In other exciting baby John news, he's slowly discovering he is mildly in control of those crazy things at the end of his arms! He spent one week in January studying them every chance he got!
Hanging out with big brother!
We hosted our preschool friends the other day and the kids enjoyed the sledding hill!
They also made a "snow chair" for John. John was less than impressed.
Baby snuggles after work:
John's generally happiest when he wakes up in the morning! It's the best time to sneak some smiling pictures before he becomes a very serious baby for the rest of the day:
A friend and I were hoping to do a Valentine photo shoot with our babies sometime soon so I spent a morning playing around with some background ideas and techniques. Catherine was eager to model, but not seriously or in a way she was standing still of course!
I LOVE this picture as it captures her silly, wild side quite well :-)
She grabbed her camera to "help"
And then insisted we take pictures of Chewbacca!
We then invited John to our little party:
Who cares if these are technically poor and my lighting was off because he's an adorable model as he worked on some tummy time!
Someone loves to smile at himself in the mirror on the changing table!
The third weekend of January we headed down to West Yellowstone for their Kids'N'Snow Program. This is our third year to participate and as always the kids had a good time! However, if you ask them about this weekend, they almost robotically would tell you it was baby John's first trip. We had worked on preparing the kids for being on their best behavior in case John threw a fit, apparently we may have laid it on a little too thick because that's what they described the whole weekend as. This year we scheduled around a sled dog ride! As I grabbed my sunglasses, Catherine insisted on getting hers. What a diva!
And of course Matthew too!
The best part of Kids'N'Snow is everything is free and short. This is ideal for our kids' ages and our budget! The kids (and parents) get to leave all these events with only the fun memories and there's no family agony over cold, miserable kids not getting their money's worth.
Even though the dogs were tied to a 1/2 ton truck and trailer, and had a brake, they still needed an adult volunteer to help hold the sled in place as they loaded. James stepped up and held down the fort, errrr, sled!
Matthew and Catherine's turn! They were in the far back!
Coming around the corner!
In the home stretch!
The kids reported it was very bumpy! Catherine hanging out:
And unsurprisingly, John slept the whole time!
Afterwards we headed to the park so the kids could do the snowmobiles. I stayed in the car to feed John and as I looked out I noticed what I thought was Matthew and Catherine zooming past on a snowmobile! Apparently Matthew took one lap by himself and then they let him drive Catherine around.
After snowmobiles we headed out to a pancake house for lunch. We were all shocked at the size and fanciness of the kids' hot chocolate!
Once we finished lunch and let John wiggle around in the restaurant, we headed back to the sledding hill! Matthew enjoyed taking this jump at least once before he decided it was better to have the sled stay on the ground!
For his first road trip, John did very, very well, as did the older kiddos. We had hoped to ski as well but when the sky started throwing down ice pellets we left while everyone was still happy.
Back home the next week was more cuddles:
John discovered how to manipulate the caterpillar into his mouth, while simultaneously getting really, really angry because OMG! Something was in his mouth! This made for a comical, yet slightly annoying week.
A happy batman running errands with mommy!
We brought out the snugglesaurus shirt one day:
Check out those dimples!
And the baby comparison! James and I are a bit older in our pics, but I figured I should throw them out there.
John and I hosted another speaker for our Moms Club. He stayed back and helped me with childcare. It was exhausting!
Happy baby!
We've had unseasonably warm weather for the past two weeks. The perfect weather for sister to play on the playground with her friends while the little Fox naps.
Catherine got invited to a fun party next month where they were asked to wear "fancy" black and white, so we scoured the Christmas clearance for this fun skirt and headband!
I tried to get a "silly" picture for some valentine cards, but this was as silly as the kids could be without flashing the camera or sticking their feet where they blocked John!
John has been spending a lot of time chilling under his playmat and is just now grabbing at toys. The big kids take their job of keeping it stocked pretty seriously!
And of course, there's always time for tummy-time!
John tried out his daddy's old Virginia outfit:
Though we all agree daddy wore it best!
When he's not busy cheering on the Hoos, he's off fighting crime with big sister:
Cats and Bats, a match made in heaven (at least until the first time John gets a handful of hair)!
And the piece de resistance for the week, getting his whole fist in his mouth, and not just on accident! He's been pretty pleased with himself.
Smiley baby:
Big sister sure does love her blanket time with John in the mornings:
And big brother does too! They kept John entertained while we rearranged the upstairs. It was time for John and his crib to move into their own room, which *knock on wood* is going well.
Cuddling and cat napping before John headed out to help me celebrate a friend's new baby! Meanwhile the kiddos headed off for a trip with Daddy to watch the MSU women's basketball game.
Apparently the kids left all their good luck with the Lady Bobcats as Virginia did not fare as well that evening. However, we did manage to get the whole family in Virginia shirts all at the same time before we headed out to watch the game!
John was less than impressed with the game and nodded off in his carseat amidst the general chaos that is Buffalo Wild Wings.
And one more baby outfit Trifecta! Love having these pictures to compare:
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