Monthly Mumbles, December Edition

10. I need to get back my blogging mojo. For realsies. One post in each of the last two months just isn’t cool. Though we have been enjoying ourselves around here. Mike’s work schedule is changing yet again, though, so I’m going to have to make time.

9. My darling Justin turned one last week. What the what?! Easily the fastest year of my life. We had a whole weekend of celebrating his huge milestone, complete with a both a Christmas party at the Shamrock Club where the boys got to meet Santa, and my little man’s own candy-cane themed birthday party yesterday. Yup. Mommy’s tired. 

8. The weekend wasn’t all good, though; my Buckeyes lost their first game (in two years!) Saturday night to M*ch*gan Lite (MSU). Truth be told, it’s okay. Until we can get a solid defense, I’d rather not lose another National Championship. So it’s the Orange Bowl for us, which makes me very happy since it’s on a Friday night! GO BUCKS!!!

7. Aiden is just rockin’ and rollin’ his way through kindergarten. He’s already reading books!!! I know I sure wasn’t that quickly. It’s awesome to watch him learn tricks to sound out words he’s unfamiliar with. The kid, like his brothers, is just growing up way too darned fast.

6. I CANNOT listen to enough Christmas music this year. Seriously. I have worn out the Mannheim Steamroller channel on Pandora because I’ve been listening at work since November 1^st. And I play it every time I’m in the car. Gotta get my fix, ‘cause before you know it, the holidays will be over, and we’ll have spring to look forward to…

5. Got my third Erin Condren Life Planner last month. Oh, how I love these glorious books. They’re just so pretty and organized and GAH I LOVE THEM. I was even able to customize my cover to reflect my love for scarlet & gray. :)

4. Very excited about a new fundraising initiative I’m going to help facilitate at work in February. A co-worker made me aware of The Pajama Program, whose mission is to get books and pajamas in the hands of needy children. What a great cause! Click on the link if you’re interested in finding out more.

3. Turning three hasn’t really done anything to alleviate our roller coaster ride with Nolan’s behavior. I was especially hopeful when he had a stretch of a few good weeks around his birthday…and then things went right back to difficult. We tried every tactic we can think of with him, but nothing works more than twice. And what sucks is that he’s a bona fide sweetheart when he wants to be. But he just rarely wants to be. *SIGH*

2. I know you’re all on pins & needles to find out my opinion on the newest NCIS character, Agent Ellie Bishop. Truth is, I don’t hate her. I wanted to, which I found odd. I didn’t realize I would miss Ziva this much. But Ellie might be just quirky enough to keep me interested.

1. I’ve made a calculated effort to make our holidays as stress-free as possible this year, especially since we’ve now got a December birthday boy in the house. And so far it’s worked out great. Shopping is done, gifts are wrapped, and cards have been sent. I’ll have a few days off with the kids before the big day, so I’ll let them help me with the baking. But I don’t think we’re going to be victims of any last minute forgetfulness, and that is really helping my anxiety. We’ve even gone to see the light show at the zoo (for the first time) already, and have plans to do it again!!! Making memories, good times. :)

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, JUSTIN!!!

The day of your birth was not without drama.

But we made it though. Truth be told, I'd endure it all over again a thousand times to get your sweet self as reward.

Happy First Birthday to my third scrunchy-faced munchkin, and here's to many, many more. :)

Eleven Months Old

My littlest man is 11 months old today.

(And as you can see, it's hard to keep in one place--upside-down teddy, anyone?)

It's insane for me to think that in just one stinkin' month, we'll be celebrating his first birthday. That means he'll be getting one year photos, and a party (which as of press time is in decent shape), and all the good things that come with this milestone.

(...and now my uterus is screaming at me because we have no plans to do this a fourth time...)

At eleven (ELEVEN!) months, Justin:

--has GOT to be around 25 lbs. He's HUGE, at least by our standards.
--is in 18-month clothes most days, but I still manage to squeeze him into a few 12-monthers.
--eats anything put in front of him, no questions asked. We're getting into a lot more textures as opposed to purees lately; he went to town on one of my pancakes at IHOP over the weekend.

--isn't walking yet, but I'm not pushing it! He did take a few steps behind the walker (GASP), but hasn't seemed very interested in repeating that feat. All in his time.
--popped out three more teeth in the last two weeks, and so currently sits with a total of eight, but he has at least two more on the verge of emerging.
--has a favorite "word"; he continually asks "Dis?" all day long. It's pretty cute. And I'd be lying if I didn't think he'd correctly said "Daddy" a few times :)

--seems to be a bit of a climber, as I keep finding him on the fireplace hearth (SIDENOTE: I really wish this house had better sight lines from the kitchen...). That scares me for him down the road.
--is going to need to move up to Size 5 diapers soon, which is something no son of mine has ever done before.
--is just the sweetest little munchkin. He's only angry irritated when he doesn't get fed fast enough or when Nolan steps on him. We are trying our best to soak up all his baby loveliness before time runs out.

See how he compares to Aiden and Nolan at eleven months.

Ten Months Old

Double-digit months.

There are only two stickers left.

I don't even...

Justin's had a great month, just a-growin' and a changin'. Mixed with my L-O-V-E of fall, it's just been a hunky-dory mess of happiness around here lately.

At ten months, Justin:

--is by my estimate around 22 lbs (no official weight stats until is 12-month well visit). Dude hurts my back.
--is easily in 12-month clothes, and possibly ready to move up to 18-monthers. Which is cool, because we are STOCKED in that size (one reason having three boys is awesome).
--can now pick up puffs!!! It's not very pretty, but he gets the job done. So I'm a touch excited to start giving him something other than pureed foods.

--has mastered crawling, standing, and cruising. Part of me thinks I'll be documenting his first steps by his next monthly update. E-gads.
--is still rockin' just the five teeth, but more are on the way.
--thinks his brothers are about the coolest things ever. He actually tries to wrestle (wrestle!!!) with them. It's ridiculously cute until Nolan forgets he's a baby.
--has discovered a love of reading. And ripping out the pages of non-board books.

--loves to do "Soooooooo Big!" by raising his arms high above his head. We're still working on "O-H-I-O."
--has somehow managed to make his older brothers get along better with his presence. They both adore him and somehow that has increased the harmony between the two of them. Smiles all around. :)

Check out how he compares to Aiden and Nolan at ten months.

Week in Instagram

Well, haven't done one of these posts or ANY posts in awhile. But it's FALL, and apparently we tried to jam ALL THE THINGS into the first week. Good times prevailed. :)

Sunday 9/22/13: We went to the pumpkin patch on the FIRST day of Fall. We totally win at Fall.

Tuesday 9/24/13: Time for your checkup! Time for your checkup! 

Aiden did great--and we found out he's got two loose teeth already.

Thursday 9/26/13: FALL IS AWESOME (noticing a theme yet?)!!!

Friday 9/27/13: Ladies & Gents, we've got a cruiser :)

Saturday 9/28/13: Apple-picking with the family! SUCH a good time. 

Sidenote, if you need apples, we still have about 496 left.

 

Saturday 9/28/13: Classic Buckeye ice cream at the Velvet Ice Cream Old Mill.

Huge, and delicious.

Saturday 9/28/13: THIS!!! YOU NEED TO BUY THIS!!!

Sunday 9/29/13: Early morning trip to the park before the rain. 

Such a great weekend with my boys.