What a difference a year makes!

What a difference a year makes! I was showing Arabelle some videos of her on our Youtube account and realized just how much she's grown and changed in the past year. Last year at this time, she was just saying her first sentence and now, well, she talks A LOT (at home anyway). 

Here was her first sentence! Look at what a baby she was.


Here's another little, then and now for comparison. She still had the baby look last year and she definitely looks like a little girl now. *wipes tears*

And, of course, Bo has done some growing and changing too! Ha!

On the go!

The last 2 days, Bo has really started exploring our house. His favorite thing? Power cords. Needless to say, he's been keeping me on my toes. :) Today was the first time Arabelle has really seen him crawling from room to room. I had walked into the kitchen after lunch to put our plates away while Bo & Arabelle were playing. Arabelle came into the kitchen, then Bo followed. Arabelle looked at Bo, then looked at me and said "Mama! Bo is following me!". Then, this afternoon we were in the office area. Bo was playing on the floor & crawled into the back hallway. Arabelle ran after him saying "Where you go, Bo?". He was heading towards the bathroom, so she shut the door and told him he couldn't go in there. ha!

Here they are in action!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFz_Bz-KsHo

Watching a little Handy Manny before bed tonight. :)

Quiet!

Arabelle has been at Mamaw & Papaw's since Thursday and it has been SO quiet! I am ready to get her back tomorrow. Bo misses her too. I can ask "Where's Arabelle?" and he will look around for her. :)

Hopefully she won't be too spoiled. I know she'll be able to help us in the garden when she gets back!

Here is a CUTE video of Arabelle reading a "Bible story" and just being funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0SDEGVlS5s

Bo wears cloth diapers at home and has a few pink ones....the downside of being the baby brother to a sister.

People are gonna know I wear pink diapers???

Awwww....Mom!

Ok, one little grin

Bo also has started really movin'! He is crawling more, can go from crawling to sitting up, and has pulled up a few times! Jared went to get him from his crib this morning and Bo was STANDING UP! Thankfully, we had lowered his mattress Friday afternoon.

He still gets turned around and stuck at times. :)

Bo is 7 months old!

Bo turned 7 mo. old yesterday. He is changing so much these days!

• Bo, you weigh between 20 & 21 pounds, I think. You're in 12 mo. clothes if it's a shirt and shorts, and 18 mo. one piece clothes. You are BIG!
• You are taking 2 naps a day now. Usually a 40 minute nap in the mornings an occasionally a longer one in the afternoon. You go to bed between 6:00 and 7:00, depending on naps, and wake for the day around 7:00.
• You nurse 4-5 times/day and 1-2 times at night (usually twice). You 'eat' table food 2-3 times a day. So far, your favorites seem to be breads, pickles, and roasted carrots. You turn your head and clamp your mouth shut if I get a spoon anywhere near you, but you will eat food off a spoon if I let you hold it. 
• You are crawling forward now! You started last week and are getting pretty fast. You also like to do 'push-ups'. You are a strong boy and try to pull up on me.
• Your 2 bottom teeth broke through a few weeks ago.
• You love to be outside, swinging, playing in the grass, and watching Arabelle run and play.
• We love you Bo!

"A" is for Arabelle

Arabelle drew the letter "A" today! She's been practicing, but it had been more of a "H" than an "A". She got it today though! I was on the grass with Bo and Arabelle was drawing with her sidewalk chalk. She called me over to show me her "A". She was SO proud....and I was too. :)

Girl time & Thursdays

Arabelle and I had a little "girl time" this morning. If you don't know, Bo is a 40 minute napper. Very rarely he sleeps longer than that. It's fun, let me tell you.....and he only will take 2 naps a day! (He does go to bed VERY early, so it all evens out, I guess.)
Anyway, yesterday was a trying day. The terrible 2s have entered our house 6 mo. late, it seems. I decided that during his first nap, we'd do whatever Arabelle wanted. First, we watched a little Handy Manny. She wanted to sit in Jared's recliner and cover up with a blanket. She wanted to wear just her underwear, I kept on my PJ's...ha! Then, she wanted to help me get dressed. While I was washing my face/brushing teeth, she wanted to play in my makeup bag. There is stuff in there than I haven't used in who knows how long (or ever when you see the red lipstick!). We had a fun time. :)
I know this is a lot of pictures, but I love them all!

I think this is my favorite. :)

Checking herself out

Aunt Kay made this outfit for Arabelle last year (it's reversible....the other side is a birthday design that she wears to BD parties). I'm so glad it still fits!

After Bo's nap, we headed out to Wheeler Park. All 3 of us are glad it has warmed up!

On the "Big Slide"

Arabelle was at the top and was looking out the other way, towards the tennis courts. She kept saying "there's a mouse!". I asked if it was a squirrel and said I didn't think there would be a mouse over there. She insisted it was a mouse. A few minutes later, I see a Chihuahua running across the park. About the same time Arabelle says "There's the mouse!". Ha!!!! I told her it was just a little dog, not a mouse and she said "oh". ;)

On Thursdays, we have our lunch date with Jared. Bo sure did enjoy the pickle I gave him!

Whew...that was long!

Busy day!

We had quite an interesting day. You know that saying "There are only 2 kinds of snakes. Live ones and dead ones."? I like the dead ones. I took the kids out to play around 11:00 today. We were walking down the driveway to the mail box when I saw a BIG snake laying right out in front of the house. Now, I can't stand any kind of reptiles. Long story short, I put Arabelle in her swing to keep her in one spot and kept an eye on the snake while Jared got in touch with a buddy of his to come over and kill it for me. About 30 minutes after I first saw it, it had slithered all the way to the back yard, through the fence, right by the back steps, and across the back yard. It was about to go through the back fence when he got here to kill it. It was an Oak snake, but really big for that kind. He was about 3.5 feet long! I had promised Arabelle a treat when she was in the swing, so right when he killed it, Arabelle yelled "I want a treat!". ;)

I had told Arabelle this morning that we would have a picnic lunch, so despite the snake incident, we still had the picnic. I was pretty paranoid about snakes the rest of the day though!

Picnic!

Bo would rather sit and play with the leaves and grass.

Silly girl! She looks so grown up here to me.

Also, Bo has started crawling forward a little! He has been going backwards for a few weeks and can now go forward if there's something he REALLY wants. Check him out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZEHeJYMukM

Please, Thank you, and Paula Deen

Arabelle is so funny. I really need to start writing more things that she says. Tonight, we were eating lasagna for supper. Jared was putting some more cheese on his and Arabelle asked for some, but forgot her 'please'. I asked her to start over and ask (instead of just adding 'please', say 'Can I please have some cheese?'.). She looked at us, then said "Please and Thank you?". She was a bit confused, but knew one of those had to be right!

Then, I was telling Jared that the recipe was from Paula Deen (I usually buy jarred sauce, but wanted to try a homemade one). He said "good ol' Paula" and Arabelle said "Deen, Daddy. Paula DEEN". ha! Arabelle doesn't let us get away with anything!

I don't have much to say, so I'll let the pictures do the talking. :)

Static head!

First time swinging at the park! He loved it!

Finishing up Daddy's t-bone. :)

Meeting Caleb!

We went up to Lawrenceville Sat. morning to meet Caleb (and see Lindsey and Brian....ha!). It's a 4 hour drive, but the kids did surprisingly well Bo cried a bit, but nothing too bad and Arabelle was entertained by her DVD player. We spent the night and got lots of cuddles from Caleb! He is so tiny and cute. It's funny how quickly you forget how small newborns are (although, my kids were never that small...ha!). Lindsey's birthday was 3/1 and Daddy's is 3/8, so we had a birthday celebration too.

Arabelle didn't want to sit for a picture, but Mamaw said "Take the picture then you can have more cake". This is the sweet smile that she flashed....haha!

No cake promised here. ;)

Who is sleeping better?