Cousin's Camp

So yeah...I'm like 6 months behind in blogging.  I'm going to attempt to play catch up over the next few weeks and document some of the big events from the end of last year. 

 

The first is Cousin's Camp at Grandma's house.  This occurred at the end of July and the girls had so much fun as Grandma had 3 days of crafting, cooking, and playing planned from morning to night.  Molly so loves spending time with her big girl cousins so that was pretty much heaven for her.  Max came along for the ride as I was Grandma's helper for the weekend.

 

 Cuddles with Aunt Jessica

 I think Steph was trying to bury Lauren here.

 

 Making cookies.

 

Cuddles with Casey dog. He really loves Steph.

 Trying to be patient while Mommy/Aunt Maggie takes pictures.

 

A fort under the kitchen table. 

 Gardening with Grandpa.

 

 Making pizzas for dinner.

 

 Working hard on their creations.

 

 Painting and decorating flower pots.

 

Little Lauren worked so hard on each of her projects.  She far out lasted her cousins every time.

6 months old!

It's hard to believe this guy is 6 months old already. He is such a smiley and happy boy, except when his teeth are hurting. He already has his two bottom teeth all the way in and is getting 4 in on the top all at once. He is a great eater and is still nursing most of the time, except he is getting 1-2 bottles of formula a day when my milk supply won't keep up. He sleeps well at night, usually going to bed around 8:30-8:45 and waking up around 6:30-6:45. Occasionally he will wake up to eat around 4:30 or 5:00 and then go back to sleep for a few hours. His naps are really inconsistent. He is eating cereal 2 times a day and especially likes the oatmeal. We'll probably start veggies next week. He still has the blocked tear ducts from birth so we've dealt with lots of eye infections lately. He weighed just over 16 pounds at the doctor last week. His favorite thing in the world is his sister. She can always get a smile out of him and if she is in the room he is watching her. He has started sleeping with the blue snuggle bear that Molly picked out for him before he was born. He is really sensitive to loud sounds and startles easily.
These are some things i want to remember about him at this age.
Max has been such a great addition to our family and we love him to pieces.

Birthday Girl

We had a nice day for Molly's birthday today.  She got to open presents when she woke up from Gammy and Lumpy and got the all important Pony Train that she has been talking about for months.  Then we spent some time at the mall, where else do you go when it's 105 degrees outside.  Came home for naps and playing with new toys and then I let her choose whatever she wanted for dinner and her refined palate chose a Happy Meal from McDonald's.  I let her eat it on the Happy Birthday musical cake platter, which thrilled her to no end.  We're pretty fancy around here.  Then she had to learn a lesson in patience as we made her wait to open her presents from us while I ran Max into the doctor's office to get his never ending pink eye looked at.  She had a bath and put on new jammies and was ready to go for the last round of present opening.  We gave her a new scooter and she had a great time cruising around the kitchen.  Here are some pictures and video of our birthday girl.  I can't believe she is 3 already, time really is flying by and I feel so lucky to be her Mom.  She is kind and smart and funny.  In this past year she has started a new daycare setting, which was a challenge but now she is thriving.  She moved out of her baby room and crib and into a big girl room.  She became a big sister and I am never more proud of her than when she is being sweet with Max and making him smile.  She is done with diapers and doing great in big girl underwear.  She is shy with new people and other kids until she feels comfortable and then you can't shut her up.  She loves to sing and dance and make people laugh.  I could go on and on, but you get the idea.  I love her lots.  

Interview with a 3 year old

I've seen this idea on several other blogs and thought it would be fun to see how her answers change throughout the years.  I love this girl!

4 years

Today the little boy who first taught me about a mommy's love would be 4 years old.
While we are beyond blessed and grateful for the two children we have been entrusted to raise it hurts that there is one missing. I'm sad that Molly and Max won't be able to experience the fun and security of having a big brother. I'm sad that we missed out on getting to know our oldest son. I'm just sad.
I miss and love you William.

What we've been up to

I haven't done a very good job of updating the blog since I joined the Facebook, so here is a photo dump of all we've been up to lately.

 We had a stretch of 100+ degree days and didn't get out of the house much.  These two watched a lot of movies and we did a lot of arts and crafts.

 Molly has discovered the joy of Iowa sweet corn eaten straight off of the cob.

 Max continues to be completely captivated by Molly and is happiest when she is right in his face, which works out well as she lacks personal space boundaries.

 Harvey clearly isn't getting enough attention around here and has taken to snuggling with tiny plastic babies.

 We've spent quite a bit of time at the pool since the weather has gotten a little cooler and based on his expression in these pictures Max feels the same way about swimming that his Dad does.

 This one on the other hand inherited her Mom's love of the water and would spend all day there.

 We've also been playing in the sprinkler quite a bit and although she generally starts out pretty timid, she is soaked by the end.  I've also learned that spraying Molly while I water my flowers is way too fun for me.  Thankfully, she is usually a willing participant.

 Having a drink from her bucket.

 Dumping the water on her head.

"Mom, I'm wet!"

Dr. Molly strikes again