Go ahead and take a moment to laugh snidely at the fact that I'm posting this pic,



after posting this mild rant on shiny-noisy-baby-holder-dealies.

I admit that Scout has been spending WAY more time in our borrowed Jumperoo than I like. It's just a fun and safe place for her to be while my sister's kids are running around like banshees (I don't know what a banshee is or if it even runs around). I put her down on the floor now and then when I am able to supervise very closely and lay the smack down if one of the kids decides that doing pro wrestling moves is a smart thing to do two inches from a baby's head. Of course, I hold her a bunch (as always) but the Jumperoo allows her to be down where the kids are playing and she LOVES being in the midst of the action, staring intently at their wild games. She has been all smiles. She has even let out some good belly laughs while watching them - something she has NEVER done before. (She usually does this weird squealing thing in place of an actual laugh).

My 6-year-old niece took the above pic, by the way. I think she did a darn good job.

I am really enjoying my sister's visit. It is wonderful to have her here to do all of the things we would do if we lived in the same city. We made a couple of dishes to take to the church potluck on Sunday afternoon. We planned out all of our meals for this week and went grocery shopping today. We plan on hitting a few thrift stores and going to get the kids' portraits made together. Our town is having its annual arts and crafts festival (in honor of the apple and its abundance in these parts) this weekend and we live a block away from the festivities, so that will be a fun place to take the kids.

I'm realizing how spoiled I am to having peace and quiet and having my house in order (most of the time). If given the opportunity, the 2-year-old whips through Scout's nursery like a tornado, leveling the place in no time flat. The two older kids are usually jumping on one of the beds or wrestling with eachother. They are only being kids are usually very well behaved. I have just gotten used to my child, who at this point takes 20 minutes to scoot 3 feet.....and is pretty quiet about it. Oh, and naptime is a little nerve-wracking. We have a one-story home with relatively thin walls. I feel bad that we're constantly shushing the kids and they don't have a good place to get their ya-yas out.

Here's a pic of my sis meeting my daughter for the first time (notice aforementioned conversion van in the background LOL :)



So sweet!

Labels: family, pics of scout