Rebecca St. James

I remember going to a Rebecca St. James concert in high school with my best friend, Jaime.  But, I have to admit, I haven't listened to her music in a long time.  Until this summer that is.  Rebecca (I guess we are on a first name basis now) came to our area this summer and gave a concert to raise money to support our pregnancy center.  She is following a new passion to save the unborn.  She was even the main character in a movie called Sarah's Choice  about a girl faced with an unwanted pregnancy.  Because of Andrew's involvement with the clinic, 40 Days for Life and Maryland Coalition for Life we got to meet Rebecca before the concert and talk with her about what is happening here in Maryland.    

And then we enjoyed her very worshipful concert.

Pre-Kicks

Well, you might be wondering why Madeline is dressed in shorts when it is a measly 46 degrees outside right now.  Well, there is a good explanation for this.  Seeing as how we had a few things going on this summer (packing, moving, new baby), I may have fallen slightly behind on blogging.  But, obviously I do not want to forget the past 6 months or leave it up to the memories of my now 4 year old who may only remember a boring and exhausted momma.  So, the next 5,732 posts will be catch up posts, with maybe few breaks here and there.  And maybe by January, you will be caught up with the happenings of our lives.  I know you are so relieved now.  You're welcome!

So, now back to Madeline.  Back in June, Madeline finished up her soccer season after learning how to dribble, kick, listen to a coach and most importantly, do something without mommy right by her side.  Soccer seemed to open a whole new world of independence for her and now she is excited to go and do new things.  It's great for everyone.  

Coach Jill gave Madeline a medal for being her favorite player.  

Well, maybe they all got one.  But, she is certainly MY favorite player.  And I just love how cute she is with her little short haircut and rosy cheeks (which reminds me that I am thankful that it is now 46 degrees rather than 100).  There's one kid missing because he went off chasing a butterfly.  It made me laugh.   

3 Months

Lucy turned 3 months old a couple weeks ago.  We are loving her little personality that is starting to come out.  She is such a happy baby.  She smiles so easily and loves getting attention and will usually reward any attention with a smile.  

She has been chewing and sucking on her fingers/fist a lot.  Sometimes she even pulls her paci out and puts her fingers in.  We have noticed in the past couple of days that she has a tooth that is pretty close to the surface.  So, maybe this is why she is gnawing so much.  Or maybe she just thinks her ability to get her fingers in her mouth is fabulous.

She is grabbing things and Madeline thinks it is super exciting.  Madeline is such a doting big sister.  She is always telling us things like, "Lucy's holding my finger."  "Lucy said 'goo'".  "Lucy is smiling."  "Lucy's jumping (in her exersaucer)."

 Lucy enjoys her bouncy seat a lot.  She will kick and kick and look at her toys that are dangling in front of her.  She is also happy in her exersaucer.  As much as I love holding her, it is nice that she will happily sit and entertain herself so that I can do a few things around the house without her crying.  She also LOVES her bathtime.  She gets so much exercise with all the kicking she does.

She is sleeping pretty well at night.  She still usually only wakes up once sometime between 3-5am.  But, she isn't the best napper.  A lot of times she will only nap for about 15 minutes.  Sometimes she will nap for an hour or longer.  She isn't a very deep sleeper.  I am hoping this changes over the next few months.  But, at least she sleeps pretty good at night.  And she will sleep for hours in the sling.

I took her to the doctor yesterday for a cold that she has had for over a month now.  Unfortunately there is nothing they can do for her.  But, they did weigh her and she is now 12lb 8 oz.  (60%).  She is eating pretty well and has seemed to have grown out of her 0-3 month clothes overnight.  I am growing kind of attached to her little chunky belly.

She has rolled over several times from her belly to her back.  Last night she woke up kind of fussing and kind of talking.  When I went in, she had rolled over on her back and didn't know what to do.

Happy 3 months, little one!  We love you bunches around here.

Lucy started giggling over Thanksgiving weekend!  It is the sweetest sound.

Wordless Wednesday

First Moments

My mom just sent me these pictures tonight from the night Lucy was born.  They are so precious.  I don't want to forget them.  

2 Years Old

Our sweet boy turned 2 years old yesterday.  He had no idea that it was his birthday.  But, we are having a party for him on Saturday.  Tonight, I lit a candle on our dinner table and he started singing, "Happy Birthday, to you"  over and over again.   I am trying to teach him to say, "I'm two" and hold up 2 fingers.  So far, all we've got it, "one, two".  We'll get there.  

Oliver is really into cars right now.  He makes them zoom around our ottoman, he puts them to bed in the Little People house and he pushes them around on the floor.  Our neighbor gave us a red cozy coupe and a little red ride-on Hummer.  And he loves them both.  Him and Madeline fight over the cozy coupe a lot actually.   

He is talking so much now.  Many times, Andrew and I just look at each other like, "what did he just say," because he has rattled off something we didn't understand.  But, he knows exactly what he is saying.  My favorite thing he is saying right now is, "Bob a May-no" for Bob the Tomato.  It is his favorite cartoon right now.  He also talks about his friends Anna and "Yevi" (Levi) a lot.  I also like how he says, "Oh man", when something doesn't go right.  Oliver also likes to make people laugh.  He will intentionally hurt himself to get a laugh out of us, like bang his head on the table at dinner time.  

He has always loved tags.  He has a taggie blanket that is his favorite and I have made him a couple taggie lovies that he likes as well.  But, he has recently discovered the tags inside his shirts.  He can usually be found with his hand in his shirt, rubbing the tag.  If we forget his blankets, it's ok because he can always find a tag in his shirt.  

 Oliver loves Lucy.  Sometimes he calls her Lou or Wucy.  He knows which pacis are hers and tries to give her one when she is crying. 

He also likes to hug and snuggle with her in her bouncy seat or carseat.  He is very gentle and sweet with her.  

And he loves climbing in and out of her bed to check on her or just to play in her bed.  

Oliver likes riding in the stroller and gets very jealous of Lucy if I put her carseat in the stroller.  Apparently it is his seat.  He sat in it a couple times during 40 Days for Life while we went to "Praying for Babies" (as Madeline calls it).  

 Oliver is a snuggle bug when he wakes up or is woken up early from his nap (which is usually every night at 5).  When I lay him down to sleep, he usually sticks his feet out of the railings and says "uh oh" and waits for me to pretend to bite his toes.  He thinks it's hilarious.  When I finally walk out of his room, he is super sad.  He has figured out how to open his crib tent and just yesterday, he figured out how to climb out of his crib again.  So, his zipper is now clamped shut with a heavy duty clamp.  And his diapers are duct taped on since he likes to undress and take his diaper off during naps and bed time.

He likes to brush his teeth and says, "monkey teeth" or "elephant teeth" since I told him that we had to get the monkeys and elephants out of his teeth so he would let me brush his teeth.  It works!

He is preparing to take over daddy's business.  

But, really just loves to play in the car.   He could play out in our van all afternoon.  Madeline and him play house, boat and whatever else in there.  

Madeline and Oliver are good buddies.  Whenever we take Madeline to school, he is sad that she is missing from her carseat beside him.  And he is super excited to go pick her up.  Madeline has a way of  getting him dressed up in anything.  

Oliver is a somewhat picky eater.  But, not when it comes to sweets.  Back at Madeline's no more paci party,  he ended up sneaking 3 cupcakes while no one was paying attention.  He likes his sweets.  

Here's a video of Oliver singing Go Tell it on the Mountain along with his cute little personality.  

Oliver is definitely a 2 year old with strong opinions and a strong will of his own.  But, he is absolutely adorable, sweet and funny.    We love him to pieces and are so grateful for the gift of 2 years with him so far.  We love you Oliver!  Happy Birthday!