I want a blue dress- June.

Every morning when I get up, the first thing I tell mama is "I want to wear a blue dress." I'm not very good with colors, so I don't always mean blue.

But I do have strong opinions about which dress I wear. Mama doesn't always pick out the right dress. Once she gets me dressed, I tend to forget if I threw a fit about what I'm wearing, though I do hate wearing a sweater over a dress and try to get it off at all costs. Good thing I don't mind a turtleneck under a summer dress. Really, I just want to have my dress ready to dance in case the opportunity arises. (By the way, mama doesn't like my hair like this. She thinks it makes me look too old.)

Mama found me in this lowly state when she came down from putting the baby down for a nap. I've lately started letting her play more than just "Hold on Tight" on the Backyardigans CD. Unfortunately, I like some songs more than others. And the songs I don't like really bum me out.

Here's a few of the thousands of worksheets we've been bringing home from school. This one actually came from the Big Boy in Cincinnati. (Oh, sweet lovely Big boy who serves chicken nuggets on the breakfast buffet...) Henry colored this one- meticulously.

I colored this scarecrow at school. I even glued some "straw" down.

They don't have kids wear costumes at Henry's school (too much trouble), but they do make masks and have a parade. Henry's class all made Frankenstein's monster masks. Check out that cutting. Mama and papa had a conference with Henry's teacher last week. She said Henry is reading at a second grade level. And she went on and on about his fine motor skills. Thanks to his car advertisement collection, he's had a ton of practice cutting. Her one suggestion for Henry? Enroll him in some kind of sport.

Henry came up with this idea on his own when he was stringing beads. Mama drew the hot air balloon and the basket for him, but Henry did all the coloring, beading, and cutting.

Here's the close-up. Henry was very adamant about including the fire under the balloon. When he finished it, he was a little disappointed because I think he had in mind building an actual hot air balloon.

And what about that baby? She is so stinking cute! She really just keeps getting better and better. This week she's been working on talking more.

Fall is here!- June.

Fall has finally come! We're all relishing in the cooler weather- still in the low 70s though- and headed outside to tend to our much neglected yard.

There's a 10 foot bed of irises out back that didn't bloom this year. Mama figured out it was because the bulbs haven't been thinned in quite a while. So she set out to clean out the whole bed. When she finished, mama started counting the bulbs, but gave up after 100 and instead estimated that she pulled 500-600 bulbs out of the bed. She replanted a bunch around the house. Do any of our zone 8 friends need some iris bulbs for their yards? We've got a ton left over!

As always, it's exciting to see what we'll discover when we start digging in the southern soil. Mama found a bunch of snails and a male black widow spider. But a black widow still doesn't scare her as much as the huge centipede she found. Those things are so gross!

We found there are two things Georgie wants more than anything- to be warm and to be outside under a tree. She laid beside mama for a couple hours while mama gardened and even took a little nap. What a great way to spend a fall afternoon!

While mama worked in the flower bed, we "helped" papa rake leaves. Mostly, we jumped in the big piles he made.

Cuteness ensued.

This must be practice for my senior pictures.

Is it runny nose season already? It must be, because I have my pigtails in. And mama only put those in when she wants to keep my hair out of the snot.

Henry gets some air!

Watch out below!

What do you mean, this isn't appropriate attire for leaf jumping?

What about leaf throwing?

I'm still not very good at getting any altitude when I jump.

I bet George was jealous she had to take a nap during this crazy fun!

Halloween costumes-Henry.

We've been putting off the Halloween post because Halloween came and went and mama realized that she never took a picture of all three of us in our costumes.

On Friday, the moms' club had a big Halloween party. There were games and plenty of treats! June especially liked the cookie decorating station. She made two.

I wanted to eat treats all afternoon, but mama told me I had to do an activity between each treat. So I decorated pumpkins with stickers and hit baseballs from a tee. Then I ate so much good stuff that I threw up in bed that night. June had a great time bobbing for apples. No one was playing in it, so she spent 20 minutes playing in the water. Mama eventually had to tell her to stop when she started taking one bite from each apple.

Little lamb Georgie slept in her stroller during all the fun.

But the best part of the party was the huge sandbox. Mama made me strip down at the door because I probably brought home 2 pounds of sand in my socks alone.

On Saturday, we were supposed to go trick or treating downtown, but mama came down with some kind of 24 hour bug. She slept all day. Papa even tried sneaking in on her to see if she was faking and reading Harry Potter in bed, but she was actually asleep.

On Sunday, we went trick or treating in the neighborhood with our friends. Mama will have to try and get the pictures from James and Andy's mom. Georgie had a few costume changes. Here she is as a ladybug.

And here's the group shot mama took tonight. June has a surprising knowledge of all things Halloween (that she must have learned at school). Mama gave her the choice of a tiger, a chicken (both hand-me-down costumes), or this costume from last year. She told June she could be a pretty fairy. But June replied "No. I'm a witch!" (On a side note, June calls fairies "butterfly girls.") I'm dressed up as Joey Votto. Don't look too close, because my baseball pants are really a pair of June's velour pants tucked into papa's socks. Mama was very happy that Halloween only cost her $1 this year. And that was for a magic wand she got Junie at the dollar store that actually never got used at Halloween.

Here's my third costume. Aren't I the cutest little pea pod you ever saw? Mama's always wanted a baby dressed up as a pea pod. And she's been carrying around this costume for a while. I'm glad she finally got to use it.

Aunt Molly, we think June may finally be the one in the family with as much Halloween spirit as you. She spent hours pouring over her Halloween cards and calling people on the phone to yell "Happy Halloween!" And once we got her to stop demanding "I need that candy!," trick or treating was really fun. She's already talking about what she wants to be next Halloween. Too bad mama had to break it to us that it's not for another year.

We're taking a short break from our regular programming...

Mama here. And it's time to dust off my soapbox for a few minutes.

Today I had the great pleasure of visiting my dermatologist for the second time this fall. First time was to get 5 moles removed. This time was to get a larger portion of tissue removed after one biopsy came back positive for "abnormal cells." This means that my mole may or may not eventually turn into skin cancer. So to play it safe, my doctor removed all the tissue surrounding that area. I don't want to get too graphic, but it's not fun afternoon when your doctor has to ground you so he can cauterize your wound shut then give you 10 stitches. This is serious stuff people!

Most of us grew up before we knew how important it was to wear sunblock and exercise caution in the sun. Still, I got on the boat for skin care before I was 20. But at 29, I'm already at high risk for skin cancer.

So everyone out there, please lather on that sunblock. And lather up your kids- even if they hate it. You don't have to have a porcelain veneer like the Seiberts and Turners to get burnt. And you don't have to get burnt to get sun damage.

And here's a helpful link with a nice easy way to check your skin for any suspect pigmentation.

ABCDEs of Melanoma Detection

I don't mean to preach, but I like you. And I want you to stick around for a while. Now I'll put my soapbox away for a while- or at least until I see another college kid riding a moped on the highway without a helmet while texting. Don't get me started.

A picture hiatus- Henry.

When we got back from Bridge Day, mama was so overwhelmed by all the pictures we had taken (and all that had to get uploaded to the blog), that she declared a picture hiatus. And she meant it. For the first week after we got home, I think she only took 2 pictures of George.

I snuck the camera out when we went on campus to scope out the tailgating scene before the Georgia Tech game. June is sporting a look known as "Game Day Diva." That means you don't have to wear anything team related as long as it is the right color. We crashed a tailgate of some of our friends and June and I did our best to eat all of their snacks.

Of course, we found the only Georgia Tech tailgater on campus. Papa walked the long way back to get the car and left all three kids with mama. She decided it would be fun to walk us right by the stadium right before the game started. It certainly was exciting. George was in the sling, June was in the stroller and I was holding on the the stroller as mama pushed. It was very crowded and very loud as we walked by the stadium. but we all made it through together and found papa on the other side.

Mama felt guilty about not taking any pictures, so she snapped a few this week.

We decided that George has the neck strength to try out her new bumbo seat. She liked it for a few minutes.

I sure love my little sister.

It's been warm week down here (still). Even though mama broke down and turned on the heat last week (for the sake of the fussy baby), she turned it off and turned the AC back on when the humidity went back up. Good news for June though, because she only wants to wear dresses and throws quite a fit when mama tried to even put pants on under a dress. Mama did make her wear pants three days this week, only because she has so many Halloween themed clothes. June didn't like it at all.
I got the legos out because I knew mama will always let me stay up late to build a lego tower. This tower really speaks to mama and I. It has a recurring pattern and doesn't require much creativity. You can't tell it much in this picture, but I was getting sick when this was taken. Lately, when I come down with a cold, the circles under my eyes get so dark it looks like someone punched me. Papa actually thought I did get hurt when he came home that night.
When I build, mama sorts. She finds this deeply satisfying and let me stay up a half hour later from my nap so we could sort out all the blocks.

June has whole-heartedly discovered and embraced Halloween. Whereas I never cared much for it and can still only be convinced to put on a costume when candy is involved, June talks about it all the time.

Her teachers sent home little treat bags with 8 tattoos (and a sucker). Mama put all of them on and June spent the rest of the week naming all 8 to anyone who would listen. She also loves to yell "Happy Halloween!"
We're assuming she learned it at school, because she also knows all about ghosts, witches, monsters, and owls. Aunt Molly, she's clearly your niece.

Finally, here's a video to round out our week in review. Now that Georgie is a little more sturdy, June and I are eager to get our hands on her. I've been giving mama some fright by demonstrating how I can lift the baby up. Eek. June has taken a great interest in Georgie's nuk and insists on "feeding" it to her. I don't think the nuk or June's song are helping right here.

Georgie- a month retrospective- mama.

Well, seeing as I'm so far behind (again), it's more like 6 weeks retrospective.

Here's Georgiana on her two month day. I've got to say, things certainly have improved now that we've made it two months.

How could you not love this smily kid? Here's a week by week breakdown:

5 weeks: Georgie starts looking around instead of staring cross-eyed randomly at things. Her eyes dart, but still don't focus too long on one thing.

6 weeks: She starts focusing on one thing for longer than a moment, like our faces!

7 weeks: George starts smiling in response to seeing someone.

8 weeks: This is the week we were at home in Ney. Thanks to Grandma Seibert, this is the week Georgie really started taking a nuk. We said at 4 weeks she could take a nuk. but that was only if she was really tired and we held it in there for 15 minutes first. Luckily, Grandma had the patience to keep offering Goergie her nuk and she started to get the hang of it. When we got to Marion, Dash let Georgie borrow one of his nuks and she sucked on it all night long. We were so excited that we instantly got on Amazon and order 5 of them. And now she doesn't like them. You've got some new orange nukies coming, Dashie-boy. The good news is that she is taking the first nuk we got her. (It only took 6 different kinds of nuks and over $40 to get here.)

9 weeks: This is when things start getting good. We came home from our long vacation and this girl REFUSED to be put down. Grandmas and aunts, you did your job spoiling Georgie. After a few days of constant fussing, George started giving us a few minutes here and there laying on the floor. Heaven! Then even better- she started napping on her own. In a bed, and for a couple hours at a time during June's afternoon nap! Hooray!

Week 10: Georgie seems to have discovered her hands. She likes to have them out (not covered up by sleeves) so she can hold them together and maybe even chew on them a little. She's also taken to holding on to our hands when she's being held, which is pretty nice.

We did some reminiscing and decided that Georgie has definitely been our most demanding child. Not that she's been terrible, but she has required much more attention than the other two. Henry was a very content baby,plus he was the first, so he got everything he wanted instantly. We don't even remember much about June being a baby- mostly because she was so easygoing, you could set her down for hours at a time and she'd never make a peep. Georgie doesn't like being in a car seat, doesn't like her swing, tolerates her bouncy seat and hates having a dirty diaper.

But we seem to have turned a corner. Now that she's on the nuk, she gives us a lot more time on the ground. She takes a great afternoon nap and (I hate to jinx this), she's slept 8-10 hours straight 4 nights this week. I think this directly related to the long afternoon naps. Sleeps begets sleep, as I always say, and Georgie is proof of that.

Finally, I feel like 10 weeks is old enough to declare that George has made it through the newborn stage with no baby acne or cradle cap. And that makes her the prettiest baby yet.

We visited the doctor for her 2 month checkup and here are her stats:

11 pounds 2 ounces- 50th percentile

23.5 inches long- 90th percentile!!!

15.25 inches head circumference- 35th percentile

Looks like we might have a tall kid after all.

Georgiana's photo shoot.

Aunt Kate, Uncle Adam, Grams, PawPaw and GG and GG were nice enough to all go together and book a photo session with a local photographer.

Jacob Dean- who coincidentally lives right down the street from us- came over and spent 2 hours taking pictures of our sweet baby George. Being a model sure is rough. To get these shots, we actually had to turn on the heat for the first time this season so the little naked baby could fall asleep. And I hope Jacob was able to salvage some of his blankets after the inevitable consequences of leaving a 7 week old naked too long.

We were super excited with the results of the photo shoot. Check out some of the best shots!

If you want to see the rest of the photos, check out the online gallery. Password: Turner

Now we just have to decide which pictures to print and which to make into a book.