January 17 - Calder's Half Birthday!!!

Today was Calder's half birthday (and he was VERY excited about it!).  He told EVERY SINGLE PERSON we saw today that it was his half birthday.  We went to several stores and everyone in the stores we went in knew and they knew we were going to lunch and to get a special treat!  I LOVE how excited he gets about things!

We got up this morning and Cass went to meet a friend he meets with once a week.  I got the boys dressed then we took Caden to school and Calder and Bates went to Publix with me.  They sat in the car buggy (which is a special treat at our house) and drove and laughed the whole time we were in the store!  We got a cookie on our way out and that made for two really smiley boys!  At the checkout, the man behind me said he was the superintendent for the Hobby Lobby store they are building next door.  Our Hobby Lobby was demolished in the tornado and a lot of people, including myself, have been anxiously waiting for them to rebuild!  They are relocating and the grand opening will be February 6!!!  I CANNOT WAIT!!!

 Half Birthday Boy!  I left my camera in the car and it was pouring down rain so this is all we got!

 Bates enjoyed it, too!  In fact, he screamed between every bite!

Frozen Yogurt is one of Caden's FAVORITE things!  He LOVED his!!

Then we came home to rest and I snuggled with Calder and watched Mickey Mouse (his favorite)!  We got Bates up then headed back out to the post office and to pick up Caden.  Then, we headed to pick up Daddy and go to Five Guys for lunch.  Caden got a hot dog, which surprises me because we NEVER eat them, but he ate the whole thing!  The rest of us ate hamburgers and they were yummy!  We were headed to GiGi's Cupcakes for Calder's half birthday cupcake but he decided he wanted Yogurt Mountain instead. (this surprised us because cupcakes are his favorite and a rare and special treat and he doesn't ever really like ice cream - but he ate his ENTIRE bowl!)

We dropped Daddy off then headed home for naps!  It took the boys a LONG time to go down for their naps today.  I just don't understand why it takes so long for them to go to sleep some days.  Caden finally came out and asked if he could sleep on the sofa so Calder wouldn't bother him.  I feel so bad that they have to share a room sometimes.  I don't think it's fair to Caden because he really does try hard to do the right thing at naptime and bedtime but he has someone constantly talking to him!  Cass doesn't think that we can trust Calder in the room with Bates yet but at some point soon, we will (unless our house sells and they are able to all have their own rooms...which would be WONDERFUL!...add that to your prayer list :) ).

 Waiting for dinner to be ready!

 LOVE these little guys :)

 Everyone is always so good to play with Bates!

These get played with more than anything else at our house!  They LOVE them!!!

Leftovers for dinner!  Bates has been eating a TON!  He seems to be so hungry at meal times and smiles and talks the whole time.  He definitely knows what he wants and what he doesn't want and his vocabulary grows every day!  I love it!  It's so fun watching your children learn to do new things and say new things!  When I picked him up after dinner he did his hands to say "all done" in sign language then started saying, "baba  baba baba"  which means bath!  He LOVES to get a bath and recently he's been eating, having a bath then going to bed!  I think it's his new little routine and that puts him in bed anywhere between 6 and 7!  Then he sleeps later than the other two boys!  It's great!  We have had three babies who smile and sleep all the time!

Then, big boy bath time and bed time.  It's been taking Calder a long time to go to sleep.  I cannot figure out what is bothering him but he seems so sad at night time and is terrified for us to leave him in his room.  He ends up crying himself to sleep most nights.  If anyone has any suggestions on this, I'd love them.  I want him to know he is safe and secure in his room!

Cass had some work to do and I wanted to try out my new sewing machine I got for Christmas so I cut out a new bubble pattern I got and went to town making a bubble for Bates!  I'm almost finished but need to buy the buttons and elastic tomorrow!  I'm a little nervous about messing it up but there isn't much left!  I'll post a pic tomorrow.  It won't be perfect but I think he can still wear it.  I'm getting better but still need LOTS of practice!  I can make things good enough for my kids to wear and that's about it!

We're about to go to bed so we can get up and start our busy Wednesday!  Looking forward to going through our book tomorrow night!!!