Happy First Birthday, Wesley

Today our Wes turns one year old! How can that be? Time passes so quickly and they change so much their first year.

Having Wes in our family has been such a rewarding experience, and has made me more excited than ever for our family to learn, grow and experience over the coming years.

He is the perfect brother for Thad.

He gets roughed up pretty good and his crying is minimal.

Most of his crying is done while crawling after me because he wants me to hold him.

Sometimes I can't resist, and sometimes I can...which leads to more crying. ;)

This baby really means the world to all three of us.

Multiple times in the evenings right after we put them to bed, Brian and I go on and on about him and how wonderful he is.

Wes is funny, he is clumsy, he is sweet and he is serious.

It can take a lot to get this kid to smile, but when it happens...

It is worth any amount of effort that it took!

I love his toes, and how the middle one is somehow lower than the others on his right foot only.

I love how tiny his feet are compared to the largeness of the rest of his body.

We're pretty certain this is why he's not walking yet, but if it means he'll crawl around longer so I can see the bottoms of those adorable feet, I'm so okay with it!

He is standing up to everything and loves seeing more of the world.

He is a curious kid and it is so fun to watch another child in awe with the world.

He doesn't stay anywhere for too long, tho! He's on his way before we know it!

Wes loves to shake his head, wave and put his arms up for "TOUCHDOWN!"

It is an incredible thing to watch a baby learn to understand the words coming out of your mouth.

He also likes to be heard and we are often hushing him because of his excessive volume!

I don't know where he gets that from?? ;)

Most days he is a ragamuffin following his brother around.

It's darling.

His brother is also teaching him to like tv.

I don't like it, but I like it at the same time.

Plus, aren't they so cute watching tv together anyways? That's the main reason I let them.

We may need to get a handle on this before he gets much older!! 

But this is by far our favorite 12 month move:

We frequently catch him doing downward dog and love it so much!

And if you haven't noticed throughout the post, just to reassure you, our 1 year old boy is happy and healthy.

(Please note tiny feet, it gets me every time!)

We love every ounce of him. He has his one year check up next week, so I will get back to you on exactly how many ounces that is when I find out.

This year with him in our home has been a special one.

Today was pretty low key as we took it easy after his big kahuna birthday party last weekend (which I will post pictures of soon).

I wanted a cute picture before he started chowing down on his breakfast pancakes, but he was starving. 

Can't you tell?

He was happy once the 'W' was in front of him...

And it didn't take long for him to dig in!

Don't worry, big brother got a 'T,' so it was a good morning for the both of them. :)

Since the rest of the morning was kind of boring spending it at the church cleaning out the Primary closet, we had to have some sort of an outing for this boy:

So we headed to the cow store to get some free snacks.

I could not get a picture of them for the life of me. Trust me, I tried!

 It was also pretty freezing outside, which made for some pretty cute brother pictures when we walked in the door.

Wes wasn't totally into it, but I forced Thad to be, so it actually turned out pretty cute!

Wes and I got a little alone time while Thad played with Alex for a few hours.

He enjoyed being able to play with his toys, 

And I enjoyed taking pictures of his cute face!

And these pictures reminded me of our first born on his first birthday, so I had to throw in a side by side:

I LOVE their squinty eyes!!

Aren't they the cutest boys you ever did see?

Before we knew it, dad was home and it was time to open presents!!

Of course I couldn't choose just one:

Could you just eat him?

I know I could!

Also, notice the beautiful flowers Brian brought me as a gift for bringing this beautiful child into the world.

I sure hope his boys are as thoughtful as he is!

Thad was so excited to open presents, I could barely get him to hold still for this picture:

At least he squeezed out a smile before he got too distracted to even think. :)

 

As you can see, Thad was ready to move on before I could get pictures of anything.

Wes was a little distracted, but we did the best we could.

After we opened gifts, we got to Skype with Grandma Teresa and Aunt Kayci, and they got a kick out of Wes being so funny and cute.

He was playing peek a boo with them and it was a huge hit!

I forced him to cuddle with me before we put him to bed.
Man, I love this kid.

Happy, Happy birthday to our sweet baby Wes.

We won't be able to say baby much longer as he is expanding in every direction right before our eyes.

Families and growing are so much fun, and I'm glad I get to do it with these boys of mine!

One of the best years yet. We love you Wes.

As of Late

I thought that after the holidays things would slow down a bit, but sure enough, they just keep rolling along and we stay busy. Between visitors, birthday parties, school, work, friends and fun we have plenty of things to consume our time!

Uncle Todd was able to come back for another visit because he interviewed with the Physical Therapy program at a school in Rhode Island. We luckily got him for the whole weekend because black out dates were still in effect for the holidays and it was better to fly home on the Monday following the holidays.

Brian was able to go to RI with Todd and they were crazy and stopped at the beach!

 That white stuff is snow. It is always so much colder by the beach with the wind blowing and Brian said it was pretty freezing. I for sure wouldn't have agreed to get out and take that picture.
I'm glad they could have some good brother time tho!

After Todd's interview, we had nothing but time to hang out and no one was more excited than this guy:

Thad was constantly begging for Todd's attention, and Todd was such a good sport!

There is a reason Thad likes him so much.
I think Thad's favorite thing was when Uncle Todd would trap him in the bear claw between his legs.

Puzzles were probably Thad's next favorite and they put our two floor puzzles together several times before the weekend was over.

We're sad Uncle Todd doesn't have any more interviews near us, but we sure are glad that we were able to have him for the two he did have.

Three days after Uncle Todd left, he and Aunt Kelsie welcomed their little angel,

 June Sofia Monsen

January 10, 2013
Thad and Wes are so excited to have their first Monsen cousin. 

We are so excited that Uncle Todd and Aunt Kelsie get to experience the joy of parenthood!

The same day Baby June was born, Thad made his first trip to the dentist!

 I prepped Thad last month by taking him to the dentist with me to get my teeth cleaned and I think that was the best thing I could have done. He knew that he would be able to pick a prize out at the end and Juan, the hygienist, was so nice and made Thad very comfortable.

 Juan had hardly anything to clean off this boys teeth and was very impressed at their cleanliness.

The dentist said big, gappy teeth are a kids best friend because they are easy to keep clean.

No cavities here.
I am so proud of this brave kid and feel very blessed that necessary things like this can be pleasant experiences. Go Thad!

We started another "semester" of joyschool, and these boys love being back together!

 They all had an action figure of some sort and were playing on the stairs, so I couldn't pass up the kodak moment!

It was hard to get good picture, but what can you expect with four 3-year olds??

We had an extra attendee this day, Sam, because his mom was sick and needed a break and the boys loved the extra company! 

 Wes held his own pretty well and totally felt like a big boy in the midst of all the craziness!

 They all stopped for one split second...

But it didn't last long...they were back to being super heroes in no time flat!

Another boy that Thad loves spending time with is his best friend, Alex:

 Emily, Alex's mom, and I see each other several times a week as we are dropping our kids off at each other's houses. It is easier to have Alex over for Thad to play with because then I can focus on some of my daily tasks while he has a play pal!

These two are so awesome together and I'm so thankful for the unique relationship they share that has allowed Emily and I to rely on each other and help each other out.

Wes of course likes to butt in when he can, and luckily they are both pretty good sports about it! 

With these boys of ours, there is never a dull moment.

Thad turned their new laundry basket into a cage for just about anyone and anything.

I love when $4 things that weren't meant for entertainment turn into endless play. The only reason he has stopped is because I finally had to put the dirty laundry in it!

Wes loves socks. 

It went on for about three minutes straight.

I obviously couldn't get enough.

This boy is also a little clumsy. :(  

The bruiser on the forehead is actually my fault. He stood up to the outside of the bathroom door while I was inside, I then opened it and he fell in. It was traumatic.

That same day he was in the half bath with Thad, no windows and the lights off, lost his footing (because who wouldn't in a pitch dark bathroom), and cracked his cheek on the metal garbage can.

Poor kid.

He seems to have handled it all pretty well, tho!

Brian caught our baby on some pretty crazy hair days:

 But he recovered and is still really cute. 

Don't worry!

These brothers are so cute together:

 And throw a dad in there and it gets even better!

And here is our Thad with a sneak peek into Wes' first birthday bash we had last night that went off without a hitch!

Stay tuned!