Wake Up, Sleepyhead

Because we shouldn't get to be the only ones who get to see just how adorable this is...

L.O.V.E.

The other night on the way home from dinner, Jack said to me, "I don't know how much I love you, Mama."  Right before I burst into tears, Daddy explained that what he meant to say was, "You don't know how much I love you."  Very different meaning clearly.

Then Jack announced he had a song to sing to me.  Here's how it goes:

     I love you so much
     I love you so much
     I can't even tell you how much I love you.

Be still my little heart.

And then today?

"Do you know how much I love you, Mama?  I love you the biggest (with arms open wide)."

Jack-Jack, I love you more.  More than you'll ever know.

Two Months Old

Hannah Bear,

On Saturday you turned two months old.

I know...I am sad too.  You are growing up WAY too fast.  We can't believe it's already been two months!

You are the cutest baby girl we've ever seen.  And you're ours.  Look at that cute tushy in your baby bloomers.  Pink baby bloomers.  I still can't believe that these are items that are now normal in my house:)

I think you weigh about 11-12 pounds, but we don't have your appointment for another week or so.  We'll know for sure then.  You are wearing three month clothing and a size one diaper, but we're getting ready to move you up to a size two.  

You eat every three-four hours during the day, and most nights you sleep until about 5:30 am.  If you don't, you usually wake up at 2ish and 5ish, but those nights are getting fewer and farther between.  

You have the cutest little double-chin and the yummiest rolls I've ever seen:)  You're a great eater.  This month you had your first bottle, and Daddy was able to feed you.  He loved every second of that successful first.

You are smiling and cooing at us like crazy.  Occasionally, you grab hold of a toy or a blankie - and Jack cheers you on every time.  And just this past week you seem to have found your voice.  You love to explore with volume!

When you're not quite sure what's going on or you're a little unhappy, you have Mama's scowl (note the eyebrow wrinkle).  I love it.

One of your favorite things to do is to look at the pictures of Jack above our bed.  You will just stare at them for the longest time.  In fact, even when we're downstairs, you scan the room until you find pictures of your big brother.  Another favorite of yours - dancing!  You love to watch Mama dance, and you wiggle and squirm and smile.  Girl, you've got rhythm:)

You still get this tiny, little, red triangle on your forehead when you get really upset.  

You follow our voices and you definitely follow us with your eyes even from all the way across the room.  You don't startle very often, but when you do, you make the saddest little baby face.  We think you're going to be a thumb-sucker, although you haven't quite mastered the skill.  Right now, it's more like you suck on your fist, but it's not for lack of trying.

Jack-Jack loves you so much.  He loves to show you off to his friends at school, and he wishes you were awake all the time.  He loves to rub your little head, and he gives you more kisses than you could ever possibly ask for.

Although it takes you awhile to fall asleep at night, once you are sleeping, you're out.  During the day, not so much.  You haven't been napping too well during the day.  You prefer to either sleep on Mommy or in the swing if we're at home.  If we're out, you sleep the whole time.

When you're getting sleepy, you like to have a soft blankie up against your cheek and you pull on your ears.  As soon as that blankie touches your skin, your eyes start to close immediately.  Sometimes when you sleep you sort of purr like a kitten, which is very fitting because that's Daddy's nickname for you.

You still get the hiccups multiple times a day.  And you aren't a fan of gripe water, although the one time we tried it, your hiccups went away immediately.  

You aren't always the most patient, but this is something that we're really working on because Jack is not patient at all, and Mommy and Daddy need at least one patient baby.

Baby Girl, we love you more than words can say.  We are so grateful for every day of the past two months, and we look forward to so many more to come.

Silent Sunday

{I just couldn't decide...}

or

Right Now

Sleep tight, my precious little lovebugs.  Mama loves you.

Just Jack

I am so blessed to have a little boy who makes me smile my biggest smile EVERY SINGLE DAY.  I love that his vocabulary just continues to explode and that his inflection mimics that of a teenage boy.  I especially love that sometimes he remembers that he's only three and calls me "Mama," instead of Mommy or Mom.  Please, please, please don't ever let that go away for good... 

Here's some of what he's been up to:

Last night while feeding his fish with his Daddy, he randomly says, "Daddy, do you know how much I love my fish tank?  (Pauses to allow Daddy to think)  I love it the mostest."

*****

The other night, at dinner time, Jack was unhappy with the way I served his noodles (apparently when he said he wanted meatballs with noodles for dinner and I assumed that meant sauce too, I was wrong).  As he came up close to the table and took a peek, he said, "MooooOM (imagine the way you would've said mom when you were 13 and upset - it was JUST like that), I told you I wanted regular noodles and meatballs.  Not sauce noodles."  And then he grunted in disdain. 

Now, I will have you know, that I absolutely spoke to him about his tone and also made him eat his dinner the way it had been served.  And he actually liked it.  You should be so proud...of both of us really.  But later, after Jack had gone to bed, I absolutely told my parenting success story to my hubby, who laughed at me for calling it a parenting success.  Brad said, yes, he may have eaten the dinner; however a) you bought the noodles he demanded rather than the ones you usually buy and b) you asked Jack what he wanted for dinner instead of just telling him what was for dinner. 

Baby steps, my friends.  Baby steps.

*****

Awhile ago when I brought up some baby toys for Hannah, Jack reclaimed a toy rattle in the shape of a phone.  That night while Brad and I watched the news and Jack was playing with his toys, we overhead this one-sided conversation:

Hi Grammy.

How are you doing?  I'm doing good.

Oh, that's extristing (interesting).


(Jack hangs up the phone, turns to us, and explains what was so "extristing")

She has a problem, she has bad luck.

She spilled a pot of cheese.

*****

If Jack doesn't like something, he'll explain, "But that's not my favorite.  I don't love that, Mama."  It threw me for awhile as to where that came from, but when I was telling Aunt Kimmee, she told me I say that all the time.  She even did a little Erika-imitation, "Oh, I definitely don't love that."  Hmm...perhaps he did get it from me.

*****

Last night, I was nursing Hannah as we put Jack to bed.  We had already turned the lights out and Hannah was done eating, but as I got up to leave, she spit up a little.  I must've said something like uh oh, the baby spit up, and then I started to wipe her (and me) up while double-checking to make sure it hadn't gotten on Jack's bed.  He bolts upright and says, "Seriously, Mama?!"  Ha!  It was a good thing it missed his bed, but Brad and I thought Jack's "seriously" was so cute we laughed.  And then he got his feelings hurt because we were laughing.  We have to be very careful lately because he's definitely been learning about feelings and not hurting people's feelings at school, and he doesn't understand that we're laughing because he's so cute and adorable; he thinks we're laughing at him in a mean-spirited way, and it makes us feel so bad.  Poor little man.

*****

He's just too cute.  How could you resist buying him the noodles he requests?  Seriously.

Wordless Wednesday

{Have I mentioned I'm in love?}

Gray and Yellow

Lately, I'm loving the colors gray and yellow together.  I've been buying lots of gray and yellow clothing for my littles, and it just so happened that without even planning it out, I dressed them in these outfits for church the other morning.  When it occurred to me that they matched, I knew I had to try to stage a little photo-shoot.  Here's how that went...

His cheesy smile

Laying on the couch, half asleep

Our Jack-Jack

So tiny

What a good sport she is

Then, I wanted to get some pictures of our kiddos together...

While cute, not quite what I had in mind

Getting him to smile with his eyes open can be a little tricky these days

By the time we got them closer together, Hannah was NOT having it

At all...  "Please save me, Daddy!"

So then I figured I'd just get in on the action, hold the baby, and take some pictures of us together...

Jack was posing as Daddy set up the camera

Then he was busy punching pillows

I finally got a kiss

And a picture where I'm the only one looking at the camera

So we thought we'd try again, but clearly Jack and I thought differently

And so back to the pillow punching he went

While it may not have gone the way I envisioned, this is our life at this point.  And I still love all of these pictures because they definitely tell our story well.  

And I did get this little gem...

Ryan's Bachelorette Party

On Saturday night, we had Ryan's bachelorette party - her last big hurrah before her wedding day.  We went out to eat at her favorite restaurant, Anita's, and then we went dancing.  Besides being super-fun, it was also hilarious.  After what felt like maybe 8-10 minutes of intense dancing, Ryan was pooped.  Seriously, on a night when I thought I'd be home at about 2:30 am, I was in bed by 12:15:)  She's on a tight, dancing regimen to build up her stamina for the wedding because, Girlfriend, we will not be sitting down!!!  Here are some of the best images from our evening:

Typical Ryan while I put on her temporary tattoos

Jojo, Me, Rypie, Mom, and Dawn

Me and my little sister

Ryan and Dawn, one of her bridesmaids

We stopped dancing for a moment to get a picture

(Can you see my Maid of Honor button on my jeans...and how is it that everyone else took off their party tiara and I didn't notice?!)

Delphina, one of my sister's friends, with the Bride-to-Be

And then she was dancing...

Me, Ryan, and Mom

And...what's a bachelorette party without a little bling?!

Rypie - we hope you had fun on your big night out!  In less than a month from now, you'll be a married woman!  Let the countdown begin!!!