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Happy sleeping boys = happy mommy

Posted on May 25, 2008 10:40 pm by TheAngelForever

I love my boys – all three of them!

Sure, they may make me crazy from time to time, but that is supposed to happen that way. It is the simple things that make me smile and know that being home with them is the right thing for our family.

Who knew that something as simple as seeing the two little ones asleep resting peacefully could make me so happy? Wednesday night we bought JSL his own pillow to sleep on. He really loved to curl up on it and we felt it was fine to do since it was very firm. Here are some resulting photographs. This is JSL with his new pillow:

All comfy with monkey pillow case

Meanwhile in his bed NHL looked like this:

Notice how similar the two boys are when they sleep. Both of them have their little hands out in almost the identical way. First JSL in his crib:

And NHL in his bed:

He definitely likes his pillow. JSL loves to pet the pillowcase to fall asleep now when he wakes up.

JL and I are so very lucky to have two great little boys. NHL and JSL love each other and recently have started to play and interact more. JSL is a sponge trying to take everything in and NHL loves to show his little brother anything and everything. If NHL is in the living room and moves to another location JSL quickly follows. Now he crawls after his big brother, but soon enough he will be toddling after.

They grow up too quickly . . . . . . *sigh*

Categories:
brothers jsl my boys nhl photos sahm sleep

1 Year Portraits here we come!

Posted on May 24, 2008 8:22 am by TheAngelForever

Since we have the photo bug in our house thanks to two digital cameras, we have decided only to take the boys for portraits on their birthday. If you have been reading my blog recently then you know the little guy, JSL, just turned one. That means it is time to brave portrait picture taking. Yes, I do mean brave. Our last experience with NHL for his four year pictures was not the best . . . at least at first. Thanks to gas prices hitting over $4.00 a gallon here we are opting to try the first studio one more time with JSL this time. The other studio is quite a distance and the cost for two trips there would not be pleasant. So we are going to try this one more time. They are all digital now, so that along with a 9:20 appointment should allow for an all around better experience – we hope!

We have an outfit all picked out, favorite toys/books selected for props. Now the hard part. We all need to get ready and leave the house by 9:00. So I am off and will update on the events later. For now here are some photos of JSL on his actual birthday getting his present from Mommy and Daddy.

NHL gives the puppy a hug

Fun with cookie jar from Nana and Papa

Watching NHL closely

Goofy little boy

Time to go and get our rears moving and out in a little while.

Categories:
birthday fun jsl photos

Guests, goodies & giant cupcake = 1st B-day fun

Posted on May 15, 2008 10:24 pm by TheAngelForever

It is still hard to believe that JSL is one already. Last year at this time I was threatening to leave the hospital after a really horrible night. Now I am home with all three of my boys and my baby is getting so big. Last Sunday (yes on Mother’s Day) we had JSL’s first birthday party at my parent’s house.

Saturday night JL and I baked the giant cupcake and twelve other cupcakes with the left over batter. We were up until almost 1:00 in the morning waiting for them to go into the freezer. In the morning we packed up the boys and went to my parents house. I quickly got everything out and started to frost the little cupcakes and decorate the big one. Thanks to my handy dandy decorating tool it came out really great and did not take too long in the scheme of things.

Once the cake was done it was time to work with my mother and Aunt M (my sister-in-law) to get the food baked and ready to go. We served an egg bake with scallions, baked peach french toast, bagels, lox, cream cheese, vegetarian liver (Mimi’s specialty), hummus, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and potato kuggel (Mimi’s again). I could not have had such amazing things if my mother and grandmother (Mimi) had not helped with the menu and Aunt M had not helped with everything on Sunday – thank you all!

While the preparations were being done in the kitchen the kids were busy playing. NHL, JSL and Cousin S were enjoying time with my brother, Papa and JL. Play time!

An attempt was also made to get a photo of the three grandkids together. This did not work out too well. Apparently this was the best that was captured.

Everyone started to arrive at 11:00. While the food finished baking people talked and watched the kids play. JSL had an interesting time with my parent’s massager. All I can say is – he is a total BOY!

All of the kids ate in the kitchen. It was too funny watching them interact with each other.

After brunch the kids went to play and we put the left over food away. Then it was time to set up all of the good stuff on the table for round two of food. It was finally time to put the giant cupcake on the table!

Everyone came to the dining room so we could light the candle, sing Happy Birthday to JSL and have him attempt to blow out the candle. He was quite serious at one point with everyone standing around watching him.

Time to blow out the candle

While I was busy cutting pieces of giant cupcake for everyone JSL was in the kitchen digging in. JL said that he was quite careful at first. After a little while he figured out that he could get more into his hands and stuff that into his mouth faster. Be glad that you did not have to clean up the little guy and/or his booster seat. NHL was amused with his brother’s mess and declared that JSL looked like Grandpa thanks to his white frosting beard.

Once JSL was cleaned up (read – the best that could be done without a tub) it was time to open presents. This was something pretty new for him. Sure he had a few items at Chanukah time, but he was so little in December. NHL was quite eager to help his little brother dig into the gifts. JSL did not understand why he could not play with his first gift and started to have a mini temper tantrum when we tried to hand him a new package. He did not want that and wanted to play with his new toy.

Of course the real fun came soon after this when all five of the kids started to romp in the wrapping paper. Oh wait, some adults also got into the mix. Check it out. . .

Wrapping paper fun

Being the birthday boy was hard work. The little guy had to stop at one point to chug some water from his sippy cup since he was so thirsty.

It was a very nice day. Seeing all of our family members, eating good food was nice but soon it was time for everyone to leave. Uncle I and Aunt M had a big trip ahead of them. Cousin S was all ready to go after hugging everyone goodbye.

All ready to head home

Before we knew it everyone was gone. It was time to clean up, pack up and go home. JSL did not nap all day and quickly had a bath, ate an early dinner and went to sleep dreaming of giant cupcakes.

Now we can sit back for a few weeks until we start to plan NHL’s 5th birthday party for August. He has ideas, but we shall see what we agree to.

Categories:
birthday family food glorious food fun jsl milestone photos weekend yummy

My Baby is 1

Posted on May 14, 2008 12:36 am by TheAngelForever

I just spent the last few hours looking at photos from the last year. The first year of JSL’s little life has now come and gone. It seems like yesterday when I was VERY pregnant and upset that the little guy did not listen to my eviction notice. Here I am just eight days before my life changed forever.

The day before JSL was born was Mother’s Day last year. It was a lazy day where I rested a lot and was not feeling the best. The next morning I got out of bed and before I was able to stand all the way up I heard a loud pop and ran to the bathroom. I recalled this from almost four years earlier when it happened with NHL. I calmly went back to the bedroom and woke JL up to tell him the news. The rest of the story can be seen here.

It is so hard to believe that my baby is one. I am not ready for this and am in denial. Yet as I sit here looking through all of the memories of JSL’s first year I know it is true. I have tears in my eyes because I flash back to February, a horrible month that almost stole my baby from me.

Here are some photos from each month of JSL’s 1st year.

May 2007

1 – Right after he was born. 2 – Big brother NHL comes to take JSL home. 3 – Sleeping in the Papasan on loan from Laura. 4 – Right before his bris.

June 2007

1- So tiny in his car seat. 2 – Big brother NHL taken JSL for a walk. 3 – All curled up to sleep. 4 – Big smiles!

July 2007

1 – First time in his swing – other wise known as his "Thinking place" 2- Mommy and her boys 3 – Kiss from big brother NHL 4- Sitting up alone on the couch

August 2007

1 – In Nana’s arms at Aunt M’s baby shower 2 – Vegging out with big brother NHL 3 – Time to romp in the new to us ExerSaucer … another "Thinking spot" 4 – Posing for the camera with his Very Hungry Caterpillar bib

September 2007

1 – Brotherly love 2 – Creeping in his crib 3 – At the apple orchard in Mom’s arms 4 – Look at those chubby thighs!

October 2007

1 – Wearing the Ark outfit 2 – Amused by Mommy taking lots of photos 3 – One cool dude! 4 – Monkey NHL and penguin JSL at Halloween

November 2007

1 – Wearing new outfit for photo shoot 2 – First solid food 3 – Story time with NHL and Daddy 4 – Cuddles with Mommy

December 2007

1 – Photo shoot for our holiday cards with NHL 2 – Lots of fun jumping in the ExerSaucer 3 – Sleeping in the car next to big brother NHL 4 – Cuddle time on flannel sheets.

January 2008

1 – Big smiles and lots of teeth 2 – Ready for the cold to pick up big brother from school 3 – Wearing jeans for the first time 4 – Snuggling pirate ducky blanket made by Laura.

February 2008

1 – Asleep after coming in from the cold 2 – During four day hospital stay after febrile seizure 3 – Cozy surrounded by lots of flannel 4 – Brothers are reunited and snuggling

March 2008

1 – Brother bonding time 2 – Messy baby face 3 – Loving his bouncy zebra 4 – Standing up in crib to say hello

April 2008

1 – Whipped cream loving baby 2 – Walking with his new lion toy from Nana and Papa 3 – Playing soccer outside with Daddy and NHL 4 – Passover with his matzoh bib

May 2008

1 – Lots of laughs with big brother NHL 2 – Sleep eating 3 – First time on the Merry-go-round with Daddy 4 – Opening presents at his birthday party

Happy 1st birthday JSL – we are so blessed to have you in our lives. Always know that Mommy loves her snuggle puppy and can not wait to continue to watch you grow (just stop doing it so quickly – PLEASE).

Categories:
birthday jsl looking back milestone photos

Official 1st B-day Giant Cupcake

Posted on May 12, 2008 12:13 pm by TheAngelForever

Things have been quite busy here this weekend. My brother and his family were in town and yesterday was JSL’s 1st Birthday party.

We were out and about all day Saturday. Photos coming soon of everyone at the little amusement park (JSL had his first rides). Thanks to being out so late, JL helped me to stay awake long enough to bake the giant cupcake. Here is where the test runs paid off. We knew exactly what we had to do and were able to get it done quickly. Still even with the organized plan, we were still up until almost 1:00 in the morning waiting for the giant cupcake to be ready to put in the freezer.

The giant cupcake stayed in our freezer over night. Sunday morning I took it out for 10 minutes so I could quickly carve it to put together for the trip to my parents house. Once I got there (9:00 for a 11:00 party) I started to decorate it.

Here is a sneak peak of the finished cake: