Even more unbelievable than C.B. turning SIX is the fact that my baby boy is one year old. I feel like we were just bringing him home from the hospital. I know every parent feels this way...why does it have to go by so fast??? To help convince me that a whole year has actually passed, I have put together a month-by-month photographic review of Mr. H's first year.

They say if you don’t like the weather in St. Louis, WAIT. Allow me to illustrate…

We went to the country house to play on the beach this weekend because it was sunny and seventy degrees. We made sand castles with moats, buried ourselves in sand, and just had fun being barefoot on the beach. I even had to get out the sunscreen! It was lovely. This morning when I went to put our clothes from the weekend into the washing machine, I found sand rolled up into the cuffs of my son’s jeans. I took them outside to shake off the sand and I noticed that snow was falling. Good grief!

Also, it’s opening day for the Cardinals. Should we expect a "Snow Delay"? Hmmmmm.
GO CARDS!

Every year on our middle kids' birthdays, we write letters to their birthmothers highlighting that child's activities and development. We also include a dozen or so pictures of the child for her to see. The adoption agency keeps these letters in a file and passes them along if the birthmother asks about them. We have letters for all three kids from each year of their lives saved for them to read someday. They are also fun for keeping family and friends up to date about how much each child has grown and what they are doing. Here is this year's letter for C.B.'s birthmother along with some of our favorite pictures.

Dear Birthmother:

It was a little like a news flash for us. “This just in… C.B. six years old…Parents in shock!!” But when the shock wore off, the celebrations began. We took him out for dinner for his birthday last week, but he still has two birthday parties left to go. He will have a party with some of his friends from school this weekend. He will also share a big party with quite a few extended family members closer to the end of the month. We have so much to celebrate with this special boy.

People have often asked me, “How do you find time to keep up with a blog?” Well, lately it looks like I can’t. Which is funny because I don’t feel like I have been particularly swamped these past few weeks; but I truly have not had time to sit and compose something. I really don’t have time right now. I’m just feeling guilty for not writing something about C.B’s birthday yesterday. He’s SIX already!! I will post something more detailed about that soon. I am also heading to “Mommy School” this weekend, and I will probably have more to say about that as well. Hopefully before another two weeks goes by!

Miss M was one of twelve students from her school honored last night for their musical interests and abilities. She and two of her cousins were chosen by their music teacher to be recognized at Powell Symphony Hall. The girls got all dressed up for an evening out, so their grandmas and I decided to take them out for a fancy dinner beforehand. I had a great time just watching them, whether they were ordering Chicken Cordon Bleu or tasting the fried spinach appetizer - and liking it. Such little ladies!! We had them pose at dinner for a pretty picture.

Congratulations, girls!

My cell phone recently flashed “Low Memory” when it tried to open a video that my nephew accidentally sent me from my sister-in-law’s phone. So I decided to go through the pictures that have been stored on it since August. There were some I had forgotten about completely. Like the ones from the Botanical Gardens…




I also found some pictures from an October trip to the Zoo.

I do not like to be the center of attention. I loathe public speaking. I’m not even comfortable receiving compliments. Which might explain why I have been putting off writing this post.

Kim from Parachuting Without A Net has bestowed upon me the Premio Dardos award. "This award acknowledges the values that every Blogger displays in their effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values with each message they write. Awards like this have been created with the intention of promoting community among Bloggers. It's away to show appreciation and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web."

It’s enough of a thrill to know that there are people out there who read my blog that are not related to me. To receive an award on top of that is just remarkable.

Like everything in life, there are rules. I am supposed to pass this award on to 15 other bloggers. Unfortunately I don’t even read 15 blogs. Call me selfish, but I think I’m going to keep this one all to myself. Please note that this intentional disregard for the rules in no way diminishes my appreciation for this honor. Thank you very much, Kim!

Project: Counters is now complete. Despite my initial anxiety, we are very happy with the way they look. They do seem a bit fancy in our fairly simple home, but we’re getting used to them. Here are some before and after shots.

You’ve heard it before; but I swear it’s true. I have been busy. I'm just trying to keep up with all that's going on around here. It's a task that is getting more and more difficult to do.

This week is Project: Counters. We have decided to get our countertops replaced. We went and picked out slab of granite a couple of weeks ago. It was actually a fun date for my husband and me. I know...we don't get out much. Tomorrow that slab will be fitted on top of our cabinets for us to eat on, do homework on, and play "Go Fish" on. I can't wait to see how it will look.

Last night we had to empty all the cabinets and take out all the drawers so the old countertops could be removed. The drawers and the contents of those cabinets are currently piled into our "Thinking Room".

They came this morning and “broke” (as Banana puts it) our counters. It's hard to find a place to set anything down in our kitchen right now…

I took Banana and Mr. H to the doctor this past week for their checkups. One of my favorite things about taking my kids to the doctor is finding out their weight and height. Not only is it exciting to watch them grow; to me those numbers represent progress.

I went in thinking that Mr. H was probably going to weigh too much to stay in his infant carrier. It has a 22 pound limit, and I was sure he was getting there. It turns out that he didn’t even hit the 20 pound mark. But he was close – 19 pounds, 14 ounces. This weight puts him only in the 50th percentile; surprising because we are always being told what a big boys he is. He is still the biggest baby we’ve had. None of the other kids weighed this much at one year, and he is only nine months. He measured 29 inches long, which is in the 75th percentile. I have my suspicions that he will end up being a pretty tall kid.

I was wondering about the Banana’s weight because she has been on a dinner strike for about a week now. It doesn’t seem to matter what we have for dinner, it just isn’t what she wants. She weighed in at 32 pounds, which is about the 50th percentile for her age. Her height was almost 40 inches, putting her in the 90th percentile. She is definitely going to be a tall beauty someday. She is almost the same height as her big brother C.B. Granted, he’s on the smaller side for his age. They make quite a pair, though!

It is such a rewarding experience for a mother to know that her children are healthy. For me it is reassurance that I must be doing something right!