10 Months

Not too much has changed since last month as far as Kyle goes.  He is still such a sweetie, loving to snuggle and hang out with Brice and Anna.  It's so hard for me to believe we will be celebrating his birthday in two short months!  I am thinking that he is going to be having some new teeth come through soon.  Lots of drooling and chewing on things.

 Below, for comparison, Anna and Brice at 10 Months.

One Week Recap

Summer has been out for one week and two days and I feel as though it has been two weeks.  Surely, that is not a good sign.  Next week is Art Camp and then the following is Baseball Camp for Brice so I packed a lot in over the past week.  Let's see...Yellow River Game Ranch, Anna and Brice went to Grandma and Grandad's for a sleepover, had dinner with the Reynolds' to celebrate Mother's Day and Kelly's birthday, went to the pool twice, Zoo Atlanta with Aunt Deb, lunch with Grandma at work, Monkey Joe's and here we are at today.  Yes, I am tired and feeling a little bit like an activities director.  I want the kids to have a fun summer.  I guess I feel like I cheated them a little last summer because I was so big and pregnant, I just wanted to lay around.  I know summers are supposed to be a little boring but my kids, Brice especially, do so much better with some structure.  Eleven more weeks and counting...

 The flamingos were Anna's favorite, of course, because they are pink!

 This lion is extremely old and rarely moves during the day.  I have never seen him lift his head while visiting the zoo.  So, I was very excited to see him look around.  Thirty seconds later, he was back asleep.

 Has anyone EVER seen a giraffe do this?  Or a lion as cute as that below??

 The kiddos with Aunt Deb and the picture below just cracks me up...

 A little bit better.

Mother's Day Bonnet/Mary Poppins

Here is the bonnet that Anna made me for Mother's Day...

After I took it home, I told her that it looked like Mary Poppins hat when they pop into the chalk picture, which she has been obsessed with...I got it on Netflix a while back.  Then, for Easter, Nana and Pa bought her the DVD.  She LOVES it!  For a while she had decided she would be Mary Poppins for next Halloween.  She is now planning on being Snow White so we'll see how many times it changes between now and then.  Back to the story though.  Anna decided that she now needed the hat so that she could be Mary Poppins.  Here is the result...

All she needs is Dick Van Dyke and she's Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!
I will also say on this post that Anna is quite different at school than she is at home.  I had her teacher conference back in the beginning of May and I could hardly believe my ears.  Ms. Mary told me that Anna is quiet, she does not like when they sing super loud in Chapel, she doesn't always like to participate in dancing and get this...she DOESN'T like to be the center of attention.  I seriously thought Ms. Mary was talking about a different child.  Meanwhile, at home, she is the star with all her singing, dancing and parading around.  Justin was kind of relieved thinking that we were sending her to school as this wild child and that she would be the class clown.  Instead, Anna had a wonderful school year and had no problem mastering the skills of a 3 year old.  To our delight, she is well behaved and a "very good friend to others".  Now only if she could snap her fingers and make her clothes fold themselves!

Yellow River Game Ranch

To kick off the summer, I decided to take the kids to Yellow River Game Ranch.  It is about 45 minutes from where we live but we have been before and Brice just recently went on a field trip there.  Anna was especially excited because her favorite animals are "bunnies and deers and pigs" and they have all three of those there.  The fun part about YRGR is that you get to feed the animals.  When it comes down to it and you really think about it, it's gross.  The animals are all rescued or at least some of them so they are a little mangy and then the smell of dung is in the air.  Yesterday was a beautiful day though and the ranch is very shady.  Since we are Hall County and the ranch is in Gwinnett county (they are still in school) I figured it wouldn't be crowded and I was right.  All went very well until the very end when a deer sneaked up on Anna and scared the bejeezes out of her.  And, then, because she is so loud, the entire ranch could hear her.  The deer was completely un-phased by it and proceeded to eat all of Kyle's Cheerios right out of his stroller.

 "Black Bear, Black Bear, what do you see?"  "I see children looking at me."

 Mangy, stinky donkeys eating whole apples and then the goats who were starving!

 This peacock was so pretty but he also scared Anna.

 Above, saying hello to the pig named, "Sis".  And then we got to these turtles and Anna asked if they were "dead because they are not moving."

 Brice, our Animal Whisperer.

 Anna couldn't wait to get to the little bunny area and then when it came time to actually bend down and give them a carrot, she just kind of tossed them in the direction of the bunny and I think only laid two fingers on one of them.

 Below are the pictures at the end when the deer kind of swarm you for your last bit of food.  This doe was sweet and gentle and the kids thought Kyle's expression was so funny.  This is a different deer than the one that caught Anna off guard!

 You can kind of see Kyle's mouth doing something in between a smile and a grimace.

Here is the doe than had no fear.  Just walked up and started eating some Cheerios!  I took this picture while Anna was screaming, crying and hiding behind the stroller!  Sweet Kyle just turned his head and Brice was nice enough to try and distract the deer with a carrot.

Bubble Wrap

As if I needed any reason to love this little guy any more, any fiercer...

he took over my emotions 1000x yesterday when I let him fall down the stairs.  Obviously, not on purpose.  But, he rolled, all the way down a flight of stairs, 16 steps to be exact.  13 carpeted, 3 hardwood.  It was horrific and terrible and I realize how lucky we are that he is right now asleep in his crib, drooling on his whale sheet while sucking on the middle finger.  I was folding clothes, he was in the laundry room, he crawled out of the laundry room as I was standing up with my hands full to take his laundry to his room.  I thought he would follow me, not head for the stairs.  I was talking to Anna and as soon as I thought to turn and check on him, it was too late.  He was at the top of the stairs, reaching for the first step down and I threw the blankets and burp cloths to the floor to grab him but the weight of him took him.  He log-rolled down the stairs the whole way, looking like a lifeless rag doll.  I can't get the image out of my head.  Justin immediately picked him up, I called the doctor and we took him in.  The only "damage" being a small amount of blood that came out of his nose. 

My heart just aches thinking about it.  It needs some Bubble Wrap, along with Kyle.  Come to think of it, I could use some for all the kids.  I wanted some for Anna after she was sick.  And, Brice, well he's just too perfect to let anything happen to.  But there I admitted it.  I had to get it out.  At least it didn't happen on Mother's Day, right?  My Mother's Day was wonderful, complete with sleeping in, a clean kitchen, Starbucks, a new book, cards from the kids, and dinner made for me.  It was awesome.  Thank you Justin for treating me so wonderfully!

Kyle, I love you.  I will try not to stare at the video monitor tonight, like I did last night.  I will carry you around so that you may never walk on your own.  Football?  Forget it, kid.  You may play...nothing.  You have to stay inside always and Daddy and I will cover the house in rubber foam.  I will make it my life to protect you from harm as much as possible without hindering your spirit, IF, in 40 years when I fall, you take me to the doctor.  And, you may then wrap my body in bubble wrap.

9 Months

Honestly, where is the time going?  Kyle turned nine months on April 30th and I am just wondering if that month went a little quicker than the previous four.  I feel like he was just five months old for some reason and here we are closing in on a year.  I can't really take it.  Every night when I put him to bed I want to cry remembering where we were last year with so much anticipation for him to arrive.  My last baby, sighhhh. You are probably thinking, if it's that bad, just have another one.  Ummm, no.  I already have major guilt that I don't spend enough time with each of my kids individually, not to mention I spent over an hour and a half the other day switching car seats around and about died of heat exhaustion.  And, those are the last car seats I am purchasing. Period. End of story.

So, back to the purpose of this post.  Our little man is so much fun!!  He is crawling everywhere and pulling up constantly.  He has pulled one of the little chairs that go to our kids' table over on himself three times.  He loves to "wrestle" with Justin and "attack" Brice.  He has taken great strides in trying to turn Anna's world upside down by getting into "her stuff".  Anna is getting much better about relaxing regarding this and has taken much more interest in him thank goodness.  Kyle still loves to eat and feed himself and it shows.  The child could use a bath after each meal because he loves to run his fingers through his hair during mealtime.  We have also noticed that he uses his left hand predominantly.  I know it is WAY too early to tell but I think we may have a southpaw on our hands!  Kyle takes two naps a day which usually last 1.5-2 hours each and then sleeps for about 12 hours at night.  He continues to be the best baby in regards to just going with the flow and adapting to the situation he is placed in.  He babbles all day long with "ba, ba, ba" and "da, da, da" as well as blowing raspberries.  He loves to bang on his tray and anything he pulls up on.  We used to call Brice "Bam-Bam" from the Flintstones and Kyle is much the same.  Kyle loves celing fans and will look at the nearest light fixture when you ask him.  He will look to all the correct family members when asked.  He still sucks his left middle finger when tired, hungry or unsure of something and remains our best cuddler, usually with finger in mouth.  He wears almost all 18 month clothes.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I took him last Tuesday for his well visit and he was...

21 lbs, 11oz (69%) and 30 inches long (93%) so I am going to have to get used to spending my days in the kitchen.  Brice was four ounces heavier and the same length at nine months.  Big boys.

So, that is a little update on Kyle in words, here he is in pictures...

 Loves to watch through the window!  He will bang on the window to say "hello"!

And, Bam-Bam in action...

The Parrr-tay!!!

After the beautiful ceremony, we headed to the Savannah Golf Club for the reception.  The band was playing outside and the weather was perfect.  You could not make this stuff up people.  Savannah, GA, late spring, spanish moss, photogenic bride and groom, and the cutest little dancing girl you ever have seen.  Anna's little feet didn't stop moving after she had a bite to eat and two glasses of OJ!  The girl didn't take a break until it was time to cut the cake.  She told me, "I'm going to go have some cake and then I'm going to come back out here and watch them (the band) again."  I literally had to pull her out of Jonathan's arms so that he could dance with Mollie!  She wore the dance floor out with Aunt Blaire and Kristen as well.  By the end of the night, she had damp hair over her temples!

 Jonathan and Mollie took dance lessons before their wedding and showed off their stuff during their first dance.

 Aunt Deb and Uncle Ron

 Above is probably my favorite picture from the whole weekend.

 Leg guitar, yes, sometimes I like to pretend I'm still in college at a band party with my sweetheart.

 Even Brice danced.  Justin and I couldn't believe it!!

 My red tongue is due to the red velvet cake I had, grooms cake.  And below, I am saying, "Come here, Anna, and let Jonathan dance with Mollie!!"

Holster ladies...and let me end this post by saying a belated, "Happy Birthday to my Grandma!"  who was dearly missed!  She turned 84 yesterday!  Enjoy the pictures, Grandma, we love you.