James is EIGHT! Wolfy and birthday party!

James, you are eight! How did Baby November turn from a baby, to a toddler to a little kid to a big kid so incredibly fast? I don't know. I really don't.

At eight you are incredible. Funny and smart and sweet and kinda a pain in the butt sometimes, but that's okay because we love you dearly.

At eight you are doing the following:

• Love your teachers and tell them often. Write notes to your teachers to tell them how much you appreciate them.
• Love your best friends Owen and Peter. If we don't have plans with O&P and you had your heart set on seeing them, you cry and complain and pretty much dislike all activities that don't include your besties. 
• Excellent at reading and math, fabulous at school work.
• Eats hot lunch from the cafeteria every day.
• Fast runner, amazing hiker, strong swimmer, zero interest in team sports.
• Favorite things to do are play with Legos, Nintendo, iPad and outside with friends.
• Least favorite thing to do is when Mommy "forces" him to the park without friends his age
• Adores Juliet but knows how to push her buttons so amazingly well.
• Great artist and loves drawing control panels, guns, and Nexo Knights (Lego brand).
• Had a co-birthday party with his best friend Owen and loved every minute of it. 
• Collects "gun sticks" wherever we go and loves weapons.
• Still requests a kiss on the lips and a hug after the school bell rings (never change kiddo! I love this too).
• Is a total goof ball.

James, I love you so very very much. I miss your babyhood so much but I have also loved seeing you grow and change. 

I was amazed I was able to get a natural smile for the photo above. It took a lot of false starts and goofy photos before I finally got one!

This year we had a co-birthday party for these two November boys and best friends. Remember Owen was at James' first birthday party?

James invited Ian from his class and his favorite cousin Emilia.

Eight is great!

Birthday morning held a new robe, tons of new legos and this sweet hug from brother and sister. When they're not pestering each other they really are the best of friends. 

 He also got an hourglass, which was a surprise!

And since his birthday fell the day after Thanksgiving, we waited a week to bring Wendy's to the school lunchroom to celebrate. 

Happy happy birthday Baby November. Love you tons.

Baby November loves November

November. The days are noticeably shorter, the leaves are falling with gentle calmness, trees readying themselves for winter. There are crunchy sounds wherever you walk and the air is quite crisp.

How I love autumn.

Saturday E and I went to Red Butte Garden. We packed a lunch, wore our jackets, and wandered around. There isn't a lot to tell, other than we had a wonderful afternoon.

James (aka Baby November) had a splendid time too.

Then and Now {Baby edition}

What a difference a year makes. The first photo was taken last summer, and now a year later in the same spot.

At 24 weeks of pregnancy E took this photo of me at the farmhouse:
And just today he snapped this of me. Now the baby is on the outside! And he's huge!

One year ago today

One year ago, on March 16th I peed on a stick. I had been doing this ritual almost weekly because there were so many time when I was SURE I was pregnant.

March 16th was different.

Because I saw two pink lines that means "you're pregnant" instead of the one line that means "better luck next time."

What an amazing amazing year it has been.

Baby shower alphabet book

Remember way back when at my baby shower when I said "the idea was was to make an alphabet book for Baby November out of hand drawn images. Each guest grabbed a page with a single letter on it, and the idea was to draw something starting with that letter (people could choose the letter, and whatever they wanted to draw on that page). Then, when the entire book is finished, we gather all the pages and bound them into a wonderful book. The idea was a huge hit, as we sat there in the September sun Connie worked on "C is for cat", Laura worked on "P is for pumpkin", Brooke worked on "L is for love", Melissa finalized "H is for Home", and so on. All the images were wonderful, just beautiful. I can't wait to bound this into a book, and I'll be sure to make a blog entry about it soon!"

Well when you're a mom to a newborn, I guess "soon" is four months because over the last few days I finally bound the book with a sweater I cut up and finished the embroidered cover. It turned out AWESOME. If anybody needs a wonderful keepsake idea for a baby shower, this is the one.

Here is my wonderful alphabet book in all of its glory. Thank you to everyone that did a page or two, it turned out perfectly.