4 months old!

My baby is 4 months old today! He is the most smiley baby I've ever seen. Ken said last night that Madeleine was a happy baby, but John Paul takes it to a whole new level! Every time he sees someone looking at him he breaks out into a huge smile - his mouth open wide and his whole body into it. He is just so adorable! He has big blue eyes that everyone comments on. And a few little scraps of hair that can't decide what color it's going to be. He is BIG and strong and very wiggly. He's pretty hard to hold sometimes because he just slides and wiggles all over the place.
Here's the Johnny Jump Up I put up today for the first time. He did pretty well! Still a little wobbly but he lasted about 10 minutes. Madeleine was pretty fascinated with it as well. There had to be a new rule instituted today: No swinging your brother.

I can't believe it, but he's getting his two bottom teeth! I can see and feel two tiny points on the bottom. Also he rolled over in our bed today. He might have been on his side though and ended up on his tummy so I don't think I'll count this as his first roll. He always has his hands in his mouth, but hasn't really found his thumb yet. I keep hoping.

He's hanging out with our favorite seminarian, Dominic, who has been praying for Madeleine and John Paul since they were conceived.

And Father Joshua, who had a "vocation talk" with John Paul tonight :)

Lately he's been loving hanging out in the sling. We went to the state fair and I carried him in the sling almost the whole time. When he's in the sling (or nursing sometimes) he loves to hold my hand!! I think this is just the sweetest thing EVER!

He absolutely refuses to sleep in his crib. I have totally spoiled him by letting him take his naps in the swing. I've tried about 10 times in the past week to get him to sleep in his crib but he always wakes up, and then is cranky because he doesn't get a good nap. So at night he's still in the cradle and for now he's taking naps in the swing. Hopefully he'll get used to the crib soon though! I've instituted the dream feed - where I pick him up and feed him when I go to bed - and he's been sleeping until about 5:30 or 6:00, which is fantastic.

Even when he's tired though, he is usually in a good mood and generally a really easy baby to get along with. Not to mention adorable.

He absolutely LOVES his big sister! And she loves him! I'm just so happy about this. If he cries she always tries to make him smile. She gives him toys and talks to him while I change his diaper. She always likes to sit by him and talk to him. Lately she comes up and says "Hi Little Thing!" Or she'll shake his hand and say "Nice to meet you John Paul!" I love the blog because I can look back and remember.

He laughs out loud all the time and is really ticklish. He loves to play Pat-a-cake too. He's really good at church every week. (His sister could take a lesson!)

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful little son!

Knock me over with a feather.....

Today I got up early today, came downstairs and set this up on the table. Madeleine sits where the placemat is (obviously) so she got to look at it when she ate her meals. When I went to get her, I told her I had a special surprise for her downstairs. I showed her the tea set and told her that every day she kept her pants dry until Daddy got home, she got to choose a piece to keep and play with at her little table. Her eyes got big and I asked her if she wanted to try it. She was really excited and said YES! Then when she was eating breakfast, I asked her which piece she was going to choose today if she kept her pants dry all day and used the potty every time. She picked out one of the teacups she wanted. I set up her table and even made her a little tablecloth. She couldn't wait to play with that teacup.

So, this morning she went a few times on the potty, without me even telling her. I thought maybe it would work for a little while and then she'd forget. NO. She went the ENTIRE DAY with ZERO accidents!!! I cannot believe it!! She was SO proud of herself too. She was even dry for her nap.

So when Daddy got home, she got to get her teacup. Then she sat at her table and played with it for quite a while. She has her eye on a saucer for tomorrow. Now I KNOW she can do it! I really hope this is it. Isn't this a pretty set for a little girl??

Baby Megan was here for a while today, so that's another reason I'm shocked there were no accidents today. And I was also pleasantly surprised at how helpful she was. I didn't even want her to take a nap! First I fed Megan and John Paul was crying in his swing. Madeleine kept going over and talking to him and making him smile. Then I put Megan down in the bouncy seat and fed John Paul. Every time Megan's pacifier fell out Madeleine would put it back in for me. She is one great kid.

Weekend highlights

Of course the best thing about this weekend was getting to meet my adorable new little nephew, Jude Michael! He is so cute! I'll post pictures soon but I'm too lazy to go get my camera and upload them. Trust me, he's beautiful! He has a ton of blond hair!

Yesterday we had my Grandma's 90th birthday party at my cousin's house out in the country. They have a beautiful house and huge yard that is just perfect for kids. They have a great playset, and Madeleine also played cornhole (Is this not an awful name for a game? I don't even know how to play it!) and croquet. We had a cookout and cake and ice cream and she even gave Great Grandma a hug and kiss. Grandma seemed like she was having a great time too. We got a few family pictures too with almost everyone. I really like hanging out with my family! We have great cousins and aunts and uncles. Grandma was talking about Grandpa and how she can't believe he's gone. She didn't seem too sad and was just talking about what a great guy he was. I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it on here but John Paul was born exactly a year to the day after Grandpa died. A few of my cousins got to meet John Paul for the first time on Saturday, and of course they thought he was adorable. I also love how much Madeleine loves to play with her cousins. I'm really enjoying seeing her starting to play with other kids so well. She is really good at it!

Today we got to go out to breakfast with some friends after mass. My friend was at a half price book sale the other day and picked out some parenting books for me - I can't wait to read them! I need some help! Then we hung out at Barnes and Nobles, went to look at the kitties at PetSmart, played outside for a while, and then during naptime Ken and I took turns going out by ourselves with no kids, just for a break. I really like this routine. I went to this antique mall and walked around.

The next 3 weeks I am watching baby Megan. I'm excited and a little nervous about having a two year old, a 3 month old and a 1 month old! But I think I can handle it. I think we'll spend quite a bit of time at home. I'm not thinking we'll go anywhere unless I have help (right mom?) I might try to make it to story hour but we'll see how tomorrow goes! So while we are home for the next 3 weeks I have a few things I want to do with Madeleine. I picked up some great stuff on Freecycle, including a game that teaches writing letters, flash cards, coloring books, and some other fun learning stuff. Madeleine has really been interested in her letters lately. She knows several by sight, and also knows what sounds a lot of them make. I can also ask her what words start with a certain letters and she'll name several words. So I think she'll enjoy playing with the flash cards and trying to write a few letters. She's really trying to write "M" - her favorite letter. She picks out Ms everywhere we go!

The second thing I want to do is try one more time to potty train this child. I've tried a few different methods and it doesn't seem to be working. The thing is, she can go if she wants to. There's been a few days where she has had no accidents. She knows to go into the bathroom, pull down her pullup and get on the potty. She does all this herself. Other times she doesn't even try and throws a fit when I try to get her to sit on the potty. So this is my last try. If she doesn't get trained then I'm just not even going to talk about it again until she mentions it. Here's my plan:

I bought a beautiful partial set of Noritake china today at the antique mall. It was really cheap because there's about 5 complete place settings and then a bunch of extra random pieces. Madeleine LOVES to play tea party on her little table. She'll sit and feed her dolls all day and play with her little teaset she got for Christmas (it's about on it's last legs.) So, I'm going to set out 4 little place settings of the china on the kitchen table - a cup, a saucer, a little bowl and a little plate. I'm going to tell her that every day she keeps her pants dry all day, she gets to choose a piece to keep and play with on her little table. My theory is that if she wants it bad enough, she can do it, and then by the end of the 16 days she will have formed a new habit and won't look back. A girl can dream, right??

One year ago today

We found out about John Paul. I was about 99% sure that when I took a test it was going to be positive. I just KNEW it. And he's been on my mind and in my heart ever since. What a blessing he is!


Today I got to meet Ouiz! And her husband and beautiful children! They were so nice and I only wish they could have stayed longer. Blog friends are extra special, I think, because we talk about personal, intimate things on our blogs. So when we finally meet, it's like we have known each other for years. And by the way, pictures do Miss Ouiz no justice. She is beautiful!


Madeleine had such a great time playing with the kids, and did fantastic sharing all her toys. I love how she just jumps in and plays with other kids. Don't know 'em? Who cares! They're kids to play with! They had tea parties and played with her train set.

And she gave everyone hugs when they left.

We are so glad you guys stopped by!

WHEW!

A few weeks ago I had the roughest few days as a parent so far.

I'll make a long story short, but basically Madeleine passed out when we were in a store, and we ended up at the hospital two days in a row for several tests. She had an EKG, and EEG, and a CT scan, as well as our pediatrician doing a complete physical exam and found nothing wrong with her. Waiting for the results of those tests, when they were throwing out words like epilepsy, seizure, brain tumor, bleed, was absolute torture. Seeing my sweet baby girl getting hooked up for the EEG while screaming for 30 minutes and the nurse laying on top of her to hold her down was horrible. Knowing that she didn't understand what was going on but having to make her go through all that just ripped my heart out. And seeing her big blue eyes look at me and fill with tears made mine fill up with tears as well.

After finding nothing wrong with her, the doctor just said to watch her and report any new symptoms. She had another episode this past week, and today we went to see a pediatric endocrinologist. It turns out she has Ketotic hypoglycemia. So basically we have to make sure she eats very regularly. And to make sure she has some kind of protein and sugars in every meal, like a sunflower butter and jelly sandwich or her milk with the kids reliv. She is supposed to have a snack before bed and eat when she wakes up so she doesn't go too long without food. Thank GOD it's this and not one of the other things they were testing for.

Both mornings that she had these episodes she had refused to eat breakfast. She is not into eating at all these days! It's seriously a battle at every meal. I think it's a stubborn thing - she knows we want her to eat so she just won't. We have to trick her into eating every time we sit down. I guess we're just going to keep trying and start leaving some healthy snacks out so she can graze and keep those blood sugars up!

Oh and some GREAT news at our house.... she has been drinking real milk and eating cheese for a week now with no ill effects!! I am SO happy! I got to make my very favorite homemade mac and cheese tonight for her for the first time. It was a hit! She is drinking real milk and loves it. Today actually I gave her some rice milk we had left over and she said, "I don't want THIS milk, Mommy, I want REAL milk." haha!

Thanks for all of you who prayed for her in the past few weeks. It really really helped!

I'm about to go off on another tangent

Sorry my blog has been so opinionated lately! It's these darn TV shows that get me all riled up. If you ever want to feel better about yourself as a parent, watch Toddlers in Tiaras on TLC. Have you heard of this?? It's about little girls in beauty pageants.

Disclaimer and I'm sorry if anyone thinks otherwise, but I am totally against beauty pageants for little girls. I would never let my daughter be in one. I think they embody the complete opposite of every value I want to teach her. So I probably shouldn't have watched this show in the first place.

So, in the one half of the one show I saw, several little girls were getting ready and competing in a Glitz pageant. They were 5-7 years old. The parents spent up to $2400 on their dresses. They had wigs, false teeth, false eyelashes, fake nails, crazy hooker-type makeup, and skimpy revealing clothes. When they were prancing around on stage, a half a step away from pole dancing, their parents were talking about how they were "showing their personalities." Um NO they weren't. They were doing the exact moves the parents taught them to do, while the parents were doing their exact routine offstage. Not to mention that every single mom who was on the show was hugely overweight. I thought this was interesting, just because it was so obvious that they were trying to live through their kids.

This whole thing is just a GREAT idea. Let's teach little girls that LOOKS are everything. Let's teach them their natural look isn't good enough for anyone, that they have to wear huge amounts of makeup, fake hair and teeth, to be good enough to win. Let's teach them that they have to be not only pretty, but prettier than everyone else to get anywhere in life. Let's teach them they have to show off their bodies to get attention. Yeah this is just FANTASTIC.

I have to admit I DO think my daughter is the most beautiful little girl who ever lived :) However, I think that her inner beauty is SO much more important. My job is to help her bring out her INNER beauty. I need to help form her conscience and teach her how to be loving, helpful, generous, joyful, kind, etc. I want her to realize that she's beautiful just the way God made her, that she doesn't need to try to be fake to be loved or get attention.

Ok I'm off my soapbox and I feel better :)

Potty talk

Madeleine started using the potty about once or twice a day when she was about 16 months. I encouraged this behavior, especially several months later before John Paul came along. The problem was, if she wasn't naked, she would just go. No matter where she was or what she was wearing, diaper, pull up, big girl underwear - she'd go. For awhile there, she was perfect when I let her run around with just a shirt. Then she started having all kinds of accidents when I was doing that. I got tired of cleaning up, so I put her back in diapers for awhile. THEN I happened to catch this classic Dr. Phil episode that told about a "sure-fire" potty training technique. It involved having the child teach a doll to go to the potty. So found a hollow, rubber doll and rigged it up. I poked a hole in it and filled it with water so it could go "peep" as Madeleine calls it. Then I sewed her a loose pair of big girl underwear out of a t-shirt sleeve. Oh yes, I can be creative when the need arises. We named the baby "Amy" and Madeleine taught her go to the potty. About 1000 times. She LOVED it. But she didn't get the connection that SHE was supposed to go. She has never told me she has to go, but will sit on the potty and go when I ask her to.

Then the other day, she started totally fighting going to the potty. She would not even go to the bathroom, even when it was obvious she had to go. So I didn't mention it at all for a few days. Today, she decided that she wanted to go in the potty! Several times today, she told me she had to go and went! Even with her pullup on. This has never happened. She even called after she woke up from her nap that she had to go potty, and went willingly! I was amazed and I hope this continues! I know she can do it if she wants to. Maybe she just needed to decide for herself. If this is not "it" that's ok too. We'll just wait till she's ready. But boy would I like to just have one kid in diapers!

I guess you CAN tell they're siblings....

Well I always thought they looked totally different! But after Cathy's comment on the last post, I went back and looked at some of Madeleine's old pictures. Yes they're definitely siblings! And do we make adorable babies or WHAT? haha :)

Madeleine around 2 months

John Paul 3 months

*Unfortunately they both have that look like, "Just TRY and make me do something I don't want to do!"

Speaking of THAT, my daughter is gonna be one HECK of a teenager someday. She is testing me like you would NOT believe and spending all kinds of time in the time out chair. She is SO STUBBORN! I can't make her do anything, including EAT. For some reason she's decided that since we want her to eat, she won't. More on this later. For now just enjoy the pics!

Playing in the backyard

Daddy and Madeleine flying a kite in the backyard. The kite was one of those "you get what you pay for things." It cost 3 bucks at Wal-mart and it's not going to make it up in the sky again.
Here's what I was doing when they were flying the kite. I just LOVE my clothesline!! Thank you Freecycle!!

Here's what John Paul was doing at the time - hanging out on the deck enjoying himself. Does he just get cuter every DAY or what? :) The other night this kid was UP every HOUR through the night. He was just talking and kicking for hours on end. If I put him in bed with us, he moves so we look like an "H" - he's the middle line with his head touching me and his feet touching Ken. And then he gets so excited he just kicks and kicks and kicks poor Ken in the head :)

This was in the bride's room during mass. He HATES public bathroom changing tables. He starts screaming when he even sees it! Then it takes me 15 minutes to calm him down. And God forbid someone flushes those loud toilets in the church bathroom. So I was changing him in the bride's room and snapped a picture. Lots of great memories in that room. I got dressed for my wedding in there, and Madeleine got dressed for her baptism in there. I also made his shirt. Don't ask me how it turned out so well. I really don't know how to sew that well, I just had this fabric and I thought it would look so cute and I tried this pattern and it worked out! Believe me I was as shocked as anyone. Sew did the buttonholes for me - thanks Sew!

I call this one, "MOM, she's touching me!!"

Weekend of firsts

This weekend, Madeleine flew her first kite, ate her first s'more, saw her first bonfire and caught her first firefly. I'd say it was a pretty great weekend for her! Last night Ken had a gig and our friends invited us over for dinner. We had a great time just talking and sitting outside around the fire. On the way home Madeleine kept pointing out the fireflies, so when we got home, I got the kids both changed into their jammies and decided to go outside and catch some! She was thrilled beyond words, the kid LOVES bugs. And she's especially fascinated with the lightning bugs she sees out her window every night. Let me tell you, God sure does have a sense of humor. Come on now, who would think of a bug's butt lighting up??

I did take some pictures but I'll get to them tomorrow. Ken cleaned out the entire screened porch today, including windows, scrubbed down the hot tub (which has never been used in the 5 years we've lived in this house), tables and chairs and the biggest job.... he got rid of all the BUGS in there! It looks fabulous and I'm looking forward to eating out there more often. So after all that he needed a break so he went to the gelato place to read his book for an hour. While he was there, Madeleine, John Paul and I went to this great Antique mall in the town just north of us. I was a little nervous about taking both kids there but they did great. John Paul fell asleep in his Moby Wrap and I pushed Madeleine around in the stroller on the ground floor. We were looking for things for her new playroom we're working on, specifically a little tea set, a kid size table and chairs maybe, or some other things that we couldn't live without. I found this great wooden high chair for her dolls, complete with a flip up tray which I just couldn't pass up. It looks really old (which I think adds to it's charm) and she absolutely loved it when we got home. We set up her folding table and chairs and she "fed" the baby all kinds of food for an hour or so. She also got a Minnie Mouse pez dispenser only because the high chair was less than $10 and I couldn't pay with a card unless I was spending over 10. She was pretty fascinated by that pez dispenser. Madeleine did really well at the antique mall. When we went upstairs I told her she wasn't allowed to touch anything (because we had to leave the stroller downstairs), but that if she wanted to show me something she could tell me and point. She did exactly that! She told me what she wanted to look at and didn't touch anything unless I told her she could. She had a blast at the store, I'm sure seeing all those things she's never seen before was fascinating. I LOVE looking around Antique malls, maybe this will be something we can do together.

Also I had bought a great little wooden toy box a few weeks ago at a garage sale. I spray painted it white and we ended up using it for a bookshelf in Madeleine's room. It looks great but the only place for it is next to her crib.... and she likes to get all the books off of it and put them IN her crib. I'm SO glad to get all her books off the floor in her room.

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

My first 7 quick takes

I'm not really sure what these things are. Just 7 random things I'm thinking? Ok here goes.

1. We spent the day with my cousin today WAAAAYY out in the country. It was great and relaxing. They have a beautiful old house with lots of character, and Madeleine had to be pried out of their toy room. She spent the entire morning alternately feeding a baby doll and putting it to bed. That is one fat, well-rested baby. We finally went outside after lunch and she spent the rest of her time there hugging, kissing, and putting a hula hoop around their very patient cats.

2. Now that I have seen how much fun she had in the toy room, I want to make one in our house. I'm thinking of getting rid of our huge Anakin Skywalker couches that I LOVE but are really too big for our room. Then we can move the other two couches in the family room and turn the other room into just a toy room. They had a little table and chairs set up that she loved. I could make a tablecloth for it and we could have tea parties. I could also get some stuff to hang up on the walls and maybe a bulletin board for some of her artwork? Hmmm.... I feel some thrift shopping coming on....

3. I'm REALLY excited for my friend Megan to get here with her kids. Her daughter Quinn is a really sweet little girl who Madeleine loves. In fact, even though she hasn't seen her for a few months, every time her daddy asks who she played with that day, she says, "QUINN!!"

4. Madeleine has been REALLY into her letters lately. First we taught her the letter M. That's still her favorite. She points out "Ms" everywhere we go - on trucks, signs, my shirts, etc.... She looks through books and finds all the big Ms and little ms. We were reading Daniel in the Lions Den the other day and she learned the letter D. She could point out all the words that said Daniel, and she also learned G for God. She is constantly asking what words start with and I love it.

5. After we visited my cousin today I drove up to my University, which I haven't been to since I graduated in 2001. What a trip down Memory Lane! I stopped by the Newman Center for just a few minutes and saw Fr. W and another lady who still works there. We chatted for a few minutes and it was great! I wish I could have stayed longer but both kids were asleep.

6. Unfortunately John Paul started screaming his fool head off when were about an hour from home. I pulled over at a gas station and fed him but he was NOT happy about getting back into his carseat. So we listened to screaming baby for about 40 minutes and he calmed down right when we turned into our neighborhood. Screaming baby in the car = STRESS.

7. I could really go for some ice cream right now. Oberveis, Rocky Road. But I'm going to bed.

So how did I do? :)

Beauty and Sadness

Please join me in prayer for my friend Sew. Her faith in this trial is just beautiful. May God be with her.

Catholic names

Yesterday I went to the grocery store. I was wearing a sleeping John Paul in my moby wrap and had Madeleine in the basket. An older lady approached me and asked to see my baby. She oohed and aahed over how cute they both were (can you blame her? haha!) and then asked their names. I told her Madeleine and John Paul and she said, "John Paul! What parish do you go to?" I told her and she said she attends a parish down the road. We chatted for a minute and then went our separate ways.

So then I was thinking. John Paul is probably one of the only names where people will absolutely know we are Catholic because of our child's name. There are plenty of great saint names but that one is definitely "Catholic" sounding. How cool is that? He's named after one of the greatest saints, and both of his parents actually saw Pope John Paul and took his picture! How many people can say THAT about their patron saint? (By the way, he should be beatified on April 2 of this year, and canonized on April 2 the year after that. I really wanted John Paul to be born on April 2 for that reason, but had to wait almost 3 more weeks!)

One of the reasons I love his name so much is because I often think, when I'm doing all the tasks that come with caring for a baby, that Pope John Paul's mother did the same things. She changed his diaper, she rocked him to sleep, she nursed him and made him smile. All the while she had no idea she was holding one of the greatest leaders of the Catholic Church who ever lived. One of the holiest men who ever followed in Jesus' footsteps. A person who inspired the whole world. And I wonder, what kind of man will MY John Paul be? I can only hope that he answers the call to holiness in his life, like his patron saint did. And I hope, like Pope John Paul's parents, we can inspire this love of Jesus by our faith and actions in our children.

Professional photos I keep forgetting to post

John Paul was one week and Madeleine was 25 months. I just got these uploaded :) I love Olan Mills!!

Happy 3 months John Paul!

Can you believe this child is 3 months already? It seems like it was just yesterday we were waiting for him. What joy he brings to our lives! He is SO smiley and such a happy boy.

He is SO "talkative!" I can't believe it. He's just like his dad and sister! I won't be able to get a word in edgewise in this family! My mom says he talks in complete sentences. Ken thinks he's really trying to mimic sounds. He really tries to say "Hi" when we say it to him. It sounds just like hi! And when we tell him to say "hello" he tries to say the short e and the o sound. He's a genius haha! Plus he's already said Mama. He did!

I love the little toothless grin. He is very firmly in 3-6 month clothes, even wearing some 6-9 every once in awhile. He's got chubby thighs! I love chubby baby thighs.

He loves taking baths. A few nights he's been very fussy for one reason or another (maybe overtired) and a bath calmed him right down.

He is a SLEEPER! He takes about a 2 hour morning nap and usually a 4 hour afternoon nap! He sleeps great at night too. It gives Madeleine and I lots of time together. But we both love it when he's awake. Madeleine is already playing with him and talking to him and making him smile. They have conversations! I'm so happy that she has a little brother. It's true what Pope John Paul 2 said, "the best gift you can give a child is a sibling." I totally agree. What a gift they are to each other! It makes me want a bunch more.

It's the natural course of things...

If you have an older sister,

You're eventually also going to have a purse and a pink bracelet.

But you won't mind, because you'll also always have a hand to hold.

And someone who always tries to make you smile.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!

God Is Good!!!

Lazy Summer Days

Have I mentioned on this blog how much I LOVE being a stay at home mom? And I love summer too.

I got a new clothesline on freecycle a few weekends ago and I don't think I've used the dryer more than 2 or 3 times since! I love going outside in our backyard and hanging out the clothes. I put in a load when I first get up, and then after breakfast John Paul goes down for his morning nap. Madeleine and I go outside and hang out in the back yard. I hang the clothes, she plays on her swingset. Then we make clover necklaces for each other. The she plays in the sandbox and I sit outside in the sun and drink iced coffee or iced tea and watch her play. We talk and she tells me stories. She's getting really interested in letters so she is always asking me what different words start with.

When John Paul wakes up we usually try to go somewhere, either story hour, the library, the grocery store, the pool, the playground, the splash park, or just a walk around the neighborhood. Sometimes we have playdates. Sometimes we hang out with Grandma. Madeleine wears adorable dresses every day since she can't keep any shorts up! I love watching her walk along with her curls bouncing and shining in the sun, and we stop and look at every little thing that catches her eye. She sees a lot that I would never notice!

We usually come home and eat lunch, and she goes down for a nap. Sometimes John Paul sleeps at the same time and I get a little free time, and sometimes I just spend a little one on one time with him. Either way it's a good day. Sometimes I get a bunch of stuff done around the house and sometimes I get nothing done but cuddling my sweet baby. And that is just fine with me.

Madeleine wakes up and we watch a Dora episode together. If John Paul is sleeping we'll go outside in the backyard again. Sometimes we make popsicles in the morning so they'll be ready after nap. We're doing the Summer Reading Program at the library so we read a lot of books.

We make supper and Madeleine colors or plays playdoh in the kitchen with me. John Paul likes to be in there on his bouncy seat and she talks to him and reads him stories. She LOVES to hold him, wipes his mouth and holds his hand. She loves it when he talks and smiles at her. She gets a huge smile on her face. It's really great to see them interact. I hope they will be great friends.

When Ken comes home, we all eat supper together, and then usually go on a walk. John Paul goes in his wrap and Madeleine gets to walk by herself. We usually go to the church playground and occasionally John Paul and I will walk to the adoration chapel while Madeleine and Ken play. Then we come home and if all goes well, everyone's asleep by 9pm and Ken and I get a little wind down time.

Just a few years ago it was so hard to imagine that this would be my life. Several times during the days I think of the words, "She kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." Now I really know what this means. I am so thankful for my life right now, and I hope I will always remember these days.

It was bound to happen sooner or later...

Madeleine climbed out of her crib last night. We heard a thud and then when Ken went up there, she was just standing outside the crib.

She got a very stern talking-to about how dangerous that is. She is so scared of heights, falling, etc that I'm surprised she tried it! She hasn't done it since - not at nap or bedtime tonight.

I need advice. I am SO not ready to move her out of the crib. I don't want her wandering around. Even her room is not completely baby proof. She gets into EVERYTHING. I was hoping she'd stay in her crib until she was at least 3. What should I do??

I can't keep it in any more.

You're about to read one big fat vent, and this post could self destruct anytime.

I just happened to catch the show 16 and Pregnant on MTV. It almost made me cry. These two teenagers were shacking up with their baby. I felt so sorry for the mother. The father went out with his friends every night and when she begged him to take care of the baby for awhile so she could finish her homework, he just laid the baby down and went to sleep. He screamed and the mom ended up taking him. They way they were both holding him I could tell there was no bond, just obligation. This innocent human life isn't loved and cherished like he deserves to be. The parents are so selfish.

The baby on the show was the same age as John Paul. As I nursed him I watched the parents feeding their baby a bottle without even holding him or looking at him. They changed his diaper but didn't kiss his tummy or make him smile. They held him but didn't love him.

BABIES DESERVE BETTER THAN THIS!!!! I think that if teenagers are stupid enough and make the choice to get pregnant, they need to do the right thing for their babies and place them with a stable family who will love them like they need to be loved. They need both a mother and a father who love each other and love them.

Update and disclaimer. I'm calmed down a little now. It was mostly the show and this situation. Believe me, I do NOT think that all kids raised by single parents turn out bad. Some single parents are wonderful. Many many people raised by single parents turn out great. And also I'm not saying that it's only teenagers who have this problem. There are lots of adults who get pregnant and neglect their children. I'm just specifically talking about people who have babies and don't care about them or neglect them.

Sleep

John Paul screamed for about an hour last night for some unknown reason, until I finally gave him a bath and fed him and he fell asleep around 9.

THEN HE SLEPT UNTIL 6:30 AM!!!!!!!

Do you know that Madeleine did not do that until 13 months??? And he has actually slept 8 hours 3 or 4 times. Can I say how much I love this baby????

I got to meet my friend Jenny's baby but I will wait to post pictures until she does on her own blog. She is so adorable it almost makes me want another newborn. And my kid is 11 weeks old :)

Oh I just noticed she DOES have a picture up! Go over to Delightful Journey and see!!

Outtakes

At least one of them is looking.

Over HERE.

Is she going to punch him? Or me?

My baby looks a little scared.

I'm not even sure what happened here but it makes me laugh every time I look at it!

Happy 4th of July!

Yesterday we went to our local 4th of July festival where Madeleine got to bounce in one of those big blow up things for the first time. As you can see she quite enjoyed herself!
After that we had some great, but unhealthy, fair food. YUM. I could live off this stuff - if it was good for me! Some of our friends are in a band and they played at the fair. Here's John Paul enjoying the music with my dad - acting silly!
Madeleine's friend Olivia - they were dancing in front of the stage! Olivia and her brothers and sisters love Madeleine - and she loves them! It's been nice lately seeing her playing with other kids. She is really good most of the time - she is very patient and waits her turn, and seems to really care about other kids.
My sweet boy in his 4th of July outfit. It was a gift from my cousin who didn't know this kid was going to chunk up so fast! It was a romper but there was no way I was getting those snaps snapped. So a few stitches and cuts and it turned into a cute shirt!
My attempt at a photo shoot - you should SEE the crazy pictures I took of these two! How hard is it to get ONE DECENT PICTURE of the two of them?? This is the best I could get. I might post the "outtakes" tomorrow - some of them are hilarious.

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 :)