Prepare to be delighted

I'm pretty sure that the only people that will be interested in this post at all will be myself and my mother.  It is truly a splurge of pictures of by bouncing baby boy enjoying his very first chocolate chip cookie (yep, my "famous" ones).

Still, I must post these for anyone who may find a very-nearly-but-not-quite 9 month old chowing down as entertaining as I do.

Let me begin by telling you why today was the day for the first cookie.  Well, I needed him to stop following around in the kitchen and climbing up my leg whenever I paused in one spot.  So I did the responsible, motherly thing and strapped him into his seat and fed him chocolate.  Pure awesome momminess, right?

Of course I stripped him of his shirt.  One cannot truly enjoy a cookie when fully clothed.

He had a bit of a difficult time getting the thing into his mouth without it crumbling.

He now pauses to reflect on the individual flavors in this delectable treat.  I believe he can distinctly taste the extra vanilla I dump in there.

And then he just shoves what he could into his drooling mouth.

Searching for big crumbs...

Doesn't he look like he's raising his hand to ask for another?  Or is this just the crazy imaginings of a sleep-deprived mommy?

Look.  At.  That.  Grin.

I am now melted into a puddle at his feet.

He then had this psychedelic-hippie moment where he spaced out and stared at absolutely nothing.  Chocolate overdose, perhaps?

Maybe this cookie is the reason why he didn't nap the rest of the day...

Just keep swimming

Sadly, swimming season is coming to a close here in AZ.  Well, really it's still hot enough to hit the pool, but we just don't have enough time anymore between school, homework and sports.  And it's just not hot enough to justify pushing any of these things back.

This year the three oldest kiddos learned to swim on their own.

In the deep end.

I am so proud.

They do flips into the water and every other kind of cool trick.

I'm just hoping that next year they can teach this little guy to do the same.

(Poor Wyatt has to skip swimming these days since boring old mom thinks it's too cold in the pool).

Now that I'm looking at these pics I'm pretty sure that we're going swimming tomorrow.  And I might even join the kiddos in that refreshing water.

Eh, maybe not.

A New Era

The Merrills have now entered into the world of boy sports.  Hopefully it's one that we will fit into comfortably for the next 18 years (yes, I already have dreams of watching PG and Tank tackle peeps on the football field throughout high school).

This year, it is T-Ball.

We don't have his uniform yet since this was his first practice, but he does have a team hat (even if he is the only one on the team with one).

He did a lot of waiting in line for his turn to practice hitting and throwing.

Ain't he cute?  Then the coach asked who's next:

 Porter Pot was just a little eager to get up there and get a piece of that ball.

Porter didn't really want to have "Coach" help him.  He is four after all, and happens to know everything.  But the night before Mom and Dad kept having him repeat, "I have to do what the coach tells me to."

My action shot was a bit late, but you can tell that the kid got some air on it.

Chilling on first base:

 Now, I have to admit that no one really told Porter how to play baseball.  You know, beyond hit the ball when they tell you to and throw the ball when you get it.  Awesome parenting, I know.

That's probably why Porter looks so confused in the picture.

Porter was supposed to be catching the balls that came near first base and then throwing to the coach on home.  He, however, kept running across the field and diving after the baseball no matter where it landed.  And that meant knocking down anyone who got in his way.

I didn't get a picture of that gem (I SO wish I had), but Wyatt was crawling all over the place I had a difficult time watching him and snapping pics at the same time.

 I can't wait for many, many more mornings of Saturday games.

Where the heck have I been?

Why, I've been playing with my new toy.

An iPhone.  I've waited and waited and waited for one.  Finally, Orrin got sick of my little "if I had an iPhone I could figure that out for you" comments.  Or my "if one of us had an iPhone we could type in the name of the store and get step-by-step directions there" remarks.  Or my more blatant "I want an iPhone" requests.

And now that is all I want to do when I get a free second.

Instagram, Pinterest, HBOgo, IMDB, Realtor.com,  Pandora... oh yes baby!

So, instead of using my camera I've been taking these babies with the help of Instagram and Camera+:

 And I am loving it.

I did crack out the good ol' camera on Saturday for Porter's T-Ball and I promise to post those pics.  You know, eventually...

Eight Whole Months

Yep.  This little dude is eight months.  Yikes!

He's busy doing a whole lot of crawling.  Clarky-boy is pretty fast now-a-days and now chases his siblings down the hall when they're trying to get to their room without having him follow.

And smiling.

Pulling himself up to standing position when he's next to the couch- or something as equally tall.

Some falling down.

Making funny faces that make us all crack up.

Is is so much fun watching you your little personality develop.  You are as chill as ever.  Well, until mom takes the iPod cord from your chubby hand- then your shriek can rival any of your siblings.

Did I mention that Tank here is starting to furniture walk?  It won't be long before he's off and running!

On last pic of Whit showing Wyatt the puppies at the mall.

 He didn't really care about them, though...

Little Moments

You know that moment, right?  When you suddenly notice a stillness that has settled over your usually-bustling household.  No yelling, no tv, just... quiet.  Generally this means that the kiddos are up to no good.

But not this day.  It was after homework time when I noticed the freakish hush in my own home.  Instead of finding a child sitting in a toy basket with one end of a rope tied to the top bunk and the other to the bookcase (true story, peeps), I discovered this:

Even now, looking at this picture, I can feel the reverence in the room.  They were sitting, chatting about the pictures they were making and what sound the letter "B" makes.  Even the wee-one was sitting next to Adi's chair happily chewing on a marker.

It was amazing.  It was phenomenal.  It is a moment that I will be forever grateful that I captured.

The words to Mr. Rob Thomas's song comes to mind,
                      
                         "Our lives are made
                      In these small hours
                      These little wonders
                      These twists and turns of fate
                      Time falls away,
                      But these small hours
                      Still remain."