Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was great. We spent Thanksgiving day with Paul's family and the day after with mine. I made some yummy baked French toast!

That night we were woken up by E multiple times with an awful barking cough and a fever. He was coughing, crying, and coughing more. I was just crying. The next morning, Paul took his to urgent care and was diagnosed with having croup. They gave him a dose of steroids and we purchased a cool must humidifier. (He is still coughing, but getting better, although now G has it.)

We decorated our home and artificial tree. It's the first time I've ever had a fake tree for Christmas. Never thought that I'd have one!

Only 25 days till Christmas!

how quickly it changes

I wish that I could write down everything that E is into each day, but oh, how quickly it changes.

- Wanting to go to bed with the baby Jesus at bedtime because Paul has been reading a book about the birth of Jesus before bed

- He has discovered that the candy canes on our tree are edible. He woke up this morning saying "candy", pointing to the tree and crying throughout the day because he couldn't have any.

- Saying "soon", "now", "pepper", "tut" (cut).

- E walks around the house wanting to use his scissors to "tut" things.

- Gets excited when I come home and says "Mama look" (Mama milk).

- Likes to climb up on our legs while we are seated at the couch.

- Likes to watch a show on Netflix called Pingu, which he says too. Also, he's become really into Toy Story 3 and Buzz Lightyear. He says Buzz all the time.

- Still compares thing relative to mama, dada, and baby rather than big or little.

- Likes to use our infrared thermometer to take everyone's temps (all over our faces), including his own.

G is 3 months

This sweet little thing is 3 months old!

Here are some fun stats:

- he is wearing 6 month clothing (they fit a little loose up top, but his jammies with feet are getting a bit too short for him)
- he loves to smile, in fact this evening I was making him laugh so hard he'd gurgle his throat
- G can roll tummy to back every once in a while, no back to tummy yet, but has rolled onto his side
- sleeps like a champ most nights and typically wakes once, although last night he slept from 7:30pm to 6am without waking
- his great night sleeping is making me think my monthly visitor might be coming back sooner than I want her to
- G is pretty happy most of the time, especially when his brother plays with him
- he can now reach for and hit toys
- wakes up completely unswaddled in the mornings
- had discovered his hands (and they end up in his mouth a lot)
- his hands in his mouth cause him to drool so much that his shirts get soaked on his chest
- still does not like being in the car seat too much (or bouncer or swing)

- wears size 2 diapers
- still sleeps in our room, although he is getting too big for his bassinet (his head hits the sides because he wiggles around)
- still smiles and laughs at the ceiling fan
- has discovered the tv, although he isn't allowed to watch it
- his brother tries to feed him his food and drinks
- sleeps for hours in his Moby wrap
- is dearly loved by his brother (and Mom and Dad)

the things you (I) learn

such as...

- E can say the whole alphabet in order (with minimal cues)
- E can count to 10 (with minimal cues)
- G rolls from tummy to back
- G also rolled from back to side (just once that I saw and know of)
- E cries when he sees a baby (real or fake) say goodbye on tv/videos
- According to E, you can call a rabbit one of the following: rabbit or hop-hop. Just don't call it a "bunny".
- According to E, you can't call children "little boy/girl", but you can call them "babies".

I {heart} today

My mom had to go out of town and I stayed home to watch the kids.

Today was better than any day at work.

We started the morning off by meeting a friend (and her friend, along with their kids) at the zoo. It was a little chaotic getting there, but I managed to be only about 15 minutes late. E had a lot of fun and was able to be a little social with the other two boys. He even saw some mandrils, baboons, and orangutans close up. G started crying as soon we we entered, so I had to throw on my Moby instead of keeping him in his car seat. G slept the rest if the time we were there.

After arriving home, I got E ready for bed and was able to hear him say the entire alphabet! (he did it again later in the day all on his own.) E took a short one hour nap and G took a 30 min nap. Just long enough for me to make lunch and start working on an invitation project.

Once they were both awake, we had some fun play time and I was able to capture some sweet photos of the boys together.

E also surprised me by counting to ten! G fell asleep again around 3:30, so E and I made chocolate walnut cookies and played. We had such a fun time laughing and being silly.

Every time I get to spend time with them at home, it makes me realize how much little time I get to spend with them when I'm at work. Today I spent 13 waking hours with them. On work days - it's 3.5, maybe 4 - but I'm getting ready/cooking dinner half of that time. I usually don't even get to nurse G or see much of E before going to work.

I am so thankful we had such a great day today.

my sister rocks

I love having a family member that is a talented photographer. (I try to pretend I am, but she really is!) **All photos in this post were taken by my sister.**

Since she had Veteran's Day off from work like I did, she asked if I wanted to take the kids to the parade that day. It was fun to get out of the house with the kids and I knew E would really enjoy it. We met up with one of my sister's friends and her two kids.

We waited over and hour and a half because we thought the parade started at 9, but it really didn't start until 10. Whoops! The kids did really well and just played on the grassy area in front of Chili's.

E was checking out the airplanes overhead.

E really like watching everything go by, and we even got him excited about picking up candy that was thrown. He didn't really get it at first! He liked the motorcycles and trucks, but would cover his eyes when they revved either engines. My sister covered E's ears and he seemed to be better.

G was awesome too. He fell asleep quietly on the car ride to the parade and then slept in the Moby wrap the whole time we were there - close to 3.5 hours!

Thanks for the outing! It was a great idea!

How is it...

That my baby boy has already outgrown 3 month clothing?

I came home today and he was wearing a 3-6 month onesie. For bed, he's wearing 6 month jammies - and they are tight in length!!

blueberries

E has been addicted to frozen blueberries lately. Last night, he devoured at least a cup worth of them.

Saying "cheese".

His fingernails are still stained today.

photo fun

There's nothing I really have to blog about right now, other than the fact that I want to show off my cuties.

I think that's a good enough reason for a post.

::sigh::

After a grueling day yesterday and feeling like a bad mom, today (especially tonight) was much better.

Saw a crane (as in the bird) when I pulled into school
Had a yummy coffee from McDonald's
Students were pretty good at school
Came home
Nursed the E who now says "I want Mama milk!" when I get home
Nursed G
Played horse back riding with E and swung him upside down
Heated up dinner (leftover pot roast and mashed potatoes)
Put G down easily
Ate dinner with my family
Then played a family game of hide and seek that made E squeal with happiness

Off to have some cake...with my heart filled with joy. Love my family and days like this.

Halloween 2011

This year we went and carved pumpkins at Paul's sister's apartment on the 30th. Paul did an amazing job carving out the pumpkin, E had fun decorating cupcakes and playing with his cousins, I had a blast taking pictures, and G just had a blast - a poop explosion.

Watching Dad scoop out the insides.

Helping scoop out the insides.

Cousin Ben saying that his pumpkin is the best.Grandma Marie holding a clothes-less G.On Halloween, we went up to Paul's other sister's house to have pizza, chili, and to do some trick-or-treating. E did really well at the first house, although he didn't want to leave. I think he wanted to get more candy from them.

I guess my flash is too bright.

The second house had a man answer the door with a monkey/gorilla type mask. As E and Paul were heading to the door, E put his arm over his eyes as he held Paul's hand. Paul ended up carrying him to the door and E had his face buried into Paul's neck.

By the time we went to the 4th house, he was starting to get the hang of it. Unfortunately, by that time we needed to head back home. We let E have a bite size Snickers and a mini sour Twizzler that night. (This morning he woke up asking for candy...go figure!)