little elise is 5 months!

1. Isaac noticed the holes in Uncle Mark's ears and asked him if they were holes for earrings. Uncle Mark said yes, and Isaac said, "Why did you take them out? Because, you realized earrings are for girls?"

2. You know the preschool saying, "You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit."? Here's Luke's version, "You get what you want, and you don't throw a fit." It's amazing how just one word completely changes the point of a quote. I love when he uses that on his brothers, thinking he knows what he's talking about. Isaac just laughs.

3. Adam was driving home with the boys the other night when, unfortunately, he hit a deer. Another horrifying, exciting, and saddening moment of reality for my boys. Isaac made sure to tell me that he said a prayer for the deer. And, as Luke was saying the family prayer that night, this is what he prayed for: "Grateful that the deer is dead so that animals can eat it. Bless it to be alive before they eat it all." I'm hoping for the sake of the deer that that child's prayer is not answered.

4. Elise is 5 months old! My, oh my, how time flies! She is just about the sweetest thing there is, next to sugar. We are at a really nice stage right now. She is fun, interactive, immobile, and takes good naps. I guess she isn't completely immobile - she has figured out how to roll over the last month.

My boys are more than willing to talk to her every minute they can (sometimes, I have to force them to give her a break... mean mom). Adam is even starting to become quite taken by her now that she is out of that 'boring newborn stage'. She's just so stinkin' sweet. Luke has an assortment of nicknames for her: 'Sweat, sweat', 'Missy, miss', 'Little miss, miss', and 'Cutie miss'. He continues to be her biggest fan.

She is my first baby to fall into a nap schedule on her own... well, with a little help from me, I guess. From the very start I have been able to lay her down when she needs a nap and she will just go to sleep... no pacing for what feels like hours, no having to fall asleep while nursing, no binkies. Nights, on the other hand, could use some improvement. For some reason, she won't fall asleep on her own at night, and it ends up being quite a process to get her to bed. We'll get there.

As good and sweet as she is, I definitely feel maxed out with this one. In sort of an arrogant way, I expected this fourth one to be a piece of cake - you know, because I'm such a pro. Not so. I can't seem to accomplish the simplest of tasks these days. But, I figure there will be plenty of time for clean houses, bathed children, and exercise down the road.

Pics:

I sure hope that Elise will someday look as cute in her hair accessories as her brothers do.

Some super cool posing going on during one of the boy's photo shoots. This one turned out so well that I just had to post it :)

So, I was telling Isaac about how me and my bff from childhood, Bethany, used to stick toilet paper in our waistband's and pretend that we were tigers, leopards, cheetahs, and such. Of course, he had to try it out for himself.

I have to show off Elise's rolls. I've never had such a chunky baby!

Luke finally got the ladybug pillow pet that he had been dreaming of since the first time he saw the commercial. He earned it by filling up his sticker chart. And let me tell you, we were on our way to Walmart the second that last sticker had been earned.