Edwin @ 14 months

Edwin is quite a busy toddler.

He is working on walking and will stand for a few seconds on his own, but still won't take steps without holding onto at least one hand.

Edwin adores Kate and loves to follow her around and laugh at everything she does. They enjoy bath time together (even when Kate dumps cups of water on his head) and Wynn is great at splashing.

 Edwin also loves playing with Margo and giggles whenever she is around.

He likes to "talk" with my cell phone up to his ear and seriously "read" books.

Jon and Wynn during one of our weekly trips to the library

Edwin listens very well and signs "all done" and "more". He waves goodbye and also loves to wave his arms when we sing in church :) He hasn't officially said any words yet, but he babbles a lot and points and grunts at what he wants. He says a lot of things that sound almost like words: "this", "yeah", and he can shake his head "no" or nod "yes" very well.

He is a mischievous little man and knows when he is testing his limits, but gives me a sly smile and watches to see if I will tell him "no".

He loves to open and close doors, drawers, and the lid to the trash can. He is an expert at unrolling the toilet paper rolls. He is very curious about people's faces and loves touching eyes on baby dolls. He likes to take things apart and see how they work. He points at ceiling lights everywhere we go and loves to turn on/off light switches.

Edwin still only has 6 teeth, (4 on top, 2 on bottom) and hasn't cut a new tooth in 4 months, but it feels like the rest are coming soon!

He has been such a great eater and has gained 3lbs in the last two months (hallelujah!)

 
He loves green smoothies, bananas, yogurt, apples, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, avocados, and tomatoes.

Edwin is still nursing once a day, just first thing in the morning. He is the biggest snuggle bug and naps twice a day (in the morning at 11am and in the afternoon at 3pm.) I LOVE IT.

Edwin with Grandpapa

The hardest part about Edwin's personality right now is that he is very nervous with strangers. As long as I'm holding him he will smile at people and even reach his hands out for them. But as soon as someone else tries to hold him he CRIES. I'm trying not to encourage the separation anxiety, but it's hard sometimes. He even prefers that I hold him rather than Jon. He can be a major whiner, which is also really challenging. He is a screecher and will squeal with frustration when he doesn't immediately get his way.

The CUTEST part about Edwin at this age is that he is a huge flirt. Oh man, that smile!! He enjoys kisses and will giggle at me and hold my face. He can't pucker his lips yet, but he gets this cute little smile and leans in for kisses. He likes to pull toys up to his face and snuggle them.

I'm so glad that he still has a lot of babyness, crawling around and getting cute little hiccups. It's fun to take him with us on hikes. He really enjoys the Ergo carrier and peeks his little face out!

We are enjoying little Wynn in our family and look forward to the great milestones coming up this year!

Baseball Baby

My dear friend Lara is having her FIRST baby in July.

Lara and her husband have waited almost 10 years for a baby. (They have been married just a few months longer than me and Jon). We met Lara and Jason last September when we both moved to Rexburg. Jason was starting school at BYUI as a transfer student, just like me. Jason and Jon quickly bonded over creative writing and film.

 

We were THRILLED to find out Lara was expecting, and everything so far has gone great. I offered right away to throw her a baby shower :)

When we found out Lara was having a BOY the planning began. The theme would be baseball (since Lara and Jason are huge GIANTS fans). It was perfect with the shower being in May (baseball season!) and Lara being due in July (all-American baby!) I decided to go with a vintage twist to make the shower look classic and aged. My amazing friend Shayne back in California designed the invites for me.

SERIOUSLY. They blew me away.

I added the smudges.

Everyone go favorite her etsy shop right now! It is fantastic.

The invites were printed at AlphaGraphics and turned out EXCELLENT.

I added some silver tags that had a rhyme about bringing diapers for a raffle, and then tied them on with black and white baker's twine.

All of the envelopes were hand addressed by me with gold shadow pen and had baby footprint seal stickers on the back:

Thankfully I'm a scrapbook paper hoarder, so I had tons at home and started pulling all my scarlet, cream, and navy pieces together.

 

 Pinwheels were made, Cracker Jacks were collected, and the Dollar Store became my bestest friend.

 This was an in-progress shot of putting together the prizes. I totally forgot to get better ones!

There were 3 "shower" prizes which  had tags on them that read "From Lara's Shower to Yours". The goodies were color coordinated. There was a blue/green basket, an orange basket, and a pink basket. Gifts included drink tumblers, scented candles, loofahs, bath salts, nail polish, back massagers, and body spray. The biggest prize was the Ultimate Movie Night bowl:

Jon helped me shrink wrap everything and even cut out papers for a BABY banner at his work.

 I prepped as much as possible way in advance so that I wouldn't be stressed out the week of the shower. It all worked out great! I picked up all the food the day before, and then the morning of May 30th Jon, Isabel, and Jenny helped out immensely with moving furniture, decorating, and cutting up food with me :) We were all set up right on time!

Peanuts, sunflower seeds, and red and white Sixlets:

What's more American than baseball and apple pie??

Popcorn machine borrowed from the Jackson's :)

 I whipped up this sweet cream honey butter the night before the shower. SO GOOD.

Thank you gifts were a box of Cracker Jack with a mini Baby Ruth and a baseball charm tied up with baker's twine.

The whole thing came together so well--I even brought our record player and had legit 40's music rolling in the background :)

As guests were arriving I sort of rushed my pics. I just wanted to make sure I quickly captured everything! The welcome table was where everyone signed in (ON A BASEBALL) and entered the diaper raffle:

"please leave your autograph for the little all-star"

At Lara's shower in California they had everyone write down some good wishes for baby. I loved this idea and we did the same here in Idaho so that Lara and Jason could make a personal project with all of the love from their friends across the country :)

"Baby Jackson will have lots of huggas and kisses, now let's get him started with hopes and good wishes!"

The word "huggas" was sort of an inside joke, but it worked out perfectly for my rhyme HAHA.

The littlest guests at the party:

 Instead of games we had the diaper raffle, and then I had Lara guess the answers to questions that I had asked Jason about parenthood the week before the shower. It was a fun way to see their perspectives on parenting style and when they each plan to buy their first minivan!

As gifts were opened I set a timer. Every 7 minutes when the alarm went off the person who had brought the gift that Lara was in the process of opening would win a prize!

Lara was showered with tons of great goodies, adorable clothes, and a whole pharmacy of baby care items :)

Lara's favorite dessert is brownies and ice cream--so that's just what we had to send everyone off with happy tummies!

{FOOD}
Platter of muffins in a variety of blueberry, poppyseed, and double chocolate
Butter croissants
Cinnamon rolls
Fruit skewers of strawberries, bananas, apples, kiwis, and grapes
Apple Pie
Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownies & Vanilla Ice Cream

{DRINKS}
Apple Juice
Orange Juice
Lemonade
Bottled Water
(with coordinating scrapbook paper strips around the labels)

{TREATS}
Sixlets in red and white
Sunflower seeds
Peanuts
Popcorn
Cracker Jack
Baby Ruth minis

Thank you to EVERYONE who came, and helped, to make Lara's shower a HUGE success :)

We're ready for BABY!