- PARTY FOR MARDI! -

We got a last minute invite to the local Mardi Gras parade with our cousins this year and -- especially after Grammy and Papa offered to babysit Juliette for a couple of hours -- we couldn't say no!  It was a chilly day, but we bundled up rull good, packed some plastic sacks for parade treasures, and hit the road without looking back.  The kids had a wonderful time and were in wide-eyed awe of the craziness [at least the "craziness" that ensued towards the "family friendly" end of the parade route, which really wasn't anything too crazy at all, lol]. 

There were    s  o  o  o  o  o  o     m  a  n  y    beads, and the girls were quite excited to show them all off to Grammy and Juliette when we got home!

- SIX MONTHS -

Half a year old!  SIX MONTHS! 

This month you had your first SNOW DAY! It was bitter cold and Daddy allowed you to step outside into the tundra .justlongenough. for Mommy to hurry and snap a photo of you in the winter wonderland!

 

 

One snow day turned into two three school/work days + the weekend home for everyone...

 

 

 ...and while the rest of us were getting slightly stir crazy after a 5-day shut-in, you were just soaking up and LOVING every bit of attention from your captive family!

Also!  You celebrated your first Valentine's Day this month...

...and first President's Day [complete with bedroom furniture shopping!]...

 

...annnnnd had your first baby oatmeal! Big girl food was a hit for sure!

 

 You are packin' on the pounds and growin' like a weed; you love to be included with your big sisters, and they love to have you right by their sides!

 Happy half birthday, J-Bear! We love you more than you'll ever know!

- Scar's FIRST Haircut! -

Very much unlike her big sister who was SO SURE our tried and true hairdresser was going to cut her eyeballs out with the hair-cutting scissors at the time of her first haircut, Scarlett was ever-so excited to schedule her first haircut!  We loaded up the van after school on February 15 and hit the road to Shear Attitude!

Is it just me, or does this cute girl all the sudden look 6 years old?! :'(  We absolutely love your brand new do, Scarlett!

 

- FIVE MONTHS -

IS IT POSSIBLE to love this little squish  a n y   m o r e  than we already do??! No, no, noooooo it's not! 

...But, perhaps, yes, yes, yessssss it is; because with every passing day, we somehow become a little more obsessed with her!  J Bear, you fit into this family more perfectly than any of us could've ever imagined!  You turned FIVE months old one day and rung in the New Year the next day! Cheers to 2022 and all the fun memories that you're/we're bound to make this year!

At the beginning of this month, you had your 4-month well child visit and checked out perfectly. You weighed 13 pounds, 7 ounces, and were 24.75 inches long!  You put EVERYTHING within reach right up to your little mouth and chew, chew, chew! No teeth yet...

You really prefer sitting up these days and love to play with any kind of singing/musical toy.  You can whip your head back and forth in a 180* motion to follow any action you're able to fix your eyes on [ESPECIALLY your big sisters!].

Speaking of big sisters, the love still runs ever so deep!  They love to include you with all their activities, but really love when they can get a hold of you to play "house" and make you be their real live baby doll. :D

Adorably enough ^^, and despite anyone else's sour mood, you're always just "Happy being Me!" :)  [BTW, Scarlett dressed you that day; your camo pants are always her first choice!]

Here's to another month of discovering new things, hitting new milestones, and falling in love with your tiny personality even more!  <3

 

 

- Farewell, 2021! -

Anyone who's been around here for a hot minute knows I'm a creature of habit and WE LUV US SOME TRUH-DISHHH-EN, so flatter me by taking 0.8 seconds to adore my collage of favorite memories from 2021 [one pic per month!] before we kiss this year goodbye:

Ohhhh, 2021!  The rest of the world calls it one of the worst, but under our roof it was one of the best! Cheers to lovin' hard and livin' LARGE!  We celebrated the last day of the year at a "Noon Year's Eve" party at the local children's museum [complete with balloon drop at noon sharp, of course!]...

...and then scampered home to tidy up the house and fire up the oven for our own little New Year's Eve party!

The kids had a blast with the party hats, honkers/blowers and sparkling grape juice in fancy cups!

The girls and their cousins all seemed to be winding down around 9:45pm, but luckily the YouTube countdown/ball drop can be fired up at ANY time! ;) :)  CHEERS TO THE NEW YEAR [after all, it's 12:00am somewhere right?!]!

After everyone left, we put Juliette to bed and the four of us ended up staying up to play one more game that turned into three more games; before we knew it, we were tucking the big girls into bed at 11:37pm and my #MOMGUILT got the best of me... They made it to 11:37...what's another 23 minutes?!  I can't remember the last time I actually rung in the New Year FOR REAL, but these little night owls made it happen this year as we counted down with a live, televised street party in Texas! :) 

THEN!  Much to my dismay, no one slept in on New Year's Day............... But! We had a great first day of the year reveling in family time, playing many rounds of Boggle, and -- of course -- blowing the party horns over and over and over [and over] again! 

My 2022 word of the year is "live" which I plan to drone on and on about in another post [hopefully published by 2023!]. 

Happy New Year, friends!!! 

- Out of the mouth of babes: VOL XXXII -

Randomly, excitedly:
"MOMMY!  I know one reindeer 'dat be-wongs [belongs] to Santa! ...RU-DOF!"

 

While driving during a downpour:
"I bet 'dose rainshields  [windshield wipers] are getting ti-yud [tired]!"

 

 

As Juliette was fussing while Grammy was babysitting:
"Welllll Ju-wee-ette, we are very sorry but dere's no nipple for you today!"

Shout/yelling before bed on Twinkle Toes's first night out:
Scarlett: "DO. NOT. TOUCH. 'DA. ELF. ELSE. HE. WILL. WOOSE. HIS. MAGIC."
Brian, Harper, Juliette, me:  .....

After school pickup:
Scarlett:  "I didn't cry at 'cool today!"
Me:  "Oh yeah?  That's good!  Did you miss me?"
Scarlett:  "Well, yeah I did.  But I was glad I was at 'cool so I didn't have to wisten [listen] to all your bossy taking."
Me:  .....

While driving by the life-size nativity stable/creche setup at our church:
"LOOK!  MOMMY, LOOK OUT 'DA WINDOW!  IT'S JESUS'S HOUSE!"

On the way to the grocery store:
"Mommy!  I putted on my seat belt so 'da police won't see me and get us in trouble!"

 

Randomly:
"I wished I could see Santa, but I can't because he is at 'da Norf Pole..."

 

 

On Christmas Day at 12:42pm:
Scarlett:  "Mommy, when will Santa come again?"
Me:  "Next year!"
Scarlett:  "Oh.  Well I didn't even HEAR Santa last night, so pob-ee [probably] he will come again tonight and leave more tings [things]."
Me:  .....

While cleaning up her room:
Scarlett:  "Daddy, is anybody a buh-wee?"
Brian:  "A what?"
Scarlett:  "A BUH-WEE!"
Brian:  "Oh, a bully?"
Scarlett:  "Yes."
Brian:  "I don't know..."
Scarlett:  "Well, maybe just BAD GUYS are buh-wees."

Randomly:
Scarlett:  "Mommy, did you 'moke [smoke] a cig-a-wette [cigarette] when you were a kid?"
Me:  "No."
Scarlett:  "Did Daddy?"
Me:  "No."
Scarlett:  "Did Juliette?"
Me:  ".....No."
Scarlett:  "Oh."

While playing with her toys from Christmas:
Scarlett:  "I didn't orda' [order] a gumball uh-chine [machine] from Santa... I fink [think] maybe he got mixed up."
Me:  "Well maybe sometimes Santa brings things he thinks you might like even if it wasn't on your list."
Scarlett:  ".....'Dat's [that's] what I was JUST tinking [thinking]!"

On the way to get helium-filled balloons for her birthday, clearly assuming we were prepping for a water wars party:
"Mommy, is 'da b'loons gonna have water in 'dem?"

 

 

After dinner:
"Mommy, I've loved you for twenty one hundred forty days!"

 

Randomly:
Scarlett:  "Mom, why did 'da bird cross 'da road?"
Me:  "Hmmmm, I don't know?"
Scarlett:  "Because it had to poop!  Didn't you eva' think about 'dat?"
Me:  .....

- #CSW 2022 -

Not exactly sure how that saying goes, but I'm thinking it's something like, "The family that crafts together stays together!" ...And if that's the case, we'll be together for eternity and day! ;) :) 

Because! Hats off to Harper and another adorable religion fair project for Catholic Schools Week. Between Daddy's wood-working, Harper's foam animal-ing [and painting and total project master mind-ing], Scarlett's tissue paper gluing, and a tiny bit of Mommy's Cricut-ing, we nailed this family project! What a fun Saturday spent learning about God's promises and letting creativity soar.

Aside from the religion fair project, a couple of the week's themed days included dress from head to toe in Bluejay blue day and crazy clothes/hair day!

 

After Mass that weekend, the kids enjoyed giving us + Grammy and Papa a tour of their school and classrooms! So proud of our Bluejay and Little Jay (and our Super J, too!).

Harper: 1st grade...

 

Scarlett: Pre-K 3's...

 Super J: 9 months and excited to be a Future Bluejay!

HAPPY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK 2022!!!