My big boy!

So tonight I crossed off one of the milestones I wanted to reach this summer. We were going to convert his crib into a toddler bed with a side railing so I went out and bought him cool new car/train/rocket sheets.... not to outdo me Nate brings home a free fire truck bed! He got it from a co-worker and we couldn't pass it up. I'm not sure a kid ever loved a crib more than my son but all day he was excited to sleep in a big boy bed and he sure was. I'm guessing its more of a love for beds in general which again, the sleep thing comes rather naturally to our family:) I'm happy to say there were NO tears on his part but there were on mine. I got really sad when I got him up from his nap this afternoon too. He hung out in there for a long time after Ali and I came in. I even let him eat his fishies and drink his juice in there. He's never anxious to get up for a while after he wakes and I knew it would be the last time I'd see him "behind bars".

When Nate brought this home he was SOOO excited. It only made it to the porch and he was already "working" on it. The new favorite toy in our house!

He just couldn't wait to get a bath and while he sat with me to read and pray he literally jumped out of my lap to get in there. He laid right down and as I closely watch the video monitor, he is finally asleep. I'm so proud he did so well. Just hoping he loves it enough not to get out until I go in to get him in the morning:)

This was Aliyah's first trip in the big sand box. She loves it. This was the greatest thing daddy ever built, hours of fun. If it ever stops raining (9 days in a row) they can get back out in there!

Ellie photo shoot

I only did most of them small for the blog book. I couldn't narrow it down with so many good pics! What an awesome job as usual, Aunt Ellie is very talented!

Spring Visits

We finally got in some family visit times! First Aunt Julie came out with Kurt and Ridge. Phillies fans! Ridge brought out some of his old books and wanted to read one of them to Max, it was so cute.

Stuck in there was a Harrisburg Senators baseball game. The kids loved it. We made it about an hour till they ran out of french fries Nate told Max he would get and Aliyah had some issues keeping her hands to herself:)

Then Aunt Ellie, Uncle Josh, Emma and Luke (aka Yoot) came to visit!

Grandma's birthday cake. Max loves to sing!

Mothers Day at the Whitaker Center, the kids had a blast.

They had an awesome water table with a little seat for babies to sit in. Of course my water babies loved it and the big kids were happy to get to play in the 5 and under room with their little cousins!

11 months

This is what most of the pictures are, she likes to give George lovin! Really glad we only have one more of these to do.

I can't believe its almost a year! I still think of her as my new baby but she's becoming such a big girl now. She's doing great. She is mostly over the mommy phase and I don't have to hold her ALL the time anymore!
She is sleeping better than ever. She goes down between 8-8:20pm and sleeps till almost 7am most days. She nurses then and plays in her crib while I get my shower. She eats all her meals at normal times with us now so that makes it easier for timing. She takes a bottle around 9:30am and then takes her morning nap (anywhere from 45 mins to 2 hours). Then she gets another bottle before her afternoon nap at 2pm. She sleeps anywhere from 1-2 1/2 hours (somewhat depends on how long the am nap is). We did drop the late afternoon bottle and now we just have a snack and some juice and then have dinner between 5:30-6pm like the rest of us. She nurses again before bed. She's much more flexible with her sleeping and eating. Max needed to be right on or he got miserable. She is getting good at having some crib time, she wakes up much easier than Max (and mom and dad) but is still content to be in there a little while before calling for mama. (Max needs a good 15 mins in his crib before anyone goes in to get him up after he wakes up, thank goodness for video monitors!)
She has all kinds of tricks. She is much louder than Max ever was. She whines a lot through her meals which is really annoying. She prefers to just eat foods she can pick up herself but obviously at 11 months and 2 teeth this is rather limited (and she doesn't like soft foods like fruit pieces unless they're in her mesh bag) so we force the baby food in and then she gets her sticks, teething biscuits and puffs and mesh bag with fruit in it.
She is also on the move! She can climb the steps so we have to watch that. She creeps along the furniture and even occasionally stands on her own. She still doesn't say anything other than mama and dada but she sometimes likes to repeat animal noises (especially pig). She loves to clap and can give a low five.
She is still all smiles and just loves attention!

Max is doing great. Except for not being able to leave his sister alone I really can't complain too much about the 2's. We get the normal argue at first with everything and an often melt down around bed time (not cause he doesn't want to bed, just upset about something) but with discipline, grace, diversion and a lot of patience we work through it. I know I'm hesitant to let him grow up but he's doing a great job at it! He recently moved out of the high chair and into his "big boy chair" which is just a booster up to the table. I know he was old for the high chair but its just SO much easier. The other 3 big things we need to focus on this summer are moving out of the crib, potty training and getting rid of the paci (which is ONLY for sleeping but still...). It makes me sad to think about but excited to see the little boy he's turning in to. He's getting very good with manors which is very rewarding for parents. He loves to play with his friends (really just more with their toys at this point!) and is just a really happy chill kid. His vocabulary just expands every day and he says stuff that I have no idea where it came from (luckily all ok so far!).
Him and Aliyah can still be so cute together but it seems to be a constant struggle for him to understand that just because she's mobile now, she is still a baby and we can't push her around. But they both amuse each other to no end!

We're so just feel so blessed for our family God has given us and like to cherish every moment of it!