crawling

the day after he turned 7 months, 

he started to crawl.

why is it that my last baby has grown up the fastest?

he's been in size 9 month clothes for 3 months,

and had 6 teeth by the time he turned 6 months old.

slow down...

please?!

he's been doing his "downward dog" yoga pose for awhile,

but couldn't get his arms out of his bulldog stance.

we tried various motivational props--

you know, remotes, phones, keys...

all things awesome parents give their kids.

ha.

but what finally motivated him was pliers.

it was a proud moment for his daddy.

check out those meaty thighs-- 

apparently mama makes buttermilk!

 

i missed the "action" the first time, so we tried it again:

he was so proud of himself.

"i'm almost there!"

"...but i'm getting worn out."

i love my pudgy (not so) little man.

 

sweet potatoes

i don't ever start baby food at 4ish months.

i wait until they show interest, and then we skip the rice cereal

and dive right in with the good stuff.

maddox is 5.5 months old

and has really started grabbing at food and drinks,

so i made him some sweet potatoes.

i don't even have to tell you what he thought of them...

my first boy is two

jaxon turned two on the 10th of this month!

if you remember, we had his party a couple weeks early with judah.

we began the day with cinnamon rolls,

and when daddy got home, jax got to open his presents:

a healthy dose of spiderman for almost everyone...

...max was happy just to watch. =)

 after some yummy cupcakes, we loaded up and headed to the zoo.

perfect timing, because it was the last day our membership was good!

it was max's first trip...

and boy was he stoked!

it had been awhile since jax had been,

but the animals didn't phase him!

 only missing one...

there he is!

jax, 

i thought raising boys would be easier than raising girls.

it is, because there is far less drama. 

it isn't, because you are busy non stop. 

you have had a chipped tooth since you were probably around 1. 

you stop my heart, and i don't know how we haven't been to the hospital yet...

but you are the sweetest, most loving boy.

i love your ornery smile.

i love how you love to 'nuggle' mommy with a 'bankie'.

you're the typical younger brother, tagging along with your sisters,

but you're already a protective older brother, too, and i love you for it.

you're 110% boy, and i love, love watching you grow.

happy birthday, little man!

peek a boo!

jaxon adores maddox.

as a two year old boy, he hasn't learned exactly how to be "easy" with his brother,

whom he sweetly calls baby john.

it just doesn't come as easily to tough little boys as it does to my little mommies.

fortunately, max speaks the same love language.

maddox adores jaxon.

i wish i could have recorded this on video.

the laughing from both boys was almost more than my heart could take.

this last one makes me melt.

as many headache inducing days as we have, i love jaxon. he's an awesome big brother.

and as for max, i love his sweet little disposition...and i hope he's only about half as ornery as his big brother...

otherwise, i'm stocking up on ibprofen.

=)

rock a bye, baby

there's just something about watching your babies sleep.

3 months

the other day, i realized i had better take a few quick snap shots of maddox since he is already three months old...and he changes so fast.

as much as i love the newborn stage, i love this age even more.

i used to stare at him while he was sleeping, 

hold him when i should be catching up on housework...

because none of that mattered.

the snuggly stage has always been so fleeting--

and i have never taken it for granted.

i still watch him while he sleeps, 

and i kiss and admire every little dimple and roll daily.

but now,

he's interactive, and i love seeing his personality emerge.

he smiles when he sees me, laughs when i kiss him.

he grabs my face when i put it close to his.

he's proud of himself when he rolls over,

and works hard to try and sit up so that he doesn't miss anything.

he's already wanting to keep up with his brother and sisters.

he is the most laid back, happiest baby i've had.

i can lay him down awake and if he fusses at all,

it's only for a few minutes.

he's truly a dream, and i am so thankful.

i love you, maddox john.

meeting noah

as children, my cousin becca and i were really close. her and her brother would come over to my dad's house frequently on friday nights to play with me and my brother. we were all pretty close in age, and loved spending time together. as we grew up, we didn't see each other much, but when we did, it was just like old times. friendship transcends the family relationship sometimes, because like the old friends that we are, we can pick up where we left off.
becca had her first baby, noah, at the end of september. my dad and i went together to see them at the hospital, but i hadn't seen them again until december when she stopped by to meet maddox.

it was so stinkin' adorable, and it's fun to finally (!!!) have someone in my family that has a kid the same age as mine. it makes me even more excited for a third boy to join the crew this summer--my nephew mason! =)

our first two months

maybe having 4 babies in less than 6 years has something to do with it, but after having maddox, i felt like i had been hit by a truck. in comparison, i usually feel great--and his labor/delivery was my easiest of all! so we spent a lot of the first couple of weeks getting lots of snuggles in--

and big brother jax of course got in on it, too

after the initial two weeks, we had to get back to homeschooling. 

in our down time, maddox thought about all that had happened since he came into the world--

slept on sissy,

pretended to be an angry little old man,

worked his charm on mama, with an abundance of baby fat and huge dimples,

and, well, slept some more!

it's hard to believe he's 2 months old already. as much as i looove the snuggly newborn phase,
i am so excited to see his personality begin to emerge. he's a really, really sweet little guy.

*all pics by iph0ne, again!

first thanksgiving

maddox was so happy to celebrate his first thanksgiving!

i even got a picture of the 1 out of 3 times he's taken a pacifier!

kyle made the hat. isn't it adorable?

this has to be the latest thanksgiving post ever.

good thing you're nice enough to read it anyway.

more catching up posts are coming!

*all pics by iph0ne, another reason i've been a lazy blogger.