11 months old

I'm trying to deny it, but my baby is 11 months old. That's almost a year...almost walking, almost starting kindergarten, and then off to college. Where is the time going? 

Emerson is amazing, she's perfect! We love her more and more every day. 

Emerson now has 8 teeth and loves to eat food. She nurses, takes baby food and loves to feed herself whatever we are eating at each meal. If she is hungry or sees one of us eating she starts grunting and crawls over as fast as she can to get a bite of whatever it is we are eating. Reegan especially loves sharing her food with the baby. She gives her the tiniest bites and is so helpful.

Every month I say it, but Emerson is just the sweetest girl and so happy. She smiles all the time and is so content to play by herself on the floor and explore the big kids' toys. She does like to sit and cuddle but is happiest off playing. She makes a mess, empties baskets and rummages through toys.

Emerson takes a pacifier when she wants to go to sleep, but whenever I give it to her she cries and tries to push it out with her tongue. Once I can convince her to take the pacifier (usually only a min or two) she starts sucking on it and her eyes roll back into her head and she is out. She is fairly predictable and easy to read. Every day she takes a nap between 9:30 and 10 for 45 min or so. Then another nap around 1 and sometimes an evening nap around 5. The 1:00 nap is a struggle for us right now. She falls asleep hard for 20-30 min and then wakes up. Most of the time I can get her back to sleep (will only stay asleep if she's being held), but sometimes she never will go back to sleep. Those days are tough for me. She's tired, I'm tired, blah. I know this, like everything else, is all a phase. Soon we will be back to our 2+ hour afternoon naps...at least I hope so.

Emerson's new favorite activity is pushing her walker all around the house and just smiles and smiles! The big kids help her turn the corners and off she goes again. She is also starting to become braver and has attempted to start climbing the stairs. I'm trying to keep this from happening for as long as I can, so we quickly grab her and move her back to the living room.

Emerson is quite the speed crawler. She can get herself all around the house. When she is headed someplace she shouldn't go (usually the stairs) and I call her name she takes off and moves even faster. She is such a stinker!!!

Emerson says mama but only when she is unhappy and whining. She can also clap her hands, wave, and shake her head nonono

Reegan and Gavin are the greatest big brother and sister and Emerson loves them just the same. They can make her laugh much more than Jason and I can. Her eyes light up when she sees them and starts kicking her legs and grunting because she wants them to pay attention to her.

Emerson keeps getting more fun, we love her to pieces. I can't believe these 3 are mine! Its fun, stressful, loud, crazy, and exciting over at the Heine household.

almost 4

Gavin tells me all the time how he is almost 4. I only sometimes remind him that he is just barely 3 1/2. My kids always talk about when they are older and seem to want to speed up time when all I want is to slow it down a bit. I love their excitement for now and excitement for the years to come.

For now I would like to bottle up this 3 1/2 year old boy who I adore. He is wild and crazy and equally sweet and thoughtful. He drives me crazy because he is so hard-headed and doesn't like to listen when I discipline him and the next moment is telling me how I look pretty or giving me kisses. He is trouble :)!!!

Gavin loves to make people laugh and will do anything to get a smile. He is ham in front of the camera. His preschool teachers always tell me what a quiet, sweet boy he is and don't believe me when I tell them how loud, wild, and still sweet he is at home. I love that he is totally comfortable with us to be completely be himself. And he loves to eat, but mainly just wants to eat snacks not meals.

He is probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. He has these gorgeous blue eyes, fair, soft skin and blond curls. Almost every time we go somewhere people comment on his hair and tell me how cute it is. I plan to never cut it short again (much to Jason's dismay). Gavin is so tall and thin, but he eats plenty so I think its just his body style. He has thick, large feet and hands and his thighs are solid! I think we've got a big boy on our hands.

Gavin goes to preschool Wed and Fri morning from 8:45-11:15. On those days we drop Reegan off at school and then sit in the preschool drop-off line for 20ish min and spend some quality time being goofy and listening to the frozen CD. He loves to play with his school friends Ben, Will and Evan playing cars and playdough. He tells me every week that he wants me to be snack helper, I have to share with the other parents so I am scheduled 5 times this year. I pick him up and he walks so proudly back to the car, waving and smiling at me. My heart bursts every time.  I am so proud of him and just love that little guy so much.

Days off school we either stay home or go out with friends. At home, once baby is asleep he always wants to play playdough or do arts and crafts (markers, stickers, stamps, etc). He also loves to bake with me. When we go out he wants to go to the park or chick-fil-a to eat and play.

Some fun facts:
-he knows his left and right better than some older kids I know
-wants to go to starbucks with me to get scones
-food is his love language (sweets not healthy stuff)- donuts and ice cream are his favorite
-tries to sound out words (he hears Reegan practice her reading and wants to do it too, but just hasn't figured it out yet)
-knows all his letters and can count to 40 or so (does skip a number here and there)
-likes to karate things- kicks doors closed and pretends to karate with me
-loves his sisters and is such a great brother. He likes to hold the baby and wants to carry her around (we don't let him) and loves to play with Reegan (he lets her boss him around most of the time)
-loves superheroes (specifically spiderman), trains, cars, trucks, sports, legos, and dinosaurs. Stereotypical boy!
-Wears 4T clothes. We do have a hard time finding jeans that are long enough for his legs. He outgrows them quickly! He can dress himself, sometimes needs help buttoning his pants and sometimes getting his shirts off.
-Likes to be a big boy and independent and other times wants to be a baby and have me do everything for him... take off his pants, feed him dinner, etc

We just love this little boy so much. Life is better with him around!!!!

activities

The weather turned cold for a few weeks so I decided to find some indoor activities to get us out of the house and a change in scenery. There's a near by church that has open play for toddlers on Thurs morning for free, so we've made the trip a couple of times so far this year. This is the face of a girl who woke up and is very confused as to where we are!

Gavin ditched the basketball and inflatable trampoline to spend a little time playing with the baby toys and his little sissy.

 We headed to the mall on another morning. I can't believe its a matter of months before this little one will be walking and running all over the place.

I had the honor of taking Gavin (just us 2) to see marvel live. He loves superheroes and calls them "the nice guys". He had a great time and I loved watching him watch the show.

The following Saturday morning we headed out for some family time. Started the morning at a scavenger hunt at a local art museum and then lunch at Winsteads for burgers and milkshakes.

The chiefs were playing that afternoon and we were dressed and ready.

Baby led weaning is going really well. Here Emerson is eating a grilled cheese sandwich and cherry tomato pieces. Obviously loving it all!

Playing with the rocking horse that Santa brought for christmas

My goofy boy, with the most beautiful, blue eyes, in the drop-off line for preschool.

At home and still just as goofy.

"working" one Saturday morning

Enjoying a nice afternoon in their "tree house"

Craft time one afternoon with Reegan while the little kids were supposed to be napping. Gavin cooperated but this one decided she only needed to sleep for 45 minutes and was pretty happy when I gave in and brought her downstairs to hang out with us and eat a snack of peas and raspberries.

Afternoon play at the park, I love babywearing!

2016 has been good to us so far!

10 months old

The baby gates are up and we are on our toes. This one is a mover and life has gotten a little more difficult. She doesn't sit still for long and prefers to be let loose on the floor where she can explore and move as she pleases.

This month has been a month of change. I'm mourning the loss of my tiny newborn, but almost nothing beats the smiles she gives us and her belly laughs.

Emerson has 7 teeth, and loves to eat. We've been doing a mix of baby-led weaning with some baby food. I made most of Reegan and Gavins baby food, but haven't this time around because we don't use as much baby food, especially at home. This girl has gotten great at feeding herself and gets so excited when placed in her high-chair. Favorites include: cheese, yogurt melts, lunch meat, banana, and most favorite raspberry. Vegetables take a little more convincing but she will eat peas, steamed carrots and sweet potatoes, cooked apples, and green beans. I think she may be our best meat eater at this age and will try almost anything. I think one of her most favorite time of day is when we bring the bowl of rice cereal to her.  She smiles, kicks her legs and starts whining if we don't move fast enough.

Emerson crawls everywhere, cruises on the furniture and has started walking with her walker. I'm heartbroken and overjoyed at once. (being a mother sure does come with conflicting emotions).

 She loves her sister and brother and gets so excited when they come into the room or when they get home from school. She giggles and kicks her legs until they come over and say hi to her. She loves to crawl into their rooms and thinks their toys are the best. Lucky for us all, they love her just the same. They tell me all the time how cute she is and how much they love having a little sister.

After a rough couple of weeks of night sleep due to teething and colds being passed around the house, this girl is back to sleeping through the night. She has been going to sleep around 7 and sleeping until 6am. She's not quite ready to get up for the day at 6, but also wont go back to sleep on her own, so we end up bringing her in bed with us and cuddling her back to sleep. She is up for the day around 7:30 or 8. First nap of the day is 9:30ish and lasts for approx 45 min (longer if we're in the car). Lunchtime is 12:30 after kindergarten and then nap a little before 1:30. This nap can last 1.5-2.5 hours depending on the day. We play for the afternoon and dinner is at 5:30. We are still nursing and I don't see it stopping anytime soon. It works for us all, so why end a good thing.

My favorite things:
-Emerson speeds crawls when you call her name and want her to stop going where she wants to go
-She loves to look in the mirror at herself
-has the sweetest, sideways smile. smiles and her lips don't line up
-her legs kick like crazy when she's excited
-She kicks her foot up to me when were playing so I can kiss her feet.
-When she's tired she crawls over and lays her head on our chest to let us know she's ready for sleep
-She is SO ticklish.  Especially on her sides and around her neck
-Gavin can get her to laugh harder than anyone else.  She loves it when he's just being goofy

Starting it off right

I had all sorts of ideas for how we would end our Christmas break. None of those well intended plans happened.But we had a great time anyways. On one cold day we headed to scheels (a local sporting goods store) because I heard of all the great photo op places. It turned out to be a fun morning, a ferris wheel, bowling, play place for the kids and more.

 Some great photo op spots

 This picture cracks me up. Gavin also stayed far away from this bear, wouldn't come close.

 Little baby in a great big tub.

 Her shirt says it all!

 Im so proud!

 Before he got sick, Jason took Reegan to the roller skating rink. She learned how to skate in PE class and talks about it a lot!

 When Emerson is starting to relax and fall asleep she pinches. Its kinda cute and kinda not, it hurts!

Jason started off the new year with a 3 night stay at Olathe Medical Center. After a fever that wouldn't go away for 5 days we found out he had pneumonia. So antibiotics, IV fluids and a ton of tests later he was able to come home.

Ending 2015

We ended 2015 on cloud 9. No school to worry about, lots of family time, and new presents to enjoy!

 Working on our Kiwi Crate from the aunts.

 Even a little snow to play in.

 Worn out baby taking sweet baby naps and a very helpful big sister.

 Breakout KC with the Larson family.

 Enjoying our new coloring books.

 More sleepy baby time

 Papa and the two babies of the family.

Enjoying our new game which I now realize why it says age 8 and above. Knowing right and left is not the only requirement, long arms and legs are needed as well.  Oops

It was such a great end to 2015, we stayed home and just enjoyed each other. A much needed change after a whirlwind December.