Baby. . .

Kyle, our sweet, adorable, helpful, cuddly, mischievous, wild tempered, funny, 4 1/2 year old, has a lovie/snuggle/comfort/whatever you want to call it.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing but one that I do not know when nor how to address with him of breaking.  Kyle has a blanket. It started out innocently enough when he was a TINY baby.  Someone gave him an ADORABLE Swankie Blankie security blanket.  I thought it was so cute that I gave it to him a lot when he was little.  He was my easiest baby and rarely fussed.  But, when he did, his little blanket would do the trick and calm him down.  As he got older, he wanted a bigger blanket.  We had some "silkies" that Elijah had used as a baby so in true second born form, Kyle got the hand-me-down blankets.  Somehow, this has evolved into something I NEVER imagined! Kyle is rarely without a "baby".  I'm not exactly sure when he started but long ago he started calling his blankets baby.  We started out with a "blue baby" and "yellow baby".  "Blue baby" sadly got lost but was replaced with another "yellow baby"(that is identical to the old "yellow baby" so thankful to have 2!!).  We also added "brown baby" that stays at school.  (Before I go on, I will tell you that he is not allowed to carry his blankets around outside of the house.  IF he takes it with us, it is left in the car.  But, for the most part, "babies" stay at home!) "Babies" have become a way of life around our house.  We know that a baby MUST be present at nap and bedtime.  He, himself, will tell you that "he"(yes, all of his babies are boys) makes him feel better when he is sad.  "Baby" is not only for sleeping but also a  toy and sometimes even a playmate! Most of the pictures I have of "baby" are when Kyle is sleeping but I assure you that a baby is nearby in MOST pictures.  Honestly, I haven't given much thought to this.  But, two nights ago as I was on yet ANOTHER frantic search for the lost baby at bed time, I wondered if/when Kyle would give up his blanket.  All three of our kids weaned themselves both from being nursed and from the bottles.  None of our kids used the pacifier past two months.  But, this blanket, this blanket maybe a little bit trickier.  Now, I'm not saying that I'm ready or wanting him to give up his beloved "baby" just yet.  I just hadn't really thought about it until Tuesday night.  What will this look like? Will it happen on it's own? Will it be a battle? Will he go to college with his blanket? Or worse, will he still have it when he gets married? I'm really not sure! But, I do know that Kyle LOVES his blanket and for now, these blankets make naps/bedtime and sad situations a LOT better!

Just for fun, I went through and found pictures of Kyle with his baby.  I didn't have any with his Swankie Blankie or his "brown baby"(that one is for school) but I did find LOTS of pictures with the other two.  Here are just a few!

Kyle with "blue baby" at 8 months 

Kyle and "yellow baby" at 1 year

Kyle and "blue baby" taking a nap during our family camping trip

Cheesy grin with "Blue Baby" in the car!  

Aunt SeSe, Kyle and "Yellow Baby" 18 months

21 months

Sharing "yellow baby" with Pandy at 

This is how we see baby the most. . .tucked in to bed with him.

"Yellow Baby" was a racetrack on this particular day

Not exactly sure what he was doing here but "yellow baby" was part of the fun!

Sleeping boy and his "yellow baby"

Growing Up

 I have always tried(emphasis on the word tried) to enjoy every stage with my babies.  Sometimes that is very difficult such as when they are a tiny newborn and scream for 3 solid months, are in a terribly whiney stage, or in the 'NO' stage.  Sometimes, that is not as difficult such as when that screaming newborn finds her thumb and realizes life isn't so bad, that whiney child takes a nap and feels better, or when a child finally learns the word yes! But, I've having a very difficult time with the newest stage in our sweet girls life.  She is 13 months old, nearly 14 months.  She is precious, sweet, funny(and knows it), and such a pure blessing to our family.  However, last Tuesday, she broke my heart! My precious girl decided on her own that she no longer wanted a bottle(of cows milk) and no longer wanted to rock.  Without a peep(usually), she lays down, cuddles her blanket and bear, and goes to sleep.  With the boys, I thought this was a great accomplishment.  And really, not rocking her for 30-45 minutes does make the evenings easier.  However, I just wasn't ready for this. . .

 My beautiful baby girl

And, I'm also not quite sure when these sweet, handsome guys got so big either. . . 

232

. . .it has been 232 days since I logged on to this blog.  33 weeks since I sat here to write about the happenings of our little family.  7 1/2 months.  I almost gave up on it.  BUT, here I am!

Obviously, a lot has happened around here since I last wrote.  Here are some highlights. . . 

 

Halloween 2011 Obviously a Storm Trooper and Darth Vader need a strawberry to escort them. :) 

 Miss Annabella sitting up

 Somehow, I NEVER take pics at Thanksgiving.  This is the day after tradition of Christmas decoration. (And the only one I took this year!)

 Since the 1st Christmas we have been married, I've been asking Ricky to take me to the Nutcracker.  He FINALLY did this year! So fun! :) 

 My precious babies 

 Elijah singing with the FBC children's choir for the last time

 Annabella figuring out the present thing

 Elijah getting MORE legos

 Kyle opening gifts.  We enjoyed a very quiet Christmas at home.

 It snowed.  . .a little.  The other side of our yard had NO snow! ha

 We got to stop in Texhoma and see some sweet friends.

 This guy turned 4! 

 We went to LegoLand in Dallas.

We were very excited! 

 We often refer to her as our "trooper".  She is always content to just follow along! 

I was given this shirt as a baby gift for one of the boys.  I loved it but thought it was a little too girly.  I saved it hoping one day I would have a sweet girl to wear it.  :) 

 This guy turned 7!!

Just for fun! :) 

Toothless Elijah

 This guy turned 31!!

 Elijah ADORES this precious girl! He was thrilled she got to come over for a play date.

 She LOVES to swing.

 Enjoying our spring break in Guymon with Grandpa and Grandma.

 I just can't get enough of this girl.  :) 

 Easter 2012(I think I figured out where Elijah gets the eyes closed in pictures thing)

 Glow sticks in the bath. . .they had a BLAST!

 One of my favorite outfits! 

 Not sure how this happened but this girl turned 1!!!!

 Mother's Day 2012

 Kyle is playing(we use that turn loosely) soccer.  :) 

 Last Day of MDO 2012(I didn't get a pic of Annabella)

 Last Day of 1st Grade!

Not According To Plan

Do you ever have one of those days? One of those days where you really want things to go "right" yet nothing does? We had one of those days around here Saturday. We had put off buying the traditional big pumpkin until Saturday. Our plan was to go get a pumpkin, get the traditional fall pumpkin patch pictures, and come home and carve some jack-o-lanterns. Sounds fun, right?!?!

Well, start off with Friday morning at our pediatricians office, sweet Annabella has double ear infections. She has been STRUGGLING with allergies for the last month or so. Thus resulting in not so fun ear infections. To be honest, she is such a good, content, thumb sucking baby that I wouldn't have really known anything was wrong. But, her allergies were turning into a yucky cough and I thought we should get that checked out. Cough is fine. . .ears are NOT! :( She has been a trooper but has definitely needed extra snuggles this weekend.

Well, there went the plans! With her being on an antibiotic and still taking allergy medicine, she is awfully lethargic. And, I really didn't want her out in the wind, etc with yucky ears. So, I told Ricky we would have to skip the fun fall pictures this year. :( The boys still wanted to carve jack-o-lanterns though. Ricky and the boys ventured off to get pumpkins leaving Annabella and myself(also feeling under the weather) at home.

The boys returned with two pumpkins ready to be carved. Each boy had picked one and had a plan of what they wanted their pumpkin to look like.

Kyle excited for pumpkin carving.

And then the pumpkin carving began. . . .

Elijah telling Daddy how to draw his pumpkin

Elijah finally sticking his hand in the pumpkin. . .LOVE the face! ha

Kyle's face when we told him it was his turn to put his hand in the pumpkin.

Elijah decided it wasn't THAT bad. . .ha!

Following this, I quit taking pictures. I usually photograph the entire process. However, we had a situation that needed to be tended to. You see, if you don't know Kyle very well, then I will have to explain. He is a LOT like his Daddy was when he was little. He gags ALL the time, chokes A LOT, and throws up quite often. BUT, something new happened last night as we were trying desperately to salvage a yearly tradition at our house. He was SO grossed out by the THOUGHT(he never even got close to putting his hand in) of touching the pumpkin guts that he THREW UP. . .TWICE! He was so sad. And of course, this grossed Elijah out. Therefore, the only person left in the kitchen carving pumpkins. . .Ricky. Family Fun Fail!!!!

The final products

And just because it is too cute not to share. . .

I can't get enough of that cute little ruffled bottom sticking up in the air!