June turns 1 year!!

Here she is at her birthday party checking out the rubber ducky cake.

Daddy and June getting ready to eat some cake

She loves ducks so we had to get this cake for her. Her first animal sound was "kack kack!" and she loved looking her her duck books. She has since learned, "ruff ruff" and now says that for all animals...including her ducks!

Happy Birthday June!

Look at that grin...she knows she is the center of attention

She has no idea what to do with it now

Of course our prissy girl has to use a spoon instead of her fingers

Throwing it down (after Wes tore it apart for her)

Finally getting dirty...it took at least 20min for her to get to this point

"What's in this bag??"

I love getting hugs from sweet girl

Reading her new book

She is loving this

Waving at the camera

Gracie is helping unwrap too

She already knows how this works....she couldn't wait to get on

Trying out her new chair...she loved playing peek a boo with everyone

ta..daa!!! here I am!

so happy about all of her presents

Eli pulled her around on his train while she rode hers...they loved it

I'm glad she was holding on tight....it was a rough ride!

Clapping for herself after sitting in the chair...she clapped and yelled, "aaaayyy!" everytime she sat in her chair for the next week. We did this over and over at her party and the whole room cheered...so she though that was how I should react every time she sat in it!

Sporting her new hat from Mimi and new boots from Granny Curry

Playing with her birthday card

She has to wear necklaces every day...look at her being so goofy.

she wouldn't stay still for one picture

flirting with Daddy

This girls loves to unload all of my kitchen cabinets and all of the ziplock bags

playing with her birthday card from Oren and Rachel

she is so happy to have her own princess wagon, they really should make the handle extend so I don't have to bend down to push her all of the house!

hugging her new doll from Aunt Faye

Cute face covered in yogurt

Here is she taking some steps!

Going through my cabinets again

We've discovered she loves ring pops

She ate the whole thing until she was blue all over

She loves looking out of the window. You can really see her hair in this one...it is finally growing!

she climbed right in the drawer to find a sippy cup

She is not a fan of the car wash....I remember Jay had the same reaction when he was her age. Except, with him, I jumped in the back seat and pulled him out to hold him. By the time you get to the 3rd child you just try to get a picture of the drama!

she was mad but calmed down as soon as we pulled out

It is so exciting that we have a one year old now!  She is so much fun and I love seeing her learn about the world and try to be as big as her brothers. She thinks she should be able to do everything they do, eat whatever they eat, and stay up as late as they stay up!  There is no more putting her down peacefully at 7, then the boys at 8. She will fight tooth and nail if they are awake. This week we've finally learned the trick...she plays in their room while we read books and they say their prayers....then we tuck them in, blow goodnight kisses, and turn out the lights. Then she will let us rock her and put her down. She is also starting to drop down to one nap a day. This transition period is tough though because I can never tell what time she will get sleepy. If she only takes one nap it is nice because she goes down at night quicker. Fortunately she sleeps all night consistently...usually 8pm -7am.

She has 8 teeth (yes...a mouthful!!). 4 on top, 2 in bottom front, and 2 in the back. She eats table foods very well...we actually have to fight with her about what she can eat. She pitched a fit the other night because I wouldn't give her the boys' hamburger!  She would eat anything if I'd let her!  She drinks whole milk great now....while I was still nursing her she didn't like it a lot but since she has weaned (the end of January we finished!!), she really likes it now. She also likes water, sometimes with a little juice mixed in. Her favorite foods are PB&J, yogurt, black beans, baked beans, mashed potatoes, rice, and most fruit. But she really eats most anything...as long as she sees it is what we are eating too...if she thinks I am giving her baby food she won't give it a chance!

She started walking last week!  Just several steps at a time for now. If she really wants to get somewhere she just crawls. But everyday she walks further and further. And is so happy with herself too.

She says, "mama, daddy, ayy (Jay), yeeyii (eli), ayk (Jake), this, that, and ruff ruff". She tries to mimic us alot too.

She loves to blow kisses. As we walk through a store she blows kisses to every person we pass. And the more attention she gets, the better. But if she is not in a good mood, there is no way you can get her to do it!  Most of the time she is very generous with them though!

She has determined that Eli is a threat....haha. And every time he comes over to her she hits him...hard!  He cries and I just say, "Eli, you have been bothering her ever since she was born...she is getting you back."  He says he is going to hit her back...and I explain that is not a good idea. That, since he is her big brother, he gets to teach her how to be nice by being nice to her. He thinks this is a silly plan.

She weighs 18 lbs 4 oz (21%) and is 29in long (30%). We finally got to do her well check last week. The whole month of January she was sick...first ear infection, then croup. That on top of Jay having a fever for a week. It was a rough month!  She is very petite and is much smaller than either of my boys. She is proportional and healthy so she will probably just be on the small side normally.

I love this new phase of clothes shopping and accessories!  It is so true that they make so many cuter things for girls!  And she loves wearing shoes, bows, necklaces, even sunglasses so we have a good time getting dressed! 

Her personality is really showing now. Firey, dramatic, stubborn, bossy, flirty, social, loves attention, and confident in her opinions. We will have our hands full with her!  She is so sweet and fun too...I think it is a perfect mix! 

Our Junebug will have us all wrapped around her finger her whole life. Especially Wes and the boys!  She screams and they all run to her. Well....maybe not Eli yet but once he is a little older he will obsess over her just like Jay. What a wonderful year this has been and as she starts to really walk and talk over the next year I know we will have a million more stories and laughs with her!  How thankful we are that God gave this beautiful girl to us...we love her so much!

Christmas 2015

Jay and Eli are making sure Santa knows just what to bring them this year.

We tried (again) to show June that Santa is very nice...she is studying him hard

Nope, she is still not a fan. ha!

This is Jay's best bud in his class, Jake. They sit across from each other and I hear every day about what tall tales they've discussed. I finally got to meet Jake's mom the other day and she says Jay is all she hears about after school too. They really have a great friendship.

Here June is in her Christmas ruffles on Christmas Eve

She is waving to Mama Ross

showing off her presents

We did not have to explain how to open presents....she dove right in!

Look at that face!!  haha! He is just too much!

Proud of his star wars legos!

June loves to say, "kack kack!" so she was proud of her own duck to push around

Love that face

Eli said he needed a really tall fishing pole to catch big fish with...

Drinking hot cocoa on the porch in their new Ninja Turtle pjs!

After Christmas we went to Steinhatchee to fish while the weather is still warm. Eli is in his happy place when we are here!

I managed to catch everyone in the middle of chewing up their food...haha...Uncle Larry and Jay were enjoying that lunch as you can tell!

We walked up to find this cute pose while Eli listens to Uncle Larry talk about where they will go to find some fish

Eli passed out on Wes before we could get out too far though

good napping

Jay is pulling in a big one!

so happy!

Driving us out to find the big fish

Jay is taking pictures now

Eli got to help his daddy pull in this one!

June has discovered the joy of jewelry!  She found some necklaces and claimed them as her own. Anytime she sees them she puts them right on. And if I take them off she yells until I give them back to her. What a bossy little girl she is!

She started sitting herself down in the bumbo a few weeks before she turned one. So funny....until she realizes she is stuck and then yells angrily until we rescue her. 

Eli is loving on his little sister

Cutie pie playing on the calculator

Mom and I found this jacket on sale for $4 so we grabbed it. Eli said it was "his best jacket ever!" What a bargain!

The kids had a good Christmas this year. Jay's main presents were a BB gun with a scope (which he had been begging for since last year) and a sketchbook and tools to help him learn how to draw more things (he is really into this and is very creative and detailed in his drawings). One of his favorite things about Christmas is seeing what Santa will surprise him with. He asked me, "mom, how does Santa find these things that I will like and I didn't even ask him for them?" He always has a few gifts that he thinks of himself but really gets excited about the element of surprise in the ones he didn't ask for.

Eli asked for a skateboard and a sling shot. I told him that I don't think they have skateboards for boys his age. He said, "but Santa can make me one!"  So luckily they do sell them for smaller kids and Eli was very happy....but that child hasn't been on it once because it is "too hard". Exactly how I thought it would go!  He did get a slingshot and several other small toys. He was funny this year...I think the idea of "Christmas morning" was built up so big in his head that when it actually came around, he was disappointed. I think it's just the age but I did feel bad for him....he got so many toys from everyone and he is so proud of them now, but in the moment he was let down. It was like he wanted to continuously open presents...not actually slow down and enjoy them. I hope next year he will have a better attitude because by the 4th or 5th pouting session I had lost my compassion! Of course, part of the problem was that, since Jay was pretty sure he was getting a BB gun, Eli had been asking for one too. But we knew that would be a big mistake! So we've been telling him for months that he can get one once he is 6 and that Jay couldn't have one at 4 either. Even though he knew he wasn't getting one, he still didn't like that Jay got such a "cool" present and he couldn't. Oh the trouble these poor younger siblings have to go through!

Well that sums up our Christmas. It was pretty low key this year. With my side of the family, especially. I know it was because Colton was not there to celebrate with us. What a wonderful celebration he had in Heaven I am sure! Clay and Gwin have been through so many "firsts" this year. I am amazed at their strength, even though I know they probably don't feel like they are strong. It is a burden they cannot bear, and I (we all) pray daily that the Lord just carries them. I believe that is the only way people make it through something like this...just being carried each and every day. It is still so hard to believe and we all felt the loss even more so on Christmas day. I missed his sweet smile, he amazed me every year with his maturity and kindness. He was an amazing kid....I said that every time I was around him. We all miss him so much. And even though we didn't talk about him a lot that day, I know we all felt such a hole in our hearts that whole day....of course we are heartbroken daily along with his parents and sisters, grandparents, friends...the list goes on and on. He touched everyone he met and, even in his death, is impacting so many lives. Colton is complete now. And although those left to go on without him are mourning so deeply, I pray that they feel God's presence in even the darkest times. His promise is that He will never forsake us. He is the great comforter. He is the one who Heals.