Unders!

My baby is officially potty trained! Woo-hoo! No more diapers for me! Pretty exciting stuff. He loves his new Mickey unders and has been the easiest kid ever to potty train. The first time he went on the potty, he earned a Darth Vader lightsaber, and when he had the potty thing down, he got his Harry Potter glasses!!! (can you tell he has older siblings?) Yesterday he informed me that he wanted to give away his baby potty and just go on the big one from now on. Darn it! I am happy to say good-bye to diapers, but oh-so-sad to have him leave the "baby" stage officially. This little guy will always be my baby!

Cute bum, where ya from???

My baby boy...

How cute is he???

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New memories....

I flew home to Utah to surprise my mom for her 60th birthday in October of 2009. Just Ian and I went. It was a real treat planning the trip with my dad, and surprising the heck out of my mom. This is the last picture that I have of my dad and Ian. When we went home last Spring, he was too sick to hold him, and when I flew out by myself to be with him when he got sick and put into the hospital, he told me that he couldn't wait for our May visit so that he could be home and better to hold him again. He loved Ian. He called him "Moose" because of his size at birth. He is my dad's last grandchild. And, my dad really loved ALL of his grandkids so much.

The point of all of this, is that when I look at this picture it represents the last memory I have of my dad and Ian. It breaks my heart. I have this deep fear that my children, most especially Ian, won't remember my dad, their Papa. And, that is so unfair. Because he deserves to be remembered by all of them who he cherished so much.

But, this week, a wonderful thing happened. I have a photo album on a table in my living room with photos of Papa. Papa with the kids. Papa with his horses. Papa with my mom. Papa decorating Christmas cookies. A good friend who also lost her dad gave the album to me when he passed away and it's been a great blessing. We look at it all of the time. The other day, Ian went and grabbed the book and brought it to me. He patted me on the leg and when I looked down at him he pointed to a picture in the book and said, "Papa." Crystal clear. And I just sat down right on the kitchen floor and he sat in my lap and we looked at every, single picture of Papa while he pointed and said "Papa" to each one. I could not hear him say that word enough. It felt like we were making new memories, through the photos, and it gave me a glimmer of hope that my children would remember and love and honor their grandpa until they get to see him again and spend eternity with him. He is living on in our memories and we will never let those die.

Littlest...

Another heart melter. Ian is so easy to be grateful for. I am grateful that he made it to this earth, in spite of the doctors meager 5% odds. The things I love about Ian are too many to list, but here are a few:

He is just stinkin' cute. He has a cute smile. Cute, squishy cheeks. Darling dimples. Kind eyes. He has a cute run. His feet move very quickly, but he looks like he is going nowhere fast. He has darling, crazy curls. I love his long hair, and hate to depart with a snip of it!

Ian is super good natured. Such a blessing in a fourth child for a mom who is spread pretty thin. He is patient. He is easy going. He loves running errands and being in the car. He cries very little. He is happy doing anything. Really. Especially if he gets a little treat at the end. It has been such a blessing to have time with him alone while M and M are at preschool. We have so much fun together. He loves the one on one attention, and I love giving it to him.

He is kind to others. Mostly. He gives hugs quickly when he isn't. And, it's impossible to be mad at him. Ever.

He loves trains and airplanes. And we all love watching him play with them! He self entertains better than any of my previous kids at his age.

He is super cute with his siblings. They all love him. Olivia is his best buddy and caretaker. Molly is his helper. Max is his playmate as of late. He's everyone's buddy.

He loves his Mommy! This guy has been super attached to me from day one. Maybe it was the 13 months of breast feeding, but we have a great connection. I feel like I know him so well and can read what he wants, and maybe that's why he is so easy breezy. He is just a joy and makes me smile and laugh every day, which I consider a huge blessing when the weight of the world starts to descend!

Here are more cute pics from super talented Kristen!''

This is the award winner! Of course, he adores Daddy.

Dang it. I can't believe I made him! Good thing we are done, because they just don't get any better than him!

ten months

ten months!

oops, looks like Olivia dressed Ian for bed! I just let him sleep in it, since he looked so darn cute. This is what Ian is doing these days to make us smile...

crawling

clapping

signing "more"

clucking his tongue

pulling up in his crib

playing pat-a-cake

dancing to his favorite music (unfortunately, his taste in music runs towards his dad's)

eating anything and everything

cuddling his mommy

giggling at Max's physical stunts

pulling Molly's hair (and she lets him do it!)

hanging out with Olivia, his awesome roommate

and rocking out with dad!

nine months...

I can't believe my baby is nine months already. He is a total gem. He sleeps all night. He naps in his bed twice a day. He LOVES to play with his toys. He rarely fusses. He loves to eat. ANYTHING. He loves to drink out of big cups (he has the same hole in his lip that his mommy does). He has a contagious laugh. He loves to be snuggled, wrestled with, and doted on by all of his family. He brings us together. The perfect end to our little family. Our CABOOSE.

21 pounds

29 inches

(thanks, Jaide, for the cute picture!)

Half birthday...

My little caboose is six months old. I am super contemplative and sad as I post this. This little guy is it!  Everything he does: his milestones, his firsts, and the things he outgrows just mean that he's getting older, growing up, and one step closer to leaving me! It is hitting me so hard that this is the last time that I will have a little one to hold, cuddle, coo at, and take care of.  I am so grateful to you, baby Ian, for teaching me how to slow down, let things pile up a little, ignore the phone ringing, and just look at you, hold you, and rock you.  It has taken me until number four to finally realize how quickly it goes, how precious each of them are, and really what "in the blink of an eye" means.

He celebrated his six month mark by sitting up for 20 minutes straight without tipping over while he played with toys scattered all around him!

Four and a half months...

we are almost to five, I forgot to post four, and this fell somewhere in the middle.  At four months, he was 17 pounds 12 ounces and 27 1/4 inches long.  He is a hunk of burning love, and I enjoy every waking moment of him, as well as the sleeping ones.  He still wakes me up every three hours at night to verify that I still adore him, and his colic is officially vamoos.  I think he has dreamy eyes and possibly my older brother's good looks.  The cute picture is, of course, by Sue...