Oh, Ellie

There are many words to describe Eleanor Jane. Here are just a few:

You are silly. Such a silly girl. Almost goofy really.

You are sweet. You know which buttons to push (the good kind) with your Daddy.

You are busy. Oh so busy. You never stop moving.

You are tough. This is probably due to always being on the defense with those brothers of yours.

You are musical. You love to sing and we often hear you singing from your crib. Your favorite-Jesus Loves Me.

You are loud. You have to be in this house!

You are giggly. It is a squeaky kind of giggle. We love it.

You are OURS!!!

Thatcher Reid

He is the sweetest baby ever! And he follows me around everywhere. And he claps-all the time. And he says "mama" as he nuzzles into my shoulder. Have I mentioned how sweet this baby boy is?!

Hampton Writes His Name

So proud of our almost 4 year old for writing his name!

Thatcher Reid is One!

Our sweet Thatcher Reid. I've said it from the day he was born, 1 year ago…..I just LOVE this baby. He is the true baby of the family and he suits this role perfectly. We had a wonderful time celebrating him on Saturday beginning with pancakes. We don't go out to eat much, so any time is a special treat. We decided on IHOP and the children loved their chocolate chip pancakes. And Eric and I loved our coffee! Following breakfast we headed to the arboretum for a family hike, since the weather was nice. My sister and her boyfriend joined us and it was so wonderful to get some fresh air. That afternoon we had taco spaghetti for dinner followed by chocolate cake! And Thatcher joined the rest of the boys with their love for sweets (Ellie Jane does not like dessert!). Thatcher received some gifts-a yellow submarine for the bath, a shape sorter, a new puzzle, a few books. We had a great day celebrating his first year of life. Here are some things I want to remember about my sweet boy:

1.) You are mama's boy through and through. You are very attached to mama and I love it. Love it.

2.) You are social! You smile and babble to strangers. You try to get others' attention. You hold out your hand to say hello.

3.) You love to climb the stairs!

4.) You clap and it is the cutest thing ever.

5.) You are still nursing every 3 hours, but you are also liking whole milk.

6.) You sleep pretty well, however some days you are a VERY early riser and there are a few nights here and there you wake up in the middle of the night to nurse. You still take a morning and afternoon nap.

7.) You like to eat, especially if you can feed yourself. Yogurt is one of your favorites and you are back to liking bananas. 

8.) Your brothers and sister make you laugh. 

9.) You have a very sensitive soul and get your feelings hurt easily.

10.) You aren't walking yet, but can crawl very fast and cruise the furniture.

11.) You can say: mama, dada, bubba, bye bye, hey

12.) You weigh about 23 pounds and are in the 50th percentile for height/weight and in the 85th percentile for your head circumference. 

13.) You have the best laugh.

14.) You are the sweetest, most snuggly baby I know. 

You are our Thatcher Reid. 

No School!

I got the call this morning that school was cancelled due to single digit temperatures. Everett was thrilled. I was too. Not only did this mean that we did not have to venture out in the freezing weather, but I love having him home. Well around 9 am we were all going a little stir crazy. We're on our third day of not going out at all and there is only so much you can do to entertain. Thankfully our friends came to our rescue and came over for a play date! Always fun. 

The children having their morning snack (Thatcher Reid was asleep). 

 Ellie's "silly" face.

 Sibling sandwich! Proof that despite their bickering-mostly from being stir crazy and LOTS of time together-they do love each other. A lot. 

Snow!

We had a downpour of snow yesterday afternoon. I quickly put the boys coats on and hurried them outside to enjoy. They had a ball, but Thatcher Reid wanted to join too!

 I LOVE the look at Everett's face. And Hampy's smushed nose. 

 And off they go!

Babies At Play

They say play is children's work and mine do play like it is their job……

Playing dress-up

Dinosaur parade

 We ignore age restrictions on puzzles when it comes to Hampton. Sometimes he works diligently until it is complete and sometimes he works on it bit by bit, playing in between, until completed. Either way-I'm impressed. 

 Not sure what this pose is other than to say-it's totally Everett.

 And I'm one proud mama because he read his first complete book this week! He picked it out himself at Target-Biscuit Goes to School. He needed help with a couple of words, but was able to "sound it out" or use context clues for the others. 

 Oh Eleanor. You march to the beat of your own drum. She is just "busy" all day long. 

 iPad time. 

 Tea party with her babies Sam and Stella. 

 Hampton and Sam. 

 And Thatcher's "why aren't you holding me!?!" face.