What a difference a year makes!

Happy New Year!!

At least one of us is still young enough to be on American Idol

One of Madeleine's favorite gifts was a microphone from Ken's parents. She sings all day! Maybe a future backup singer for Sarah Bauer???

More Christmas Pictures

My Angel looking at the tree with her beloved penguin. Her favorite thing is to take all the ornaments off and I find them all over the house.

Madeleine's beautiful stocking, made by my mom. It is all cross stitched and I just LOVE it!! In the little heart locket is a picture of Madeleine with Grandma. It took her a long time to do, but it was so worth it. I know she'll treasure it forever.

Our Christmas tree. She was so excited when she came down Christmas morning. There's the 12 year old Tickle Me Elmo. She really likes him :)
Also my mom got me the Jim Shore angel on top for my birthday. She's beautiful and goes perfectly with our favorite Christmas colors.

It was a hit!

I'm sure this will be the first of many Christmas posts! Ken and my dad did such a great job putting this train table together. They had to take the whole thing apart, find a way to put the bridges on (the blue ones) and put it all back together better than it was. So when we came down on Christmas morning, it was not in the room with the tree. She opened two presents (a tea set and a set of bristle blocks), both of which she loved and played with each for about 1/2 hour. Then she had to go to the bathroom. We have to walk through the living room which is now the train room to get to the bathroom. So I covered her eyes on the way in, and then when she came out, this is what she saw.


Ken had the camera ready and captured her expression. She ran straight over to the trains and couldn't believe they were in her house!!!

After that, we didn't open any more presents. She played with the trains forever - she LOVES them! I'm so glad I bought this even though it pretty much takes up the whole living room.

And I'm really glad I bought the bridges - she loves to play with them.

I think she keeps forgetting that they are in her house, because every morning she comes down and says "Ooh trains!" and runs straight for them. I think she'll get many hours of entertainment from this gift!


So, we still have several unopened presents under the tree. We're stretching it out so she'll get a gift every day for the next few days. She enjoys them more that way anyway.

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas! I'll be back to post more about the past few days. I will say I have been looking at baby boy names a LOT :)

29

Wow, Ken came up with probably the most surprising gift I have EVER received in my life....

The complete naming rights of Baby Boy! I can't believe it. He said I can name him ANYTHING I want! I even asked him some of the ones I suggested earlier and he didn't like, and he said they were all fine, and he'd love it no matter what I chose.

So this changes my WHOLE perspective on the naming process. And it's a BIG responsibility! If the poor child hates his name, he has no one to blame but me....

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Ah, naptime.

Tonight my mom is having a birthday dinner for me, and she has to be gone all day so I get to make dessert! I'm making my favorite, Lemon meringue pie, which I have never made before. It's done and cooling on the counter - I really hope it turns out well!

Today Ken bought me an early birthday present, Anna Maria Horner's new book! And he said we could try to move my sewing machine downstairs so I can actually sew during naptime - right now it is in the room right next to Madeleine's so it wakes her up. I am so excited that I might be able to improve my very limited skills! I've been inspired by some blog friends so last night I tried to make Madeleine a new penguin silky:


The kid loves penguins and you know she's never without a silky! The blue is flannel and the back is satin. Very simple, but effective :)

And just so no one thinks I'm lying about my hillbilly neighbors with their giant snowman and Homer Simpson santa:

You can see how tastefully they are laying flat on the front yard.

Pray for Ken, he's over at my parents house trying to fix up Madeleine's train table. Not sure how that's going, hopefully it'll be all set for Christmas day!

Just make yourself at home, Dear...

Guess what Six is getting for Christmas??

Boy stuff! I got this whole bedding set (well, ALMOST all you see here) for really cheap on ebay. It's new too and it was WELL under $100, even with shipping. It came with everything we need, bumper, sheet, skirt, quilt, etc.. - even 2 valances which is great since his room has two windows. And Ken loves it since he's in the airline industry. I love the colors and the vintage planes. I think I'm definitely going to order the changing pad cover and maybe those pictures. This is what we got Madeleine for her "first" Christmas before she was born - well her quilt so we could match the paint color and Ken and my dad painted her room over Christmas break. I'm not sure what we'll do about painting his room. We might leave it white. We're doing cheap with this baby :) But don't you just LOVE it??

Also, I'm still deciding what to do about the whole diapering issue. I bought some of these All in One's just to try since they were on a huge sale. But I got the small which is supposed to fit from 11 to 18 lbs, which for Madeleine was about 6 weeks to 15 months! So if they work we'll definitely get our money's worth. I also asked for some fitted diapers for Christmas so if mom gets me those, I'll just have to buy some prefolds and covers to round out my stash. When he gets to about 6 or 7 months old we should be set with Madeleine's stash. I am debating whether to buy prefolds and covers for the first few months.... I probably should since I hate buying disposables, especially in the expensive newborn stage. It's like $10 for 30 diapers, which lasts about 3 days. By the time I buy all that, I might as well just buy cloth. Right, Ken? :)

These diapers are so soft it's unbelieveable. I want some of these in adult size when I get to the senile nursing home stage :)

Oh, I also bought him some of these at the same store that was having the 40-50% off everything sale. I couldn't resist, and they will be perfect for the summer! Ok, I'm done buying for him for a while now!! Well... maybe. We wouldn't want him to go NAKED or worse... wear PINK would we Ken? :)

Generosity of friends and strangers

What a day of generosity today! First of all, I was thinking how to do both kids rooms. Madeleine has a huge white changing table/hutch/drawers in her room, but she's really outgrowing the changing table part and there are only two drawers and a bunch of shelves, so not a lot of clothes storage. She also has a white crib. So I was thinking we'd have to move the changing table down the hall to Six's room. However, the crib in there is a maple color so it wouldn't go. SO I thought we would switch the cribs and move the changing table down the hall. But then Madeleine needed a dresser or something. So a few days ago I saw that someone was offering up a dresser on freecycle - 4 drawer in a maple color. I thought that would be perfect for Madeleine's room with her new crib, but you never know what you're going to get on freecycle. So I sent Ken over to their house to pick it up yesterday and it was PERFECT!!! I couldn't believe how nice it was and it goes perfectly with the crib. Wow. (Notice the huge tub of girl's clothes that we're going to have to move out of the boy's room!) And it's in the boy's room right now but we're going to switch the cribs and the dresser and changing table over Christmas break. And if you're wondering why we don't just switch the kids' rooms, it's because Madeleine's walls are green and go with her bedding, and I ordered boy bedding and it's red, white and blue!

Then, my mother in law decided to give us her hutch that she has had for Ken's whole life. She even paid for movers to move it from her house to our house today. It looks fantastic in our dining room! It even goes great with the table and gives us tons more storage, which we really need. (See that advent candle? That was from the first week and I'm thinking it's not going to make it!)

Then today, we got a HUGE box of clothes and shoes from our blog friends Ma and Pa Beck. And I do mean huge! They are all beautiful and I separated them into two piles - one winter pile that she can wear right now and one that will fit her in the summer. There were even a few red dresses that will be perfect for this month! So I got all excited and decided to clean out her closet and drawers so we could put her new stuff away. This was long overdue. I ended up with three bags of clothes that I can give to my friend who just had a baby girl in August. Thank you so much Ma and Pa :) We will definitely get a lot of use out of the clothes! She wore one outfit already today and I have one laid out for tomorrow. And actually, most of the clothes she inherited from Ava are 24 months and the pants just fall off of her. So the 18 month stuff is perfect for right now.

THEN, our friends Sarah and Chris brought us a dinner that we can freeze and eat during this busy holiday season. They are fantastic cooks too. They also brought us cookies and a beautiful framed candid picture of our family from their wedding this past April. I LOVE the picture. I don't think we knew they were taking it. I was in my dress holding Madeleine looking at her, Ken was in his tux looking at her too and he had his hand on her back. It's a beautiful family picture. So thank you guys SO MUCH! By the way, if any of you are interested in hearing some great Catholic music, or if you need some stocking stuffers, Sarah's CDs are fantastic.

We are so blessed to have such great friends. Thank you all again!!

Christmas Meme

From Bren and Brenda

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate, egg nog is gross. I like Hot chocolate with Coconut rum, but not this year.

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree? All the presents under the tree are wrapped - except maybe her Tickle Me Elmo this year (I got it in high school for some reason and kept it. I just KNEW in the back of my mind it would come in handy one day!!) And the train table of course won't be wrapped. We're setting it out where it will stay which isn't in the room with the tree. We're going to set up the whole village after she goes to bed - I can't WAIT till she sees this!

Colored lights on tree or white? White

When do you put your decorations up? After Thanksgiving - first Sunday of Advent.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? My mom's homemade mac and cheese. I can't WAIT until Madeleine outgrows her milk allergy and can have this!!

Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Christmas morning. My dad would read the Christmas story out of the Gospel of Luke, then we'd open presents, then we'd have a great breakfast, then go to mass.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I think I was about 7 or 8 and kids at school were talking.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We always went to Grandma's house on Christmas eve so we had a lot of presents. Now we're going to my Grandma's Christmas in the morning on Christmas Eve and Ken's mom's house in the evening. I think the kid will get plenty of presents.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Mom has given us an ornament every Christmas since we were born. She made sure to make it something special that we did that year - like a little car when I learned how to drive, a little mouse on a tortilla chip when I first took Spanish, a little wagon with two bears in it when I got a baby brother, etc... Then when we got married we got all the ornaments for our tree. Now Mom is continuing the tradition with Madeleine. She got a Frosty the Snowman ornament this year... it even plays the song! And also my mom made us a beautiful tree skirt a few years ago.

Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it until after Christmas and then I'd be happy with 70 degree temps the rest of the year :)

Can you ice skate? This is an interesting question. I CAN technically, and I actually used to be GREAT at rollerblading in college, but the last time I went ice skating I was trying to do a trick and I broke my wrist. I was in 22 and was in Alabama visiting my family. I had driven myself down there and when I fell I KNEW it was broken. Also I had just gotten engaged and the lady at the ice skating rink had to pry my ring off my swollen finger. Then we had to go to the ER in this crazy town and the male nurse had a mullet and said "If I was a bettin' man, I'd say you broke your wrist!" Then the next day I had to drive myself home - 8 hour drive.

Do you remember your favorite gift? Hm... well my birthday and Christmas are two days apart, so those presents run together. I think this was actually a birthday present, but when I was 16 my mom and dad got me a hope chest that I still have and really love.

What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Helping Madeleine understand the TRUE meaning of Christmas.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Lemon Meringue pie - again not technically a HOLIDAY dessert, but my most requested birthday dessert :)

What is your favorite tradition? Christmas morning with the family.

Which do you prefer, Giving or Receiving? Both. I'm not gonna lie :)

What is your favorite Christmas Song? Probably O Holy Night.

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? They're fine, I don't ever really eat them.

Ever recycled a Christmas present? I'm sure it's been done.

I'm tagging anyone who wants to play! Come on, you know you want to.

Shocked and thrilled!!!

This morning my mom, Madeleine and I went shopping - we left around 8am and got home around 4:30. We went to a mall about 30 minutes away, walked all around, had lunch in the food court, then drove to another mall. On the way to the other mall we stopped at several stores and Madeleine fell asleep briefly in the car. Then we got to the other mall and walked around to several stores.

Drumroll please......

She did not have ONE ACCIDENT the entire day!!! She is still in the same Dora pullups she had on this morning! I cannot believe it!! She's doing so well.

Cute Baby Boy

I can't believe I haven't posted this before. Poor second child :) If you want to compare, Here's Madeleine around 20 weeks as well.

Madeleine's first haircut!

I've been thinking she needs a haircut for a while now - she was getting a little shaggy. But I was so scared they'd cut off all her curls, so I've been putting it off. Today I woke up and realized that it is DECEMBER 10th already, and I needed to get her Christmas pictures taken! So her bangs were hanging in her eyes and I decided to give them a little trim. SO not a good idea! I really messed them up, so I drove her straight to the nearest kid haircut place and decided to take the plunge before her 3:30 haircut appointment. They did a GREAT job! We talked about what would happen on the way over there so she wouldn't be scared. She got to pick out a DVD to watch (Elmo, of course) and sit in a little yellow car. She did fantastic.

Watching Elmo.

Still watching Elmo.

They had a great slide there so after she was done she went down it about 100 times.

YAY!! Even curlier than before!!



After her nap we went to get her pictures taken. I figured we would get a few good shots but she did SO good and they were so cute. So I ended up ordering a bunch. Ken said this last picture gives him an idea of what she'll look like when she's older, and she is going to be so beautiful. I already think she's the most beautiful girl in the whole world :)

Christmas Spirit in Abundance around here

Remember my hillbilly, Obama supporting neighbors who have random dogs roaming the neighborhood and numerous cars in their driveway? They also have huge poofy hair and their car has Obama hubcaps! Where do you find something like that? At least now that it's cold they wear shirts.

Anyway, their neighbors are also hillbillies. So when I look out my bedroom window at night, I see an 8 foot tall blow up, glow in the dark Homer Simpson in a santa suit. I SO want to put a hole in it. Right next to him is a gigantic frosty the snowman. Across the street from them is a big green dinosaur with a santa hat. What is going on?? What happened to lights and a nice wreath on your door?

Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!

She was an angel at mass this morning. Which is a nice change from her behavior at mass lately. And both babies got blessed.

Potty Training update!

Madeleine is doing SO WELL! I think it's finally really clicking. She's in pull ups pretty much full time, except when we're at home and she likes to be "naked girl." She has started to tell me when she has to go, and she can hold it for a few minutes until we get to a bathroom. She is also ok going in public places or other people's houses now. She has very few accidents - maybe one/day in her pull up. She is even going number 2 on the potty! I'm so proud of her!

Ok, here you go...

Me, Roofus (who looks just THRILLED to be in the picture) and Baby Boy at 21 weeks.

Busy....

My mom picked up this book for me today! There's some good ones in there too. Thanks Mom!

Plus, I have a feeling St. Nicholas is visiting our house tonight. Shoes are out!!

Music Class

I did bring a camera to music class today, but forgot to take any pictures! In the fall, I signed Madeleine up with Ava to take a music class through the Music Playhouse. They are fantastic! Each session we get a different CD, with all different songs that they've produced. They try to have the kids learn different beats, meters, etc through the songs. We sit in a circle and sing songs, play different instruments, keep a beat on the kids laps, and they use touch a lot (tickling, twirling, marching, dancing, etc) to teach them all kinds of things. Madeleine LOVES it. She's always loved music, but she especially loves this class. Last session with Ava I kind of felt like Madeleine wasn't getting as much out of it as she should. The very last class last session Ava was sick, and Madeleine got a lot more out of it. She listened better, paid attention, even went and sat on the teacher's lap a few times. So I pretty much begged Ken to let me sign her up for the winter session on a day I didn't work, so it would just be her and I - before her baby brother comes along. He let me, even though it's pretty expensive when you pay for it up front. Today was our first class and as soon as we started singing the Music Class song she had the biggest smile on her face I've ever seen! (You know we have to sing that song every night before bed!) When the teacher asked for volunteers to come sit on her lap for a song she ran straight to her and when she was done she ran to me with a huge smile on her face. When it was over she said "Music class tomorrow?!" At the end of class, the teach remarked to me, "She's a totally different kid without Ava around, isn't she?" That kind of made me sad, but I'm really so glad we get to do this together. She was also very friendly with all the other kids and listened very well to the teacher. And I think she was by far the cutest one in class - haha!

Oh and in answer to a few questions in the comments....
We didn't leave the tree that way - the ornaments were precariously balanced and she has been rearranging them since then anyway.
I don't think I've mentioned this at all, surprisingly, but my due date is April 24. He was measuring a little big at all the ultrasounds so maybe he'll be early? I can only hope. Because the other option is that he'll be BIG and on time.... let's not even think about that. Miss 7 lb 12 oz gave me enough problems!

Fun day at the Children's Museum

Today we spent a great day at the Children's museum with my friend Jenni and her three adorable, well-behaved kids. We had so much fun and got to see totally different things than we saw last time. Here are the four of them ready to go...
Madeleine's favorite part was this slide. She probably went up the stairs and down the slide at LEAST 100 times! This was her expression pretty much the entire time!! I loved watching her and trying to get a decent picture :) It was really a fast slide and she LOVED it!

I was also very proud of her. We've really been working on taking turns and she did GREAT. She stood and patiently waited her turn every single time. When it was her turn she'd say "Now Mannet's turn!"

We also saw the trains and dinosaurs, and rode the carousel again. She couldn't wait to ride "Johnny Giraffe." Then we ate lunch and both little kids were conked out pretty much as soon as we left the parking lot. So of course when we got home she refused to take a nap. So we decided to decorate the tree. It was already up, we just had to put the ornaments on it. I didn't get a picture of the whole tree yet, but here's the section that Madeleine decorated herself....


She was so proud of herself whenever she'd put an ornament on. She would say "I did it Mama!"

Happy Birthday Month to me!

I texted Ken this morning to inform him that it's my birthday month, however he said all I get is a birthday afternoon! I do not think this is fair :)

Thank you guys SO MUCH for all the great name suggestions! You guys must all love little boys - I don't think I have ever got so many comments! If you have any more, keep them coming! I really like all of them. Anna I want to hear some of your "ridiculous" ones!

We have one that we both really like, although I'm concerned about the nickname that he could have. I was with Madeleine too though, but whenever someone calls her Maddie I just inform them that we call her Madeleine. It's rare that anyone calls her that anymore so that is good!

I realize that I've been slacking on the pictures lately. I'll get some up pretty soon. We're going to the Children's Museum again tomorrow so I'm sure I'll get some good ones! No one wants to see a picture of ME, do they?? :) I am still 9 lbs down from my pre pregnancy weight so I am not too worried about gaining weight. YAY! Hopefully the same thing that happened last time will happen this time - I only gained 15 lbs and lost it all in less than 2 weeks.