School Moments

Math time!

Practicing spelling words while keeping time with his yo-yo...

Cool science

Keeping this one busy with everything countries, capitals, and more...

The Great Wall of China meets the Egyptian pyramids 

and the Parthenon.  After that his plastic army men

had a wonderful time battling each other 

and destroying everything.

I love it when my boy plays...

Making counties and continents with playdough...

His idea... not mine.  :)

Science... Discovering radio waves

What he does while we do school....

look up flags of the world.

A peek into our morning...

Learning about graphs is always more fun with hot chocolate...

Still one of my favorite sights to see... catching them reading.

When practicing your spelling words gets a little crazy...

Pumped.... that the catapult he designed worked!

After that, the catapult quickly became Mr. Robot...

a boy's best friend.

Writing time...

not his favorite subject, but always fun to see 

what is in his mind.

Yeah... there may be hard days.... and days when I feel like I'm not doing enough.

Days that we struggle through and days that bring tears.

Days when no one really wants to do school... yet we keep going.

But looking at these moments reminds me of the joys that 

come from doing school at home... and some of the sweet blessings

that are ours to have.  I'm reminded of how much I love having

these little chicks of mine under my wings each day for awhile yet... 

living together, learning together, and doing life with each other.  

It's not always easy, 

but I will never regret this time and these moments with them.

He turned One

The birthday boy!

ONE!

Happy Birthday to you...

Cake time.

Taking a bite...

Do I like it?

Yes!

Yummmm!!!

I hadn't intended to let him eat the whole cupcake,

but I got busy serving the other guests their cake

and when I turned around... it was gone.

I think he liked it!

For his birthday, we asked our guests to buy or donate

items that we could give to our local crisis pregnancy center in honor of Baylor's 1st birthday.

We were overjoyed with the items our friends and family brought to give.

They were so generous!

It was so fun to be able to give and bless other mamas and babies

who really need these baby items and to love on them in this way. 

The perfect way to celebrate our Baylor!

Happy 1st Birthday sweet boy!

Getting Ready To Party!

I had so much fun getting ready for Baylor's party...

it was my therapy.

So good to remember him, and celebrate this last year.

It helped my heart through him turning one.

The theme kind of evolved...

Green, Blue, and Orange...

The number 1...

and pictures from the last year.

In the end... the perfect way to celebrate our little boy!

Now that everything was ready... it was time to party!

Baylor - 12 months

 One Year Old - 1.12.15

My sweet Baylor,

I truly don’t think I have the right words to describe the emotions I have in my heart as you turn one year old today.  There is excitement… because we are celebrating your first year of life, the day God chose you to be a part of His world and give you as a gift to us.  

Joy… because over this last year, you have overflowed my heart with so much joy.  So. much.  Reflection… in who I am as a mama and the journey I've taken with you in this last year, as well as reflecting on who God has grown you to be in this first year, and who He plans for you to become.  Fear… because I don’t want you to keep growing, and I really don’t want this first year to end.  Sadness… My heart aches because I long to stop time for just a little longer and soak you in and keep you right where you are.  Oh Baylor, holding you in my arms over the last 12 months has filled a gap in my heart I never knew I had. And if there is one thing I have learned over this last year it is that His plans are so, so good… better than we can ever dream up for ourselves. 

I know that not only is He good… but He is faithful, He is enough, He loves to pour His blessings out on us, He knows our hearts, His love and faithfulness surrounds us, and we can trust Him. 

Baylor Timothy, I love you, I am so thankful for you, and I praise God for one of the best gifts of all… YOU!

 (Note: now I know why I stop taking "month by month"

pictures after 12 months... because it is impossible!)

So who are YOU at one year old?

You weigh 22 pounds 8 ounces and are 31 inches long. 

You are in size 4 diapers and wear mostly 18 months clothes (and some 12 month pants).

You eat anything and everything.  There is very little that we have given you that you won’t eat.  And not only do you eat most things, you eat a lot of everything.  For example, the other day for lunch you had a half slice of bread, a whole banana, a good ½ cup of cooked carrots, an entire hotdog, some cheese cubes, and some puffs and a baby Mum-Mum biscuit to top it all off.  That is kind of a lot for a little guy like you!

We have you on whole milk now, and you really like it.  I’m still giving you three bottles a day.

You sleep from 7:30 to 6:30 and take two naps one at 9 and one at 2.

You sleep with your blankie and at least three green pacis!

You are very quiet whenever you wake up.  Most times I come to check on you, and there you are, sitting there sucking on a paci and stroking your blankie.  One of my favorite things to see that makes my heart smile.

You are walking!  And I will say it is the cutest thing ever!!!  For some reason I don’t remember being so captivated by my other three walking… but I could sit and watch you for a long time with delight!  You are my earliest baby to walk, and you are so proud of yourself! 

And another fun fact, if I had to guess right now, I would guess that you are left handed.  Now, you will probably prove me wrong, but you prefer to use your left hand way more than your right hand.

Other things about you:

You have two words… Ba-Ba (for ball and bottle) and Da-Da… for daddy.

Your personality is sweet, spirited, determined, happy, fairly go-with-the-flow, and you definitely know what you want and do not want. (and will let us know)

You have the best scrunchy-nose smile!

You have 6 teeth… four on the top and two on the bottom.

You will scream and cry with fear and terror if you are ever left in a room alone (even for a bit)

You really love your mama.

You love to be held and you love to be in the Ergo.

You love to hold soft things (like your blankie or a stuffed animal) up to your ear.

You love to throw balls.

You love to get into cupboards and drawers… especially our Lazy Susan in the kitchen.

Now that you can walk, you love to just walk around for the fun of it.

You love your brothers and sister, and they can usually make you laugh.

You really don’t like getting your diaper changed.

And while we are on the topic of diapers... you always prefer to poop in a clean diaper. 

You also don’t like shirts being pulled over your head.

I have found a soft side of you that produces tears if I say “NO” too harsh… or sometimes “NO” is met with a tantrum instead.

You love the songs “The Wheels on the Bus” and “Skidamarink - I Love You”.

You love to play with toys that are not “baby toys” or anything that really isn’t a toy at all.

Your favorite toys are things that stack and toys that play music.

You are our favorite little one year old by far!

I love you so much Baylor Boy!  You are a gift and treasure to my heart.  Happy 1^st birthday my sweet baby boy.  Know you are loved!