Silence is deadly....

Especially when it comes to this child....because LOUD should be his middle name. While I was making lunch today I noticed that it was awfully quiet....and this is why...two minutes later Doug found Mikey in a quiet little corner with Auntie Missa's mascara!

If we are lucky we can also find him chewing on missing crayons and handfuls of dirt. He has one healthy diet!

Snow Angel?

I just peeked out back to check on the boys and they were joyfully making "snow angels" in the dirt! Oh lovely! And then I thought....there is definitely nothing angelic about making snow angels in the dirt!

Mikey Update

I thought that I better do a "One Year" post for Mikey before he is 2. I know it has only been a month since his birthday but things seem to only be getting busier and busier and that doesn't stop these boys from growing!!
Mikey has been such a roller coaster of a child. As a newborn he was the BEST BABY you could ever imagine! He rarely cried, he slept well, and he dealt with his brothers being all over him constantly! But then something happened.....movement!!!!

He started crawling at 7 months and it was all over. This brought out a whole new side of this little guy. He became one feisty fella! He would yell if he couldn't get something. He started throwing tantrums...like literally throwing himself on the ground and hitting his head all the time! I mean, I could only save him so much! He got so good at it that he knew how to throw himself back but hold his head up from hitting so hard and then slowly lay it down in the middle of his full blown tantrum!! I couldn't believe where all this personality was coming from! He would only fall asleep in his bed.....NEVER anywhere else, which was great but also hard in certain situations(like church) and especially not on anyone, he would not sit on your lap for longer than one second....he was just the most free spirited, firey little busy body! Let's just say he became quite the handful! He started to walk at 10 months and it has been go time ever since!!
Since he has been walking he has discovered that climbing is soooo much more fun! If this stool is out he is right on top of it. He likes to try and climb up the stove, the desk, and onto the bathroom counters. Crazy kid!

He has since calmed down quite a bit and will finally sit in his high chair to eat instead of me having to follow him around and shove food in his mouth or just hold him and feed him. He LOVES to read books and sit on my lap and have me rub his belly. He LOVES it! He LOVES to give hugs and the best open mouth kisses! He has turned into quite the snuggle bug!

He LOVES his big brothers and follows their every move. He laughs at them constantly and he loves to bug them and get their attention by hitting them on the head over and over and over. He LOVES to be outside at all times! He LOVES any ball! He LOVES his daddy and says dadadadaddada all day long! Other words he says are ball, "NO", mama, baba, ruff ruff, ball and meow. He will eat or at least try mostly anything. He loves grapes, bananas, his oatmeal in the morning after his bottle, pizza, spaghetti, popcorn, macaroni and cheese, gogurts, and nutri-grain bars and of course anything he can dip in ketchup. Probably his two favorite snacks are the following...and I don't blame him....they are delish!
He has 7 teeth, 4 on top and 3 on bottom. He weighs 22 pounds. He takes two naps a day...one at 9 and one at 2. He still has two bottles of D milk a day...one in the morning first thing and one at night before bed. We will probably get rid of these fairly soon. I can't believe I haven't already. With the other two the bottles were gone right at one but he just loves them so much and I guess I have gotten a little more lax. He goes to bed at 7 on the dot and wakes up around 7 without waking up (unless he is teething or sick...then it is a different story). If he didn't have his afternoon nap he is ready for bed by 6:30 and has no problem going that early. We really do love our Mikey boy and love that addicting smile of his and those HUGE innocent looking eyes he has. Happy Birthday Mikey!

Look Who's Playing Soccer!

I signed Tanner up for soccer this winter with Price. He was so excited for his first practice and to get "real soccer shoes". His team picked out the name Lightning Zebras after receiving jerseys that are black and white striped. Even after the first practice he was still excited and seemed to enjoy it even though he thought it was unfair when the other team got the ball while they were having a little scrimmage. He didn't totally understand how the whole game worked...but he did really well listening to Coach Lori. But then Doug and I went out of town and Tanner went to stay with Price and they had their first game while we were away. I guess their first game was against a fairly more experienced team...which is not what we are at all. Our team is a team of brand new 4-5 year old soccer players. Apparently Tanner came out of the first quarter and said "I give up. This is too hard!" And I am sure it was frustrating to the little guys, but todays game went soooo much better! They were all smiles and the team they played against was a little more on their level...which is the learning level! Whenever Tanner would touch the ball he would throw his hands up in the air like "I did it!" It seemed like he had a better experience with this game than the last one. Price and him also had quite the crowd cheering them on! I am pretty sure that I am going to be one of those crazy moms in the stands....and Melis is going to be the crazy Aunt. I mean the kid is only 4, but I get all this anxiety watching and I am just yelling the entire game! It is pretty funny! Doug just looks at me like I am crazy...but he usually does. (with a little smirk on his face which tells me he loves my craziness deep down!) Tonight Tanner asked what sport he gets to play after soccer. I said, "Well, I don't know. We can try out a bunch of different sports to see what you like!" And he said, "No, I want to do it in a pattern....like soccer, baseball, then basketball...soccer, baseball, then basketball!" And there you have it....I guess we will go with his pattern and see what happens after that!

Here is the team (minus 1) getting ready for the game. The girls are all older and taller than the boys and all have older siblings that play soccer....so they have a bit of an advantage against the boys. I am glad gender rivalry is not an issue quite yet!:)

Tanner's shorts are way to big even if I tighten them as much as possible! They just kept falling down!

Go #3!!!!

Nothing like having your Papa there to cheer you on!:)

Preferred Sippy Cup

Yes...that's right, when Jake gets the chance he would rather drink his water from a spray bottle. And if that isn't enough, some days his preferred drink would be sprays of butter from the low calorie butter spray that his Dad and Uncle are addicted too. If he can sneak it away, he definitely gets his fair share right in his mouth!