Wednesday, November 14, 2012

mom, you can only take two.

 
I was snapping away at Gavin's new walking skills the other day and Mason requested I take some pictures of him too.
After I picked myself up off the ground over my anti-picture-taking-boy, I snapped fast while he told me "mom, you can only take 2 pictures".
 



I snuck in a few extra.
 
This sweet boy has been growing up a lot lately.  Maybe it's preschool. Maybe it's a normal age for boys to start maturing a bit.  Maybe it's being a big brother.
But whatever it is, he sure is changing.
 
 
He loves preschool, basketball, throwing the football with mom or dad, wrestling, bike riding, going to work with Dad (a lucky few times), Legos, Skip-Bo, bugs, helping in the kitchen, candy, pop, and not much food.
 
 
He's growing fast.  And already talking about his birthday in February.  Not more than a few days pass before he asks again "what's after Thanksgiving?"  and then "what's after Christmas?" and then "my birthday is after Valentine's Day, right?"
I wish he'd slow down.
 
But since he won't, I'm thankful for moments like this that he stops and lets me freezes him in time.
 

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Friday, November 9, 2012

gavin {11months}

I'm a little late on these.  In no time at all this little guy will be 1.
Sigh.
 
 
I'm shocked that we are still able to take pictures outside, with no clothes on.  I'm so ready for fall to get here and stay!
 

 There is nothing I can do to get Gavin to look at me for pictures.  He looked at me only once I think.  I can hoot and holler, cluck, moo, bark, sing, but the little stinker will not look.
But I won't complain too much, because he did lay down on the quilt (not for long, but long enough).
 

 This month we've started to see some changes in his personality. He knows how to throw things that he doesn't want (like food and cups full of water), and throw fits like the best of them.
He's usually not happy when he wakes up, morning or nap time.  I guess he may get that from me??
So I'm attempting a few new things - like a snack and drink right away, Barney, The Wiggles, anything to help his mood.
 


 
Obviously, it works sometimes.

 
 
At almost 11 months on the day, he took his first steps!
Within the last week he's started to walk across the room.  He's not walking all over yet, but getting so close.  The nice mark on his chin is from one of his spills.

 
But boy is he into stuff.  Neither of our first 2 kiddos required locks on the cabinets. But this child does.  He has helped himself to the pantry cabinet a few too many times.
 
 
What a joy it is to have a big brother and sister who love him so much.  They take such good care of him.  Sometimes.  And Taylor does such a good job of babysitting when Mommy is trying to get herself ready without a baby at her feet. 
Mason forgets many times a day that his brother is still a baby, and not another 4 year old he can wrestle with.  But in between times, he is learning to play well with him and watches out for him.  If I'm not the one catching something going in Gavin's mouth that shouldn't be, Mason is my next set of eyes that catches things all the time and fishes them out.  You'd think we'd get all the small stuff in our house picked up.  And believe me, I always think it's gone and then something always appears.
 

 
He continues to be our best sleeper.  Morning and afternoon naps, and I can't remember a night he's woken up since his first 2 months of life.
But surprisingly, he's a light sleeper.  I can't go in and pick him up in his sleep and snuggle him (believe me I try), like I did Mason.  In fact, many times he wakes up when his door comes open.
 
 
He isn't saying any words yet.  Not really even Da-da that he said before.  But he definitely make himself heard.  His screaming continues still.  In the car, at the dinner table, outside, inside, all the time. 



He's a daddy's boy.  He gets so so excited when he hears Daddy walk in from work. And he gets so so mad when Daddy puts him down to go shower.
 
He gives kisses and high fives, loves balls, remotes and barking dogs.  He's a serious little guy, who breaks into silly moods every now and then.  He loves bath time and playing hide and seek, and loves to bite during family wrestling sessions.
 
What a blessing to our family this little boy is.
And soon, he'll be one.
 

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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

rebekah and alice's visit

I'm backing up a bit to some pictures I never got to.  The last few weeks have been a bit crazy.  Maybe a lot crazy.  I was shocked I got the posts in that I did.
 
It was so fun having my sister and her sweet baby Alice here for 5 days for Taylor's birthday.
Our kids haven't been together since July, when we stopped in Kentucky for a visit on our way home from vacation.
Oh yeah, and we didn't tell my parents she was going to be here.  So when they got here the night before Taylor's party, they had quite the surprise!
 
 
It took Alice a few days to get used to the craziness that comes with a house of 3 kids.  She's used to taking naps where it's nice and quiet, and she doesn't have anyone to drag her around and be in her face all the time.
 
She kind of had this "please help me" look on her face for the first few days. 
 
 
But she started to warm up.  And it was so cute to see her and Gavin scooting around on the floor together.
 
 
She got her first Druber's experience, and first donut!
 
   

 
 
She helped us cheer on the Wildcats!


And even got to be a visitor in Taylor's Kindergarten classroom to help celebrate her birthday.


And my sis helped me go through my closet and put together new outfits. I think I came up with 12-15 new outfits with the things I already had, totally eliminating my urge most of my urge to go fall clothes shopping. Whoohooo, closet cleaned out and money saved all in one!  Thanks sis!
Between Dave's sister who helped me clean out my office and get rid of tons of things, and my sister helping me with my closet - I am so thankful for awesome sisters and their services!
 

We love  you Aunt Rebekah and Alice!!! Thanks for coming all the way to Kansas to see us!
 

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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

our halloween

Our day started with fits over a costume before preschool. The simplest, most comfortable costume ever, and yet there was still a big fit.  Even though he's been SOOOO excited about his costume all week.
I tried to convince him it was okay that the jersey was a little big, that's how football players fit their pads underneath.  It would have been fun to add pads or muscles under his shirt, but there is absolutely no way he would have gone for that.
It dawned on me this morning that we had major issues last year when it was time to put a costume on too.  I don't want to force him into a costume.  And I tried hard to keep his pretty simple.  But I knew once he got to school he'd be fine.  And he'd feel much better about being in a costume, than being the only one not in one.
We finally got it on, I distracted him and we got to school.  But the helmet had to stay at home.
He's our play-it-safe child. And I definitely need to remember this in future years as we plan costumes.
 
It was so fun to watch our little Collin Klein (K-State quarterback), sing a few songs at their fall party.
 
 
And then he transformed into Optimus Klein for the night.
In case you're not a K-State fan and need a little explanation...
K-State's quarterback, Collin Klein,  has been referred to a lot this season as "Optimus Klein" - part Optimus Prime (a Transformer) and part quarterback.  Because he's really good and is the top runner for the Heisman right now.  Or "Kleisman" as they say.
Mason loves K-State football, and Collin Klein, so we thought this was a fun costume for him.
We had everything but the mask.  And I didn't want to buy a $30 Optimus Prime costume just for the mask.  So we found one for $10 on Amazon, plus free shipping, thanks to my sis, and it got here just in time!

 
Taylor wanted to be a butterfly, although she was mistaken as a bumble bee many times. 
And our little guy sported the same cow costume that Mason wore when he was 8 months.
 
 
He wasn't a big fan of the grass.  But he was a big fan of his cow bell necklace that he got to ring all night long.  Who knew the wedding favor from this summer would be such a fun prop.
 


Guess who is walking!?!? 
 
 
It's a little bit crazy to see our baby standing like his big brother and sister.  He's not walking all over the place yet, but he's taking lots of steps.  YAY!!
 

We did more trick or treating this year than we have before.  We did our normal stops to see good neighbor friends and family, and then Trunk or Treat at our church.  

 
We hadn't planned to do anything else, but when we headed home, we decided to let the kids do some  REAL "trick or treating" in our neighborhood.  Daddy let us off and drove along beside us. This was the first time they really got to knock on doors and get candy (2 or 3 years ago we did it but they don't remember it)  I couldn't believe how much they loved it.  It was me who wanted to keep doing another house, and another, just because they were having so much fun.
 


 And our sweet little cow snoozed away in the car.
 
Happy candy eating  hiding!!

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Saturday, October 27, 2012

how I roll

Mom says my brother and sister didn't push too many boundaries.
They never had to lock up cupboards or worry too much about closing every door to every room in the house.
They weren't interested in ripping into new things and taking bites out of things you're not suppossed to eat.
She also says they rode in grocery carts like you're suppossed to.
But I say, none of that sounds any fun at all.
 

It's way more fun to ride like this.
Even the belts don't stop me.
 

 
So mom and dad pretty much just let me ride the way I want to now.


But sometimes I push it a little too far and get stuck in strange spots.
 


 I pretty much just know how to roll.
My brother and sister just didn't know how to have any fun.
I think I need to teach them a few things.

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