Last Baby Month!

Well, it's here. Nathan is 11 months old today. 1 more month until the big birthday and I will no longer have a baby. Although, 1 year olds are still pretty babyish so I won't stop calling him "the baby" just yet. :)

At 11 months old, Nathan is b-u-s-y. Just today I went to the kitchen to grab my lunch (1st mistake), came back to the living room and he was standing on a chair, hitting the TV. I managed to not scream in fright to not startle him and grabbed him. Now my throw pillows are stacked on that chair so he doesn't climb up. We took him off baby food so he eats most of what we do (minus the things babies should not eat yet). He does well except that he keeps shoving food in until he almost chokes so we have to watch that.

He crawls, stands and thinks about walking but hasn't done it yet. We have a gate on the stairs, the portable dishwasher blocking the kitchen (even if I could keep the floor clean--and I can't--there's a door to the basement that makes me nervous), the bathroom door remains shut and until we can get Lily's vent attached to her wall, her door must stay shut, as well. Whew! Lots of Nathan-proofing around here! :) But it's a fun age and he's a sweet boy!

Visitors

My Dad brought my brother and his family over to see us tonight. They had never met Nathan so that was fun! Unfortunately, Samuel was not able to stay awake. He had been up in the night throwing up so he needed the early bedtime!

My brother Derek and his wife Melissa with Nathan.

Hunter and Lily with Derek and Melissa's granddaughter, Elizabeth. The kids had a lot of fun playing together for that brief time!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Whew! Our 2 days of Thanksgiving are over and I feel like we've really accomplished something! We do the same thing every year--we celebrate with Brian's family on Thursday and my family on Friday. Both days went really well--the kids played well, the adults played games and everyone ate their fill of good food. I am now excited that the Christmas season is officially here because I love this whole time--so exciting!!

Nathan showing off that 1st Thanksgiving outfit! I was so excited to find one in 18 month size!

All the kids looking so cute!

At the Kreger's house...Nathan is helping Syndey out.

In the playroom at the Kregers...all the other kids lined up (Lily, Carley, Hunter and Samuel)...I found out later they should NOT be on these shelves. :)

Nathan showing his excitement to Kathryn...I am not sure she felt it.

A rare moment of Kathryn bonding with Brian. Plus, you can see part of Brian's fancy turkey shirt that he wears every Thanksgiving (to both sides of the family!)

Moms of multiples are freaks of nature

The Coughing

The other morning, I figured it was time to get Hunter and Nathan to the doctor for their coughs. The doctor listened to Hunter and said that he was wheezing quite a bit so they made us stay there for a breathing treatment. The bummer was that Nathan was way past naptime and he can't just get down and crawl. It was a long wait with him! But Hunter did really well (he doesn't love seeing the doctor). Thankfully, he sounded better after the treatment so we got to leave with 3 prescriptions for him. I just feel bad that I waited!! Hunter's already tired of the nebulizer but seems to like the inhaler (he uses it at school only). Hopefully, he'll be back to normal soon!

Hunter & Lily turn 7!

Hunter and Lily turned 7 years old on November 13. It was a full--very full--weekend of celebrations. On Friday, we let them pick supper (McDonald's) and then gave them our present. On Saturday, they had their school party. We decided to do separate parties this year just to cut down on the # of kids in our house at one time!

Lily had 8 girls over in the morning for a "girl party" and Hunter had 5 boys over for a "boy party". Both parties were a lot of fun but here's what I noticed: the boys were louder and more rambunctious but they played together so incredibly well. There is definitely an "alpha female" issue (as one girl-mom called it) in the 1st grade class. :) Both parties went really well and we were exhausted but it wasn't over yet!

Saturday night, we had supper and presents w/my parents and my niece, Kathryn (who I do not think was there to celebrate but she had a good time). On Sunday, Brian's parents came over in the afternoon for presents and to see the current chaos of our lives. After all those gifts and parties, the parents were tired, the house was a mess and the kids were h-y-p-e-r! :)

But, now that it's all over, I think that was an awesome weekend for my beloved twins. I love birthdays and I think they do, too, now! And, Brian and I got to talk a lot about that day 7 years ago...oh, the trauma of the delivery--we still feel it when we discuss it. We had not a clue! We don't go into detail about their delivery with the twins but they love hearing stuff about when they were babies. I feel bittersweet each year...it goes so fast and they are my oldest ones so I feel like they get the more uptight parent in me. :) I guess that's just the way it is for the oldest kids!

I did write them letters last night that I will save in a box--it's a new tradition I read about and want to start and continue as long as possible. It will be fun for them to read when they are grown up!

The girl party

Typical Hunter!

The boy party

Supper @ my parents

Kathryn double checking the gift bags!

Excited for another day of celebration!

Brian's parents helping to open and figure out the new gifts!

Samuel (in Lily's room, obviously--ha!) got a present from Brian's parents so he was happy about that. And it was Play-Doh--his favorite thing!

Not the best picture to see what Nathan looks like but I think this is so funny. He is obviously tickled to have his picture taken! :)

10 Months {late}

I'm late with Nathan's 10 month post. I do post each month, don't I? Anyway, he turned 10 months without me even realizing it. Isn't that sad? Life is so busy right now.

Okay, 10 months...I just moved him to an "older baby" formula because it's cheaper. He seems to like that all right. He does NOT care for meat baby food but likes actual meat okay. He eats anything that we eat, if we will let him. :)

Nathan loves to clap, stand, climb, cruise around objects and bite. Yes, bite. He is definitely a biter--no idea where he got that (I was a biter). He is very nosy and wants to be busy, busy, busy. He's a lot of fun!! He knows when we don't want him in something and hurries to accomplish his destruction when he sees we are on our way. He is just a lot of fun and the cutest little thing ever!!!