9 months old

Our precious baby is 9 months old and I can't believe how much he has learned over the past month!!!  Really, it's crazy.  I'm not sure I can remember all of the milestones.

 

He loves to explore and he is getting into many more things around our house. 

He loves to play with Molly's kennel and one day I found him inside!  :)

 

He learned how to open up cupboards which keeps him entertained, but there is always something on the floor.  These days it's not really possible to keep the floor perfectly picked up.

Which leads me to this next photo which I'm kind of embarrassed to post.  Nathan was gone for 3 days to MI and one night after all 3 boys were in bed I was walking around the house, and in each room there was a mess to clean up.  Baskets of books and a trash can that Mason tipped over.  Coats and boots on the floor.  Dishes that stretched from the sink to the oven.  Toys on the floor.  Craft projects from the older boys.  Instead of being overwhelmed which sometimes happens, I went around taking pictures.  This is my life.  It's good.  The house was quiet and my 3 beautiful boys were sleeping.  We have a beautiful, warm home even though it's been incredibly cold outside.  And instead of picking up, I chose to watch the finale of American idol and enjoyed every minute of it.  The house did get picked up again....the next day.  Some days are like that, you do what you need to do to keep everyone happy.

It's getting harder each month to catch Mason for a picture.  He is on the move.  He crawls faster every day.  He is curious about everything.  He pulls himself up next to whatever he can. 

I've seen him a couple of different times dancing to music!  :)  It's adorable!

I love his smile!

You can't see his teeth, but the bottom 2 poked through!

I love his big blue eyes.

I love his tiny little hands and feet!

 

Christmas Party #1

Grandpa and Grandma Tintle came on the 13th and 14th of December.  While Dorian was at school, Levi enjoyed having Grandma's undivided attention playing with the marble set and showing her how he can read!  Yes, Levi is reading!  I found a couple of books from the library that he is able to sound out the words for, so it was very exciting.

 

In the evening we played a lot of Connect 4 and enjoyed catching up on all of the news from New York.  :)

On Saturday we had a Christmas party together.  It was fun to watch Mason opening his first Christmas presents.  He did like the bows and the paper just as much as the gifts inside!  :)

Levi was working on writing a book with Grandma.

Dorian and Grandpa were having some serious games of Connect 4.

Oh, how fun!  Dorian was excited about having a new marble maze.  Levi couldn't wait to open his cylinder present and was just as excited about the cylinder container as the Superstructs inside.

Mason got a toy called Tobble, which is kind of funny because that is the stage he is in.  He loves to stand up next to things and since he doesn't have great balance yet, he often tobbles down as you can see from the bruise on his forehead.  :(

One of the highlights of the day for Dorian and Levi was the time spent downstairs playing football with Grandpa.  They couldn't get enough of it.  :)

Thanks for coming all the way to Iowa to spend a couple of day with us Grandpa and Grandma!

thanks

We really enjoyed having Brian, Katherine, Mikayla and Caden around for 2 weeks!  We spent the first Saturday they were here at our house for lunch, to Orange City for Parade of Homes, to the Dordt basketball game, and to the Pizza Ranch for supper!  Dorian and Levi were especially excited that their only boy cousin was here to play with them.  And Mikayla is so sweet and kind.  What a blessing to be with family.  On Sunday night I left the boys home and went to Sheldon to hear Brian preach.  After the service we played games at Mom and Dad's house.

On Thanksgiving Day our whole family was able to be together...for a few hours anyway...until Eden got sick and Ryan had to take her home. :( 

Mason was soaking up some attention from his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents!

This is Claire and Mason and it's cute because I have a picture that's nearly the same of Ashley and Dorian when they were these ages.  :)

Kerry took out Rodney's train set and the boys LOVED it!  It was precious to see them all sitting around it.  Oh, how we still miss Rodney.

After the kids were tucked in bed for the night I enjoyed talking and laughing together and will treasure those memories.

On Black Friday, the women left bright and early to get some Christmas shopping done and spend time together.  Dad, Brian and Nathan did a great job feeding and entertaining all the children!  They even made it to Sky Zone to jump on the trampolines.

On Saturday I was so excited to take out our Christmas tree and hang up ornaments with the boys.  The boys LOVED the Christmas tree box!  :)

Daddy had a little help from Levi getting the lights connected and turned on.

It's always fun to take out our Christmas books as well.  Dorian was listening...until he saw the camera. 

Mason did discover that the ornaments are really fun to play with!  :)

Dorian helped me with Christmas cards this year.  He loved putting the labels on and stuffing the envelopes.  I love getting Christmas cards during the month of December!!!

On Sunday morning the boys were cooperative enough to take pictures for me by the Christmas tree!!!

I was going to keep snapping as long as they were happy. 
But when we got to this photo, I knew it was time to be done.

On Sunday afternoon we went to Mom and Dad's house for lunch and got to spend a little more time with Brian, Katherine, Mikayla and Caden.  The boys couldn't wait to ride on the Gator.

They also enjoyed playing games!

On Monday night we made cut out cookies!  Mason crawled around on the floor while the rest of us busily cut out candy canes, gingerbread men, and Christmas trees.  I love this tradition.

This past Friday we had some of our friends over for supper and to decorate Christmas cookies.  On Saturday we went to Sioux Falls to deliver the gifts that we bought for a family in need. 

Last night it was precious to see all of the boys around the new toy that Heidi is letting us borrow.  They were all giggling together.  And at one point, Mason had his 2 older brothers pinned to the ground.  :)  What crazy, fun boys!

We have so much to be thankful for!