Baby in a Bag

Katie

Ivy

Katie & Ivy

A Katie Fashion Show

Well, Katie is definitely a girl. My Nathan is a boy among boys. He's as active as they come, loves trains, cars, tools and anything he can fashion into a sword, and, if he's not insisting I call him Luke Skywalker, it's Eragon Dragon Rider (or Batman, or Dash Incredible, or Francis from Swiss Family Robinson--okay, so the last one doesn't sound quite so macho). On the other hand, my Katie has an instinctive love of all things stereotypically feminine. For instance, she loves to try on shoes. Where does that come from? I am not a shoe person, and I'm much happier in my Asics than something strappy or heeled or otherwise cute (unless it is also comfortable with good arch support). But from somewhere in her little feminine heart, Katie loves pulling on & off shoes, switching between the bright pink cowboy boots or shiny black sunday shoes and prancing around in whichever she last managed to pull on.
Most recently, thanks to Grandma Marlene, we've discovered she loves having her fingernails & toenails painted and actually sits still for the procedure. She also seems to relish admonishing Nathan, "Don't touch!" if he so much as looks at her fingers or toes until the paint has dried. When it has dried, she parades her hands or feet in front of Mommy or Daddy, calling very loudly, "Cute! Cute!"
Another manifestation of this girliness, is her love of trying on clothes--especially brightly colored clothing--showing the outfit off, then trying on something else--all of her own choosing. Below are a couple of my favorite photographs (and video) of this behavior:

I had never considered pairing this shirt and skirt (a major oversight on my part, I think, since the blue butterfles on the shirt match the skirt exactly) and I was quite impressed with her matching ability.

Katie chose this entire ensemble, including the use of pants as a skirt. Observe her creative process & runway walk:

Just for fun:

Katie using a sweatshirt as a skirt

A rare moment of a cute Katie hair-do


cookie-eyes


Nathan posing, after asking me to take his picture

p.s. To the point of Nathan's decided boyness to Katie's girliness: while I was composing this post, Nathan came up to me and said (in a voice quite pathetic), "I want a gun toy." I told him that I don't like guns. He responded, "I don't mean a real gun. I mean a gun toy." I told him I don't really like gun toys either and he simply answered, "Please can I have a gun toy? Please?" in the same voice he uses to beg for a puppy.

New Baby!

Ivy Hope was born last night after a labor that was longer than the first two kids' combined! She's 2 weeks early and was 7 lbs flat, 19.25 inches. She's been very alert and very hungry. She also slept through most of the night, just waking up twice to eat. Hopefully she decides to make that a pattern. Here are some pics:

You've got style, kid

Yes, she did choose the outfit herself--including the hat which appeared to be her favorite piece of the ensemble.

A close-up happy birthday

The idea of the video was to see what the kids were drawing as they went along. Here's the close-up version:

Happy Birthday, Levi!

Nathanism

Sunday morning during breakfast Nathan and I had a conversation that went like this:
Nathan: "Mommy....Mommy!"
Me: "What, sweetie?"
Nathan: "There's something spooky in my room. [small pause] It was roaring."
Then ensued another small pause during which I wondered how serious he was and how I was going to help him not to be afraid of his room. Before I could respond...
Nathan: "It was my stomach!"