Zzzz

This right here is unheard of! E fell asleep while watching some Elmo the other day. I think she's cutting her two year molars. She's got the red cheeks, drooling, chewing on everything and is slightly temperamental. It has been rough for her. Teething is the worst but good golly she is adorable!

Be Mine?

 It is Duke Manfred's first Valentines and that calls for a photo shoot!! Hello Handsome!! 

 I knew I wanted a special outfit for Valentines but after researching everything was so gosh darn expensive. I decided to create my own outfit and I am so pleased with the final outcome! 

 Holy snaps! I seriously cannot get enough of this boy!

 I saw pictures of kissing booths on Pinterest and I knew I had to make one. I had all of the supplies on hand and I {love} the final outcome. That is the same crate that we put Duke in for his newborn photos. I can't believe how much he has grown! 

 And of course, some kisses! 

 I sure do love my little Valentine! I am one lucky Mama!

Card Making

 While Duke was taking a nap Peanut and I got our craft on. She was so excited to paint. This was her first experience. 

 Dear Pinterest, I thank you for gathering all of the creative people into one place and sharing it with us not so creative people. I mean seriously this is awesome. Toilet paper rolls, naked child and some paint makes for a fun 15 minutes. (Original link can be found here)

 We decided to make some cards for Daddy for Valentines Week and E was very careful. She enjoyed mixing the colors.

 She really didn't like getting dirty. Some paint got on her hand and I tried to tell her it was okay to be messy. Sometimes it's fun. I showed her how to make hand print and she insisted that we had to be clean before we could continue. Such a goof. 

 I am quite excited for Daddy to get his card. It was made with love from his favorite Valentine.

Making Valentines

 I love the Dollar Store. I found some Elmo valentines and I bought some new crayons for E thinking that she could color a few valentines for the kids in her primary class and cousins. Ethnie however, had other plans. She really just wanted to take all of the crayons out and then put them all back into their package.

 We went on like this for a solid 20 minutes, me trying to persuade her to color while she insisted that she just transfer the crayons. It was rather funny.

 The next day she decided it was time to color. (Why yes she is once again naked and rocking the same Elmo bib. Don't Judge.) :)

She didn't like me taking pictures, perhaps she wants them to be a surprise. I sure do love this girl. Maybe next year we'll be all about Valentines :)

6 Months

• Height: 28 inches 
• Weight: 21.6 lbs 
• Nicknames: Uke, Little Man, Monkey, Most of the time we call him "Duke Manfred"

• I honestly don't know when he is going to stop growing. He just hit a growth spurt and is almost entirely in 12 month outfits. He is in 18m footie jammies. Duke and E share a lot of the same P.J's. The funny thing is is that his legs are short like his Daddy so we have to roll up the cuffs. He is a chunk and I L-O-V-E it!
• Duke is such a happy boy! He is really just content sitting on the floor playing. He loves to play peek-a-boo and is crazy ticklish. He loves when you bounce him on your lap or really just give him undivided attention. He loves to be loved and we love loving on him.

• Duke started sitting up unassisted January 8th. He is SOLID. He very rarely falls over unless he is trying to reach something. 

• Schedule.... hmm. Duke Usually wakes up around 6:30 a.m. and Daddy takes him downstairs to play. At round 8:30 a.m. he's ready for his first nap. He gets up around 10:30 a.m. and he eats, plays, eats again and then goes down at around 12:30 p.m. He wakes up around 3:30 p.m. and he and I have some bonding time while we wait for Ethnie to get up a half an hour later. At around 5:30 he's ready for an hour power nap before bed. At 7:15 Daddy takes him up for bath time and he's in bed by 7:45. He wakes up to eat around 12:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.

• He's still taking his soother which is awesome!
• DUKE MOVED INTO HIS OWN ROOM!!! It was both scary and sad, but on February 1st I had had enough of being woken up every 2 hours all night. He has taken up residency in the guest bathroom. (More on that in another upcoming post.) 

• He is CRAZY busy. He gets distracted while nursing and has to see what's going on. He wants to be where you are and doing what you're doing. 

•  His hand eye coordination is getting much better! He is quick too. 
• He is a rolling machine!!!! It's his preferred way of travel. It's amazing to watch him roll from place to place. He's started to get up his knees though. He's rocking and will even take mini crawls. He'll be 100% mobile any day now. I'm in trouble!!! 

• He is MY boy and that is fine by me! I love snuggling him even though he's not really into cuddling anymore. He very rarely falls asleep in my arms. Once in a while I'll get lucky in church or while we're nursing before bed but he would rather be in his pack and play. 

• Duke started solids foods this month! He's really not fond of them and would rather nurse but his appetite is growing. He really enjoys carrots and other veggies. He will take fruit but he prefers his vegetables. So far he has had apples, pears, peaches, carrots, green beans, peas, squash, sweet potatoes, crackers and other treats. 
• He's becoming more aware of electronics. He loves to watch T.V and play with my phone. It's so strange because I still think of him as a newborn. How can he be so grown up already?!

I really don't know where the last 6 months have gone? My baby is half a year old!! He is growing up so fast and is becoming more like a little man and less like a baby every day. I am loving rediscovering the world with him every day. He is my sunshine and I love him more than I can describe.

The Kids

 Here are some random pictures that I love. Like I've said before.... I take a lot of pictures.

I love that toothless grin and those precious dimples. 

 E has been trying to pick Duke up a lot lately. It's rather funny since Duke weighs 5 lbs less than she does.

 Woot woot! Both looking! One day I'll have the perfect sibling photo where both of my children are clothed and smiling. One day. :)

 Hello Mr. Pig, let's talk business.

 Another one of E's favorite activities is pushing Duke down the slide. Duke isn't very fond of sliding but he loves having his sisters attention.

There is lots of love in our home which is PERFECT for Valentines. I love these two to bits! Luckiest Mama ever!!

Getting Dressed

 One of Peanut's favorite activities as of this past week is getting dressed all by herself. She's really quite good at it aside from putting her pants and shirt on backwards and her shoes on the wrong feet. 

The next time she got it all right. It's so strange watching her grow up. She's such a big girl!

L-O-V-E

 My home has been in full creativity mode the past month. Between Valentines and Ethnie's birthday I have got several projects on the go. It's a crazy juggling act but I'm loving it. One of my latest creations was this little picture. It's E's hand and Duke's feet and I love it so much it may or may not stay up all year long. If I did it again I would have done a slightly bigger canvas but this works!

It really helps balance my mantle which is still a work in progress but with a move on the horizon I have vowed not to purchase anything else that will need to be stored. Happy February everyone!