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!

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!

Exhaustion has set in

Whew! This baby has his days and nights confused. He thinks it's fun to be awake from about 9pm - midnight, which is exactly when I want to go to bed. The past few mornings I've almost felt physically sick when I got up, I'm sure from lack of sleep, and my body changing so dramatically physically and hormonally. I know this will pass and I'm still enjoying (almost) every minute with this beautiful baby! The good news is I have officially lost ALL my pregnancy weight (22 lbs) in 9 days and I fit into my regular jeans yesterday! It was sure fun to put away all my maternity clothes and get out my regular clothes again - it's almost like getting a new wardrobe :)

Madeleine has been AMAZING through all these changes. At first she didn't pay any attention to him. Now, whenever he cries (usually only when I am changing his diaper - he doesn't like to be naked, unlike his sister!), she runs up to him and tries to give him a toy and says "You want this, John Paul?!" She has even given him her favorite toy penguin. She loves to "hold" him too and doesn't seem to mind that I have to hold him a lot. I am trying to keep her routine as close to the same as possible. She is such a good little girl.

John Paul went for his one week (and two day) weigh in at the pediatrician yesterday. He got down to 8 lbs in the hospital and now is up to 8 lbs 10 oz. The doc says he looks great and we don't have to come back until his 2 month checkup. They have a new nurse practicioner in the office who is also a lactation consultant. I made an appointment with her for Monday. He's gaining weight and doing fine, but REALLY hurting me. I am sure she'll be able to help.

You can't tell from this picture too well, but this is the first time he's worn his wool pants. He got lots of compliments today. They are so soft and cute on him!!

Check this out.

Ken 3 days old
John Paul 6 days old