8 Months!

January 1st, this handsome little guy was 8 months old! He was not crawling but sits up well and rolls over. He was 28.5 inches and 20.5 pounds. He was eating table food but would just chew it a little and spit it back out. He wasn't swallowing much at this point. 

Still loves everything to do with Addison and dislikes riding in the car. He was sleeping okay at this point, but was starting to wake up more again. 

We celebrated Ryan's 35 birthday with cake and champagne! 

Addisonw was pretty excited to blow out the candles. 

It was Frozen day at school. We might be the only people who have no Frozen apparel. So we wore our blue Poppy dress and pretended to be Elsa - ha! I did french braid her hair like Elsa, so I tried a little!  The daycare staff went all out - Elsa and Anna dresses with wigs and all. They made it pretty fun for the kids, even had a Sven cutout. Addison knew she didn't have an Elsa dress like many of the other little girls, but she didn't care. I'm sure all she cared about was wearing her cowboy boots! 

 And a happy picture of Mason, just because! 

Fiesta Bowl!

This was taken on Jan. 2 as we got ready to watch the Cyclones play in the Fiesta Bowl! They were playing Oregon. No fans were allowed at the game due to COVID. Tracey was the most disappointed, she says she's been waiting for a post-Christmas bowl and we finally get one, on her birthday nonetheless and then fans aren't allowed! She was pretty bummed. BUT, the Cyclones WON so that made everyone very very happy :) They won 34-17. I don't remember for certain, but I'm sure we drank champagne to celebrate :) What an amazing football season for the Cyclones! 

My drooly Cyclone fan :) At this point in time, Mason was having wardrobe changes part-way through the day because his clothes would be soaked! But he's a happy guy so that's all that matters. 

Pure joy :) She gets to feed Mason and he gets to eat. Ha! Our families tease Mason about not missing a meal..... 

We had been talking about it for a while, but finally taught Addison how to play the wii. She had fun! With a little practice, she has gotten pretty good at some of the games! 

Mason tried an omelet! We eat a lot of eggs in our family so we hope Mason enjoys them too. 
 

Down the hill we go......

Mason's first time sledding! He looks so amused. ha! 

Sometimes Addison likes to go with one of us, but she goes by herself most of the time. She wanted to go down the hill with Mason...... we said maybe some other time. Ha! He was 8 months old at this time. 

I tried to get a good picture of him in the snow. This is the best I got. Addison is pretty excited to play with him outside when he gets bigger. 

 Addison liked the big piles of snow next to the road/driveway. She had us make a little seat for Mason so he could be in her picture. She wanted me to take a picture of her at the top of the pile :) Mason and I went inside after this, that was enough for us! 

Sledding & Hot Chocolate

Today is March 25 and now I'm writing about New Year's Day :) 

Addison REALLY wanted Hot Chocolate for some reason. So I made her some instant hot chocolate and she dipped her candy cane in it. She didn't like it. But she LOVED the idea of it. ha! And she is wearing one of her Poppy costumes. 

Little dude trying his straw cup for the first time. He now LOVES his cups and gets so excited when he sees them. 

He was "trying" some broccoli this day..... meaning he grabs it in his hand and squeezes it and then chucks it. We taught him to throw balls, but he loves to throw food too! 

Ha! My little snow monster. We got this snowsuit from Nolan so I decided to use it. He is wearing two pairs of jammies and then the snowsuit. He couldn't move if he wanted to. 

His first time "playing" in the snow! Usually we just watch from the living room window. Addison was so excited we were out with her. 

 She loves sledding on our little hill! She has had a great year of sledding this winter. She can fly all the way through our backyard and into our neighbor's yard. Our little hill may not be enough for her next year, but she has loved it this winter! 

7th Anniversary

Julius Christmas was over, she was out within a few minutes of getting in the car. She loved her new Barbies and wasn't going to let them go. She was pretty excited about her new dollhouse and dolls!

She was also excited about her new Trolls dress up clothes. 

Ha! Nolan visited the Olson's and he loved their kitties. 

I fed him some toast with guac. Look at that face! He wasn't so sure about that..... He did try it but then threw it on the ground. But that doesn't mean much, he threw all food on the floor. And then leaves over to look at it. 

Happy 7th Anniversary! Our annual anniversary photo. This one with the new addition of Mason :) As you can see, he wasn't too thrilled about the photo. I can't remember why he was crying, but it was funny. We celebrated our anniversary by watching bowl games, hanging out at home relaxing, and watching a movie and drinking wine that night. It was a good day! 

 

More Julius Christmas

Nolan is just giving Mason a "little squeeze" - ha! He went to give Mason a hug and knocked him over. Mason was NOT happy. He cried and cried and Nolan just laid on top of him. Ha! 

What little kid doesn't love a laundry basket ride?!? 

Addison had so much fun playing with Nolan. She had to build a barrier with toys in the office so Scooby couldn't "get her". 

Love this photo! Showing some brotherly love. Look how sweet he looks! 

I bet these two will be buds as they get older. Nolan loves to call Mason "baby". I think it will be a while before Mason can keep up with Nolan, that is one busy kid! 

 

The Julius Christmas continued....

 

This girl was so excited to open presents! I loved the excitement. 

We bought Nolan a donkey like Addison's, she was excited to give it to him. We thought the crazy kid would enjoy bouncing around on it. Addison was excited to show Nolan how to bounce on it, not that he needed instructions! 

Clearly, Nolan is excited for her dollhouse! Addison was pretty confused right away, she didn't know the dollhouse was for her! They had told her the big gift under the blanket was for Parker. And apparently she kept trying to peek under the blanket, ha! So when they took her to "open" the present, she still thought it was Parker's! Before she opened the house, Nolan was playing under the blanket and apparently was laying on the 2nd floor of the house - haha! 

Nolan LOVED playing with the dollhouse furniture. Addison was going crazy because like her Mom, she is particular about her things. 

 Love this picture - ha! They played well together :) 

We had to snap this picture quick because this was the closest Addison got to Scooby. You can see him sneaking in a sniff of Mason. Don't worry, Addison freaked out a second later when she realized he was there! I hope she gets over her dog fear soon, she's been scared almost 2 years now. Her fear is real. She is stressed out a lot. We went for a walk the other night and I realize her eyes are constantly peeled looking for dogs. She saw dog legs under a van two houses away and told me there was a dog, I couldn't see it. Finally I did, I realized she is constantly on edge when we are outside. I feel so bad for her!! 

The Julius Christmas

Look at that outfit!! And that little smile! How cute is that? Thanks to Nolan and his hand-me-downs :) This was taken the day after Christmas, before we headed to Ames. 

We wanted to try out the new bike before heading to Ames. She was a little wobbly but did good. She told me she couldn't look at me because she needed to watch where she was going. Ha! 

Aww, this was back when Mason would let people hold him. Ha! Christmas was about the start of his stranger danger. It's March as I write this, but he cries if people look at him right now. Ha! He's seen my parents a few times in the last few weeks and lets my parents talk to him and play toys, but they can't hold him. 

Addison's trying, gotta give her credit - ha! Mason just got done crying. Had to hurry up and take a few photos before the chaos started. 

The boys playing Toy Story Yahtzee with Addison. Addison hung out at the table a lot because Scooby came and she was completely freaked out. The chairs at the table were high enough Scooby couldn't "get her". It was a bummer this year, we didn't get to see the Skjeveland's the day of our Christmas. Makena had been sick and so they got her tested for COVID. It came back negative, but they stayed home another day as a precaution. It was Makena's birthday too, I felt pretty bad for her. It just wasn't the same without the Skjevelands but at least we got to get together! 
 

Santa came!

Addison had been playing with these watches at Fleet Farm for many weeks. Santa picked out a Skye Paw Patrol watch and she was so excited! She can play games and set alarms. She accidently set an alarm on her watch one day. So every hour on the hour, we hear a chicken noise "bawk!" We didn't figure out it was every hour, we just knew every once in a while we heard it. We have so many toys in the living room, we couldn't figure out which toy it was coming from! FINALLY, at supper that night, we heard it and happened to be at the table where the watch was sitting and figured it out. Addison thought it was hilarious!! So she randomly sets the alarm and thinks it's so funny :) 

She had been asking Santa for a "bike with pedals", She was pretty excited. 

But played the most with Mason's new toy - ha! She played with this thing for hours. 

We made some homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. She has asked me a few times since then to make cinnamon rolls. I made them homemade (yes with yeast and the whole bit) so they take some time. But they aren't hard. I definitely need to make them again! 

Mason tried water for the first time! He loved it and lapped it up like a dog. 

Pictures from the Julius Family - 

Parker and Scooby! 

And some boys with some guns :) I actually was jealous, I would love a BB gun. Parker has one too. They were all excited for either a trip to the farm..... or Missouri. Anything is legal in Missouri. Landon has some targets in his backyard for him and Brayden.