We've got ourselves a walker!

Depending on your defintion of 'walking' I think Van is doing it. :) Adam was 13 and a half months when he walked. Everyone has in their mind the 12 month mark as when their child should be walking but from what I've read, a lot of kids are later and that is completely ok. So Adam was the type of kid that just started walking, there was no inbetween stage, he just took off. Van is a little different. He takes a few steps from the couch to the coffee table and he will walk to Daddy if I let go of him, but he isn't like walking around the house by any means like Adam was. Maybe by his birthday he'll be high stepping it? :) Either way, Grammy isn't too happy about it. It's BABY Van she says, he has to be a baby. :) Just wait until the hair cut in a few weeks Daddy is insisting upon. :( Yesterday after he woke up from his nap though, he snuggled back into my arms and slept for another half hour. I thought, I am going to enjoy this as long as I can!! I'll post a pic of him at some point.

Quotes about parenting

I am in the process of scrapbooking my kids in the tub and I wanted a cute little quote or poem to put on the page. I have this book of quotes and poems about babies and toddlers and I thought I would share some with you that I found either inspiring or that I could relate to:

The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow; but the rainbow won't wait while you do the work. - Patrica Clafford

Don't make a living at the expense of life. There is no such thing as a non-working mother. -Hester Mundis

The walks and talks we have with our two-year olds in red boots have a great deal to do with the values they will cherish as adults. -Edith F. Hunter

You will always be your child's favorite toy. -Vicki Lansky

Looking into your wide eyes, I can see your trust, your intrigue, and your thirst for knowledge; and I can only hope that I can fulfill your life with these things, as you fulfill my life simply by being you. -Crystal Dawn Perry

Ok, off the scrapbook the tub. :)

Happy (11 month) Birthday Baby Van!

When Adam was born, I made a scrapbook of him and I took a picture of him each month. He was born on the 23rd so I took a picture of him on the 23rd of each month. I did that his entire first year and then I also did 18 months, 2 years and I think I will do each consecutive year until he is 5 (because that will fill up the entire book.) It is one of my favorite albums I did because it is just amazing to see the growth. And it is a really easy album to do because it only consists of one picture on a page, some stickers and a few sentences of things he was up to that month. I did the same thing for Van as well. This is a picture I took of him yesterday. I actually tried to take some today but I like this one better so I think I will use this for his 11 month picture. And I think I am going to write under it this month:

Van: - is determined to go up the stairs

- only wants people food

-has four teeth

And next month he will be a year already. :( I think I am one of the only moms in the world that actually gets a little sad on their children's birthdays. My sweet little baby, I love him so much.

I not a helper, I a worker!!

I know I want to post tomorrow but I decided I was going to do one today as well. Adam is adamant about the fact that he is NOT a helper, he is a worker! Daddy is a worker so of course he is as well. It is amazing to me though the amount of 'work' he actually does in his little almost 3 year old body. We are pretty much out at the barn everyday. We don't go on Tuesdays because we go to the gym that day and I can't get everyone fed, changed and out there and then back in the house and changed to be out of here by 9. And let me tell you, if I had him out there and we had to leave before the 'work' was done, he wouldn't be a happy camper. He has his own set of tools in the barn and he always has to 'help Papa' because Daddy is at work a lot. As I sweep the mangers and mats, he follows Papa along and scrapes the manure off the floor and mats. He also has his own little wheel barrow and he collects hay and manure and puts it in there. Today, he was scraping the manure from Papa's wheelbarrow. And as you can see, he has to feed the cows as well. If you were wondering (and I am sure you were) :), that cow above we had to kill because it was sick. He didn't watch it but he was with Daddy the entire time on the tractor gathering it and burying it. Not your typical three year old lifestyle huh? And Van is in his playpen that we have in the barn as well, you can see him looking at a calf. He is SO ready to be out and running with his brother though. In a few months. But I am so happy to bring the kids up here and I am so happy to have such a hard WORKER. :)

Out of the mouths of babe

I have this really odd memory of when I was a child (isn't it funny the things you remember, really random ones?). Anyway, I remember sitting at the dinner table as my Dad was cutting up my meat and saying, I don't really want to be a mom. And he asked me why and I said, well, I'll never get to eat first, you always have to get the kids food on their plates first, and cut up their food and THEN you get to eat. Ha ha. :) How funny. But anyway, it got me thinking today because Van has started table food. Well, I shouldn't say started, pretty much only wants table food. Chip is convinced he is going to be our little football player (can you imagine, the child in the fifth percentile for weight?) Anyway, he just wants real food. And I remember going through this with Adam, when he was a baby and he ate out of the jars, you sort of knew how much he was eating. Now I sort of feel clueless. Like is a jar of food equal to 10 pieces of macaroni? Is that enough? The thing is, the first ingredient on the baby food jar is water, so you know the food is diluted. But what actually makes it into the mouth between what I fork feed him, what is on the floor, in the dog, in the high chair and on the mom, I am not really sure. But I'll keep watching him pick up a pea and examine it and see if it is worthy for the mouth, or the dog, and I am sure he'll be fine.

My two favorite boys

My introduction

I am very new to this but I think I would like to give it a try. I have a few friends that blog and I like to go and see their updated pictures. It is just crazy to me how fast kids grow up. I mean I know everyone says it but it just goes by so fast. Six months doesn't seem that long to me in the big picture of life but in the life of a child or baby... holy cow! So in an attempt to not send pictures as much in e-mails, I think I will give this a try. Here are some pictures of my kids taken within the past few weeks.