The Sweater

Way back in 1971, 3-year-old Brian wore this sweater... 

His Mom kept it nice and neat so in 2003 we took a picture of Nathan wearing the sweater AND the matching hat:

Life quickly became more busy for us after that and we *almost* forgot to put it on Emma before it got way too small:

We let Samuel join in at that time too:

 This week Samuel finally got to wear Daddy's sweater himself!  He thought it was so cool!

 

 And Samuel even shared the spotlight with Lucas!

All about Lucas

Finally getting around to the All about Lucas post!  There is certainly a lot to tell about him even at this age!  He is ONE curious, active, energetic, loving little man!  He brings out the "awwww"s in us, makes us laugh, and keeps us on our toes! 

The list of Lucas's words is getting longer by the day it seems.  He now regularly says: Mama, Da'dee, Bye Bye (baba), More (Mu), Ball (baw), Night Night (nigh nigh), Banana (baa baa), Whee, plug (bah), Yay, and Yayee (not sure what this means other than shear happiness).  He tries to say new words all the time.  He still signs "more", "all done" and "eat".  If you catch him in the right mood he will sing at your request.  He has also been known to throw in a few dance moves.

His laugh is contagious and he certainly likes to be the center of attention!

Lucas still loves his plug (pacifier) and for the time being we are letting him keep it.  Too many changes are in the works (the slowish process of weaning, learning to go to sleep in his own bed by himself which is going very well, moving into Samuel's crib when Sam moves to a toddler bed) so it seems best to let him keep his beloved plug.  We keep a stash of them in the living room of various kinds and colors.  He switches them out as he desires and sometimes carries several around with him.  

 This is one of his favorites, and he always puts it in upside down:

 He has quite the appetite and begs for food from our plates.  He has been eating only "real" food for some time.  Some favorites are cheese, pizza, pears, cottage cheese, turkey lunch meat, cuties and toast. He is not a big fan of milk yet, but we keep trying.  He does really like water though!

Lucas enjoys "touch & feel" books, cars, trains, balls, play food, dishes and anything belonging to his brothers or sister.  It is not uncommon for him to wander off and play alone for 20 minutes at a time. It is also not unusual to find him on or in one thing or another...

One favorite activity is removal of socks and shoes.  Socks without shoes rarely stay on his feet more than a few minutes, but if you catch Lucas walking around barefoot and ask where his socks and/or shoes are, he can usually go right to them.  Sometimes he just stands in the middle of the room holding his socks and squealing with delight!

We use gates in our home now more than we have with any other child.  It is only a matter of time before Lucas figures out how to get around (over) them too!

 This little one is full of character!

His brothers and sister adore him!

We love you Lucas Clay!

Forgotten

While selecting pictures from last fall to print {yes, I'm a little behind}, I ran across this one from November.  I instantly fell in love...especially when I saw the graffiti beside our sweet girl...

forgotten treasure.

Carpe Diem

I recently read an article titled "Don't Carpe Diem" about one mother's struggle with the unsolicited advice she often receives as a mother with young children, "Everywhere I go, someone is telling me to seize the moment, be happy, enjoy every second, etc, etc, etc." because "this time goes by so fast".   "I used to worry that not only was I failing to do a good enough job at parenting, but that I wasn't enjoying it enough. Double failure. I felt guilty if I wasn't in parental ecstasy every hour of every day and I wasn't MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY MOMENT like the mamas in the parenting magazines seemed to be doing."  To make peace with herself and those who offer such advice, she settled on the following:

"There are two different types of time. Chronos time is what we live in. It's regular time, it's one minute at a time, it's staring down the clock till bedtime time, it's ten excruciating minutes in the Target line time, it's four screaming minutes in time out time, it's two hours till daddy gets home time. Chronos is the hard, slow passing time we parents often live in."

"Then there's Kairos time. Kairos is God's time. It's time outside of time. It's metaphysical time. It's those magical moments in which time stands still. I have a few of those moments each day. And I cherish them."

"If I had a couple Kairos moments during the day, I call it a success."

source article

{To which I add...}

Like when I am scurrying around to do one thing or another and I glance up just long enough to catch one of my children with a certain familiar expression that reminds me of myself or someone else... or maybe the way the light from a nearby window flickers in his eyes and makes them almost glow... or how she unexpectedly appears so much older than she did the last time I looked... or I see that he has completely stopped moving (a rare occurrence) and his whole face is outlined by intense concentration... and suddenly my whole being is consumed with love and gratitude for the blessing of them... and for that moment, time stands still.  I no longer recall what I was doing, nor does it matter because my mind is drinking in each incredible detail and I want to remember this one precious moment forever.  Kairos.

Disney on Ice!

Yesterday my Mom and I took Emma to see Disney on Ice!  We had a wonderful time!  It was an incredible show and Emma could hardly take her eyes off the stage.  This show featured Tiana {Princess and the Frog}, Rapunzel {Tangled}, and Cinderella.  These are all favorites of Emma's. 

 Cinderella and Prince Charming

 Rapunzel & Flynn did some pretty impressive "flying"

 Emma picked a Cinderella necklace as her souvenir.  Cinderella is the only princess movie Emma has seen so far, and the only princess story she has read in it's entirety.  We were so glad she was a part of this presentation!

 Part of the finale

No two are the same

Gingerbread

Each year we do a different gingerbread project with the kids.  In the past we've done a house, a train, and gingerbread "men".  This year we did sleighs!  We rarely get these done before Christmas with everything else going on but it gives us something fun to look forward to after the holidays.

ALL DONE

CLOSE UP OF EMMA'S

YUM!

Oh yes, and I almost forgot... while I was busy, Lucas {in my lap} helped himself to the icing bag and made a little mess.  Nathan took this picture:

Our last "First haircut"

Last weekend we took Lucas to get his very first haircut.  It was definitely time as his hair was getting pretty shaggy, but Mommy misses some of that sweet shag!  I'm sure we'll all be used to his new look in no time.

BEFORE

He wasn't so sure about the whole thing, but did tolerate it pretty well.  It's certainly much different for a barely one-year-old than a 2 or 3 year old as our other children have been.  Overall, he did really well.

ALL DONE!

Having fun after the cut (Emma got her hair trimmed also)

Capture

2012

Wow! January is only half over and it has already been quite a full month!  Coming back from Wisconsin and a 1st birthday party were certainly highlights.  Low points were a minor (could've been MUCH worse) car accident, furnace problems and lots of illness.  Our start to 2012 has also included:

Samuel trying to figure out how to change his doll's diaper (this was his own idea):

 Cuddles with Daddy

Fun with new remote control vehicles!

More cuddles

Silliness

This one cracks me up {Lucas }