Some things we've been up to lately...

Bedroom switching
We've been ready for a while now to move Melia out of our room and have been experimenting with how to sleep 3 kids in two bedrooms. Some challenges... a "light sleeper" three year old who loves to talk and a baby who still wakes up once in the early morning to eat. So putting the two girls together has not worked out. Our most recent experiment is working so far. Gabriella and Oliver are sharing his bunk beds - and they are both fine with Gabby sleeping up top - much to her delight! To curb the incessant talking, we set a timer for 5 minutes after we tuck them in and they (aka... Gabby) can talk to each other until the timer goes off. If there is talking afterward, then Gabby has to sleep back in her room and Melia will go back to ours. That promise is enough motivation for her that we have had two successful nights with the big kids sleeping in the same room... although we did find Gabriella whispering to Oliver well after he was asleep last night :) So this is the plan for now. We'll see how things progress...

Playing a before bed game of Pretty Pretty Princess with his sister

Passport photos
We are preparing to go on a cruise with my family later this year so in preparation, I have been getting everything in order to get us all passports. Matt and I both have one, but of course they are both expired so we are in need of passports for the entire family. Since we are cruising to Key West and the Bahamas, we have been able to take advantage of the Passport card for the kids, saving us a bundle of money since we don't see ourselves needing the full international passport for all 3 kids anytime soon. In another effort to save a few dollars, I read many tutorials and decided that I would take our passport photos myself... saving us $10 apiece. I'm very happy with the results and just ordered the $0.09 pictures today. Mucho money saved. Yay.
Baby food!
Melia is growing up quickly as babies are known to do. She is rolling all over the floor - I have to put up pillow barricades to keep her away from walls and out of the corner. She eats pureed vegetables and fruits like a pro! She can drink water from a sippy cup - something my other kids couldn't master until closer to a year. And she still smiles for us all of the time. What a lovable little girl she is. We are so blessed to have her as our baby doll!

Last weekend we had some family pictures made and got a bunch of Melia at 6 months! Here's a sneak peek!