Big Boy Bed for Reid!

We hit another milestone tonight and I shed a tear.  My baby's growing up.  My 2nd baby that is.  Reid graduated to a big boy bed tonight, and there's one only one left in a crib.  Now I know we did this earlier with Micah, and lots of people do this earlier than we did with Reid.  But I don't care when you do it, it's a big move.  And it makes me feel like Reid just aged immensely!  I can't believe we've hit this point and I'm just praying it's a smooth transition.

Some of you might wonder if the boys are now sharing a room, since that's what the design was, but let me put your mind at ease and let you know that no, they are not.  Not yet anyways.  We didn't want to throw too much change in there, and wanted to set the big boy bed up to be a success, so we moved Reid's bed that was in Micah's room in to his room.  Maybe, just maybe this summer we'll actually transition the boys to the same room.  Or maybe we'll decide it's good that the kids all have their own rooms :)  Time will tell.

At any rate, Reid's sleeping in his bed for the first time tonight and so far it's gone off without a hitch.  Updates will come if that changes, and knowing Reid, it will, haha.  I love Reid's smiles in the below pics.  Such genuine happiness right there.

Snowman transformation

We made a snowman with one of the snow storms we had back in January, and shockingly it's still there :)  It's gone through quite the transformation, and I'm sure there's still more to come.

Micah giving a thumbs up after building a snowman with Daddy.

The snowman starting to lean...we call him the leaning tower of snowman.

After another large snowstorm, now looking more like a drill bit than a snowman...

Twinsies Baby Shower - Better Together

I put together a baby shower for Kari while she was here, and what a fun time to celebrate the coming of her sweet baby boy and girl in just a few short weeks!  Kari took the train down from Michigan, while Josh went out Ice Fishing (brrrr!  I'm cold just writing it down :) ) and we enjoyed her company.  My kids really took to her, and I think Kari and Reid developed quite the relationship over puzzles :)

I love you Kari!  I'm so excited to watch you grow as a mother and can't wait to love on those babies while I can, before you whisk them back off to Africa :)

Aunt Kari visits!

We had a good week with my sister here - blessed to have her for a whole week before she went back to Missouri to get ready to have her babies.  Pictures from her baby shower to come in another post :)  We enjoyed a low key week, dealt with our heat going out not once, but twice!!, and Kari and Reid played lots and lots of puzzles.  Reid found a new buddy for his puzzle loving activity, and we've really soaked in the rare moments of getting to spend with family.

Day one of our heat out - and Kari and Reidees doing puzzles next to the fire (with pillows!)

Kari stayed back with Gemma one morning while I took the boys out to Bouncetown.  It's hard to get out with a baby needing to nap, so I was thankful to have an opportunity to do so.

Kari spending some time with GemmaJams :)

Day 2 of our heat out...It was a much colder day and we had heaters and scarves and hoods to help keep us warm this day!

And puzzles...always puzzles...

This was seriously what we were wearing to keep warm.  But we survived and our heat got fixed!  

Our Valentines' dinner :)  My family and Josh and Kari out at Smash Burger.  Nothing says love like a yummy hamburger, haha.

Pretty soon Kari's going to a mom to two babies...and we feel very blessed to have had this special time with her before that happens.  What exciting changes are about to come to my little sister!  I can't wait to watch it all unfold :)

Home Depot fun!

Home Depot has a kids' workshop the first of every month, and with Kari in town for it, Christian and I were able to take both boys out.  It was a fun morning of bonding with our boys over building boxes :)

8 months!

Amazingly, here we are again, celebrating another month gone in Gemma's short little life so far.  She's inching closer and closer to that one year mark, and it's coming all too quickly for this mama!  I want her to stop growing, to slow down, to savor each tiny little moment...and yet I look forward to her getting bigger, becoming more expressive, enjoying life in new ways than she can in her infancy.  It's such a mix of emotions, that all boils down to this intense love that I have for her that is so hard for me to express in words or actions sometimes :)

Month 8 - you've brought personality, joy and excitement.  I don't have doctor stats, so we'll just have to wait until next month to see we're she's at.

Things to remember:

• how you've started waving this month - saying "hi" with arm flails, and it's awesome!
• how teething has started wrecking havoc on your sleep - you had 2 different occasions where you came down with a fever and were extremely needy (whimpering, sad, pitiful) for a couple of days...can't wait until teething is over - in 2+ years :)
• how you like to growl when you're happy - such lady like sounds!
• how you cock your head to the side, like you're flirting ever so slightly...it's adorable.
• how you started crawling this month baby girl!!!  
• how you've become quite vocal - and even say "mama" when you're starting to need some attention
• how you've started giggling/laughing in your car seat - what a change from your earlier months of life!
• how you started puffs this month and love them - as well as lots of roasted veggies we cook!
• how you've mastered going from a crawling position to a sitting position - another thing that's impacting your sleep just a bit.

You're such a joy Gemma Jams!  You provide such happiness and you're a perfect piece of our family!  

Snowstorm 2015

Superbowl Weekend we got a huge snowstorm!  Blizzard like conditions, about 19 inches or so, and lots of shoveling and fun outside :)  Christian tackled the driveway the first time, I did it the second clearing.  It was crazy and exciting and fun to watch our boys really take in all the snow!  Fun memories being made, that's for sure.  

I love this sweet smile!!