A boy with his toy

John Paul played with a toy for the first time today! This was Madeleine's favorite toy, and Ava's as well. Very easy to hold on to. He is also getting SO close to laughing. He smiles all the time!

He won't enjoy this someday, but this picture just cracks me up! Sorry John Paul!


You know how I said in the last post that there was no itching going on? Well that wasnt entirely true. Last night we went out to eat at Red Robin for our anniversary dinner. We were almost done with our meal when Madeleine started itching her hands with a tortilla chip. (I know, what the heck?) I looked at her hands and they were red and swollen and she started getting hives on her hands and arms, and around her mouth. I have NO idea what caused it because she has had everything she ate last night before - tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, chicken and fries. Anyway, the manager said that he thought there might be some kind of peanut flour or something in tortilla chips. So we took her home and gave her benadryl and a bath, and she was fine. But I did call her allergist today and he wants her to come in for more testing, so we have to go in August. Poor girl.

No itchin' over here....

Happy 7th anniversary Ken!! Love you!!!

Big Boy!

John Paul had his 2 month appointment today. He is 24 inches and 13 lbs 12 oz!! He's in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. I looked up Madeleine's height and weight at her 2 month appointment (gotta love the blog!) and she was 12 lbs and 23 inches.

So John Paul has grown 3 inches and over 5 lbs in just two months! His shots weren't fun, but definitely not as scary for me the second time around. It doesn't seem to be bothering him anymore either.

Madeleine is loving her new swingset! Thanks Fuzz! She is able to climb the ladder and go down the slide by herself, and she loves swinging on the big girl swings. Monday night we took her out into the backyard and she was so excited to see it in the yard! Then yesterday morning when Ken got her out of bed, he pointed to it out the window and said, "What's that?" She said "Swings!!"

So, this Sunday is my friend Jenny's wedding shower and I'm in charge of the games. She's not a big fan of games that involve toilet paper or gum or stuff like that, and it's in a very nice restaurant. I do have something in mind, but does anyone have any ideas for great wedding shower games? I'm open to suggestions. Jenny you are not allowed to read the comments until after Sunday! :)

2 months old!

At 2 months John Paul is so much fun! I can already tell he has a totally different personality than his sister. He just goes with the flow. He's always happy. He loves to cuddle with mommy, but also loves his swing and sleeps great in his cradle. Ok, last night he slept from 8:30pm to 6:30am!!!! Do you realize that Madeleine did not do that until 13 MONTHS!!! I am loving this! God had mercy on me! (PLEASE let this continue!)


This is one BIG boy! I'm guessing he's around 13 lbs and we'll find out at his 2 month appointment on Wednesday. He is wearing 3-6 month clothes now! He's really long too. I'm guessing he'll pass up his sister in a year or so - in weight at least!

He is really smiley and starting to "talk" to me. I love love love this age!
I know this picture is blurry but I just love his face. And miss Sew embroidered their outfits when she was here last week. I sewed them together and they turned out SO cute!! I love them and I think I might go get their picture professionally taken in them, especially since I can't seem to get a decent picture of them together!
I just have to say that I'm so happy we named him John Paul. It fits him perfectly!! I'm so proud to tell people when they ask his name, even though I get some mixed reactions. Like one girl said, "John Paul, wasn't that the guy who made all the perfume?" Um, no.

That was the best birthday gift EVER, Ken! Let's do this every time :)

Splash Park!

Who thought of these things?? And where were they when I was little? We've been to two different splash parks in the past two days, and they are SO much fun. It's just a huge series of pipes and tubes with water squirting out. Madeleine has such a great time since she loves getting wet, and boy does she take a great nap after that!

Doesn't John Paul look thoughtful? He is two months old today, so there will be more pictures coming up. I think he gets cuter every day, maybe that's just me :)

Love this outfit, Aunt Jenni!

It's water, I might as well have a drink!

Ok, this is one of the best playgrounds I have ever seen!! They had so much new stuff, as well as plenty of regular stuff. I got in this thing with Madeleine and Ken spun us around. I was sad when it was time to go!

Where did she get those eyelashes??

Oh and thanks for the swimsuit Jenny!

Sew Much Fun!

Miss Sew and I had such a great time this week! As you can see, Madeleine and John Paul loved her! Madeleine woke up crying from her nap today and when I asked her what was wrong, she said, "I wanna go to the store with "Sew."

It was really great to meet her in person and just hang out. The whole week was really relaxing. We got some great naptime sewing in, stay tuned for pictures after Sunday (when my kids will be wearing their new outfits!)

Thanks for coming and hanging out with us Sew! And thanks for being so loving with my kids - not everyone will get down on the floor and play tea party with a 2 year old, not to mention hang out at story hour!



So, we are possibly having some issues with milk. Madeleine has had stomach issues since her weekend of ice cream every day! And since I've eaten ice cream, John Paul has been pretty fussy in the evenings, which is not usual for him. So we are all going to take a few weeks off and then possibly try it again. *sigh*

Highlight of her weekend!

First Ice Cream!

Madeleine's blood test for dairy allergy came back negative!! She was able to try ice cream for the first time yesterday. We walked to Dairy Queen and she got her very own cone. She probably only ate 1/4 of it if that, and so far there's been NO reaction!! Can I just tell you how much my life is going to change?? I'll be able to cook totally differently, shop differently, I won't have to read every label of what I give her searching for milk, casein, whey, etc. I'm so excited! And John Paul doesn't seem to be reacting to milk I'm drinking either. I cannot WAIT to make her mac and cheese. Homemade of course!

Let me tell you it's been a rough two years with no dairy. It was extremely hard for me to give up while nursing her, and it's been hard cooking dairy free. I have learned a lot though. But it seems to be over and I'm SO glad!!

No luck on the videos

I have tried several times to post a video of the ordination, but have not had luck. I don't know why? I'll try again tonight though. I don't know if the file's too big or what.

We have some great friends coming into town tomorrow for the weekend and I'm so excited!! Their daughter is almost 3 and she is our Goddaughter. Ashley has been one of my best friends since high school and her mean old husband made her move to Iowa! :) Still not so happy about that! But they'll be here all weekend and I can't wait for the girls to play together. And I haven't seen them in 2 years!

Then on Monday, Miss Sew is coming to visit! I can't wait for that either. I'm sure we'll have some great pictures to post soon! She has so much energy now she might just wear us out!

So, I had a great new surprising result on the Reliv that I am so excited about. I just can't believe this stuff! Go check it out on my Reliv blog.

Ordination

My friend Jenny (see sidebar - Jenny and Doug are getting married!) and John Paul and I drove up to Lafayette on Saturday to attend the ordination at the Cathedral. Madeleine stayed home - there's no way I'd bring the little tasmanian devil! There was one priest ordained and 4 deacons. The man ordained a priest I've been friends with since high school, and I've known the deacons for several years as well. It was so beautiful. We got balcony seats and they were the best seats in the house! Next year we decided we're going back to the balcony for sure.


So, there was an older, grandmotherly type lady in the balcony who offered to hold John Paul while I took some pictures and videos. She walked around up there with him for a while, and I could tell it just made her day. She told me that she thought he had a vocation to the priesthood. I told her I'd be thrilled! She said she prays for vocations every day and she was going to put him at the top of the list :)

This reminded me of a few years ago at another ordination - Fr. W, who prayed over us before we conceived John Paul. I had the honor of playing guitar at his first mass. (I use the word "Playing" loosely, as I was crying so hard during communion I could barely see the music!) I was so touched during his mass. Afterwards we were able to ask him to pray for any intention we wanted. I asked that he pray that we have a son who is called to be a priest. *

This is Fr. Shocklee kneeling in front of the bishop.

John Paul hanging out with Jenny in the balcony.

*It's no secret that I'd love a son who is a priest. It doesn't have to be John Paul, don't worry I'm not going to push him that way! It doesn't matter what vocation my children have as long as they answer the call to holiness.

I got some great videos too. They sang my very favorite Litany of the Saints. I'm going to try to post a few this week.

Big Girl Walk

Lately Madeleine has wanted to do everything "all by herself." (Except go to the potty, but that's another story.) She's also been staying up later at night since it's so light in her room when we try to put her to bed. So the other night, I had the brilliant idea of taking a walk, and letting her walk by herself. (Gotta wear this girl out!) We laid down the rules at the beginning of the walk, since she had never been allowed in the street before. We told her that she had to stay right next to us, and if she saw a car or heard a car she had to hold our hands. She did fabulous following the rules. We live on a very quiet street in the middle of a quiet neighborhood, so we probably saw 2 cars the whole time. No one even comes down our street unless they live on it. We walked all the way around the block, which is a long way for those short little legs! She had a great time and talked about it the whole next day. She stopped and looked at flowers, and different things we found on the street (like a rope?) She saw the dogs and birds and people's houses. I hope we make this a summer tradition!

Here's John Paul in his Moby Wrap.

Madeleine walking "all by self."
And the tired boy after bath and in his jammies when we got home.

These pictures are from my phone, so not the best quality but I loved them! How cute are those lips?? And I am thinking I might get a chubby baby this time!

Potty training?

Today Madeleine was being "naked girl" with just a dress, and she usually does great on the potty like that. She had a friend over and I saw her sit down on a hollow block. I looked and she had PEED IN IT. What the heck????

The other day she said, "I have 3 carebears (fruit snacks) and I ate two, and now I have one." The kid can subtract but can't go to the potty.

Today we went out with our friends to Qdoba and she sat in a booster seat for the first time. She did great and thought she was such a big girl. She has also enjoyed sitting in the big comfy chairs at Barnes and Nobles with us on the weekends. She just hangs out and reads books and drinks her chocolate milk. A kid after my own heart!