A visit with Mom's side of the family

Yes, Honey, I'm sure.

Aunt Christy, Mom's youngest sister, with my kids

Grandma (Babci), Mom, Aunt Christy, Madeleine and John Paul

Babci with John Paul. Babci has 8 kids - my mom is the oldest. I'm trying to beat her :)

Madeleine with her favorite person - Grandma!

Grandma and Christy came up from Alabama for a few days, because my cousin's car broke down, it's a long story. Anyway, I'm so glad they got to meet John Paul while he's still tiny. He's not that tiny - I weighed myself and then held him on the scale today, and he is over 12 lbs!

Blast from the Past

Madeleine at 7 months.

I am SO not used to this

So Mom and I went to Joann fabrics yesterday and John Paul needed his diaper changed. Simple, right? I took him in the bathroom, got out his new diaper and wipes. Then I noticed he had pooped on his diaper cover, so I reached in the bag to get another one. Well, the kid decides it's time to turn on the little sprinkler. Everything got wet - the new diaper, the new diaper cover, socks and outfit. What the heck? How can he have that good of aim already?!

So he's screaming the whole time, but luckily I had an extra outfit, extra socks, and even a third diaper cover with us. That was a miracle. Then I had to sit in the disgusting bathroom and nurse him till he calmed down. Nothing like eating your meal in the presence of a public toilet.

Baptism round 2

Father Dan, who also baptized Madeleine and has been a good friend mine since high school.

Godparents DD and Paddy, as Madeleine calls them!

My parents, Grandma and Papa

Ken's parents, Nanny and Pa

Big Sister

John Paul was absolutely perfect the entire time. In fact he slept the whole time! He didn't even know what happened. Look for some action shots and stories coming up next!

Baptism pictures round 1

No one could guess what he was smiling at?

One month old

ALREADY?? How come the last month of pregnancy goes SO slow and then when the baby gets here it goes SO fast?? Not fair. John Paul is such a sweet baby. He is easy going and laid back. He's starting to sleep a little better - and poop a little less! 12 times/day was a little much for us! I am going to try to take a picture with him on this chair with this bear on his month birthdays to see how much he changes over the first year.

These are my favorite socks. He has 6 different colors! We went to visit my Grandma on Monday at her nursing home. This is how different Madeleine and John Paul are. Madeleine at one month already wasn't happy unless I was holding her and usually nursing her! She wouldn't let Great Grandma hold her for more than a minute. John Paul slept happily in her arms for over 1/2 hour. I know it made her day! She loves watching Madeleine too and kept saying how lucky I am. Boy do I know it! She also couldn't get over his socks.

He just started smiling! I caught a little one. Can anyone guess what he's smiling at?
He's laying on his Snugglewool blanket. It is so soft and cozy. I have actually got him to sleep in his cradle a few times but he still prefers to sleep in my bed, as close to me as possible. I don't mind - for now :)

Friday cookout

I know I have been slacking with the blog! But we are doing great. John Paul is a wonderful baby. He is so easy going and laid back. I just wish he would go to bed a little earlier!

Madeleine is doing fantastic. She hasn't shown one single bit of jealousy. Not one bit so far. I'm so proud of her. She doesn't like John Paul to cry, so she will try to give him something like a toy when he cries. On Friday we were making the cupcakes for the cookout, and John Paul was hanging out in his bouncy seat on the kitchen floor. He started fussing a little and Madeleine went into the pantry and put several cans of beans in the seat with him - the funny thing is, he stopped crying! She is a big help.

The cookout was at our friends house, for another friend who is in the seminary and is going to Guatemala for the summer. It was great to see him. The kids were SO funny. Madeleine loved eating outside on the deck. The one little boy seemed to have a little crush on her - the one in the orange shirt. He kept getting in her space and she kept pushing him away! He sat in a puddle and Madeleine looked at him and said, "Your pants are wet." We all about died laughing. Ken hopes she keeps pushing the boys away when she is 16!! She loved playing with them and LOVED hanging out with Sarah and Chris.

We are looking forward to John Paul's baptism on Saturday. Fr. Dan is baptizing him - he is my friend from high school who baptized Madeleine when he was a deacon. That was one of the most special days of my life.

Thanks Jenny for the pictures!

Whew!

This kid has the weirdest sleeping habits! He is usually only waking up twice at night, which is not bad. However, he doesn't go to bed until 11 or 12, which is way past my bedtime, and every time he wakes up, it takes him a good hour and a half to get back to sleep! He eats, poops, has to be changed, eats again, I put him in his cradle (unless we both fall asleep in my bed!) sometimes he poops again, I ask Ken to change him, etc, etc. Madeleine woke up a lot, but the kid would eat in 5 minutes and go back to sleep.

SO, the past few nights I have tried a pacifier with him. He just likes to use ME as a paci and then no one gets any sleep. Sometimes he likes it, sometimes he doesn't. Ken doesn't want him to use it - he prefers that he finds his thumb. He IS trying to get his thumb in his mouth, but is just not coordinated enough to keep it in there yet. I am not sure what I think.

Madeleine sucks her thumb all the time and it doesn't appear that she is going to stop anytime soon! However, once she found her thumb (and I stopped drinking milk!) she was a very easy baby - able to self-soothe. That was nice. I am not a fan of popping the paci back in his mouth every time it falls out and he wakes up crying. Then it takes him a while to settle back down. However I think it would be easier to take the paci away eventually than get Madeleine to stop sucking her thumb. Any thoughts?

Negative is positive :)

Today Madeleine's skin test was NEGATIVE for a milk allergy!

She was quite the trooper today. She had to have 5 "pinches" in her back for the skin tests. She did great. He said because of her history of sensitivity to milk, he wanted her to get a blood test to see if she can have a food challenge and try a milk product. So she did great on that too - they had to poke her twice (I feel your pain, Honey) and she only cried just a little at the end. We should get those results in 4 - 6 weeks and they'll tell us whether she can do a food challenge. So this could be great news! I really really hope she has outgrown this, and can have pizza and mac and cheese and ice cream and parmesean and everything else!

Now he did say that a few things are lifelong food allergens, fish, shellfish, tree nuts and peanuts. I told him that she eats fish all the time, but hasn't had any of the other things. He said that she shouldn't get shellfish, tree nuts or peanuts until she is in kindergarten. He said she'd be much more vocal then and be able to tell us exactly what she was feeling, like if her lips were tingling or something like that. So that is ok, she doesn't need any of that stuff for a few more years! He wrote us another prescription for an epi pen just in case she were to get into some of that and have a reaction.

And more good news, he said that I didn't really need to avoid milk with John Paul, as long as he didn't show any symptoms. He said that second children usually don't have as many allergy problems as first born children. He also said that having pets from birth help prevent allergies! He did say I should avoid the three things that Madeleine is avoiding. That's not a problem. We haven't had nuts in a long time, and I can give up shellfish no problem.

If her blood test is negative and then she passes the food challenge, I can't WAIT to cook her my favorite homemade macaroni and cheese!! :)

First bath

He was so cute in the baby tub. He loved the water! He just kind of hung out and looked out the window. He didn't cry at all, even when he got his hair washed.

So, today I was feeding John Paul and Madeleine was sitting on the couch with us. She started touching him, starting at his feet and going up to his head. Then she realized what he was doing and she said, "John Paul! Why are you drinking out of mommy's belly button??!" HAHA! Does she not remember doing the same thing for 20 months! I thought that was hilarious. Then she told Ken the same thing when he got home.

If you need me I'll be smelling the top of this baby's head for the rest of the night :)

I've turned into one of THOSE moms...

They match! :) Madeleine loves to kiss her little brother. I love to kiss him too!
Thank you Sew, for sending me this great fabric and walking me through all my sewing attempts!!

Ahhh, this is the life!

I can't get a decent picture of this kid! She doesn't know how to smile or stand still for pictures!

Close up! I just can't stand how adorable he is!!

I just got a glimpse into my future. "Mom, she's touching me!"

The lactation consultant/nurse practitioner was helpful today. She showed me how to get a better latch with some different positions. Also he is up to 8 lbs 15 oz, so he is gaining weight very well! I asked about his belly button - his cord came off pretty early and it was bleeding a few days ago. She said that was normal and it looks great now. She spent about an hour with me! I really liked her.

Then I got to go to the grocery store with just one kid, which was nice! He slept in his sling the whole time. I actually cooked dinner tonight - ribs in the crockpot, rice, roasted green beans and brownies for dessert (I was craving chocolate!) I also vacuumed and did several loads of laundry - I was pretty proud of myself :)

When Ken got home we ate dinner and then walked over to the playground. John Paul and I got to try out our new Moby Wrap (www.mobywrap.com) He fell asleep immediately and slept the entire time! It was so comfortable for me too. I really like it. Madeleine loved playing on the playground too. Then on the way home we saw some friends who also just had a baby - so the two kids will be in the same class! She is really cute and way bigger than John Paul. I thought HE was big!

Now that John Paul is 2 weeks old, I am getting more used to having 2 kids. It's great most of the time! We are getting into a good routine and Madeleine is still doing great. And of course I'm falling more in love with my little man every day!