Eleven Months Old!

Dear Ethan,

Here you are at eleven months!

You are getting so big!

And you are busy...

Busy...

Busy!

It's hard to believe we will be celebrating your first birthday in a little less than a month!  It's so true what they say... that the days are long, but the years are short.  I am going to miss all your sweet babyness.  I found myself getting teary the other day when I had to take down your crib mobile because you now stand in your bed and were yanking on the little bears.  It's a strange mix of emotions... bittersweet for sure.

You are fully crawling now on all fours and pulling yourself up on everything.  You want to do everything you see your big brother doing and frequently become frustrated when you are not quite able to master it.  You cruise around on all the furniture and the walls and cabinets and you have figured out how to climb the stairs.  You hate to be left out of anything and have now started shouting when you are angry.  What comes out sounds like "No!"  You also said what we are calling your first word... "uh oh" and you love practicing it all day long.  Any time you drop something or we drop something you exercise your opportunity to use it!  It's absolutely adorable!  Sometimes you really have to work at it and I love watching your little mouth try to figure it out.

You are still such a happy little guy.  We love those smiles!

This is one of my favorite shots because I just love your cheeks!  And your chubby hands!

Check out the cankles... this one had to be preserved.

I just switched you from formula to milk and I am trying to get you to eat more table foods though you mostly still like baby food.  Some days you will eat little cut up foods I put on your tray and the next day you throw them all on the floor.  Some days you nap like a champ and other days hardly at all.  One thing you are not: consistent.  

I found myself getting frustrated early in the morning today because you woke up crying at 4:30 and would not go back to sleep.  All you wanted to do was snuggle with me.  What a precious time to just get to hold you in my arms!  And yet I was squandering it in favor of a few more minutes of sleep.  Later in the morning I was at the grocery store and this nice man came up to me and asked how old you were.  After I told him he looked at me and said, "Mine is graduating from high school this year.  Enjoy it.  It goes so fast."  I think I uttered something like, "People tell me that all the time, but it sure doesn't feel that way when they are waking you up all night."  All I could think about was how tired and grumpy I was.  Now I realize that God was giving me that moment to recognize my blessings and the wonderful gift he has given me in you.  

There are those days that seem so long and frustrating and exhausting and I just want to carve out a little space for myself, but honestly when I look at the miracles of my two boys and their sweet faces I just can't help but feel anything but overflowing love.

I am blessed beyond measure.

Happy eleven months to my sweet, smiling boy!

You prepare a feast for me

    in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil.

    My cup overflows with blessings.

⁶ 

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me

    all the days of my life,

and I will live in the house of the Lord

    forever.

~Psalm 23:5-6

He is Risen!

This past Sunday we enjoyed a wonderful Easter celebration with friends and family.  Early in the morning we attended worship service and then came home to share breakfast together before beginning the preparations for our big dinner with the whole family.  The kids got to check out their baskets after church because there wasn't enough time to see them before we left.  Sadly I didn't get a single picture of the boys in their cute outfits!  By the time we got home from church everyone was hungry, messy looking and tired!  I might have to put them back on this week just so I can snap a few pics!

James is the easy one to buy for right now.  He is at a really fun age where he gets super excited about everything and the things he likes only cost a few dollars.

Drew is a little trickier because most of the stuff he enjoys is pricey for an Easter basket!  But I did find a few fun hockey themed items including a poster for his room that isn't in the picture.

Ethan's basket was pretty sparse.  At ten months he doesn't have a clue about Easter baskets, but I did want to get him a few little things of course.  He got a sippy cup, a toothbrush and a Praise Baby DVD.

The firetruck was a big hit with James as I knew it would be.

My parents stopped over with another Easter basket for each of the boys.  We are on major candy overload here!

After breakfast the boys took naps and I got to work preparing everything for Easter dinner.  We had invited all the family and some other good friends.

We had eleven people at the dinner table.  What a blessing!  The big kids sat at a card table in the kitchen and the little kids ate in the playroom.

This was the scene in the playroom for the first half of the meal.  All the other kids were running around playing.  James has a singular focus.  He loves to eat!

It was truly such a wonderful evening.  We ate until we were stuffed and then enjoyed sweet fellowship.  The kids had a blast!  We did an egg hunt for them in the basement since it was freezing cold and raining outside.

There was a lot of bouncing around and being very silly!

In general it was lots of fun!  And, there is always a "clean up fairy" who quietly wisks away all the dishes and makes my house look put back together again.  I am blessed!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate our risen LORD than to spend it with these wonderful people.  The only thing that would have made it more complete would have been my sister and her family down in Georgia.  

Happy Easter!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In his great mercy he has given us new life into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...

~1 Peter 1:3

Ten Months Old!

Dear Ethan,

You are ten months old!  And getting a photo of you this month proved to be quite a challenge.  You are still smiley as ever, but you never sit still!

I had to snap very quickly and take what I could get.

One word to describe you at this stage of your life... busy!  You have just started crawling on your knees, but still favor the army crawl in order to get places faster.  No matter where I put you down you don't stay there for long.  You absolutely love to play with doors and cords, which means I can't take my eyes off of you for a second.  The other day you pulled the lamp in our family room off the table for the third time and this time you broke the lightbulb over your head.  Some days you make me feel a bit like I want to pull my hair out, but you are so stinkin smiley and happy all the time that I can't help but just love you and want to kiss those big chubby cheeks!

You love your brothers and if one of them is in the room your eyes are fixed on them.  You love to play with James and think that he is absolutely hilarious.  You are quick to join the fun no matter what he is playing, however he is not quite as excited to have you crawl over and start swatting at his neatly aligned rows of cars.  Don't mess with James and his cars!

You are so curious about the world around you and you just want to be a part of it all.  We love your passion for life.  If I am holding you and I start to eat something you absolutely have to try a bite.  You are eating more table foods, but still really prefer purees.  You still nap twice a day... once in the morning from about 9-10 or 10:30 and from 2-3 or 3:30.  You go to bed at seven and sleep all night... bliss:)  You are wearing 12-18 month clothes for the most part, but still wear some 6-12 month things.

One of my favorite times of the day is when you are getting ready for naps or bedtimes.  You are so snuggly and warm and you just curl into my neck and we have some cozy time while I sing or read to you.  It is precious time that I don't want to end.  

Our days are in a very nice rhythm, which I'm sure means we are due for change soon!  We are looking forward to the next few months as you continue to grow and do new things.  

Ethan, you are so sweet and we just love having you in our lives!

Happy ten months!!

Lovely Day

March is not the most exciting time of year to have a birthday.  The weather is almost always cold and dreary, but even despite that I had a really fun and special day.  I am so blessed to have these sweet little guys in my life!

My mom and sister took me out to brunch at The Grand Concourse, where we we stuffed ourselves with every good thing imaginable to eat!  It was so nice to get to spend some quality time with them without the interruption of any little ones.  We have made this a new tradition for each of our birthdays and I really look forward to this a couple of times a year.  It is such a treat!

Paul took me to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants on Saturday, which was also so nice just to get to spend some time alone outside of our home.  Sunday evening we did cake and presents.  

I am so thankful for my family and friends who love me and wanted to make my birthday special.  It was truly a lovely day.

Very typical James.  Love him!

This is the day the LORD has made.  We will rejoice and be glad in it.

~Psalm 118:24