9 months old!

This boy is 9 months OLD!  Unbelievable.  It seems like such a short amount of time, and yet he's grown so much!

  He shouts "MAMAMAMA" a lot and we're pretty sure he means it.  He's mobile now, "crawling" isn't the right word, but he scoots along with the help of his toes and elbows.

Mostly he scoots after me, following me from room to room to room. . . .

 He loves this frog, mostly the eyes:)

And then there's the HAIR!

It is out of control so today he had his first ever hair cut!

I just did a trim, not too much, but what a difference it makes!

So, our big little baby is growing up!

My baby is 6!

It seems so surreal to think that six years ago this little boy was born, making me and Dustin parents!  

We had tried in vain for 6 long years to get pregnant so his arrival was much anticipated.  He was worth the wait.  

Damen is thoughtful, imaginative, a great big brother, and very inquisitive.  

He loves to build (Legos), swim, go to the beach, build forts, and play Lego Batman on the Wii.  

He will start 1st grade in this year!  

He still takes naps almost every day, not sure how that will go over with all day school.  

He tells us when it's past his bedtime, this kid likes his sleep!  

He loves fruits, vegetables, berries, and anything else as long as it has a side of ketchup, but not potatoes, no no no potatoes!

He tells us he loves us all day and if forced to will give hugs.  

He likes his personal space, don't sit next to him on the couch.

We love him so much, treasuring each day with this big kid.

Birthday morning present, Cat woman!

We went out to dinner that night, then gave him a bouncy ball (from Mason) and a new scooter when we got home.  

THE Lego party was on Saturday.  

The kids guessed how many legos were in a jar, played pin the head on the lego guy, and grab it with legos. 

The had a lego cake, ice cream, oreos, and per Damen's request, flavored licorice.

Damen had a great time and got lots of new Legos to keep him busy.

Oh how we love this kid.

This "big" 6 year old asked us if he goes to High School now that he's six!

Get a job?

So last month I signed up to be an independent consultant with Paparazzi Accessories.

Ok, so it's kind of a job, but mostly it's just FUN!  Seriously, how can you call selling gorgeous, inexpensive jewelry and hair accessories a job?  

  Every time I open a new shipment I'm a little sad that I have to sell it and can't keep it all for myself! (that would require a slightly larger jewelry box)  

Everything is $5. 

 That's right, EVERYTHING.  Necklaces(90% of them come with earrings), bracelets, earrings, rings, hair bows, and headbands.

I have really enjoyed accessorizing my friends, it makes me happy:)

Please contact me if you'd like to see more!!

Paper stars

Last week I got out my 5 patriotic decorations and decided I needed more.  So I found this super cute paper star tutorial in my July Family Fun magazine and went to work yesterday!  

They turned out really cute!

I hung three of them at the front door and Damen was sad because he wanted them hanging inside, so of course we(I) had to make three more!

Damen helped for a second, then it got hard.  

Then he got goofy.

My plan was to post a link to the tutorial here, but I CAN NOT find it!!  I even Googled it, nothing!  So, if directions are needed from anyone, please let me know and I'll see what I can do. 

They were easy and look great hanging form the AC vent in my kitchen too! (That's where Damen wanted it!) 

FOUND IT Click Here

8 Months old

Mason is 8 months old!  

I have not weighed or measured him lately, but take it from me, he's big!

Not crawling yet, no teeth, getting better at eating solids (and by "solids" I mean rice cereal the consistency of soup!), and he is very aware that no one else is Mommy!

He is such a sweet cuddler, loves his brother, and squeals louder than you'd think was possible when tickled. 

He's a sweet ray of sunshine!

Nanny Goats

Damens Kindergarten put on the cutest little show called the Nanny Goats Opera.

Three of the classes participated in the production and it was hilarious!

Damen was one of the Nanny goats that got to cross the bridge.

 See the scary troll?  He talked about this for weeks before and sang the songs all around the house.  He didn't' do much singing during the show, there was too much to look at!

The video is a bit grainy, we were far away, but was sure cute!

Teacher appreciation!

For the last day of school I wanted to do something nice for Damen's teacher.  He was really great with Damen and we were so happy having him be Damen's first school experience.  I started out with an idea to write a poem and transfer it to a plaque somehow.  I wrote up the poem then searched online and found this tutorial.  It was exactly what I wanted to do!

First I found these pictures that I've had for FOREVER.  I had even put two holes at the top to hang them by with my sisters Crop-a-dile because I was going to do something with them two years ago?  Anyway, I tried to remove the picture first, but it was glued on pretty tight to the chipboard so I ended up sanding it a bit instead.

 Then I painted it using white, black, and purple to get this aged black board kind of look.

Then the poem.  For this trick to work you have to print it using a "mirror" image, easier said than done my friends!  That took way, WAY too long to figure out, but my digital scrapbook program figured it out finally and on I went.

 Once it was transferred I had to fill it in a LOT with this tiny brush and some black paint.

I strung some Raffia through the holes and TaDa, a one of a kind Teacher gift for our favorite Kindergarten teacher!