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Meeting Cousin SG – weekend update

Posted on November 15, 2007 11:38 am by TheAngelForever

It only took us 7 weeks to get out west, but we finally made it to meet Cousin SG and visit Uncle I and Aunt M. We were leery of the LONG roadtrip, but much to our surprise the boys did really well not only going, but coming home as well. We did the trip in under 5 hours both times. Not too shabby and almost makes me have less fear of road trips for the future.

Thursday morning JSL and I were busy, busy, busy. We left the house early and went to get new tires put on my car. While they did that we went on a cold walk to Toys R Us and the book store. We bought a new bib for JSL to eat solids that can just be wiped off and a few other things. By the time we got back to the tire store they were done and we were on our way to BJ’s. Here I bought baby essentials – diapers and wipes. Then we went home where I panicked about not being packed and needing to pick NHL up. JL called and said he was heading home. He went to get NHL at school and then picked up a quick lunch. By the time they were home I was packed and ready to go, after eating.

We were packed up and on the main road at 2:40 and got to our destination at about 7:30. NHL was so happy to see Uncle I and Aunt M. Cousin SG was sleeping in her swing when we arrived. NHL forgot how tiny babies can be since JSL has grown so much in 6 months. SG is 4 months younger so she has lots of time to catch up.

My parents and grandmother arrived about an hour after we did. At this point it was WAY after NHL’s bedtime. We all stayed up to hold SG and talk for a while. Then we finally settled on sleeping arrangements and made beds. NHL slept on a mattress on the floor with my parents. My grandmother had her own room with a bed. JL and I were on our queen sized Aerobed in SG’s room, where JSL slept in her crip. That left Uncle I, Aunt M, and SG (along with Cousin Zoe cat) sleeping in their room. NHL was SO overtired he was still up long after midnight. He finally crawled into bed with my parents and was so giggly.

Here are photos soon after everyone arrived with SG: Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

The yummy cookies that Mimi brought with her:

Here are some photos of JSL sleeping in SG’s room:

The next morning we got up, took turns in the shower and eventually went out to lunch. We had thought about going to Chuck E Cheese, but NHL was not cool with that. Instead we went to Dave & Buster’s. We do not have one of these by us and it was amazing. Many of us had a yummy salad. After eating NHL went with Uncle I, Papa, and JL to play some games. Then they traded in tickets for a prize. (I so wish I had taken my camera out, but I did not think about it at the time.) Then it was time to head back to the house to rest before the big night at temple for SG’s naming.

Here are the babies after the adventure:

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Uncle I & Aunt M relaxing for a few moments before the big night:

SG was also kind and let her "big" cousin JSL share her favorite swing. JSL really enjoyed it. Here is a photo of him in it and some with Mimi.

NHL refused to nap and it was NOT a pretty scene. We all helped to get ready for the Shabbat dinner before temple. Aunt M’s family came over and by 6:45 we were out the door to temple. The service started at 7:30 and they did the naming quickly. The reason to do the naming at the start was that Friday night also was Kristallnacht so there was a lot for the rabbi to talk about.

We did not take any photos of anyone at the baby naming (just do not feel right doing that in a temple). Here are some photos of NHL from various times:

Saturday we slept a little later. Nobody really got moving. We finally decided to head out to lunch and came up with a GREAT place that I wish we had near here. We went to Great Northern Pizza. NHL had macaroni and cheese pizza! After a delicious meal we opted to head back to nap some before going to Chuck E Cheese with Aunt M’s cousins. NHL said he wasn’t tired. When we pulled into their driveway BOTH kids were asleep. We transfered NHL into his bed and he had a nice nap.

Aunt M went to her family to check out the little ones because they were not feeling so great. We all opted not to do Chuck E Cheese. We decided to head to the mall that had a special something for NHL. We shopped and let NHL go on this once to keep him VERY happy:

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

We went back to the house for a fun dinner. By the time we got home I was suffering from a really bad earache. I thought it was my allergies (very allergic to cousin Zoe cat) or wind in my ear. By the next morning I felt even worse. *sigh* I felt so bad exposing everyone, but who knew? Of course I should have since someone always gets sick when we go there to visit *wink*

And of course Saturday night was also the night that we learned how many people can fit into a bathroom. SG had her bath and the troops all watched as previously blogged.

Sunday morning came way too quickly and it was time to do kid photo shoots and pack up. Here is the photo shoot of just the cousins. As you will notice SG slept through the entire thing.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Then while I was pumping milk for the road my grandmother wanted a photo with all of her great-grandchildren. I did not witness this – DARN (note the sarcasm). These are JL’s photos:

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

We were on the road at 10:40 and back home before dinner. Now I am catching up on all of the laundry from the weekend after being sick.

Categories:
family fun jsl my boys nhl photos road trip weekend yummy

All boys are sleeping – PARTY!

Posted on November 3, 2007 4:27 pm by TheAngelForever

Right now all three boys (32 years, 4 years and 5 1/2 months) are sleeping!!! Wahoo . . . this does not happen often and likely will not last long.

Party at my house!!!!

When I went in to check on NHL before (he was avoiding sleep like the plague) he finally conked out. Here is what I saw from the door:

From far you could barely see his little butt hanging out from all of the things on his bed. I ventured in closer and took some more pictures. Here you can see a little more hanging out from under all of the pillows and blankets. Only a 4 year old could sleep like this, but remember he was NOT tired!

I went even closer and saw a belly button hanging out and a hint of ear.

Yes, there was definitely an ear in there!

**Update – now the littlest monkey woke up and I gave him to daddy in bed to try to settle. I knew it wasn’t going to last long, but assumed more than 15 minutes. GAH!

Here is what I did with JSL when he and I were up. Mind you to get this one good shot a bunch of others with his hands in his mouth and trying to eat his feet were mandatory.

Here are the other pictures from the photo shoot (remember the mosaic program does crop these funny – I had him perfectly in the shot and didn’t cut off his head in any):

5 1/2 month JSL photo shoot

**Update – All of the boys are napping again. Here’s a photos of JL and JSL together:

Now I am off to get some things done while my three boys nap.

C’est Moi

Categories:
jl jsl my boys nhl photos sleep

Halloween 2007 – Recap

Posted on November 1, 2007 10:27 pm by TheAngelForever

Yes another night of candy, costumes, and sugar highs has come and gone. Halloween 2007 is now in the books. It was JSL’s first Halloween and per NHL’s request he had to dress up to go Trick-or-Treating with his big brother.

JL came home early and we quickly got both of the boys out of the house to head to my parents house. This way Nana and Papa could see them and they could go to a few of the neighbors there. Before heading out NHL had to get into his costume. After his costume was on JL told him to put on his shoes. Without skipping a beat he said the following:

"I don’t need shoes cause I have monkey feet"

We were in hysterics. JL finally was able to explain to him that monkey feet or not the shoes were needed for walking outside of the house.

JSL was not able to get dressed before leaving. Since his costume was a sack he could not be buckled into his car seat with it on. Everyone was ready and we went to Nana and Papa’s with NHL singing his song that he was going serenade Papa with.

NHL got out of the car and ran over to Papa to sing "Trick-or-Treat Smell my feet…." You know the song. At the end of the song he then grabbed my father’s pants and tried to pull them down. Here’s a picture shortly before the pant grabbing event:

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Next we went into the house to get the little penguin ready to go. Here is a photo mosaic of this fun (note the sarcasm). JSL was clearly not thrilled with our plan and let us know. FYI – the program that makes the mosaic cropped some of the pictures a little off, so sorry if parts of people are gone. The full versions of all are on my Flickr album. So without further interruptions I present to you "The Making of a Lil Penguin":

*gasp* Whoa . . . . who knew a certain someone is actually in photos!

After this NHL went onto the ground to pose with his little brother for a few photos. Here’s another mosaic with those pictures:

Finally it was time to head out and about. We went to the people across the street from my parents. Even their little dog was dressed for the day. Here is a photo:

JSL was just taking everything in and sucking on his flippers. Thanks to it being chilly outside, we pulled his little hands in and transformed them into full fledged flippers. Here is the most amazing photo of his gorgeous blue eyes (while eating his own flipper):

Once we went to a few houses and saw the kids that live next door it was time to head back home to go to a few houses by us. Here is a really nice photo of the sky as the sun was going down on Halloween 2007:

C’est Moi

Categories:
holidays jsl kid talk my boys nhl photos

Happy Spooky Day 2007

Posted on October 31, 2007 9:52 am by TheAngelForever

Happy Halloween

Just wanted to wish everyone a sweet, safe and fun Halloween. Last night JL and JSL got our pumpkin ready for the big day. We bought a Mr. Pumpkinhead like kit to make it. Here are some shots of NHL making the Clown Pumpkin.

Deciding where to put the hat on Mr. Pumpkin:

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Making sure his arms are on straight:

P1060220

Posing with all of the pumpkins:

P1060226

A close up of Mr. Pumpkin and his two naked friends:

P1060225

Not too shabby for a cute kit that we bought at Target.

This morning I was getting JSL dressed. Darn monkey spit up all over his cute 1st Halloween onesie. So much for photos of that today. Then I squished him into the outfit that NHL wore for his first Halloween. Difference. JSL is busting out of it (he’s much older) and NHL was SO tiny in it. Here is JSL from the front and back:

JSL Halloween 2007

Looking back – NHL on Halloween 2003:

Boo-Hoo NHL

More photos later of the boys dressed up.

C’est Moi

Categories:
holidays jsl my boys nhl photos

To feed or not to feed?

Posted on October 28, 2007 8:22 pm by TheAngelForever

JSL will be 6 months old on November 14. To date he has been exclusively breastfed. When we went for his 4 month well baby visit about a month ago our doctor told me that we could start rice cereal or any solids. I explained to her that I was in no rush since he did not seem interested and was content with mommy milk. She said that was refreshing to hear and said that was fine.

Fast forward to now. JSL is still sleeping 6-10 hour stretches at night and goes 2-4 hours during the day between feedings. Some people are starting to put some pressure about starting solids now. I am in no big rush.

Does he show interest in food? Um, I guess so. He’s interested in anything and everything that is near him and he can grab and try to stick in his mouth. He is now at the dinner table eating meals with us. He is not at all upset just sitting there watching/talking with us while we eat. Does he look at the food? Yes. Does he try to grap it? Sometimes, but he isn’t agitated about it any more than not getting a toy to chew on.

At this point I think we are going to keep holding out until we see he’s really interested. Most likely we will start when he’s 6 months old. Most things say wait until 6 months, but more lately are saying it is even better to hold out longer. Selfishly I want to hold out as long as I can. I like the bonding time with him and the perk of no monthly visitor while he is not eating solids. In addition to this, it complicates life more than just nursing. You have to make sure you have a bowl, spoon, food and everything else ready. Then you need bibs and ugh the mess. We all know more in the early days end up all over the kid and not in them.

I know we will start in the not too distant future, but at this time if he’s content why rush?

Here’s a photo sequence of NHL when he started solids. He was just a little over 5 months old when he started and looking back I think it was a little too early. I guess with first children you are anxious to see milestones accomplished, but savoring the moments with the next and most likely last baby.

NHL's 1st solid food