Riser's first birthday

On Riser's actual birthday we had a fun low-key day. While Eric was at work I took the kids to the Virginia Living Museum to meet up with some friends. After Benny got home we played outside, opened some presents and had dinner (mac & cheese and hot dogs), and cake! I believe the cake was Riser's favorite part - he went straight into the bath afterwards.

Our last night with our 0 year old!

A neighbor handed down a Thomas the train power wheel to Riser. Bonnie immediately took him for a spin.

Bonnie was tired of waiting for her own cake, she started licking the icing off his fingers. He thought it was hysterical.

The next day we went to his one year check-up. That afternoon we got some pizzas and cupcakes and had a little celebration with friends and cousins! It is so sweet to see so many people loving on our kids!

Katie was so sweet to get a picture of our small group - but I wish I would have remembered to get one with everyone! 

Thank you to everyone who sent birthday love/wishes. It means so so much!

Riser is 1 year old!!!

And just like that, our sweet boy is one year old. As much as I'm going to miss these monthly pictures, it has become almost impossible to make this kid lay still for a moment to snap a photo. This birthday has definitely hit a little differently for me. He has made the transition from one kid to two so seamless and easy on us. It's still hard for me to believe I am the lucky one who gets to be his mama. It is a dream. 

At his one year check-up, little man weighed in at 21 lbs 4 oz (49th percentile), his height was 30.25 inches (67th percentile), and his head measured 17.13 inches (2nd percentile). He still has just his bottom two teeth but the top two are so so close to breaking through. He continues to do well sleeping through the night from about 7pm to 7am, and still takes two naps a day. He still nurses about 3-4 times a day and loves to eat. 

This month he has been making great strides (literally) in walking. He still isn't walking confidently yet, but can take around 5 steps at a time. This has been going on for a couple weeks now so we are guessing it won't be long before he is walking all over the house. We had a wonderful little birthday celebration for him that I will share in the next post!

fsda

sdfa

asdf

Shug and Racheal visit

My dad came down for a weekend visit earlier in the month. We hadn't seen him since October so it was overdue! We did lots of hanging around the house on Saturday, then did a walk in Colonial Williamsburg and lunch at Mellow Mushroom on Sunday before they had to take off. It was a great visit!

February extras

February was a busy month! Riser got Hand Foot and Mouth, which looked way worse than I think he felt. 

Just some cute baby butt pictures.

This winter has been incredibly mild, which has meant lots of time outside.

And lots of eating dirt.

Riser has been bear crawling everywhere, he is trying so hard to walk!

We went to Busch Gardens where they happened to be celebrating Mardi Gras.

This girl loves a good ride. She will ride anything she is tall enough for. 

Sometimes we have to come up with rides inside the house too.

On Valentine's day my moms group had some people come to do our nails and give massages. 

Bonnie is so thrilled anytime she has mail to open.

We have had some good cousin time.

Riser is going through his toilet paper phase.

Our dishwasher broke. The kids enjoyed watching Benny learn how to install the new one.

Just a couple guys at the water cooler.

This fence is my favorite purchase since we've lived here.

Nothing keeps this girl playing independently the way digging in the dirt does. 

Our friend recently got a mud kitchen in her backyard and invited us over. The kids were in dirt heaven.

I think this kid wants a sandbox. 

About a month ago Bonnie noticed the pictures of people in the back of her books so we explained those are the authors and illustrators of her books. The last few weeks she has been really into always looking at the authors after we finish a book. Well one day when I came in to get her after quiet time she had been flipping back and forth through one of her bibles. I asked what she was doing and she said "I'm trying to figure out who wrote this thing!" 

Dinner time at our house.

After dinner shenanigans. 

It was another great month!