James's Coming Home Day!

One year ago from yesterday, our family was finally all home. Together. James spent 151 days in the NICU and I honestly felt like he would NEVER come home. But he did. And he's trouble, but we expected that!

Here's a few pictures from last year! It seems like forever ago!

And one more - James's first night in his own bed! He still sleeps with his giraffe!

James is a super sweet baby. Probably the sweetest of all 3. He gives hugs and kisses (with his mouth wide open of course). He loves his mommy. Maybe too much! He is super clingy. I'm usually holding James whenever we go somewhere. He has a little stranger anxiety, but we're working on it. 

James is usually the first to do new things. He's ALMOST walking. He talks quite a bit. And he signs a few words. He's in to EVERYTHING! His favorite thing ever is the dog bowl. Here's a picture from when he first discovered it. He knew it was bad then. He doesn't care. Today he spilled the entire bowl of water on himself though and he did not like that. I laughed at him. Then I helped of course.

 James also throws epic tantrums. His teachers say he's "in his feelings" whatever that means. But he's definitely a sensitive one. 

He also has the best and biggest smile, sometimes a smirk, when he's happy!

Of course we celebrated James's coming home day! We went to the zoo! It was hot but we had a great time!

 The boys liked the alligator best!

We also ate a snack at the zoo and I let James try ketchup for the first time. He loved it. And he's a pro. He dipped his french fry all by himself. (And of course licked the ketchup off and redipped over and over again).

We tried to take a selfie but James wasn't in the mood. He just wanted the phone I think.

Addison took a normal picture of us instead.

And a selfie of herself. Ha!

We also got a great picture of all 4 kids! All looking! Yay!

And of course Addison always takes great pictures!

We went to a birthday party last night for our neighbor Cooper. James was in a cranky James mood. We tried out the swing but James did NOT like it! Ha! (Mason LOVED it btw). We ate dinner at the party too so we had to improvise for the boys. This worked out pretty well though.

And like the other coming home day posts, here are my favorite James pictures!

Babies Behaving Badly

You know how people say "good thing he's cute?" Well those words come out of my mouth OFTEN these days. These boys are BAD. I mean they're super cute, super sweet, and they're miracle babies. So they can pretty much do whatever they want. But come on guys! My dad is already laughing. Like I deserve this somehow. I have no idea what I did to deserve misbehaving children. I was the perfect child - every parent's dream. ;) #truestory. So what do I do when they misbehave? I take a picture first. And I laugh at them. Because, seriously, raising kids is entertaining. And frustrating. So I may as well laugh.

Ok so here's what my boys have been up to lately:

Playing in the dog bowls:

Sneaking into Addison's room and playing with her things. Her ipad is a favorite. Addison has learned to keep her door closed, but sometimes she forgets. And then this happens:

Banging on the windows. And acting innocent while doing so.

Pulling the leaves off the plant. Again, acting like he did nothing.

Playing with the oxygen tank. It's soooo loud!

 Turning off mom's computer while she's trying to work.

Messing up mom's pile of hoarder stuff (I keep everything. Logan loves it)

Stealing everyone's cups. Everything belongs to Mason. In case you were wondering.

 Playing in the dishwasher. Their favorite thing in there - the knives of course.

They found the chips in the pantry the other morning. I was making breakfast so I let them play with the bag of Doritos. It was closed after all. Weellllll . . . Mason figured out how to open it. So they ate some Doritos before their eggs. I felt bad taking them away because (1) they worked really hard, but (2) they worked TOGETHER. Teamwork deserves a reward in my opinion. At least the first time.

Logan figured out how to turn the water on in the tub

 Then he showed his friends his new trick.

And I got a new buffet for my dining room. You know, so I could put things in it. But no, the boys had different ideas. Nothing will go in this for a while.

They fight over toys. Like this mallet for the xylophone. Another favorite - drum sticks.

 And the walkers. We have at least 4 things they can push around the house but they fight over them anyways. Mason's new word - mine. Very cute. Very bad. Very funny.

Logan even steals pacis. He does not USE a paci and has not used a paci since, oh, last October probably. But he's quick to yank one out of Mason's or James's mouth.

Prime example of Mason thinking EVERYTHING belongs to Mason - he stole the chocolate chips for my chocolate chip muffins. And refused to let go!

 They also make the BIGGEST. MESS. EVER. when they eat!

Logan discovered that he can squish his peas last night. Then he ate them.

James likes to drink syrup (not really). What this picture doesn't show is that he ultimately dropped it on the floor under the table. And FYI, in case you were wondering, yes the little syrup bottles at Cracker Barrel are in fact breakable.

James's new favorite thing - sitting in things. He also sits in my lap which is super cute and I love it. Ok so this one isn't really James behaving badly. But it's still hilarious.

Oh and they throw tantrums sometimes too. Those are super fun. NOT. I can't help but laugh at them sometimes though.

Logan's meltdowns are usually a result of Logan getting himself stuck. Like this.

 Mason doesn't seem to care that James is upset. Not one bit.

My all time favorite meltdown picture:

And they're needy.

They are also exceedingly difficult for pictures! That's why I rarely get pics of all 3 these days. This is how picture time goes. And Brian HATES it so he gets mad when I ask him to help.