Only One Onesie Left

I cannot believe that next month our little chunky monkey will be a one year old!  How is it possible that I had this sweet precious blessing a year ago?!  The time has definitely flown by and we have loved every minute with our happy eating machine!  You can see from the pictures below that it is impossible to catch Maddox sitting still.... most of the 11 month pictures are rather blurry and not in the typical spot on the couch!  Maddox is still wearing size 4 diapers and 18 month clothes.  He is officially allergic to milk and eggs.  Any other foods are definitely on the menu and he gobbles them right up!  We are down to nursing/pumping 3 times a day.... he takes one bottle around lunchtime and we get to spend quality time in the morning and at night nursing.  He has learned how to blow kisses... by puckering up his lips.  He hasn't used the hand motion yet for blowing kisses but he loves to wave hi or bye.  He babbles a lot... but no real words are coming out.  He is starting to understand some of the frequent words we use... and responding based on the command.   He is crawling everywhere at a pretty fast speed!  He also is quick about transitioning from a sitting to standing position and vice versa.  He is starting to use furniture to move from one item to another but is still rather comfortable crawling.  He has five teeth and had his first hair cut a couple weeks ago (just the sides and back).  11 months also marked the first anniversary for Aunt A and Uncle Jay... it was hard to believe that on this day a year ago we were dancing at their reception and Maddox would arrive exactly one month later!  Enjoy the pictures from our 11 months together... next month will be the last onesie!

Baby K's Donuts and Diapers Shower!

I wanted to do a quick post to catch everyone up on our week.  Zander has been begging to use sidewalk chalk outside after "school" each day.  He calls it "chalk work" and we have enjoyed the warm temperatures and being outside whenever we can.  I know it will be getting cold soon and it will be harder to enjoy the outdoors. 

We celebrated Grandpa Buzz and Great Grandma Nancy's birthdays this week!  We took Grandpa out for frozen yogurt and gave him his present (which ironically included a gift card to a competitive ice cream spot).  I was able to eat dinner with Great Grandma on her birthday at her apartment. She had roses delivered from my parents earlier that day.  The Houstons gave her a gift certificate for a pedicure so I can't wait until I can take her for her birthday treat!

Then, on Saturday, we celebrated Baby K (aka Baby Cousin) at our house.  Zack took the boys to a friend's house while we had the shower at our place.  Burke went over to my parents'.  It was a donuts and diaper themed shower meaning yummy breakfast items, mimosas (or "mockmosas") for the pregnant chicks and tons of diapers for the new baby!  Our friend, Sarah, helped throw the shower.  She did an awesome job with the Baby Kennedy banner and offered a lot of special touches to the day.  She is due the day before Linds and neither are finding out the gender.... I wonder if the picture below of the three of us is predictive of what the genders will be.... Linds is wearing blue and Sarah is wearing pink!  Interesting, huh? ;)

When the boys arrived back home... in time for their naps.... Zander decided he would rather hang out with mommy so he took every book off his shelf and we were able to read quite a few!  That evening, we had the whole family over for a cookout to celebrate the Bakewell birthdays together!  After the long day, daddy said Zander could take a shower rather than a bath... he was super excited to be in mommy and daddy's bathroom!  He is becoming such a big boy!  There are not many pictures of Maddox in this post.  He has been sick this week.  I thought he was teething but haven't seen any new teeth surface yet...so who knows?!  He has had a pretty bad cough, runny nose, low grade fever and is drooling like crazy!  We tried to keep the week pretty low key for him but he will be in the next post as he turns 11 months tomorrow! I can't believe that he is that old already!

And now for a few "Zanderisms".... I am afraid I will forget all the cute things he is saying as he continues to learn parts of the English language... some of my new favorites include:

1.) "lasterday" (for yesterday)

2.) "one upon a time" (for once upon a time as he is telling a story)

3.) "earclips" (Q-tips... he asks for one every night after his bath!)

A Few Firsts!

Maddox has had a busy week along with the rest of the Houstons!  Maddox got his first hair cut at the Houston barber shop and attended his first college football game... Go Deacs!  Zander got to wear Baby Kennedy's new jersey (or as Zander calls him/her... "baby cousin"!)  We sat in a section where the boys would have room to stretch their legs and made it until about halftime when it was past their bedtime!  Although Zack looks like he is giving the hair cut in the pictures below... I am the one that took the scissors to our sweet baby's hair!..... He just got a trim around the ears and the back.... the back I cut too short but fortunately Maddox's hair grows fast so hopefully I have not made any permanent damages!  Other activities for the week included a family dinner to Zaxby's to raise money for local teacher grants that are given out, the boys had school pictures.... stay tuned for the cuteness when I actually purchase the pics! and Zander has been attending Awana while Grammy is at choir practice..... giving Maddox an opportunity to see what being an only child would be like. It is about an hour and a half....Zander loves coming home and sharing the scripture verses he is learning and I am able to spend some uninterrupted time with our youngest.... win win! 

A Quick Recap!

We have been so busy..... we are trying to cherish the little moments with our little family.  Please pray for me as I struggle to balance my full time job and these sweet boys!  My mama heart wants to be with them all day and it seems that it is into the evening before we are reunited after a long day of work.  Here are a few fun things from our week..... We went to my school's skate night as a family of four... it was team shirt night so of course I had to dress the boys in their Gator gear!  Bath time is still one of my favorite times of the day.  It is so fun to watch the kids play together.  Maddox is starting to pull up on everything so I do break into a sweat trying to get both kids bathed!  I am so thankful for daddy's help and sometimes Grammy comes over to visit her boys and helps as well!  We celebrated the author Roald Dahl on Friday at work.... I decided to dress as Veruca Salt, one of the five children that won a golden ticket to the Chocolate Factory!  We went "back home" for a baby shower for Aunt Lindsey and to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby K.  Grannie hung out with the boys while I had a kid-free couple of hours.  Zack was out of town hanging out with his friends for the weekend!  We got Baby K a Wake Forest jersey for upcoming games and some cups (which he/she won't need for a while!)  I got to catch up with my best friend, Liz, and it was so nice to have an adult conversation uninterrupted!  We are already planning a mommy getaway when we are finished nursing our little ones!  Grannie wore Zander out.. he slept most of the way home!  Finally, with daddy being out of town, I was so proud of myself... I got both boys ready for church and we were EARLY!  Usually we are running in at the last minute... so it was nice to not feel rushed.... I had to take a picture to document my "stress-free" morning...if there is such a thing! haha  Zander started Awana also so he is learning scripture verses and is loving talking about God!  It is so awesome to see how excited he gets when we read his Bible!