A Whole Year!

I can not believe it. But it's true. A year has gone by since Baby J joined our little family. And I don't remember what life was like before he was here!

This was our first time celebrating two birthdays in two days and it was a little rough! Mostly because Mark worked 70+ hours of overtime during the last couple weeks and we had a big primary activity the morning of Jonas' birthday that kept me busy. But we had a great day celebrating Jonas! We had my sisters (minus Amy as she just had a surgery) and their families over for a bbq which they mostly contributed to. I swear I don't know what I would do without my sisters. They are the single reason we don't live anywhere else! Our party was mostly for Jonas but we celebrated Saydi's birthday too and she enjoyed playing in the pool with all her cousins. Beware of the onslaught of pictures below.

I saw this cute basketball cake on pinterest and thought I could replicate it on cupcakes and do a cute ball theme. Um, fail. But Jonas didn't care. =)

 I love the look on his face. "What in the world is this for?"

 "Am I doing this right?"

 "Never mind, I figured it out."

 "Give me more woman!"

 "Look how adorable I am, mom."

"Aaaand I'm done."

 Saydi loved her presents from her Aunties and they were so good to her and Jonas.

 Jonas had a slow start. He thinks everything is better if it is tasted first. So we had to wait for him to decide it didn't taste good.

 Weston is the official present opening helper. He doesn't mind!

 Cute jammies from Aunt Bea.

 Some fun boats from Aunt Miss.

 And this soft soccer ball from Aunt Say that he loves to chew on.

 We got him this hat that he looks so blasted cute in. Unfortunately he figured out how to pull the chin strap off after about ten seconds.

Jonas had his one year wbv today and he is 19 lbs. and 30 inches. He is tall and skinny! He has really bad eczema but other than that he is doing great. Some other things about Jonas that I don't want to forget are:
-He loves to play chase. All you have to do is say, "I'm gonna get you" and he will take off running and laughing.
-He knows something fun comes after three. Usually tickling. So counting makes him start to smile and giggle too.
-He is a master walker. He never crawls at all anymore and can even go from grass to cement with no problems.
-He says "mama" and "dada" but yesterday I am pretty sure he started saying "ball" too. Time will tell.
-He is officially off his bottle and drinks his milk from his sippy just fine.
-He goes to bed around 7 and sleeps until 6:30 or 7 and takes one or two naps that are one to two hours long each. It is so worth all the hard work it took to get him on such a good schedule!
-He eats pretty much anything but will occasionally be picky about potatoes.
-When he wants more food he claps his hands.
-He adores his brother and sister. Nothing makes him laugh as hard as wrestling with Weston does.
-He is for sure a mama's boy but he loves his daddy too! He is not so keen on other people, even when they are at our own house. He is kind of anti-social which I don't love since I am so much the opposite but I am sure he will out grow it like Weston and Saydi did.
-He answers to all of his nicknames: Buster, J, Jones, Jonesy, and Baby J.
We love you so much Jonas! I can not imagine what our family would be like without you!

Purple Party!

Saydi has been asking for a purple party for her birthday literally since Weston had his birthday. And yesterday she got it! I can't believe she is three already. Mind boggling. I was awake with Jonas and heard her coming upstairs so I came out to tell her happy birthday. She turned the corner from coming upstairs, saw her purple decorations everywhere and just completely stopped. I asked her what today was and her eyes got huge and she said, "My purple party!" Adorable. 

I had a lot of errands I had to run but that was great for Saydi because she loves being out and about. So we did that and went to the library and then had a picnic by the waterfall. Something we do about once a week lately!

After naps we played in the pool. Saydi just laid in there for about thirty minutes. She loves water.

 The purple cake that I have been hearing about for six months. I dyed a white cake purple so it was purple inside too. When I put it on Saydi's plate she said, "It's pretty!"

 Saydi joined right in with us and sang "Happy Birthday" to herself! The second I put the cake in front of her she blew out her candles. Cracked me up.

 Wanna know what my favorite thing about this picture is? Jonas. It is hilarious to me how hard he was straining to see the cake and what was going on.

My parents brought over a gift for Saydi and Jonas (and even a little something for Wes, bless their hearts).

Weston was a little too helpful but Saydi didn't care in the least and even asked him to help. It was sweet.

 Boys and their knives. I don't get it. But they come in handy!

  We got Saydi this backpack and Dora cell phone and map during the after Christmas sales. It has been burning a hole in the top of my closet and I was so excited to give it to her. She looked at it and smiled like this for a good 30 seconds. She loves it!

Overall it was a successful day I hope. I have tried to make my kids' birthday's more about what they do rather than what they get and they don't seem to mind. Saydi has grown up so much this last year and she is so much fun. She is definitely difficult sometimes (almost daily if I'm being honest!) but she is also insanely good and helpful. She says the funniest things. I want to put some of her funniest things on the blog so I don't forget.
-I was getting her out of the tub last Sunday morning and I was teasing her and telling her what a cute little bum she has. She said, "I got it at the store."
-The other night we were talking about fire and I said, "Who do we call if there's a fire?" Saydi looked at me like that was the dumbest question ever and without hesitating said, "Jesus."
-Me: "Saydi do you want some more crackers?"
Saydi: "No."
Me: "No, thank you."
Saydi: "You're welcome."
-About five times a day she says, "Mom, guess what?" and then proceeds to tell me the most insane, crazy made-up story you ever did hear. Some of them are pretty hilarious.
She also knows her alphabet, all her colors and shapes and can count to ten. Yet she can't spell her own name. Go figure. She is a smart, motherly, affectionate, funny little girl and we could not be more privileged to have her as ours! We love you Saydi bug! 

Weston's First Year of Preschool

Weston's preschool teacher brought over a disc of pictures from preschool and I will warn you I am putting a ton on. But it's not even half of what she gave me. I'm so grateful to see how much fun Weston has had with school this year. He was looking at these with me and begging me to go to school. Next year will be even better! His teacher is awesome and we are fortunate that she only lives two houses down.

Rewind

I was looking at my pictures on my computer today and realized I had a bunch I didn't put on the blog that I definitely think are blog worthy. So we're backing up a couple months.

Becky came over a while ago and did some laundry here. Maylee looks less than thrilled about this development but she honestly was enjoying herself.

So we added J to the mix and a good time was had by all.

 Weston made some glasses at school. Cracks me right up.

 Jonas got his first hair cut. I didn't get a good enough picture to show the difference but here is the before:

And here is after. I didn't mean to cut the top so short but I didn't want to try to blend it on his first one because I didn't know if he was going to freak out or not. He loved it. It was pretty funny. And don't worry...the dandelion garden in the background has since been addressed and eliminated.

Here is a picture the day after. He looks so much bigger with a hair cut. He is getting his second one today and we are going to attempt the fade so wish us luck!

 He really is such a happy boy. All my kids are. They just don't always show it when we are other places.

 And this picture just plain melts my heart. Jonas is just as much of a mama's boy as Saydi was a mama's girl but he loves his daddy almost as much as me too. ;) Plus, there is nothing as attractive as your husband with his baby. Am I right ladies??!!

Ok now we are back to the present. Too bad I have been too lazy to get my camera out for anything. Maybe tomorrow. Or the next day.