Baby Shower Fun

Nearly two weeks ago, my mom and I hosted a baby shower for my sister here at our house.  While getting ready for the party with two little ones wasn't easy, everyone pulled together (thank you, Aunt Kathy!) and we were able to get everything ready just in the nick of time.

If I do say so myself, the party was a huge success.  The decorations turned out wonderful, the food was yummy, and the company was perfect.

Ryan looked and (more importantly!) felt great, and she did very well being in the spotlight.  She received lots of beautiful, snuggly things for the little guy we're all anxiously waiting for:)  She has since set up his nursery and unpacked all of her goodies - I am just so very happy for her!

Take a peek into our little, baby bash:

 {Cake table}

 {One of our guest activities - we asked everyone to leave wishes for the baby.  So sweet!}

 {By this time, you should know I'm a sucker for party details.}

 {Check out these adorable diaper cakes.  And that sweet, little man in those sonogram pictures?  Yes, that's my nephew!}

 {Paper products}

 {Baby boy banner}

 {Yummy, sugar cookies made especially for our party}

 {Momma was excited to unscramble some baby words}

 {My cousin, Kristin, and her little man, Owen, playing Baby Shower Bingo}

 {So excited for baby bedding from Grammy and Grampy}

 {Momma and Papa John cutting the cake...and our invite in the background}

 {Sibling love: my Uncle Tom, Aunt Joanne, and Dad}

 {These cousins LOVE when they get to play together}

 {Momma and Papa John with his mom and Aunt Michelle}

 {Grampy, Ryan, and Grammy}

 {The girly-girls}

 {Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jack traveled from Cleveland to be here with Rypie - we are so happy they were here for such a special event!}

{Momma's first subway art}

Little One - we are waiting for you!

The Things They Say...

We'll come back to the fact that Hannah has croup and is simultaneously cutting four teeth and that we haven't slept in days, but for now, if Brad and I don't write these stories down, we'll forget.  And we can't forget - they are too cute.

*****

While driving Hannah to Grandma and Grandpa's house on Friday, Daddy was explaining that she was going to spend the day with them and that they were waiting to snuggle with her.  Matter of factly, Hannah replied, "Okay," from the back seat.

***

Tonight, Jack and Daddy went on an adventure.  They had a late-night birthday party to attend, and when they came home they were full of stories.  Apparently, while they were driving around, Daddy asked Jack, "Buddy, do you think I'm old?"  {Side bar - Brad saw a picture of himself the other day that he didn't exactly love.  He thinks he looks like an old man...}

Immediately, Jack responded, "No."  {Daddy already felt much better.}

"Well, who's old?" Daddy asked.

Jack, without missing a beat, replies, "Goats."

Daddy busts out laughing, not only because of the ridiculousness of the response, but because he immediately understood Jack's logic.  He thought he'd ask for clarification.  "Why are goats old?"

"Because, they have those manes and {stroking a fake beard on his chin} those long beards."

***

Somehow it came to our attention this evening that Jack calls buffalos, buffalopes.  And he was completely serious.

***

Today, I asked Hannah if she wanted me to put her socks back on cause her feet were chilly.

"Yep," she said.

Everything is "yep" right now:)

***

While playing the animal game before bedtime, my animal was an Emperor Penguin.  Our game went something like this:

Daddy - Do you live in the water, on land, or in the air?

Mommy - On the land and in the water.

Daddy - Mommy doesn't know where the animal lives.

Jack - Do you hatch out of an egg?

Mommy - Yes!

Daddy - Are you like a crocodile or an alligator?  {I think he determined that perhaps I wouldn't know what a reptile is...  Please, does he not know which house I live in?}

Mommy - No.

Jack - Are you a penguin?

Mommy - Yes - what kind of penguin am I?

Jack - One of those penguins with the noodle hair {fluffing the front of his hair up tall}?

Mommy - A Macaroni penguin?  Good guess, but I'm not a Macaroni penguin.

Daddy {incredulously} - Noodle hair?  Did you tell him that's why they're called Macaroni penguins?  Because their hair looks like noodles?  Buddy, that is NOT why they are called Macaroni penguins.

Mommy {laughing} - I did not tell him that.  He came up with that all on his own because they have big yellow hair like noodles.  That's pretty creative.

Jack {smiling} - She didn't tell me.  That's just what I know:)

***

Thank goodness these children make us laugh because otherwise, we may not have survived the last five days.

Now I must sleep.

Seven Days of Super Heroes

I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned on here many times that Jack loves to dress like different super heroes.  In fact, it's very rare that you'd ever come into our house and not find Jack dressed as someone else.  Usually, it's pajamas that he has on, but he's become rather good at creatively mixing and matching his pajamas to make whichever costume he feels like wearing for the moment.  He works really hard to make the entire ensemble match - down to the socks and underwear:)  I decided this is such a fun phase, and that I really needed to work hard at documenting it better to share with him later.  I decided to be really aware of every time he changed for an entire week and to take a picture of him in his get-up.  I'm pretty sure I might have missed one or two outfits, but other than that, I think I did a great job of documenting.  And as you'll see - Jack does a wonderful job of posing as various super heroes:

Batman

Spider-Man

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

Captain America

Wolverine

...and Thor!

He often circles back to previous outfits or changes right before bed to be a certain super hero.  If he's watching a super hero show, he'll pause it to go change to look like the main character.  We enjoy it thoroughly:)  

*****

Daddy's mini-storry:  In wrestling with daddy, Jack has apparently adopted some sort of Kung-Fu style of fighting I was unaware of until he unleashed his skills upon me.  As I'm sitting on the ground he runs at me, jumps in the air and drop kicks me with both legs!!!  If this boy had actually had training on how to do this he would have broken my ribs, and while it did knock me over in pain, a wave of testosterone driven manly joy filled my heart and I couldn't help but congratulate him with a high-five on the perfectly executed drop kick.  Let's hope he uses his powers for good and not evil.  

*****

Back to Spider-Man

and then...

back to Batman.

Near the end of our documenting costumes week, Jack thought it would be fun to pose with the Batman he got for Christmas.  For some reason, he believes that his blue, rain boots closely resemble the black boots that Batman wears - even more so than his black, rubber Crocs.

And Hannah, well, she wants to be just like her brother.  So she decided to stand next to Batman for a picture too:)  (Anyone else think she looks like Cindy Lou Who?!)

Look at this series of pictures to see how she mimics everything he does...

{looking at Jack to see if she's "doing it right"}

Oh, how we love our little super hero and his tiny sister!

Now - the laundry he goes through in a week?  Totally different story:)

Just Jack

While watching The Amazing Spider-man, I remarked, "She's so pretty," to watching Emma Stone on screen.  And Jack?

Without missing a beat, Jack replied, "She's hot, too."

*****

When I give the kids a bath in our master bathroom, I wear my swimsuit.  They've never asked any questions, until recently.

Jack asked me, "Are you going to wear your swim suit?"

"Yeah, is that okay?"

"That makes me laugh," Jack said.

"Why does that make you laugh?"

"Because you look so cute in your swimsuit, Mommy!"

*****

Before leaving for Christmas break, my little man wished one of his best friends a Merry Christmas.  He literally said, "Have a Merry Christmas, Lola!" without any prompting at all.  It was the cutest thing!

*****

Jack has remembered that I like to sleep while it's raining, so now whenever it rains, he likes to tell me about how much he also enjoys sleeping in the rain.  A-dorable!

Silent Sunday

{baby shower post coming soon}

Yuck.

Well, we can add another word to the list of things that Hannah can say: tissue.

(As well as: wafa (waffle), wawa (water, signs simultaneously), canny (candy), up, and hold.  I forget all the things she says so well until I make the list on the blog, and then I'm super-aware for the next few days, noticing every word I forgot to include.)

Anyway, I digress.  She can now say tissue.  In the saddest, most pathetic, most I'm-going-to-hold-the-top-of-my-lip-up-so-my-snot-doesn't-fall way.

In other words, we've been sick around here.  On Saturday, I noticed during our help-Daddy-at-the- townhouse-day that Hannah felt a little warm.  By the time we got back late Saturday night (after a pizza picnic and a dance party in the empty dining room), she seemed fine, but she didn't sleep well at all.  The next morning, she was definitely warm: fever of 100.4.  Yuck.  Based on that alone, I knew she wouldn't be going to school the next day, and throughout the day she just had a runny nose, watery eyes, and lots of sneezes.  And while Jack didn't have a fever, he definitely had a case of the sniffles.

We snuggled, and I tried to help poor Hannah sleep, but the only way she could nap was out of sheer exhaustion and only if I was holding her.  I felt so bad...

On Monday, I kept the kids home as planned, and we watched TV, played with new toys, napped, took a shower, did several loads of laundry, and cleaned my bedroom.  It was a full day, but the kids seemed to be feeling better.

We even had another dance party...one I couldn't resist getting on video (I may have forgotten to turn my phone sideways.  Again.  I'm working on it, I promise.)  See for yourself...and don't judge - we love a little Nicky Minaj around these parts.  My kids know a good beat when they hear one...

On Tuesday, I went to work, but Brad stayed home with the kids because he wasn't sure they were a hundred percent.  It ended up being a good call because we had to make a last minute appointment for Hannah after I got home for the afternoon.  While she seemed to do well during the day, she was very fussy after I got home, and she kept tugging on her ear.  I knew enough to get her to the doctor's and fast, so off we went.  As we waited to be seen, she became more and more inconsolable.  She has the beginnings of an ear infection and is now on oral antibiotics.

While everyone is still a little snotty, the littles are definitely feeling much better.  They have been back at school for two days and everyone is happier.

Well, everyone except me, that is.

I haven't been able to sleep through the night since last Friday (to be fair, neither has Hannah).

And I now have a serious case of the sneezes and sniffles.  It comes with the territory, I guess.  Let's hope it goes away quickly - I have some serious maternity pictures to take and some showers to plan:)

2012

Our year in review...

2012 was good to us, and our hearts are grateful.

Happy New Year!

Hannah says, "I love you."

Miss Hannah is now seventeen months old - I can hardly stand it!  She is the cutest seventeen month old I know, and oh, so sweet.

This is such a fun age - the talking and the playing and the relationships she's building with everyone around her.  Pure love:)

She moved up to the toddler room after Thanksgiving, and she's been doing really well in there.  She loves to play with the baby dolls, and her teachers have said that she often takes care of her babies while carrying her purse around the classroom at the same time.  Apparently, she's learned to multi-task:)

For Christmas, Santa brought Hannah a baby doll, and we gave her a little pack n' play, high chair, and stroller for her babies, and it's the sweetest thing to watch her put her babies to bed.  She rocks them on her shoulder, and gently sets them down, and pats their tummy - just like I do with her at bedtime.  It seriously melts my heart...

While we officially gave up the bottle upon our return from Thanksgiving, Hannah is still our fierce little eater.  She'll eat three times as much as Jack in the same amount of time.  She's always the first one done with dinner, but even after she's done and she's cleared her place (because as soon as she's done, she hands me her plate, her cup, and literally everything else in front of her), she still comes back for more.  If I sit down to eat after they've eaten, she comes running.  Literally - any time she sees food of any kind (dog food included), she comes running.  It makes us giggle.

She loves the puppy dogs.  Within the last few days, she's started yelling Belle's name and then she makes kissing noises to get their attention.  Kissing noises and backward kisses - she actually makes a fish face prior to the noise:)  She yells, "Puppy!" whenever we first get home and she sees them...so sweet.

She's talking up a storm - just tonight I realized that she can say, "Elmo."  We were reading a book with Elmo in it, and she brought it right up to me and said, "Elmo."  We were so proud, and she was so happy with herself.

She can also say:

snack (signs simultaneously)
bibi (binky)
gogoo (yogurt)
baby
oboe (open)
pees (please, signs simultaneously)
juice (signs simultaneously)
Mama
Jack
Dada
Oh noooo!
Nooooo!
Yes
I bo boo (I love you)
shoe
sock
pity (pretty)
baf (bath)
nose.

She knows several animal sounds including lion, dinosaur, monkey, cow, and dog, and she can point to the following body parts:

belly button
nose
eyes
ears
tushy
toes
hair.

She can wear pigtails!!!

{Have I ever told you how much Brad and I love this completely disinterested face that Hannah often gives us?  We love it!}

See?  It really happened - I wasn't lying.

When she's upset, she squeals.  Loudly.  They've mentioned to me at pick-up that when she is playing with something and doesn't want to share with someone else, she just squeals in a very high-pitched fashion.  As if I didn't know that already...  Yes, thank you.  I'm fully aware.

Every time Hannah walks by the pantry door, if it's not shut completely, she shuts it.  I think she learned this from her Grampy:)  She definitely didn't get it from me.

She loves to play with Jack's Hulk hands.  I still need to get a good picture of that because it's simply adorable.

She does not like Santa.  If you follow this blog, you probably already know this much is true.  But, just in case, here's more proof:

{This face is priceless.}

Poor thing.  Maybe we'll have better luck next year.  Jack had one especially yucky Santa experience as well, but now he's certainly a fan:)

She runs the opposite way when I ask her to change her diaper, get dressed, put her coat on, etc.  She looks back, smiles adorably and giggles, and then runs.  How can I get mad at that?  I can't.  Not at all.  She does the same thing when she's stolen one of Jack's toys.  It becomes a mad-dash get-away situation.

Hannah absolutely adores her big brother.  In the morning, when I get her up, the first thing she says, is, "Jack?!"  She giggles when she sees him.  She wants to sit where he sits and play with what he's playing with.  She follows him around, and it makes me smile.  She gives him kisses before bedtime.  She lets him chase her around the downstairs and sits with him while he shows her his treasures, but won't let her touch them:)  Watching them together is my favorite thing.  Ever.

I wish I could stop time - this age is so much fun!

Tonight, she climbed up on my lap, tilted her little head, and said, "I bo boo."  Completely on her own. I hadn't said it first.  I didn't tell her to say it.  Nothing - she just loves me.  And then she said it again:)

I love you, too, Hannah Bear.  So very much.