Yay for cuteness!  Hope these cheeser pics make you smile as much as they did me.

He was in a good mood because he had just destroyed the piles I had made to organize and stuff all of his diapers.  For some reason he can't stand organization and loves to "help" me create chaos.

This one still makes me laugh.  I had just gotten his favorite blanket off of the drying rack and wrapped it around him while he ran around in his walker.  He was running at full speed when I held up the camera and said "say cheese" and he stopped dead in his tracks and held this face until I took the picture.  My little ham.

Here is my other laundry helper.  This dog will stalk you if he sees you pull fresh laundry out of the dryer and when you aren't looking, make a bed out of it.  Doesn't matter if it is hot any longer or not.  Something about fresh clean laundry that he loves.

I have been trying new adult foods with Taedon recently.  I am working with him on finger foods and trying to get him to experience new things and practice picking things up.  This morning since I was making myself some scrambled eggs I figured he might like some as well.  He liked them for a few bites before realizing that they also fly nicely off of his tray if he picks them up and launches them.  Needless to say he ended up with them everywhere and Niko assumed his position underneath the high chair to catch himself some breakfast as well.

 "Mom these are pretty tasty!"  (this is the before pic obviously all nice and clean)

...and the after pic.  He ended up getting some yogurt and fruit (his favorite breakfast) as well since I'm not sure how much of the eggs he actually ate.

Hope every one's holidays were all that they had hoped for and more.  We went to see my family in Kansas for Christmas and got to introduce Taedon to a lot of my family that he hadn't met yet.  He warmed up to everyone quickly and really enjoyed his first Christmas. 

Everyone took their turn trying out Taedon's new toys.  I'm sure they just wanted to make sure they worked for him and got no enjoyment out of it whatsoever.

"Look at my cool new stuff Dad.  I must have been good this year."

He had a blast shredding the tissue paper.  We couldn't get him to stop.

Getting spoiled will take it out of you.  (And this was just Christmas Eve afternoon)

He LOVES his big boy Scout.  He has had the smaller one since he was born that played music and nature sounds, but new Scout sings and says his name and talks to him.  He starts smiling every time he seems him.

We all got to meet my cousin Katie's daughter (born in July) and what is cool is that Taedon and Anna are the same age difference that Katie and I are.  If only we didn't live on opposite coasts I'm sure they would be best of friends.  Also, if you look closely at my sister you will see another cousin on the way this March.  So excited to meet her as well.

He loved meeting uncle Josh.  Crazy to see my baby brother holding my son.  Feels like just yesterday Josh was that size.

"Mom can we take this home?  It is just my size!"

Once we (sadly) took the tree down I made a play area for Taedon for now since we have the space in the family room.  He played for almost an hour by himself.

I have to brag on our new chandelier a bit.  We bought it when we were still living in San Diego.  I had had my eye on it for years and had hoped to have it one day.  We happened upon it on a sale one day so we bought it hoping we would someday have a room to hang it in.  Now that we do have the room we were excited to get it up.  It took us many hours (around 10 I would guess) and several trips to the hardware store thanks to the builders not making the electrical box flush with the ceiling which made the screws that came with it too short.  Needless to say we finally got it done and it is still hanging.  More photos of the rest of the house to come later.  I promise.



And last but most certainly not least...Taedon has finally figured out how to crawl.  He has been doing his inchworm (see previous blog post for video) for months but on 12-31 it was like it just clicked for him.  Guess he wanted to be more independent in the new year.

*Please ignore the two toned wood floors.  We will eventually replace the lighter wood with tile and are happily taking donations for the cause. :)  I can't guarentee a tax deduction for your donation but I will invite you over to walk on it.  I know...I'm super generous aren't I?

Well that is all for now.  Hope everyone's 2012 is off to a great start.  Until next time...





Wow so I knew it had been awhile since I posted but didn't realize it has been over a month.  As you can imagine we have been super busy with the move.  Between the actual move and setting up and cleaning the house it has been a full time job.  We inherited some HOA violations from the bank/old homeowner so we have been busy not only setting things up but taking care of those things as well.  Nothing major but just time consuming.  We discovered through some things that the house had been vacant for over a year so not only was it dirty from the old owners but a years worth of dust and dirt caked the house.  That has been fun trying to clean up but it is definitely coming along.  Since the house was a foreclosure, the old owners took everything they legally could which included the window coverings from all windows.  We have successfully put up 21 new sets of blinds and two patio door coverings.  A lot of work but the end result was worth it.  Taedon and Niko are enjoying the space although I think Niko sometimes longs for the smaller places he is used to living in.  Running up and down the stairs with me every time I go up or down has forced him into bed around 8 PM every night from exhaustion. 

So with that huge paragraph of why I haven't posted in over a month (excuses excuses I know) I haven't taken a lot of pictures since I have been busy but I do have a few to share.  I plan to take and show off pictures of the house as soon as it is a bit more put together.  So stay tuned for those.

We have had a milestone.  Taedon can now pull himself up to a standing position.  The first time I walked into his room and saw this it scared me to death.  I wasn't expecting to walk into his room and be eye to eye with the little guy.  Needless to say he now is no longer happy being on the ground and insists on standing whenever he is put on the floor.  He does forget he can't stand alone or walk yet and lets go and takes a tumble but is improving on that as well.  The other day he bent down and picked up a toy and went back to standing up. 

We have since lowered his mattress so he no longer can see out like this but he enjoyed the day that he could.  He was very proud of his accomplishment as you can see.

We spent Thanksgiving in Baltimore with Dontae's family this year.  There was a ton of fantastic food and I'm sure I gained at least five pounds but it was well worth it.  I thought it would be fun to take a picture in the same spot that we did last year at Christmas so you can see how much has changed over the past year.  I apologize for the dog and kid not looking at the camera but have you ever tried to get one or both of those to smile in the same picture?  Impossible I say...

Christmas 2010

Thanksgiving 2011

Here is Taedon hanging out after we ate.  

Taedon has decided to help out more now that we have moved and he is getting more mobile.  His favorite chore is helping me with laundry.

I plan to take better Christmas pictures and will post them but this one is too cute not to post.  He is posing with his first Christmas tree.

Niko needed his pictures taken with the tree as well. 

Mmmm...breakfast in his big boy high chair that we finally have room to have out.

His new favorite snack is those Gerber puffs.  He is getting good at feeding himself and had already discovered that Niko likes them as well. 

He also loves his meshy thing (for lack of a better name because I forget what it is really called.)  I put a cube of frozen pears or apples that I have made and he can suck on it like a popsicle.  He will walk around in his walker and eat on this for about 20 minutes.  Lifesaver for me when I'm trying to prepare dinner and he gets some fruit as well.





Well that is all for now.  Until next time...and I promise it won't be another month before I post again.