Toby - Month Eleven

This is the last monthly update - the next post I write will be for his first birthday. And from there, his age is no longer counted in monthly increments. He'll be one. ONE! We made it through another year of firsts, another baby -our last baby- to watch and admire and appreciate. Toby Fields, the almost one-year-old.

How did that happen so fast?

This guy is such a dream baby. I can't count how many times Justin said "he really is such a good baby...as long as he's not trapped in a car!" over the holiday weekend. 

Toby eats awesome, he sleeps awesome, he plays awesome, he is awesome. Sure he has himself a little temper tantrum from time to time, but mostly, he's a really chill kid; he's always been a (mostly) mellow piece to our wild family puzzle, and I hope it's a trait he keeps for life. 

I love all his quirks, but most of all, I love his little laugh -- it's something Justin taught him, and it's hilarious. I'm going to have to try and get video of it -- it's a Woody Woodpecker type of chuckle, and it's his trademark for sure. It's impossible not to laugh at him when he's laughing like that! And while he does it randomly all day long, he'll mimic Justin every time -- he's the only one I know who can get Toby to laugh like that on command! 

November is definitely the month of thankfulness, and I am eternally thankful for this guy. He's everything I could want, need and dream of in a little boy; he's my baby, the baby, and he's almost ONE. 

Cue the tears.....

A video posted by Mary Ruth Gilliam (@mommaruthsays) on Nov 11, 2014 at 2:33pm PST

Letters...

I'm not sure if any of you click over to the blog and notice the tab at the top that says "Letters" so I'm putting it out here...just in case!

Sporadically I write "letters" to the kids. I've been doing it since before Toby was born, although I don't get the chance to nearly as much as I'd like. It's nothing fancy, no pictures, no fuss or frill; just simple little notes I jot down from time to time, life lessons I hope to impart to the kids one day. 

If you'd like to read, just follow the link ----> Letters

photo from our last day at Disney - I've been meaning to do a recap post of our trip...one of these days!

Someday......

Some day we will have a clean house, nice things, a date night out without worrying about crying babies or early am wake up calls. Some day, there won't be crumbs in the floor, toys under the couch, stockpiles of school papers and baby wipes littering our kitchen counters. There will come a time when we buy new furniture without asking ourselves "how long will it take the kids to destroy this one?" We will have fewer clothes to fold and less socks to mysteriously lose in the wash. 

Some day there won't be sleepless nights with a screaming baby, diapers to change hour after hour, and no more pacifiers to keep up with. People will be able to come visit us without having to wade through a sea of Legos and books in the floor; we will have more drink options besides milk or apple juice. Some day our grocery list won't mainly consist of kid cereal and baby snacks. We will only have adult medicine in our cabinet: there will no longer be a dozen different varieties of children's grape, cherry, or bubblegum flavored liquid medicines. 

Some day I won't feel guilty that I chose sleep over cleaning the house, that I neglected folding the laundry because I'd rather have ten minutes of "me" time alone. 

These days are fleeting, lived on a euphoric high "survival mode" style.

And I know there are some people out there who can do it all. They raise their kids, keep their house, entertain guests, work, play -- they find a way to do it all, all the time. That's just not my style.

But I -we- are doing the best we can. We're not perfect, so far from it really. But this is what we do, how we do it. We have a messy house and wild kids and neglected chores. We have bags under our eyes and supper still on the stove from last night. We play with our kids and play with each other. We fight and we brew and we are still trying to find our way.

Some day our kids will be grown, some day we might figure this out. But if we never do?

Fine by me. And if the kids want to be little forever? I'll take that over a clean house any day of the damn week.

Family Photos, Fall 2014

Just putting these out here because I love them, and I'll take any excuse I can get to shove my virtual wallet full of family photos in your face. This is my group, my family, my trible, my littles, my bear.

My everything. 

Thank you (again and again) to Pam Burke Photography for capturing this moment in time for us. 

Toby - Month Ten

Ten months old!

In the past month, Toby has definitely perfected his "get up and go" method of mobility - I'm not one to rush babies into anything (although I was that way with Sidney, I learned to savor the moments instead of rushing from one milestone to the next!), and it's so bittersweet to see Toby gaining independence and learning to move on his own. He has no fear crawling throughout the entire house. He'll pick out his own toys to play with. He's like a mini-Hoover picking up every speck off the floor --good and bad specks-- and he's keeping us on our toes! Just another wild boy to keep up with!

As far as traveling with a baby goes, Toby did better than we expected. He handled the drive to Florida really good -- the drive back, not so much! But while we were at Disney, he was pretty dang perfect. He had his moments, as is to be expected from a little dude his age, but overall, he was a peach. He enjoyed seeing the shows and meeting characters. He hung out in his stroller very well and slept like a champ in the (cramped) hotel room at night. I couldn't have asked for much more than that, and we can't wait to take him back someday when he's old enough to remember everything for himself. 

I think it's safe to say Toby is our fastest growing baby out of all four kiddos -- he's just a smidge smaller than Jaxon, even though they're only a year apart in age! He's a chunky butt with an appetite to boot (I think I say this every month, but it's always so true!) I'm sure he might lose some of that chunk with more mobility, but for now, I adore his rolls and potbelly. He's got the sweetest little curls along his hairline, they just swirl in the sweetest way after bathtime. It's a trivial little thing I adore about him!

Halloween this year wasn't much fun --rain always makes for disappointing trick-or-treating-- but Toby really surprised me by wearing his "Sven" costume without fuss. He didn't mind the hat, which was my biggest concern, so long as it was pushed back far enough for him to see everything at all times. He's such a people watcher, that boy! He helped complete our Frozen quartet, and it was by far the cutest scene ever. 

With Thanksgiving and Christmas fast approaching, I have a feeling this boy's birthday may get lost in the mix -- I'm hoping to pick a date somewhere between 12/31 and 01/09 to celebrate both Toby and Jaxon together (a two-year-old and a one-year-old!) -- this special little fella deserves a special day, even though he totally got shafted on his birth "day". He's my last baby, born on the last day of the last month. 

But I have a feeling his birthday will always be a reminder of how much surprise, joy, hope and wonder there is at the end/beginning of each year. Ten months, Toby, how did that go by so fast?!