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!

Fun with Poppy...

These could easily be my most favorite pictures ever.  Is this not the most precious man ever?  I am amazed at his gentlenss, patience, brillance, steadfastness, trustworthiness and unconditional love.  No wonder I am in love with my Father God.  What a great earthly example I have had.  What other 58 year old would go grab his top hat to serve as his granddaughter's Prince Charming?

9 Months!

I cannot believe 9 months have passed so quickly!  Our precious boy is continuing to come into his own and has such a fun personality.  He is so laid back.  LOVES LOVES LOVES his sister.  He is into everything and experiences everything with the greatest intensity possible (seems like an oxymoron with his being laid back but somehow it works).  He has the greatest little voice and laugh...super throaty and wonderful.  He still only says Mama (hehe) but we are working on other words.  He is a great napper and goes to sleep easily but still is waking some in the night (this is most definitely when a paci would come in handy!).  He is still taking four 8 oz. bottles a day and eats three solid meals.  He has recently been vetoing baby food and really wants things he can feed himself.  I think I missed this window with Abby Kate and she still has an aversion to some textures of foods so I am trying my best to offer nutritious choices that he can feed himself.
My sweet friend Ashley asked Bo to be one of the models for her Snapshop (her amazing photography class) a few weeks ago and these are the pics she took.  If you haven't already found her blog, you are in for SUCH a treat.  She is super creative and intentional with her precious 4 kids, you will get ideas galore from her blog, you won't believe it!  Her precious daughter is just a few weeks older than Bo and I have joked with Ashley that I so hope they marry!  I am so blessed to have such precious friends in my life.

Fun Days...

Not much to update.  Had 6 glorious nights of Bo sleeping 12 hours straight only to come to a strange screeching halt on Thursday.  Still not sure why he is waking again.  I will say, I think the hardest part of being a Mom is not the lack of sleep, but the constant problem solving.  It is emotionally exhausting.  Just when you think you have things figured out, or you get in a routine, it changes again.  Oh well!  We  have LOVED the warm weather and have spent tons of time outside (or in our diaper it seems).  Both kids are doing wonderfully.  They are both super snotty due to allergies I think but happy as larks.  Poppy and Sweecie came this weekend to help us complete a landscaping project and WE SO APPRECIATE it!  Poppy jumped on the trampoline with AK to her utter delight (see above pics) and she was spoiled as usual.  We truly had a ball.
Bo is getting more and more mobile.  It seems nothing can slow him down and he is SUCH a boy.  He is into everything and loves exploring and emulating his sister.  Abby Kate really has seemed so grown up to us lately.  We just delight in what comes out of her mouth (most of the time!).
Hope all is well with each of you!