one month old...

Friday, Will was a month old. Where does the time go? It seems just like yesterday we were leaving the hospital. It goes too quickly. Life has been a little hectic the past month, but not due to Will. He is what baby experts would call an "easy baby." I read about those kinds of babies in books, but I had never seen one in person (my not so subtle way of saying CJ was NOT an easy baby).

Will is a great sleeper unlike his older brother who woke up as many as 11 times a night... no joking. He settled into a great pattern of eating, hanging out with us and then sleeping until his next feeding. It is so nice to have a little predictability to his schedule. And even when he is awake, he is just chill. If he needs his nook, he is perfectly content to let his big brother shove it in his mouth (see pictures below). If he is uncomfortable, he grunts a little. Other than that, he is happy to be held, play on his mat or sit in his bouncy chair and watch what is going on around him.

CJ still loves him. At first, CJ couldn't say Will, so he would call him "baby wee-wee." But over the last month, he can almost say Will and he has stopped referring to him as just "baby." He loves to help burp him, get his nook, get me a burp cloth out of the drawer in our room, and so far he hasn't been jealous. I hope and pray it continues.

We, of course, love him to pieces! I just want to snuggle him all the time. I am bad at sharing him because it feels so right to hold him. :) Will almost always responds to Scott's voice. Scott can say his name and he will look over at him. And a lot of time, he will just stare at Scott. It is precious. He just fits into our little family, and so far transitioning from a family of three to a family of four has been easy.

But, here is what I know you are all here for... pictures from the day he turned one month!

When I saw these Big Brother-Little Brother shirts, I just couldn't pass them up. Both our boys have WAY more clothes than they need, but I thought they were too cute.

When CJ gives Will a kiss, he has to give him two. One on the head and one on the mouth. He will say, "mou, mou," if you forget to turn Will so he can give him a smooch on the lips.

At this point in the photo shoot, CJ got a little slap happy...

and Will got sleepy, so we called it a day.

But when CJ realized Will was getting sleepy and a little fussy, he came to the rescue with the nook... such a sweet big brother.

muffins with mommy...

CJ is like his daddy in so many ways; one of the most recent ways I see a little Scott is CJ's LOVE for bread. Any kind of bread. The other night we were trying to get him to eat bar b que, and he was having none of it... even when it was dipped in ketchup. We were eating bar b que sandwiches, so I tried putting it on bread. He ate three little sandwiches with no complaints asking for mo-mo-mo after each one.

At another meal, we were trying to get him to eat blueberries. It was a total no-go with lots of tears. Mind you, he loved blueberries a few weeks ago, so we weren't trying to torture him. You know how we got him to eat a blueberry? We bribed him with a blueberry muffin. They were homemade, so they actually had lots of real blueberries in them. He ate the entire thing... including all the blueberries. Stinker!

I have been letting CJ "help" me with lots of things like emptying the dishwasher and cooking. He is a pro at putting away the silverware, his dishes and the kitchen gadgets. It's actually pretty helpful. And he has enjoyed helping me cook. Sometimes I give him a bread knife and let him cut bread or cheese while I am chopping things for dinner. But what he really enjoys is making muffins. It combines two of his loves... helping and bread!

Here are some pictures my mom took of us making muffins...

First we read the directions...

After mommy turns on the oven, it is time to dump the mix into a bowl...

Then we add some milk which he gets to dump in... (you can also tell from this picture CJ gets to put the muffin tin liners in the muffin tin. There is no way OCD me would have come up with that arrangement!)

Then we stir, stir stir...

And then it is time for CJ's favorite part - putting the muffin mix into the muffin papers...

And if some drops, it's no problem because we lick our fingers... yummy!

last catch up post...

There has been lots of fun to be had around our house the last few weeks. Since I had another c-section, I can't pick up CJ; so, I have to have someone with me. That has translated into a willing line of grandparents coming to visit. We are so thankful for the time they gave up to do this. They don't seem to think it is such a bad way to spend their vacation days though!

Here are some of the countless fun things:

CJ and Gran had SO much fun making a tent one day. They played and played in there and even had a picnic lunch.

Right after we came home with Will, we had TWO grandmas at our house... talk about spoiling! CJ had fun grilling and giving Gran and Nannie things to eat that he cooked.

CJ loves to play "night-night." One day he and Nannie played "night-night" for a loooong time. Since he is usually way to busy for snuggles these days, it was a great way for Nannie to sneak them in.

And here is a perfect example of why grandparents love to come. Can you think of something better to have sitting in your lap?

When Nannie and Papa both came, CJ got his Christmas presents from them. One of his favorites was the tool box. He and Papa had lots of fun with it. I was really impressed Papa was able teach him to use the screwdriver. I thought he wouldn't have the fine motor skills, but he is a pro at it!

Granddad also got to come for a super-quick visit. He's coming back next week, so he'll get more loving time in too.

And the final fun visit was when ALL the Hetzels came to town! For Bobbie's Christmas present all three boys committed to bringing their whole families to Columbus to take a family picture. It has been 7 years since we were all in the same place to do this, and over 10 since there was a professional picture taken of everyone. Kayley and Lexi came up early with Nannie and Papa and got in some extra loving time with Will and CJ. There are such great helpers too. I love the sweet young ladies they are turning into. (And if you can't tell them apart, the first two pictures are of Kayley and the last one is Lexi.)

Then on Sunday, the rest of Bud's family came. We all had lots of fun playing! Uncle Scott got some good loving in with Jayden...

Bud and Scott had fun playing with CJ's blocks. This of course ended in Bud throwing blocks at the tower Scott kept trying to build. Some things never change.

And then Bud and Scott decided to give Bobbie a heart attack before we could get everyone together for a picture. We have a big hill in our back yard. We had a box that Scott's new table saw came in. And we had two brothers with a crazy streak. All these things added up to CJ and Jayden getting put into the box and being pushed down the hill. All started out well...

but if you look right behind Bud in this picture, you'll notice a dead juniper bush. About a milli-second after I snapped this picture, he hit it and almost fell off a 5 foot drop. Luckily, he recovered, and Bobbie's heart eventually started beating again. :)

Jayden had already been rescued at this point, but he liked it about as much as CJ did. Poor babies... but I think it is only the beginning of the crazy things these guys are going to endure when their daddies get together to play.

Then CJ and Jayden had fun running around the yard. This picture looks like CJ is attacking Jayden, but it is the end of a hug gone bad...

CJ wanted to try again, but Jayden was off to something else...

but then came back for more. SO SWEET! They are going to have so much fun together as they grow up.

Richard and Krista came in Monday afternoon for our photo shoot, but in the chaos of getting everyone fed, getting everyone dressed and naps, I didn't take any pictures! Bad me!!! But stay tuned for pictures from the photo shoot. They should be ready in a few weeks. I can hardly wait.

While we love our little family of four, we love our big family too. We feel so blessed to have so many people who love us and love our kiddos!

crazy man and new fixation...

CJ has never been what you would consider a good sleeper. So, on Monday morning, when it was 9:00, and he was still asleep, we started to wonder what was going on. When CJ finally stirred, Scott went in to get him. I heard Scott laughing, and here is why...

Somehow he got his arm out of his shirt while he was sleeping. And don't you love the bed head. Crazy little man!

And here is CJ's new fixation... dipping. It's messy, but he loves it!

melt your heart...

Don't these make your heart want to melt...