January a.k.a. "Monster - Huge Post"

(note: I begin this post with a pointed disregard for my lack of posting. It's an ongoing battle. Those who have been a "fan" of this blog, know the shpeel. There's no need to delve. I like to think of it as a "sporadic-suspense- building blogging technique". You never know when it'll happen, thus - sporadic. You're excited, no? Thus, suspense-building. But I digress...)

January - January was BUSY! By this time we are in full swing of the "Birthday Marathon." Sammi turned thirteen on the 29th of December, (yey Sammi!) and I am now officially the mother of a teenager. Yikes. So far, though, she's a pretty good one. Beautiful, talented, stylish, and hil.ar.i.ous! I'll see if I can convince her to let me post some of her "Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde pictures." Seeriously. So. Funny!)

Anywho, Sammi's birthday marks the beginning of birthday mayhem at our house. I feel like I am in constant planning mode.
But FIRST: the year began with some milestones: Charlotte became a Sunbeam (yes, she still refers to herself as "Princess Mac n' Cheese")

and Henry decided to walk and took his first steps! 

Keith turned 8 on Jan. 14th - it was a fun day and we decided to switch up our traditions a bit by having the birthday child get to go to dinner with dad AND mom. I LOVE this new tradition. The other kiddos get to have mac n' cheese or whatever meal of their choice that makes me cringe, while Matt and I and birthday-little-person eat it up at Red Robin. We had a lot of fun talking to Keith and getting to know more of his deep thoughts. He's such a steady guy, with adorable freckles and incredible intelligence. He's easy-going, loves anything to do with the solar system, Angry Birds, science, and Scentsy Buddies. He loves to write stories and has quite the sense of humor. He wanted a cherry pie for his birthday, and so - I made one. Happy Birthday, Keith!

Five days later, it was Eli's turn! He's such a funny guy - we stuck to our new tradition, and had a blast at Red Robin (yes, again) and opened presents. We discussed his thoughts and where he was at in his life, and it was mighty fun. Eli is such a ball of sunshine. He loves everything, loves to play with Keith (whom he outweighs by a pound) and is always smiling. We are so grateful to have this little guy as our son.

 

 

Keith also became a Cub Scout and his birthday was just in time for him (and Matt) to do the Pinewood Derby! Yahoo! They spent 2 hours watching a physics video on how to build the "perfect" derby car. The lesson was learned. The car was built. And the races were WON - all 8 of them! It was pretty exciting and ended with an award ceremony where Keith was given the 2nd Place ribbon. Only in Cub Scouts can you will all races and get 2nd place. Even the kid that got first place was confused. Ah, well. It was still fun.  

Henry got his first haircut. 

 He wasn't very thrilled. It was sad for me too...but, I gave him lots of hugs and kisses and saved his beautiful locks. The end result was pretty cute - he looked like a little man, less like Bob Ross. Thanks, Dad!

 

 

Finally, the month was topped off by Keith's baptism. On July 31, Keith was baptized the same day as his cousin, Sam. 

 

It was so fun to be able to share this day with my friend and sister, Katy. We had cake afterwards and cute CTR cookies made from my mom's killer sugar cookie recipe. So good. (Side note: They really are good...I once ate 6 of them even when my sense of taste was gone. They're that tasty.) It was a wonderful day and we're so proud of Keith and the person he is.

 

January. Out.