Mia--Eleven Months

My sweet girl, your first birthday is approaching faster than I would like to admit.  You are eleven months old! 

 

You are quite the dancer!  You love music (you have since you were born), and you really feel it, too!  You start shakin' your stuff every time you ear it ;)

 

 

You had your first real sickness (since your hospital stay) this month.  We brought you in to see your pediatrician, and you had a double ear infection and Type A Flu!  :(

 

She was super impressed with how well you were nursing and sleeping, and how happy you seemed to be.  She said you were a very tough little girl (which we already knew!).

 

 

 

You are trying, and liking, more and more foods! You have even started eating from the cafeteria at school.

 

 

 

You love to make your fishy face! You do it all. the. time!



 

 

 

You also make a face we call your "excited face."  You open your mouth as big as you can.  Sometimes, you do it so hard your whole head shakes!

 

 

 

 

 

You have finally stopped biting me, but you picked up a little something from that time:  You can shake your finger and say, "No-no!"

 

 

You can sign "milk," and you do it often.  It's so great that you can let us know what you want!  We are about to start working on other signs now that you've got "milk."

You can wave bye-bye and blow kisses!  I've been working with you on blowing kisses for a while so when you finally did it, I got really excited! 

Bryan said, "Yeah, she has been doing that for a couple weeks.

"What?!"

"Yeah, she does it every morning when I drop her off at school."

"So nice of you to tell me!" 

Ha!

 

 

You have been playing peek-a-boo for a while now, covering your face with a blanket or shirt or whatnot.  Now, you can play with your hands.  You don't always cover your eyes, in fact, you usually cover your ears.  It's really cute!

 

 

 

You can stand up all by yourself now.  I know that sounds like it should be old news since you are walking everywhere, but until now you have only pulled up and let go.  Now you can just stand up in the middle of the floor with no help!  You can also squat down to pick up a toy you dropped and stand back up again.

 

 

 

Your tooth count is up to five, now!  Finally!!  This tooth has been on the verge of breaking through for weeks!  I was so glad you finally had some relief, and then I noticed tooth number six trying to break through on the bottom.  Hopefully this one will come in quicker.

You are looking so, so much like Gannon!  The resemblance is pretty crazy.

I am sorry all the photos are so small...I don't know what's up with Blogger. :(  Just click on them and they will enlarge.

 

Gannon-Banannon

 

Austy-Bear

 

 

I can't believe your next post will be your birthday post...Love you big!



 



Lunar Golf

We babysat for some friends over the weekend while their oldest danced in the Bobcat Belles dance recital.  Instead of just hanging out at the house, we decided to take them to play Lunar Golf.  They all had a blast!

What is Lunar Golf, you ask?  It is indoor miniature golf under black lights!  The kids were super impressed that everything was glowing, especially all the white on their clothes.

Here is Austyn with flash:

And here she is without!

Here's Ramsey.  He is three.  He and Austyn kept running straight to the end and dropping their balls right beside the hole.  They would get so excited when they "made it." 

Here are a few videos from the night:

 

 

Aren't her reactions the best?!

Here is Ramsey:

They really had a blast, and we can't wait to go back!

Here are the little ones on their "date."  They suddenly got quiet so I turned to see what they were up to.  They found a bench and sat there sharing a Sprite.  How sweet?!

I don't have any pictures of the big ones because I couldn't keep up with them.  And these are shotty because they were taken in the dark with a cell phone.  Next time we go, I'll have to remember to bring my camera. 

Hope y'all enjoyed our play date as much as we did!

PS--Remember, if you are seeing this post via email, you have to go to the actual blog to see the videos!  :)

A Little of This and a Lot of That!

I just realized that my last real post was Thanksgiving!  Sheesh, that's crazy!  Well, this post is going to be more photos with captions than it is a story because there is just so much to share!


Here is Austy-Bear one night at bath time...I think she forgot something??

We have tried to get Mia to take a pacifier since the day she was born.  We have never had luck.  Well, she finally took one.....That's not quite what I had in mind, baby girl!  ;)

Austyn got a Big Wheel for Christmas, and she was so proud to be able to help Daddy put it together!

 

 

 

 

Finishing touches.... 

 

....and she's off!

 

This is how Gannon poses for pictures, now.  Nice!

So Austyn has a little crush on our friend's little boy, Charlie.  We were getting ready for church one morning, and everything revolved around Charlie. 

"I bet Charlie likes my dress."
"Do you think Charlie will think I am pretty?"

"Mommy, can you help me brush my teeth?  I don't want to accidentally spill toothpaste on me because Charlie might think I am silly."

 



 

 

My little priss!

 

Yes, baby, those boots look fabulous on your naked butt!

 

A just couldn't hang anymore after a long day playing with the Bonners!

 

 

 

 A few weeks ago, Bryan and Gannon had a boys weekend at the camp, so we had a girls weekend right here at home.  We met Austyn's friend's, Hallie and Brinley, from ballet at Kid Station.  It is such a fun little place.  They played for five hours!

 

Mia couldn't play with the big girls, but she still had fun!

After Kid Station, we got some gourmet popcorn!  She was so proud :)

Every kitchen has that drawer that babies love and they are actually allowed to play in. Ours is the Tupperware drawer.  Mia loves to dig in it and take everything out, then throw everything back in.  Austyn has caught on to the fact that this is allowed, so she is now joining in.  They love to play "kitchen" while I am cooking!  My sweet girls :)

This one, I just love!

Austyn's day celebrated 100 Days of School recently.  In the spirit of 100, the children were asked to dress as though they were 100 years old.  Well, here is Austyn in her nightgown, house coat, granny glasses, and rollers!

 

And here she is one day post-rollers.  Or, actually, "pearlers" as A calls them!  She just loves her pearls ;)

 



She's with the band!  We love us some In Liquid!

Okay, for this one, I win the worst-mommy-in-the-world award!  Gannon's class had a cookie decorating party for Valentine's Day.  Each child was asked to bring an item for the party.  We were responsible for plain sugar cookies (no icing).  I couldn't find any, so we made some, and we used heart shaped cookie cutters for good measure.  Each child was also asked to bring Valentine's for the class.  Bryan printed these cards at work, and I found para trooping ninjas at our local party store.  They were perfect!  We also bought some iced sugar cookies for the teachers to share.  I knew all the treats wouldn't survive the bus ride to school in Gannon's backpack, so I had Bryan drop everything off before the party.

Here's where things turn sour.

I forgot to mention that each child was also asked to decorate a shoe box (or something like that) to collect all their treats at the party.  I. completely. forgot!  Poor G was probably the only one in the class without one.  When it dawned on me that I forgot, I was actually sick to my stomach. 

But wait...it gets better! 

I put the the things that Bryan was supposed to bring to school on the stove in a pile.  Guess what?  The bag Valentine's stayed on the bar!  So not only did he not have a box to collect Valentine's, he didn't have any to hand out, either!  :( :( :( :(  Bad, bad Mommy!!!

He wasn't upset though, he laughed at me.  I sure do love that kid!!!  We sent his Valentine's to school the next day to give to all his friends.

 

 

The Valentine's on the right were Austyn's.  If you can't read them, they read:

 

"I'm BURSTING with happiness that you're my friend!"

You may have noticed that a munchkin seems to be missing from our munchkin trio.  Gannon has decided that the camera is no longer his friend, and he runs when he sees it!  Like father, like son!  I will try to get more of him for the next post :)

40 Days

40 Days

Is that how long it's been since I posted?  It sure feels like it!  My poor blog has been neglected lately, and I hate that.  It seems like when things get crazy, this is the first thing that goes.  I really need to get better about that so all our memories stay fresh!

I really don't know how long it has been since my last post, but that is not really what the title is about.  It is really about the 40 days of the Lenten season.  Every year, as Catholics, we are asked to give up something as a sacrifice, or to embrace something new that will make us better people.  I have seen people do this, and thought, "No way!  I could never do that!"  But this is the year I take the plunge.  I have decided to give up Facebook for Lent.  Forty days, that's all...forty days.  I promise, though, that I will try to update photos and stories here more often! 

This year, the whole family will be participating in Lent.  Well, almost.  Mia is still off the hook!  Bryan has decided to give up soda, Gannon wants to try his hand at candy, and Austyn is giving up her favorite, "little wienies" or Vienna sausage. 

Wish us luck!

Oh, and since I hate to have a post without photos, here are two of my favorites from the month:

As most of you know, Eric and Maegen are ENGAGED!!!  We just adore them together, and I am so excited to finally get the sister I have always wanted.  They are so great together, and Maegen is the perfect addition to the Duffy family.  Such a great match!

Well, when we got to Lake Charles, Maegen had a little surprise for me:

Bryan and I will get to stand beside them when they promise to be each other's forever.  I am so honored and proud!

We went home for Mardi Gras, so you know we couldn't leave without a King Cake (or two!)!!  Happy Mardi Gras, yall!