Buddy Boy,

7 months ago at this time I was minutes away from meeting you. I still can’t believe that was 7 months ago! Sometimes it seems eons ago, but other days I feel like I was just in the hospital.
You are growing and developing so quickly. Almost every day I find myself amazed by some new thing you’ve accomplished. This week you really started crawling, not army crawl, but taking off on all fours at incredible speeds. Then you climbed up onto the fireplace hearth onto your knees. That wasn’t enough, though, so you began to climb to your feet. You are constantly climbing up things–chairs, the ottoman, the couch, people, etc. Yesterday I saw you climb up onto the hearth and then walk down to the other end. I’m not sure I’m quite ready for all of this growing up you’re doing!

“Now, I know there has to be something good to eat in here somewhere.”

“Mama told Baby Girl to put her toys where I couldn’t reach them. So I decided to learn to climb. Cupcake, anyone?”

You are still the sweetest little baby in the world. You’ve been clingy lately, needing mama more than anyone else. I know I’m loved, but sometimes I’d like to walk into the other room without you worrying about me. You’re still giving my chin slobbery kisses. I love those!
You’re doing great with your schedule and sleeping. It’s taken us awhile, but I’m fairly certain that someday you will let Mama and Dada get enough sleep. Lately you’re too busy to cuddle, but after your 9:00 feeding I know you’ll let me cuddle with you. I cherish those special moments.

You fell asleep holding your sister’s Belle. I’m not sure how you got it in the first place, but I thought it was sweet. Let me just state here, you will not get your nails painted, nor will you wear your sister’s pink hand-me-downs. Just so we’re clear on that. But learning to take care of baby dolls? Sure. You’ll make a great daddy someday!

Happy 7 month birthday, Buddy! I love you more than words can express.

Dear Baby Girl,

Today you turn three years old! Three! Already! I can’t remember my life without you. And truthfully, I don’t really want to remember. You brighten every day of my life. Sometimes you drive me crazy, sometimes you talk my ear off when I just want silence, but I wouldn’t trade you for anything.

You are a great kid. I’ve never met anyone so funny, so sweet, so stubborn. Your sense of humor amuses and amazes me. I didn’t know three year olds could have such a good sense of humor. I can tell when you’re joking; you get a little glimmer in your eye, just like your Papa does. If I don’t catch that you tell me, “I just joking you, mama.” You enjoy being funny; you like to check, “Am I being funny, Mama?”
You have a sensitive, sweet spirit. You don’t like to see people or animals hurting. Again, I can’t believe that a three year old could be so sensitive. You run and get ice for boo-boos, you give hugs to the crying, you give gifts to those who need them. Never lose that sweetness. I pray that you always look for ways to help others.
And boy, are you stubborn! We’ve had several sit-ins at the dinner table, where you refuse to eat that one bite that we want you to try. Of course, 99% of the time you love whatever the food is. Goober. I’ve heard many times in the last few weeks, “I can do it myself!” or when going to the bathroom, “Don’t bother me.”

Your independence grows daily. I’m so proud of the girl you’re becoming. It is hard to watch you grow up, but it’s also so exciting. I look forward to watching you grow more in the next year.

Last week I watched videos from your second birthday. You’ve changed so much in the last twelve months. It’s hard to imagine what you’ll be doing and saying next year at this time. I want to enjoy every minute of watching you grow. I know there are frustrating times. I know that I will lose my patience. I know that you will make mistakes. But I hope to cherish the wonderful times because those are the memories I will keep close to my heart.

I love you, my Baby Girl. Thank you for making me a better person. Thank you for teaching me more about love and life. Happy birthday, sweet girl!

My girl at one week.

My girl at 3 years, with mismatched socks.

One of my first pins on Pinterest was a birthday question/answer notebook. I already have a notebook for Baby Girl’s birthdays. It’s a guest book for each of her parties and I write down the theme. I decided to add the 20 questions to her birthday notebook. Hopefully I can remember to do it each year.

I had to share her answers, because some were so sweet and some made me laugh.
What is your favorite….
color?   Blue and purple
toy? piano
fruit? orange, apple, banana, and…grapes (we’re still working on the concept of “favorite”)
tv show? Clifford, George, “A Hat” (The Cat in the Hat)
thing to eat for lunch? macaroni cheese
outfit? shoes (black ones)
game? “hip, hap, ho” (tic-tac-toe, which by the way, she has no idea how to play)
snack? crackers (first she told me “Moe’s”, and I had to explain that wasn’t a snack, but a restaurant. She does love her Moe’s, though!)
animal? kitty (“hitty”)
song? ABCs
book? “Don’t be afraid.” (When I questioned her she went and got out her Bible and said, “Don’t be afraid. You will have good news.” I asked if her favorite book was the Bible. She said yes. Melt my heart.)
cereal? Cheerios
thing to do outside? rake & jump in leaves
drink? water & milk & hot cocoa
holiday? Christmas
thing to eat for breakfast? pancakes and water and milk
What do you take to bed with you at night? “amimuls” “I am scared of the dark sometimes. It is dark in my room and outside. I hug my amimuls so I am not scared of the dark.”
Who is your best friend? Gigi and Caleb
What do you want to be when you grow up?   (Ready for this one?)   “a Daddy”  (Oh jeepers, have I got some explaining to do!)

And in a nutshell, that is my daughter.

Baby Girl is in the middle of a few stages: the “why” stage, the imitate everyone else stage, and the “I’m a ham” stage

Today she asked me to go in the kitchen with her. It was at the tail end of quiet time. I was cuddled under Grandma’s afghan reading my new Kindle…oh my, I LOVE it! I told her I wasn’t going to get up right then because I was finally warm. I knew she just wanted someone to go into the kitchen with her, maybe someone she could convince to bake cookies with her. She kept saying, “Come, mama.” I kept saying, “Why?” She looks at me and says, “You keep saying WHY!” And I laughed out loud. She sounded just like me! There are times when she keeps asking why and I eventually say something similar to what she told me.
When I told her Dada the story later she laughed just as hard as I did and then said, “Oh my goodness!” Umm…where do you suppose she’s heard that?

The kid makes me laugh.

Wowza! I can’t believe I have a six month old! I know I’ve said that every month, but it’s true! My baby boy is six months old! I am seriously blessed with the sweetest baby on earth and try to enjoy every second with him.

Here’s what’s up with Buddy:

• He eats cereal now, usually while we’re eating dinner. He’s actually opening his mouth for it (before we were shoving it in). He enjoys banana puffs.
• He is getting up on hands and knees. Mostly, he’s “crawling” backwards, but he is so close to crawling!
• Anything Baby Girl does makes him giggle. They love to giggle together, playing the same games over and over.
• He’s wearing 6-9 months, but he still fits into those 6 month Christmas outfits I bought him last year…score! He has worn a Christmas-y snowsuit that is 12-18 months, but it also fit Baby Girl when she was 12 months. He’s probably swimming in it a little bit.
• We’re still waiting for the first teeth. Poor child has a rash on his chin from all the drooling. I hope his come in soon…for all of our sakes.
• He is 19 pounds, but his thighs continue to chubb up. I love my chubby babies!
• When I ask for kisses he sucks on my chin. It’s the sweetest thing. Sometimes he grabs my face or my hair to pull me to him. That boy knows how to win his mama’s heart!
• His favorite Christmas carol is The Little Drummer Boy…especially the “rum, pa, pum, pums”, and Baby Girl loves to sing it to him.
• He is sitting up on his own now and only falls when he’s diving to grab something. He’s a quick one, too! He managed to dive forward, swivel 180 degrees, and get his hands into the bowl of chocolate my man was using. All I heard was, “No! Don’t put your hands in there!”

We are looking forward to his first Christmas! Baby Girl was 11 1/2 months for her first Christmas, so this will be a different experience, for sure.

I love to read! It’s a nice quiet hobby. I love sitting on the couch and getting engrossed in a book. My man doesn’t appreciate my love of reading. I tend to forget about my family, food, sleep, etc when I am in a good book. I’m really trying to be better, but it doesn’t always happen.
Baby Girl didn’t seem interested in books early on. She’d rather run, sing, play, anything but sit quietly and read. I started to wonder if I wasn’t sharing my love of reading. In the last few months, though, she’s started to love books. She loves reading them alone and having people read to her.
I knew she liked books, but I didn’t realize how much until I went to check on her Sunday evening. This is what I found:

She was sound asleep! I promise, this wasn’t staged. She really did fall asleep like this. I showed her the picture and asked her about it. She said something about the book fell on her head, but I don’t know if she even realizes what really happened.

Maybe she loves reading as much as I do!

This is the first year we’ve spent the whole Christmas season at home. Usually we’re traveling to see family. Last year we had three Christmases in three states. It was too much. We decided that this year we would be home. Anyone could join us at our house, but we weren’t traveling. It’s been nice! We knew that this was our year to start thinking about traditions. Of course, we can always change and add to our traditions, but we wanted to start some this year for our family. Here are a few that we’ve set.
We started an Advent calendar with Baby Girl on December 1st. For this year I just bought a simple chocolate calendar. We read a verse each day and then she eats a chocolate. She’s really getting the nativity story, though, which is neat to see. Next year I hope to do a Jesse tree. I found a great blog that incorporates the Jesus Storybook Bible! I just didn’t get it all put together for this Christmas.

We went in search of a Christmas tree last Sunday. We went to three tree farms, but finally found a tree that met our expectations. Baby Girl thinks it is wonderful. She keeps telling me that “Santa and everyone” is going to come see our “big, huge Christmas tree” and everybody will say, “it’s beautiful!” (So if you come over, please tell her that.)

Wednesday night we had our tree decorating family night. We set out snack-y foods– crackers, cheese, chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks, fruit, and got to decorating. We had Christmas music playing and talked about some of the ornaments. What an enjoyable evening! This tradition came from my man’s family, and I have to say, it’s a great one!

When I was a little girl my dad and I would go down to the local radio station and drop off toys for those less fortunate. It was a special time every year. I learned to give and I got to spend time with my dad. Last year we went shopping for a special family, but I don’t know that Baby Girl understood what we were doing. This year we took her to the store to buy for some kids. We explained why we were buying toys. She quickly told us she wanted to pick out toys for “her friends”. I worried that she wouldn’t understand that the toys weren’t for her. She got it and enjoyed the process! It took a while because she couldn’t decide which were the best gifts. She wanted to buy everything! She and her dada went to drop the toys off. My man said she eagerly gave the gifts away. I know it’s a little thing, but doing the same as a child made a huge impact on me. I love that she gets to have the same experience with her Dada.

So far that’s what we’ve started. My cousin is celebrating the 12 days of Christmas by doing something different every evening. We love that idea and will tuck it away in the memory banks for next year. Maybe after Christmas I’ll add in some other traditions that we’ve started this year.

What about you? What traditions do you have?

We had family pictures taken last weekend. The photographer is a local high schooler. He does work for my man’s company. We figured he would do an okay job and we’d get at least one good picture for our Christmas card. Wow! We were wrong! He gave us many great pictures, all edited and gorgeous! I just keep looking at the pictures, admiring the quality of his work. These are some of the best pictures we’ve ever had taken. To think we were planning to go to the department store’s photo department.

I can’t share many pictures, because we still have to send out our family Christmas cards. But I have to share some of them!

The photographer took pictures of us just being a family, even when we went to the local cupcake shop.

I can’t say enough how impressed we were with our pictures. We’ll definitely be using him again!

I took the two kiddos out this morning. I had to pick up a gift, some Christmas lights, and a few other things. We did great. We went to four stores, got what we needed, got home without any meltdowns or even kids falling asleep. Success!
While we were in the third store looking for Christmas lights, which they didn’t have, I almost broke down in tears. Now some of that is due to the lack of sleep (I blame sleep deprivation for a lot of things.), but it was the thought of getting the kids back in and out of the car, into the store, out of the store, etc. It’s exhausting! I barely remember shopping before I had kids, and sometimes I’m not sure I remember shopping with one kid. I do know, though, that it went faster than it does now. I have wonderful kids, who are very well behaved. However, shopping with two is exhausting!

But when we’re out and I see Baby Girl’s excitement over Christmas decorations or her joy in picking out a gift for someone, I realize how much fun it is to shop with my kids. Exhausting? Yes! Hard? Definitely. Enjoyable? Usually. Full of memories and laughter? With Baby Girl and Buddy that’s pretty much a given! Yes, I am blessed!

Baby Girl enjoyed her first hot chocolate today. She was so excited about it. This morning before we played in the snow, she watched an episode where Curious George had hot chocolate (or “hot cocoa” as Baby Girl called it). I added a bunch of milk and then a little whipped cream and sprinkles. She was pretty excited to be a big girl with hot chocolate! I love doing fun things like this with her!