Valentine's Day '15: The Fun We Had

Whew!  Finally the rest of our Valentine's Day!  It was such a fun day - and since it was like 6 weeks ago, I will do my best to go through what all we did! :)

 

I saw t his online and absolutely loved it - of course, I can't remember the source, but if I figure it out, I will be sure to post...and likely order a print or something.  Would be a fantastic decoration!

After the kids went to bed the night before Valentine's, we set out all kinds of yummy, fun things!  It is always fun to have themed donuts! 

And we set out each kid's goodies from us!  I may have gone slightly overboard.  I keep saying I will do better, but I think I have as much fun finding fun things for them and surprising them as they do getting the items!  And you can never have too many books!

I also got up super early for Tae Bo...which happens to be the last time I did it.  I do plan on fixing that as I am signed up for the early morning class tomorrow.  Sure hope I survive!

And we got to go to a birthday party!  So I hurried home to shower and then the kids got ready and had a quick picture taken before heading to Avery's birthday party!

Baby's first Valentine's Day! :)

It was such a fun party - so fun, in fact, that Katie decided to have her party there!  It is all kinds of inflatables...and I do believe the adults had as much fun as the kids!  We all went down the slides and had a blast racing and jumping around!  Then it was time for the party room....and ELSA showed up! 

After singing, she read a book and I happened to snap this...A MOMENT OF SWEET LOVE BETWEEN THEM!  They love to aggravate each other these days, so catching this moment was rare and lucky :)

Katie with Elsa!  She could not believe she got to see Elsa on Valentine's Day!

And Jack even got in on the Elsa love :)

And so did I! I happen to have known Elsa since 3rd grade :)  I couldn't believe it when I walked into the room!  So fun!

When we got home, Cee Cee came over!  She ate lunch with us and visited and watched most of Lego Movie with us.  Hate that I didn't get any pictures of Cee Cee and the crazies!  Oh well - next time for sure.  Katie wasn't feeling herself, so she was kind of blah that afternoon and just wanted to relax.  It was actually pretty nice!  I even got some Jack snuggles when he got up from his nap!

That night, we decided to make it about the kids - Katie and Brad went on a Daddy Date to Chuy's!  I think he needs to work on the selfies...not too terrible, I guess!

And Jack and I shared some Sonic at home!

When Brad and Katie got home, they brought me chocolate and flowers that Katie picked out -- the way to my heart for sure!  I made a teeny arrangement for my bathroom and then had the bigger one for the kitchen!

It was such a low-key, fun day!  And this is the card that I meant to buy for Brad but didn't get around to it in time....

HA!  Love that.  Actually - we bought each other cards last year, neither of us ever wrote in them (or exchanged them), so we thought we would save them for this year.  And then we both forgot again.  HA!  We typically don't celebrate Valentine's together on the actual day since we don't like to fight the crowds.  We did go on a date night a couple weeks later and that was a blast!

 

 

 

Valentine's Day '15: Decor Edition

Hello, there! Welcome back to my itty bitty spot on the web.  I am back at it again with the playing catch up!  Just when I was ready to go, my laptop stopped working!  A week and half later (and a new motherboard, which thankfully was still under warranty), her we are again!

 

I had planned to do one giant Valentine's post - but the big ones are sometimes overwhelming to me.  And if they are overwhelming for me to tackle, I figured they were probably overwhelming to read!  so I am going to do two posts - décor and the celebrations!

 

So here begins post number one - our décor!  I have this chicken wire board hanging with the kids' artwork (mostly Jack's) and bought that cute heart at Target to hang on it!  I love how it looked on there!

And this was the console table in the kitchen - I did those to "Love" canvases with the boys a couple days before Valentine's Day - and I was thrilled with how they turned out!  It was so fun and it was the perfect decorations!  And those heart lights were so cute on that table too!

In the living room, I had this cute banner hanging on the mantle, a "Love" canvas that Katie did at MDO last year and some fake flowers :)  Those banners certainly are a nice touch!  I can't wait to put my Easter one up!

Here is a close up of the canvas that Katie did :)

And another shot of the mantle - was just the right amount of decoration!

And in the downstairs bathroom, I had this hand towel out - nothing fancy (and could actually work for 4th of July and Christmas, too) but it was a nice touch!

I always have intentions of doing more decorating, but with three kiddos, it gets nuts around here!  I have been meaning to decorate for Easter for the last few days and have yet to do so.  Maybe today is the day!  And I will try to do a better job posting them in a timely manner!  For now, I am going to go chase Ryan around - he is power crawling and attempting to pull up on the little rocking chair! AH!

Ryan: 9 Months

Sleep

Ryan is doing a pretty good job in this department (knock on wood)!  He usually goes down to sleep at around 7:45 or 8 and will sleep about 11-12 hours!  Napping is hit or miss, which I think is a third child problem.  He has been napping on the go for so long that he isn't sure what to do!  He does get sleepy around 9:45/10 and then again at around 3 (give or take).  He may sleep 20 minutes, or he may sleep three hours!  Hopefully he will get better about napping in his crib - he is already doing better, but I definitely prefer consistency!

Eating

Recently, Ryan has thoroughly enjoyed his food!  He eats cereal 1-2 times a day (2 scoops in the morning and usually 1 scoop mixed with baby food in the evening).  He has 2-3 jars of baby food each day.  Usually for lunch he has baby yogurt or even applesauce.  So far so good on no allergies!  And he is all about the table food!  The night before we left for spring break, he ate more than I have seen a baby eat!  He had shredded pulled pork, bites of sweet potato fry, some baked potato, some pasta, and some roll.  And then he had baby food! I have not made him any baby food yet - thinking I may try making a smoothie or something for him with some of the frozen fruit!  We need to try cheese, avocado, green beans.  He has 4 bottles per day - 8 ounces each - at usually 7, 11:30, 4:30, 8!

Weight

At his 9 month appointment, he weighed in at 20 pounds, 7 ounces (50th percentile)!

Length

He is 28.5 inches long (50th-75th percentile)!

Size Clothes

He is wearing an array of sizes right now - still some 9 month, 6-12 month, and some just 12 month sizes!  There are a few 9 month things that are too short or too snug (especially the footed pajamas), so I have a feeling the 12 month things will be the main portion of his wardrobe before too long.  He just wore a 6-12 month bathing suit on spring break and it fit perfectly.  Some 9 month things still work, but I think he is over the hump with the transition to 12 month things!  Ah!

Size Diapers

He is in size 3 for now - but I bet 4 will work before too long!

Hair color

He has real hair!  And it seems like it is a light brown!  I guess it is about the same as the other kiddos' hair was - sometimes it looks blonde...other times it looks darker...and then at other times it even looks like it has a red tint!

Eye color

Ryan has big, bright baby blues!

Looking Like

Ryan definitely is developing his own look!  But he still has Katie's eyes and Jack's looks.  He looks a lot like his Daddy-o too :) 

Nicknames

Not sure there are any new ones here!  Baby, Baby Ryan, Bud, Buddy, Little Bud

Favorite toy

He loves his toy that you press the different buttons and animals pop up.  The fuzzy bug toy that Katie gave him for Christmas is still a favorite - as is the toy that Grandma gave him for Valentine's Day (firetruck with a block that goes in it)! 

He also likes the little learning piano we have!  I need to put new batteries in the activity table he can stand at to play with.  He does enjoy the exersaucer and the walker - but since he is mobile, he prefers to get around and find toys!  He does like his learning train he got for Christmas too!  I can't wait to get outside more so he can swing and get around in the grass!  He also loves to play with the play food - he could probably do that for an hour!

Firsts

I can't think of anything big here!  We had more snow - and he did go sledding!  I do believe that was his first time with that! 

And he also had his first Valentine's Day!

We also used the bath chair for the first time!  Glad we used it before he gets too big for it!

Milestones

Based on his 9 month appointment, he is right on track!  He responds to his name (most of the time - he is more consistent responding to "Baby" - ha!, he has at least one word, he can sit independently, he is scooting/crawling/rolling everywhere, he is starting to be more interested in solid foods, he is perfecting the pincer grasp (though he does the grab more often - I think it is because he can "palm" the food and get more at a time), he babbles...he is right on track!  And he hasn't pulled up in the crib yet - again, I'm OK with that.  He sleeps in a sleep sack, so that could be part of the reason.  He is starting to attempt pulling up on things, so I am sure it is just a matter of time!

Talking/Words/Sounds

If this boy wants to talk, he is going to have to be loud around here!  There is always someone wanting to talk!  He is saying "dada" and associating it with Brad - also saying "mamama" and "bababa" and the "t" sound and the "ch" sound I think.  I need to pay closer attention to this!  I will try to start writing them down so I can keep up :)

Anything else?

The big kids are starting to form their own sweet relationships with Ryan and it makes me so happy!  And now that he is crawling, he is able to get into their stuff more.  Should be interesting to see what Jack thinks about that!  It also means we will have to be more vigilant about what we leave toy-wise on the floor!  Ryan is a momma's boy, but he sure lights up when Daddy walks in to the room!  He loves watching all of the activity and cannot wait to get in the middle of it all!  We are pretty much always putting him in a stroller or a highchair (depending on the location) when we are out and about...he is just too big to be lugging that baby carrier anywhere!  He does like to look around and flirt and check things out!  Maybe that will help the napping situation since I can't just transfer the seat in and out now! And he has two teeth!  I wonder how many he will have break through in the next few months!

 

 

 

 



 

 

Will's Birthday Celebration

In my effort to catch up on life (which is needed considering our normal was interrupted by snow and sickness - all of which lasted for half of February!), I wanted to include a post on my brother's birthday get together!  We had fun celebrating at my mom's house on his actual birthday - hooray for weekend birthdays!

 

And we actually got a picture of our family of 5.  And we were all looking!  And 80% were smiling!  I'll take it :)

And the most important part of the party (other than the birthday boy) - a Darlene's cake.  YUM.  They never disappoint! (that thing on the bottom left is supposed to be a computer - HA)

I love this picture! Bad lighting and all.  Because that is a true smile right there! :)

And that is not.  Here he is posing with one of the shirts we gave him!

I love that Jack likes to climb up in his lap!  It is usually to give hugs or to get closer to all the fun buttons on Will's wheelchair, but sweet nonetheless.  Jack had fun playing with the zipper on Will's fleece on this particular evening :)

And I caught a sweet Meme kiss for Katie!  Excuse the fact that Jack has no pants on (yes, he has a Pull Up on)...he shoved all his fruit under him and his pants were nasty!  Silly boys.  Jack also loves Meme - when she got there, he ran to the door (unprompted) and yelled, "MEME!!!!!" and gave her a big hug. 

And an attempt at a picture together.  He has his eyes open - I call that a win!  Even if he has a fake smile :)

We had such a fun time!  And we haven't seen them since with all of the ice and snow and shenanigans!  Hopefully we will remedy that soon!