love…

I don’t really do Valentine’s Day.

I am not a huge flower, candy, bear-the-size-of-you kinda girl.

I am not really the make a huge big deal because we’ve landed on certain calendar date kinda girl either.

I’d rather be the tell the people that I love that I love them each and every time I think about it and hug and kiss on my boys until there is no doubt in their minds that they are loved beyond words kinda girl.

So that is exactly what we are going to do today… there will be a whole lot of hugs and kisses, a whole lot of “I love You’s” and a whole lot of love… here’s hoping you all have a lot of the same.

(seriously! aren’t these two just the cutest!?!)

 

that being said, don’t misunderstand- I did use today as an ‘excuse’ to take some photos of the boys, there will probably be some pink, red and white crafting going on in our house and possibly some heart shaped lunches around here.

sweet piper

We have always known that we have a sweet puppy; however, it just keeps getting reinforced with each little boy that we have. After Jay was born Piper didn’t leave my side. She would follow me from room to room when I paced with Jay, she would camp out at my feet or on the side of the bed when he actually passed out and we were able to catch some sleep, she would lie down on his playmat and let him crawl over her whenever he wanted to. Even now she lets him roll cars up and down her back and bounce on her without so much as a big sigh. Now that we have Charlie she follows the two of us around like she did with Jay. She lies on his playmats, camps out on the side of the crib when he naps, follows me around with him when I am trying to get him to sleep and kisses his cheeks when he is fussy and within reach. I can’t wait until the boys are actually old enough to really play with her; I know that they will love her just as much as she has always loved them.

These are just a few of the times that I have actually caught Piper snoozin’ with Charlie although it happens daily :)

friday phone dump

1. my favorite time of the day

2. stretch!

3. toes

4. silly faces

5. cars

6. cheese!

7. raising the crib mattress (I did this all by myself- go me!)

8. sweet big boy

9. sucking his thumb

10. avocado bagel- yummo

11. serious face

12. blueberry thief… he ate half of the bowl before the muffins were even made :)

13. daddy and charlie

14. smiles

15. “frosty no-men” lunch for jay

16. stickers by jay

17. more smiles

18. snoozin’ in the crib

19. “color whales mommy, color whales”

20. self portrait with sleeping squishy

21. “fix cars tires”

22. mommy’s “fip fops”

23. bath time smiles from charlie

today I am…

2 months old!

I tried to have this post ready ahead of time so that it could be up early this morning; however I baked a cake, hooked a ton of cars for Jay and had some really good cuddle time with Charlie while Jay was napping so I don’t feel that bad about this posting so late ;)  Also, I don’t have his statistics yet since we haven’t gone to his doctor appointment yet but I will post those when I get them.

Things of note-

Sleeping- Charlie is sleeping anywhere from 3.5-5 hours a night for about the last week (the 5hours is new).  However, we didn’t start his nighttime routine until just recently and I think that has really helped his sleeping patterns.  His nighttime routine consists of a bath, nursing and cuddling with Mommy, being wrapped (like a swaddle but with his arms out), Good Night Moon and then being tucked in with Jenny playing (his sound machine giraffe). During the day he takes a few naps; his best nap is usually in the morning and he really likes to sleep on his tummy (shh, don’t tell the doctor).

*He snores and snores loudly!

*As far as eating is concerned- things are going fabulously!  He eats really well, usually every 2.5-3 hours during the day.  He is very quick and efficient and usually doesn’t dawdle when he nurses- this little one means business when he eats!  I am anxious to see how much he weighs when we take him to the doctor since he seems to really be packing on the pounds and chins :)

*He has been smiling and cooing frequently lately.  It’s enough to make your heart puddle right then and there- I swear.  He is usually happiest right after he has eaten and we are playing but he also smiles frequently during other times of the day.  Usually I can rub my finger on his cheek when we are playing and he will give me a huge grin.  He also smiles when I kiss his cheeks- I love it!

Likes:

*Facing out. Unless he is sleepy and wants to nap he likes to be held out so that he can see what is going on.  He has really started to be aware of his surroundings and has taken notice of things a lot more lately.  He prefers to be sitting up instead of reclining and if you will walk while holding him that is a plus too.

*Holding hands-  Frequently, if he is upset you can calm him down by holding his hand.  I don’t know if it makes him feel more secure or what but whether we are walking, riding in the car or just sitting holding him, grabbing and holding on to his hand calms him down when he us upset.

*The morning.  The morning after his first feeding is usually his happiest time.  He is the most alert at this point and will play with me for quite awhile.

*The fan-  Charlie loves looking at the fan and lights just like Jay did- the fan is his buddy, his pal.

*Books-  The colors book is one that we frequently “read” during play time and he loves the black and white zebra page or the monkey page in another black and white line drawing book that we have.  He will smile and kick when we turn to those pages.

*Being outside.  Just like with Jay you can walk outside while Charlie is fussy and he usually calms down pretty quickly.  He just loves to be out there enjoying the sun.  He also likes to sit in the sun coming in through the window in his bouncy chair- it’s almost as good as being outside.

Dislikes:

*Turning off the lights or walking into a dark room.  I honestly can’t think of many things that he dislikes (he’s a pretty easy baby and we are really lucky) but the one thing he really doesn’t like is to walk into a dark room or when you turn the lights off in a room.  Almost immediately he will start fussing but as soon as you go into a room with lights he is all better.

I think that pretty much sums up Charlie at this point. We are still adjusting to our new family of four and Jay has gotten much better about him being around- guess he figured out that he was going to stick around.  We are still working on being gentle, which is really tough for his two year old self, but we are making progress.  He really likes to hug and kiss Charlie which translates to slobber and squish Charlie but again we are making progress and at this point I am really just happy that he isn’t ignoring him anymore.  Jay also really likes to help with Charlie.  He will carry my nursing pillow around the house when my hands are full, he notifies us when Charlie is crying (as if we can’t hear it ourselves), usually tells him it’s okay when he is crying and if Charlie is within reach he will put his or Charlie’s paci (whichever is closer) in his mouth when he is crying.  It’s really sweet to watch them together and I can’t wait to see where their relationship will take them.

Here’s some more photos from our “shoot”.  As you can tell he is really a very happy little boy :)

the traditional month by month pose

smiles :)
big smiles!

auntie frannie

Auntie Frannie sure got to log a bunch of snuggle time with Charlie over the holidays.  Wish they lived closer so we could see her more but we are looking forward to her being in Orlando for her internship soon :)

cuddling at Mom's on our baking day
at Mom's on boxing day

newborn photos

I keep thinking that I will post these photos of Charlie after I get his announcements sent out.  However, I was hoping to send out our holiday card along with them (to save on postage) and since I haven’t even begun to think about that yet I figured what the heck I might as well go ahead and post them.  Besides I have been dying to share them since  I love, love, love how they turned out- he was less than a week old and still so tiny and squishy!


friday phone dump

Frequently these days I snap a photo on my phone (it is usually around and handy) and since some of them turn out to be simply adorable I thought that I might start sharing a few of them here… I can not take credit for the post title, I saw it on a few other blogs that I read, but it is indeed catchy ;)

1. hanging out with Daddy
2. me and the boys- our first day on our own
3. playtime reading with Mommy
4. coloring- “dot, dots” creatures
5. brothers
6. “what??”
7. bean sensory box- to occupy Jay Bird while Mommy makes dinner
8. sanity walk- one in the stroller, one in the carrier
9. playing on “his” iPod Touch while Mom and Dad finish dinner
10. making faces at his brother
11. snoozin’ (this boy loves his tummy)
12. snacks AND cars ;)
13. cheeks!!
14. car ride

christmas 2011 recap

The holidays this year were filled with many different things…  Time to relax and enjoy playing with the boys, time to start “new” traditions and to introduce the boys to old ones. Time to cherish with family that we don’t get to see very often and time to hang out with friends that live far away.  Honestly we got to spend a whole bunch of time appreciating what is really important and spending time surrounded by people that we love; to say that we are blessed would be an understatement.

goofing around with mom
jamie relaxing
festive playtime with duplo- and no I did not make him wear the Christmas tree headband. he would frequently put them on and wear them around the house :)

Jay Bird at the sing a long playing frosty the snowman with Mary Beth
decorating cookies for the neighbors

quality control
christmas eve photo
"santa" setting up Jay's duplo table

the boys' stockings after santa came :)
holiday jammies
bed head and new toys
helping charlie with his books
jeepie!

jay getting michael to draw for him

mary beth and charlie

crashed!
mom, ed and the boys
group shot of my family
snuggling with auntie frannie
frosty!