Josh's Early Birthday Dinner

We had the Yanceys over for dinner to celebrate Josh's birthday...early!  We wanted to get together, but between work schedules, days out of town, and life, December 5th was the day!

The menu:

Pork Wellington

Mini Potatoes Au Gratin

Salad

Cinnamon Jello

Mix one box of Cherry Jello with a cup of boiling water.  Once dissolved add 1/4 cup of hard, cinnamon candies.  Remove from heat and add 12 oz of applesauce.  Refrigerate, and that's it!

Peanut Butter Pie

The birthday boy's plate :)

Silly faces!

And a normal one :)  Graham's shirt says "Hug Magnet"--LOVE it!

Rachel and Jackson really got into the dress-up while we were finishing dinner as grown-ups!

 

Happy early birthday, Josh!  It's always good to start celebrating a couple weeks early :)

Graham Goes Free!

Our sweet, unwaddled bug :)

Graham is Six Months Old

This happy, squishy guy is SIX months old!!!  Of course, Graham will never stay little long enough, but I really feel like I'm doing well with my goal to soak up as many minutes as I can with him :)

 

Weight: 18lbs 9.5ozs (72nd %ile)

Height: 25 1/2 in (9th %ile)--we really don't think this one is very accurate
Head Circumference: 17 1/4 in (67th %ile)

Graham's check-up went really well!  The doctor was SO pleased with him :)  We can't believe this was the same baby that wasn't gaining weight quite as quickly as we would have liked...  He had to get FIVE shots, but he did AWESOME!  He had to get extra because there is a nationwide shortage of the triple vaccine, so each one has to be given individually :( 

 

Sleeping is still a bit rocky, but we are doing ok.  I think sleep training is around the corner, once this cold clears up.  Poor guy sounds so snuffly :(  I love so many things about my relationship with Graham: the way he grabs on to my hair and burrows his face in my shoulder first thing when I pick him up after he wakes up, the way I can tell by his breathing if he has really fallen asleep, the smile he gets on his face when he sees me, and how he still loves to snuggle into me any chance he gets.  He still loves holding hands, which I LOVE!  His skin is even softer than baby skin, I feel like.  Graham has the sweetest voice and loves to chat.  He loves playing in the Exersaucer and Jumperoo and he likes to sit in the Bumbo and hang out with us in the kitchen.  He still likes to play on the playmat with his toys--particularly when he has company!  Graham still is a pretty happy baby unless he is tired or hungry!  We can usually fix those things :)

 

Graham sleeps unswaddled now!  We just went cold turkey and it seems to have gone ok.  His new trick is that he can roll from his back to his tummy!  I love the look on his face when he does it--he seems so surprised with himself!  He can sit for a few seconds on his own before tipping over.  He's grabbing for more and more things including toys and food!  He really seems interested in toys, but he can't hold on to them as long as he would like.  He also has started watching our food and grabbing for it--I think cereal is right around the corner...!

I can't believe how far we have come!  In the beginning Graham seemed to eat ALL the time!  We had to be ready to run out the door as soon as he finished eating so we could get wherever we were going before he got hungry again.  He also seemed so unhappy in his carseat!  Now, he can go almost the whole preschool time without eating.  He also is happy hanging out in his carseat almost that whole time if we are out running errands.  He was a rockstar on our recent trip to Charlottesville--I had fed him before laying him down for a nap, but then we left about an hour later.  So he HADN'T eaten right away and he had just FINISHED a nap.  But, we got all the way there without him fussing to eat and he took another nap!  YAY!

Here's to a fabulous second half to Graham's first year!

Family Movie Night

Our original plan was to head to Zoo Lights, BUT, they don't light everything up during the week until closer to Christmas :(  I was really bummed, so we changed gears to do something else fun instead.  The weather was GLORIOUS, so we walked to Redbox and rented "Santa Paws 2" before playing outside with friends.  Then we headed to McDonald's for a quick dinner before coming home for family movie night...and snacks :)

Thoughtful Big Brother

Right after Hallie's shower, we headed to Owen's 2nd birthday party!!!  It was a FABULOUS Muppets party--Jolene truly outdid herself yet again!  All of the details were adorable and appreciated :)  Graham got a special goody bag since he was too little for the prizes she picked out for the bigger kids.  He took to Kermit right away!  I laid Graham down pretty much when we got home, but forgot Kermit.  Jackson ran him up to me (his own idea) and said he wanted to make sure Graham had Kermit to snuggle with.  SO SWEET!!!  I know the sibling love would have been sweet no matter the genders of our children, but I could not be happier with my two sweet boys :)

Happy Baby Girl, Hallie!

Rachel, Aimee and I threw a baby shower for Hallie, who is expecting Baby Girl #3!!!  Hallie wanted to include not only Izzy and Mary, but also the other kids in the neighborhood!  We thought hard about how to make this a nice shower for Hallie, but also hold the attention of all TEN kids that were there!  (Yup, Jackson was the only boy!)

First let me address the cake above: Aimee found a picture of a cake like this, and we all decided to re-create it.  We are pretty pleased with our efforts!  Rachel baked her super delicious chocolate chip pound cake for the base.  She made one 9x13 pan, one Pampered Chef batter bowl full of cake and two small custard cups full of cake.  Aimee was a rockstar at piecing it all together, and then I attempted to help her decorate with fondant.  SO cute!

The first activity was Photobooth.  Aimee brought all sorts of cute cardboard props: pacifiers, sippy cup, bottles, bibs, etc.  Everyone took a turn dressing up like a baby!

Hallie and her sweet mom who flew in for a quick weekend trip to be here :)

Check out this great group picture!

And, of course, one with silly faces!  I think it's hilarious that Graham fits right in!

The second game we played was for the kids to have a drinking contest out of baby bottles!  We poured apple juice in and let them at it!  It was really funny watching how long it took some of them...some of that was due to the flow of the nipple.  We realized we probably hadn't regulated that...

Then we played the diaper game.  As in, guess what candy bar is melted in this diaper!  LOL  That was quite entertaining!

The last game we played was Baby Concentration.  Aimee has this awesome board made up!  For each match (each match was something baby related), there was a candy bar corresponding.  Like, Triplets earned you a Three Musketeers bar!  CUTE!

And, finally, presents!  Hallie got some really cute stuff for this new baby girl.  We had such fun celebrating Hallie and cannot wait to meet this little munchkin!!!

Jackson's First Field Trip!

 Last Wednesday Jackson's preschool took their first field trip!!!  The field trip was to our local high school, Forest Park, for the Tiny Tots concert.  Aimee was nice enough to keep Graham so I could chaperone for Jackson's class :)  First order of business: a ride on a big school bus!!!  Jackson was really excited!  His friend, Torin, was our buddy for the morning.

 Settled in our seats, and waiting for the show to start!

 The kids in band did a WONDERFUL job!  There was a mix of holiday music and movie theme songs.  The first song they played was the theme to "The Incredibles," so that was a strong start for Jackson :)  After a few songs, the band director introduced each instrument separately, and the students playing that instrument played a  part of a holiday song.  A projection on the wall showed accompanying characters and instruments.  It was really well done!

 After the show, the band members walked through the audience and let the kids see their instruments.  Jackson LOVED this part (they all did, who am I kidding?).  He really loved the woodblock :)

 The tuba was not far behind!  Jackson listed four instruments he wanted to play when he gets bigger: the wood block, the trumpet, the flute, and the violin.  Four instruments because he's four :)

The days surrounding the concert were part of the music theme at school.  They kids made their own cymbals!  BRILLIANT!

Bonus picture of silly brothers!