going back a bit- Independence Day

My sad little blog(s) have been so empty lately. July is almost over and we have done a ton this month that I want to be sure and cover here. That means I'm going to go back in time to catch up on what I haven't posted yet, starting with the 4th of July.

Normally for July 4th we are camping. This year we decided that we'd skip the family trip as we really weren't up for the challenge of camping with two kiddos, one being a crawling baby. With the holiday on a Wednesday, the rest of our family didn't go camping either.

Our plans were up in the air until the day of. We live close enough to the pro rodeo to see their fireworks, so that was our "plan" for the evening. Ben + I were so excited to see Kai's reaction to fireworks this year that we knew we had to keep him up past dark, which has been SUPER late.

After naps that day we ended up going out to my parents' place for a swim, and s'mores.


Then Malakai did his first ever sparkler and we all watched a very noisy fountain firework



Later we joined Ben's parents at a family friend's place for more fireworks. Their house is in a wide open space where you can see several other firework shows.


Desmond eventually fell asleep snuggled up in some blankets with me and Malakai spent some time with grandma making up games during the fireworks. Overall it was a low key and very enjoyable day.

Right now...

Desmond: 9 months {8 days late}

July is one of the busiest months of the year for us. With the Independence day holiday (when we usually go camping but didn't this year), our wedding anniversary on the 7th (I'll try to post about how we celebrated), Malakai's birthday on the 16th, and it being one of the best months for weather where we live, we always have a full schedule. Needless to say, I am quite late on Desmond's 9 month post. I honestly couldn't even tell you if I did one for 8 months, but I think I'll save the next one for 12 months.

This child is doing everything entirely too fast. He took his first step last week and is constantly toying with standing on his own. He hasn't taken any more steps yet, but he loves to walk while holding someone's hands or pushing toys around the house.

{Malakai - April 2010. Desmond- July 2012}

A few days ago he decided to start climbing onto the bench of Malakai's little picnic table. Not cool with mama. It's now outside. His strength has earned him the nickname "Baby Hercules". When he gets grouchy or wants out of his seat he grunts and I like to call him "Baby Hulk".

He's also doing a lot of talking these days and a difference I noticed between he and Kai at this age is that he is already using the hard "g" and "k" sounds. He says "mama" and  "dada"very clearly and can mimic just about any other sound or word you throw at him, but doesn't have any other often used words.

He is an eating machine and recently graduated to cheerios in the finger-food category. He's teething like crazy with 4 big ones and more on the way. This has been an issue when it comes to sleep. He slept through the night twice in a row for a 7-8 hour stretch and it felt like heave. Before that he was doing some pretty nice 4-6 hour stretches, but then those teeth decided to interrupt our nights again and we haven't recouped yet.

Even still, Desmond is a very happy baby. He's quick to return a smile and laughs often. Nobody can make him laugh quite like his big brother Malakai. Seeing them play together and make each other laugh is one of the greatest joys I've experiences in life thus far. I love my boys and am so blessed to be their mama.

and then he was 3...

Today my sweet Malakai is 3 years old! We had a ton of fun celebrating him this past weekend with family and friends. This morning we'll take him out for our traditional birthday breakfast.

Happy Birthday to our smart, strong-willed, energetic, and loving first born!

and for nostalgia sake, here is my first post after he was born. and HERE is the story of his birth from Ben's perspective.

swamped

There are so many things I want to write about (day to day, anniversary trip, various milestones) and a zillion photos I want to share, but with Kai's birthday party less than a week away- I have no time! I am hoping to do a massive update after the kiddo turns THREE!