At 1 year you are...

*sleeping from 7:30ish to around 7 or 7:30am
*taking 2 naps a day - the morning one is usually around an hour to an hour and a half and the afternoon one is typically an hour and a half to 2 hours.
*eating most everything now although you have started showing some definite preferences. I am not sure what all you will be eating now that we are living full time at camp, but we will figure it out. Your favorite thing right now is probably grapes (although just today you refused them - who knows with you!). You also love crackers or cereal. You are down to one bottle a day (most days) and I bought some whole milk and you tried it for the first time the other day and weren't too sure. Don't know if its the temperature or the taste that you didn't like.
*the top, front left tooth finally poked through about a week or 2 ago and just this week the top one on the right side of your front tooth broke through. I think you are getting another one because you are doing this thing where you wake up about 30 minutes to an hour after you go to bed and need to be rocked back to sleep. The only time you do that is when a tooth is coming.
*you LOVE your walker/push toy but get VERY frustrated when you run into a wall or something. Now that we are at camp and the campers haven't come yet, I have taken it up to the dining hall and let you walk your little heart out in the wide open room. You just smile and go from wall to wall. You have pretty much won everyone over with your clapping and waving and how you smile ALL THE TIME. Everyone says what a happy guy you are.
*Obsessed with stairs and I am thankful that we don't have too many to deal with here at camp. At the house this month you were constantly wanting to climb the stairs and I would have to just sit behind you as you have no clue how to come back down yet.
*you finally said your first word - "bye bye" quickly followed by "mama" (I was SUPER happy about this as both of the other boys said "dada" first. You have been saying the sounds of "mamamama" and "dadadada" for awhile, but I don't count it as an official word until I know you know what it means. You don't say "mama" too often, but it was shortly after mother's day that you said it while looking/reaching for me. You understand so much and it seems like you get smarter every day. You do say "dada" quite a bit now - especially since we have been out here at camp.
*You love "patty cake" and "ride 'em horsey"
*You can blow kisses (when you want to) and you give high fives to pretty much anyone

This birthday marks a big milestone for me - since you are my last baby (sniff sniff) and are almost walking, I feel like the baby days are over for me. It is bittersweet as I was never a huge fan of the baby baby stage, but for some reason this time around, I didn't mind it as much. I cherished the sweet moments, probably knowing it was my last time to do things - also I just knew from my first two times around that those tough stages are SHORT. They don't SEEM short when you're right in the midst of one, but they really are. Just about the time you drive yourself crazy trying to figure out a solution, the phase ends. I guess by your 3rd baby, you "get" that a bit more and are able to be more laid-back and just ENJOY things. It makes me a bit sad that I just figured all of that out - BUT I am excited for the future and to watch my 3 boys grow up and experience new stages, together.

We love you Tan Tan and can't imagine our lives without you - God knew just what we needed!

A couple weekends ago I got to take Mason and Brody to Chick fila's mother/son date knight. It was such a cute night. They had valet parking and someone to greet us at a podium next to a Knight when we walked in. We were taken to a special line to order food and then were taken to our seats. The tables were covered with tablecloths and each boy got to decorate a family shield. I didn't have to get up one time to get anything - the employees were dressed up and walking around to tend to our every need. They brought out our food on plates and we enjoyed a great meal and great company. There was a photo booth to capture the night and they gave the boys flowers to give their moms. The boys seemed to have fun although they were very confused why someone else was driving our car :)

I love the idea of going on "dates" with my boys. I want them to learn how they should behave and how they should treat their future lady friends (WAY in the future). Anyone who knows our family knows how much we love Chick fila (most of the staff know us by name which is pretty sad) but this is one of the many reasons why we love it - such a great company that promotes family. I hope they do it again next year!

At 11 months you are...

*sleeping about the same at night although you had a stretch of some early mornings this month - thankfully you are back to your normal 7:30ish wake up time
*taking 2 naps a day - the morning one is usually around an hour to an hour and a half and the afternoon one is typically an hour and a half to 2 hours.
*loving table food and hardly eating baby food anymore. You love strawberries, grapes, chicken nuggets, yogurt, and any kind of cereal or cracker. You still have 2 bottles of formula every day and otherwise eat at regular meal times. I plan to take away at least one of the bottles this month and the other one next month
*you got another tooth - this time on top. It came in April 7th but there is still no sign of the one next to it on top although it looks like it will pop through any day.
*you are becoming quite a bit more high-maintenance it seems - your laid back personality doesn't seem to be as strong as it once was :) You are not as patient in the car when we run errands and you will definitely get upset if we take something away from you
*doing great at church/MOPS for childcare. You cry when I leave but they say you do well and are happy while I'm gone
*started playing with a push toy and are doing pretty well at walking behind it although you won't go more than 4 or 5 steps
*moving around very well now - can get to where you want to go and have attempted the stairs a few times, although you did fall a couple weeks ago from a few steps up and got a nice size bruise on your forehead (mom felt terrible about that one). You haven't really tried the stairs since then.
Speaking of falls - you also had a nasty fall at a friend's house while standing up against their front screen door. Someone opened the door and out you fell, head first on the concrete porch. You scraped up your nose and above your top lip pretty badly - that combined with your bruise, and scratches on your forehead from the fall made for a sad site.
*you do this thing where you cock your head to your right shoulder - it started out as just a thing you did when you were bashful or flirting, but now you do it all the time.
*you can sign "more" and understand a lot of words now. I know you understand bath, eat, bottle, dog, bye bye, dance, and shake

*you become more and more fun with each day - your brothers love to play with you and make you laugh

I was very determined this year to help the boys understand more about the actual reason behind Easter - not just the egg hunts. Actually a song that Mason learned at preschool sums it up pretty well (and its one I want to remember because Mason taught it to Brody who is hilarious when he sings it)
"I'm a bunny..and its not funny...people think its all about hunting eggs...I'm a bunny...and its not funny...listen, sunny...Easter is all about J.E.S.U.S...JESUS!"

I had heard about Resurrection Eggs and thought we would give them a try. It turned out to be a great, simple way for the boys to learn about different aspects of the Easter story. They would look forward to seeing what was in the egg each night. We also used The Jesus Storybook Bible (which I HIGHLY recommend to anyone looking for a kids Bible) as we went through the story.

finding out the last egg is empty...

Here are some other pics of our fun Easter holiday...

What makes you happy?... sharing

What makes you sad?... Mason push me

What do you like to do?... play with cars and trucks

What is your favorite color?... all the colors

What do you like to eat?... lunch...broccoli...carrots...ranch

What is your favorite toy?.. truck - auto carrier truck

What are you excited about?... going to Monkey Bizness

Where do you like to go?... Branson!

what is your favorite song?... hmmm....(finger on cheek)...I like the animal song (one we make up and sing at bed time)

Do you like to take naps?... yes

Who is your best friend?... Mason...I mean mama

What is your favorite thing about preschool?... playing outside

What is your favorite animal?... lions and tigers

What kind of job do you want to have when you grow up?... at a construction site

What is your favorite kind of candy?... gum

When do you feel happy?... when dada or you takes me to camp

When do you feel sad?... when Brody hits me

What is your favorite color?... pink and red (although today he said it was orange)

What do you like to eat?... apples

What is your favorite toy?.. my helicopter

When do you feel frustrated?... when Brody doesn't listen to me

What is your favorite song?... "You Make Everything Glorious"

What is your favorite thing to do at Preschool?... eat snack

Who is your best friend?... Brody

What kind of job do you want to have when you grow up?...construction worker

At 10 months you are...

*still sleeping from 7pm to around 7 or 7:30am
*still the same as last month on the naps but rarely taking that 3rd one these days
*doing much better with table food - you love crackers, bread, yogurt melts, cheerios, puffs and are getting better with diced fruit. You have 2 bottles of formula every day and otherwise eat at regular meal times
*pulling up on everything and starting to move around from one thing to another while standing - found you standing up in your crib a week ago. You can also go from crawling to sitting which was something that took the other boys quite a while to do
*you started waving on Saturday (3/31) and were pretty proud of yourself AND you have started dancing which is so cute - basically just bopping your little body up and down when you hear music
*have done much better at church the last few weeks - you still don't like it when I drop you off, but you have made it through the whole service AND you made it through 2 hours of MOPS this week and did really well
*I constantly thank God for you and feel so blessed to have you in my life!

This has been a crazy month for us - so much has happened! We sold our house at the end of February and have gone through all the other things that go with that this month (inspections, appraisal, etc) and have begun searching for our next home. We feel so blessed that we will be able to move out to camp when we close on our current house (April 27th) and live out there for the next few months to save money before closing on another house. This means a lesson in patience for this girl who is all but obsessed with the house-finding process. I have just had a peace about this whole process though that God would find someone to buy our house quickly (which ended up happening in a week) and that He would also provide the perfect house for our family at the right price. We are excited to take advantage of low interest rates and a buyer's market to find a home for our family in this next phase of life.

The boys and I have had some fun outings lately - we went to the Topeka Zoo with some of Mason's friends from preschool. It was such a fun day and the boys were especially good which was an added bonus. They also loved playing at the park across the street from the zoo - such a great place!

I was able to take Mason and Brody to see Disney on Ice this past weekend with our good friends Jen and Jackson - so it was a mom/son date with our boys.



Andy and I had a fun night last Thursday when we got to see The Hunger Games at midnight with our good friends, Brooke and Brad. Andy's parents kept the boys at their house overnight so we were able to enjoy dinner beforehand and then see the movie - so much fun!

At 9 months you are...

*sleeping from 7pm to around 7 or 7:30am pretty consistently
*still about the same as last month on the naps - usually just taking 2 naps a day (usually around an hour and a half each), but a couple times a week you will take a shorter 3rd nap around dinner time
*still doing great with baby food and puffs/cheerios. You also love rice rusk crackers, yogurt and oatmeal, but you are not too fond of any other table foods yet.
*army crawling machine - don't know why all 3 of my boys have used this as their preferred method of getting around. You love standing up next to things, but haven't quite gotten up on your own yet. You are still pretty wobbly so we have to brace you when you are standing
*you weighed 18 pounds, 11 ounces at your 9 month appointment yesterday which puts you in the 25 percentile. Your height was also in the 25th percentile while your head continues to be in the 95th
*a social butterfly - you LOVE being around people and whenever we go somewhere, you are always looking for someone who will smile at you. Once you find someone, you just keep looking at them/glancing their way until we leave. Most people comment on how smiley/happy you are
*clapping! first time was at Mason's soccer clinic last week on Feb 23rd
*still giving us kisses which your big brothers especially love
*in full separation anxiety mode - if I am around, you feel that I should be holding you. You cry whenever I leave you (even if I just leave the room) and get crazy excited when I enter a room
*survived a week of our house being on the market and me having to wake you up almost daily to leave for a showing - so glad that is over!

We love you Tan Tan!!

man, this last month went WAY fast!

At 8 months you are...

*still sleeping about the same as last month although you are going until 7am a lot more often than you had been - you still allow me the privilege to feed you around 5 or 6am every once in a while though :)
*typically just taking 2 naps a day now - every once in a while you will sneak in a 3rd around dinner time but for the most part you are doing 2 longer naps now
*doing great with your baby food although you HATE green beans and peas. You are self-feeding with puffs and caught on to that really quickly
*sitting up totally on your own and never falling over unless you do it on purpose to get a toy or to roll around. Just yesterday you were trying to pull up on the side of Mason's bed and got yourself up on your knees so I am sure within the next month you will be crawling and pulling up all over the place!
*the proud owner of 2 teeth! They both popped through this past weekend, one day apart
*you weighed just over 19 pounds last week with all your clothes on
*enjoying getting to sit in high chairs and grocery carts now - you are always quite the hit at the checkout line with your sweet smile!
*giving us kisses! If we say "can I have a kiss" and pucker up at you, you will open your mouth and plant one on us - you are quite proud of yourself for that one!
*starting to get a bit of separation anxiety - if I leave a room/your sight you get a bit upset

not the best pics but there was just so much to distract him at the park!

Yes, it has been over a month since their program but I wanted to write about it so I don't forget it in the future. Each year the preschool sends home a CD with the program on it so that we can listen to it in the car and help the kids learn it. My boys knew every word (even the teacher's lines) by the time the big night came. This is Mason's 3rd time to do it so he was the old pro but this was Brody's first. The school does the program during the Sunday night service at College Church so you have to sit through the whole service to get to the 10 minute program which they conveniently put at the end of the service. When the kids started filing out, I went down to the front to take pictures (along with all the other camera-toting moms) and saw Brody come out with his class and stand on the very front row. He was smiling and beaming from ear to ear. Poor Mason was in the back row and I could barely see him during the performance :( I happened to be right in front of Brody as the program started and he was into it - saying every word and doing all the actions. All the sudden during the 2nd song he started alternating between laughing and crying - it was just so bizarre. I kept giving him thumbs up and smiling and he would smile at me and then start crying. Finally he came running off the stage and ran to me. He just hid his face on my shoulder and as I was trying to ask him what was wrong he realized I was chewing gum and immediately stopped and said "Do you have gum?!?" I even offered to give him my gum if he would go back up on the stage but he was not going.

Probably one of the funniest things about the whole thing is that for the next couple weeks he would beg for me to play the CD in the car! Silly boy!

Here are my 2 handsome boys before the program...

and here is crazy Brody... couldn't get a pic of Mason as I couldn't see him way in the back!

I thought I'd start with one of my easy posts to get caught up! Here are the fabulous pics that my talented sister in law took of my sweet Tanner at the beginning of December...

I have been way behind on blogging and have a few topics I want to go back and blog about sometime soon. I am going to make a list so that I have it here and not forget!
1. Jesse Tree advent
2. Christmas and pregnancies galore (not me!)
3. My best friend Jen and her heartbreaking journey over the past few weeks
4. Tanner's 6 month pics
5. The boys' Christmas program at preschool

That should be enough to get me started

At 7 months you are...

*still sleeping about the same as last month - usually in bed around 7pm and up between 5 and 7am to eat - you go back to sleep if its before 7am.
*taking 3 naps a day, usually each one is around an hour, sometimes one is longer.
*finally eating baby food! You like all of the fruits I have given you and most of the veggies although you did not care for the green beans we tried last week. You are not a fan of rice cereal at all
*sitting up completely on your own for a good amount of time - you usually fall over after awhile, but you are getting so good at regaining your balance when you teeter around while sitting
*still loving your jumperoo - such a great toy!
*still no teeth
*you weighed just under 18 pounds at your 6 month appointment which was just under the 50th percentile
*loving to watch your brothers play and are very entertained by them - you love grabbing people's faces
*just the smiliest (is that a word?) baby I have ever met - you just light up when I come in to get you in the morning or after a nap or pretty much anytime I enter the room.
*survived 3 whole days without me when I went to North Carolina last weekend to see my friend Jen - you were a bit off the first couple days on your schedule and fussier than normal but you made it!