Bud's birthday party

Here are just a few pictures from the party. I didn't get very many good ones! And I helped him open his presents so I didn't get any of that. Here's my sweet birthday boy:
Toddling around his party.
I bought a birthday cake for everyone else, and got him his own piece of strawberry shortcake from this delicious bakery in town.
He really enjoyed it :)

These Boots are made for

Walking ;)

Buddy has started walking all over the house. It was like something clicked and now he's doing great! He loves to walk right up to Madeleine and give her a hug - and she loves it too! I have to remind her not to lift him up or hug him too rough while he's standing, because he's not all the sturdy yet. However, he's much sturdier than she was when she started walking at 15 months!

We had his one year and her three year doctors appointments today. Madeleine weighs 29 lbs and is 38 inches tall - she's up to the 50th percentile for weight and still in the 75th for height. John Paul weighed almost 20 lbs and was 30 1/2 inches - so 25th percentile for weight and 75th for height.

I had been nervous about going to the doctor for a while, because I've delayed Madeleine's MMR vaccine and I kind of wanted to delay it for one more year. I read in Dr. Sears Vaccine Book that if a child waits till they're 4 for that shot, they only need one dose instead of two. I mentioned that to Dr. J today and he said "Deal!" It was no problem. I was really happy about this.

They both have rashes on their legs, he said they just have "allergic skin" and it's a type of atopic dermatitis or excema, so I have to keep them well moisturized all the time and use some hydrocortizone if it flares up. He asked if M was speaking in 3-4 word sentences!! I almost laughed out loud and told him she was doing that at 18 months. John Paul pointed to a book in the room and said "book!" and Dr. J was really impressed - just from that he said he's ahead of most boys in speech. He also says a few more words, but not as many as M did at this age. But he said that was totally normal - boys usually develop physically sooner (hence the walking) and verbally later.

He said they were both doing great. JP has to come back for a 15 month appointment, but after that only once a year. I love our pediatrician!

He asked about Madeleine's passing out episode - and I told him about her diagnosis of Ketotic hypoglycemia, and that we just have to make sure she eats regularly, and gets protein and some sugar at every meal (sugar like fruit). He said it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to make sure we feed John Paul that same way, since he's turning out to be a skinny kid too, and this kind of stuff runs in families.

We hit a few garage sales afterwards and bought a few little things. Madeleine LOVES garage sales. It started raining and I told her we had to go home and she was really sad. I'm happy she loves them because I do too! We'll have some fun shopping experiences this summer I'm sure.

Speaking of garage sales, my friend is having a huge one next weekend to raise money for their adoption. If anyone around here would like the address, please email me. Madeleine is already looking forward to it!

Buddy's birthday

He had a great day yesterday! He got to open a present from Aunt Jenni and Uncle Mike, which was a huge hit with him AND Madeleine :) (They're learning to take turns!)

Also, Grandma and Madeleine set up his present from Grandma and Papa during his morning nap. It was also a huge hit! But we learned that this is a "before bath" activity ONLY. They both got completely covered with sand and water - but had a great time!

Daddy and the Birthday Boy!

I made him one of his favorite dinners - meatloaf, sweet potatoes, artichokes, and for dessert, he got his own slice of chocolate cake. He loved it!

I tried to take a picture of Madeleine and John Paul but this was the best I can get!

So just yesterday, John Paul started walking all over the house! It's like something just clicked. He's walking from room to room, bending down and picking up toys on the floor, and he even walked up and gave Madeleine a hug yesterday! She loved it! Madeleine said yesterday that John Paul was getting to be a big boy and asked if we could have another baby. I told her it was ok for her to ask God if she wanted another baby in our family, since He is the one who decides when families get babies. She asked if we could ask God right now, so we all held hands around the dinner table and Ken asked God if it was His Will, that He'd send us another baby. Madeleine got a HUGE smile on her face. So we will see what happens! I thought it was pretty cool that she was thinking about that.

Happy Birthday John Paul!!

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We Love YOU!!!!

My handsome boy

My sweet boy turns one tomorrow. In the blink of an eye, he went from this sweet little newborn....

To my wonderful, happy, sweet, funny, food throwing, almost walking, destructive, loud, loving, still likes to cuddle with mama boy.
And this mama thinks he is the most amazing little boy who ever lived.

Fr. John *update with pictures*

My favorite priest from college is leaving campus ministry and getting reassigned, and they're having a going away dinner for him up at my college tonight. I haven't seen him really since I graduated in 2001. Whoa. That was a long time ago. But we are going to head up tonight and I can't wait. I have so many good memories of him!! I got to go on a few Habitat for Humanity trips with him over spring breaks my junior and senior year. One year we went to Pikeville KY and another time Marion SC. We spent the week building houses, and having a fantastic time. Fr. John drove about 10 students down, taught us all how to hammer, make sure the wood was "flush" and "square." He was extremely patient with us and now I feel like I am pretty good at hammering a nail! haha! He also got up early one morning, went to the Piggly Wiggly (you think I'm kidding) and made homemade cinnamon rolls for the 100 people who were sleeping at the church. He was getting his masters degree in Metal Arts at the time, and was making a chain for the incense to be used at the Chrism Mass. He let everyone help and patiently taught us all how to form the wires.

I lived at the Newman Center for 2 years, and those were some of the best years of my life. Fr. John's patience with us in teaching us new things has helped me be a better parent. I think of him and pray for him often, and I'm so excited to see him tonight!

We had a great time at St. Francis tonight! Fr. John sat with us for probably an hour and a half and chatted. It was fantastic. We also saw some old friends from college which was lots of fun. John Paul loved Fr. John.




When we left, he gave them both blessings. We are so lucky to have these wonderful priests in our lives!

My Bud

I cannot believe he'll be ONE in less than a week!!

Seriously, where does the time go? Shouldn't he still be a tiny newborn??

Madeleine and Sew

Hanging out at Borders. Madeleine LOVES her. She's been talking about her and singing about her since she left!

Sew is so great about stepping in and helping - getting them out of the car, feeding, cutting up food, getting drinks, etc. She is like a family member and M can't wait for her to come back!

Hanging with Sew

We had such a great time this week with Sew! She is like part of the family. I really wish we had had a few more days since we didn't get to fit everything in. We did go to the zoo.... and Jenny came with us. I had the zoo pass less than a week and got her to go to the ZOO, which has ANIMALS and is mostly OUTDOORS (all things she's not fond of ;) We all enjoyed the penguins - we happened to catch the penguin feeding...

When we got home, Sew decided she was going to organize our entire kitchen! I didn't take before pictures, but here is my pantry after.... she is the BEST!!!! She was like a machine. My kitchen never looked better.

Jenny and I went to Walmart, and got all these glass jars and Jenny bought a label maker.

She got a little "label happy" towards the end...

My mom babysat on Friday night so we all got to go hear Ken's band play and eat a nice dinner. We had a great time and several other friends came too.
I used all of Jenny's pictures since I can't seem to find my camera at the moment - there might be some new pics when I find it!

We also watched the movie Food, Inc. on Saturday night. It took us 4 HOURS to get through because Ken kept pausing it and "discussing" the ideas in the movie. I enjoyed it and will probably watch it again by myself so I can see it straight through. I've been asking Ken to watch this with me for a LONG time and he finally agreed. It was very interesting.

Sew, we had such a great time with you! Thanks so much for everything, all the cleaning, organizing, helping with the kids, and being such a great friend ;) We hope you come back soon!!

Look what Sew's doing to my Bud ;)

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He really did start walking yesterday, he took about 10 steps! But he wasn't into it after awhile ;)

We are having a great time!

John Paul's first Easter

Oh look! The bunny came! Mom bought them baskets with their names on them.

Madeleine got a big blow-up globe - both kids like it. The Easter Bunny didn't bring any candy to our house - it's a good thing because they got overloaded by the Easter egg hunt at church on Saturday, and the Grandmas.

I took probably 20 pictures - maybe I'll do an outtake post ;)

Madeleine having fun at Grandma's house

Opening their Easter baskets. Madeleine got a really cute house that folds out, and came with furniture and a whole bunny family (Mommy bunny, Daddy bunny, Madeleine bunny and John Paul bunny.) It has her name on it too! John Paul got a car to push around - his favorite thing to do! And a bunch of other stuff too!

Grandma and Madeleine

Grandma, Papa, the kids

Family picture

Madeleine got a new leap touch junior book

Papa and John Paul. My dad was really proud of his shirt - it says:
Toyota. Once you drive one, you never stop. ;)

I forgot to bring my camera to Ken's parents house, but we went there later that day. They hunted for eggs, ate a ton of candy and a delicious ham dinner, and played outside with their cousins.

We are so excited - Miss Sew is coming tomorrow! (She must like us - this is the third time she's been here!)

Easter Vigil mass and Prayer Buddy

was beautiful. Long, but beautiful. Here's what happened about an hour in.

Dad: PSSSST. Do you have internet on your phone?
Me: Yes.......
Dad: Check the score of the Duke game!
Mom: her trademarked "disappointed click."

We had a great Easter and I will post pictures tomorrow.

Also, my prayer buddy was Fertile Thoughts. John Paul has been sick for 2 months, and that involved a lot of extra waking up at night. I made a point to remember her during those times, offer the loss of sleep up for her and her unborn baby! A, I'm going to send you something, but after you find out if your baby is a boy or girl ;)

I'm not cutting it yet!

Today on our walk with the kids in the double stroller:

Madeleine, running her fingers through her brother's hair: "Mommy, you really didn't do a very good job combing John Paul's hair today!"


I took the Bud back to the doctor this morning for the infection that won't quit, so we didn't get to do our Good Friday lesson plan. (But it worked out, since Grandma read her a bunch of books about Easter at her house.) Yesterday we did Holy Thursday and I focused on Jesus washing his disciples feet. After going over it 20 times, she remembers that Jesus washed his disciples feet, and he was trying to teach us to be kind and do things for other people. I asked her what kinds of things she could do to serve, and she said she could pick up her toys.

Anyway, one of his ears is better, but the other is still infected. Well, he said this could be a completely different infection. He also thinks he has a sinus infection draining into his throat making him cough. So, another 10 days of antibiotics.

In other news, I don't have my Ergo yet, even though I check the front porch about 50 times a day. I did, however, get a nice Jehovah's Witness tract. Just what I always wanted. You invite one Witness in, and you never hear the end of it.

Ken and I decided to split up for Easter mass this year. I'm so excited because I haven't got to pay attention in Mass for 3 years and a month. AND, I get to go to the Easter Vigil! I can't wait. That is my favorite mass ever.

Bud's new words

So, we went to DQ today, and Bud said his first two words together. He pointed at mom's ice cream and said,

"A bite!"

I thought it was just a fluke, but he said it several more times! Boy knows what he wants.

I am taking him back to the doctor tomorrow. He can't stop coughing now. He just can't kick this thing. Say a prayer for him if you think of it. I hope they don't put him on more antibiotics - they don't seem to be helping at all.

And, our Holy Week activities are in full swing. I'm not exactly sure if any of this is sinking in though. Here's a typical conversation.

(Right after we read and talked about Palm Sunday.)

Grandma, "Madeleine, what did you read about today?"

M: "What?"

Me: "Madeleine, what did we just get done reading about?"

M: "What?"

Me: "What animal did Jesus ride into Jerusalem?"

M: "A giraffe?"

Me: "What did the people wave in the air when Jesus rode into Jerusalem?"

M: "A stick?"

Me" *sigh*

Holy Week begins

As nervous as I was about Palm Sunday mass, everyone was really well behaved! In an attempt to actually listen to the Passion Gospel, I decided to nurse John Paul during it. I actually haven't done that in public for a while, but it worked like a charm. He nursed during the entire gospel, and then kind of dozed off. So for the first time in probably 3 or 4 months, I did not have to leave the church once! It was really nice.

We are skipping Before 5 in a Row this week and focusing on Holy Week. We're doing a lot of reading from our kid's Bible Stories book - they have stories from Palm Sunday through Easter. We are also going to use our Can You Find Jesus book for the appropriate days.

I have some fun crafts planned too - a stained glass cross with tissue paper for earlier in the week and a Watercolor (her favorite) picture of the 3 crosses on the hill for Good Friday. I'm also planning on making Hot Cross Buns.

While searching for ideas, I came across several great sites. I am going to make a new section of my sidebar and post a few links.

In other news, John Paul finished his second round of antibiotics today for his ear infection that won't quit. I'm still not sure he's better. I might call the doctor tomorrow. What do they do after antibiotics don't work? Poor little Bud.

So excited!!!

Today on babysteals.com there was an ERGO baby carrier for 50% off - I have wanted one of these for years! (But I didn't think Ken would be all that thrilled with me buying a $135 baby carrier, so I never got one.) Even the used ones I've seen are over $100.

So I finally got one- this one - and I can't wait!

I can't wait to use it on hikes this summer, in church, farmer's market, etc. The best part was, after I ordered it, I found a check for $60 from my aunt that I had forgotten about! (I had sold her some of my stamps.) So that just about covered it.

Pictures coming as soon as I get it!

Is some of this actually sinking in?

We've having a bible verse of the week, and this was our verse last week. It went with the book Katy No Pocket, which I highly recommend. We didn't talk too much about it, but we talked about being kind and what it means to be generous once or twice.
So yesterday I went to the Starbucks drive thru (I know!) and got an iced chai and I got M an oatmeal raisin cookie. She kept giving bites of her cookie to her brother. I told her that was a very kind thing to do. After a while she said, "Was I being generous, Mommy?" YES! She shared her music toys with him today and said she wanted to be generous. What a good girl!

This is our verse for this week. We are reading The Snowy Day and the pictures are a mixture of watercolor and collage. Here's our spring collage with our bible verse:

And speaking of watercolors.........
She is LOVING them. We did it yesterday and she begged to do it again today. She painted for at least an hour. We do all this stuff during John Paul's morning nap. So....
I had to go get him so I left her alone with her paints for 30 seconds.... and THIS is what I come down to.

Oh my....

Notice the sleeping cat who has been styled by someone in this house.

11 months!

Stop growing up so fast Bud! He's doing really well, and learning new things every day. He says several words now, Mama and Tee Tat are his favorites. He also says Dada, Papa, Ball, and he tries to say Car, and if I ask what a car says, he tries to say "Vroom Vroom" It's pretty cute. He also thinks ALL animals are Tee Tats, as we found out at the zoo this week. He would excitedly point at the animals and say "Tee Tat!" or sometimes he says Tee Tee Tee Tee TEE tat! when he's really excited. He's also doing the signs for "more" and "milk" and by milk he means the almond milk or coconut milk I sometimes give him in a cup. He really likes these, but especially enjoys stealing sips of his sister's milk! The other day I was in the kitchen and he was really quiet in the family room. I peeked in at him and he was guzzling his sister's milk. I got a little glimpse into my future in that moment.

He is super mobile. He is a really fast crawler and he pulls up on everything. He walks around furniture really fast barely holding on, but has not attempted walking yet. I know he will do it soon though!


He is still pretty loud and demanding, especially when it comes to food! He is the best eater ever. Last week when we went to the doctor, he weighed 20 lbs (with his big diaper, clothes and shoes). He can pack it away, and he'll eat anything. I think his favorite is macaroni and cheese though! He is sleeping really well these days too. He goes to bed around 7:30, sleeps til about 5am, nurses and then sleeps again until about 7:30. If we could just cut out (or delay) that 5am feeding.... He also takes a really good morning nap and afternoon nap.

He does stand up by himself for a few seconds! This is the first time I've ever caught it!
Last night we had some good friends over for dinner. They have an 8 month old little girl, and John Paul and Megan had about a 10 minute conversation together across the table! They were actually looking at each other and "talking," and even pausing to wait for the other baby to talk! It was so cute!

He's a very easy-going baby most of the time, until we walk into the church doors. Then he turns into a screaming, thrashing, boneless little heathen. I hope this phase ends pretty soon so I can actually pay a little attention.

*side note* Speaking of church, we went tonight. Ken was out in the narthex with John Paul during communion, so I carried Madeleine up there. When I received the host, she said very loudly, "Can I have one?" Then I received the Precious Blood, and she said, "Can I have some, PLEASE?" The Eucharistic minister thought that was pretty funny :)

I can't believe that the next time I do an "update" on the Bud he will be ONE. It seems like we were just waiting for him. I was really sad when Madeleine was 11 months, because she was my first baby and I did NOT want her to turn one. I am not sad this time around, probably because I've been through it before. Plus I'm really enjoying getting to know my little boy and seeing him grow and learn. He is a wonderful blessing in all our lives!

I am SO not cut out for single motherhood

I could have told you that before, but now I know for sure! Ken left me for an ENTIRE WEEK with these two wild kids to go to Washington DC. If his bosses and co-workers had MET my kids before, I'm sure they would have set Ken up with video conferencing or something instead of making him go :)

I obviously didn't want to say I was all alone on here or facebook while it was happening, but he's back now and I'm so glad!

The hardest time of the day by far was bedtime. John Paul is ready to be put to bed at 7pm. I had to figure out what to do with Madeleine while I was putting him to bed. I either had to put her in front of the TV or in her room with a stack of books and hope she didn't get into trouble. It was a little stressful, but she did great, most of the time.

We went on LONG walks every afternoon since the weather was so beautiful. We went to the zoo twice - I'll post more on that later with pictures. We had a great time, I think we might have to get a zoo pass. We also went to Story hour on Wednesday and Music Class on Thursday. We had breakfast for dinner one night, ate out two nights, and I actually made boxed mac and cheese last night - and the kids went nuts for it!

Mornings were tricky too - I had a very small window of time to get in the shower without worrying about these two.

Even with the hard parts, we really had a good week. I was really nervous about it, but like some other things (flying with them by myself, etc) I got a pretty good confidence boost this week - I actually made it through and we had a good time! Yeah!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We celebrated with green cookies.... (and silly smiles for the camera!)

And ice cream! Are my kids spoiled or what??

Firsts

Both of my kids have their first ear infections. I called the doctor yesterday about John Paul, because he's been sick for 2 1/2 weeks and wasn't getting better, and I thought maybe he had pinkeye. At the last minute I asked if the doctor could look at Madeleine too, because she's been sick for a few days too. So, John Paul has a sinus infection and ear infection, and Madeleine has an ear infection. They're both on 10 days of antibiotics. Hopefully that will knock it out. We've been lucky so far that no one has had to be on antibiotics yet. I'm loading them up with probiotics, just in case that helps. The pharmacist said it was a good idea.

In other news, the weather has been absolutely beautiful here! We are enjoying our double jogging stroller and twice this week so far I've walked about 6 miles - to the grocery store/ outdoor mall and back. It feels SO good to get out.

The other day we walked to a little playground behind the baseball field at our Church/school. We had a great time playing on the playground (they even have baby swings!) and then Madeleine noticed the baseball field. I took her out there, and we stood on home plate. I told her that a pitcher throws the ball and the batter hits it way out in the field and runs the bases. We ran the bases together several times. There was even a catcher's mitt there she got to try on. I love how she's always learning and is so interested in the world around her.

We are LOVING our Before 5 in a Row book. This week we're reading The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice Ransom, illustrated by Felicia Bond. Friday we are going on our first "field trip" - a trip to see a jewelry store. The little girl and her mom go to a jewelry store in the book, so we are going to see a real one. The lesson tomorrow is being thankful, and we are going to write her thank you notes. I LOVE doing this with her!

Pirate cake and party outfit

What a weekend! I'm a little tired to do a whole post on the party or my beautiful 3 year old right now, but here's a picture of her party outfit....

When we went to Party Tree to get her plates and napkins, she saw the pirate hat and hook that she just HAD to have. She really wanted to wear them to her party, so I designed her party outfit around the hat and the hook :) I made her tutu - totally winged it but it came out great. I ironed on her pirate patch on her shirt, made her legwarmers (I guess you can't see them here but they're black and gray stripes), and she got her shoes from our friend Mary. She didn't feel well when she woke up from her nap, but as soon as she saw herself in the mirror, she was ready to go :)

And here is her Pirate Ship Cake!

I thought it came out pretty good. I brought the kids over to Mom's house this morning and decorated it. It's just two round cakes cut in half. Rolos for cannons, Mom made the sails, and some Playmobil pirates.
Also Pirate cupcakes. These were carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Delicious!
And one more view of the pirate outfit. I'm afraid she's going to want to wear it everywhere now!
We really missed Uncle Mike, Aunt Jenni, Eli and Jude! And both of my kids are sick. But other than that it was a great party. I'll post more later - right now I'm going to lay on the couch :)

Last day of 2 years old

I'm so looking forward to Madeleine's birthday tomorrow! We discussed what to get her, we thought maybe a little bike, or a kids digital camera. But there's still snow on the ground so she wouldn't be able to ride the bike for a while. (We still want to get her one, closer to the summer - craigslist or freecycle!) The digital camera is a good idea, since she loves to take pictures with my camera. We suggested that to a set of grandparents. :) I found this kitchen on craigslist for super cheap. I mean it was a fabulous deal, I just couldn't pass it up. I had to drive about 45 minutes to get it, and their house was pretty gross. They had several cats and dogs and their house was filthy. The kitchen was in great shape, but pretty dirty and the kids had written on it with pen. Also the floor was totally ruined by their cats. I almost decided not to get it, but I actually felt like these people really needed the money. I didn't even try to talk them down :) They gave me a bag of accessories, like some food and dishes, but it was missing quite a few of them. So I called Step 2 on the way home, ordered a new floor, new set of food, new set of dishes, new phone and new microwave panel. All that stuff was super reasonable, even with expedited shipping. So today was a little warmer than usual, and I took the kitchen out to the driveway and scrubbed the whole thing down and used a magic eraser on the pen and crayon marks. I got all the stickers the kids had put on it off, and scrubbed every piece of food and the rest of the accessories with lysol. I'm not kidding, the thing looks brand new! It looks like I took it out of the box and set it up. I'm SO happy with it! So after Madeleine went to bed, we set it up in her playroom with all her food, dishes, new floor, little stool, etc. It looks so great. I can't wait to see her face tomorrow when she sees it!

I also bought her a little wooden table off craigslist a while ago, and I have it set up with some little plates, flowers, and knitted cupcakes I made her. That's going to go up in her room. She's going to have a great birthday!

Her party is on Sunday, and I have a GREAT idea for her cake. I hope I can pull it off :)

Morning naps

One of my favorite times of our day is John Paul's morning nap, because for an hour I get my girl all to myself. We do all kinds of things that John Paul can't do yet, like play with all these tiny animals.



We've also been doing "school," and we're using a book called Before Five in a Row. We read a classic book together, and then there are little lessons that have to do with each book. The first book we are doing is Blueberries for Sal. We read it, and then the math lesson was to collect blueberries (or something - we used blocks and pretended they were blueberries.) I put them all over the house, and we "picked" them and put them in a bucket. Then we counted them, and I said, "If you have 5 blueberries and you eat 2, how many do you have?" She did fantastic and now she wants to play with her "blueberries we don't really eat" all the time. The next day we did an art project about the book, and then a history lesson. There's also music and we're making animal flashcards, and practicing classification. I really love this and I love doing it with her! She is learning so much.

This week we're going to read Corduroy. It's her birthday week! I can't believe my girl is going to be 3 on Friday!