Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The Lion is 16 months!

Leo has been given several funny, random nicknames during these last 16 months. These are among the most common around here~Bug, Buggy, LJ, little owl, Shnooks(Shane, & Liv calling him this all of the time!) I think Shane likes the shnoo sounds, Liv started out as shnoodle in my belly and once she arrived he called her noodle.  Anyways, Leo James is 16 months old today, hard to believe!  Hard to believe that he hasn't given his Mommy a full night of uninterrupted sleep in 16 months either, little stinker!  He has yet to sleep through the night, which is probably why I am typing this as I fight a flu bug.  I am worn down, and so sleep deprived. I haven't had a full nights rest/slept through the night for 18 months and that is not stretching the truth!  This too shall pass right?!  He will sleep through the night one of these days...or years, haha!  He is talking so much now.  Kind of funny that when Shane helps me at night, he will point to his bedroom door and say "doow"  and then calls out saying "mama"  Because he wants Shane to bring him to me :") 
It's very cute to hear his munchkin voice.  Some of my favorite things to hear him say are mana (banana,) toast, wa wa, sta(star,) num num, bye bye, hello, hi, baby, uh oh, yaya, papa, tree.  He says quite a bit for his young age.  All three of my kids were super verbal so I'm not all that surprised.  He will look at himself in the mirror and say baby, and I am trying to teach him his name.  He is very good at baby sign language.  He uses sign language to tell us all done, more, please, thank you, i love you.  It's very sweet, and helpful when he gets frustrated!  He has lots of cuteness going on around here lately.  He is a L-O-V-E-R always giving us lots of hugs & kisses.  When he hugs us he pats our backs with his tiny hands, so sweet!  He also does this thing where he lifts our shirts up to look for our belly b's(belly button,) and then pokes them and giggles.  Leo is a character.  He is the typical 3rd child trying to keep up with his big sister and brother.  Wants to be a big boy already.  He doesn't really like to play with toys, if you hand him something from the kitchen, pots/pans and a wooden spoon, telephone, he's good to go.  He is still very fascinated by airplanes.
This little babe also LOVES to eat!!  He will eat 2 bowls of old fashioned oatmeal in the morning with a side or two of fruit, and whatever else we might be munching on.  Oatmeal is one of his favorite breakfast foods.  He's a true Hennessy and would eat tillamook cheese 24/7.  He can't get enough of baby goldfish, would eat them all day if I let him do so.  He pretty much loves any fresh fruit, but is very finicky about veggies, darn it.  We are still working on incorporating more vegetables.  Didn't have that problem with Liv or NJP so it's been different this time around.  He will drink water out of cups, but if you give him milk he will gag and look at you like you've just tried to poison him.  Probably because he still nurses, and won't like cows milk until he stops nursing, Liv was the same way.  I remember crying wondering what she'd drink when I was done nursing her.  Once she was fully weaned she transitioned just fine.  I think Leo has a few more months before he'll stop nursing.  Liv nursed for 18 months, Nolan 17.
I have always said Leo is one of the most happy, easy going babies, if he slept well, he'd be perfect!  I guess I have to remember that most of the time he's a chill little dude.  
He's still 100% a mama's boy! I'm in love with his honey colored curls that are so tightly wound, that he still has chubby little legs, hands, fingers, his dreamy long, dark eyelashes that curl up, beautiful blue eyes, buttermilk breath, his sweet smile & giggle. He is just sweet in so many ways. I can't get enough of him and wish he could stay little although that ship has sailed, he is growing up so fast in every way! 

Saturday, November 24, 2012

We got our tree today. It's starting to smell like Christmas in our home!

This is the first year in many that we didn't go to a beautiful tree farm out North. We have been spoiled because the Wells & Ruffs have known the owner of that land for years and years and we always tagged along with them to get our tree. Ted's trees are the best, the look, the smell, they are also soft. Not to mention he's a sweet man, and always invited us to his little cabin next to his home. Although most of the Daddy's got way too stressed with our 9 kids(total) running through the vintage cabin~touching, and occasionally breaking things ;) We usually just went inside for a quick treat and group photo. However, not this year, sad! Ted planted a new crop of trees and they are still wee things so it will probably take a couple years for them to get bigger. This year was quite different, still very memorable, for reasons I probably shouldn't mention....hahaha. Nonetheless we all got our trees, and I even got a tiny tree for my front porch. No snow this year, it was actually sunny, and beautiful up on the bluff as always. The kids enjoyed running around the orchard and playing hide & seek. Looking forward to decorating this prickly thing tomorrow with the munchkins. It's a tad early, but we always go right after Thanksgiving, it's just that Thanksgiving came early this year, so I'm a bit discombobulated.
Our tree, to the left behind Shane.  Uh what is with my rather L-A-R-G-E looking hands?  Especially the one on the left, looks like a boxing glove~lol! Go go gadget hands, my goodness!   A funny illusion. 
My little bug, he was very curious about the trees.
I would like to nibble on his face!
Watching all the big kids play hide & seek.  I have lots to post about this sweet faced boy.  He is almost 16 months, yikes, and a small pain in my heart, it's going FAST.

Friday, November 16, 2012

My boy who is very good at entertaining himself!

I had a moment the other day, one of those moments as a mom when you feel horrible about misunderstanding something your child is saying/doing.  Was trying to tidy up as I was leaving the house, you know that scene.  Nolan grabbed a cheerios box that was on the counter that I was about to place in the recycling bin.  I asked him to please stop making more of a mess, and that we needed to get going.  I could hear him tinkering around in the front room.  Again, I was saying to him, please please don't be making more messes, and reminded him I was trying to clean up before we left the house. Well,  a few minutes later I walked around the corner to find him standing there with a cheerios box that he happened to turn into a little masterpiece(in under 5 minutes.)  I felt horrible, he said, "mom I was just making this airplane!"  He was so proud of himself and had a sweet/shy expression on his face.  On the table beside the airplane=scissors, some tape, and a plastic man/pilot.  I love him, he was just trying to stay out of my way so I could tidy up.  He is ALWAYS using his imagination, this is one of my favorite things he's come up with.  He's very resourceful & creative I might add!
Notice the pilot he taped to the top :")
*I found some more photos by NJP on my little camera, these are from June and he must have taken them when we were at Luna for my mom's birthday brunch, they are pretty funny! Found a few others from a couple weeks ago, sharks in a frying pan, lol!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

hal-low-een=

The night of October 31, celebrated by children who dress in costume and solicit treats door-to-door.  Kind of a weird day/event to celebrate if you ask me?  I know the kids have fun but the older I get, the more I dislike this whole day, it's weird, people are weird, and Halloween can be a bit out of control.  Thankfully my kids aren't that in to it either.  Notice the definition said children who dress in costume.  I love that 18-20 year old young men/women come to the door for candy, what in the heck?  AND they are always dressed super weird, and scary!  People come out of the woodwork on this day, creepy!
Enough said. Nolan had a harvest party today at school, it was cute, simple. We had soup for dinner, and headed out in our safe, familiar cul de sac for a little trick or treating. Wanted to post these pictures now, otherwise I probably won't get to it. Hope you all had a fun, and safe day, however it was spent =)
L-E-O the Lion!
A little Lion, Mice, & Darth
Poor little buggy
Our friends/neighbors, The Noyes Boys
Nolan at his Harvest Party this morning.  He is a funny kid, always making me laugh!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Cheer

Olivia finished up Cheer last weekend. She absolutely LOVES it! It is a lot of fun for her, she has 2 really great coaches, and it's a nice group of girls. Liv is really fun to watch~she's got rhythm, has sharp/snappy motions and is a great little dancer.  If I had to guess, I think this sassy young girl will choose dance & cheer for sports if you will~but maybe not, she is only 8 & has lots of other opportunities that await.  Here are a few pictures & videos.  Haven't quite gotten to it yet, but I will post a video of a dance routine they preformed last weekend(last game,) during half time it's really cute!

*Liv is in the back row 2nd to last in the first video, and on the far left in 2/3rd video, it's hard to see on here.