6 Whole Months - By Frankie

I'm 6 whole months old today!
This month I decided I kinda like rolling over!
Diaper changes, play time, nap time, all the time pretty much!
I'm really getting around now!

I also figured out how to sit up!
Sometimes my belly gets too heavy and I kinda fall over, but I can sit up and that counts, right?!

I'm still fat and happy just drinking milk.
My mom keeps saying she's just not ready to feed me anything else.
My 6 month dr.'s appointment isn't till Monday so we don't officially know how much I weigh, but my mom weighed me with her and said I weigh anywhere from 18-20 lbs.
Pretty good without solid food I say!

I've got no teeth.
I'm doing my old man 'clamping my gums together' a lot lately so I should be breaking a tooth any day now.

And I've got no hair.
So my mom got creative.
She ordered 3 bags of hair bows and glues one to my head every day to match my outfit.
It's non-toxic washable school glue, so you don't have to worry.
Everyone notices my bows!
And my mom just loves dressing me up, so it works!

I'm waking up at lease once, if not twice a night.
Still.

I love to eat and a girls gotta have that midnight snack.
Or two.

Here I am laying on one of my dads contraptions he put together for me to sit on.
And since I'm not doing it at night, a girls gotta sleep sometime right?!
Notice the drool all over my chest!
Silly!

Addie has been so funny lately!
She makes me laugh all the time!
When she's not standing on my chest
(true story!)
or trying to feed me grapes.
(another true story)

I like being outside and when the weather had cooled down a little I was able to wear some super cute sweaters and this super cute hat!

We went for a walk, just mom, dad, and me.
That hardly ever happens!

Then when I got home I got to try on sissy's glasses.
Love 'em!!!

And my mom thought 6 months old was a great time for a photo shoot!

Look at those mad skills!
Can you see my hand, can you?!

I'm getting so super coordinated and playing with lots of toys lately!

L-O-V-E.

I like the glasses so much that I found me some cool shades.
Awww, yeah!

Then I decided I wanted them off.
That took some doing!

But they tasted so good that it was worth it.

Sitting up some more.
With a safety.
Safety first you know.

I like playing airplane with whoever will play with me.
And check out my crew cut.
Niiiiice.
Also, I always try to touch the camera.
Always.

Putting on some lip gloss.

My dad went to Denver and brought me back this awesome Aerosmith shirt.
I'm such a rockstar!

Until Addie 'stickered me.'

I took it back old school this month.
Who's that baby in the velour pj's with the collar?
Oh, that would be me.

Ummm-k. Until next time!


Love,

Frankie

9/11

I saved some newspapers from September 2001. United Airlines ran a full page ad in USA Today that I have always remembered.

Monday, September 10

On Monday, a hose in my sink broke just when I needed to rush out the door, and I thought life was being unfair.

On Monday, when you asked people how they were doing, without much thought, or much contemplation, they replied "fine" or " good."

On Monday, the papers and the news magazines were filled with stories about the new fall TV schedule.

On Monday, there were not many people in the religious section at the bookstore.

On Monday, the American flag hung, for the most part, unnoticed at government buildings and at schools.

On Monday, we passed strangers without much regard.

On Tuesday, September 11, all that changed.

On Tuesday, September 11, different things seemed important.

On Tuesday, September 11, blissful naivete was lost.

Sanctity was mercilessly shaken.

On Tuesday, September 11, somebody tried to take America apart.

On Tuesday, September 11, America came together.

On Tuesday, there were no Republicans, Democrats, yuppies, blue collars, or any other labels. There were only Americans.

On Tuesday, September 11, strangers died for each other.

On Tuesday, September 11, the best of the human spirit spit back into the eye of the worst.

On Tuesday, September 11, America was knocked to its knees.

On Tuesday, September 11, America got back up again.

11-year-olds

In our church turning 12 is a pretty big deal. It's the year that you get to leave the kids program (Primary) and enter into the Young Men and Young Women's programs.
Since Christian turned 12 this year and I work in the Primary, I've really seen what a difficult year it can be for these little guys!
They go from being too-cool-for-school in Primary to the youngest of the big kids.
So we came up with the idea to have a party to celebrate them.
To let them know that we appreciate their leadership for the little one's and that we will miss them in Primary.
And even though I'm not their teacher, I have a pretty vested interest in this cute little group.
So we had the party at our house.
We played some fun games including one that Lexi taught me called "Ninja."

Zane, the one in the white shirt, was totally the Ninja champion!

We also played 2 truths and a lie, and another game that I am forgetting right now.
Then we had ice cream. :)
I know I always buy too much. This was no different, I bought 6 different flavors. They just all sounded so good!
The kids wanted to taste test so I got out Addie's baby spoons and then that's what they all wanted to use to eat.
11-year-olds.

Guess who wouldn't pose for a picture for his dear old mom?!

After ice cream we went outside to wait for parents and play some more games.
I think the party went swimmingly, even though we missed a few that couldn't make it..

This is such a good group of kids.
It's so neat to watch as they grow up.
They will do awesome things!

And a silly shot.

We love our little 11-year-olds!
(now mostly 12-year-olds!)

Reba!!!

I looooooooooove Reba McEntire!
So imagine my excitement when I found out she was coming down to tiny old Southern Maryland!!!
The concert was at the end of August and it was sooo much fun!

Matt, Mindy, Angela, and I headed across the bridge to little St. Leonard.
The concert was an outdoor fundraiser for the St. Leonard volunteer fire department.
It was super cute and down-homey!
Love it!

It was also the first (and only) night I have ever left Frankie with the sibs. That part didn't go too well, but we still had a good time.

Oh and Barbra Jean was her opening act! You know, from the Reba show?! She did stand-up comedy. She wasn't the funniest comedian I've ever heard, but it was cool to see her. And then she came out and interacted with Reba a little bit, which was cute.

Not pictured:

*mine and Mindy's super cute Reba t-shirts that we bought and then promptly went into the porta-potties to change into
*my authentic Texas cowgirl boots
(even though they were bought at a Mervyns store, they are still from Texas!)

We had so much fun eating ribs and pulled pork, people watching (Southern Maryland outdoor country concert=some very different people), and belting out every Reba song we knew at the top of our lungs!

Boating fun

The day Christian came home was supposed to rain so we weren't planning an oceanic excursion.
But then the clouds parted and it was a beautiful day so we threw towels and gear in the truck and headed out.

2-year-old in a wetsuit coming through!

Slave labor.

While we were waiting for daddy to change out of his work cloths we took some pictures.
And just so I feel better, please know that I do not approve of Christian's new t-shirts! I actually hate them.
But I'm choosing my battles right now.
And I don't like it!

Addie wanting in on the action.

And finally all my babies.

Getting ready to go tubing! Notice the too-small life jacket Lexi's wearing... we still need to buy a few more adult sizes!

Oops, did we make you guys fly off the tube?
It was totally an accident!!! ;)

Christian being cool standing up.

Daddy's turn!

Would you be scared to let him pull you on the tube?
You should be! He's a maniac driver! He almost broke my shoulder and my hands hurt from hanging onto the tube for dear life! It was super fun though!

Addie loves the water! She was having fun kicking her feet to try to motor the tube.

We had to be a little bit careful because there were tons of these little bad boys everywhere!

I've heard the jelly's are not so bad now, so it sounds like it's time for even more boating fun!