James is Thirteen Months Old

This has been a month of celebrations for our family and they continue into tomorrow with a birthday party for Sophia and more parties again next weekend.  We love celebrating birthdays in our family and February is certainly a big month for that!

Jimmy's shirt says, "Little Bro" and he is the epitome of a little brother.  Everyone loves him (and fights over who gets to sit by him, get him out of crib, feed him, etc.) and I have a feeling that he is going to have his older siblings wrapped completely around each and every one of his little fingers by the time he is able to talk.

His big, blue eyes are the first thing that anyone (especially strangers!) comment on.  They are certainly beautiful. -- and those lashes, wow.

Unfortunately, this little boy, as cute as he is, is now getting into mischief.  He found my baking cupboard one morning and began stuffing his mouth with chunks of chocolate.  Not good.

In fact, we avoided putting plastic cupboard locks on the kitchen cupboards all together with Jack and Sophia, but I told Steve that I needed them on two cupboards in particular since my sanity was hanging by a thread these days.  Yes, there were two cupboards that Jimmy frequented often and something needed to be done about it.  Mission accomplished.

I am working with Jimmy on saying the word, "ball."  He received this ball for his birthday from Aunt Deb and knows that it is his.  He loves to chase it and have you roll it to him. 

And he especially loves it when his big brother plays with him.  (I can't say enough just how special the relationship is that these two boys have together).

At James' 12-month check-up the doctor questioned the fact that he wasn't regularly pulling himself up on objects.  I simply wasn't concerned, as I explained that we don't really encourage it.  The other kids didn't walk very early or stand early, and that he will do it in his own time.  Less than a week later, sure enough, he began pulling himself up on anything he could.  One such object is the window sill ...

For now, he continues to avoid the stairs; he doesn't know that he can climb on them ... yet.  That is one day that I hope stays away for a while because childproofing those stairs is a challenge.  I don't mind that he plays with his blocks there though.

My little boy is growing up so fast ...

Daddy-Daughter Dance 2017

Each year, the school hosts a Daddy-Daughter Dance in February as a fundraiser for the after-prom festivities.  Samantha has attended the last two years with her dad, but this was an extra special year because it was the first time that Sophia was able to go too.

That's right, Steve had a date with BOTH of his girls.

The photos were taken quickly this year, as it was a mad rush to get everyone home from school/work and dressed in time to fly back out the door for a pre-dance dinner date with friends.

I just love how natural Sophia looks in most every photo that she takes.  Her, leaning in to her dad, looking so grown-up here ... I'm going to blink and then it's going to be me taking her prom photos just like this.

The girls chose their own dresses a few weeks before the event and I chuckle to myself as I realize just how fitting they are to their personalities.

These are Sam's colors right here and her hair is left flowing, just like she likes.

And Sophia ... that girl can never have too much pink (and it doesn't matter how many shades of it she mixes together).

The pink shoes?  A priceless $5 find that you would think are the equivalent of Cinderella's glass slippers to her.  She wears them with everything now.

Two sisters, two best friends.

James' First Birthday

We celebrated James' first birthday on his actual birthday (February 4th) surrounded by family and friends at our house in the traditional way -- lots of decorations, food, presents and followed it all up with cake and ice cream. 

I chose a fox theme for the party; I'm not really sure why.  But I'm so glad that I did because it really turned out cute.  I had the girls help me with some of the decorations -- most everything was handmade, and I can honestly say that I have perfected my drawings of foxes now (if that ever comes in handy one day!).

The fox balloon was a big hit, but one that I may have to reconsider for any future parties.  While the balloon itself was not expensive, it turns out that it cost quite a bit of money to put helium in it at the store.  In fact, the helium cost more than the deflated balloon did.

Just look at those blue eyes.  It seems that those are the first thing that EVERYONE comments on when they see him.

The fox cake that I decorated the night before and put on a Fall plate that I had tucked away in a cupboard.  Such a perfect opportunity to use it.

Flowers are a great way to add a 'pop of color' to any decorating.  I added a bow to the vase and a few other simple decorations (and some candy!):
 

The handmade banner that the girls helped me with -- the letters were drawn and cut by hand, as were the matching foxes to balance it all out.  That banner now hangs in Jimmy's room.

Another table using flowers from the same bouquet:

We served pulled pork, coleslaw, a baked potato bar and salad and the crowd seemed happy with all of it.

A duplicate of the tissue fox that the girls had helped me last summer for Aunt Minnie's classroom.  We had most of the supplies left over from that project and set to work one afternoon to make a twin.  It turned out just as cute as the first one.

Painted and embellished.  Simple enough.

My boy and me -- no longer a baby anymore.

Opening presents with Momma (with help from his siblings, of course):

The smash cake!  This little man wasn't quite sure what to think of it, but with a little encouragement from the audience, he eventually dug right in. 

Happy 1st birthday, Jimmy!

James is Twelve Months Old

James is a year old now, and just like that, this chapter of my life closes.  I no longer have a baby anymore ... he's our last one and now I can't talk about his age in mere months anymore.  When someone asks how hold he is, I simply reply, "he just turned a year old." 

The last few weeks have been difficult for James because he cut three -- THREE! -- molars through all within a few days of one another.  Cutting a single tooth is hard; molars are even more difficult; and three of them at once is pure torture.  His sleeping habits became skewed, there was a lot of crying and he just plain wasn't my normally content little boy.  Then, to add to the irritability issues, he received four vaccinations (one in each leg and one in each arm) and he tensed up at the time that they were administered, delaying the healing process.  His arms and legs hurt for a solid two days and he flat-out gave up on crawling.  Yes, he would just lay on the floor.

This last month meant big changes besides the crawling and the cutting of molars.  We moved James out of his infant car seat and into a toddler seat.  He loves it!  He can see everyone better and his legs/feet are not cramped anymore. 

We also lowered the crib mattress down in his bedroom once I found him sitting upright in his crib.  Incidentally, that happened on the exact same day that he began crawling -- January 17, 2017.  This balloon was the object of choice that initiated his first attempts at crawling.  By the next day, he was an expert.

He is now on the move and I can rarely get him to sit still for a picture.  There are just too many fun things that he has access to now that he is mobile and 'on the go.'  I snapped this picture while he was distracted with one of his toys.

Yes, he now has the freedom to get any and all toys out of the toy box and does so regularly.  He loves to dig and toss them over the side (just like each of the other kids used to do).

He also loves to climb in and out of his chair (really, it belonged to all of his siblings).  He doesn't like to sit in it for extended periods of time (read: more than 1 minute at a time), but enjoys the act of getting in and out of it whenever he pleases.

James hasn't spent too much time outside this winter, but I suspect that he will be running and begging to be outside during the next winter season.  It's kind of difficult to move when you are bundled up and just learning to crawl.  It makes for a cute picture though.

Happy twelve months, James! 

Mid-Month Randoms

Jack acquired a taste for hot chocolate this winter -- perfect for the days when the winter weather makes his cheeks red and cold ....

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We haven't had a lot of snow this season (or so it seems anyway), so the kids have taken full advantage of it whenever they could; sledding, shoveling and making snowmen.

Our neighbor joined in the fun with us one morning.

Jack was pretty proud of the masterpiece.

Sledding down the hill in the backyard on one of our five "snow days" that we have had already:

Even James got bundled up for some time outside:

Using his Tonka trucks in the snow:

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Gathering wood for our fire using the wheelbarrow that he got from Papa and Grammy for Christmas:

It has already gotten lots of use since Christmas and I think that Jack will find an excuse to use it year-round.  Gathering twigs, yes.  Gathering pine cones, yes.  Picking up leaves, yes.  Raking grass, yes.  Anything and everything.

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The girls had to take in a "stocking stuffer" for their Christmas parties at school along with a stocking that had their name on it.  The girls both opted to give their friends chapstick (a useful item!), so Sophia performed the diligent task of separating the chapsticks into a bag for the girls (pinks, purples, etc.) and one for the boys (soda flavors, blues, reds, etc.).

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I love puffer vests and I *may* have instilled that love in Samantha too!

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Jack craves the outdoors.  Most mornings, he is dressed and outside by 8 am -- and really, he would be out there even earlier if I didn't insist on him having breakfast first.  He moves wood, he shovels, he rides his bike.  Everything that he does is physical and he LOVES it.

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Samantha ran for class president after winning the primary election.  We are SO proud of her and the time/thought/effort she put into her campaign. 

She designed her own poster and slogan:

And then I helped her make it come to fruition using craft supplies that he had in my closet (well, I did purchase the poster board in town):

Such a fun thing for us to do together.  Even though she didn't win, we talked about how hard she worked and how excited she was to be able to make it into the top 2 for 3rd grade class president!

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Jack is now my helper at home when it is time to put stickers on my students' papers.  He loves this job and takes his role seriously ... just like the girls did when they used to be my special helpers.

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On the day that Samantha had her election at school for class president, Sophia decided that she wanted to dress up too:

When her kindergarten teacher asked her why she was all dressed up, she quickly replied, "because Sam is running for class president!"  I'm not sure that Sam had a better advocate and supporter than her younger sister.

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One of our neighbors got a little bunny and brought it over to show us.  The kids were all so excited to meet Hazelnut, but the happiest one might just possibly have been Jack.

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My boys.  They really love each other and I can't wait to watch them grow up to be the very best of friends.

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