All sorts of fun new and exciting things going on at our house. Molly is not a docile little infant anymore. She is on the go and into EVERYTHING. The big kids still think it's cute, but I don't give it long before she ruins something of theirs and they change their minds. She started crawling a bit about 3 weeks ago but in the past 2 weeks has been crawling well. She has started to pull herself up and do a bit of "cruising". Today she has been pulling herself to standing using a vertical wall with nothing to hold onto but the wall. She let go of the wall and stood for a second or two on her own before crashing to the ground with a thud. Luckily no tears.

Last week she decided to crawl to the porch down the step and got herself into the most contorted position getting down, but again no tears... It is fun to watch her go. It is not so fun to clean up some of the messes she has gotten into including playing in trash she has dumped out of the can and getting her hands into the toilet water.

Yesterday Kolbe lost his first tooth. He noticed it was loose several weeks back, but when he came home from school yesterday it was noticeably looser and he wiggled and wiggled it all afternoon. It took Grandma and a napkin to pull it out after dinner. Grandma was the big hero of the night because she also had to dig through the trash to find it when it was accidentally thrown away.

Today Libby got her first set of Valentine's from friends at school. It was so cute watching her open each one and her telling me who they came from. Tuesday a little girl in her class brought her a "I'm glad we're friends" card that she had made Libby. It was precious, but I don't have enough room around here for my own kids' artwork, let alone other children's.

We tried to get a picture of the 2 little ones, but Molly was too busy trying to kiss Andrew. He was not pleased. I'll have to do some digging, but I know I have a picture of Kolbe at this age, in this same outfit and Santa hat sitting on the couch.

We had a wonderful Christmas. Almost daily we are going on outings with Suzanne's kids while they are in town.

Libby poses with her indian headband she made in preschool. This picture of her looks a lot like a picture of Jeff at her age.

Molly lookes so cute wearing one of Libby's little baby outfits. She is still working on sitting up. She can stay for a minute or so, but loses her balance soon after and doesn't like the result. Especially when big brother or sister has left a toy lying around and she falls right on it temporarily injuring herself.

I couldn't resist the drool picture. Kolbe and Libby were never big drollers, but Molly certainly has been.
Kolbe loves feeding her and couldn't wait for her to try carrots! Yum yum.

This is another pic from the pumkin patch we went to a week or so ago. The kids played on a huge haybale.

Roz and George have been doing construction and had a massive dirt playground for the kids to enjoy.

Just like Kolbe and Libby, Molly ADORES playing in the saucer.

One of the few outfits Molly has that's not a hand me down. Libby likes owls so when I saw this little number we had to get it. The picture also shows off Molly's spikey hairdo in the back.

Mom and Mary Katherine wanted to match. They were just along for looks. Mary Katherine seemed to enjoy her first Halloween, and definetly enjoyed her brother and sister.

Libby fell asleep before the night even began. This was about 6 PM, and she was watching "Robin Hood". Not a single piece of candy in her bag, yet. I hated to wake her up, she was so sweet.

Mary Katherine got her first taste of real food. She couldn't get enough. Both kids took turns helping mom feed her. Everyone else did our regular ritual of pizza for Halloween.

The kids got all dressed up for Halloween. They were very excited to hit the streets.

We have had a BUSY FALL. Kolbe played soccer for the first time. Though he did not score a goal all season, throughout the weeks he improved significantly.Libby is his biggest cheerleader.Dad has been busy reading for his classes. Molly takes the opportunity to catch a nap in a cozy spot. Kolbe and Libby love helping with the baby. They are always asking to hold her or change her diaper, etc. Both are quick to grab a binky if she is crying and do a pretty good job of letting mom and dad take care of her needs while they wait for their turn.

I cannot remember the last time Molly got a bath without brother or sister helping with the process. They both beg to help bathe her or get in the tub with her. Molly smiles at her big brother and sister non-stop.

Molly is an early bird so dad puts her in her baby seat so mom can sleep in each morning. She watches dad and the big kids eat breakfast and begin the daily routine.