Weekend Shenanigans

Since I'm so far behind (that is ever increasing - hello 11 month and 12 month old blog posts!) I'm combining the last two weekends together. We've actually had two busy fun filled weekends.

1. Friday, May 27 we celebrated J's birthday together as a family. We had planned to go to the zoo but it was raining hard that morning so we went instead to an indoor play area that had bounce houses and tons of toys, and a little kiddie size town. It was fun and he enjoyed it.

He loved the little cars they had. He played on one of these most of the time we were there.

Isn't he the cutest little birthday boy?

I have done this every year with E for her birthday. I decorate the table and kitchen area and then decorate their door as well to celebrate their day.

He had his first birthday cupcake and then got to have spaghetti for dinner. He had a fabulous day.

2. On Saturday, E had her dance recital. She did three dances : tap, ballet, and then participated in the daddy/daughter dance that was to a rap/hip hop song. She was an adorable precious dancer and I loved watching her up their on stage. Every time she came on stage, I was beaming with pride. She loves to dance.

3. On Sunday, we went to church and then went to a birthday party for one of E's friends an hour away at Sweet and Sassy. Each of the girls had their hair done (with braids, a princess bun, and spray glitter) and their nails done. She loved it. She has wanted to paint her nails every day since then.

4. On Memorial Day, we went to the McDonalds playscape area because E earned all her cotton balls in her jar (it is rewards for catching her doing good behavior) and that was what she chose. For the record, we never eat at McDonalds. Ever. But I went to get breakfast burritos there for MOPS several weeks ago and she saw the playscape and decided right there that was what she was going to earn for her cotton balls. Judah had fun playing too.



5. The next Saturday, J had his first birthday party. I plan on having my own separate post for it but it was super fun and we feel so blessed to have all our friends come and celebrate with us.

6. E had a party she attended that afternoon after Judah's party. It was a pool party but before that we had cake and they painted the kids faces and played dress up. It was lots of fun. 

 The rest of the weekend we geared up for our first fun week of summer fun!!!

10 months!!!

(It's only a month late! 11 months will be up later this week!)

J,
You are 10 months. Your personality is shining bright this month. You are a joy,  sweet boy!

Let's go ahead and say your sleeping habits are the same and you don't want them to change =). I've tried laying you down on the bed and I lay next to you and within a few minutes you awake. Silly boy. You wake up to nurse about twice a night and are nursing about 5-6 times a day. You are SO distracted when you nurse. It is a constant battle to keep you focused to eat. I know you are hungry but you just think there are way more important things to do than eat. You eat solids at lunch and dinner with us as well. You love food - there are only a few things that you make faces at, but we keep trying them to see if you will get used to them. (Ex. carrots). New foods you have tried this month: peas, spinach, mango, and tomato soup. We have introduced more finger foods this month and you can eat blueberries and strawberries chopped pretty well and you can eat puffs like its your job =). You can even get the puffs out of your snack cup all by yourself. You get very impatient at meal times and you refuse to wear a bib. You pull it off any time I try to put one on you. Blueberries are one of your favorite foods and you gobble them up. You are cutting your 4th tooth now. You had #2 and #3 show up earlier this month, and just a few days ago started cutting your 4th one.

You crawl everywhere and are pulling up on everything. You can cruise the furniture now and between surfaces. You love to pull up to the windows and reach for the blinds and you like to reach for the plugs too. (Don't worry I put a stop to those two things quickly) The day you turned 10 months, you started walking with a push walker or anything that moves consistently and think that is really fun. You have been getting that pointer finger out by itself and use it to poke at things and touch things. You have started doing this thing with your tongue that I can only describe as "rolling the R's". It is hilarious and I like to say that you are just practicing to learn Spanish. Ha! You LOVE to take things out of any box or container. You leave a mess wherever you go because you haven't learned to clean up yet. You have discovered the safe cabinet in the kitchen and love open and close the door and to take my mixing bowls out of the cabinet. You then push them around the kitchen floor. I think you like the noise they make.

You can now move the baby gates that I have that block the hallways. They aren't connected to the wall so we can move them quickly to go to the rooms. You have discovered you can move them too and so now I can't keep you contained in the living room anymore. You basically think if I have blocked it off, it is a challenge for you to get through. You signed "dog" this month and say "da" when you look at the dog. You LOVE Lucye. Love her. You also are trying to say "done" when we are at the table and you are done with your food. You are still a momma's boy.  You get so upset if I leave the room and know that I'm still somewhere in the house. You will cry and scream until I come back even if Daddy is here =). You also have discovered my red mole on my chest, and you love to play with it. It is rather quite funny.

Favorite toys this month: Fabric blocks that we stack so that you can knock them over; the toy drum, and anything that your sister is playing with. You also started liking Mickey Mouse because its the only thing that keeps you still long enough for me to stretch your neck. You started clapping a bit this month too and you love to wave at yourself in the mirror. 

You are wearing 9 month clothing still. No official stats of weight and height but I would guess 20 pounds.

Bluebonnets 2016

We took bluebonnet pictures last weekend after church. I thought I had missed the window to get my pictures because of all the rain we had the week prior. In fact, the first place that someone told me had good bluebonnets was BARE. We attempted that one before church and I was so sad because I ALWAYS get bluebonnet pictures every year since E has been born and I wanted J to be included this year. On our way back home from church, we decided to attempt the second place someone told us about but I wasn't hopeful. However, we turned the corner on the street and there was a great little field of bluebonnets to get my pictures!! Yay!!!!

My beautiful girl. I'm so proud to be her momma. 

My sweet handsome boy 

This is what Jason calls his calling down the heavens picture. Ha!

The BEST picture of the two of them together. 

And because outtakes are funny and depict real life....

Weekend activities

Weekend activities (yes I know it's Thursday) in bullet form:

1. Soccer game on Saturday morning. Our second game was this weekend, and I love watching her run on the field. Not much contact with the ball but she is having a blast and that is what matters.

2. We went to Ikea to get an 8 cube storage shelf for our study. Our first time with kids. We got in and out as quickly as possible. 

3.  Jason had a little helper when he was cleaning up the flower bed areas in our front yard. She had fun sweeping. 

4.  E also helped Jason put together our shelf. I'm excited to fill it up!!

5. We went to a park after church on Sunday because we had to be back up at the church an hour later for Group Connect, and so we ate lunch at a park nearby and played a bit. 

6. We made a chart to help E practice her dance. She is going to earn a car truck. So far as of today (Thursday), she has filled up two squares. Oh well. We try =).

 

8 and 9 months!

*second child problems*
I have all this stuff written down in my calendar it's just finding time to write it on here for safe keeping. Ugh. Sorry J, hope you can forgive mommy. Hopefully your 10 month will be up soon before you turn 11 months.

J,
8 months!! You are a joy to our family. This has been a good month for you! Lots of big things for you! You are so much fun and we love to see you grow.

Nothing new to report about your sleeping habits. Ha! You still nurse about 1-2 times in the middle of the night. You like human contact to sleep. You wake up between 6:30 and 7 most days. You are down to two naps during the day. One in the morning that lasts about 30-45 minutes and then your afternoon nap lasts about 2 hours. You eat every 3 hours except in the afternoon when you eat about every 2 before dinner. You had solid foods for the first time this month!! You had your first food of butternut squash on January 2. You mainly just played with it on your tray. Some of it got in your mouth. You gagged and then threw up a lot on food this month but I know you are just trying to figure it out. Other foods you tried this month: pumpkin, carrots, sweet potatoes, applesauce, pears, banana, and peaches. Favorites of the group: applesauce and peaches, not so favorites: carrots and bananas. You will push the food away when you are done or you will grab the spoon from me and throw it on the ground. You are cutting a tooth but luckily you have an amber necklace and that seems to be taking the edge off as it comes through.

YOU ARE CRAWLING!!! You started crawling a couple of feet at a time on January 7 and then you took off on January 11.  You have been into everything ever since. You think the dog bowls are really fun to play with and poor Lucye now has to move away from you. You love that dog and just think she is so fun. Now that you can crawl, you can get to Lucye anytime anywhere. You can now bang two objects together in your hands. You aren't really wanting to clap your hands together. You love patty cake with Mommy but don't want to clap yourself. You also started pulling up onto surfaces this month too. This has opened up a whole new world, and you can reach things you couldn't. Your sister isn't too thrilled with this development but she will get over it.

You have become a mommy's boy this month. You want mommy if I am in the room and cry if I am not holding you at nap or bed times. Or any time really =).  You smile at anyone especially if they are girls. You are very popular at your sister's dance class. All the siblings surround you and want to play and talk with you, and you just eat it up. You are teething but have no teeth yet. There are days though that you are extra fussy and you chew on anything that you can get your hands on. I know a tooth is coming soon. Toys you loved playing with this month: Your piano that you could pull up on, small cars, blocks, stuffed animals that you can chew on, and your monkey chew toy. You love to play peek a boo. You will put a shirt or a blanket to cover your face and then when we ask where Judah is you will pull it off and smile. You love that game. It can go on forever. =) So precious. You stick your tongue out when you are pulling up or climbing on things.

You are wearing 6-9 and 9 month clothes. No other official stats this month but we will get them at your next appointment.

We love you!
Mommy and Daddy


J,
9 Months! Only 3 months until you are one! My mommy heart can not handle this. Each day we see more and more of your personality come out.

You are a very happy content happy baby. Most of the time you are happy unless you really want your mommy or you aren't feeling well. Other than that, you go with the flow as we cart you around to all of our things.

Sleeping habits are still the same and you still wake up about 1-2 times a night to nurse. You definitely still need to nurse at night because any other time you wake up at night, I can get you back to sleep but then are times that you will not have that and go right back to sleep after you have a little bit of milk. You still nurse every 3 hours or so during the day except the afternoons. You eat solids for lunch and dinner time with us. New foods you have tried this month: avocados, blueberries, puffs, and yogurt. You have one tooth that is fully through and two more that are coming in! Your little tooth grin is so precious!

You are a master at crawling now and can get to everything. You pull up on everything but have no desire to cruise and get really mad when I try to help you do it. However, you move between two surfaces really well!! You love to stand at tables and see what you can reach and pull off. You will take a few steps if I hold your hands but prefer crawling. You think banging objects together is the coolest thing ever and do it all the time =). You are getting good at waving to people although it looks like a slap on your leg - it's really cute. You will wave at yourself in the mirror and get really excited when you see yourself. You will also give yourself kisses when you can get close to your reflection. You like to blow raspberries when you place your mouth on my arm or on the couch. You think it's hilarious. You LOVE to play at the dishwasher. You will take the bottom drawer and push it back and forth, back and forth. You like to play with the lid to the dish soap. You have attempted to crawl on the door of the dishwasher too.

You are talking and babbling a lot this month. You said "da, da" for the first time and looked right at your Daddy when you said it. It's not always consistent but you do say it. You had your first swing time in the backyard and in the park this month. You loved it. You discovered knocking over blocks and other tall things is the greatest thing ever and now do it all the time - sometimes with things of your sister's and she isn't too happy about it. You still adore your sister. You have a special relationship with her. She can get to you laugh when no else can and you always want to be around her.

You are still a mommy's boy through and through and want me to hold you all the time and follow me everywhere. You are wearing 6-9 month and 9 month clothing. You are 27 1/2 inches and 19 pounds.

We look forward to seeing how you grow this next month sweet boy!!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy