Thursday, September 29, 2011

On the go go!!


Saturday is the first day of October.  As much as I love to see what the new calendar picture will be at the start of each new month... I always am a bit sad to have to take down the old.....it always means that our youngest will be yet another month older... Saturday...sweet Sam will be EIGHT months.  


Poor little guy has not been feeling good for quite some time... but I think we are slowly getting over the hump!  He sure had some smiles for me today after lunch!  Who isn't happy with a full tummy?


He has two bottom teeth now... and must be trying to cut a few more...because he just drools, drools, drools....and has been a wee bit whiny lately.  Naps and night-time sleeps have been a challenge.  He took a pretty good one this morning, though, and we were off to a good start this afternoon until a lawn company decided to RING the DOORBELL....GRRRRR!


At eight months, Sam still LOVES to wrap his arms around you and give you hugs.  He wants to be held...but is quickly learning to scoot around and crawl... He has gotten pretty good at crawling/scooting backwards and is really just beginning to move forward....

It used to be easy to put him in the exersaucer for a few minutes if I had to do something where I couldn't keep my eye on him...but as of yesterday...when he decided he wanted to get out...and somehow climbed out (head first :( ) this is not as good of an option.   He will be just like little Joseph before I know it....always having to have an eye on him!!!

I am desperately trying to get him to say "mama".... but I think that he just might have said something a little closer to "dada" just once...but we'll keep that a little secret....and just keep working on getting that "mama!"  :)


He is really trying to get up on all fours and really wants to get to sitting position from laying down.  He will be there before we know it.


He LOVES to crawl/scoot under chairs and tables and beds...  but cries tremendously when he can't get out.  He is such a big boy....but oh my he can cry like a newborn:)  especially when I try to wipe his nose!!!


All this crawling has worn me out!



Oops.. .I had to get down really low to get him and I accidentally cut off his chin...but love his expression!




He has become increasingly fond of this little guy as well...


Sam loves to play with J's hair and just watch J play with his cars... Soon... they will be lining up all those tiny cars together!!  I took this picture of Joseph while we were waiting for Sophia at pick up today.... He is the best buddy to have in the car... he always comes up front with me....and you should hear the conversations he has with whomever has parked next to us... Sooo hilarious...so social...so friendly...He talks to everyone.....and who can resist???

Below he asked me to take his picture with the pumpkins at the grocery store... we will wait to get our pumpkins from the patch...but he was pretty excited about these..


Still chuckling about J's newest habit of coming back downstairs after we put him in bed.  No matter what kinds of threats we give...every night he comes to sit on the steps and talk to us...just checking out what is going on while he is supposed to be sleeping.  He usually always has something very important to tell us....the first few nights it was that he was going to throw up (but not really).....and tonight it was questions like "Why did you leave the dining room light on?"  And after B tried to give a firm...."Time to go to bed, Joseph" while I was trying not to laugh....he asked...."When am I getting my report card?"  He is too funny.....every day is eventful with him:)

So...October is here in one more day.  I guess there is no stopping it.... Sam will be a month older....Sophia will celebrate her half birthday...and J will keep us hopping.  Bring it on:)

Friday, September 23, 2011

Sillies

I kept J home from school on Wednesday because his allergies/asthma were making him feel miserable....but we did have some fun!  We visited Daddy's office and J decided to take over the biz while Papa was away.  I think he would make a pretty good boss, don't you?


And today...Sam discovered something he had never noticed before...



Not great pictures b/c I took them with my phone...grabbed what I could to catch this little guy in the moment:)

I have a feeling he will get pretty used to this washing machine thing...since it pretty much goes non-stop at our house!

And staring at this picture of our laundry room... I have decided it needs an update...we definitely need some new drawer pulls and knobs to jazz it up a bit.  I have a list of "around the house" projects...painting....etc that I am itching to start!!!  Watch out B!

It's been an exhausting two weeks....Sophia seems to have kicked this cold/virus and I thought J and Sam were beginning to turn a corner...WRONG... I think it may just be starting over again.....We may just keep the Kleenex industry in business this year:(

Happy Weekend!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Missing....

I feel like we have been missing on the blog the past few weeks.....The truth is life at our house the last few weeks has been pretty mundane....lots of colds and allergies and breathing treatments.....and sick babies...and that is truly NO FUN....   Wiping noses, distributing medicines, changing diapers....oh my.....something so easy can become so difficult when the kiddos are not happy.  Poor Mr. Sam has had an awful cold/sinus infection....and this little guy quickly made it very clear to us that he WOULD NOT allow us to wipe his nose....even though it never stopped running.  Well...living with me....that is just.not.possible.....so wipe, wipe, wipe we went....and cry, cry, cry he went!  This along with  J's nightly croup episodes left b and myself pretty darn tired and cranky.   And...it's only September....hope this is not an indicator of what our household health will be this winter...

So even though things haven't necessarily been roses here.... I did find some picture-worthy moments on my camera!!  I guess life doesn't really stop even when we don't feel too hot!

Here we are having a fun study break at a local coffee shop...  Look at Miss Sophia....she is so intent and serious when it comes to her homework! 


Here is J enjoying his brownie and of course making his usual Joseph mess:)


And Sam.... always along for the ride!


Here is Sophia ready for another night of dance class wearing her blue leotard this time!!  She's so cute!


J's preschool was talking about apples last week...so we had our own taste test at our house.  I cut the apples and numbered them...then we had a taste test without knowing which color apple we were tasting.  The results were a tie (after Sophia changed her original choice to what I had chosen) and the winners were Red Jonathan's and Yellow Golden's!



Poor Sam was soooo not feeling well...but I got some of these smiles that night...and lots of



DROOL!



Yup...that is drool coming from his mouth in the picture below...but I just couldn't edit it out!  It's a memory of that horrible teething they all have to go through, right?  Look at those cute BIG feet!



Painting a race car from our friend's birthday party was a great way to spend a rainy Saturday morning...and J did such a good job!


Look at how hard he is working...



So proud of his work!


And finally we made it to story time at PB kids where we got to see the real George himself!



And there is really a story behind this final picture below... yes... it is my mixer.


I was mixing some cookie dough the other day....and little helper J was on the counter with me....he is always very interested in "helping out" while I make the dough.  At one point of my mixing process... I always take the bowl completely off of the stand so I can really scrape down the sides.... As I was doing this....J pointed out that my mixer looked just like it was going to give him a hug.  I stopped and looked at what he was looking at and realized he was right!  I had never looked at my mixer that way...but without the bowl attached... it really does look like it has "hugging arms."  Amazing...how someone else's perspective can change the way you see things.  My kids definitely do this for me.... sometimes I get so "focused" in the routine that I forget to look beyond what my eyes see.   


Sunday, September 11, 2011

Never Forget.

It was a beautiful day here today...and eerily reminiscent of the day ten years ago.  Today I prayed an extra prayer for the many fallen heroes of our country.    I pray that they know just how appreciated they are for their sacrifices, and I pray for the families they left behind.   My heart is heavy for their loss.

I prayed also for my own family.... in thanksgiving for the gifts God has given me in the last 10 years.   I am thankful that my children have both a mother and a father.  I am thankful that in their lifetime thus far, they have only known safety and security (and I pray it stays that way).   I am thankful for the freedoms this great country provides.  

So as I remember those who sacrificed so much.... I am also thanking God for the gifts He has given me:




Thursday, September 8, 2011

One more send off...

Mr. J started PRESCHOOL on Wednesday....he just seems too little for me to be sending him away.... even if it is for just a few hours.  He seemed excited the day before...but I was a bit concerned when he started telling others that Mommy was going to be there with him ( like I had been at his orientation). 

Here he is ready to go...trying to hold his bag that is almost bigger than him.  Speaking of bags...we purchased the cutest backpack for him BEFORE we found out that he had to carry the plain ole canvas bag given by the school:(



Don't you just love all these smiles?....you can just tell he is VERY tired of mommy trying to get a "good" picture!


We headed off early so we could catch the All School Mass before preschool.  J pretty much had ants in his pants the entire time...would.not.sit.still.  Thankfully, Yiayia joined us and offered to stay with Sam when we had to head out early to get J to the preschool doors on time.  (Unfortunately I missed Sam "jamming out" to the Church music as Yiayia carried him up with her in the communion line.  We have noticed that he likes to move his head back and forth when he gets excited or hears fun music, so we've given him the nickname "Stevie," for Stevie Wonder, of course:)

Here is J outside of church...looking a wee bit nervous.



Ahhh.... a friend we knew from My Gym.....makes it a little easier when you can walk into a new place with a buddy!  These two were one of the first in the classroom, thankfully.  After I walked out of the room... I, of course, "hung out" outside the door and peered in to watch J for a bit.  There were still a few children coming in...and I noticed a few of them were clinging to their parents....once the others in line behind them saw their nervousness, it was like a domino effect...everyone started tearing up!!! Oh thank goodness J was already in the room and didn't see this!


Here is Joseph hanging up his bag with Mrs. M ( she is the SWEETEST!)  and laughing that his silly name tag keeps falling off of his shirt..... He is too funny!


And showing off his decorated apple that we did at home.


Finding the toys...


And of course once he found the CARS....he felt at home right away!


He came home a few hours later happy and exhausted, telling me his favorite part was riding the tricycle at recess....just as it should be:)  Love you my little J.....those teachers and classmates are so lucky to have you! 

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Snippets


He is off to preschool tomorrow....It's just for 2 1/2 hours...but the house will be too lonely without him:(



She had her first dance class today at a different dance studio.




Such a pretty little ballerina.


She looks more and more grown up every day.


Little man, Sammie, spent much of his day doing this...


Chewing!  Poor little guy is struggling with those new toothers!


Hopefully I'll be back to post some BIG BOY Preschool pics later this week:)