snuggle

This never happens.

I blame those darn teeth breaking through his gums.

But I'll take it. A snuggle is a snuggle.

(Oh, and pardon my extra chins??)

three in a tub

A few weeks ago we had a few friends over for dinner. Then the babies all took a bath. Every parent has pictures of their kids in the tub, but how many grown adult friends have pics of themselves taking a bath together. Seriously embarrassing. We parents will definitely enjoy these. Forever.

Can you handle these eyes? Precious.

Seriously, adorable. That smile!

G wasn't in the "smiling" mood. He was way more interested in chewing on the duck.

Three clean babies. Asleep in 5 minutes flat.

14 Months

Has it really been that long? Wow. The other day we went to the zoo with some friends to enjoy the absolutely beautiful weather we were having. The day after this, there were flurries. No joke.

So we stopped by the fountains in Forest Park to take some pictures. Graham loved the fountains and the sunshine and....really just being able to run free outside. Have I told you that he loves being outside? I thought so.

Enough pictures? Never for me. Seriously, there were like 40 from the 30 mins we were out there.

Our little guy is growing up so much. He recognizes his little buddies and goes to hug them. Precious! When we were at the Christmas program at our church the other night, he heard Matt's dad over the microphone and went crazy (we were in the cry room so he was playing at the moment.) He immediately wanted up and was saying "guh, guh, guh (obviously referring to his grandaddy)" pointing to the stage.

We are so incredibly thankful for our little Graham. We treasure each and every day with him!

typical Mable...

I brought some Christmas decorations up from the basement in the basket. Emptied it and turned my back for a second. This is what I found when I turned back around.....

Best cat ever.

all things G.

Graham is a hoot. A true ham. The light in my day. Well, besides Matt of course. He had to get the genes from somewhere.

His personality amazes me every day. Seriously, I wish I had one of those little hand-held tape recording things so that each time he does something cute/funny/utterly weird I could take down a little message to myself.

I'll try and document some of his craziness over the last month.

- He loves to pretend he's talking on the phone. He holds it up to his ear (read: throws his arm back over his shoulder so that it's more like his elbow that he's talking into). He's obviously been watching and listening to us as we talk on the phone because he walks around bobbing his head and saying things like "uuhhh, ughhhhh, yyaaa, hoohoo" which is probably meant to be like us saying "uh-huh, yeah, hahaha".

- He loves the intro songs to pretty much any show on nick-jr. or disney (in the morning, none of that miley cyrus etc. in the afternoon shows). He'll get a look of pure joy and dance his way up to the TV so that he can stand right.in.front. of it until it's over. He could care less about the shows. If I'm in the room I'll just restart the intro a couple of times just to see him be so cute.

- He loves him some daddy time. Every morning he has to be *in* Matt's arms throughout his breakfast routine. If Matt pauses while making his coffee, G will point to the next thing that Matt needs. Rediculously observant. He's also obsessed with the cereal boxes.

- He loves shoes. He'll bring us some of ours (like, he'll take Matt's to him and bring mine to me) so that we'll help him line them up so that he can put his feet in them and try to walk around.

- He's discovered his temper. And when I say "his temper" I know full well that I'm seeing "my temper" from 26 years ago. The kid has some serious lungs. Serious. One day last week I took something from him (probably breakable or dangerous as most things he loves are) and he turned around, took a few steps, sat down in a very deliberate manner, then turned and lay down on his belly and then a second later rolled over. While screaming the whole time of course. It was the most slooooow motion tantrum we'll probably ever see. Gosh I can't wait for the next few months.

- He says dad and momma most clearly. He's understanding verbal instruction so much more these days. I can ask him to go find his lovey knowing that it's like 3 rooms away behind a toy and he'll go find it. I might have to say that it's in the kitchen or something, but he can understand me. Totally cool.

- He's eating so much more these days. He decided that he likes raisins, cheese quesadilla, pumpkin pancakes, and spinach and cheese omlettes. I know, not too much, but it's huge for us. Still no pasta, veggies, or meats....maybe one day....

- He's still rather short and small. And he's also recently taken up running. So instead of running, it's more like tiny scurrying. He likes to sort of bob his head and laugh while he's doing said scurrying and it's maybe the cutest thing ever.

- Bath time is super fun too. He drops what he is doing immediately and runs to the bathroom when we say that it's bath time. He sings and splashes around and eats the bubbles. He used to cry when we were washing him and then cry more when we took him out. But now he plays and plays and plays some more, then is quite content when we get him ready for bed.

- Speaking of bed.... someone is learning to go to sleep all on his own! We're super proud of this new skill. We've been rocking him to sleep all these months. Now I still nurse him right before bed, rock him a little, say a prayer...then lay him down. He rolls around a little, hums to himself, then drifts off to sleep. Sometimes it takes 5-10 minutes, other times it takes an hour. We know that learning is a process so we're trying to be patient with him!

- He also loves him some dogs. My parents have two dogs (a sheltie and a german short hair pointer). He goes crazy when we pull up into the driveway and chases them around....super cute. We're planning on getting a dog ourselves in February. A sheltie. I'm sooo excited!

We took some pictures the other day that I'll post probably tomorrow.

eat your heart out.

I love him so much.

park buddies

the rain boots

And we're back.

So that break was a little longer than I intended. But I'll do my best to get the blog all caught up on what's been going on.

In the mean time, here's a fun one. It's quite a long story, so if you'd like to hear more, please email me privately. But the details don't really matter. There are two precious, beautiful, snuggly little boys in our lives! These two little guys are such a blessing and we are having such a wonderful time getting to know them and help take care of them. God is so good, all the time.

Gosh don't they make G look like a giant?

I'm loving being an aunt and so proud of my seester!