Happy Birthday, Nate!!!!!

Guess who just turned the big ONE!!! I know I've said this before, but I CAN'T BELIEVE MY BABY IS ALREADY A YEAR OLD!!! Time really does fly way too fast.

What's happening with Nate:

- Height and weight: to be determined on Thursday. I will update. He's big. That's all I know! He is wearing 18-month clothing and size 4 diapers.

- He finally has a tooth! It popped up a few weeks ago. The one beside it is going to break through any minute, so Nate tells us. We have started brushing his tooth, and he loves it!

- He could care less about walking. He actually stood on his own for about twenty seconds today, so we are making progress. People tell me I will regret saying I want him to walk, but it's not like crawling has slowed him down one bit, and I am ready to not have to carry him around everywhere.

- He is an expert tantrum-thrower. He has recently discovered that he can "go floppy" while pitching a fit so that I practically drop him if I try to pick him up. He usually has at least one good meltdown a day, usually while getting his pj's on at night.

- We said ta-ta to the ba-ba! This really saddened me because it is such a big boy milestone. He has been drinking his "big boy milk" out of his sippy cup, and can down six ounces in literally less than two minutes. I was so glad to say bye-bye to the formula!!

- He babbles non-stop! His favorite words are "bucka" and "ticka," whatever those mean. He has a complete language all his own. He likes to talk on the phone to whoever will listen.

- His belly is a bottomless pit. We have not found a thing the boy won't eat, and he won't stop eating until you stop feeding him. But he gets mad if you stop feeding him! I don't know where it all goes because he seems to be getting skinnier. Ben says he must have a tapeworm. :)

- He still loves to read. He doesn't really have a favorite book, though.

- He has a full-blown mullet, so I think a first hair cut is in our near future. (Sniff, sniff.)

We had a really fun birthday party for Nate on Saturday. So many people came, and we had so much fun. Nate was really into opening presents, which surprised me. He kept crawling over to them and peeking in the bags while we were eating. Somehow he knew they were all for him! The cake-eating was all we expected it to be. He LOVED the icing and it didn't take long for him to have it EVERYWHERE!! It definitely called for a bath afterwards! Thanks to Brian and Candice for opening their home to us for the party. There is no way we could have squeezed all those people in our house!  :)

Posing for his big boy one year old pic

Yay! I'm one year old!! (Look at the size of those feet- size 5!)

His TV/reading chair we gave him for his birthday.

Another birthday gift he loves.

The cute cake

Nate's "smash cake"

All the kids were involved in the gift opening!

Nate loved all his gifts...

Especially the books.

I can't wait to ride in my new wagon from BeBe and Poppy!

Ready to eat cake!

Happy birthday to me! He smiled the whole time we were singing to him.

Let's dig in!

Hmmm...not bad!

My favorite picture...classic!

YUM YUM!!!

That was the best cake ever!

What?! You're going to wash the icing off?!

Two of my good friends, Sally and Amanda, and their

sweet girls Vera Kate and Anne Marie

Four generations of Duffy men

Love my BeBe!

Now that that's behind us, we have started packing for the big move! Hopefully that won't keep me from updating in the next couple months.  :)

Movin' On Up!

Well, folks. We're making the big move!! From here...

To here:

We put our quaint little house on the market in mid-January and it sold in about six weeks. The Lord answered our prayer for a new house in his perfect timing. It's everything we need for a growing family and it was just the right price at just the right time. The new house is in Lakeland, just far enough out to where we feel like we are in the country but not too far from civilization. We are closing on April 25th, and I can't wait to move in and get settled! I will post inside pictures when we make the house our own. It's going to need some minor improvements (new carpet and paint). Nate has already picked out his new room. :)

Happy 11 Months (and 3 days)!!

I can't believe we're planning a birthday party!! Where has this year gone? I am so sad that my baby is growing up way too fast. But he is so much fun!! His little personality is coming more and more alive every day. But with the cuteness comes one very strong-willed and determined little boy! He is proving himself to be such a boy and is getting into absolutely everything!! He knows the word "no" but chooses to completely ignore it most of the time, so I think we are going to have to start toughening up on our discipline.

All about Nate:

- Wearing 18 month shirts, 12-18 month pants, too long for anything one-piece!

-Crawls at the speed of lightning, but not in a hurry to take steps. He will walk (holding a hand) if walking from me to Ben and with our encouragement.

- He will stand on his own for a couple seconds until he realizes he is doing it.

-Doesn't like any of his toys. Would rather get into things and play with stuff he's not supposed to.

His new favorite activity is pulling things out of his changing table basket (tubes of stuff) and absolutely loves his Aquaphor tube. He will pull it out and carry it around the house with him.

-Is really good at feeding himself. We are trying more and more finger foods and he actually doesn't get too terribly messy. We have just added lunch, so he is now getting 4 bottles a day and three meals.

-He is perfecting his sippy cup skills, but will pitch a fit if you try to put his milk in a cup instead of his bottle.

- Likes to pitch a fit if he doesn't get his way. He will squint his eyes like he is trying to squeeze a tear out!

- He was showing all the classic teething signs a couple weeks ago, but still no teeth on the horizon. I was hoping he would have at least one in his head by his first birthday!

-Still has not met a stranger. He loves smiling at everyone we see!

- He spontaneously started waking up about 6:30 a couple weeks ago and seems to really enjoy this new wake up time. Good for me on work days when I can see him before I leave for work, but not so much fun on the weekends! I'm hoping this is just a trend!

- Loves Baby Einstein, singing, talking, and reading. I think he is going to be quite the verbal little boy.

- He doesn't miss a beat. Whenever there is a door or cabinet open or an opportunity arises to get into something, he is right there!

-His attention span is getting shorter and shorter!!

11 month chair pic. These are getting harder and harder to take!

Helping mommy with the laundry.

Big buds

I love to feed myself!

Playing with my tubes. Notice the Aquaphor in his right hand.