Ells is 9 months

our sweet little baby is getting bigger by the day and is now over 9 months old! I cannot believe at the beginning of THIS year he came out of me, and now he moving all over the place. It is incredible. He is standing in his crib (had to move that down) and loves kicking the mobile so it lays funky. We are working with him on sleeping longer and more through the night and he is getting better with it. Fingers crossed on that one

He has 2 teeth, on the bottom,and we think 2 more coming in on top. He looks like an elf

I put him in his cowboy shirt to give him some street cred

He is sitting up by himself and pulls up on everything

He is learning to steer clear of the Christmas tree, but loves to pull on the branches and the lights. 

I couldn't help it, I let him put a light in his mouth to illuminate him. 

What a joy this little boy is. He is getting better with eating and loves his brothers; he is starting to really laugh at them too. This Christmas is going to be crazy fun!

award

I got an award at work because of my awesomeness. Elliott helped me send a thank you photo to my boss. He is eating the pin I got. 

Woot woot me!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanskgiving up at the fort with Brett's family. All the photos are in my mind, and they are so cute. We got to see cousins we never see and eat great food and spend some quality time with family. We spent an afternoon at a science museum and the boys had a fantastic time. They loved pushing all the buttons and playing in the water and running around. The also had a maze and a train exhibit so everyone had something to do. 

Bennett was a huge fan of the trains. They were super cool. 

us

the two holding down the fort

This photo was taken after we confirmed we are a family of 5. We know we are done and we are complete and content. And a wee bit crazy, but complete. Our boys are unique and special and always bring a smile to your face. They are full of personality and we both are amazed by them daily. What a total blessing to have these 4 men in my life. I always wanted to be a mom of 3 boys, and I am. 

Now, if we could take an uninterrupted nap and get through the night with everyone sleeping, well that would be amazing!

early turkey day

We spent the weekend before Thanksgiving with my family and made an incredible feast that is one of my favorites. Elliott wore his Thanksgiving day best, complete with bow tie.

and a photo of his Thanksgiving pajamas

my dad got to play with all 3 boys in a very small space

but they loved it

we made turkeys to hang on the door knobs while the food was being made

my sister and I....love this girl

my parents also helped me put up our little trees for upstairs and in front of the windows. 

the boys love the colorful lights

we are so crazy

party with snow

I had a KEEP party on a very snowy day in November. What the weather people said would cover the grass left us with 2 inches. We had a great turnout and Graham made his own bracelet. He chose orange and every charm he could get his hands on. He cried when we put it back and stlls ask if he can have an orange one. 

the snow on the patio. We ended up with a couple of inches

We took Elliott outside to witness his first snow and the snowflakes were barely covering anything. 

family snow time....in a few hours it would be completely white outside!

catching snowflakes on our hands and arms

my cleaning crew

They make the mess and I usually get to clean it up, but sometimes, they want to be helpful. I think the like it better when Brett helps out. They like to do what he does. Bennett helps me with the floor; he loves the swiffer. 

I then made a million tiny cupcakes which he helped with. Yes, he had his cars in the muffin spaces right before we put muffin cups in there!

Bennett got all of his toys off the floor and put them on his bed. Which was adorable since he also had his shirt off and was playing and laying among the toys. I did have to vacuum so this was helpful. 

Graham started using his vacuum once Brett started vacuuming. 

my cleaning crew. They make the messes, but when they want, they can clean them up. 

new place to stand

now that he is really moving around, he has found the table, which has this great bar for him to hold onto. He loves to stand here, and if he is feeling real confident, he holds on the top bar. It is really hard to reach him under here, but it is fun to watch his brothers freak out when he grabs their feet!

hair

some how, he got "something about mary" hair

hahahahahahahaha

sleeping

They fell asleep like this early one morning, so cute

brilliant

Brett and I got the idea to hang the outside lights on a super nice sunny day (in November) and then when it is time, plug them in and you are done! No freezing your nuts off and having to rush because it is half through December and the lights are not outside yet. Graham went out to help him. (We just turned the on, they are gorgeous, great job guys!)