Sunday, August 22, 2010

To Kell at ONE!

My Dearest Baby,

I was just sitting in bed, breathing you in while we snuggled for a nap and I realized I hadn't written you a birthday note yet!

We celebrated you with very little fanfare this year. Daddy's parents, Turbo and Gran, and Uncle Russ were in town for a visit and we snuck away to Coronado for a few days. We didn't do much, as vacationers are want to do, but on your birthday we took the family to Sea World. I thought it would be pretty lost on you but you LOVED it! We sat and watched the Shamu Believe show and you yelled and clapped for the whales the whole time. I can't wait to take you back when you're a little bit older.

When I think about how we spend our days, I feel a little guilty because they're so much busier than my baby days with your brothers. I feel like we're always running errands, or going on play dates. Now that you're a little bigger, you're really starting to feel part of it all. The big kids are forever yelling at me to come get you as you try to destroy whatever masterpiece they're building, steal their toy, their water, their food. I know you just don't realize that you're not so big yet. I always try to get home to snuggle you for a nap - I so relish that time with you! Mealtimes might be your favorite of all - I've never seen a kid eat like you do! You're a bottomless pit! You like just about anything but meat and veggies are your favorite. You adore chicken and squash. I swear I don't know where you put it!

When Daddy comes home, you get SUPER excited! You crawl as fast as your chubby little legs can carry you screaming "DADADAAAA". If he doesn't pick you up immediately, you continue to scream while scaling his legs. Truly I've never seen a baby boy so in love with his Daddy! Once we've said our hellos, we take our tubs. You love getting in and playing with your big brothers. It makes us so happy to see all three of you playing nicely together. After we put your big brothers to bed, you have some one-on-one time with Daddy. He loves snuggling with you and that's pretty much how you fall asleep every night. You're still not sleeping all through the night (good thing you're cute!) and when you wake up around 5ish, Daddy just brings you in here with us and you go right back to sleep between us until your brothers come in and hop in to wake us all up.

You're not a walker yet. Crawling up a storm and cruising, but not yet ready to take the steps on your own. You also have no teeth?!? Very odd but the Dr. said not to worry till you're two so we have a ways to go - and it doesn't stop you from eating everything so I guess it's all good! You're also a talking fool. Daddy laughs at me when I talk about how I thought I'd get at least one quiet child. Not you! You say "Mama", "Dada", "Daddy", "Uh-oh", "Hi", and "Bye" as well as "Thank You" which cracks us up because you say it so well (and appropriately!) sometimes we have to look to see which child said it! You're also pretty good at repeating things when we say them to you. You also have terrific comprehension and can follow Mommy's directions well - when you want to! I know you understand almost everything I tell you :)

That's your life right now my little one! I'm trying to remember daily that you're only little for the smallest of time and you're growing up too fast!

I love you more than you know! (At least until you have children of your own someday :)

Mama

Sunday, August 08, 2010

My Favorite Things: Nursery

Talk of moving has picked up around here and it reminded me how much I wanted to document this house so my children would always remember what their home was like when they were little. So I've covered my favorite things about the kitchen and the family room. But I think my most favorite room in the house is the nursery. I adore this room...
I wanted a fun nursery that could work for a boy or a girl (turns out I didn't need to consider the latter!) and I didn't want it to have any cartoon or animal theme. We settled on happy shades of yellow with dark woods. The bedding is a celestial theme, adding in some blues. Brooks and I framed in the windows and striped the walls ourselves when I was pregnant with Fin...
The Wooly Mammoth who keeps watch on the babies was a gift from Brooks when we decided to start a family. We saw it in a boutique toy store and I was smitten. I couldn't imagine him getting loved on by any children other than those I might have. So even though there were none yet on the way, Brooks bought it. The quilt underneath was made by my Aunt Jan for my mother when I was born...
We wanted to do something fun with the walls and since studies show that babies love to see the faces of other babies we thought it would be fun to go with all baby pictures of family members. I bought these plain wood frames and craft supplies at Michaels and we designed, painted and decorated them. I hand colored and printed baby pictures of our siblings, parents and grands and hung them with coordinating ribbons...
Bottom: Dash, Top: Fin
Top: My Dad, Middle: Me, Bottom: My Mom
Top: Brooks' Mom and her twin sister, Middle: Brooks' Dad, Bottom: Brooks (and he made that frame)
Left: My Brother Brandon, Middle: Brooks' Brother Russ, Right: My Brother Chase
Top: My Maternal Grandmother, Middle: My Paternal Grandmother, Right: My Paternal Grandfather

We put an awful lot of love into decorating this room. Hard to believe that when we started I didn't even know what I was having! I can remember having a conversation with Brooks about how many children we thought might spend their nights in this room. I'm pretty sure neither of us thought the answer would be three little boys! And while I find the prospect of more space and a fresh start to be very appealing, I'd be a liar if I said that leaving this room wasn't going to make me cry like a baby!!