Tuesday, May 24

Siblings

Everyone is always comparing who looks like who!

Most people say Eden looks exactly like Graham.
But then they say she looks exactly like me.
Then the next person says she looks just like her daddy.

I happen to think she looks totally different than Graham, but that's just me. :)
Definitely they look like siblings....but they certainly have their own looks.

Gman
Eden-girl
G
E
He DEFINITELY has a few extra rolls on her. :)
Graham was a pretty happy baby, but this girl has a smile that lights up the room!
 It seriously makes my day. Every day.
In the end, it doesn't matter to me! I'll keep them both. =)

Sunday, May 22

in the words of Graham: "fun!"

A busy few days! We had several events that we had been looking forward to..............didn't quite realize they were all going to be packed into one weekend!
On Friday night, Andrew & I got to go see West Side Story at the Benedum Theatre. What a beautiful theatre and it was a great show!


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On Saturday, we went to the Touch-A-Truck event. They bring in 20-30 vehicles {everything from fire trucks & ambulances to tractors & dump trucks} and the kids can look through them, "drive", honk the horns....... It's a little boy's dream for sure. =)
 with his buddy, Zephyr

Iceburgh, the Penguins mascot




*************** 
On Sunday we took Graham to a Pirates baseball game. He has been talking about it for weeks and was so excited! Well, we had to go to church first, but he was still ready. :) 
It has been raining non-stop here in the 'burgh. :(
So to have 2 days with outdoor events and have 2 warm, sunny days was SO great!

Graham just loved the game! He did great through the whole thing.
   The stadium has such a beautiful spot!
 
I'm so thankful we've reached an age where skipping his nap is not the end of the world.
However, it only took him 5 seconds to fall asleep in the car. :)  
It was strange to be without our baby girl! We were very happy to see her, but know that her day was much better being taken care of at home by Kristin.

The past 2 days, Graham kept looking at me and saying "this is fun!"
Yes it was my little man.....and now for a little rest! :)

Sunday, May 15

O glorious day indeed!

I sure was excited to see O Glorious Day added to the list of songs I can choose from for my blog player! We have been singing this a lot in our church the past couple months. I can't get it out of my head and frequently sing it to Graham.
who tells me to stop.
boo on him. =) 
THANK YOU Casting Crowns for taking some great words and giving them a  much-needed fresh take. I am sure you will find yourself sing along as well. :D

date night

A few months ago, a production company contacted me through my Pgh Momtourage blog about the upcoming Cirque du Soleil show that was coming to town. They offered me 2 tickets to check out the show and also gave me a family 4-pack of tickets to give-away. It was a fun contest with lots of interest!
We have been anxiously waiting for this date night!
Especially considering date nights have been pretty rare since baby girl joined us!
They put up this giant tent in our Strip District. Now every time we pass it, Graham says, "Mommy & Daddy, date!"
Anyways, the show was just incredible! This pic is hard to see, but there was a giant screen in the floor which would do all sorts of water scenes and other pictures. The music was all done live and was amazing. The stunts & acrobatics were unbelievable.
The whole show was just so much fun!
What we didn't know was that because it was the Premiere Night, we were offered free popcorn, soda, champagne, and cupcakes from Dozen (local cupcake bakery)!!
If you ever have a chance to see a show, definitely take it!
Thankful for one amazing FREE date night. =)

Tuesday, May 10

*blink* 3 months

At her 2 month appt. she was 13 lbs! I don't think anyone's guessing if she's getting enough to eat. =)
She recently discovered her fingers and is a big fan!
Unfortunately this also means we're saying hello again to slobber. ugh.
 She adores her playmat and has just started grabbing at the danglers.
When I lay her down on the mat, she immediately starts smiling like she's greeting old friends.
First ceiling fan experience + leopard pants = a good day.

She has taken to a day schedule beautifully. I had heard about those children that "fall into a schedule", but with Graham I had to work at it a lot! She loves her routine. After she's been awake for an hour, she's like an alarm clock that immediately lets me know it's naptime. :)
She usually wakes around 8am (usually has a morning eat around 5:30/6)
eats.
awake for one hour.
naps 9-11:30.
eats. 
awake hour and a half.
naps 1-2:30/3.
{SO thankful to have both kiddos on the same nap schedule!}
eats.
awake.
next nap is usually on the go, either in the car or in the stroller.
eats at 5:00.
naps, usually in the swing, 6-6:45.
eats around 7.
bedtime around 7:30.
and then the craziness begins. :)
She cannot seem to figure out what she wants to do between 8-11pm. She seems to want to be awake. I seem to want her to be asleep. She usually eats at 7, 9, 11. It can be very tiring!
She has done a LOT of crying during these hours. After 3 months, I thought we would have gotten past this mostly. I'm still not sure exactly what to do. But I am really weary of being up until 11:30 every night, that's for sure! Once she finally goes down for the night, she usually will sleep 6-8 hours, it's still varying some. I felt like at 7 weeks she was getting into a really good nighttime routine and then we had that long crazy sickness and she started right back at square one. So I am not sure if that's what has set her back or what, but still hoping she will soon "fall into" a good nighttime routine very soon!
 Graham likes to hold her hand. She's not as in to it. :)
yep, this is a 6 month outfit. We kind of blew right past the 3 month clothes. :-/
You're not going to share a little of that smoothie, buddy?!
belly sleeper!

 I am just cherishing this sweet baby stage so much more this time around. I think it's just so much easier that I CAN enjoy it! Or maybe it's because my girly is definitely way more cuddly & snuggly that my boy ever was. She loves her mama for sure. =) The hardest thing about having two is that I am definitely twice as sleep-deprived as having one. There is no "sleep when baby sleeps"! So I am greatly looking forward to getting a full night's sleep again, but for now, kissing those giant chubber cheeks keeps me going. =)
Happy 3 months, baby girl!

Saturday, May 7

2 years, 3 months, and 4 days

that is how long I've been blessed to have this title of mother.
It's hard to believe it's only been a little over two years, because I certainly can barely remember life B.K. (before kids)!
No matter how many books you read, classes you attend, or people you ask advice of, I don't think you can ever fully grasp what this means until that sweet baby is laid in your arms for the first time.
And then.you.get.it.
to my graham,
how much joy you have brought to our lives in the past 2 years.
You have taught me how to love better,
 that I am not as patient as I thought (or wish!) I was,
and that I will never have a dull moment as long as you are around.
Sometimes a dull moment would be ok though. =)
 
my sweet eden,
I haven't had as much time to get you know you,
but I certainly look forward to every day that God allows me to be your mommy.
You have been such a sweet, sweet baby and you patiently put up with all your brother's shenanigans.
You have taught me that a mother has plenty of room in her heart for 2 babies,
sleep is over-rated, =)
and that dressing a baby girl never gets old.
and to my hubby,
thank you for being the best mother's helper I could ask for!
Thank you for coming home from work and "taking over" Graham, thank you for doing the dishes (one of my least favorite jobs!) and honoring me as a wife and mommy.
I could not do it without you.
photot credit: onewaystreetproduction

Monday, May 2

Graham-isms

It is so fun watching Graham learn how to talk, communicate, put sentences together. There is such a big difference from them learning single words to putting complete thoughts together. You certainly get a lot of funnies out of them!! It's almost sad when they start talking correctly. =)

Some of his favorites -
A play me? {come play with me}. We hear this a lot!

Up Dad, work. {pick up dad from work}

A few minutes. (basically, let me play a few more minutes!}

The other night Andrew was telling him "jokes". He would tell him something, then laugh hysterically. Graham thought it was the funniest thing! So now he is always asking us to tell him jokes. One day I told him, "why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the worm." Hysterical, I know. :-) A few days later, he asked for jokes again and I said, "Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the egg." No, no, no, he says, to get to the worm! haha!
We've also tried to teach him "knock, knock, who's there". The we'll say the cow or the orange or the whatever (believe me, our "jokes" are random and don't really make sense!)
So now he says, "knock, knock, {us - who's there?} then he'll  list the whole menagerie....a cow, a chicken, a duck....there's a lot of animals are the door apparently.

I am also amazed at how he is starting to know his way around. If he thinks we're driving home, but then we pass our turn he'll start questioning me "home? home?" The other day we went to pick up Andrew and I took a different route and the whole time he was saying "pick up dad? pick up dad?"
This is the craziest - we haven't walked to the park since the fall. It's about 3/4 of a mile from our house. It finally warmed up enough to walk there one day. As soon as we came to the street to turn down, he started saying "park! park!" {We hadn't told him we were going to the park.} And seriously, it had been like 6-7 months!

Some of the other things that we like to hear him say -
Hooray!

Oops.

Oh boy.

Oh Yeah.

Look! {if he thinks you're not paying close enough attention!}

My's. {it took us a while to get this one since it sounds like "mice". But then we realized he often hears that's mommy's or daddy's. So it's only logical for it to be "my's". =}

Graham Hughes. {This is a big one because one thing we didn't know {not that it would have probably mattered!} was that he wouldn't be able to say the "gr" sound for a very long time! The poor guy can finally say his own name. Poor grandma & grandpa got the shaft too. :}

He likes to name things by colors now. Look mom, a purple bus or a black bike....

Somehow he counts better from 7-12 then he does 1-7. :)

He's actually starting to read some basic words. It's crazy to me! And totally to Andrew's credit as he first made this discovery.
He loves to color right now and has some blank paper to write on. Andrew was writing some basic words for him and when we go back to them, he still reads them right! He can read mom, dad, graham, eden, baby, mama, papa, dog, cat, ball.....this boy loves his letters for sure!

The other day Andrew & I were singing & dancing to some music that was on. He was sitting on the couch and got such an annoyed look on his face and kept saying "stop! stop!" Which meant, of course, that we kept doing it. Our first seriously nerdy parent moment. It's quite funny when your 2 year old looks embarrassed of you. Now we know why parents do those things. =)

And there's so many other funnies....basically the child has not stopped talking since the day he finally learned. and they say girls are the big talkers. But if Eden gives HIM a run for his money, I may go insane. =)
But we love our goofy sweet little Gman!