The leaves are falling...

We have two huge, old trees in our front yard that provide wonderful shade during the hot summer months and lots of leaves in the fall.  The girls love to play in leaves and got to last week (luckily, because the lawn man came to mow and clean up the leaves the next day).  I got some great pictures of the girls and the neighbor boy, Connor.  Connor and the girls play together almost everyday, going back and forth from our house to his.  It is great to have friends so close for the girls, especially one close to Katelyn in age.  Enjoy the pictures!

Julianne wanted to be buried in the leaves, so Katelyn and Connor obliged.

Connor wanted to be buried, but didn't want his face covered, can't say I blame him.

Katelyn would sit in the leaves, that is it!

Action shots! 

Julianne and Connor went to climb the tree, so Katelyn was having fun by herself raking the leaves and then tossing them in the air!

Julianne and Connor

And, while all the leaves were gone at the end of last week they are just as many on the ground again!  The kids can't wait to play in them some more.

Julianne and the missing tooth!

It all started a few months ago when Julianne told us a tooth was wiggling.  We wiggled it a little bit and so did many more.  She was so excited that she had a loose tooth!  She wiggled it over and over, and we wiggled it to.  It was getting a little looser each day, but it was still hanging in there.  The stubborn little tooth did not want to come out.  The tooth started to tip forward and got a little looser, but it just wanted to hang out in her mouth.  Last week Julianne asked for me to take a look at it and she even let me try to pull it, but that stubborn little tooth would not come out!!

Then Saturday night, my mom commented on how loose Julianne's tooth was.  I told her we tried to pull it but it just wouldn't come out.  Then I looked at Julianne smiling at me with the tooth completely tipped forward!  Oh, I was quite excited, so I asked Julianne to go and get a kleenex so I could try and pull it out.  After I tried pulling it earlier in the week, I told her we she let Brian or Grammy do it, but she refused and said I was the only one who could.  I was flattered and frustrated at the same time.  Anyways, she got the kleenex and I pulled, but that stubborn tooth would just not come out!  I looked in her mouth and could see the adult tooth.  I wiggled, pulled, wiggled a little more, and pulled again.  After a little screaming and a few wimpers that stubborn tooth came out!!

So, I dug out her tooth fairy pillow, she put it under her pillow and the tooth fairy brought her $5!  She was super excited.  Oh and Grammy gave her another $5 for it!

Here are a few pictures of Julianne and the missing tooth...

Birthday Fun!

What a weekend it has been.  On Friday, William turned ONE!  It is still hard to believe that we brought William home from the hospital a year ago today.

On Friday night we enjoyed a family dinner at our favorite Chillicothe restaurant, El Nopal.  William got a little bite of ice cream, which he didn't like, and they sang happy birthday to him.

 William excited to celebrate the big ONE!

He is taking more and more steps!

 Dinner celebration....thinking about what he should have.

He enjoyed some beans and fruit.

The celebration hat!

William trying to get the ice cream.

Sibling love!

Enjoying another bath!

On Saturday we prepared for his birthday party.  We had friends and family over for dinner, cupcakes and ice cream, and celebrated William.

 Waiting for another birthday dinner and the CAKE!

The birthday boy with his Mommy.

He was ready to open his present.  He pushed it around the dining room and kitchen, but never opened it!

Playing outside and doing a little walking with Grammy.

Climbing up the slide instead of sliding down.

His own cake and the cupcake cake that everyone else ate.

 Digging into his cake.

(Katelyn and Julianne helped a little too.)

In the end, he destroyed the cake!!

He loved the bath after the cake.

Practing his walking.

That was our weekend celebrating William.  I still can't believe he is already one, but I am loving every minute of my adventure with him.  I can't wait to see the little boy he is becoming and the young man he will be someday. 

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY WILLIAM!  We are blessed to have you in our lives!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy, Julianne & Katelyn

William is the big ONE!

It is hard to believe that a year ago today we welcomed William Joseph into the world.  Here is a little information about William then and now.

Born: October 15, 2009 at 2:38pm
Weight: 7 lbs 15 oz.
Length: 19.5 inches

My glowing baby...his bilirubin was high and it took about 2 weeks to finally get it under control.

 JCPenny Picture - November

 Baby Jesus at Church (December)

His Baptism (January)

JCPenny pictures (February)

March

William's first Easter (April)

May

Loving baths (June)

William's first 4th of July

Sleeping in his swing (August)

Crazy hair (August)

One of his favorite activities (September)

Today he weights well over 20 pounds (my guess is closer to 24 pounds) and is getting quite tall (probably around 30-32 inches).  He goes for his one year check-up on Monday, so I will be sure to post his new stats.

William is a mover.  He LOVES to crawl!  He can walk and has taken quite a few steps (including 12 in a row last night), but he gets to his "destination" much faster crawling.  He can keep up with his sisters when he is crawling and they are running away from him. 

William also loves to "bite".  This is not fun for any of us.  He acts like he is going to give someone a raspberry and then he chomps down.  His teeth, the 4 he has, are sharp.  The 4 teeth he has are the bottom middle two and the two on the upper on either side of what would be the middle two.  He is working on four more...we can see them trying to poke thru.  They are the middle two on the top and two on the bottom on either side of the middle ones.

William loves to eat!  His favorite foods are: cheese, mandarine oranges, blue berries, bananas, green beans, and graham crackers (especially homemade ones).  He loves the sippy cup, but is still partial to nursing.  He is a good sleeper, sleeping about 11.5 hours a night and taking two naps a day for a total of 3-4 hours!  He likes playing with his sisters and a few friends, but he loves time to play by himself.  He is content to play by himself for 30 minutes if he crawls into a room on his own and mommy doesn't go check on him and get spotted.  His favorite toy right now is his animal puzzle that makes noises.  Other favorites include straws, his sister's princess water bottle, and a caffeine free diet pepsi bottle. 

William is very vocal!  He cries when he is not happy, squeals when he is excited, and uses quite a few words.  We are also working with him on some sign language.  He can sign more and all done, I am teaching him thank you and milk.  Words he can say include, mama, dada, up, ball, bat, papa (though he won't say it for him), and I am sure there are a few others I am blanking on right now.  He loves to wave goodbye, blow kisses, and just started giving high-fives - which he will do until you put your hand down.

William is defintely all boy.  We say he is going to be our linebacker - he loves to tackle anyone close by and crawl on them.  He can throw a ball and loves to do it.  He empties out my cabinets when I am not watching and is constantly climbing.  His favorite place to climb right now is on our fireplace ledge.  Once on it he crawls across it.  He also loves to crawl on the blue dog.  He uses this as a step stool.  Yep, he is definitely boy.  He will go anywhere and get into everything!

We have enjoyed this last year and the joy William Joseph has brought to our lives.  We look forward to next year and all that is to come. 

Happy 1st Birthday William!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy, Julianne, and Katelyn