Christmas Morning

Mary Rose was so cute on Christmas morning! Christmas Eve we knew we had a lot of set up to do, so we were desperately trying to get her to bed and we must have threatened to call Santa at least five times. When she got up in the morning she walked into the living room and at first she didn't know where to look, she looked until the tree and I had to say, "Look on your table!" then she saw the Dora house and her mouth fell open. The house may have been the biggest gift but the clear favorite was the guitar!

Dr. Yoder says...

I took Mary Rose to her three year check up yesterday. She had just been there a week earlier with Nicholas for his six month check up so she was familiar with the office. We had been reading the book, Piggy goes to the doctor  all day and everytime they did something she would quote Piggy from the book. She did really well, she talked to Dr. Yoder and told him all about her bike, answered his questions and must have actually listened to him because at night she said, "Dr. Yoder said I need to eat grapes!" He said she looks great developmentally, and her language is advanced! She is 40.5 inches tall, which is the 95% for her age, and 35 lbs. which is the 75% for her age!

Big Beaver is always the answer

Just in case you thought the Big Beaver saga was done. Friday I was stuck in a traffic nightmare in I-75 so I called Grandpa to tell him I would be late because there was a car fire on Adams. Mary Rose called me back and said, "You need to take Big Beaver because there's no care fire on it" and of course she was right, too bad I had already missed the Big Beaver exit!

Feed a cold....

So you know the old saying, "Feed a cold, starve a fever"? Nicholas has a cold and he has been eating like crazy! Last night he kept opening his mouth like a little bird and when I put the cereal in, he would gulp and pop his mouth open again immediately. I thought he needed to chew so I kept sticking his frog toy in and he kept getting pissed and spitting it out and opening his mouth so I realized, he really wanted the food! Tonight I mixed up his cereal and he was sitting in his high chair patiently waiting but as soon as he saw the bowl he opened his mouth really big. He wouldn't look at me he just kept staring at the bowl, willing it to go in his belly quicker! And today Grandma said he loved the sweet potatoes and the half jar I sent was not enough! Tomorrow we are trying peas. I feel bad Mary Rose got a lot more whole made food but I just do not have the time!

Nicholas continues to talk!

This morning Nicholas was laying in the play gym this morning when Mary Rose came down the stairs. I said, "Hi Mary Rose!" and then I lifted Nicholas to a standing position and he looked right into her eyes and said, "Hiiii" It was so cute! I had parent teacher conferences tonight so I handed Noel a post-it with a shopping list on it while he was sitting at the table having breakfast with Mary Rose. Mary Rose said, "I want one too" so I wrote out, "Hugs, kisses, more hugs, more kisses" and I gave her the post-it, and said, "Okay you need to go shopping and get those for me," and she said, "I need to go to Big Beaver!"

Mary Rose turns 3

We had Mary Rose's birthday party last night, it was a blast! Every time we throw a party it reminds me how great it is to have a house. We went to town with the decorations, hanging streamers from the ceiling and two inflatable monkeys (the Bobo brothers) from the ceiling fan. Mary Rose said her favorite part was "seeing my cousin"! One of the party favors were these little flashlights and all morning Mary Rose has been handing them out as rewards. "Here mommy, you get a purple one, good job going down the stairs!"

Nicholas is talking!

Nicholas is six months old today, I can't believe it! This week he has been babbling a lot and everyone has reports of him actually saying words meaningfully, you can only claim coincidence so long before we have to admit that he is talking. He has said, "da-da" several times including once when Noel walked into his room and once when Grandpa Bill was holding him and Noel walked into the room and Nicholas saw him. You can't tell me he wasn't saying daddy. And on Thursday, Papa had left the room and he said, "Papa" like he was looking for him! He is getting really steady sitting up now, and when I lay him on his tummy he gets up on all fours and rocks like he is ready to take off! I think he will be crawling before he turns seven months, that's my predictions. The other night Noel was talking on the phone and he said, "Nicholas, did you that?" and I looked over and Nicholas' entire face was covered with this triangular chew toy and Nicholas was trying to lick it. He had apparently gotten tired of holding it so he just put the whole thing on his face. When we took it off, he had the cutest impish little smile, he is such a riot!

Big Beaver

Mary Rose seems to think that Big Beaver Rd can get us anywhere. On Tuesday, this was our conversation
Mommy: "Now we may need to get gas on our way home," (from school)
Mary Rose: "You need to go to Big Beaver and get some!" (The gas station I frequent is on Big Beaver)
and on Thursday
Mommy: "There's an accident, we may need to take a detour..."
Mary Rose: "On Big Beaver?"

Halloween at Greenfield Village

Saturday night we went to the Halloween event at Greenfield Village, It was a blast! By chance I was able to get extra tickets from work so Peg's parents came with us, along with Peg and her kids and my mom. I started packing at 7:30AM to make sure I had everything and it was still a bit of a mad dash out the door. Ten minutes before I had planned to leave the elastic tore off of Mary Rose's clown hat so I dug out a needle and some embroidery floss from my scrapbooking supplies and sewed it back on. I had everyone in the car by 4:45PM and we arrived at 5:30PM, even driving in the right lane trying to get Nicholas to get a catnap in. We parked at the first parking spot after the handicap spots we were so early, and I loaded the double stroller and headed for the bathrooms. By the time we got out of there, Nicholas was screaming so I put Mary Rose in the front seat of the stroller and sat on the bench feeding Nicholas the bottle I had just pumped on the drive in while Mary Rose had ham sticks and finger pasta and an apple in the stroller. My mom arrived, then Peg and her fam and we got some great sunset pictures while we waited for the mass crush of people to subside before we headed in.

Raymond was Bob the Builder, Laurel was a blue monkey (a costume Peg and Seth made for her last year) Mary Rose was a clown, and Nicholas was a cow. It was a beautiful night, warm and cloudless, and we headed in and to the first treat spot where they handed out apples. Mary Rose was not deterred, she ate about half of that one as well! Raymond chowed his apple down too! It was really nice to be there when it was light out, much less scary. There were still a few spots, like the shaking crate. Laurel said, "I'm going to run away!" and Peg said, "Go ahead" and Laurel said, "No mama, I want you to run away with me!"

donlop

It was a busy but not too busy week-end. We were driving to church and Mary Rose said,"Nicholas can't see!" so I fixed his hat and said, "Sorry buddy!" and Mary Rose said, "Sorry little buddy, it was an accident!" She is so cute with him sometimes!
Last night Nicholas sat by himself! Apparently Noel says he's been doing it for a couple weeks but this is the first time he had his tummy off his feet so he was sitting up, not sort of folded over. We've been laughing because he's got some serious "donlop" going on with his tummy and his double chins!

Ketchup

Mary Rose: "I need more ketchup."
Daddy: "Mary Rose, you've got ketchup on your plate!"
Mary Rose: "It got all mixed up."
Daddy: "Mommy, that's your child"

So, this is my blog. I am a mom to two amazing kids! Mary Rose is 2 and a half and Nicholas is 4 months old. I am writing this blog to help me remember all the cute things they do and say.