Big Boy Status

Yesterday afternoon, my very first boy lost his first baby tooth. Talk about milestones! Just a flash ago he was learning to crawl after Gerber puffs and now he's writing notes to the tooth fairy.

Of course I had to document the momentous occasion...

This bottom tooth of his has been loose for quite a while, and was waiting till it was good and ready to fall out. To be honest, I was completely dreading the moment. Based on the recent dramatics over teeth brushing and apple eating, I was sure Evan would fall into the whole "freak out" category over the "this is cool" school.

Thankfully, he proved me wrong.

I was sitting downstairs at the computer with the baby(it was quiet time for the big boys) when I heard the chourus of "you were right, you were right!" marching down the stairs. He was beaming with pride as he held out his tooth to me, and let me know that "I was right, and it did'nt hurt at all." No big deal he said with a new smile. I asked how and when it came out, and in that moment really did feel just as excited as he was. He replied very simply that he was practicing his math on the computer, and plop it just fell out. A little underwhelming after weeks of fuss, but I am thankful!

I'm happy to report that the tooth fairy paid his pillow a visit last night and left a note with two dollars. He was sooo excited to open his letter and man did his eyes pop when the two dollars feel out. His immediate response to seeing two separate dollars was "look Bennett can have one too!" The first dollar he picked up that had fallen to the ground went straight into his brother's hands. I wish I had caught the scene on video. My mama heart swelled with pride. I even explained that the money was special for his tooth and he could keep all of it, but he insisted that Bennett have the dollar. I was'nt surprised per say, but this is especially big and re-assuring to me as Evan is not my natural "share-er." It was a genuinely sweet moment,  full of kindness and thoughtfulness and care. The work of parenting is hard and often tiresome, but oh the fruit is sweet. Truth be told it was sort of an afterthought to include that extra dollar. It worked out. :-)

(We'll probably go the half dollar coin route for future teeth, you can imagine how expensive the tooth fairy could get with three boys and give or take 20 baby teeth to loose!)

Evan is already looking forward to loosing his second tooth, and I'm counting my lucky stars that #1 was so easy and not traumatic. Now, what's a brand new tooth fairy to do with this pearly white?

My 3 Sons...

As we approach the arrival of baby boy #3, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on my band of brothers, and give a quick baby update. Here we go, youngest to oldest. :-)

This past weekend my sweet friends thew me the most thoughtful "baby sprinkle." It was adorable and so creatively crafty going along with our nautical theme. I am so grateful to be able to share this journey of motherhood with some awesome ladies. Not to mention the brunch was delicious and there was bacon-enough said! Hashtag-#TheWayToAPregoWomansHeart. And thanks to all of our special gifts I'm happy to say our little nautical nursery is complete and ready for this little one to come!

Baby boy is almost 36 weeks along and still very active. My last OB apt was pleasantly uneventful, and to our surprise the doctor seeing me predicted a 7 pound babe-HA, dare to dream! Anyhow, I can barely believe we'll be meeting this squirmy squish in just over 3 short weeks. As we're set for a scheduled cesarean I believe the only thing I haven't checked off my to do list is packing our hospital bags. Other than that I've been in full on nesting mode around the house. The refrigerator and newly steamed carpets are eternally grateful. I would also add that I have arrived at that very uncomfortable point in this pregnancy, and pray the end passes quickly!

Moving on to my soon to be middle child, Bennett is our wild, strong willed, sweet as sugar love. He moves to the drum of the energizer bunny and can positively melt you with his kind heart. His favorite activities would be eating(he's still our foodie!), sidewalk chalk(because he loves being outside), and as always annoying his big brother. ;-) He is full of personality and keeps us on our toes. Just last week we experienced our first visit to the emergency room after he fell backwards off our tall kitchen stools and took the side of our dog's crate with him. It was quite the scary gash and ended in six staples to the back of his head-eeks! He was a true trooper through it all and seriously-this kid barely cried for more than a minute through the whole ordeal, "stapling" included. We were beyond proud of him and his brave attitude did wonders to calm my mama's heart. And by the way, taking them out was no different- tough cookie he is barely flinched!

(Let the record show...)

A soccer star in the making, he has really enjoyed this Fall season on the more competitive 4 year old league. Even so, I think we'll be taking a break after this to let him grow into his age bracket and enjoy playing in our backyard in the meantime. I think his personality is perfectly captured in this "Firebirds" team picture below. Can you say goofball?!

He makes me smile!

 

  B bear is also really enjoying preschool this year, and is always so proud to show me what he has in his backpack that day. All that colorful crafting is right up his ally, and I hear he's the apple of many an eye there. :-)

 Last but not least, my big boy Evan has grown up so much this year. Even physically he looks much taller to me, and it's a joy to see his little mind grow leaps and bounds as we embark on this first year of homeschooling together.

 

He loves drawing and has really honed his craft over the last few months. It's neat to see a skill improve so literally on paper. I can barely keep up with his drawings and am so thankful for all those .17 cent notebooks we bought at Walmart at the beginning of the school year. He has a knack for color, and thankfully is becoming more comfortable with the eraser. As a whole, he has a slight perfectionist bent to his personality so I'm thankful he's more comfortable now simply erasing a mistake rather than unreasonably fretting and having to start from scratch each time. Again, growth! I can't even express how cool it is to see, over time, how much he learns and improves in his schoolwork. 

This creative spirit loves to swim and so we are just now nearing the end of a Swim America class through our local rec program. I'm so proud of how well he's done in a short time. He looks forward to his swimming lessons and has so much fun while he's there. Plus, it's a great outlet for him to take direction and leadership from other adults and of course to meet new friends.

 

Speaking of friends, Evan loves his buddies and is has quite the social calendar for a 5 year old...read-too many birthday parties lol! In any case, I'm thankful he's such a friendly dude and has a great and diverse group of kiddos to play with whether it be through church life, our growing mom's group, sports, neighbors or local homeschool circles.

I'll wrap up Evan with his love of all things animals and still sensitive soul. He's also grown into more of a picky eater like his mama, but I'm convinced could eat fruit all the live long day-so there's that. Fun fact-the most popular snack around here is baby carrots-likely because that's the only thing they have freedom to "have at" and open the refrigerator themselves for. Mommy for the win! Overall, both of my boys are strong, healthy eaters and Chris and I both dread the day we have 3 teenage boys raiding our pantry. Oh my!

I love my boys at these fun ages of 3 and 5 and can't wait to see what kind of personality and flavor this new guy brings to our family. :-)

Milestone-First Haircut!

Today Evan recieved his first ever hair cut. To celebrate this monumental milestone, we took him to a special kids place called "Snippet's" in Brier Creek, and we were not disappointed! He did miles better than I thought he would, and sat happily-for the most part-while his sweet baby locks were snipped for the very first time.

Blinding bright colors greeted us at the door...

Everything was super kiddo friendly, and made for a pleasant, meltdown free experience. Thankfully, none of the worst case scenario's I had built up in my head surrounding this moment came to fruition. No kicking and screaming in sight. Instead, we had a great first haircut!

Being the brave big boy he is, Evan sat still for most of the time. Truth be told, Chris and I were the nervous ones! Entertained by an animal cracker dispenser, a firetruck, a lollipop and a bottle of bubbles, he barely noticed as his lovely locks fell to the ground. Surprisingly, he didn't even pay much attention to the cartoon playing for him; I gotta hand it to them, that place knows what it's doing!

He even got a prize at the end! Not to mention this adorable keepsake certificate. Our handsome boy is growing up so fast! His newly trimmed "surfer do" is just perfect. Of course, we didn't let her have too much of his hair, but are very happy with his new clear line of vision and cleaned up look. I dare anyone to mistake him for a girl now haha!

Afterwards we treated our trimmed up boy to a cupcake. It was delicious, and the perfect "icing on the cake" if you will to a great afternoon. :-)

A MOPS Milestone

I am so excited to be a part of MOPS this year and this morning was our first "official" meeting. Delicious brunch-check! New friends and getting to know  you games-check! Mounds of mommy talk-double check! Moreover, perhaps the most exciting part was that Evan had a good time in the little toddler nursery for TWO HOURS! No doubt one of the longest times he's been away from me in this type of setting. He was a little sleepy at the drop off since we're in the midst of weaning out his morning nap, but it was nothing a sprinkled cookie couldn't take care of! Besides, he was in toy heaven once he saw the new cars and trucks, and mommy could barely squeeze in a hug goodbye next to Thomas the train!

Two hours of "moppettes" playtime for my growing boy and quality, baby free girl time for this mommy equals one great morning. I'm so proud of Evan for doing so well on his own and especially for our first time-a great milestone and one I'm happy to reach!

A guessing game

What do the following have in common?

1. Thomas the train
2. A Chick Fillet kids meal toy
3. Half eaten lollipop, still goodness questionable
4. One Tyrannosaurus Rex
5. Lipstick, loose cap
6. A purple crayon

Did the T-Rex give it away? Yes, it's true. On a Saturday afternoon, I opened my purse to find all of the above, and was happily struck with just how much being a mom can change your life, and your purse.

A Mother's Day Movie-Evan's 1st year

I've been meaning to make a slideshow of Evan's first year, and here it is! It moves me to tears seeing  how big my baby boy has grown up over this last year. The song "hourglass" by Mindy Gledhill is absolutely beautiful and captures these precious moments gone by so well!

Evan, you have filled our lives with joy over joy and we are continually grateful for the gift you are. On this mother's day, I am thankful beyond words to be your mommy. :-)

Happy Birthday to Evan!

 

On Saturday we celebrated Evan's very first birthday! I can hardly believe my baby boy is 1! We had a wonderful time celebrating with friends and family at his Eric Carle Caterpillar themed party, and the birthday boy was happy to be the center of attention! Unfortunately, the weather outside was blustery to say the least with looming tornado warnings and stormy showers-we missed a few of our good friends but we made the best of it and had a great time nonetheless. Chris and I were so excited to see Evan enjoy his first birthday-his joy is our joy and nothing puts a smile on my face like those sweet dimpled cheeks! Can you believe this kid is one already?!

 

 

 

When Chris and I started talking about what to get Evan for his birthday, I had said I wanted to keep it simple with just a few small gifts since, first grandchild that he is, I knew he would be positively spoiled by our families. And, I was right. :-) Evan made out like a bandit on his first birthday. Like.a.bandit. Between his tickle me Elmo, little people farm, firetruck ball pit, books and baby Einstien DVD's, it was Christmas all over again in our living room. We are so grateful for these fun, precious gifts to our sweet son! A big heart felt thank you to all those who made Evan's first birthday such a special day! :-)

 

Happy Birthday to my little love, I hope to spend many many more celebrating the gift of your precious life. You bring so much joy to those around you.  I can't wait to see what good and great plans our God has in store for you!

Into the double digits

Happy 10(almost 11 now) months baby boy! Congratulations buddy, you've now officially been outside of mama's belly longer than you were in.

And what a difference 10 months makes!

I know I know, I'm a little behind on this one since 11 months is just around the corner-eek! I plead Spring. :-) 

With each passing month we crawl closer and closer to the big "One." Life on the outside has been pretty great. Mommy and daddy are continually thankful for you Evan Matthew!

A few of Evan's favorite things at 10-ahem, almost 11- months:

• Snacks, snacks, and did I mention snacks?
• Cruising the furniture, and pulling up on everything-and I do mean everything!
• Piper
• All things "baby Einstein"
• Swings at the park on sunny Spring days!
• Bathtime-he's got that splashing thing down pat ;-)
• Walking and scooting with his green dino
• And last but not least-Mommy!

And a few "not so favorites:"

• Reaching the bottom of the snack bowl
• Being told "no" when trying to pull up on guitars, fireplaces, table runners and toilets (eew!)
• Staying still for diaper changes and getting dressed

Lastly, I haven't posted a schedule in a while and I'd like to document it for future reference. So, below is what our routine has been like for the better part of 8-10 months. The only changes this month is the one dropped feeding, and a bit of a shorter morning nap.We're currently on week 3 of the dropped feeding and Evan is doing great!

7am-Rise and shine, nurse, breakfast and playtime until...
9am-10:30/11 am-Morning nap
11am-Nurse, playtime and errands
12 noon-Lunch, usually with daddy! Then playtime until...
2-4pm-Afternoon nap
4pm-Nurse and playtime, afternoon walk around the neighborhood(*first dropped feeding)
5:30-6ish-Dinner and family time, one last feeding of the day, bathtime and...
7:30pm-Story and bedtime!

Looking back at 8 months

Evan is 9 months old now and has his well baby appointment this upcoming week. But, before he gets too big on me, I wanted to remember a few special things about 8 months.

At the beginning of month 8, my little man learned to sit up(from laying down) on his own. One day I walked into his room to get him up from a nap, and there he was sitting up and smiling at me. :-) The next day, he was standing. Standing! Needless to say, he hasn't looked back since.

 "Look at me mom!"

We also started a lot of new foods this month-spaghetti, macaroni, yogurt and chicken to name a few. My boy is such a good eater, and a bit of a glutten too! He may just eat us right out of house and home in a few years. ;-)

Speaking of eating, we've got not one but two bottom teethe now, and no doubt working on more as you can see.

 

 We also started pulling up and cruising this month. Oh my goodness my handsome boy is getting so big! I always think babies look so much older when they're standing up, and I'm not so sure I'm okay with that just yet. :-)

 

As a future note for myself, we did experience some sleep issues over this past month. First, I have to say that we are so thankful that our boy has always been a dream of a sleeper(thank you babywise!). So, you can imagine our shock when he began to randomly wake up once in the middle of the night, and then also earlier in the day. Add to that, he threw a wrench in our daytime nap schedule too by waking up earlier from naps or boycotting them all together. Thankfully, I think we're almost through this patch of sleep silliness and are now mostly back on schedule. The culprits? I'm guessing a growth spurt, with a pinch of teething and not so nice diapers that awoke him in the night.

Eight months was so fun for me, and I can't wait for nine! Evan's little personality is really peaking out now, and I love to see him learn and grow. He's so smiley and has the best disposition a mom could ask for. Thank you Lord for our healthy, happy baby boy!

Hello Highchair

On Saturday we ventured to "BabiesRUs," armed with anxious anticipation and a google of knowledge on highchairs and feeding firsts. With great excitement we fandangled the very big box into our (not so big) car and headed home to assemble Evan's brand new adventure-a highchair!

I'd originally intended on waiting until Evan was at least 5 months to start solids, but with some encouragement from our pediatrician at our 4 month well baby, we decided to go ahead and start, very slowly, at 4 and a half months. Rice cereal and Gerber spoon in hand, and outfitted with new colorful bowls just for the occasion, Evan took his very first big boy bite-and loved it!

Such a big boy!

Happy in his highchair!

We're now on day 3 and he's become a quick pro-no surprises here, this boy loves to eat!! I thought for sure that he'd be more interested in chomping the spoon instead of his food, or that he'd have trouble swallowing, turn into a major gassy pants or just downright be not interested-of course my worries were all for naught, and I'm happy to report we've run into none of the above!  I'm so thankful to have had a great experience meeting this new milestone with my growing baby boy, one teaspoon at a time. :-)