Easter in the Utility Closet

Easter is here. My first Easter with a son. And how are we celebrating? You know....sitting in a hard chair in the pitch black dark in a utility closet/heater room/possibly something involving a sewer (judging by the smell) room at Jonathan's parents' church holding a sleeping Dav. And blogging. And crying a little knowing I may be missing Brenna's public singing debut upstairs.

But, anyway. If I've ever wondered how much God loves me, it's clear that I'll never understand. I couldn't give this sweet boy up for anything. Especially not to save some sinners who are going to never understand completely. He knew how messed up I'd be and he did it anyway. There is no way I'll ever understand, but I grow more thankful and committed to him every day because of it.

And the tomb was empty! What a sweet, sweet thought.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Luck of the Irish

I put my Silhouette to use to make these heat transfer shirts that I stole from Pinterest.  We had fun showing them off at church on St. Patrick's Day!

cutie pies

sweet girl

not thrilled

Big Sis was a little more excited than Little Bro

Soccer Star

 spectators

 second practice was WAY more successful than the first - finally HAPPY!

 learning to wait in line

 kicking with power

 No hands, girlie!

 proud of herself

 huddle up

 lagging behind

 at least she's on the field - such a step up!

 the only girl on the boy team

 GOOOOO.....

 ...TARHEELS!  (words I never thought I'd say)

 sweet moment

good little soccer fan

Blog More, FB Less

I'm going to be blogging more.  I really want to have a documented journey of our family's adventures, which is what I have tried to make this blog about.  I realize that I jump on Facebook (way) too much when I have some down time, and it just frustrates me with the human race in general.  Social media is seriously a downfall of our society.  People will type things they would never say in person, and with the rise in popularity of photoshop, etc. people are living in a world that isn't even genuine.  

That being said, here's to being more intentional with my time - and spending my "me" time doing things to better my family and my life, rather than mindlessly scrolling through lists of updates, pictures, and nonsense that I really don't need to see anyway!

9 Months Old (on the 9th of March)

Dear Davin, 

It finally happened.  You've been outside of my body as long as you were inside my body!  I'm not sure if I believe that or not - it seems like I just had you, but it also seems like you've been around a long time.  It's a blast to get to watch you grow and develop and change into this little boy who does all sorts of wild things.  And wild, you are!  You're into everything.  You crawl so fast and will pull yourself up on anything.  You're getting much more steady on your feet and have stood alone without falling a few times.  You don't have much interest in walking when we hold your hands - I think you'd rather just speed crawl.  

You're cutest development this month is giving kisses.  I can say, "Give me smooches" and you just open your mouth so wide and plant one on me.  Apparently Daddy found you trying to give Maggie smooches this morning - Gross!  You're awfully proud of it.  You've also said "dadadadada" and even the occasional "mamamamama" but I'm not sure you completely know the meaning yet.  You've also started waving - which sometimes has you looking at us grinning and sometimes watching your hand to figure out what in the world it is doing!

Let's just be really honest.  You're an absolutely horrific sleeper.  Most days you still do okay for naps (one morning and one afternoon, usually for 1.5-2.5 hours each), but your nighttime sleeping is awful.  You are just restless and make some of the most annoying sounds (sorry, but it's true!) and get mad/stand up/crawl around.  You're still in the pack-n-play in our room, because we know you're fits will wake Brenna up in the middle of the night.  But, I'm wondering if being in your own room in a more comfy crib will help, so we may be forced to try it and just deal with the consequences.  We don't give in to your every whim, but will sometimes rock you back to sleep if it'`s gone on too long or we just need reprieve.  I seriously need you to grow out of this.  You'll have a spell where you sleep good for a week or so, and then just revert back.  This is new territory for us, and we aren't really handling it very gracefully.  However, on the positive side, I do enjoy rocking you to sleep for your naps because you're so darn cute when you give in.  

You're still a big fan of Mommy.  People joke that it's like I have a magnet in me and you always come crawling to where I am.  I'm okay with that, unless I'm just trying to make dinner and you don't seem to be on board with that idea.  Overall you're pretty good at entertaining yourself when we can't be right at your side.  We spent a week together in DC while Daddy did training every day and Brenna was with Neena/Pa Bill and Nanie.  We rode the Subway, went to visit Merritt in Arlington, did a little shopping, and went to the National Mall and Smithsonian.  It was fun to enjoy only taking care of one kiddo for a little while, but we missed your sis.  You got to enjoy your baby food at some pretty nice restaurants that week too, and tagged along for our Valentines Day dinner at PF Changs.  There were 3 different waitresses who fell in love with you so much that they carried you around.  It was hilarious.  There was a group of some hip-hop artist guys at Ruth Chris's in Chinatown and they kept telling their friends - "Go check out that baby.  The little man is awesome." You're quite the charmer.  One waitress even gave you a present - some gloves for the cold winter air!  

You eat about 3-4 ounces of baby food at lunchtime and about 6 ounces at dinnertime.  You like most everything except peas and peaches.  We're going to try out some meats this week.  You don't like Puffs, yogurt melts, or anything with texture yet.  You nurse usually 4 times a day - when you wake up, around 1, around 5, and before bed about 9.  Rarely do I feed you during the night anymore - but sometimes will feed you if you're awake about 6 so we can get a few more hours of sleep hopefully.  You still have no teeth but I really do think the bottom ones are so close to popping through.  

You weighed in at 18.6 pounds when I took you to the doctor thinking you had an ear infection (you didn't).  You still wear mostly 6-12 or 9 month clothes and your size 3 Toms shoes I ordered you barely fit.  You and I both got a case of thrush this month that's still not completely gone.  It was awful for me but didn't seem to bother you.  We picked up meds in Dublin on our way back from DC so you got to hang with your buddy Leah for a little while.  It's fun to see you two together!  You also got to see lots of family last weekend for Bren's 3rd birthday party.  You were a big hit, even though you woke up confused and grumpy with about 40 people in your house!  They all think you're the perfect baby - and I would agree with that IF you would just sleep!  But, you're the perfect baby for us regardless.  

You're smiley and cuddly and adventurous and easy-going.  You're the baby boy I dreamed of for 9 long months in my belly and that I've loved more and more every day for 9 short months outside my belly.  Slow yourself down, little man!  It's going too fast. 

Love you, Spud!

Love, Mamamamamamama

Candyland

It's no secret that I have a serious problem with throwing over-the-top birthday parties.  I adore it.  I love the planning and designing and decorating and executing my vision!  I realize my kids' would be perfectly happy with some ice cream and a few friends over.  But, that just won't do.  

I've known I wanted to do a Candyland party for Brenna this year since her birthday last year.  Luckily she was easily sold on the idea - because, well, she has a serious love of candy!  Here's the party through pictures.

 the treats table

 backdrop of streamers and balloons

 Brenna's special cake - she fell in love with this when she saw it on the computer

 egg-free cupcakes to be safe for her BFF Claire

 party favors - maracas, ring pop, magnifying glass, whistle, candy, and a bouncy ball

 Candyland cake.  We had planned to bake it ourselves, but I wasn't feeling too hot the night before so we ordered it to be picked up at Food Lion two hours before the party so I could decorate it.  I called to make sure it was ready and they told me they had no record of the order.  I called back, talked to a manager, and voila! we had a plain white cake 30 minutes later.  Decorating it was the easy part!

 fun interview

 DumDum topiary that B helped me make

 first paper banner made with my Silhouette

 her sweet buddy Caden

 path outside

 so excited

 Caden was a fan

 acting a little shy

 The kids knew exactly which pieces they wanted - haha!

making candy necklaces :)

Davin loved all the attention once he finally woke up.

 presents

 friends

Now time to start planning Davin's 1st birthday party! ;)