He's ONE!

Not sure about cake.  Would not try it AT ALL!

As always, the box proves more fun than the gift!

About his favorite gift ever from Uncle Ronny, Aunt Krista and Kourtney!

Second try he was in LOVE!

Okay, okay, so this is a little (or a month) late!  I am struggling to keep up these days.  We had a couple of fun, small family celebrations (one at Sweecie and Poppy's and one at Neannie and Pop's).  Still cannot believe our little guy is one!  He really is the neatest kid.  He has a great sense of humor, loves to smile, is super laid back, and adventurous.  He could not be more boy.  He is so physical.  Everything he does is a warp speed and strength.  I love seeing the masculine characteristics God designed come out so early.  It is amazing how perfectly He formed us.  Bo is such a lovie.  He will lay his head on your shoulder, give your neck a squeeze or just grin his amazing grin.  He loves men over women.  He literally will go to any man that is willing to hold him.  He ADORES his Daddy about more than life.  This past month apart has about killed us all (praise God that is ending this week!).  He still doesn't say too much: Mama, Dada, hot, dog, dat (that), more (which he will say and sign), and he will make the sounds for a dog and monkey.  He is still a horrible eater (I often wonder how he stays alive!) but is still the most solid kid I know.  He is fighting wearing his glasses now, which has been so hard, but we are trying to keep him in those.  He is also fighting his morning nap, which is pretty characteristic of a one year old, but we will keep trying!  He sleeps all night (usually 11 hours) and is still taking a bottle of milk at night.  His afternoon nap is always 2 hours and he usually is awake for 3-4 hours before bedtime.  He adores his sissy and they are so much fun together.  They can play for hours on their own.  My cup overflows when I watch them together.  

We truly are amazed daily at God's answer to our fervent prayers for another child.  Bo, you light up our lives with your beautiful smile, infectious laugh and sweet, sweet spirit.  We pray daily you will be a man after God's heart.  You are more precious than life!

11 months!!!

How we got here is beyond me.  Literally.  I cannot believe our son is almost 1!  Holy moly, what fun he is!  We truly laugh at him numerous times a day.  He is ALL BOY!  Totally physical, loves to push everything around (literally chairs, trash, toys, sippy cups, anything) on the ground, he is SO NOT gentle with other kids and is starting to get pretty vocal.  He still has a great throaty laugh and is saying "Mama, Dada, Sissy, and Ba Ba (bye bye)."  He started walking at about 10.5 months so he has me on my toes at all times.  He loves to climb, explore and put any and everything in his mouth.  He still is pretty texture sensitive with foods and gags easily but loves pureed veggies and fruits, yogurt, chicken and anything else WE are eating.  He is on a great schedule and is finally a great sleeper.  The tubes literally changed so much.  As did starting him on full formula bottles.  He still takes 4 bottles a day, though I am going to begin weaning him from his 10am bottle when we get back from vacation.  He is cutting about 6 teeth right now (he already has 7) and is super snotty so I am waiting until that clears up to start cows milk.  He loves yogurt and cheese so I don't think we will have a problem but I am waiting nonetheless.  He usually wakes around 6:15 and goes back down at 8:15.  He sleeps for about 1.5-2 hours and then goes back down after a bottle at 1:30 or 2 and sleeps 2 hours.  He has only 3 hours of awake time in the evenings which has been wonderful.  Early on I was trying to keep him awake for 4-5 hours in the evenings and it was miserable for all of us!  His longest awake time is between is morning and afternoon naps (4 hours) and it works great for running errands, lunch and playtime!  Much better than dealing with fussiness while I am trying to fix dinner.  He goes down between 6:30 and 7 and sleeps all night.  

We finally cut his mullet this weekend and he literally looks like such a little man to me right now.  His hair is so blonde (with a tinge of red) and his eyes are getting darker and darker.  He is still fair so I am thinking he is more going to take after his Momma and Poppy!  He really is SUCH a lovie.  SO SO thankful God gave us 11 months with Bo!!!!

Packing Fun...

For those of you that don't know, Bobby lost his job a few months back.  He has a great temp job right now and is still looking for a perfect fit.  We have been praying like crazy, seeking God's precious will for our family.  We know His timing is perfect.  Everything that has happened literally has had His hand all over it.  We decided to put a For Sale by Owner sign in our yard thinking it would take forever for our house to sell.  We ended up selling it in three days and close on July 21st.  It has gotten me in gear and I have been organizing, packing and purging like crazy.  The plan as of right now is for the kids and I to move in with Mom and Dad and B is going to stay here and work while bunking with our sweet buddy Shane.  Prayerfully, we will know more in a few months and look forward to house shopping and getting settled.  Mom and Dad came up last weekend and helped a TON and then Audreia and Kourtney came up and stayed a few days and watched/played with the kiddos while I packed even more.  I cannot tell you how blessed we are.  We adore our family and I am always SO humbled that they all joyfully pitch in and help and serve us any time we need them!  As you can see from the pics, the kiddos had a BALL!  Thanks sweet ones.  We love you more than we can say!

Argh Matey....

So we got some sad and frustrating news yesterday at our Opthamologist appt.  Abby Kate's eyes had stayed at the baseline of where they should be with glasses rather than improving.  Because her right eye is so much stronger, we now have to patch it for 4 hours each day.  She is NOT loving it and the only way I could get my imaginative baby excited about it was to play pirates (which only lasted about 30 minutes).  Now if I could only find away to keep her excited about it for the other 3.5 hours!

Celebrating Daddy....

I truly have no words.  Just humbled, amazed and in awe of my sweet husband, who is the best Daddy and loves our children with all his being.  And my own Daddy, who has championed and loved me right into the arms of my Heavenly Father.  And my sweet Bubby, who is about to be a Daddy of two, who works longs hours but loves his family with everything he is.  What a great bunch of men I have to celebrate!  Not to mention my father-in-law, whom I love dearly as well!  Thank you Father for giving me so many men who point me to You!

Fun lately...

Wow.  Moved into our super hot summer but have been having a ball.  Hide and seek (see above pics), pool almost daily, splash park (below pics) and tons and tons of snow cones!  I LOVE SUMMER!

Prayer and my giggle monster...

Just two things to note...
Abby Kate was praying last night and this was her prayer...
"Thank you Jesus for Momma and Daddy and Bo.  Thank you Jesus for Aunt Befie's (Bethie) pool, Sweecie's pool, my pool and Neannie's pool (two of which are blowup kiddie pools).  Thank you for caterpillars and lady bugs.  Thank you Jesus for my toys and my books and my animals...my stuffed animals.  And thank you Jesus for my room.  I love it.  And it is pink.  Amen."  :)
And Bo has literally melted my heart every day for the past week.  He has become so cuddly and when I walk into his room for nap/bedtime, he instantly lays his head down on my shoulder.  After I feed him, I rock him a bit and he lays his head on my cheek and literally starts giggling.  He has the raspy-est laugh you have ever heard and it is easily one of my favorite sounds on earth.  I always start giggling too until we both giggle so hard we have the hiccups.  And I lay him down and he just smiles and I thank God for such a perfect end to a day!

Just a few fun pics lately!  We cleaned out my Granny and Grandad's house last weekend and found 2 tubs of costume jewelry of Granny's and LITERALLY, she has had more fun with this than anything I can remember!  Notice she has it ALL on.  She said it makes her chunky.  

Bo is now standing on his own for long periods of time as you can see (forgive the crazy glasses) and is trying to take steps.  It LOVES doing this.  I am SO not ready for another walker!  Though he has been pretty discontent with crawling lately.  He wants to do JUST as his sister does so maybe walking will even the score for him.  They have such a ball together and there is nothing I love more than hearing them both giggle together.  It is everything I imagined it would be!

Yee Haw!

Is this not the cutest cowboy you ever did see?!

Our Sweet Livi is ONE!

The beautiful birthday girl!  

The decor.  Isn't it all precious?  Ashley MADE that adorable banner.  Literally, she is as talented as they come.  She made Bo and Abby Kate one too!  

The beautiful grandmothers!  Sweecie and Kat Kat.  

YUMMM!  First taste of sugar!

Can you believe my beautiful sister in law is 6 months pregnant?!

I cannot believe our sweet baby girl is already one!  It seems this year has flown by!  I literally feel like Liv is going to be a genius.  She is so verbal, sweet, curious, fun and giggly!  We LOVE getting to be so close and sharing her life.  WE ADORE YOU sweet Livi!

Hysterical rants of Abby Kate...

We really have gotten SUCH a kick out of Abby Kate lately.  She is so stinking fun.  Here are just a few samples of her...

Yesterday we were driving in the car after standing in the sweltering heat for 25 minutes to get a snow cone.  My girl, who hates getting wet, I mean so badly that if she even spills a drop on her, she has stripped down in no time flat finding me scrambling to get her covered before a cop, dhs worker or child predator can get a glance, decided to pour an entire cup of water on her lap.  This conversation followed...
AK:  (dramatically crying) OOOOHHHH, I am wet!  SO wet!
Me:  Well, of course you are, you just poured water into your lap...on purpose.
AK:  LET ME OUT!  This feels SO yucky!
Me:  No.  You made a bad choice.  This is the consequence.  We will be home in a few minutes and then you can get out.
AK:  NO!  NO!  NO!  I am WET!  LET ME OUT!
Me:  No Ma'am.  Sorry, but you made a silly choice.
AK:  It wasn't a silly choice.  It was a BAD choice.  BAD.  I don't like it at all!  Let me OUT!
Me:  You need to remember this so you won't do it ever again.
AK:  (more dramatic crying)  This feels AWFUL, just AWFUL!
Me:  (rolling my eyes and giggling inside)

This morning, she woke up pouring snot and with super watery eyes.  She was sitting on the potty and she started to cry.  I ran in and asked what was wrong and she replied, "My nose can't get free from the snot!"

AK:  Mom, look at my puppy.  And the collar I made for it.
Me:  That's awesome.
AK:  NOT awesome Mom!  Awesome is boy.  Beautiful is girl.  Say it is beautiful.
Me:  It is beautiful
AK:  (high pitched voice)  Good job Mom!  Way to use your words!  Way to obey me!