More 8month shots!

two thing were not on our side this month: lighting and cec had a cold :( seems like she had a cold at our 7 month session as well. She is a ham for the camera :)

Core Work!

Caroline is working so hard on crawling that she does most of these moves throughout the day. A one armed pointed toe and some planking! Whew, she is worn out when is finished!

Gearing up for the plank!

Work it sister!

Sibling Love

Not a bad way to see this when i wake up! Michael usually gets the kids up in the mornings and he snapped this today. It  amazes me how my babies are alike in a few ways and different in many other ways. Since this is their baby book I am striving to keep my thoughts and descriptions of them just that: about them, as individuals ....no comparisons, no she is this and he is that, i figure when they are old enough to read these books i'm making they can put two and two together and figure out how they are different from one another on their own, they won't need me to spell it out. Instead, I was trying to think of the ways they are alike and focus on those as people tend to enjoy pointing out how siblings are different, yet rarely focus on the characteristics that they have in common. I get it alot, but mostly from the sweet ladies at my gym who have watched both Badger + Honey, and the ladies in the nursery at church. So here it goes: They both love their Momma + Dadda, they both squeal at the sound of splashing water in the bath tub, they both have a love affair with the bottle, they both like books,  they both enjoy the outdoors, they both enjoy the comfort and pure fun of having one another around(for now at least :), they are both my heart on the outside of my body. Trey was toting around a  bag and talking about the beach, what kind of toys he will put in his bag and the camera to take pictures of the sand and like usual he ends with " Caroline will come too, right Mommy?" He is always making sure Honey is right there along with us. Unless, he wants me to hold him/snuggle him and then he is quite indifferent to where she is :) I have looked at this picture many times today, making myself, my mental filing cabinet, keep it in a place that when i need it most(like when they come to an age when they can't stand to be in the same room) i can pull it up and remember the pure joy these two little people give me....

Caroline 8 Months

"Caroline" "Honey" "CEC" "SISTER" "Our little Turducken" she is many many things but the name I like to call her most is "my sunshine". She is at such a fun age! Her personality is still much the same, sweet, engaging, happiest around people, loves her brother, loves her baths, easygoing, funny, patient, happy, joyful, angelic. She wakes up in the morning happy and to top it off sometimes we don't even realize she is awake as we will go in to find her just playing, cooing, hanging out contently...she has such a gentle nature about her. I love how her big toe always curls under and the way she looks at me when she says "mama", the way she does a "dance" whenever she is excited, like when she knows its bathtime, outdoor time or sees someone she is excited and happy to see. Both hands in the air wiggling and both feet/legs wiggling its pretty darn cute. Caroline is keenly observant of people around her always watching, taking it all in and seeing what they are doing. Caroline is def. at a busy stage! She is not crawling yet, but not for lack of effort! Many days we find her on all fours rocking back and forth back and forth and then popping into a plank position for a good 10 seconds :) Caroline's top favorite at 8months: bathtime, trey, being outdoors! She has not taken too much of an interest in the dogs yet! Another thing she is doing that is precious is she scrunches up her nose and breathes in and out, almost like snorting...she thinks its hilarious and her momma does too. Sweet Honey is still taking on most days, 3 naps a day. NICE. She wakes about 7am, goes down btw 9-930 wakes about 11:00, goes down about 1:3:30 and another cat nap just at the "witching" hour, about 4:45-5:40 and then down for the night btw 7:00-7:30 She takes about 5 bottles 8oz a day and is eating at every meal. I'm always sllooow to start finger foods as i'm just paranoid, but we will dive into that phase after spring break! Caroline, as I have mentioned before is a super self soother. She is a thumb sucker, but i mainly see her doing it to go to sleep or when she is bored. She sleeps in a sleep sack and LOVES IT. I literally zip her up, turn her noise machine on and BOOM girlfriend is counting sheep :) She is not big into snuggling or rocking or me holding her when it comes to her sleep routine she likes it quick and painless: put me down momma i want to sleep!!! At 8months she weighs 20pounds and is 26inches. We love you baby girl to the moon and back and are thankful everyday for the light you have brought into our lives and family XOXO Momma

Start your Engines!

We had our school auction in Feb. at the Audi Dealership and it was a huge success! I am so proud of our little school and the parents, families and friends who came out in full force to support our kiddos and the top notch programs the school so lovingly serves to us! 

Aidyn's Mom and Dad

The silent auction board with wonderful things to bid on! One of the things Michael and I are most excited about winning was the 5 course dinner hosted at our home with 8 guest and prepared by a well known chef here in town! I was amazed at our Auction Committee and how they were able to convince people/companies to donate such amazing items! The top bid for the night were the parking spaces at school. I had no clue these were such a hot item since its our first year here, but WOWZERS! So a parking space for your family, right up front for the full year, went for something around $12,000 now that my friends is a PRIMO PARKING SPOT :)

i love her giggle....

i love her giggle and watching my two babies interact. they really do have so much fun together. and yes, thats a burp trey does right into her face before his tongue slobbers her cheek with a badger kiss.....sorry CEC but we cant get enough of your sweetness!!!

Feb. Randomness

Rodeo Day!

Love her facial expression!

This was the most interesting thing. The chimps play with these turtles like toys. I"m assuming it doesn't hurt the turtles or the ZOO wouldn't let it go on, but it is quite comical to watch the interaction. Sometimes they place the turtles on their backs and they can't turn back over until the zoo keepers come in to do it for them!

Home from Church!

Enjoying an orange from our tree!

Sweet Baby Girl!

Wouldn't leave the house without wearing it.

Children's M.

My Sunshine!

you know your baby is a big boy when....

his teacher hands you a plastic bag FULL of DIAPERS and says " you can take these home for Caroline, in my book Trey is completely potty trained". I stood at the classroom door with a nap mat, backpack, lunchbox, and this sack of diapers and literally teared up. When did he become this little boy? I mean, once you can learn to control your own bodily functions you kinda leave "babyland"....i'm sure we will have our accidents and he still sleeps in pull ups but this is a milestone i can, bittersweetly, cross off my list. Honestly, our potty training just "evolved"  rather than using a method. And i chalk it up to "the pack"...Trey was noticing that his friends in class were all using the potty, wearing pull ups etc. so he mentioned he wanted pull ups. This was probably in Jan. 2012. So i said ok, not making a big deal of it. Then he quickly realized that he could pee in his pull up just like a dipaer so that didn't really work.  Then about the beginning of Feb. " Jack B." his buddy went to school wearing "big boy underwear" and Trey came home refusing to wear anything but underwear, honestly, its the first time that i saw his self esteem sink a tad bit, "please mama, i want to be like jack, i'm a big boy" Lightening McQueen underwear, on backwards to be exact ( i wasn't picky either, if it doesn't bother him why should it bother me. of course, when he's ready to stand and pee this will present itself to be problematic but i'll let him figure that out :)) So it probably took about 3-4 days and then BAM...that was it. He was so proud of himself, while i just absorbed it all thinking " you + me baby, have come so far together". If i react this way to potty training i don't even want to think about the tear fest i will have at all his graduations, first dances, girl-crushes, going off to college, his wedding. Maybe i should buy stock in water proof mascara now???

Valentines 2012

For Valentines Day Trey + I had fun decorating Daddy's mirror. Trey couldn't wait to say "surprise happy valentines day" he also wanted to see how long it took daddy to see "him" behind the heart :) Its the little things in a marriage and i could tell he love it!

I didn't even think to get trey a valentine "basket" or "goodie bag" from us!!! but leave it to my super dad, super husband to come home and place these items at their door. he loves T + C so much and seeing him do things like this makes me love him so.....

sweetest note, CEC can't read yet but when she can........wow.

Trey's teacher took these photos and Trey's card for us below.

a bit of sunshine!

Our Valentine ready to hand out his 1st Valentines to his classmates.

One fun-filled day full of LOVE.