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A year ago...

We were getting ready to welcome Leland into the world. I cannot believe how fast a year goes when you have a baby. It literally flies! I would love to say that I took lots of moments to "smell the roses" this go around, but I always find at birthdays that I have that nagging feeling that I could have done more. I do think that I thought a lot about how fast the time would go and I did try and enjoy more of the babyhood than I did with the other two. I will truly miss the tiny baby days here. It is always so wonderful having a newborn and infant in the house. Leland is still very much a baby to me and I'm sure that I'll always look at him as "my baby". But, I know that before I know it he will be talking back and getting grounded and sent to time out. He has the most adorable personality. Quite a nice little mix of his older siblings. Seems very spunky like Walker but also very observant like Bry. He definitely loves being outside and loves dogs and ducks and shoes. :) He can say Dada, Mama, Nana (new today!), dog, duck, ByeBye, something kind of like Bry (dye) and sometimes he tries to make the sssss sounds like sissy. He loves to try and play Bry's drums and his fave toy is my cell phone. We all love him so much!

For my own personal records (because I haven't done a good job with baby books!) I want to put in writing Leland's stats along with Bry and Walker's from the first year. I am sure that I've forgotten some of their stuff so I want to remember as much as I can now about Leland because I know that time will cause the memories to fade even more.

The Beginning:

Weight:
Bry ~ 11lbs 14oz
Walker ~ 9lbs 4oz
Leland ~ 9lbs 12oz

Length:
Bry ~ 22 1/4 inches
Walker ~ 21 inches
Leland ~ 21 inches

Time of birth:
Bry ~ 2:44pm ~ July 11, 2001
Walker ~ 7:31am ~ February 23rd, 2004
Leland ~ 7:10am ~ April 18th, 2008

The Middle:

First Tooth:
Bry ~ got bottom 2 at 3 1/2 months
Walker ~ one on bottom at 5 months (teethed out of order on top)
Leland ~ one on bottom at 5 motnhs (also teethed out of order on top)

Rolled over:
Bry, Walker, Leland - all around 3 months ~ I never found this much of an exciting milestone!

Sat up:
Bry ~ exactly 5 months (he was chunky and balanced well!)
Walker ~ 6 1/2 months
Leland ~ 6 months

Crawled:
Bry ~ exactly 8 months
Walker ~ started army crawling on her belly at 6 months - before she could even sit up
Leland ~ 7 months

Pulled up:
Bry ~ 10 months
Walker ~ 7 months
Leland ~ 6 months (completely insane!)

The End ~

Walked:
Bry ~ 11 months
Walker ~ first steps before 9 months, walked very well before 10 months
Leland ~ 10 1/2 months

Spoke words:
Bry ~ not many words the first year (started talking more towards 2)
Walker ~ said the normal things - mama, dada, byebye, and screamed loudly all the time
Leland ~ said dada very early and now says about 10 words

Favorite foods as babies:
Bry ~ anything but veggies
Walker ~ anything - loved veggies and grits
Leland ~ anything but sandwiches

I will post some pics of Leland's party tomorrow. We are going to have just family over in the afternoon for cake and ice cream. The kids are so excited. I've been trying to teach Leland to blow out his candles, but it's not working. He just doesn't understand.

Pics of Leland on the day he was born:
(I know I'm a little partial, but wasn't he a really adorable newborn??)

Bunnies, birthday parties, homework and a studio...

Spring is in the air! We have 2 new friends with us now ~ Thumper and Slash. They are sweet bunnies who came to live with us last week. The kids ADORE them and love playing with them. Walker is especially fond of them...well, Thumper at least. Thumper's the gentler of the two. Slash is warming up though. They will make their modeling debut in a few days. Oh and I don't know if they are male or female. I have a feeling that I have one of each. I don't really want any baby bunnies, so one may have to find a new home after Easter. Not so sure how the kids will feel about that though.


Walker turned 5 two whole weeks ago. I can't believe that I'm just now posting pics and blogging about my sweet baby girl growing up so fast. Gosh, she is so big and so fun now. She spent the night at a friend's house for the first time this past weekend. She loved it and can't wait to go to Addison's house again. She ended up having 2 official birthday parties over the span of a week. One was here at the house with just family. Then, the next weekend we did a friend party for her at this adorable little dance studio in Madison. The girls LOVED it. They danced and put on all kinds of costumes and princess dressup clothes. I'm posting a ton of pics.

Last week we were in the car and Walker started singing Rudolph and I all of a sudden realized how quickly we'd gone from Christmas to March. And while I felt a brief sadness that the holidays had passed so swiftly I started feeling the warmth and happiness that comes with spring. I love spring. I love dance recitals and spring break and planning of summer vacations. I love garage sales and daylight savings time and crawfish boils. It's nice to be back!

The boys are doing great - Leland is getting over a double EI. Bry's started baseball and we're busy busy. I just finished up a commercial for Bry's class. They're doing an economic unit and he is selling cookies. I'm going to post the commercial. It is precious!

Finally, I found a space to rent out for my photography studio. I guess that's what's kept me most busy over the past few weeks. It really happened quickly and I'm still getting used to lights and all that. I can already see that it's going to be totally worth it for me and my customers though. So nice to be out of the garage!



Bry's advertisement - We think this is SO adorable for some reason.....

Walker's friends...Avery, Hayes, Hannah, Mollie Ann, Emily, Walker, Ellis and Addison:

Leland (9month...or maybe 10 month) pics - garage pics, not studio:

Happy 10 months Leland~

Today's Leland's 10 month birthday. It's gone FAST!!! And big man is on the move. He's started taking a few steps here and there although we're still not officially "walking". He is now saying "mamamama" and "dadadadadadada" and "bababababababa" more and more and really really really loves dogs! Also loves suckers and I'm sure that suckers are against the rules, but he's super cute with them.

Leland with the sucker he found in the pantry~


All kids at recent trip to zoo ~

Contest Winner....

The winner of the free session is TRICIA!!! Congrats! Email me and we can discuss details. YAY!! Thanks for everyone who commented here and on Facebook. I will have more contests in the future and will change it up a bit from time to time to be free prints as well as free sessions. So, keep checking for updates!

Coming this week - dates for Easter sessions, Mynelle Gardens, and more Canton.

Sneak peek for Miki....

Just a couple - there are way more to come, but I always (generally) go in order. Maybe this will do until I get them all complete?? :)

More Canton and a CONTEST!

So, I really wanted to show a few of A & A from Canton. I know these kids pretty well. Big A is in Walker's class at school and their mom cleans all of our teeth. :) Pretty cool family and super adorable kids. I love what they are wearing. Oh and, I've decided to do another Canton day in February on the 21st. And, to get people excited about it, I'm going to have a contest (thanks for this idea Jennifer!). Anyone who puts a comment in the comment section will get their name put in a hat and the winner will win a free session for Canton on the 21st. YAY! how fun. Of course, if you don't win, you can still sign up for a time. I will only do 6 sessions that day so spaces are limited. The drawing for the free session will be this Sunday, the 8th.