James' birthday party- Henry.

Well, we're a week behind in posting- again. Looks like mama needs to spend some much needed time devoted to the blog and less time nursing that baby. (She can dream, can't she?)

Our buddy James celebrated his 4th birthday with a Super Hero party at the park.

Everybody got a cape and a mask. And there were costumes for everyone to try on.

The party wasn't only for James, it was for his friend Emma too. So all the girls got to be Power Princesses. This especially thrilled June because she got a tiara and a magic wand. She carried that little pink wand around all day until she finally broke it. She was so upset about it that mama made her a new one out of a kebab stick and some pipe cleaners and beads.

Miss Kerri is so creative. She organized a scavenger hunt where all the super heroes had to follow clues to find Andy's kidnapped Piglet. I was pretty excited about this. Mama was glad because up until that point she had two clingy kids and a fussy baby all by herself.

We found Piglet!

Then it was time for cake. Andy was pleased with his super hero cake.

And look at Emma's cute costume. Is it any surprise that she had a Clemson cake? The party was on the same day as the Clemson home opener and everyone showed up in orange. Mama had to wear her orange Squeezebox shirt because Georgie barfed all over her Clemson shirt, but no one seemed to mind much.

Poor third kid. Just chucked aside on a lawn chair. Luckily, there were lots of other moms who wanted to hold her.

The cake was delicious! Mama didn't have any because she was full from the breakfast she went out to breakfast with Aunt Jenni (no kids). She wanted me to talk about it because now she finally understands the deliciousness of a good southern breakfast. They went to the Village Baker in Pendleton, a perpetual favorite because they stock lots of good Eastern European favorites like fresh rye bread (three varieties) and yummy pastries heavy on butter and poppyseeds. But on Saturday morning, mama and Aunt Jenni went in for the eggs, bacon, biscuits, and grits special. And they were the best grits mama has ever had. Extra heavy on the butter and pepper. GG Gramps, now she understands what you were talking about. To make things even better, when they were leaving, fresh pretzels were coming out of the oven. Just in time for Oktoberfest! Who knew we could love the Village Baker more?

Back to the party. While mama was thinking about those grits, the rest of us were loading up on delicious cake.

Then we had a birthday present exchange. Every kid brought a gift and every kid got a gift. It was fast, painless, and everyone went home happy. Miss Kerri, you are really so creative.

Junie continued to shower her affections on her tiara and wand.

When none of the adults were looking, Andy scored himself a bag of doritos. Mama made sure to get a picture before she took it away. Don't worry, he couldn't have gorged himself too much, because June and I already ate most of the bag.

We ended the party with some good swinging. That sweet baby Christopher and his chunky thigh rolls made everyone melt. He is so fun right now and super smiley. June's two favorite people are Christopher and his dad, Mister Tony. Every time we see them, drive by their house or even mention any member of their family, she bursts into song. "Christopher, Mister Tony, Christopher, Mister Tony,Christopher, Mister Tony." Occasionally, she adds in "Miss

Jew-ett" (Miss Juliet) and "Keats" (the dog). But she saves John to group in with James and Henry.

1200 posts!

Wow, that is a lot of free time spent blogging over the past 4 and a half years. And a lot of work mama has left to do to get 1200 posts put into book form. (Wasn't she supposed to start that project last year?)

We spent Saturday afternoon just hanging out and watching the Purdue-ND game. Georgie got in a good cuddle with her oldest cousin, who did a great job watching her all weekend.

Little did this sweet girl know what Aunt Jenni had in store.

Mama and Aunt Jenni were trolling their favorite website, etsy.com, and came across this ridiculous thing called a baby cocoon. Mostly, it's the newborn photographer's newest way to torture a little girl. Aunt Jenni knew she could crochet one of these contraptions, and she set out to embarrass George. She didn't like it.

So they moved on to the next function- weird baby net.

Looks like we went shrimping and caught a baby instead.

We feel like this picture made Aunt Jenni's efforts worth it.

We call this shot "Quiet Resignation or ...Wait until I'm a Teenager and You'll Pay for This." Those are toes stuck up there by her head.

Later, we tried the cocoon again. This is the best we could get.

And when we were done torturing Georgie, Uncle Jim did his best Benjamin Franklin impression.

We were hoping for a few shots in the net with a sleeping baby, but Georgiana is increasingly alert. She wanted to stay up and play.

Evie built a bug that kept her attention for a long time.

To round out the afternoon, Aunt Jenni set up Georgie for her first beer picture. They grow up so fast.

All In!- Georgie.

We didn't get home from the park until after 3 pm. And by 4:30, we were all packed up again to head to the Clemson First Friday parade. First Friday as in the Friday before the first football game. It must be a big deal because the entire town was packed onto the street and EVERYONE was in orange!

Even yours truly! Good thing mama went to that consignment sale just hours after she got home from the hospital. I would have looked like a real jerk if I didn't have something with a "Tiger foot" on it, as Juner calls it. Lots of people stopped to comment on the fact it was also my "First Friday."

We picked up Sonic before we headed downtown. All the big kids were pretty pumped for fast food and a parade. We were "All In" as they say down here. We're not really sure but that means, but we all had orange on, so we think it's a step in the right direction.

The parade did not disappoint. Big flags, bands, plus Miss Clemson, Miss first Friday and Miss Clemson Homecoming. (Again, all wearing orange formal wear.)

Even the Clemson Alumni band was there. That sax player on the left is our neighbor, Mister Mark.

More orange, more tiger feet.

It was still pretty hot. So I slept through everything. I slept for about 6 hours straight on Friday. By the time we got home, mama was really feeling and and nursed me so much I barfed on Aunt Jenni 4 times.

A big part of the First Friday parade is the floats that all the sororities make. Then all the sororities march behind their floats in weird costumes. Or maybe this is just what the kids are wearing these days.

The parade was awesome, as were the popsicles everyone else had when we got home. No surprise that all the kids were pretty beat. Aunt Jenni was worried that since I slept all day, I'd be up all night. But as they say, "Sleep begets sleep." I slept 6 hours at night after sleeping all day long.

The Tallers head south!- June.

With Papa out of town for a 4 day stretch, mama knew she didn't want to venture into being a mom of 3 alone quite yet. (Our hat is off to the rest of you APSA widows who did it on your own this weekend!) So mama called in reinforcements.

The Tallers drove all the way down from Indiana and even let Evie skip two days of school just to see us. Well, we all know who they really came to see.

Aunt Jenni came in the door and grabbed her two favorite things- Georgie and a good regional beer.

Aunt Jenni's main goal was to make sure Georgiana never spent a minute untouched all weekend. And by those standards, the weekend was a huge success. Georgie missed Aunt Jenni's birthday by just one day. At least Aunt Jenni still has that to herself, because I was born on Uncle Jim's birthday and Tessa was born on their anniversary.

Occasionally, Aunt Jenni even let Uncle Jim hold George.

Georgie was so happy, we caught a sort-of smile on camera. She's really started smiling in the past few days.

Friday was a nice, hot day so we went to Chau Ram county park. It boasts Oconee County's longest suspension bridge. (No word on if it is Oconee county's ONLY suspension bridge.) Don't Aunt Jenni and Uncle Jim look good with a baby?


Here's how much fun a suspension bridge can be with a bunch of kids and a really strong Uncle Jim.

I didn't really care for the bouncing. Actually, pretty much everything made me upset until we got in the water.

The entire park is a series of small water falls and small rapids. Or as mama calls it, good, slippery, dangerous fun.

We ran back to the car to put on our suits and really got into slipping on rocks. Uncle Jim was the first one to really wipe out. And he was not in his swim trunks. Luckily, the rest of us didn't mind so much when we bit it. Aunt Jenni and Mama tried not to think about the fact that we were all one bad step away from broken bones or knocking out teeth.

See what I mean? And these were the two kids who weren't being bold.

Evie and Henry were running and jumping off everything. This eventually focused their energy on building this dam.

Annalise spent her morning collecting rocks for her collection.

Some of the rocks were in the murky, still pools of water.

I practiced my pitching skills with many heavy rocks.

Mama didn't figure I'd even get in the water, so she didn't bother putting me in a swim diaper. My diaper weighed about 20 pounds when I got out.

And where was Georgie? She was sitting on mama's lap under the nursing cover, trying to stay out of the sun. She was so warm and cozy, she slept all day long and mama had to wake her up to eat.

What a great day! We give this park two thumbs up!

Home alone- George.

It's been a quiet week in Clemson, my hometown. I discovered that I have a cry and if I use it, things get done a little quicker. Mama thinks that tonight I've cried more than I have in the previous two weeks combined. Mind you- it still isn't much. But I like knowing my voice is there in case I need it.

Before she left, Grandpa reconstructed the top of June's precious. She's actually worn it so much that she wore through the lining material that made up the top. Luckily, Grandma fixed up a new one and this one doesn't hang down to her belly button. Thanks, Grandma!

With Grandma and Grandpa gone, we were left to fend for ourselves. Mama was pretty overwhelmed at the beginning of the week. June was constantly in what mama calls "a mood" and had to be touched almost as much as I require touching (100% of the time!). But papa stayed home on Monday and came home early a lot to help out. And our wonderful neighbor, Miss Juliet, kept an open invitation for Henry to come down to her house to play (which we accepted a few times). Little by little, mama got her confidence back. By Tuesday, she ventured out alone with the three of us kids to take a walk around the botanical gardens. On Wednesday, she took June and I to June's new school for an orientation morning. June loved it and we had to drag her out screaming when it was over.

Henry has been a model of good behavior. Did someone bribe him from Ohio? Did GG Grandma somehow telepathically send her pinching down to coerce him into being quiet and helpful? He's spent a good portion of his week at his desk, cutting out pictures of cars.

And he's still excited to go play baseball with papa. He's getting so good that he drilled a line drive into papa's foot and left a bruise-with a wiffle ball. Watch out, Joey Votto.

Junie thinks maybe she'll like me after all. Her main goals with me are tickling my fingers and toes and covering my feet with a blanket at all times. We still haven't found a pair of socks that will stay on my gangly feet. I guess we'll just have to wait for them to fill out a little.

Today in the car, June rode the entire drive home singing "I love you, baby" over and over. I think she was singing it to me and not about some boy she met at school.

A package came for me from Miss Megan in Indiana. Besides some great presents, the package contained two sheets of bubble wrap. Henry and June stomped it until every last bubble popped.

Thanks for my pretty new dress, Miss Megan! June names the buttons "Mama, Papa, and Henry." Don't ask me why, but she's points them out often. Then giggles "My cupcake!"

The brown couch has become mama's favorite backdrop for more sleeping pictures of me. On Wednesday, we all went to the Picnic in the Park put on by Clemson. It was HOT and she laid me down on a blanket under a tree while she played with Henry and June on the playground that was radiating 150 degrees of sweat. I've never slept so well. Looks like mama finally figured out that not everyone likes it at 65 degrees below zero like her. She's debating about whether to turn up the heat or just dress me in some of Henry's newborn fleece and corduroy.

Henry continues to love on me. He found mama's pump and is now obsessed with the idea of her pumping some milk and feeding me a bottle.

Papa left for his annual Political Science conference that is always held over Labor Day weekend- ruining any plans for the families of attendees. (Boo, APSA!) But even in his absence, we had a surprisingly productive day. We went to a mom's playgroup with the local mom's club. (Did we mention they're bringing us 3 meals a week for the next month?! Mama's fall goal is to get more involved with this amazing group of women who are spending their time cooking for a stranger!) After the playgroup, we braved the grocery store. I rode in the sling, June rode in the cart and Henry pushed. It all went really well, though we got a lot of looks and "You really have your hands full!" comments. Mama told Henry if he was a big help today, he could get a special treat for everyone. He picked ice cream bars. A-wee-shush!

When will they learn that June eats her treats way to slow to every get her ice cream on a stick or in a cone? This got pretty messy before mama moved the bar to a bowl and gave her a spoon. She is just like GG Parsons. No Seibert has ever let an ice cream cone melt before inhaling it.

All in all, it's been a good week on our own. School starts back up next week. Henry's going 5 days a week and June starts a 2 morning a week program. They are both pumped. And I've decided to take it easy on mama and sit on my own in the bouncy seat for a few minutes at a time without crying. It sure makes things easier for her knowing she can put me down every once in a while without worrying about me crying. Too bad for her Aunt Jenni is coming this weekend and plans on cuddling me non-stop!