We turn 10 today!

TEETH!

Can you see Annie's first little tooth poking through?  This picture was taken 6 days ago & already there is a second little tooth right next to the first.  The sure are cute, but strike fear in my heart every time she eats!  I haven't been bitten yet...

Happy Birthday Dear John!

(photo courtesy of Jack)

Happy Birthday dear one.  You will always be my favorite.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy

Four years ago today, we met this little boy.

I had no idea how much he would turn our lives upside down.  I also had no idea how rich & full he would make our lives.  And, I certainly had no idea how much I would love him.

This year I've had the privilege of watching him grow into an incredible big brother.  Annie will soon discover how lucky she is to have been given such an amazing big brother.  I can't count the number of times I've seen him comfort her when she cries.  He pats her & says, "Aw baby.  It's okay, brother's here."  It melts my heart every single time.  

He's an amazingly kind & sensitive little boy.  We are so thankful he is in our lives.

Happy 4th birthday baby boy.  

6 Months & 4 Years!

Annie turned 6 months old last week.  I took her for her 6 month check-up & Jack for his 4 year check-up on Monday.  Annie weighed in at just over 16 pounds & is in the 50th percentile for weight & 75th for height.  Her noggin remains in the massive 92nd percentile.  

Jack is a lightweight at 32 pounds & 40 inches tall.  He's in the 20th percentile for weight & 50th for height.  

They are both hitting all of their milestones & healthy.  4 shots later, here are some pics for you!

This pic is courtesy of Jack.

Annie eating sweet potatoes.  

We started solids a few days ago.  She isn't loving it yet.  

I'm already ready to move on to food she can pick up & eat herself.  

She's much more interested in the sandwich on my plate 

than the sweet potatoes than on her spoon.

Visitors!

Our dear, dear friends Kevin & Laura (aka Kbo & Lola) came to visit this week from Jersey City.  Their son, Linus, was born 11 days before Annie (and due 4 weeks AFTER her...) & we had yet to meet him & they had yet to meet Annie.  We had a fun filled visit & it made us miss then even more than we usually do.  The babies loved each other.  The were full of smiles & touches & coos for each other.  It was very sweet.  We've already decided that Annie & Linus are getting married one day.  

Smiling babies.

Tired babes & mamas.

Jack & Lola

Jack had a serious crush on Lola & in this photo he is soaking wet, trying to get her all wet.

Summer Fun

We've gone to the Tower Grove wading pools a few times this summer & it's turned into one of our favorite places.  Extra bonus is that I don't have to wear a swimsuit...

Happy Father's Day John!

I am so thankful to have married a man that's not only a wonderful husband, but also a wonderful father.

Some questions I asked Jack this morning (ripped directly off my friend Melanie's blog...)

What's your favorite thing to do with daddy?  (I asked this several times & got different answers.)

-Playing Candyland.

-Playing Spiderman.

-Playing the racing game.

-Having piggyback rides.

What don't you like about daddy?

-When he hits me.  To which I replied- "Daddy doesn't hit you!"  and Jack said, "Sometimes he does when we play!"  Whew.

-When he does crazy faces & scares me.

What do you call daddy?

-Stinky head.

How does daddy make you happy?

-He hugs me & kisses me & tickles me & does his chores.

Photo Shoot!

Cookie cutter kiddos.

Puddle Walk

Jack, enjoying the aftermath of a torrential downpour.

And, what was Annie doing, you ask?  Just hanging out.

Dan Zanes!

We went to Chicago this past weekend to visit our friends Brad & Amy & to see Dan Zanes.  We all love Dan in our house.  His music is fun & thoughtful & not really kids' music at all.  Most of our dance parties, of which there are a lot, are to Dan Zanes tunes.  The show was amazing, as expected & our trip was so much fun.  Even the car ride was great- very little crying & Jack got to test out the DVD system.

Waiting for Dan to come out!

Jack wanted to go down to the front right away to dance.  

Very different from last year when he cowered in my arms for the first half of the concert.

Dan & his crazy hair.

Beautiful Boy

Picture courtesy of my friend Gillian.  I only wish I could take pictures this amazing.

The Whole Family

ps- John got me my own computer (a Macbook- are you jealous?)- yes- my OWN computer.  So, I might be posting more frequently...

Keepin' It Real

I've only been a mother for almost 4 years.  One thing I learned very quickly is that motherhood & worry seem to go hand in hand.  For me, it started with my pregnancy with Jack & I'm very prepared for my children to be in their 50s & still be worrying about them in my 70s & 80s.

I was convinced everything under the sun was wrong with Jack.  He had very good head control from birth, so, of course he had stiff neck syndrome (yes, that is real!).  I thought he was autistic countless times.  Epilepsy- check (of course, this one was confirmed by EEG & neurologist- however on the day of that confirmation the seizures stopped with no meds or intervention- God's extreme kindness to our family).  Perhaps my silliest conclusion was when Jack was 6 or 7 months old & I thought he was deaf.  Yes, deaf.  I would walk around the house sneaking up on him & clapping my hands behind his head just to see if I could scare him.  I even woke him up from his nap once by yelling his name in his ear.  Nope- not deaf, just psycho, worrying mother on the loose.

With Annie I think I've been worrying a little less.  However, my mind has been obsessed with Rett Syndrome.  My sister-in-law's cousin has this & I also ran across a blog not too long ago of a woman with a daughter with Rett Syndrome.  It's a devastating disease & strikes girls almost exclusively.  You don't know they have it for a while because they develop normally & then start to lose skills.  

So, a while ago Annie rolled over from her belly to her back for the first time.  She did this several times, but until yesterday (when she did it just one time) hadn't done it for a while.  Instead of rolling over, she prefers to scream bloody murder until I roll her back over onto her back.  Being the calm, rational person that I am, I start thinking, oh, no!!  She's losing skills.  She's regressing!  Something, of course, is terribly wrong with my baby!

I was sharing this with a friend who just stared at me & said, "Andi, she's fat.  It's hard to roll over with that much junk in your trunk."

If you've seen Annie lately, you can confirm that she is, indeed, quite the chunk.  She's robust.  Not only does she have junk in her trunk, but a beer belly, thunder thighs & cankles.  Perhaps she's just figured out instead of working hard to roll over it's easy, and more fun, to scream at her mother.  

I know it's normal to worry about our children.  I know I won't ever stop, but it's always good to have friends to bring you back to earth.  So, thanks Melanie, for keepin' it real.

Theology With a 3 (almost 4!) Year Old

It's tough to talk spirituality with a 3 year old.  

I was talking with Jack about prayer.  How prayer is how we talk to God.  We pray together every night before bed- it's pretty sweet to hear him.  I told him that God can give him things that mom & dad can't.  Peace, patience, etc.  I gave him the example of praying in the middle of the night if he's scared.  

His response was, "And then Mom, God will come & cuddle with me?".

Tonight we were reading this book before bed (great, beautifully written book by the way) & we got to the part where Adam & Eve are turned out of the garden, but God says he'll be back for his children.

Jack turned to me and said, "Oh Mom, I guess God just had to go run a little errand or go to bed."

These both made me giggle.

John Brown, by John Hendrix

Click here to see a post about John's new book.  The preview copies arrived in the mail today.  It is absolutely beautiful & I am so proud of him!

Purge baby, purge

I am feeling overwhelmed with junk in our house.  Not things that I picked out & loved, but junk.  Junk from garage sales, junk that was simply on sale so we had to buy it.  Junk.  I've been inspired by some friends to purge & organize.

Yesterday I told Jack if he got rid of 15 toys, I would buy him one toy that he really wanted.  It was hard. He immediately went to the bin of Annie's toys & started pulling things out to get rid of.  I kept suggesting toys to get rid of & all of a sudden they were his favorite, really special toy.  He ended up doing really well & I got rid of the horrible, plastic Thomas train tracks that haven't been played with for a year, so he'll get his new toy.  

Last night when Jack was asleep I went to the basement & filled a huge Goodwill box with even more toys that he won't miss.  Now I just have to keep him away from the box until it leaves the house.

I've also made a few guidelines for myself.  No more garage sale toys just for the sake of cheap toys.  If it's something I think the children will still play with a month from now, then I'll consider it.  But our house is littered with someone else's junk just because it was a dollar.  And I won't buy any more clothes that I don't love.  A $5 t-shirt from Target isn't a great deal if it makes me feel even more frumpy than I already feel daily.  And, at the end of our toy purge, if Jack gets a toy, he has to get rid of 2 toys.  We'll see how long I stick to these guidelines.  I just don't want our house to be overrun with stuff that I don't like & is taking up what little space we have.  Besides, Jack has more fun outside blowing bubbles & throwing rocks than playing with plastic toys.

All that ranting to say, go purge some junk from your life today!  It feels good!

Picture Page

Annie's eyes officially turned green about a week ago.  

Now Jack is the only one with blue eyes.

Post bath cuddle time.  Jack is obviously having fun.

Tummy time.

Chunky monkey & full of cuddles.

Calling All Crock-Potters!

Do you use your crock pot?  Do you have a favorite recipe or two you can share with me?  Two children means not much time to prepare dinner.  We're starving over here!

No, He's Not Giving You the Finger...

Here's a photo of our favorite household web-slinger.  This costume is one the little klepto borrowed from his friend & we still need to return.  (Seriously- the kid loves to "borrow" things.  Stash your silver, hide your cash!)  Sunday morning at Sunday school he was slinging webs at the teacher.  Someone better teach that kid some manners.  And, no, those aren't crocs on his feet, they're rocket boots.  Get that straight before coming to our house!

Some of my favorite recent Jack quotes include:

"Mom, will you snuggle with me in my bed?  I need some of your warm stuff.  I'm cold."

"Mom, you have to do bed time, Daddy is too sparkly (AKA- scratchy)."

"I love you Elasta-girl."  This was whispered in my ear while giving me a big hug.  Yes, I am a superhero too.

Annie is battling her second ear infection in 3 weeks.  Same baby, different ear.  Little stinker.  She's also been rolling over from her front to her back, batting at things, and wearing cloth diapers.  I just love doing laundry, so I thought I'd give cloth a try.  I actually really like them.  I feel like I'm saving money & she looks super cozy in them.