H's first trip to the farm...

Baby H will all too soon love going to the farm to run around and ride the tractor and play in the shed like his older sister and brothers, but for now, what H loves is being held and cuddled and snuggled and talked to and paid attention to by those who love him, and that is exactly what he got a lot of on his first trip to the farm last weekend:

with Boppa...

 and Auntie J (who he color coordinated with again like at Thanksgiving!)...

and Uncle L...

and Nana...

and "Auntie" M & "Auntie" A...

and Aahma...

and Uncle M (and Auntie A too, there was just no photographic evidence =)...

*and cousin E!

And after just one of Boppa's infamous rolling over lessons...

...H decided that the farm was where he was going to first roll over (once again, no photographic evidence, but lots of witnesses and cheers for H!).

 But at the end of each day, H found his way back into Momma and Dadda's arms...

...and we were more than fine with that.

"mom, can we make valentine cards this year?...and can I make 21 pom-poms to go with them?"

(while I admit the finished product for all the kids' cards turned out very cute, and we really did have fun making these "Jackson-Pollock-esque" cards with pom-poms attached for G, and robots drawn on the front for W & C, the night before Valentine's Day there was much procrastination, very little patience, definitely annoyance, and maybe yelling and tears that caused me to tell S at the end of the night "NEVER AGAIN!  We are buying them from the store next year!," to which he gave me a look and chuckle that said "yeah right, when your daughter wants to make cards and a craft next year you will TOTALLY  do this again.," and I have to admit he is right - I love Valentine's Day with kids..."

C's 3!

Our New Year's baby turned 3 this year!  C is so proud to be 3 and a big boy, especially since he is a big brother now too.  And he really is a big boy - he tries to do EVERYTHING that his big brother and sister do, and loves it when they include him in their play.  He likes to be independent and "do it myself!," and also has a bit of a stubborn streak in him (really?!  where could he have gotten that from? =) which leads him to get very frustrated when he can't do something himself or if something is done differently than the exact way he wanted it done (he has specific opinions on a lot of things).  He talks a lot, but it isn't always the clearest yet.  Fortunately we all speak "C" so there aren't too many issues with communication at home.  He has a big tender heart and loves to read books and play, especially with his siblings.  C is all boy too as he likes to roughhouse with W and those two can get into such mischief!  He felt a little left out this fall when G went to school and W started DoodleBugs, so we made a big deal out of him being in Sunday School and that being "his class."  He is still pretty attached to momma and dadda when his siblings aren't around, so one of us usually stays in class with him. (and I am fine with this - my sweet boy still needs me a little bit yet - plus a class of 2 and 3 yr olds needs an extra adult anyway!)  We also go to storytime on Thursdays at our local library and he really enjoys that, as well as spending special time with Momma (and now H too) on Tuesday mornings when the other 2 are in school and nature center class.

S's parents and sister M and brother-in-law C were able to come over on New Year's to celebrate C's birthday with us this year.  They also brought along some belated Christmas presents, so the gift-opening went on for quite a while with much happiness from our children!!  (thanks to M and Dad B for the photos of the birthday boy that day so this momma could hold the baby and enjoy everyone's company =)

when books are given to our kids, all gift-opening has to stop and the book must be read at that moment...

this was by far one of C's best expressions caught by the camera...so excited!

After gifts it was time for cake!  When I asked C earlier in the week what kind of cake he wanted, I wasn't expecting him to have an opinion at all.  But he answered with no hesitation "BANANA TAKE!"  So we got out my mom's recipe for banana cake that I enjoyed as a kid, and C got his banana cake.  C's other request was to invite the neighbors over to eat cake with him, and Mrs. L said to call when it was ready and they would come on over.

calling Mrs. L to say it was "time for take!"

blowing out the candles

Our big gift to C was his own big boy bed.  He had been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for almost a year, so we knew he was ready.  

"I get my tools to help you Dadda!"

C of course wanted his bed to match his big sister and brother's beds.  We knew that he would want it this way (all of our kids have a crazy thing about matching) so we had some help and special gifts from a few others that made it just perfect for him:

• bed frame the same (we planned this)
• special character sheets (Thanks Mrs. L for Thomas the Train sheets!  She gave G princess sheets and W Lightning McQueen sheets for their birthdays last year.)
• name banner at end of bed (Thanks Auntie C! and also for the use of your gate =)
• name on wall (gift from Auntie Avis a while back that we strategically placed so a bed would fit under it)
• painted C on wall (craft we did a while back that we have hanging on the walls above the kids' beds)

ready to sleep - what a big boy!

The transition has gone super smoothly and he is sleeping very well in his big boy bed.  

Happy Birthday dear C!  We love you!