Look at me!!!

Maeve is in that rapidly changing state where every time I blink she is completely different. She has changed her mannerisms a million little times now. This week she is desperate to see what is going on around her. She used to love to lay and smile, now she wants to be upright, sitting in my lap, or being carried outward facing. She watches every detail of every one around her. She is also SOOO talkative and is much more expressive than I remember with Noah. She will laugh and scream with delight and just babble on and on and on. It's intoxicating!

Our good friends Dave and Diane gave us a cool online gift card for baby stuff and it was a hard pick b/c we have everything. We chose this exersaucer type thing. The seat is a bumbo, it has an exersaucer/snack tray, and the tray comes off and the foam insert is removable and it becomes a booster seat. Pretty handy. Maeve is a little wobbly to sit in it without support but she's thrilled to try it out each time.


Of course Noah had to have a turn with his animals too.

Something about 3

I don't want to forget anything, so I have to write it all down....

Noah has been so awesome lately and I just can't contain how happy I am about it!!! He is so helpful and loving and caring. Today we played with friends and then came home. He went right for a nap without any fighting. When he wakes up from naps now he runs to the top of the steps and yells "Mommy I had a good nap!!!!" After his nap, Maeve, Noah and I laid in my bed and made silly faces at each other. When Paul got home, Noah set the table, we ate dinner and then Noah helped me do the laundry. He took the clothes out of the dryer and sorted them, he moved the clothes from the washer to the dryer and he loaded the washer again and turned it on. After that he helped me to make bread and put it in the bread maker. He LOVES to be my helper and he really does a good job. We still take plenty of time to read books, play in the yard, and go to the park, but there is much less "entertaining" necessary and that makes me really happy.

On a side note, Maeve has once again reached Maeve-alicious status. She had a HORRIBLE week last week, but since Sunday she has turned a corner. She doesn't fuss hardly at all, sleeps through all of her naps, and smiles non stop. The doctor said she thought by the end of three months Maeve would turn a corner and I'm just praying this is it! She has even been totally okay with the carseat this week which has been a huge relief. It could all change in an instant, but I just hope it doesn't!!!

Here's to my happy kids and to being a happy mom!

I Scream You Scream....

Last Friday was Noah's first PreSchool Social. This stuff cracks me up! 108 Pre Schoolers and their families came to church to eat ice cream. I am amazed at how seriously parents take this school. I guess it's good, but I just wish folks took church as seriously!

All the little ones got to build a Sundae and then run around and dance and play games. Noah was in heaven and danced the night away. It was so fun to watch him wiggle and move!!!!



Waiting for Baily to pick him up... puuhhlease!






The happy family enjoying their evening!!!!!!

Almost 3 months!!!!

Maeve is 12 weeks old and turns 3 months on the 20th. She will officially be out of the "4th trimester" and you can already see her embracing the world around her! She is a very alert little girl and loves people so much. She will talk and coo for long periods of time and loves to be talked directly to. We have finally found a bouncy seat she likes and she still loves her peanut shell sling. She is getting a little heavy in it, but I don't mind because I know I can take her anywhere in it and she'll sleep. She struggles with the car seat a little bit, but she has made it through a few trips sleeping in it so I think it might just be a phase. She is still swaddled, usually in the miracle blanket and calms instantly when she's all wrapped up. She is ready to roll over and pushes up off of her legs with lots of force. She is batting at objects and grasping them and still enjoys tummy time. She's still a little peanut and is finally big enough for her going home outfit (shown here) !!! We're still in 0-3 month clothes and the next size seems to just drown her.

There's not a whole lot to report. Sleeping is still great. I could feed her at 7 now and she'll sleep until 5 or 6 am. If I feed her before I go to bed at night, then I have to wake her up in the morning around 7:30am. She seems to still sleep a lot during the day too. Noah complains that she sleeps too much because he wants to play with her! She's still generally in pain from her reflux which causes her to arch her back and pull up her legs and sometimes spit up. I think she's just more comfortable when she's asleep.




Noah was jealous that I was taking pictures of her!




He's so cute too!

Happy 80th Birthday

September 11th my grandmother celebrated her 80th Birthday! On Saturday we had a surprise party for her and Noah was the only little tyke there. He ran up to her right when she came into the room and hugged her tight. It was a great celebration with fantastic pictures and all of her best friends and family. Happy Birthday MomMom!!!

PreSchool

Noah began his year at Oxford Presbyterian PreSchool this past Wednesday. Almost all of his friends go to this school and two of them are in his class. The PreSchool is in the church that I work at so he is just downstairs from me.

Each child got a bag to decorate and Noah wanted to make his an aquarium so we cut out fish from masking tape and taped them on the bag and then painted around them. I think we'll work on it some more but for now Noah loves it! Here he is on the porch and with his new teacher.

Transitions

I keep talking about all of these changes, because, well, our life is in flux. Some days I am wrecked by 7AM. Other days I make it until noon before I throw my hands in the air. There have been a lot of challenges.

Maeve has reflux, has battled thrush on and off, and HATES her car seat which makes any outing challenging. She is, however, darling. She talks so much in coos and has her own little laugh now. She is mild mannered, except when in pain, and is really truly a great baby. She has started sleeping through the night completely. Eats at 6, goes to bed, we wake her at 9 to eat and then sleeps til 6 AM.

3 has been good to Noah and he has turned into the most angelic little being. I could literally swallow him whole and feel like I had just eaten a pile of the best sweets ever. He walks around telling me how much he loves me and how much Maeve is his best friend. He helps with EVERYTHING and loves EVERYONE! He went shopping with me on Saturday for 5 hours and was so much fun. He went in and out of dressing rooms and told me I looked beautiful in everything. It was lovely.

Despite all of this goodness, I still haven't found balance in my "new life." I am used to a significant amount of alone time which is virtually gone. I am not in the car anymore since I walk to work, but that severely damages my shopping habits and so I have no new cute clothes (poor me, I know). Maeve won't go in Kids Korner at the Y so I can't work out there anymore (at least for a while), so I am now getting up at 5 to work out and have some alone time (which is not my idea of a good time, but gives me great perspective watching the sun rise.) I feel a huge relief now that I don't have to write sermons every week and yet I still struggle to find time to get to work (thank God they are flexible)... we are working on getting some help for the kids (thanks mom and sarah!).

So, yesterday was horrible. Noah was needy, Maeve was constipated. Noah had to be locked into his preschool class. Maeve struggled to nap. Ugh. I was frazzled at best.

But today was wonderful. I got up and went for my run, made pancakes for breakfast, took Noah to the library to get his first library card and then to the store. With Maeve in the Peanut Shell I was able to get a full grocery trip in without a breakdown (I have abandoned many grocery carts lately). We came home and made bread in my new breadmaker, ate lunch, and had friends over. At 2 I went to work without kids because we now have a part time nanny coming a few days a week (a previous member and dear friend at Rock). Noah took a nap and so did Maeve, and Paul came home and made dinner.

I'm sorry for the verbal diarrhea of all of this, but I guess it just feels so nice to know for sure that we will make it through this stage and the next one and the next one. I knew that eventually God would make the path clear and provide a way for God's plan to work, but for so long I struggled so much. I'm so happy to have this wonderful husband and these two beautiful children and I just feel great!

So, if I don't return calls or emails, or seem out of touch, it is just me trying to soak up every minute of our chaos and find joy in it all. I know there will be time for calls and outings later and I'm content with that!

Have a great day!!!