Showing posts with label babies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label babies. Show all posts

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Just like mommy...

We were off to the grocery store today and had to get a picture... Kate has turned into quite a good little mommy to her baby "Tony" and loves to copy everything I do. So cute! Our shopping trips are getting much easier thanks to the genius who invented the Baby Bjorn front pack. Luke could not be happier than when he is in that thing and I'm hands free to load, unload, and deal with Kate if necessary. Fortunately, today that was not necessary as, despite feeling under the weather, she was very cooperative and we had a pleasant experience.
And Luke in the "exersaucer" so generously loaned by the Irelands.

Friday, November 02, 2007

Halloween...

It was a full week of Halloween fun! On Monday, we had a Halloween Potluck Party at our cousins house. Jonah and Javan , the blue and yellow M&M's, were great hosts and Kate had fun coloring, playing, and eating yummy food. Monday night, we headed to Pa's Pumpkin Patch for our 3rd annual photo shoot with the Ostermanns. This year we added Luke and Brooklyn to the mix, although, it proved to be too difficult to get a good picture with 3 two-year-olds and 2 four month olds. And impossible to get a good one of Luke at all since he was hungry and would not cooperate. Wednesday morning, we had our Toddler Club party. The treats were abundant and Kate had her first sucker which she LOVED! Then there was Halloween night...we had practiced trick-or-treating and were very excited to go get candy but...2 houses into it and it was over! Kate walked into our neighbors house (thinking we were visiting) and got embarrassed when she realized she was supposed to stay on the porch. Poor thing. She had a complete meltdown and cried, "I want to go home!" all the way back across the street! We tried once more to venture out but made it as far as the corner before she hightailed it back home. Oh well, she doesn't need all that candy. =) It was really fun passing out candy and Kate ran to the door every time someone knocked. She stayed in her costume until 8:30 pm when she finally got her paci and called it a night. Dressing her up was Mommy's favorite part! We got sparkles for her hair and face and applied sparkly lipgloss! So fun. I can't wait for the dance recitals. =) Needless to say, this little girl loves her "pretty dress" costume and as I type is wearing it for the 4th day straight, dancing and singing all over the house!

Monday, September 24, 2007

Luke...

Luke is 3 months old now, if you can believe it. It's gone entirely too fast for us. Here are some new pictures of him at 3 months old!






Wednesday, September 12, 2007

How they have grown...

We've had 2 pretty major accomplishments this week. Kate is off the bottle and Luke is on the pacifier. Yea! It's well past time for Kate to be bottle free but I've been so afraid that cutting off those last few calories before bed would make for a very early next morning. But, alas, she is willingly eating a banana or string cheese instead of having a bottle and actually sleeping later than ever! Hallelujah! And, I know, it seems weird to want your child to use a pacifier but the car rides were getting a bit rough. So I am happy to report that on the way to church Sunday morning during one of those rough rides Luke took the pacifier and enjoyed the rest of the ride. Again, hallelujah! We have still had a couple of those car rides that make me want to saw my ears off but most times all it's taken is a "hit" off the ol' paci to center him and make for a much saner mommy. =)

Kate started Toddler Club again today. This is her 3rd 10 week session and she seems to love it even more now that she's a little older. It's a one hour "class" through the city of Los Alamitos for toddlers 18mos-3 years old. They do circle time with songs, free play, and a little craft/activity. It's a fun way to get out of the house and I think it's getting her ready for the structure of a classroom. We've taken the class all 3 times with our friends, Andrea and Ryan. Andrea went to high school with us and Ryan is her 2 1/2 old. He and Kate love each other. John gets a little nervous when he sees them hold hands or gazing into each others eyes. =)

Kate's "apple" painting from Toddler Club

Luke will be 3 months old this Saturday! It's going WAY too fast for me. He's still such a little sweetie. He has been rolling over (I finally got to see it) and laughing. He's very ticklish and so easy to make smile and laugh. I could just eat him up. We're not sure how much he weighs now but I'm willing to bet it's over to 13 lbs. He's still a great eater and sleeper- we could not have asked for more.

By the way, we hear that the word has gotten out and many of you are reading our blog so if your reading this let us know and leave a comment. =)

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Reading

Isn't this the most precious site?


Sunday, August 26, 2007

Pictures as promised...

Yet another week has gotten away from me. We enjoyed another week of having John home. He goes back to work on Tuesday. =( It's been very nice having him around so much. He has been able to spend some one on one time with both kids and me. Last Saturday Kate and I ran errands and went to a birthday party so John took care of Luke for most of the day. Then Sunday he took Kate to his parents for swimming and dinner. I took advantage of that time to clean out our console table. That, of course, inspired me to clean out our desks which I did yesterday. Next on my list is the coffee table drawers, the filing cabinet, and the kitchen junk drawers. I can't wait! We spent some time Wednesday and Friday catching up with friends we haven't seen in a while which is always fun. I worked another 4 hour shift this week while Luke only drank about 1 ounce from a bottle. So it looks like the 4 hour work day will be around for a while. I can't say that I mind it, though. It's nice to get out of the house and see my friends at the hospital but I miss my babes.
Luke slept through the night again on Wednesday night! And he rolled over from front to back yesterday. I missed it because I was cleaning up but one minute he was having some tummy time and next thing I know he's laying on his back. Such a little athlete! =)
Now for the pictures I promised in the last post. Next time I'll put up some of the kids. My father-in-law has generously allowed us to borrow his nice camera so stay tuned.

Luke's dedication at church...









and John's landscaping...






We will add more plants but for now it's nice just to have something. The mulch John put down smelled like chocolate for several days. Kate would stand at the front door sniffing and say, "Delicious!"

Friday, August 17, 2007

How did 2 weeks get by so fast...

I know, I know...new to the blogging world and already slackin'. Thanks for the push, Lauren. Now, can I remember what has happened in the last couple of weeks? Ah, yes. Guess how many people in our house slept through the night last Saturday? FOUR!! That's right, all of us. Luke went down at 9:30 pm and woke up at 6 am! It's a good thing I was so tired that I didn't wake up before him because I probably would have had a heart attack. It hasn't happened again yet but that's okay because he is sleeping a nice 7-8 hour stretch most nights and then back to sleep for a couple more. Kate is still my little early bird but I don't feel nearly as sleep deprived as I did when she was a baby.
Luke's update: What a good baby. We really could not have asked for an easier little guy. The only trouble is his sudden distaste for car rides. He'll spend most, if not all, of every trip crying. It's really very sad, especially since he is so easy going in every other situation. He was dedicated at church on Sunday morning. Our pastor introduced Luke to the church and prayed for him. I will post pictures soon, he looked so cute in his little collared shirt. "Just like Daddy!" Kate said. On Monday he had his 2 month check-up. He weighed in at 12 lbs. 2 oz. (75%) and was 23 in. long (50%) and the doctor said he looks good. They weren't real thrilled when I "refused" the vaccines explaining that until I researched it further we were going to hold off. The doctor's views and the reception I got from him and the nurse were enough to confirm my feelings that we need to find a new pediatrician or family medicine doctor. That and the view of about 4 in. of his crack that I got as he washed his hands! Ewwww! But I digress...we still haven't made a decision about the vaccines so for now we're not doing them. It's a really hard decision so keep us in your prayers as we try to decide what is best for our kids.
Kate's update: Kate has taken up tap dancing. She discovered it while watching "Happy Feet", a movie about a tap dancing penquin. She loves to dance around the house with her hands on her hips like a little Irish dancer. It's pretty funny. We are going to sign her up for a combo tap/ballet class next year. She has developed another new skill that we are not too pleased about. She is now able to open closed doors. We knew it would happen eventually but until it did we were happy to be able to close a door and rest assured she wouldn't have access to what was behind it. Well, no longer. She now has full access to all the things she loves to get into. These include: toothpaste, my deodorant, my make-up, my lotion, hairbrushes...notice a pattern? This child is ALL girl. But her most favorite "behind closed doors item" is her sleeping daddy. She likes to wait until I'm sitting down to nurse Luke and then pops into our room to tell daddy it's time to get up. As you can imagine, he loves it. ;)
John's update: John is currently on vacation from work for 2 weeks. It's been really nice having him home and we've gotten to spend a lot of time together as a family. We even sat down for dinner all together 3 nights in a row! John is keeping busy, though. I'll be posting pictures of our front yard to prove it. Just 3 years after finishing the renovation of the outside of our house we finally have plants! Yea! John did them himself and they look great. Kate really likes having him home, especially at bedtime. Every night before heading off to bed she sweetly says, "Daddy cuddle Kate." He has never been able to resist her and she knows it.
Shanna's update: In more depressing news, I have started Weight Watchers again. =( No more Dairy Queen after the kids are in bed, no more Panda Express once a week, no more cookies while watching "So You Think You Can Dance" with mom. So sad. Although, I did lose 3.2 lbs. in the first week and because I'm nursing I get 34 points a day (for all of you non-WWers that's a lot). So it's not all bad and I do have my 10 high school reunion in 7 weeks to motivate me.
So there you have it. Two weeks in a nutshell. Look for a picture post soon and I'll really try not to get this far behind again. =)

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Luke's pictures

http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/gallery.jsp?gid=768a5498ce7d777407c0

Here is the link to the pictures from Luke's photo shoot with Melissa (Cape) Bench. She did a great job! Check out her website http://www.melissabenchphotography.blogspot.com/ for more examples of her work and for contact information.
We love the pictures and can't wait to have her do our first set of family pictures in a few months.

Mommy's Little Helper...


This is the view I have several times a day accompanied with, "Come on Mommy! Going to church." =) As you can see, she handles 3 1/2 inch heels with no problems (probably better than most grown women wearing shoes that actually fit them).
Yesterday we ventured out for our first grocery shopping trip just the 3 of us. Luke slept happily in his sling and Kate pushed her own Kate-sized grocery cart. It was an extremely successful trip thanks to the box guy's help to the car. Kate mimimicked my every move including filling her cart, although sometimes with items we didn't need. I managed to get home with only one unintended item (a vanilla yogurt- Kate ate it last night). I have to say I'm very proud of our grocery trip and of my little helper who was so cooperative and pleasant. Now if I can just teach her how to fold laundry...

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Pictures of kids...













Well, amazingly Kate was very cooperative at her Target photo shoot for her 2 year pictures. It did take a never before attempted but extremely successful bribe with a piece of gum. Yes, yes, I bribed my child to smile for the camera by promising her gum! I'm not proud of it but we have some cute pictures to show for it. =) Luke, our usually easy going little guy, was not so cooperative. We got one decent picture of him by himself and a few cute ones of the two of them together. He was tired so he mostly fussed, although, he was most cooperative when in big sis' lap.



I have recently been in contact with a girl we went to high school with who has become a photographer. She came over today and took some (250+!) pictures of Luke and is going to do our announcements for us. He was happy and Mr. Top Model, smiling and posing like crazy. They are going to be soooo cute. I can't wait to get them. So we will soon send out his announcements and I will post some more pictures.






Saturday, July 21, 2007

A couple new pictures...

My digital camera isn't working right now so we've been taking pictures with our old film camera. How did we ever survive without digital?! I hate using film now. No instant gratification and you end up with so many bad pictures. Oh well. Hopefully I can get my camera fixed soon and we can post some cute pictures. Here are just a couple that actually came out okay...
John is so happy that Luke is cuddly.

Big sister just can't stay away.

I've got another roll that we are finishing up. Cross your fingers, hopefully those will turn out okay.