Happy 7 Months, Alex!

Sonny boy, Sonny boy, Sonny boy...you are the light to my day with your big smiles and happy baby talk!  It is so fun to watch you discover the world and realize how you are the center of our universe!  

 Alex turned 7 months today.  7 months is a fun age.  His little personality is starting to come out.  And he's not quite crawling and getting into stuff yet.  See what I mean...such a fun age!

Here are the some of the fun things that our little man has been up to this past month.  Alex has been eating a variety of baby foods.  And he really does seem to enjoy eating and generally likes whatever we feed him. So far, he seems to really like carrots, squash, and apple blends.  And he loves his baby cereal too.  He is a good, solid eater.  And now Mommy just has to maintain the supply for his demand!

Alex is a sturdy boy.  He can pull himself to a standing position already and stay standing while holding onto stuff.  He pushes up on his arms while laying on his tummy, but doesn't really seem to show signs of crawling.  Though if you give him something to push off of, he can scootch towards something he wants (mostly stuff he can't have).  Maybe he'll go straight to walking, like his Daddy.

"Elephant, I got your nose"

Speaking of Daddy, that is still Bubs' favorite person.  That boy loves his Daddy!  Bubs saves his brightest smiles and biggest laughs for his Dad!

Daddy may be tops, but I still think Mama will be his first word.  He says Mama all the time.  I wonder when it actually counts or when he will actually make the association that I am his Mama.  Even if he doesn't quite get it right now, I still love that little sound coming out of his mouth.  I waited my whole life to hear him say it...

Isn't he the cutest?!

Alex also learned a new trick.  He likes to turn lights on and off.  And he gets so excited when we cheer him on.  He still loves his jumper and he loves all the toys he gets to play with these days.  

"Hey Mom, look at this sign.  It says I am 7 months old!"

"Here, let me show you this"

"Uh oh, it fell down.  I didn't do it."

 He is a lot more interested in Jillian these days too.  When he's sitting in his highchair or jumper, he just watches her run around and he follows her with his head.  He'll sit waiting for her to come hug him or kiss him or dance with him.  It melts my heart and I cannot wait to watch their little relationship continue to develop.

"Did you see Jilly run by, Mommy?!"

This boy is getting bigger by the minute. He is getting close to 19 pounds already and he is starting to outgrow some of his 6 month clothes.  And his little chipmunk cheeks keep getting fuller and fatter and more kissable everyday!

We love you, son...more than words can ever express!

Baby Kisses!

There is absolutely nothing better in the whole entire world than sweet baby kisses! There is something so perfect about these sweet little, open-mouth, slobbery signs of baby affection. Alex has started giving baby kisses and it absolutely lights up my world!

Today, when I picked him up from school, he lunged for me and gave me the best baby kiss. It was the highlight of my day week life!

Here is a video of Bubs baby kisses. Enjoy!

Alex's Baptism

Last Sunday, when our family was in town, we also baptized our son, Alex!  Julian and I chose my younger brother, Joseph, and his younger sister, Andrea, to be Alex's Godparents!  Though they are both young, we thought they would be a great choice to serve as a role model for Bubs.  

As is tradition, the Godparents are supposed to get their Godchild ready for the baptism.  So these two teamed up to put Alex in his baptism outfit.  The baptism outfit we used for Alex has a little extra special meaning, as it was Joseph's baptism outfit from when he got baptized 17 years ago.  I knew that I wanted Alex in a little suit as opposed to a gown, and this little outfit was perfect!

They were a great pair at getting him dressed, even though they aren't really used to getting someone else ready, much less someone that little.  (Maybe in 10 years, they'll be ready to do this whole baby gig full-time when they are parents themselves...but that's a long time from now!  In the meantime, Alex loved the extra attention from these 2!)

Alex and his Godparents

Then it was off to church for all our crew.  After mass, it was time to baptize and bless our son to welcome him into our Catholic faith.

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. - 1 Samuel 1:27

We held our son as the Deacon blessed his chest and poured water on his head and baptized him in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  

Then he said a prayer over the mothers and the fathers so that we can guide our children in faith.

After the baptism was all over, we stopped to take some family photos.  

Alex with his parents, Godparents, silly sister, and the Deacon

Bubs was giving me big kisses!

After some long naps, it was time to celebrate our son's baptism with a Super Bowl party and a cookie cake (because clearly football and God/baptisms go hand-in-hand).  Our nearest and dearest came to bless our son and watch a good halftime show and some great commercials!

We love you and God bless you, Alex!  Welcome to our big Catholic family!

Happy 6 Months, Alex!

Guess who is 6 months old...as in half a year old already?!

Wait a minute, does that really say 6 months?!

That's right...I'm 6 months old today!

We cannot believe that our Adorable Alex had hit the halfway to a year mark!  Man, time is flying by!  So what has this little cutie been up to?  

Well, this past month marked a lot of firsts for Bubs, like his first solid food, first ear infection, and first hair cut.  While all the baby milestones are fun, it is the everyday stuff that makes this boy such a joy to be around.  Alex is a happy and content baby.  He loves jumping in his jumper, rocking with mommy to sleep at night, and dancing with his sister.

But more than anything in the world, this boy LOVES his daddy!  No one can make his little face light up more than his daddy.  All Julian has to do is pretend like he is about to tickle Bubs and he will start laughing and cooing.  It melts my heart so much to see the sight of Julian and his boy!

The look on his face when he knows Daddy is coming...

We recently took Alex in for his 6 month checkup.  He is 17 lbs., 7 oz. and is around 26.5 in.  He ranks in the 50th percentile for weight and 40th percentile for height.  He may be around average size, but he is starting to look like such a big baby to me.  I remember when he was just a little guy and now, he's so much bigger!

He's getting so big compared to his elephant!

Bubsy, I cannot express to you how much you light up our lives.  Daddy, big sister Jilly, and I love you so much and you make our hearts happy.  We adore you sonny boy, and we cannot wait to see what the next 6 months have in store before you turn 1!

Jillian's Minnie Jumping Party!

 Jillian asked for a "Minnie Jumping Party"to celebrate turning three.  So we rented a local gym, invited some family and friends, and got dressed up as Minnie and Mickey for the fun evening. 

What party would be complete without lots of love from family.  They came from near and far to celebrate with the special birthday girl!

And what a fun age these kiddos finally are!  All of Jillian's school friends have been having birthday parties at this fun gym with lots of things for excited 3-year-olds to do.  So we invited a whole bunch of friends to come celebrate, too!

Jillian had a great time with so many people who love her dearly.  I swear, the smile on this girl's face throughout her entire party was priceless!

When she decided that she wanted a Minnie-themed party, I knew that the decor would not be hard to pull off.  If ever there was a year that I needed a break from hand-making all her party decor, this was it.  All of it was store-bought, but the little details were still absolutely perfect to her!

What party would be complete without a great cake.  She loved the purple and pink, the Minnie candle, and all the attention as everyone sang happy birthday to her.  And of course, she loved eating that yummy cake, too!

All that partying was a little too much for Jillian's baby brother, Bubs/Mickey. He gladly fell asleep in Daddy's arms.

Jillian's birthday party was so much fun and just the right way to celebrate our precious girl.

Hope your Minnie jumping party was all you dreamed it would be and more, Jilly Bear!  We love you!

A Golden Birthday for Our Golden Girl!

It was a very special day when Jillian turned 3.  You see, she turned 3 on February 3, so that made it her GOLDEN birthday!  We had a very special day planned for our GOLDEN birthday girl.

A special sneak peek of our golden photo shoot with Sarah Burns
of Butterfly Chaser Photography!

First, Jillian woke up to see her room covered in gold balloons.  She eagerly jumped out of bed and into the big pile of balloons.  All our family was still in town from a whirlwind weekend and she was happy to get to spend the first parts of her 3rd birthday with our extended family. 

Next it was time to open her gifts.  We kept all the gifts from her birthday party in the car so she pretty much forgot about her presents (thank goodness she's only 3 as this was pretty easy to keep from her).  We had them all set up in the living room when she came in and she was thrilled to see so much stuff, just for her!  

Among all the gifts, there were Little Golden Books for our little Golden Girl!

And there were even more treasures for her to unwrap, too.  (Note to parents: I think it made her ACTUAL birthday a lot more special to open all the gifts from her party.  While all her friends weren't able to see her open their gift, she LOVED seeing who each gift was from.  And let's be honest, what 3-year-old really wants to sit around and watch someone else rip open presents for  30 minutes.)

There was another special little treasure waiting for Jillian.  Julian and I decided to get Jillian a little gold locket with her initials engraved on it.  She loved this and she insisted that we put it on her right away.  She is really into jewelry these days and I think she was so happy to have her own little necklace.

Then, it was time to take our birthday girl on a fun birthday date to the movies.  Bubs stayed at home while we took Jillian to see Frozen (it was her second time, but our first).  

We had such a great time at the movies with our little love.  At times, she held hands with Mommy, and other times, she wanted to sit in Daddy's lap so he could protect her from the snowy monster.  Frozen is such a great movie and it was the perfect date movie with our girl!

Then, it was back home for some leftover birthday cake, and of course, Jillian was all smiles.  Throughout the day, our family left to go back home, but we are so glad that they were able to spend some time with us on Jillian's Golden Birthday.  

At bath time, I asked Jillian what her favorite part of the whole weekend was, from family to her birthday party with friends, to her baby brother's baptism and party.  And wouldn't you know it, she said her favorite part of all was going to watch Frozen with Mommy and Daddy!

That was our favorite part too, Jilly Bear!  It was the perfect way to celebrate your special birthday. We love you, sweet girl, and we can't wait to see what this next year has in store for us as we celebrate your golden age of 3!