Park and Grass Play

I was pretty set that we were staying in this evening. Until Amelia made our bed into a slide. That's when I realized we needed to go to the park. Again.

We went and she had a blast. As usual. Well, until some older boys started throwing wood chips at her. She came to me and asked me to play with her. I asked why, even though I knew why, and in the end she grabbed two handfuls of wood chips and marched right up to the boys and threw them at the offenders.

Yes, that's my daughter. We had a talk about not throwing things at people. Even if they throw things at you. The boys' mother heard and apologized and made them apologize. It was too late. Amelia was already running saying, "I go to my house." Before we left the school grounds we stopped to smell some flowers and let Joe have his first, real grass experience.

I think he enjoyed it :)

While Joe explored, Amelia tried to climb this tree. With no luck.

Happy Wednesday!

6 Months

Last Friday Joey had his half birthday! It's hard to believe that he is already six months old!

This morning was his 6-month well baby visit and here are his stats:

21 pounds (95th percentile)
29 inches (100th percentile)
46 cm head circum. (100th percentile)

Yep, he is HUGE :)

Squeaky Clean

Afternoon baths left me with two fresh smelling kids to spend the evening with!

We had a pretty good night until it was time to get Amelia to bed. Long story short? All three of us were in tears at one point. Joe was screaming in his swing while Amelia cried because she lost her Boots the monkey figurine and I was crying out of frustration. Yep.

We eventually found Boots and she got to bed where she proceeded to pass out almost instantly. I made sure she put her Dora and Boots figurines (from my birthday cake last year...) into her Dora purse. You know, so we would know where they are tomorrow. And tomorrow? I'll tell her, once again, to put them into her Dora purse when they are not in active play. I do not wish to repeat tonight's events.

4 Months

On Monday, Joey turned four months old! We went to the doctor for his appointment on Valentine's Day and he looks great! He is 18 pounds 5 ounces (95th percentile) and 28 inches (100th percentile.) Basically, he is huge! I have taken to lovingly calling him "Fat Joe." I can't help it! He is just a little chunky guy and it's so, so cute :)

Last week he officially moved into size 6-9/9 month clothing and it fits perfectly. It's only a matter of time before we have to move into 12 month clothing! He is also less than four pounds away from the weight limit on his infant carrier so he will be making the switch to a rear-facing convertible seat much, much earlier than his sister did. In fact, I'm thinking it will take him half the time it took her. She switched around 10 or 11 months old and I am thinking by 5 months with him we will be switching!

At around three months he rolled over for the first time - from front to back. Since then he has only done it a handful of times. I told the doctor this and she joked, "I wouldn't want to do it often either if I were him. He has a lot to move!" The important thing is that he can do it. Even if he chooses not to often...

We are still going strong breastfeeding and it has created quite the little mama's boy. When I am around he needs to be with me or near me. If I don't go see him upon getting home from work he starts to whine. Jason says he is basically fine all day but when I get home if I don't go to him the whining starts. And it continues throughout the night. It really tests my patience most nights but we make it through!

We love our little Joe! He has been a much more challenging baby for us than Amelia was but that's ok! I think we got by too easy with her ;)

Fun Onesie

Joey had on an amusing onesie the other night...



It suits him well!

The Hazards of Having a Big Sister

Amelia is already teaching her little brother to accesorize...




I had turned around for one second and when I looked back she was placing one of her flower headbands on his little head! She was actually gentle as well, which shocked me! She is rough and tough little girl most of the time!

Joe's New Bed

Joe is still not a fan of his crib :( We have broke him of the swing at night - now he uses his car seat!


The swing was not an ideal situation to us and neither is this. We'd love for the guy to realize his bed isn't that bad! We are pretty sure the main issue with the bed is that it requires him to be flat on his back. He doesn't seem to like that at all. He is a snuggler and loves to be curled up - preferably in someone's arms. The carseat and the swing both curl up his body just a bit and that is why we think he likes them so much!

On a funny note, the other night Amelia and I were watching Dora. She told me, "nigh nigh" so I asked her if she was tired. She wandered off and when I went to find her a few minutes later this is what I found:


It seems that she thinks the carseat is in fact a true bed! A bed for people of all sizes!

Just Pictures

2 Months

Last week Joe was two months old!


We had his check-up and he is looking great. He was 26 inches long (100th percentile) and 14 pounds 5 ounces (90th percentile). We have a fast growing, big baby boy!


We started having some sleeping issues. Joe doesn't like his crib most nights and spends the night in his swing in our room:


It is not an ideal situation or one that we are entirely happy with but it's what we have to do to get any rest. Since I started back at work last week and have been averaging around 3 hours of sleep on work nights (I get up at 3 a.m.) the swing has been a lifesaver. We keep hoping one night he'll realize his crib is comfy but so far it hasn't happened :(

These first two months have flown by - he'll be one before we know it!

Baby Boys

Joe and his friend, D


These two have lots of good times to look forward to!

Joe's First Month

We've had a busy month! This past Sunday Joe turned one month old. Instead of trying to remember all we've done, here are a few pictures:

First night at home:


Sleeping in the bilibed:


Snoozing:




Halloween:


Siblings:


(I had to sneak this after she fell asleep on the couch! Amelia is not quite ready to be close to him just yet)

Joe met his first friend, D:


Meeting "Auntie M" and "Uncle J":


Lastly, I caught a smile on camera just the other day:


It has been a busy, busy first month full of frustrations and joys. All in all, we are adjusting pretty well to life with two little ones.

We still don't have Internet at our apartment but it is at the top of the "to-do list" finally so hopefully we can get that taken care of next week!

Joseph Leonard

On October 13th we welcomed our new baby, Joseph.



He weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 22 inches long! Quite a relief for me since big sister was over ten pounds! Labor and delivery was just under 12 hours compared to 28 hours with big sister which was also a relief to me :)

I was induced, as I was with big sister, and it was slow going. Around dinner time I was only 4 centimeters dilated so Jason left to get some dinner at a drive-thru and I settled in to rest. I knew I was going to need some energy later in the night but my body had other plans. Before Jason could even get back (he was gone less than a half an hour) I was in a lot of pain and felt like I needed to push. I was completely numb with Amelia and they had to tell me when to push so this was a whole new thing and concerned me since thirty minutes earlier I wasn't even halfway dilated.

Jason got back, got a nurse and they checked and I was ten centimeters. No one could believe it, including me! Here I was, expecting to settle in for a few hour nap and they were telling me it was time to push? My epidural did not take very well so pushing was much different this time around - much more painful. Maybe the pain helped me push harder because he was out in 25 minutes (vs 3 hours with big sister)!

Going home outfit:


Tuxedo...with tails!