9 months...

Carlos, you are 9 months old!

 You are growing so fast, 

and having so much fun!

Sorry I couldn't resist posting that face...

I bumped you in the head with the camera about the fifth time I had to put you back in the corner of your bed while trying to get one good pic

(I know, the things we do for Gram)

You couldn't decide if you were going to cry or not!

And I just realized what your shirt says!  FUNNY!

You are on the move ALL OF THE TIME!

You are pulling up on everything,

and have even started letting go to stand on your own and "jumping" between two objects...specifically the TV table and the dog crate.

You are also into everything. 

This month you discovered the dog bowls,

the hall bathroom,

and one of your favorite activities is finding and chewing on Nerf Darts.

Thanks to Ace's favorite activities, you are never at a loss for darts to find!

I really have no clue how much you weigh, or how tall you are this month.

You are wearing size 3 diapers,

6-9 mo clothes, 

but as the weather stays warm I'm pulling out 12 mo summer outfits.

You finally have a pair of size 3 shoes,

but you make funny faces when I put them on you!

The last few weeks you have started eating more solid foods.

You tolerate puffs OK,

but love to eat small bites of canned peaches and pears

(especially when I spear them with your baby fork and you feed them to yourself)

You've also had more bites of soft table foods and sips of water and Sprite out of Mom's cup.

This is currently how I get laundry done on your ornery days...

 You've had a TON of firsts this month...

One pretty Sunday, while Daddy was working, we "pimped his ride"

and added you a baby seat.

You've enjoyed going on bike rides with the big kids!

 (Dad wasn't too thrilled, but he'll be OK!)

You also helped Bug and I with some flower planting...

 You hated your hat

(a hand me down from Bug)

But it was all I could find at the time.

You always enjoy playing with the Bigs...

 and even played with your first Barbie :)

 I've dubbed your first boo boo as

Head vs Hearth

 You also loved your first swing...

 Everybody in the park heard your giggles and squeals!

Since we've had the nice weather, 

we've had to get a bit more creative with what to do with you...

you are no longer content just to sit in the stroller,

so Miss Nat sent you a pack and play for our camping adventure,

and it's come in quite handy for home too...

 You play for the longest time while we practice baseball with Ace or work in the yard/garden, and we don't have to worry about you eating bugs or grass just yet.

This is you on your first trip to the Zoo...

I bought you a new sun hat for your first camping trip so you wouldn't be embarrassed or made fun of :)

 You are happy, fearless, and determined.

 I caught you doing this at baseball practice the other day when you knocked my keys off of the bleachers...talk about a surprise!

Wow, it's been a busy month, and I'm sure I left off a ton of new stuff.

Every day is an adventure with you these days!

Who knew we would be so happy as a family of 5?

Keep growing Baby Boy,

we are ready for what fun comes ahead!!

Spring, Flings and Washing Machines...

Whoever thought of smacking Spring Break the week after Spring forward is my new "bestest" friend ever!

Things started out rocky, but in the end...

We have have had a GREAT week!

We started our Spring Break a little early by pulling Bug out of school at lunch time Friday and meeting Aunt Bec and Uncle K for lunch while they were visiting and Gram and Grandpa's house.  We had planned on camping in our new camper Friday and Saturday, but it ended up being cold and rainy.

Saturday we witnessed a Great Friend get married to a wonderful man...

so happy for her and her kids to find someone who loves them so much.

Then I washed my iPhone in the washing machine.

What can I say, I'm talented.

I will say...

Our pastor encouraged us to participate in Lent this year.

I've never done this before, but decided to take the challenge.

I have been trying to use this Lent season to focus on my priorities and attitudes, and found a great Lent devotional series on my bible app.

I put a lot of thought into what would be a sacrifice to give up, this sounds silly, but I decided to give up Route 44 Dr. Pepper's from Sonic.

They are .99 every morning at our Sonic and had become an almost every day occurrence.

When Hubs laughed at me and pointed out that I could just go across the street and get a large Dr. Pepper at McDonald's for the same price instead, I decided I'd better pump it up a notch...

NO DR. PEPPER and NO SONIC.

SIGH...

So, back to the iPhone.

I went 4 days without it.

No camera at my finger tips,

no Groupon updates,

no as-they-happen news or weather,

no Twitter,

no Words or Scramble,

no texting...

Oh, and Tuesday at work, I had to go downstairs and ask BFF for my mom's telephone number.

I don't know my own mother's phone number...

Talk about some perspective.

I might should have given up smart phones for Lent.

So, Sunday we decided to go for our inaugural camping adventure.

This winter some good friends upgraded to a bigger camper and gave us a great deal on their pop-up camper.

Because of the aforementioned phone incident, there are no pics.

We had beautiful weather and a wonderful time with family and friends!

Wednesday at work I was able to help some friends meet their new little baby boy.

One of the hardest, yet wonderful days at work, and allowed for some much needed work balance.

The new mom was a champion and one of the toughest women I've ever had the privilege of working with...amazing!

Now, for the picture portion of this event...

(that is, if anybody's still reading after all the rambling)

Thursday.

We got to keep our Sweet Girl for the day...

 She is growing up so fast, and is an amusing blend of Sweet and Sassy.

We took off to the park for a picnic and some play time.

It dawned on me after we picked up lunch that I was about to take 4 kids to the park...

But my "Bigs" really stepped up and were an invaluable help!

 Such big helpers!

He was way more excited than she was!

Friday we wrapped up the week with the Zoo...

Granny wanted to take the kids,

it was a great idea!

 The kids had a blast!

 and they actually posed for pics!

 Probably one of my new favorite pics!

 This one looked better in my brain, but I need to start making a better effort to take pics of them together more often.

So, we've had a wonderful week.

Now it's time to break down and do some cleaning.

You can definitely tell that we've been focusing or energies on enjoying the great spring weather by looking at the inside of our house :)

I saw my new favorite quote the other day that said something along the lines of 

Dirty floors, sticky tables and happy kids :)

We're totally living that right now!

Happy Spring Break everybody!!