My Boys

Here I am! It's been almost 3 weeks since I posted last so I'm making up for it in this post with a ton of pictures of what we've been doing!

Jacob is growing like a weed and will be 11 months old next week!!! He is on the move and starting to experiment with standing on his own.

 

Bradley had a fun Valentine's party at his school. I went and helped with setup. It was in the morning and some parents brought eggs, biscuits, pancakes, and juice! The kids all had a great time. He loves his teacher Mrs. Usry!

 

My steam mop broke so daddy took it out on the porch to see if he could fix it (he couldn't--too old and worn) so the boys had to be his audience to make sure he was doing it right.

 

 ^Brad with his Nan and Aunt Sarah

The whole 1st grade at Brad's school had a circus-themed program on March 1st. The three of us sat in the audience and cheered him on! They did a great job, and there was cotton candy, popcorn, cookies, and lemonade for snacks afterward. Brad is on the far left on the floor in a stripe shirt.

 

In other news...we have been working madly around the house to finish projects and prepare to list it for sale in the next couple of weeks. My next post will have pics of some things we have done so far! Stay tuned...

10 Months Young

At 10 months old you:

• Still wake up 1-3x per night
• Are mostly sleeping in your crib in your own room now
• Still wearing cloth diapers!
• In all size 12mo clothes
• Have 7 teeth now!
• Still take 2 good naps
• Will NOT sit still! You love to crawl and stand up
• Are eating more regular food now and finger foods
• Have about three 6oz bottles each day
• Like drinking water from a sippy cup

He is such a sweet boy and loves to smile! He is always on the move and I know he'll be walking soon. The one thing he loves more than moving is EATING! This boy can put that food away, I think he has a hollow leg! I just can't believe this his first birthday is only 2 months away.

Fun With Pho!

Today while the big kid was in school, we decided to take a fun trip to the local Asian market and check out the goods! Jacob loved the music they had playing and bounced in his seat the whole time.

I got some seasoning cubes to make Pho, some treats, coconut milk, spoons, fresh ginger, and some other veggies.

 

Hubby requested spring rolls to go with the pho so that's what I started doing while the broth was simmering. Spring rolls are pretty simple and I already had the rice paper. I cooked some chicken breast with Chinese 5 spice, and I cooked some rice noodles. You soak each rice paper in warm water for about 30 seconds the lay it on a plate. You layer your fillings then carefully wrap it up. I used lettuce, rice noodles, and the seasoned chicken. Yum!

 

 

For the pho I keep it simple by using the bouillion cube that has all of the seasoning in it. Each cube flavors 2 cups of water and I made 6 cups of broth. When it came to a boil I added noodles. When those were cooked I turned the heat off and added the cooked chicken and chopped green onions.

 

It was all delish and even Brad loved it! We each ate 2 spring rolls.

 

9 Months In, 9 Months Out!

Weight: 20lb 2oz

Length: 29.5 in

At 9 months old you:

• are crawling all over and pulling up to stand
• can put yourself into a sitting position, and then back to crawling
• love to stand and bang on the table
• eat 3 meals and 3 bottles a day plus snacks and finger foods
• love everything you eat, especially if it's from our plate!
• have two teeth on bottom and two teeth on top
• go to bed around 7:30pm and sometimes wake up once or twice at night before 8am
• take a 2hr nap around 10am and 4pm
• love to play with your big brother
• have outgrown all 9mo clothes and are wearing 12mo size
• are STILL in our room night, but will be moving into brother's room soon now that you are sleeping better

I introduced him to a sippy cup recently and he loved it! Until he learned that chewing on the nipple is fun too. I'm going to try a hard top sippy cup soon and see if that goes better.

 

Out With the Old, In With the New

Good riddance to 2015, and a big hello to 2016! Life has been a rollercoaster for the Pierce family lately. I'm sure this year will be too, but hopefully this time there are more ups than downs! We have big plans for this year, and God willing it will finally be time for them to come to fruition!

We had beautiful family photos taken in November, and I don't believe I ever shared them! The boys did great and we got some wonderful shots of our family of 4. I ordered canvas prints of my favorites to decorate our mantel with (if I ever get the Christmas decorations down, that is!).

Our family had a lovely Christmas. The weather was very un-Christmasy...70 degrees and sunny! But we made the most of it and enjoyed the holidays with family. We spent the morning having breakfast and exchanging presents at my mom's with my family then we headed back home afterwards. I cooked a big ham dinner that evening where my dad joined us. After eating, we all drove around our neighborhood to enjoy the Christmas lights.

Jacob seemed to enjoy his first Christmas! You know how much babies really "play" with their toys...he was mostly entertained by all of the activity. I'm sure next Christmas he will be right in the middle of the action.

And speaking of our newest little one..he is growing every day! He is crawling now and trying to pull up on things. He tries to get a nibble of anything we are eating, and anything within reach on the floor. He loves to eat and is much better with finger foods. His top two teeth are finally cutting through and he let us know that he didn't like it for a few days!

The boys like making each other laugh but I know Brad still feels like we favor Jacob. We are constantly reaffirming that we have to do more with him because he is a helpless baby and that it was the same way when Brad was little. Brad is a very social creature and is constantly trying to get attention and be a part of the action.

 

Like I said, we have big plans for this year--but we also know very well that life doesn't care what we have planned! We are the masters of flexibility and are adjusting our methods accordingly. We have come into the New Year licking our wounds and hoping that this year takes it a little easier on us. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, and we are most definitely more resilient this year after our trials of the last.

8 Months Old

At 8 months old you:

• Go to bed awake and put yourself to sleep very well, but....
• Have been waking up several times a night recently!
• Usually wake up around 6am but we can get you to doze for a bit longer in bed with us
• Take 2-3 naps per day still
• Have a 6-8oz bottle every 3-4hrs, plus a small one during the night if you won't go back to sleep
• Are sitting up much better now
• Are getting more mobile and love to roll around and scoot backwards
• Love to eat food! Anything and everything
• Are getting better with finger foods
• Have outgrown most of your 6-9mo clothes and are into 12mo
• Love going for trips
• Are a happy baby!

We had family photos made--the first nice ones in two years! The boys did great and we got some really amazing shots.

 

Jacob enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. He ate about as much as I did!

 

We are gearing up here for Christmas in a couple of weeks. The weather has not been conducive to festive feelings...it has been sunny with record highs in the 70s. I am ready for some snow! On Bradley's first Christmas we got a blizzard with over a foot of snow, but I don't think Jacob's will be that exciting.