Jonas Henry's First Birthday!

My baby is ONE!!!  What a blur this past year has been.  I'm glad I'm writing things down!  I'm sure the girls were just as sweet at this age, but I can't fully remember.  JH is the sweetest baby!  He loves to snuggle and give sweet hugs and kisses.  He's particularly fond of his momma, but he'll give hugs and kisses to his daddy and sisters too.  He gives nuzzle hugs, and I just can't get enough.  Maybe because he's our last baby I'm a little more sentimental, and I'm trying to savor each bit of this baby phase instead of just getting through it.  I haven't minded getting up in the night to nurse or soothe a sick baby, or just to rock him for a bit until he's happy again.  It's been very funny to see his personality develop.  He loves to be silly, but can really throw a fit if he doesn't get his way.  Mostly with toys that his sisters take away, or if I take something away that he's not supposed to play with.  Otherwise he's my smiley boy.
We had his well check on the same day as Lilah's.  He got a number of shots, poor baby.  He's grown to 30.6 inches (80%) and weighs 22lbs 9oz (70%).  So big!  He's got a whopping four teeth - two up top and two beneath.  He's cruising very well but is not interested in walking or standing on his own.  I've caught him a few times letting go on accident, and he immediately sits and looks shocked.  He'll walk behind a push toy pretty well.  He says a few words.  Momma and Dada of course, along with kitty cat, nurse (nuh), more (ma), and cracker.  No move on his sisters' names yet.  It impresses me how much he understands.  When I'm dressing him and he has a toy in his hand, I tell him to "switch hands" so I can get his other arm in the hole, and he does it.  Pretty cool.
 And now for a lot of pictures...

Preface: After seeing several adorable cake smash pictures, I thought it would be cute to get a few of our own.  Jonas Henry had his own cake, and we put him on the kitchen table so he could have free reign.  It didn't go anything as I expected.  And he only ate the two bits of icing that I put in his mouth.  He couldn't have been less interested.  Silly boy!

 Mom, what am I doing on the table?

This picture sums up JH pretty well.  Love his expression!

 Is that not a Jonas face, or what?  Raised eyebrow and everything, he's his father's boy. 

 Yep, that's about right.  Whenever he would get icing on his hands, he would just wipe it off on his legs.  Not interested in eating anything. 

Helping Momma with dishes.  He thought the TV remote could use a washing.  

Hiking with my birthday boy

Snuggling with his new blanket

Cheesing at the pumpkin patch.  I love how goofy his teeth look.  Daddy (Papa) says he reminds him of Quasimodo.  Silly Papa.  Maybe next time I'll remember some shoes?

Happy birthday, Jonas Henry! We love you so much!!!!

Lilah is Five!!!!

 I know I say this every birthday with every child, but I really can't believe Lilah is five.  She is always surprising me.  While she does have her crazy/unreasonable moments, it seems that they are fewer and farther between.  I can see glimpses of the grown up she'll be, and it really makes my heart swell.  Lilah has the most tender heart.  She tries so hard to do things that please others.  She is unbelievably helpful around the house and does nearly anything I ask without question.  She is the craftiest and most artistic one in the family, and has quite a talent.  She would color or paint all day every day if she could.  Lilah is a very loving and caring sister and spends most of her free time playing with (bossing) Emma and Jonas Henry.
Lilah had her five year check last week and did great.  It helps not having to get any shots this go-round.  She got them all last year and only did the flu mist this time.  Lilah is 43 inches tall (62%) and 41 pounds (62%).  Matching percentiles!

Lilah got a new bike for her birthday!  It's her first two-wheel and she's in love. It's crazy to see her on such a big bicycle!

I just love this girl.  She makes me so proud everyday.  Happy birthday, Lilah Mae!!!

Silly Lilah

The girls were running around the other night each with a scarf that I had made them with some leftover fabric.  It was late in the evening and I was tired of all the crazy running, so when Lilah tripped Emma with the scarf, I took them away and told them to calm down a bit.  After a few minutes of more running, I fussed at them again, "Girls!"  Lilah responded, "Mom, you notice you can't take our legs away!"

Silly Emma

The coyote incident was the day before the triple birthday party on Saturday.  It happened early Friday, so we talked a lot about coyotes and what they like to eat all day.  Lilah was the one asking all the questions, we could tell she was a little worried the coyotes were going to come back.  Well, Saturday night rolls around and we have a great time at the birthday party.  As we were sending our guests off, Emma was saying goodbye at the door.  To each family, she said, "Remember, be careful because the coyotes will eat you.  Remember, three chickens are dead."  She cracks me up.

Family Hiking

We went hiking on JH's birthday in Stimpson Nature Preserve.  It's a 3 mile loop, which I though might not be the greatest idea given the three-year-old walker we were taking with us.  Turns out I was right and she was ready to be carried about 3/4 of a mile in.  Bummer for Jonas.  I already had the baby in the carrier, but we switched it up about halfway though and let Emma ride in the carrier and Jonas carried JH.  Then when Emma grew tired of that, she moved to Jonas' shoulders.  Overall, it was a gorgeous walk and we finished  in only an hour and 45 minutes. 

Triple Birthday Party

Since the kids' birthdays are so close together, we had one birthday party for all three kids.  Lilah ruled the planning since Emma's birthday had already passed, Jonas Henry didn't care, and the party was on Lilah's birthday.  She chose a rainbow theme, and I had a blast putting it together.  I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  Side note, I took lots of pictures of the spread and goodies, but no pictures of the birthday kids at their actual party.  A little sad, eh?  I was a little distracted.     

The cake pre-outside icing.  I love the rainbow colors!!

We made sugar cookies on a stick for the kids to take home after the party.  I even made the colored sugar myself!

Nana and Papa Visit!

My parents came out from October 5-15.  It was (as usual) so very nice to have them here.  The kids loved the extra attention and the fun activities we planned.  Nana and Papa went with us apple picking and to the pumpkin patch.  We took a few walks and had a few park days.  The weather was amazing for October and we took advantage of it.

 The lake we walked around.  I took the picture for mom because when I told her at first we were going to take a walk around the lake, she was a little surprised.  All the way around that?  It looks worse than it is (it's a 2.6 mile loop).

Emma listening to Papa tell a story about a little girl who screamed all the time.  She make the funniest expressions during his stories.

Everyone is so happy in this pictures, except for a pouting Lilah.  Makes me laugh every time I see it.

Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch

How about a 'just pictures' post?

Bye Bye Birdie(s)

We had a little excitement last Friday.  As I was upstairs in the bathroom Friday morning about 8am, I heard the chickens making a fuss outside.  I should have gone straight down to see what was going on, but it was probably another five minutes before I came downstairs.  As I stepped off of the bottom step, I looked out the front windows and saw a large coyote standing in the front yard.  I threw open the front door and chased him away, but not before the damage was done.  It took us most of the day to find all the hens, but we lost three for sure, maybe four (she is still to be found).  The remaining four hens are pretty traumatized, and mostly won't leave the hen house.  They have been incredibly quiet the past week.  Poor girls.  We are sad to see them as coyote breakfast, we really loved those chickens.

Emma's Three!

Emma's birthday fell on a Sunday this year, so we were able to have a nice family birthday-day together. WE went to church, went out for a special birthday lunch, and came home and opened presents. She was super excited about her birthday this year.  I think this was the first year that she started to understand what was going on, and it was really very cute.  

She can be pretty darn stubborn, but gives in fairly easily.  She loves doing everything by herself.  Emma is more of a dare-devil than Lilah, and no where near the rule follower Lilah is.  I often find her standing on the arm of the sofa and jumping into the middle.  She'll sit back down while I'm reminding her to stay on her bottom, but then she's right back up again.  She learned to peddle her trike in the past few months, which she is very proud of.  She still shouts, "See!  I'm peddling!" every time she rides her trike.  She says funny things all the time and I need to write more of them down.  Every night at bedtime she asks what we are going to do the next day.  If you ask what she'd like to do, she almost says she'd like to go for a hike.  Emma is such a sweet big sister to Jonas Henry.  She loves to give him hugs and kisses, and he equally adores her.  She calls him "honey" most of the time, and it's so cute.  If he's fussy she says, "No fuss, I'm right here, honey!"  So sweet!!

As for her well-check stats, she's pretty tiny as my kids go.  She weighed in at 29.5 pounds (40%) and was 36 1/2 inches tall (30%).  She didn't get any shots, and was a pro at sniffing the flu mist vaccine.  She didn't cry once for the doctor (an Emma first)!  We also saw the dentist a few days ago and she cooperated and didn't cry there either.  Maybe three has made her a big girl!  I couldn't have been more proud. 

Waiting on her birthday cake