February in a flash!

Where did this last month go?! We've had lots to celebrate this month with Valentine's Day festivities and Poppa and Poppy's birthdays. We've also had lots of other sweet memories that I threw in this post too.

Gearing up for Valentine's Day when you are a first grader is serious business! Each classmate had to have the perfect card!

Lolly got all the grandkids Stompie house slippers for VDay. Let me just say what a hit they were!

B and her friend Leah Kate at their class party.

Poppa has a Valentine birthday so we had dinner at their house one night during that weekend. He LOVED his coffee mug with the kids' pictures on it.

Here we are all bright eyed on Valentine's morning with heart pancakes!

We had a birthday lunch for Poppy at our house on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

That same weekend was our church banquet. Collin had to sing with the children's choir. We all thoroughly enjoyed the photo props :)

Brantlee has been enjoying her tea in the afternoons in her fabulous new tea set. She also enjoyed P.J and Pancake Day at school a couple of weeks ago.

We got another very light and fast snow this month. I picked up Collin from school and it was really coming down! We both got haircuts this day and we had to stop for some pictures before heading inside.

Collin recently got his vest for RA's. Here he is with his group. I am so proud of what these kids are learning and doing about missions right here in our community. 

Poor Sister had her first cavity filled this month. She never moved a muscle but the numb lip afterwards was an experience.

Brantlee and her Sunday school friends were on an exile walk one Sunday. Her teachers do such a wonderful job teaching these girls.

She also enjoyed Silly Sock Day last week and mingling with the mannequins at Old Navy. Always a good time.

It's Mardi Gras time! We hit up the Hattiesburg parade and it didn't disappoint. Just our luck, Collin woke up with fever that morning. We headed to the doctor thinking it might be the flu. But thankfully it was just the crud and an ear infection. He begged to go to the parade, so we got his meds filled at the pharmacy and hustled over there and got to see it with everyone else. Fischer was serious about the beads situation. And Collin finally got the baby in a king cake for the season.

Our last major happening of the month is that all of Millie's puppies, except for one, have been by placed into homes. I have to admit, it's been a little sad for all of us the kids. We have gotten to see them all everyday for six weeks and have grown attached to all of them. But it was time to move on. Collin decided to keep Buster and he is cuddled under my feet as I type tonight.

Whew! I think I covered everything. Spring time is upon us and we are ready!!

Almost 20 Months

Ty turned 18 months in January and had his 18 month check up. Considering it is March now, that would make him almost 20 months. At his check up he weighed 29 lbs and was 32 inches tall. I think this puts him in the 75 percentile on weight and 50-70 percentile in height, whatever that actually means. I do know this, he is 100% BOY and is whipping our tails right now. If he wasn't so darn cute, I might put him up for sale some days, HA!
Here are some other TyTy facts for 1 1/2 years:

• His eating has slowed down a lot. He's becoming picky, but will eat any fruit under the sun. He's much more interested in throwing food on the floor and rubbing it in his hair, clothes, etc. than actually eating it. Unless it's candy of course.
• He is OBSESSED with Elmo dvds. This is the first real interest he has shown in watching t.v. so we are loving that we have something to keep him still for a little while at a time. 
• He says lots of words but still has a hard time communicating what he wants. He relies on grunting, screaming, kicking and pointing to get his point across. Really looking forward to when he can actually TELL us what he wants.
• Separation anxiety is at an all time high right now, but it's only with me. We are the parents with THAT kid in the church nursery. You know, the one you can hear screaming down the hall....
• We ditched the paci last month, and despite everything I imagined it would be, the transition has been really "easy". Naps are a little bit of a struggle, but nighttime sleep didn't change. It's soooo nice to not have to search for one more thing when trying to get out the door. And he has barely missed it, a HUGE shocker and so unlike Collin and Brantlee.
• He goes to bed around 8 and starts out in his bed. That lasts until about midnight. He then screams bloody murder, like someone is pulling off his toenails, until I come get him. He buries his head in my neck and pats me on the back. We snuggle down in our bed for the rest of the night. Even though it's like sleeping with an orangutan, I secretly love it. He's our last baby, and that's just how it's going to be for a while :)
• This boy would live outside if I let him. He hates shoes. Running around with bare feet digging in the dirt is just heavenly for him. That and climbing.

This is how I found him one morning while I was doing a little work at the computer. Like five minutes worth of work. EEEK!

This was one of the last times he had his paci. :( :( I'm equally sad that I look like I am wrestling a ticked off octopus trying to get him down for a nap. I know I paint a not so pleasant picture of our Ty man, but he really does have all our hearts! He is very sweet and sensitive and is SUCH a little ham!! It is so much fun watching him grow, even if it is happening way faster than it should!

Ice and Snow

A few weeks ago we celebrated our first snow in a few years. It started with just ice, and for a while Collin was the only one willing to play in sleet and freezing rain. Later that afternoon, the ice finally turned to snow and that's when the real fun began! Because all of the roads turned into frozen blocks of ice, the kids got 3 days out of school and Kyle got 2 days out of work.  We had so much fun!! Despite the MESS and inconvenience that winter storms bring, I was so, so happy that our kids got to experience snow.  It probably won't happen again for another few years. And for that reason, I took and posted a crazy amount of pictures. 

The month of February has kept us busy, busy. Lots of real life happening around here. But I am determined this won't be my one and only post for February :)

Animal Farm

We've had some excitement this month at the Crager house! Puppies! Millie had a litter of 4 puppies last Thursday. Of course she would have them in the dead of winter. Needless to say we've had a house full of animals in our house multiple nights. Add our 2 kitty cats to the mix and Stella and you truly have an animal farm!! The kids are loving it and are obsessed with holding the puppies. Also note Minnie's sleeping arrangements below. This is BRANTLEE's cat that seems to sleep with me and share MY pillow ;)

One night a while back we had a sleepover with the cousins. Fischer and Tate spent the night and the boys may or may not have gotten into B's dress up clothes...

Collin's class celebrated 100 Days of School last week. Hard to believe! I love his thoughts on being that old:

I turned 31 on the 20th and we had fun celebrating. Kyle and I had a nice date one night to Walnut Circle, our favorite. Another night the kids and I and my dear friend Amanda went out for dinner- fun! I love my gifts the kids picked out, the card (ha!), and my homemade hat and card :) :)

Another something big happened recently... B got her ears pierced!!! It was surprisingly drama free, a piece of cake. She made up her mind and went for it, and she is so proud of herself! Here are the before and after pics. Not the first tear (shockingly)!

And speaking of our B, I just have to make mention of her very unique personality. This child loves everybody. Like even people she doesn't know. She makes instant friends and never meets a stranger. She met this girl one night and in less than one minute they were best friends. I hope she always has this quality. 

I took the kids to the library recently, which was a mild disaster with 'you know who' ;) BUT Collin was loving it! He is really getting into reading independently and loves it. I bought him his first kids chapter book and he is so proud of his progress in it.

The kids and Kyle went on their last big hunting trip last weekend. Ty and I did not tag along. Looks like a productive hunt to me!

Sister went to the birthday party of a lifetime last weekend. It was a princess party with the real Cinderella! We had tea and cake with her and learned how to be a real princess. B wouldn't leave her side! It was so precious!

Oh you know, just shooting random stuff in the yard. It was so nice yesterday. But today we are out of school bracing for a "Winter Storm."  Hopefully we'll have some good snow pictures to come! (Fingers crossed). It's sleeting like crazy as I type.