their head open after standing (and falling off of) a basketball, or suffered a concussion by tangling themselves around a pullup bar and falling from the top of a doorway, or stapled their hand to a bulletin board (all true stories!).  They do,  however, manage to injure themselves in completely unique ways.  My poor Kristen is the only one of us who has ever been stung by a scorpion and now she can say that she is the only one of us to have ever been bit by a SQUIRREL!  Poor sweetheart.  She had seen a squirrel in our backyard last week and when she saw it in the garden on Monday, injured and covered in flies, she tried to take care of it by shooing them away.  She never expected the squirrel to jump at her and bite her hand!  Darren took her to the ER, where they soaked her hand and bandaged her up.  She was so excited to go to school the next day to show off her crazy injury!  That's my girl!  :)

9 months

Lauren had her nine month check-up today and yes, I did take my camera to her appointment. :) She weighs 19 pounds, is 28 inches, and is just about at the 50% for height and weight. She was such a good girl! We had to fill out a development questionnaire and in all areas she is right on track.  She is such a happy, playful little sweetheart.  She absolutely adores her big brothers and sisters and loves playing on the floor with them.  Right now some of her favorite things are building blocks, toy instruments, chunky wooden puzzles, and her toy castle.  But her MOST favorite thing to do is to sneak over to the cats' food and water bowls!   :)    

THIRTEEN!

I can't believe I have a teenager!  These pictures crack me up because he came straight home from Mass and changed out of his church clothes before I could ask him not to!  The kids all gave him some new SpongeBob Hotwheels cars to add to his collection, and he finally got the Nintendo 3DS he's been wanting for so long.  :)  I wish the cake wasn't blurry in these pics, but it was a two layer red velvet with cream cheese frosting (his request) decorated with new Pokemon characters.  I can't believe how fast my baby boy is growing up!

Awwwwww, he was SO cute!