Wordless Wednesday

A New Friend and Smiles

This past weekend, we went to Art in the Park. Had a lot of fun looking at all the various booths. We came across one that had Cuddly Critter Puppets. Iyana fell in love. Still having some spending money left over, she decided to adopt Lily. Lily now goes with us everywhere. She has become Iyana's new favorite thing to play with and also torture her brother. Or maybe it's Dayson that tortures her with always grabbing at Lily and trying to take her away ...ahhhh... that's siblings for you.

Isn't Lily long?

After dealing with some weird fever bug for the past day and a half, we finally got some smiles out of Dayson. He was fine when he got up yesterday morning after sleeping 10.5 hours (a new record!), but after his afternoon nap, he woke up running a fever. I should have known after sleeping for that long that something was wrong. I was really hoping that he was finally getting this sleep thing figured out but no. There's still hope though for some day down the road I'm sure. He's feeling much better now as I write this. Don't like seeing my little ones sick, that's for sure.

Love seeing these smiles!

I'm not listening! At least, that's what it looks like he's doing. ☺

Leaning a little but this is what Dayson does when we say 'praise the Lord!' Iyana used to do the same thing at this age.

12 Months

Dayson you are 12 months old today!! Happy birthday sweet boy!! This past year you have brought us so much joy (and a few gray hairs). We love you SOOOOO much!! Here's a collage of all the monthly photos. You have grown so much!

Here's some things that you have been up to lately.

• Running, climbing and doing all things a very active boy does. You constantly get bumps and bruises, especially on your head. The day before your birthday, you tripped and fell, cutting the corner of your eye. Later that same day you went face first into a closed cabinet...and people wonder why I'm starting to get gray hair already.
• You weigh around 21 pounds now. We'll get your official measurements when you have your doctors appointment next week.
• One of your favorite things to do is eat. A typical breakfast after your morning nursing is a scrambled egg, about 2 servings of cereal with mashed fruit, a handful or two of cheerios/kix and what ever you have to drink. Oh, and I can't forget that you almost always share my toast on top of all of that. Do one year olds normally eat this much?

• We've come to find out that you love to take anything you can find and throw it into the bath tub. I'm thankful that it's not the toilet, though you do have that fascination too. As you can see, it's not just toys that make it in there. We have snacks, sometimes spoons, shoes, Iyana clothes when you find them and what ever else happens to be close at the time. If something has come up missing, that is now the first place we look.

• Took you to the park the other day and found that you really love the swings now. We had lots of giggles and squeals.

• I love your little hands. I love how you like to hold hands now when we go for walks. You're so independent most of the time, but then you'll grab on and it just melts my heart. 

• Sleep is slowly getting better. After that one night of sleeping all the way through, we've had about four other nights of at least 7.5 of sleep. It's still not every night, but I'm definitely seeing progress. And yes, my body is slowly adjusting each time. When you do sleep that long, I'm now down to only getting up once and waking up maybe two other times. It's been a blessing.

• These times when you are sitting still are few and far between. I pray that as you get older, you will take time to enjoy all of God's wonderful creation. Be still and know that He is God and He created not only this earth and all that's in it, but you!! You are so special to Him.

• You love your sister SOO much! In the morning you can't wait for her to get up. If I'm not watching, you'll barge into her room to try and wake her. Playing chase, hiding and any other game that you two make up is the highlight of your day. You always have the biggest smile on your face when you two are playing.

• It's not the traditional 1st birthday cake, but we're not really into a lot of sweets. We did carrot cake cupcakes (with very light frosting) and you loved it. Especially once you had a small taste of the frosting. I was afraid that you were going to shove the whole thing into your mouth which you are pretty famous for. All food that you eat normally has to be cut into very small pieces.

Little D, you are such a joy to us. It's hard to imagine that a year has gone by but it's also so hard to imagine what life would be like without you in it. Iyana still talks from time to time about how she still can't believe that she's finally a sister. She loves you so much little one! Have a wonderful birthday Dayson, we love you!!!

Birthday Boy

A year ago today, Dayson made his entrance into the world. Weeks before his arrival, my midwife warned me that I would need to get my running shoes ready and boy was she right. This little guy has been on the move since he was born.

Dayson, we love you so much and are so blessed to have you as our son. You are a wonderful gift from God and we are so thankful that He chose us as your family. I pray that you have a wonderful day celebrating your birthday and that you would draw ever closer to Christ as  you grow older.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAYSON!!!!