Time Flies and It's Just Not Fair

Well as always, time is flying by and it's closer to another year coming to a close. We are gearing up for the holidays around here. Believe it or not, I usually refuse to put up our Christmas tree before Thanksgiving, but this year was an exception. The weather was pretty miserable this weekend so we took advantage of being stuck indoors and went ahead and decorated for Christmas. We are so excited about Christmas this year and sharing it with Little J. He loves the lights on the tree and really likes pulling off the lower ornaments. I just love our tree. It's more than a Christmas tree to me. It's a memory tree. I don't do the organized, all matchy-matchy colors, we just have ornaments that have been acquired throughout the years that mean something to each of us. I like looking at all of them as we hang them up and remembering why Princess got a bicycle ornament that year or why Little Man has one of a dog on skis. :) Here are just a few of my favorites...

I've been waiting three years to put a name and date on this one!

To remind me of the time Little Man had "Where the Wild Things Are" memorized and recited it by heart. At the age of 3. Yes he did. 

The year a lot more pink entered our lives! Princess' first ornament. She barely made it in before the new year but her timing was perfect.

My dad nicknamed me two things growing up. Peanut and Waspy. I prefer Peanut but occasionally the other side comes out. :) I love the nickname and I love having this reminder on our tree. 

So like I said, the weather was pretty miserable but Saturday night into Sunday brought a surprise...SNOW!! I always say, if it's going to be so nasty cold, it needs to snow. And we were so excited to get Little J out in it to see what he thought. He loved it!! He didn't necessarily like touching it, but he liked being out there and walking in it and tasting it. :) 

Oh he melts this mama's heart!! 

The kids were willing enough to let me get a picture of the three of them and I just have to say I love it! Little Man is actually SMILING! It's about time he showed off those beautiful teeth we worked so hard to get straight. Plus, Little J is looking at the camera and being still at the same time! There might not be a smile but this is definitely a successful picture. Personally, I think I have the 3 best looking kids around! 

So that's what has been going on with us. Now to look toward a great couple of days with my family for Thanksgiving, family pics, home study visit, more doctor appointments and celebrating 2 months home. Whew! Let the fun begin!!

One Month Home

 I can't believe today we've been home one month with our little J man! Thinking back on all that he's discovered and learned just in this short amount of time is mind blowing. He is such a fast learner and has added more laughter into our home. I hope this gives you a small glimpse into his personality and how he's changing and growing.

 We went on our first field trip with our GRACE homeschool group. I had taken off October from working in the nursery to work on our cocooning but the kids still went to their classes. The last Friday of the month though is field trip day and I thought he was doing good enough for us to go. He did great...he slept most of the time. :) 

He has developed quite the love affair with outside. When we first brought him home, he didn't seem to even notice being outside. He didn't look at the cars or trees. They said he didn't spend much time outside before we got him. The more we're out there, the more he likes it. He now loves watching cars and walking in the grass is another favorite. (He wasn't around much grass either). Plus, his two favorite guys are out there a lot and he wants to be wherever they are doing whatever they're doing. I'm waiting on a baby swing to be delivered so we can install it in one of our awesome trees in the back. Then I may never get him back inside! 

He LOVES balls!!! Any shape, size or color...he doesn't care. Just give him a ball and he's a happy boy!

This is his, "On your mark, get set, GO!" stance. As long as we say it, he'll do it and then run as fast as those little legs take him. 

Helping Bubba play catch with Dada

He has experienced his first Halloween and Princess has loved showing him all the fun fall traditions we have. This year she decided to paint a pumpkin and carve just one. They turned out really cute!! I love that she hasn't decided that she's too old to still enjoy these traditions. 

Bubba felt he WAS too old this year to join in the pumpkin fun so he watched from afar while we introduced Little J to the inside of a pumpkin. He was not sure about all that nasty slimy stuff and wondered why his sister was so willing to put her hands in there. 

When I realized he would be home in time for Halloween, I was so excited to put him in big brother's costume. I can't believe it's been 11 years since he was that little cow.

Little Brother wore it well :)

We went to a fall festival the Sunday before Halloween with our small group and while he stayed in the stroller most of the time, he seemed to enjoy being around the people and music. He just wasn't so sure about the crazy costumes.

Princess decided the perfect costume to go with her little cow was Jessie off of "Toy Story". They were the cutest things ever!!! He loves his sister and she is so good with him. She adores him and is at his every beckon call.  

Halloween night we stayed close to home and did the traditional "trick or treating". We had been told our neighborhood got a lot of kids so I felt pretty safe letting Princess go with some friends to get her candy. We took her and Little J to a few houses but he didn't last long and he was way more interested in watching Bubba hand out candy. He wasn't sure about the mask but he kept a close eye on him just in case. 

School has been the hardest adjustment I think. The big kids would much rather be playing with their little brother than doing math facts. Every day is easier and we are slowly learning how to get it all done on top of chasing a toddler! I've attempted to do what I need to with them during times that Little J naps but sometimes I think it's good for him to be involved. Plus, it helps him learn this part of our lives for when he becomes a student. :)

Joining in our science experiments. We made goop from cornstarch and water and he could hardly stand to touch but couldn't keep himself from it! 

One day my mom had given me the great idea to let him finger paint while we worked. So I mixed up some instant pudding and let him make as big of a mess as he wanted. He loved it! It kept him entertained for about 10 minutes. Ha! Oh well, it was fun. 

November 1 we made the big step to attend GRACE. I took him with me to the two year old class and wore him in the baby carrier. At first he just liked looking and watching the kids but after about 30 minutes, he wanted down to join them. He did really well and enjoyed being with other kids his size. I know that has been an adjustment for him to go from a room full of little kids to a house with two older ones. As much as he loved it though, it wore him out and Friday afternoon was pretty rough. We have worked hard at getting him on a schedule to hopefully help him sleep better and veering from it was hard. Saturday he was back on and back to his happy self. :)

It was good that he felt better Saturday because he had a big meet-n-greet with a cousin! This cousin is only 2 months younger than Little J and lives far away so we were excited that they could meet. They played well together and the visit just wasn't long enough!! Christmas will so much fun with a 3,2,1,1 year olds and 6 month old! Crazy fun I'm sure!

We are so blessed to have this little guy home finally. He loves to entertain us and make us laugh. He eats very well and I'm working at getting him on more and more table food every day. He absolutely LOVES his baths! We should have invested in flood insurance though because he makes quite the splash!! The only thing we are still working on is sleep. He is much better the last week though so I think we are headed in the right direction. He was waking up 4-5 times a night and now we're down to 2-3 and his naps have gone from 30 minutes to about an hour. Getting better sleep has helped him while he's awake during the day for sure. I use to have to hold him all the time but now he feels more comfortable to venture around the house a little more on his own. I know having a whole house to explore is very different than staying in one room all day and can be pretty overwhelming. He has gotten in two new teeth since being home and we've seen his doctor for a checkup and got him started on shots. 

There's so much more I could say but there's also so much I need to get done while he's down. This post has taken me three different sittings to complete so I better be done for now. :)