Fall Photo Session

You may recall my post here which I mentioned having some pictures taken of the boys on a whirlwind weekend this past October.  These photos were taken by Stacy Wiles of Wiles Photography.  She is such a sweet person and does a wonderful job with the kids and takes beautiful pictures.  

Here are some of my favorites.

Good Morning!

Some mornings Alex wakes up before I am quite ready to get him out of bed.  I am running around trying to get breakfast ready for myself and Andrew and Carson.  Packing Andrew's lunch and making sure he has the necessary items for that particular day in his backpack.  Putting away dishes that were washed the night before but left on the counter to dry....  So Carson helps me out.  He loves to go into Alex's room, climb in his crib with him and play with him.  Sometimes I find them both laying down in the crib cuddling under a blanket.  

1/19/12

Carson recently asked if he could start sleeping in Alex's crib with him.  I initially thought this was not a good idea (and still don't think it is a good idea) but I asked Carson if he would give Alex his pacifier during the night when he cries or hold him and rock him back to sleep.  Carson said he would.  I think he is hired!  However he won't be able to feed him.  Shucks.  

I probably shouldn't even mention this but finally Alex had a good night last night!  He went to bed around 7:45.  Oh, I am just recalling that the evening hours weren't his best...he woke several times and needed help going back to sleep.  I last fed him around 10, we did hear him fuss around 11 but he went back to sleep on his own.  He didn't wake again until 5:45.  I was able to sleep 6 hours straight!  It has sadly been way too long since that happened!  You would think a nearly 9 month old would do that every night!  I am not counting on him sleeping that well again tonight, just feel blessed that I was able to get some much needed uninterrupted sleep last night!

Alex's little tricks/phases

There was a brief period of time when Alex would do this thing with his arms.  He would get really excited and hold his arms out straight in front of him, smile really big and scrunch up his face.  The first picture shows that, the second picture is shortly after this excited phase, a bit more natural and relaxed but equally as cute! 12/29/11 ~ nearly 8 months

Here he is wearing his "BIG GUY" shirt doing "So Big!" but ironically just a little guy!

1/12/12 ~ 8 months

Future mechanic or farmer? 

1/13/12 ~ 8 months

Bath time

For the past many months, Alex has come to really enjoy bath time.  He loves to splash and kick.  He is so excited when the bath water starts running and tries to climb out of my lap and into the tub.

I love the sense of wonder and exploration in this picture as he checks out the water nozzle.

These pictures were taken on 1/9/2012 @ 8 months.  I am finally getting caught up!

Christmas with the Kauffmans

 We spent 12/31 - 1/2 with Chad's family for our Christmas gathering.  The last several years there has been snow and all the cousins have enjoyed sledding at Grandma and Grandpa's house but not this year.  These cousins play so well together!  There are now 4 girl cousins and 4 boy cousins.  We spent time at the house, enjoying each other's company.  The middle generation were sent out to eat on Saturday for lunch while the grand kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa ~ always a special treat for all.  Andrew had a GI bug on Sunday early morning...I don't think anyone else got it.  He was doing much better by Sunday evening and pretty much back to normal by Monday.  Wouldn't be Christmas without someone being sick!

Below the cousins pile on top of Uncle Bradley on the couch.  All 8 are there, Rowan is tucked behind Alex, in front of Emma on the couch.

 Alex opening a gift with a bit of assistance.

Carson checking out Andrew's new Lego set.

(no, he isn't picking his nose despite how it looks.)

(actually, he probably is)

Rowan playing with Lucca's elephant pillow pet

Alan and Leah having some father daughter time

Chad purchased a head lamp for a night cross country race he participated in this fall.  He found that having this headlamp came in pretty handy.  He thought Alan would enjoy one for a gift.  I see night lawn mowing in his future and it might also be helpful in doing some chores at home at night.

A cousin picture

Alex, Andrew, Lucca, Rowan, Leah, Anna, Emma, & Carson

More Alex videos

I love all the different phases babies go through.  Alex has done several different mouth tricks.  I have seen him put his tongue up on his top lip and kind of suck on his lip.  Recently we have heard him making a kind of frog croaking sound, where I believe he is sucking on his tongue with the roof of his mouth.  He blows bubbles/raspberries.  He would make this chomping motion/sound with his mouth.  He also traces his top lip with his tongue, sometimes back and forth really quickly.  He displays some of his mouth talents in this video taken on Nov. 30, 2011 at nearly 7 months.

And below you can see a video of Chad playing with Alex.  I love baby giggles and Alex is very giggly in this video.  In between giggles you can sort of hear his hoarse sounding voice.  This video was taken Dec. 3, 2011 at 7 months.  (I already shared this video on Facebook, so you may have seen it there.

Christmas with the Shorts

 Chad was on call the week of Christmas this year.  For the first time we had my family Christmas gathering here at our house instead of at my parents' home.  Everyone arrived on Christmas, Sunday afternoon/evening and stayed through Tuesday afternoon.  Abby's birthday is on the 27th, so we had a birthday party here while everyone was together.  It was lots of fun to be together and have everyone here.  We mainly hung out at our house; enjoyed each other's company, played with the kids, Andrew & Carson enjoyed all the fellow Wii competitors they had, and shared several meals together.  I now have a renewed appreciation for my Mom and Mother-in-law.  All the hard work they put in to having their homes ready for family gatherings like this and all the cooking they do while we are together.  Thanks for all you do!!!  It does not go unnoticed or unappreciated - never has.

Alex happily playing with cousins Abby and Maddie

Abby 

Carson super excited about his new Cars 2 Lightning McQueen

Maddie showing her Mom and Dad her gift

Alex attempting to open a present

Alex likes his new Sophie the giraffe teething toy

(Doesn't Tricia have a cute baby bump? Due 2/2/12, can't wait to meet this little babe!)

Three cousins on a chair

Uncle Ben playing with Alex

Andrew with Grandma

Alex was so tuckered out at the end of the day.  

He fell asleep in Grandma's arms.

Carson's videos

Whenever I take a video of Alex these days, Carson then asks for me to take a video of him.  :)  Don't forget about the middle child!  You can also usually hear him in the background of videos of Alex doing some sort of negative attention seeking behavior.  Here are some rad dance moves that involved break dancing over and around the puzzle box and picture.  I love how he comes over and pats Alex on the head in the middle of the video. Nov. 17, 2011

And here is another video of Carson demonstrating his wild animal crawl.  He started doing this last Dec. or January I believe.  He is so fast at it and does it so automatically at home!  Honestly, he crawls around like this more than he walks!  I hope he doesn't do it at preschool, he says he doesn't....except when they are playing house and he is the dog.  But of course!  Nov. 30, 2011

Christmas Eve

 We opened Christmas gifts the 5 of us on Christmas Eve.   Chad picked up these safety glasses for the boys for their ball fights in the basement.  Safety First! Love that picture of Andrew!

Alex showing his new wooden ball.  Chad was so pleased when I found this little "My first Christmas" shirt and Santa hat on clearance last year at T.J.Max!

The boys opening up our new Wii.

 In the picture below, Andrew was screeching "We got a Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" while Carson covered up his ears.  Too bad the video of that is on our other camera and I don't know how to get those videos on the computer.  You know it is an ancient camera from when Andrew was born.  ;)

Andrew & Carson playing Mario Kart for the first time.

We had the Wii upstairs for a bit that afternoon but then moved it down to the basement.  The boys actually go down there now to play it!

Alex playing

This is a video of Alex sitting up, playing on his play mat taken on Nov. 21, 2011 @ 6 1/2 months.  (He always does as I ask! :) )

Merry Christmas!

Here are a couple of pictures of the boys taken on Dec. 4 in front of our Christmas tree.  I took the picture on a Sunday after church.  I wanted to take the picture right away when we got home from church but Alex had fallen asleep in the van.  By the time he woke up, Carson had already changed out of church clothes into comfy clothes and was not about to change again just for a picture.  Love that little guy and his clothing issues!  He went through a phase where he wanted to always wear cozy things, but here as you see it is December and he is in shorts and a t-shirt.

An optometrist gave Chad these cupcakes for Christmas.  Aren’t they so cute?  The boys had fun eating them!

Sitting up

 What is the biggest milestone at 6 months?  Sitting up.  At the beginning of Nov., Alex was sitting well with assist, but by the middle of Nov. he was sitting up like a champ!

These first two pictures were taken on Nov. 17th at 6 1/2 months.  Yes, he is playing with a plastic bag from diapers, please do not judge me!  It was a really fun toy for a little while!

 Here he is on Nov. 21st, drool and all

And on Nov. 28th, hamming it up

And on Nov. 30th.

We would sit him on the living room floor with his little tote of toys and he would be good for really long stretches of time.