Love Day

I have noticed that my boys really get into holidays. Mainly Finley, but Keagan is all-about them as well. Finn loves to decorate, and wants to leave decorations up for a sweet forever. Out house has been decorated for Valentine's day for quite some time, and Finn was counting down the days until his Valentine's tea party. He woke up the morning of his party and immediately began making Valentine's hats for his sister and his daddy. He was so proud...  (He wanted Josh to wear his hat to work...I don't think that he did, but he wore it around the house all morning! Good Daddy!)

Then it was time to get all fancied-up for the Valentine's Tea Party at his preschool. Finley insisted on a hat and a mustache.  He was so cute!!! After his Valentine's tea he told me as I took him to his babysitter's house that he had the BEST.DAY.EVER. I absolutely love his love for all-things-holiday.

Ms. Diana snapped this picture and texted it to me while Finn was at his tea party at school. His smile cracks me up!! And the little girl next to him is not impressed. Haha!

After school Finn went to his new babysitter's house and brought her chocolate covered strawberries. He is such a sweet kid and loves every one of his babysitters. (Long story, short, Mal Mal is going to be having her own baby soon and when we found out about MeeMee/Ms. Donya's availability, she already was getting a waiting list so we jumped on it and she gave us a spot!)

As a kid I absolutely LOVED going through my Valentine's loot. And it was fun to go through each boy's goodies with them.

On the actual day of St. Valentine (yes, all of the above happened the day before...) Josh and I were both off so we took Finn and Maclyn to eat lunch with Keagan at school. Finn had a blast; he has been begging to go eat lunch with his big brother "at kindergarten" for a very long time. He carried his own tray and picked out his own food. I really wanted to get a picture of him doing this but I was carrying the baby while also making sure he didn't drop his food everywhere!! I believe Keagan enjoyed having his brother at his school just as much as Finley enjoyed being there!

I set up our Valentine's table while Finn took a nap and he was so excited to see all the hearts and pink presents!! Once Keagan came home I let them open their goody bags.

My littlest Valentine is so sweet and cheery...she loves to wave at Mommy!!

With Valentines Day falling on a Tuesday, the boys still had to go to basketball practice at 530, so we had a quick supper and Josh took them to practice. I stayed back and prepared a fun dessert of chocolate fondue and yummy things to dip into it! I wasn't sure how much the boys would enjoy it because they both tend to turn their noses up at different things (even if they are DELICIOUS). But they both absolutely loved it, and enjoyed the act of dipping marshmallows, strawberries, rice krispy treats, and bananas into the chocolate. Maclyn even had her first teeny taste of chocolate! And she loved it. (duh.)

I posted a couple of these pictures on Facebook and was reminded by an old childhood friend that she came to a Valentine's party that I planned, set up, and hosted when we were in elementary school...she said the pictures and decorations reminded her of that party. I had forgotten about that party and her reminder brought warm fuzzies as I reminisced on it and on my love for Valentine's day when I was a little girl. And it isn't just Valentine's day...I love to celebrate all holidays and "special" days. I am so thankful that my children enjoy it and my husband goes along with it! (I think he enjoys it, too!!)  Valentines Day is such a fun day to remind the people we love the most of just how much we love them.

Maclyn - 7 months grown

SEVEN. My baby doll is 7 months old. I am shaking my head as I type this. Didn't I JUST do her 6 month blog? (Why, yes. Yes I did...because it was super late)

As I have said all along, my sweet Mac has the best personality and is so even-tempered and easy going. It hasn't changed since birth and I pray this is just her. She is a happy little baby and hardly makes a peep unless she is dirty, hungry, or tired. Only a handful of times have we heard angry screams and they are usually when she is put on her tummy. She has started to have a little bit of separation anxiety, but it isn't bad. It is mainly if I walk out of the room and she is left alone for a few seconds. But she generally doesn't fuss if someone holds her, unless the above conditions exist.

Motor milestones: none. Haha, I am only slightly kidding. Maclyn is still not rolling. If you help her position her arm when she's on her tummy she goes right over, but the child is lazy and won't do it herself. She doesn't even attempt to roll back to belly. She is sitting for short bursts of time (5-10 minutes) but needs occasional repositioning. She is starting to reach for something and then return to upright sitting without losing her balance. So I am proud of that. She will bear a teeny amount of weight on her feet in supported standing, and a teeny amount of weight through her hands when initially positioned on her tummy. (I feel like I am documenting on a pediatric patient...)

Maclyn sleeps through the night most nights. She does go from 730pm-630am (ish) without nursing. We have created a slight monster with the pacifier though...and there have been nights where she wakes up and cannot (will not?) go back to sleep unless one of us puts the paci back in her mouth. I guess it is a pick-your-battles kind of thing...because Finn didn't fully sleep through the night til he was 2!! I just remind myself that she is still a baby, and this is what babies do...and if it's the roughest part of her babyhood, then I will take it.

The hardest part for me about Maclyn getting older is that this is likely my last baby to nurse. There is absolutely nothing better to me than being able to nourish, soothe, and bond with my baby in a way nothing else and no one else can. Selfishly, I dread this stage ending. And just this week Mac dropped a nursing session. She was eating every 3 hours or so, and now is now pushing to every four. She loves her "real" food and coos and howls for it when she sees you get it ready, and occasionally gets upset when its gone. So far she has eaten peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, avocados, prunes, apples, bananas, pears. She hates green beans and squash...gags and carries on and will clamp her mouth tight.

Mac babbles a lot, and says a lot of dadadada and mamama and babababa. I am gonna say those are because of the members of her family that love her so. She has also started waving, either by putting her hand in the air with the palm facing out (like a good ol' boy acknowledgement) or by opening/closing her hand. Mac also responds to her multitude of names and will turn her head quickly to whoever is calling her and smile. Its pretty great. She also "dances" her whole body and head while throwing her arms and legs up and down! It is talent...I don't think I could move every aspect of my body like that ever! Oh, and she blows bubbles, sucks her face in to make a serious double chin, and howls/coos like an owl.

Likes: baths and being naked (and peeing on mommy....), food, her brothers playing with her, pacifier, bouncing in her bouncy, music, her carseat, her swing and Rock-n-play, nursing and playing with Mommy's hair, when her daddy walks in the room, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on TV

Dislikes: tummy time, being left alone, taking naps, having something she shouldn't have taken away, having clothing pulled over her head