We got to celebrate brother this weekend and although I do not have any pictures of his finished quilt (he is all cozy with it in dreamland right now) I do have some pictures from his firetruck party! It was a fun little party with friends, sun, fun and cupcakes. It is hard to believe that the little man is another year older. I feel like time is flying by. A few of our friends have wee little ones and just to flash back to that time is amazing. It is overwhelming to ponder going back to night time feedings, bottles and burpings. I loved it when I was there but I love these stages as well. I think that every stage will be my favorite. Each stage is hard with new adventures to conquer but I love learning to be present where I am and where they are. I want to be where they are. I am not great at it but I am learning. My time with these little ones is passing faster than I ever imagined possible. I want to drink deep, I want to teach, I want to love well. I know, I have had this conversation and these thoughts before but it is true! I want to be and remain fully present for each year of life! I am thankful for the princesses and firetrucks that we have celebrated this month. A year will make a huge difference who knows how we will celebrate next year but that does not matter yet. . .what matters is here, today and this moment! So hard! So fun!

The ironing had piled up so nap time found me ironing today (not a normal occurrence at our house hubby was just getting desperate for clothing). I was ironing one of brothers little tiny 2T shirts and then next in the pile was a Dada shirt. For some reason today the size difference struck me and I heard the wee small voice in my heart saying, “It won’t be long before he is grown”. These pictures don’t capture the size difference well but I will post them anyway (what is a post without pictures). I want to capture the days well that I have with the kiddos. I want to be fully present in their lives but sometimes I find it so hard. Sometimes I find myself wanting to invite them into whatever I am doing instead of coming to where they are. I am there but I am not present with them. They invite me often to read and imagine with them but I find myself caught up in the chore of the moment trying to accomplish my list or the things that I want to do. When I do meet them where they are I often hear myself rushing the time. There are times to invite them into the activities that I am doing like cleaning, cooking, etc. but I really want to take more time to slow to be on their level to meet them where they are to be fully present with them. Soon they will be grown!

Brother’s Shirt:

Dada’s Shirt:

For brothers birthday we celebrated with a lion theme! It was fun to celebrate his first year! Hard to believe that it has been a year and yet it feels like so much longer all at the same time. He is so much fun and his little personality is starting to shine! He was pretty fired up about the cupcake! I made a little mini cupcake to give him (not a fan of huge messes) and he proceeded to cram the whole cupcake in his mouth! Amazing! It took him a while to chew it up well but he was one happy camper!

We dance a lot at our house so when I stumbled upon this it hit deep! I had to pass it along. There is a music video and then a little clip of him (Steven Curtis Chapman) explaining the story behind the song. Grab a box of Kleenex on your way to the website! Happy Dancing!!!

http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/cinderella.htm

I wish that I could show you proof that Cai is cutting his first tooth but alas the camera has gone on a holiday to Cannon for a little fix (it decided that it constantly needed new batteries even when it had fresh new ones). I could use Brad’s camera but then I would have to wait for him to pull the pictures off his camera as he is the only one who has the software on his computer (I am not a patient person). Take my word though there is a terrible tooth protruding and it is causing some serious pain and some intense crying in the evening hours.

Cai had his first little playgroup this week! We had two friends over Cana who is a week younger than Cai and Noah who is a month younger than Cai. The babies had a great time just being themselves paying no attention whatsoever to each other. Cai even slept through most of it. We laid them all side by side to take some pictures and he just continued to snooze away. He is a funny guy and quite use to sleeping through whatever party his sister is throwing at the time. Cana and Noah were very awake and just gazing around. It was sweet to be with friends and chat a little. Charis did a wonderful job! I had wondered how the time would go but really wanted her to be apart and start learning about how she can have friends as well as Cai. She was a great big sister and played well alongside the babies.

Within the last week I have begun feeding Cai Rice Cereal. It is always such a huge deal as the food begins it signals so much! He is growing out of babyhood and these are the first official steps of weaning. Not just weaning but weaning him from his over protective mommy to be an adult, to be his own little self. Oh parenthood! I know…a little deep! It doesn’t help though that the first week of Rice Cereal he has decided to go longer in between feedings as well. My mommy heart! He is still figuring out the whole swallow the food thing and he is a mighty big fan of blahing it out (especially just when you think that he has swallowed and you are most unprepared to catch the stream that flows). Charis has greatly enjoyed this week and really loves helping Cai eat his cereal (there is usually spoon jabbing involved but she is getting there). You forget all the little things as they grow so quickly. Many times as I am feeding Cai I have a flashback to feeding Charis. Why do they grow so quickly. Alas!

He did it! Cai took his first roll this past week from his back to his tummy! The kiddos and I were playing in Charis’s room and Cai had been rockin’ a bit and I thought that he was getting pretty close. The next time I looked up he was on his side and Charis ran across the room to stop him! Yep, that is right she caught him in mid roll and pulled him back onto his back. I was so sad! The poor guy had worked so hard to get to his side only to have his ever so helpful sister pull him back. I had a little chat with Charis and explained that he was learning to roll and that it was a good thing. Charis and I continued playing and the next thing I knew Cai was at it again and he did it this time (as I held big sis back)! I was so excited for him. It is sad as he is growing but exciting that soon he will be able to stand his ground with big sister! After all my excitement Charis looked at me and said, “Mama, I can roll to!”

Cute little outfits huh? You will never guess where they are from (well, I would not of anyway)! Nope they are not from a boutique or even Gap Kids they are from Wal-mart! Can you believe it? They are by George and they are fully organic as well. Wild huh! There was also a cute little gorilla for boys and the tags say that there is a whale outfit which I am sad that our store did not have. There is also a girls line which I only saw the elephant but I am sure that there are some other cute animals for the girls as well. They also had Wal-mart prices at just under $6 a piece. They were just to fun to pass up!

It is amazing to me how fast and yet how slow this first month has past! Cai is such a huge blessing to our family and we are enjoying getting to know the incredible wonderful him. Charis seems to be adjusting as now she loves to check on him, give him his passey and she will even love on him a bit. It has definitely been an adjustment but such a precious gift. I am definitely growing and learning so much about me and the members of our little family. These little ones just seem to grow so fast which makes me not want to blink in fear that I might miss something!