The Cuteable

Life sure is hard when there is a brand new baby in it.  Then finally, slowly but surely, here and little and there a little, things start to get easier.  And after a couple of months things are still pretty crazy and chaotic, but then you have a fully interactive tiny person on your hands, and that can be soooo much fun!

Bridget came to us with a lovely face and a lovely personality to match.  She is genuinely one of the sweetest babies I've ever handled...and I'm totally not just saying that because she's ours.  :)

Hair and Makeup

At some point this summer, Kendra became aware of face paint.  Lucky fur her, she has a doting father who picked some up at Wal-Mart when he saw it there.

And she also came fascinated with hair styles as well.  She is typically resistant to actual styling and her signature look is to wear a headband (there have been tears recently upon the discovery that headbands are usually made of breakable materials).  But when she did see a style in an episode of Bubble Guppies that she liked, once again doting Daddy fixed her up.

It feels like we waited a very long time to get the point where our children were old enough to do things like this.  It was well worth the wait.  Raising kids is pretty dang fun!

A Big Brother Obsessed

Elliot was definitely enthusiastic when Paxton was born, and his interest in babies did not diminish when Bridget arrived.  He has to be near her.  All the time.  In fact, it didn't take me long to figure out that she's really his baby--I just grew her for him.

Most of these are actually parts of other series of pictures but when Elliot became aware of the situation, and that it involved Bridget...well.  When I was growing up, I always wanted a big brother and I'm so happy for Bridget that she has one of her own.  I think that being a terrific big brother is just a precursor to being a really amazing father, and that will be pretty fantastic to witness, too.

Splashing around

I think these pictures speak for themselves pretty well...

It was pretty muddy out there for a long time from all the traffic.

It was totally worth it.

Smiles

Having your fourth baby is very different from having your first.  There is still the grueling schedule and the care around the clock, but there are three other people to care for as well.  But those three other people are all old enough to be giving so much positive feedback as a parent and it's such a relief from the lack of thanks that the baby gives.  Thank goodness for older siblings!

Though their love and affection doesn't take anything away from the sweetness that is the first recognition from the new baby that you are, in fact, someone they know and love and appreciate.

It's like, super completely and totally the BEST.  And Bridget is a particularly sweet little girl.  These smiles ain't lyin!

Sleeping like a...

We have been watching Once Upon a Time, and in one of the most recent episodes, a curse was cast on a town that made the citizens extremely hateful towards one another and a new mother screamed at another character something to the effect of, "If you think I'm mean now, just watch what happens to me if YOU WAKE MY BABY!!!"

It was priceless.

But there certainly is something extremely photo worthy of a sweet, sleeping baby, we've noticed...

And it also seems like we have plenty of pictures of sleeping mommies, too...