Milestones: 8 Months

My boy. My baby boy. Make him stop growing. He's already 8 months old people. 8 months!!! Time is going by faster than I can even acknowledge. I hate it. I love this boy too much for him to grow up so fast.

My boy is all muscle, weighing in at 18 lbs, but he doesn't look like he's that heavy. He works out, you know. He is a professional sitter-upper now, rarely tipping over, even when he sits on the floor quietly playing for 30 minutes. He is content to just sit and chew on his toys, or you know, whatever is within arms reach. He will chew on anything he can grab, I have to tell the girls that all the time. Right about when he is trying to eat their hair.

He eats whatever foods we give him, but most of the time we feed him bits of what we have. His personal favorite is the homemade rolls I shared with him today, he was grabbing me trying to get more. He still nurses for every meal, so other foods are just snacks to him.

His hair is getting longer on top, and he never got a bald spot in the back because his hair is so thick. I refuse to cut his hair until after he turns one, but he is far from having a mullet so its all good. I think his chubby cheeks are my favorite thing, I love to squeeze them and kiss them and just squish him all over. His lips are also extremely kissable, I'm gonna have to fight the chicks off with a stick to leave my studly boy alone.

He has many marketable skills, like shaking his head no, smiling and clapping when I come into the room or come back from taking Alana to school, putting everything in his mouth, and trying to pull himself up to standing even though he doesn't crawl yet. He is probable the cutest and most talented dude ever.

I cannot imagine my life without this sweet boy. One year ago I found out that I had a dude growing in there, and I wasn't exactly hyped about buying up all of the blue/monkey/baseball things they offer for boys. But now that I have my dude and continue to dress him in all of the blue/monkey/baseball clothes he owns, I would not trade him for any little girl and the bows/frills/pink that comes with her. He is my sweet buddy boy, my kissable studly handsome guy. I want to hold him and smell his head while he's still little, and I let him sleep on my chest daily, because really how long does that stage last? I'm happy for every moment I have with this dude, even though he insists on growing up.

Snowmageddon

My Funny Valentines

This is the first year that Alana got to have a school Valentine's day party, and to say she was excited is an understatement. She picked out BOTH Brave valentines that came with a pencil and ring pops.

On Sunday before Valentine's day Alana got out her class list and got all set to write out the cards for her friends. She did them all herself with a glitter pen, she was pretty proud of the results.

 Ava supervised the card addressing process, then helped to eat the extra ring pops.

 In the last few months she went from having messy handwriting to having handwriting that is pretty neat and legible. Where is my baby going? She knows too much!

 She took heart-shaped rice krispy treats, her valentine cards and candy, and this awesome crayon wreath that she helped me make for her teacher. It may have been awesome, but it was annoyingly fragile. I reglued that thing like ten times.

 Heart tights, pink skirt and shoes, Strawberry Shortcake shirt, and pink conversation heart earrings. She's festive like that.

 Heart-shaped hair with a festive bow.

 I went and helped at Alana's school party, helping the kids to pass out their cards and still maintain some order. I was amused when the teacher stapled the bags of cards and candy closed so they couldn't open it until they got home. No Valentine's card and candy massacre in her classroom!

 The card and candy massacre occured on my kitchen table instead of at the school. And the candy part is still going strong.

 Ava supervised the card opening also, she's so helpful.

 Fun Dip! NO WAY!

 A bag of sugar and cards, all for my lady.

 I sent my girls flowers this year, they were pretty excited. And I HATE carnations, so daisies were my best alternative.

More candy and card madness. She's like, so popular.

My littlest Valentine didn't get any flowers or candy, but I gave him plenty of hugs and kisses and love.

These crazy wild kids are my favorite Valentines ever, sorry David, but you know they're way cuter than either of us.

Bottomless Mornings

The Novelty of Snow

 Around these parts snow doesn't happen too often, so when it does, we go outside, open our mouths and catch some snowflakes on our tongues. Well the kids do that, I think that's gross. Other things that enhance the experience of OMG its snowing and even though its not sticking I'm totally gonna play in it: standing with your arms wide open and head back, mouth open of course, and running out to catch the snow in your pajama pants, boots, and jacket.

Pinchable Cheeks

When Alana was a baby we went to Sears (it still pains me how much money I spent there) and had her picture taken, no clothes just baby butts, with her cousin Jayden. Their squishy little butts were there in the picture for everybody to see. Seriously, so squishy. So today we recreated that picture with Witten and his cousion Zoey. They were unsure of why they were naked in the kitchen and sitting next to each other, but the beauty of the baby butt picture is that it requires no cooperation from the baby. Smile or cry, I don't care, I'm taking the picture. And looking chunky in these pictures is encouraged, which must be nice.