1 year old!

Little Deagan Jeffrey is 1!

We can hardly believe just 1 year ago we met this sweet boy... and brought him home......to join our family...
....and now he is the birthday boy, sitting, standing, taking steps, talking, eating real food, and such a little monkey! Birthday boys get fun things like hats...

....birthday cards in the mail... (kisses!)

...and money!? Lucky 1 year old!

We call Deagan our little monkey for several reasons:
1) when he started to crawl he only scooted around on his bum... like a monkey does, but don't worry he DOES know how to crawl on hands and knees and trades back and forth constantly.
2) he LOVES bananas. really. loves. them. If he sees one he'll beg (and scream) until he gets a bite. 3) he climbs on everything! He climbs our kitchen table chairs like they're ladders. His favorite chair is the rocking chair and small kids chairs. He climbs on top of them and stands on them and then makes monkey sounds and faces.... it's darling really. So, since he hasn't been commercialized by Disney yet we decided to run with the monkey theme for DJ's 1st birthday.

Here's his birthday shrine. The sign, annual silhouette profile, his hat, onsie, monkey, and birthday cakes! He's one happy kid. (I'm bummed this is the best picture we got of the cakes....)

Birthday boy with daddy.

So excited about his new Buzz Lightyear car.... which Quinton (who will be Buzz for Halloween) thought was for him. DJ knows how to keep up with his big brothers though... and he fought for his turn.

Singing happy birthday.

He wanted to touch that candle.... or maybe it was the cake.

Mmmm.... his first grab at the cake was one of the eyeballs which was a York Peppermint Patty. Nice.

Not sure which was more fun.... feeding himself a squishy, sugary mess or eating cake for the first time?

So good!

Look at those baby blues....

After about 5 minutes of delighted indulgence we took the cake away for fear he'd be sick. He then discovered his hands and bib had cake on them too and tried licking them clean!

And then the sugar-induced coma set in.

So, Jeff bathed him... another favorite activity for the birthday boy. (see a few posts below)

While the birthday boy was out Corbin became the camera-man and documented the guests. There was grandma tee-tee and baby Mac.

Tanzynn.

Haley (& Cole) and baby Mac. Can you tell Corbin prompted them to snuggle the baby?

And Grandpa Dick, Colton, and Tykert were there as well. After they left Deagan enjoyed playing with his new toys...

...but he couldn't keep his eyes open long. It was one good celebration and I still can't believe he's a toddler now.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

The cutest boys in the tub.
Deagan LOVES the water. A little too much we think. Just look at that face!

I mean, watch this:

Did you catch that? Here's another one:

(I apologize for the awful censor job... I tried. I know my boys will hate me when they're older for that.)
Quinton also loves the bath still, as you can see from the clip above. Especially since his first season of swim lesson is over and he know enjoys the water instead of fearing it. Q loves to blow bubbles, splash, kick, and swim. Fun bath toys help too.

Seems like whenever I start to run the water Quinton comes running and Deagan comes scooting (his version of crawling). Corbin is now at the age where he is beginning to prefer showers over baths. Which is fine.... because 3 boys in a tub makes for a full tub! (And usually leaves a nice ring of dirt around it too.)Bath time is often one of the most fun and relaxing times of the day for these boys. Even if it does leave Deagan a little water-logged; but that's what you get when you're a little fish!

GOAL!

Corbin was so excited to play soccer again this year...especially in the 4-year old preschool league. That is a sure step above last year's "Start Smart" soccer where the kids basically do workshops and learn drills with their parents = no real games. Although 4-year olds are not that great at the skills and strategy of soccer, they are still entertaining to watch! Corbin is #3....and he's become a great little dribbler and an awesome defender! He's scored several goals this season and his last game is tomorrow night!

Listening to coach.

Taking his "breather"/water break. He still cheers his teammates on even when he's not on the field. So glad he's learned to be a good team player/sport... and not just the "star" of the show.

I'm pretty sure Quinton is just as excited, if not more excited for Corbin's soccer games as he is. The first game I literally had to hold Quinton back from running in the game. He's so ready to play next year. He has also learned to be a good cheerleader for his brother's team.

Deagan, on the other hand, loves Corbin's soccer games for a different reason.
The cones.
"Go Corbin!" (We're pretty sure that's what he's saying here.)
Peek-a-boo!
This is one of Deagan's classic faces. The "crusty" is what we call it. When we do or say something he doesn't like he gives us the crusty. Such an expressive kid.
We're sure proud of our big Corbin. This was the season that sure helped him develop into a little athlete. As I type this he's playing soccer in the living room.... even though he knows that's against the rules. "But I'm practicing for my last game tomorrow mom.... I'm gonna score a goal for you!"

Okay Corbin. I'll be happy to cheer you on. GOAL!

Brothers need each other....

These 2 boys have a brotherly bond that's formed in a short time....
Whenever Deagan hears Corbin laugh he comes alive. Whenever Corbin hears Deagan cry you can be sure Corbin will be at his "rescue" to sing to him or talk to him or tell him a story or give him a toy. It's pretty cute.

Quinton and Corbin are pretty good friends too. There was a time when Quinton and Corbin both had a hard time falling asleep in January. Finally one night they were silent and we went in to check on them and Quinton had crawled out of his twin bed and into Corbin's Queen.

They slept that way all night.
Sometimes, brothers just need each other...

A Blessing

Deagan's arrival in our family sure has been a blessing, even if it was an unplanned surprise and we now have our hands full of 3 boys 3 years and under. Our family wouldn't look, feel, or act the same without him.

Deagan Jeffrey Moss was blessed on Sunday, December 27th at our Provo ward building. He was blessed in the same outfit his 2 bigger brothers were blessed in and he seemed pretty happy about the whole ordeal!

Can't believe he's grown so much in such a short time. He's such a happy little guy.

We were happy to have so many friends and family there that day to support us. Many of them joined us for yummy turkey sandwiches, pie, and wassail afterward. Thanks for coming!

And Deagan, you're the best surprise we've ever had!

Deagan's Debut

Late one Monday night Corbin came and found me and asked if we could do a "Christmas play" for Family Home Evening. Don't you just love when your 3-year old keeps you on the ball? So, with a little help from mom Corbin quickly gathered all the costumes and assigned all the roles for each person in our family...

Jeff and I were Mary and Joseph:

Corbin was the shepherd (with that nice green sheep):

Deagan was the baby Jesus:

and Quinton wouldn't wear any costumes, but he was a King, as assigned by Corbin.
Jeff read the nativity account out of Luke 2 and we acted out the "Christmas play" in our living room for ourselves. It was pretty cute. Afterward Corbin informed us that we would do the play again tomorrow and he'd change up the parts..... He seriously wanted to act it out every night for about 2 weeks! :) Needless to say, we think he's caught on to the idea that Jesus is the reason for the season..... and he sure loves his baby brother.

love.

Love is: watching your little 'peanut' take a long afternoon nap on the couch.

....and admiring his tiny features and mannerisms as you get to know and adore him. I love how he holds his binky in his mouth sometimes....

I love the way he sleeps with his hands above his head with such a serious expression.

... and then suddenly watching that expression turn to a smirky smile.

I even love the frowny, sad, crying expressions because it means he needs me to help figure out what's wrong (i.e.- feed him, change him, burp him, or just hold him).

Sometimes, when you love someone, there really are no words.

There's just love!

Deagan is growing up much too fast for my liking. It really makes me sad....and that's ironic because I didn't feel that way with my other 2 boys. With Corbin and Quinton I couldn't wait for them to grow up and crawl, walk, talk, eat on their own, etc. When they accomplished those milestones I realized just how fast your baby disappears and it made me sad. I'm really trying to relish all the moments I have with this little guy.... holding and cuddling and snuggling him as much as possible. I know it will be gone all too soon, but for now I LOVE it! (And I know I always will no matter how big he/they get.)