Jack turns THREE!

This guy. Ah ~I love love love you, Mr. Jack.

Jack 3rd birthday party was a race car themed play-date with alllllll of his little friends.

This little dude loves his Hot Wheels and his friends. He has been so blessed with so many bff's.

And clearly, I am blessed too... all these kiddos have mommy's who I consider some of my bestest friends.

We started out by playing one of Jack's very favorite games, Ring Around the Rosie.

That was a hit.

Running in circles and falling down? Yes, please. 

Then we moved downstairs from some musical chairs action.

This was pretty funny.

The level of understanding for this game was... NONE.

Even after splaning and splaning (and demonstrating),

 the concept of sitting back down and fast was beyond them...

it was adorable...

and hilarious...

 and good times.

Then it was craft time...

All the kids decorated a flag with their name on it to take home.

Next up, food and cake!

And I forgot to get a picture of all of my creative race car themed food, so what you see is what you get. Pretend like you are super impressed. Thank you.

But check out this amazing cake! I didn't make it, my friend Dawn did.

She's a cake genius.

Happy Birthday, Jackie Blue!

Then we topped off our day of fun with a racing game.

Even though it looks like they were having fun, it was a complete disaster.

{For future reference, don't have a game for toddlers where you have to wait your turn. Bad idea.}

J & B

... and mommy.

Jack and his buddy Avalon.

(^^^are you kidding me with this cuteness?!)

A group shot

(minus two kids who left before we thought to do the picture).

I LOVE all of these kids and their mommies too.

We are so so blessed to have such fun family and friends in our lives!
Thanks everyone for making Jack's 3rd birthday so very amazing!

'Baby' B, 10 months!

This is the blog post where I realize your first birthday is now less than two months away.

Holy moly.

Back to the business at hand:
You became a master crawler this month, B. Right after you turned 9 months you started to 'inchworm' crawl and about one week after that you picked up the hands and knees method and you've gotten very fast since then. You love to explore the house now... and I love to watch you crawl around with the giant grin on your face and listen to your little hands smack down as you go.

I adore spending time with you (which is very convenient since you are still are a SUPER BIG (HUGE) mama's boy).
Bentley, your personality is so much fun. You have the cheesiest grin or the biggest smirk... depending on the situation. 
You will literally follow Jack anywhere {which makes me ever so slightly nervous for the future}...

You started pulling yourself up this month... and are obviously very proud of that, as evidenced in the picture below:

(yes, we lowered his mattress since this picture was taken)

You fell in love with our backyard...

 That's right, eyes on the prize, Bentley.

Here you are, just a swingin'.

And here you are with your adorable snot bubble. 

{And only you, my man, can make me describe a snot bubble as 'adorable'}

 This photo is extra large for extra snot bubble viewing pleasure.

You are now officially hooked on 'chewy'. As a tribute to your cousin, Will, you like to fall asleep sucking on a blanket- just like he always did!

You take after me in so many ways. Ahem.

A rare shot of 'so happy together'.

Now that's some brotherly love right there, people.

Bentley and Grandpa. I don't care who you are, this is cute.

 Whatever is in your hands is going in your mouth in...3,2,1.

 Truth be told, I'm getting a little tired of fishing random objects out of your mouth... just sayin'.

 Family go-kart ride!

 {safety much?}

This is a morning smile... see the puffy face?

Dude loves him some bananny's (as Jack calls them).

Bentley's 9 months stats:

16.8 lbs (3rd percentile)

28" long (25th percentile)

You are still my tiny little man. I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. Although at the rate you shovel food in your face, it just might. B, you give The. Best. Hugs. EVER. Period. I could not love that more. I've never met a baby that hugs so much! Your little arms go around my neck and squeeze and squeeze when your happy to see me... it's so cute I can't take it!

Happy 10 months, Bentley Charles.  I love you little munchkin.

Bentley- 9 months

Happy Birthday little man!

I'm keeping this short and sweet (kinda like you, har).

This month you developed an uber cheesy grin, see above...

and below...

and below...

(the above picture is courtesy of Jack, which explains the low angle)

We had lots of Mommy/Bentley bonding moments :)

You had your first taste of REAL homemade whipped cream.

I'm pretty sure you'll be going back for more of that!

You are THISCLOSE to crawling (although I'm not sure I see the need since you get around the house just fine via rolling). You are always up on all fours and grunting and lifting hands and knees (but never at the same time... thus the problem). Usually your hand or knee is up so long you eventually fall flat on your face. 

What a cutie you are. It's been an amazing nine months, Bentley Charles! 

Eight Amazing Months... Bentley Style

Happy Birthday little B.

This month we made a startling discovery about our little Bentley. At his six month check up, he was only in the 5th percentile for weight (14.2#), so our pediatrician wanted him back in a month for a weight check to make sure he was actually gaining. Five weeks later we went back to get weighed in and he had only gained five ounces. FYI, babies should be gaining a 1/2 oz to 1oz per day. So this put him at a 1oz gain per week. Ouch, that hurt my heart. Really. When I saw the numbers on the scale, my heart was literally in my stomach. But because he was fine in the height category, our doctor wasn't worried about this being an endocrinology issue, but still it was obviously necessary to get him gaining weight.  So, naturally, the only thing we could try was to change what he was eating. I had been exclusively nursing up to that point, so we switched to formula. {Aaaaaand this is where I feel like I won the award for suckiest mom of the year} Within days of switching to formula, he was like a new kid. I mean, you know all the crying and screaming he's been doing since, oh well, birth? Yea, so I guess he was hungry.  And now he is the happiest little fella all the time (although it appears some habits are hard to break because he still boo-hoo's over some of the smallest issues-love ya, Bentley!) And furthermore, two weeks after switching to formula, he gained (drum roll, please) 18 ounces!  If you are as quick at math as I am, you will realize that is 9 ounces per week!

Oh, little B. I'm just so happy that you are gaining weight now (after dropping below the charts, you've made it up to the 3rd percentile). I do believe nursing is what's best for babies, but I guess I just couldn't keep up and regardless of where it comes from, I just want my baby to be healthy and gain weight!  Whew!

Now that that's done...

Here are some highlights from this month:

You played with (or in?) new Christmas toys.

 You got to watch Jack playing outside in this crazy warm weather we're having.

 You hung out with your brother and daddy.

You played with your brother... a lot...

 I think you love his Hot Wheels as much as he does.

 You read books with Jack and Grandpa.

 You sat in the grocery cart like a big boy for the first time.

 (We would have done this much sooner, but I usually carry Bentley in the front carrier and Jack sits in the cart. But Jack was at school this day, so B got to have some fun)

One (of the many many many) things that I love about you is you do a lot of the classic 'baby' things... you love to blow raspberries, grab and eat your toes and love to play peek a boo.

And, really, I can't emphasize enough how much you and Jack love each other. It's so amazing. Here are just a few pictures of the brotherly love that happened this month... and this is not to say that you don't get beat up by Jack, well, pretty much every day, but you sure do love each other regardless.

Thanks for being so fun, Bentley... And happy birthday to my sweet little munchkin.