The Boy's First Haircut!

 Last month, the little mans got his very first haircut!  I waited for as long as I could, because I heard that when you take the plunge and get that first trim, they grow up and look so different and suddenly go from "baby" to "boy" in minutes. So in short, I was nervous/excited.  I was so excited to get his little whispies cleaned up so they wouldn't be in his eyes (so was Daddy!), but...would he still look the same?! 

(Spoiler Alert: He still looks adorable. ;) )

A "before" picture of our happy boy!

 We got his haircut in New York, so we could go to our close friend who coincidentally gave Mommy her first haircut. :) As well as did my hair for my proms, wedding day, and every haircut in between.

Also, Lyssy was there, so we have an abundance of pictures, and I am in them! :) Happy Mommy when we have another photographer around.  Especially one is as good as she is!

 Things got a little intense as we started near the eyes.  Declan was a bit nervous, but such a brave boy.  No tears at all!

 How 2 of my 3 children ended up with such light hair, I will never know!

 

 Starting to look so neat!

  
We needed Declan to look down, so the troops got on the floor to make him laugh. Oh, we brought an army to the big haircut with us. Haha.

 Starting to get a little antsy, yet still clapping away!

 Smiling at Mama. :)  Told you there were a lot of pictures!

 This next one gets me.  Daddy loves his boy so much.

 Aaaaaannndd...

 Finished!!  Handsome handsome boy!  Ugh, I melt at his face. And he still looks like a baby, so YAY for that one.

This was one of the big ones...the girls have never gotten their hair cut yet, so Declan was the first one to reach the Haircut Milestone in our house!  It was so fun, I just wanted to squeeze him all day.  And a special thank you to Marianne - we were so happy you could be a part of our milestone!  And he gets compliments on his hair every day, you should be very proud of your work. :)

11 Months!

 I am a little behind with this one, but baby boy is 11 months old!! It sees the crazy time of year after Halloween and before Christmas has now become even crazier - as we have a big birthday in there!  I can't believe the big boy is almost one...the speed that time goes by is not even comprehensible to me.  Here is a little bit about our man at 11 months. :)


As soon as I sat him down in the chair, he climbed up and started grabbing at his bouncer. He is a little monkey lately and he is moving in new ways (and new places!) every day.  He has pulled himself up to stand a few times (most recently to reach some chalk..yum).  He is crawling and climbing and exploring...and his sister are on high alert for choking hazards. :) He loves trying to grab for those crayons and chomp chomp away!

 Flying toward mommy with the camera!  Busy busy boy.

 He is just the sweetest boy.  He wants to be cuddled and loved, and loves to play with his sisters.  He laughs and bounces and gets all excited when he sees his Daddy.  And he is mildly obsessed with Mommy. ;)  He cries when I leave the room, and sometime just needs me to be near him and he will be content.  He will lay his little head on my shoulder when I'm holding him, if someone comes over to talk to him.  He will smirk and lay down.  It's as if he is saying, "I like you, you can talk to me, just don't take me from Mama." 

 Sissy making him laugh. :)

 He does this precious little "growl" when he wants to be silly, he will open his mouth up really wide like a smile, and say "Raaaaaahhh!"  He will always squeal and scream as his sisters will.  If they are making noises or screeching (common sound in our house, ha), he will join right in wanting to be one of the crew.

 He is in size 24 months right now, and we are getting him 2T from here forward.  Crazy growing boy!

He has just perfect hair.  He got his first trim last month!  And he just has the cutest little man head of hair. I love how his hair makes him looks like he is a little old fashioned boy.

My favorite time is when he first wakes up, he is just this little snuggle face.  His eyes are like a puppy, and his mouth and cheeks seem to hang even lower than normal.  His hair is all ruffled, and his baby smell is even better than when he went to sleep.

He is starting to show even more personality, and letting his opinions be known!  He yells when he does not get his way.  And don't even try to walk away from him while you are feeding, him, because he will react like you are abandoning him forever.  It's funny when he does this, because most of the time he is so relaxed and will just chill out without a care in the world. (Since we call him Bruiser, and he is always just chilling out, we call this "Bruisin'".  So whenever we say, what's Dec up to?  The other will often answer, "He's just bruisin'". :)

We love you little boyfriend.  We love your grunts, we love your growls.  We love your cheeks.  We love your curiosity. But most of all, we love your smile that lights up the room, and your giggle that makes every single other person is our house laugh too.  You sweet angel boy.

Travelling Kids

Back in September, we had a trip to Mima and Papa's house for Mima's birthday!  We ended up staying for way longer than expected, and we had so much fun!  Here are a few highlights from our trip.

We had days at the park..

We went out to dinner to celebrate Mima turning "15 years old than she actually looks".  ;)

Dinner was followed by ice cream and treats at this adorable ice cream shop in this cute port town right on the water.

This night was Declan's first time sitting up in his high chair at the table!  Typically when the kids are babies, we bring them in the stroller, so they can go off to sleep if they want to.  But he got to that "I want to see what's going on with the big people" age. :)  And look how THRILLED he is to be at the table with us!

"Whatchu talkin' bout Mama?"

Suspenders for the win!  My favorite boy accessory by far.

Our original family of five. <3 br="">

Another day we took the girls to Adventureland.  I had countless memories here from my childhood, and have been here more times than I could count.  Taking the girls here was one of those super special treats. Seeing them on the exact rides I rode.  Maybe the same seat?  Sitting with their Sissy like I saw with mine. Laughing like I laughed.  Papa buying them and ice cream, like he always did for me. (And still does! :))

Such special memories. 

This was right before the ride started...

And this was swinging around the first time!  Their laughing faces!

! :)

Reagan LOVES rides!  Every time it ended, she would say, "I ride it again?!"

Mima and the girls rode the carousel.

Reilly rode the big girl coaster (but not the BIG big one) with Lyssy!!  She was so excited!

You can see them in the third car back in the orange!

She was the perfect mix of scared and thrilled..Alyssa said that at the top of the first big drop, she said, "I don't think I'm ready for thiiiiiis!" and then she started laughing hsyerically and said, "I'm gunna pee!" So cute.

We went to another amazing park, that had the "Good Bench" for kids who were good at the park to sit on!  It was so cute. :)

Silly faces!!

Good girls in their matching leggings!

We went to Mimi's Homecoming at her school one day, and the girls got to go on the field and be with the real cheerleaders!

Cutest little cheerers!

Reilly must have heard me ordering my Dunkin every day, because she asked Papa for an "iced mocha latte".

She loved her pretend coffee!

Meems and Rei Rei = BFFL

We had such a fun stay at "the New York house"!  We so appreciated them letting their house get torn apart daily and letting us carpet their floor in Cheerios. ;)