Boston's Par-tay, He is ONE!!!

10.5.12 Friday seemed like the most logical day to do a combined family party for Braden and Boss.  Since it was conference weekend I knew Saturday was going to be busy.  Boston's balloons were picked out by Brenner, so he got Mickey Mouse balloons.  We went to dinner and were back in time to have everyone over.  

 The Birthday Boys!

 I just had to laugh looking back at all the pictures from the night.  Boston was so busy checking everything out I hardly got a single picture of his cute face looking at the camera. I did however, get about 30 pictures of his drool.  TEETHING is *awesome*

 Had to get him to sit with the gifts.

  Our bookend boys, the oldest and youngest. 

 The party was a little insane.  Anytime we have all our families and over it is cra-zy.  Add in our friends the Robisons and it is bound to be a good (loud) time. We had two different desserts; chocolate dessert for Braden and cake for Boston.

 Our Avengers and baby Mickey themed supplies.  They totally go together, no?

 Braden got this crazy bungy chair from his Noni and Pops, he loves it.

 Boston opening his gifts with Daddy's help. He stuck with it pretty good.

We got Boston a Little Einstein activity table, some sorting and stacking cups and some Wheelies.  Braden got the Percy Jackson book series from my parents. We have been reading them together for his school so he was really excited (me too). He also got the Avengers DVD. Boston got a lot of bath toys, which Brenner has really enjoyed (Boss HATES the bath). I really wish my memory was better, it has only been a month and I can't remember everything they got!

 Both boys got to blow out their candles at the same time.  PS, check out Brenner's feet photo bomb in Braden's picture- courtesy his cousin Nolan.  And notice the huge drool spot Boss had going on at this point.

 I really love this sometimes red headed, curly haired boy of mine.

 And, do you know what he likes? CAKE. No hesitation, he just dug right in.

 Sooooo gooooood.

 Seriously, I love this boy.  He is my constant companion. My little buddy. My (generally) good napper and my eater of everything.  He says "Dad!" "Dada" and sometime "Ma!" He still has some reflux issues and we hope he continues to outgrow them without needing any GI help.  He walks up a storm. He is everywhere. He is the funniest baby. Still incredibly ticklish and he has the best smile.  His eyes are the bluest of any of the boys and I love his dimples.  I absolutely LOVE his curls, and I know it will be a sad day when I have to cut it.

Happy Birthday Braden and Boston!

Boston's First Tooth!!!

8.1.12

My baby finally did it.  He FINALLY cut his first tooth after months of agony.  Of course, I eased the pain best I could with teething tablets and popsicles, but really he takes all the credit.  Now it's time for the rest of those little suckers to come out.  He will probably be like Braden and get a mouth full all at once.  We can hope at least!

(pardon the blurry iPhone picture.)

And now that it's be a couple days it really shows! Lower Left. 

Baby Vision...

We got a fancy new camera for the nursery this time around.  I can look at it on the computer, or my iPhone.  It's pretty handy to see and hear him whenever I want from wherever I want.  When he was little we never had to worry about him getting at the camera, but as he started cruising and pulling himself up we started getting blurry pictures, or pictures of the carpet.  Finally these week I moved it across the room.  He misses his plaything I gather.

 It's a little freaky to turn this on in the night and see these raccoon eyes.  

But I do love hearing him chatting away at nothing.

 The new view... 

And if you look close you'll notice there is a frame missing 

from the wall grouping, he can reach it and I got sick of hearing a crash in the night as he pushed it down- so for a while it's just resting in the closet.

My, how technology has changed in 9 years. 

 I would have killed for something like this when Braden was a baby!

Boston and Beans (not baked)...

This kid loves real food.  He is a human garbage disposal. We have to vacuum or sweep a few times a day to keep the most random things out of his mouth.  We were eating one night and decided to try him on black beans.  This was the result.

Marathon Trip pt2...

The afternoon after the race we relaxed in the hotel.  Well, the boys and I did.  Rusty, however, was hurting pretty bad. So he was resting, icing and medicating.  Poor soul.  I don't get runners.  That evening we drove out towards Highland so Boston could meet his Great-Grandma Audrey Beck.  She recently moved from Colorado to be closer to more family. We are super excited to be able to see her more often.  On our way there we had to stop by the mall to buy Rusty some shoes. He was not loving the idea of putting his running shoes back on- so we hobbled around the mall to Journey's and picked him up some super comfy slip ons, then we were off.

 She was so excited to see Braden

 I think this is the best picture to sum up how Baum felt meeting Boston!

 Rusty, Boston, Braden and Baum

 He wanted her to hold him so bad.

 Baum has photos of all her grandkids on the wall. She also has the great-grands in frames and we showed her Berk and Brenner (since they were still in AZ). She was missing them being there.

 Boston loved crawling around the room and pulling himself up on things.  He also loved giving Pops high-fives.

After we visited, we took Baum with us to meet the Ron Beck family at Blue Lemon in Highland for dinner. It was so good and after we went to Ron and Robin's house to visit longer. Such a fun (long) evening.

Sunday we relaxed, packed up and went to take Braden to play at his friend Tysen's house for a few hours. After we picked him up we drove up to Sandy to see my sister Robyn's family.  They hadn't met Boston either so we spent just a brief bit of time there before heading to Training Table to eat and then to the airport.

Our 6 Month Boss...

So, the sleep training is going ok. During Spring Break we moved Brenner out of the crib and into the bunk beds with Berkley. He transitioned great. Other than he falls off the bed EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. We tried to put a side rail on, but it just doesn't work with the bed frame and mattress, so we figure eventually he'll figure it out, right?

 As part of this plan, we are trying to get him to stay full at night. So, we were given the ok to start him of rice cereal. We've been putting it in his bottles for months to help with reflux, but now he's eating off a spoon! He loved it from first bite!

Moving Boston into the crib has been pretty good.  The first few nights I didn't hear him wake up at all. But according to Braden and Rusty he had some good crying spells.  I guess I was too tired to hear him.  I am taking it night by night. Some nights I will get him up and feed him in the night, other times I just give him his paci, or just let him cry.  He can put his paci back in himself, so that helps (and me putting a dozen or so in there with him).

 This kid LOVES his jumperoo.  He is so funny. He loves to sit in there and watch his brother play outside.

 After a day or two of rice cereal we let him at the good stuff.  He is hilarious during feedings! He opens his mouth as soon as he swallows.  And follows you with the spoon until you give him another bite.  He hold my hand so I can't go anywhere but straight to his mouth!

 He even plows through peas for crying out loud.

 Brenner and Boss are becoming such friends.  I love how he talks to him. It's so sweet. He loves to swing with him, and he is even gentle enough to push him, sometimes.

He is MOBILE people.  Not crawling, per se, but he gets around for sure. He goes up in a bear crawl stance and then launches himself forward.  He is still the most ticklish thing you have ever met. He laughs when you change his clothes, change his diaper- especially if he's poopy, or eat his feet.  He is such a good sport about being lugged around in the car to preschool drop off, baseball practices and grocery shopping. He does still cry in the car sometimes, but usually just when he is reflux-y or really tired.

I can hardly believe he will be 6 months old this week! Ack! I guess it has been a blur, a sleepy slept blur. But I can say that I have gotten more sleep this week than I have in the last 6 months, so that is a step in the right direction!

Wish Me Luck...

I know I am behind.

I hope to be more rested in the near future and able to go back to doing things I love and have time for things again.  It's time to sleep train Boston.  His sleeping has gone from bad to worse. Most nights in the last month I am getting just 1-2 hours of uninterrupted sleep all night.

Over Spring Break we successfully got Brenner moved out of the crib and into the bottom bunk. He has transitioned pretty easily. Naps are a little harder, but he still falls asleep.  Aside from falling out of bed nearly every night I think he loves his new bed.  Next up for him, getting rid of the bottle and then potty training. He was doing so well and then Boss came and he quit completely.

I am beyond tired.  To say the least.  I know it's gonna be a rough couple of nights but I think Boston and I both need to get some sleep.  Plus Rusty got us this cool new video monitor, and I can watch Boss on my phone, which will make it so much easier to keep an eye on him while I am keeping up with the other boys.

Sleep.  I've dearly missed you.

Oh, and did I mention he is thisclose to crawling? And his hair is nearly all gone, except some fuzzes on top and a section on the crown that is about 3 inches long.