Where did 7 Months go?

Henry is about 7 1/2 months old. I don't know when this happened.

He is such a charming little guy. He LOVES to play and have fun. He likes to wrestle, pull up on his sister, pull his sister's hair, crawl around on the floor, laugh and scream (with excitement) while crawling around on the floor, make beelines to the bathroom to play, push MM's potty all over the kitchen, take baths while splashing (and soaking) everyone around him, be tickled on his back and to comfort nurse when he gets hurt. He is scared to death of the vacuum cleaner, he talks with his eyebrows, makes man noises (huuuuhhhhhh), cruises around all over the living room, gets REALLY upset when someone takes away a toy he is playing with, and hits his hands up and down when he is excited. He is absolutely delightful. We are totally smitten with him.

His big sister is too; she loves to kiss his head. We are totally smitten with her as well. It is hard to believe that SHE was seven months when we found out we were expecting Henry.

Enjoying Spring

Playing in the grass...




(We think it looks like Henry is smoking a pipe in this one)



Hiding behind trees...



Sticking flowers in our hair...



And simply enjoying life...




(Pictures taken in public gardens, just a few minutes walk from our house)

Happy Easter!

We are having a sweet Easter Season (Catholics celebrate Easter for 40 days!). Easter morning wasn't as big as we wanted it to be but amongst the unpacking craziness, we prepared a little basket for the family with lots of candy in it and put it outside our bedroom door. On Easter morning, Margaret Mary woke up as usual and walked to the living room. Once she got there, she stopped dead in her tracks and backtracked to the basket. She ohhed, ahhed, pointed and got really excited when we showed her the candy in it. Her favorite candy were the peeps (the little marshmallow bunnies). She called them her butterflies. Later on in the day, we had to wake her up from her nap early to go to a friends house and she was delirious, asking for more butterflies. We also filled the basket with Hersheys kisses, which MM loves (she always asks for a pink and a green one, she always wants "two"). I hope I always remember her smiling up at us, chocolate oozing out of her mouth, eyes dancing, saying "appy eastuh!" Later we went to Mass, which was beautiful and celebratory, and then we dined with some old friends (who went to Honduras with us on a mission trip four years ago!), catching up on the last couple of years. It was a great day.

Yesterday, our church had a little Easter egg hunt for all the kids after Mass. Margaret Mary waited with all the other kids in the "5 and under" section, and was downright giddy! She was bouncing up and down, smiling and sticking out her tongue. Right before the hunt started, it began to snow (it only lasted a minute or two), but it was so beautiful and perfect. Margaret Mary collected about five or six eggs, and then proceeded to eat almost all the candy in them before we stopped her. :)




Here is MM with her new friend Isabel, whom she LOVES. They are really sweet together.



And to end this post, a couple of sweet Margaret Mary quotes. She is talking up a storm and I am really enjoying her company (despite the tantrums). She has so much to say!

"self!" - she wants to do everything herself, and yells this out when she succeeds at doing something herself

"you glasses, sun no get me" - We were reading a book about glasses when she turned to me and said this. If you don't get it, she is saying that she wants glasses so the sun wont get in her eyes. Sweet girl

"mommy beautiful"- This is one of my favorites. When I tell MM that she is beautiful, and she always looks at me, smiles and then says "no, mommy beautiful." She also does this when I tell her she is wonderful. She smiles and then says "no, mommy wonderful." SO precious.

Life In Colorado

At the Playground. See the beautiful mountains in the distance? Pictures really don't do them justice.





We are learning a lot about how to live in our new home.

1. They really do call Colorado the Sunshine State. While, we from Florida have to smirk at that, Colorado does technically have more sunny days that any other state does. Interesting!

2. Dress in layers! It is cold in the morning time, warm during the day, and then cold again at night. As a friend said, "you have your go to sweater, and your go to jacket" that you take everywhere.

3. Drink lots of water. And just when you think you've had enough, drink some more!

Some sweet stories:

MM is mastering the phrase "in there." She says it all the time! When reading a book, she lays down on top of the book and tells us she wants to be "in there." She does the same thing when building homes out of her little blocks, trying to squeeze one foot inside the block structure.

Today we made a Happy Easter card for the nuns down the street and MM drew Jesus. So cute.

The Animal Farm

We LOVE going to the animal farm by our house. It is a replica of a farm built in the 1860's, so it is very cute and quaint with wooden fences, antique tractors, and animals running around all over the place. It is only a five minute walk from our house.

The kids bundled up and ready to go. Have I mentioned how much Margaret Mary dislikes having her picture taken?


What I love most about the farm is that some of the animals get to run around free, which allows you to get up close and personal, and also to see how the different farm animals interact around eachother. For example, some lambs were running around and ran into the horses' field. The horses DID NOT LIKE THIS, and starting chasing the lamb all over the field. I was surprised that the lamb outran the horse, and I was surprised that Margaret Mary was not scared at all by the incident. She must have gotten some ideas though because she spent the rest of the day chasing lambs herself all over the farm! MM loves going to see the "animals" and always asks to see the cows and donkeys first. Her favorite is still the horse. The "sheeps" are a close second. Here are some pics from the other day.





Sweet Henry comes along for the ride, but really just likes to play on the floor. He doesn't like to stop moving.




Last but not least, another "friend", aka statue, that MM likes to point out. I love this pic, it is like she is reading the book with him! Margaret Mary is making lots of real friends here. After Mass the other day, a bunch of girls came up to her, introduced themselves and asked her to play with them. I had to fight back the tears! I was so greatful to these girls for reaching out to my daughter; how beautiful their little hearts were! MM's birthday is in a few weeks and she really wants "friends" to be there. I was worried that we wouldn't make enough friends in time, but God has been so good and generous.



Another cute friend story. MM was sitting behind a little girl in Mass today, and they really clicked. The girl turned around and gave MM a kiss on the hand. I was in the back of the Church with Henry, but Jason said that MM looked up in all seriousness and said "thank you" to the little girl. The spend the rest of the morning holding hands and sharing a little doll stroller. Precious.

Playing in the Park

Jason couldn't have found us an apartment in a better location. We are right across the street from a GREAT park, a FREE animal farm, a play ground, a library AND a Carmalite Monastery! There is so much to go see and do, and all within a five minute walk (at the most!). The park has been one of our favorite places to go. There is a huge open field where MM can just run and a path that circles around the field that leads to a pond with lots of birds, a "friend" (a statue of a boy fishing), and then passes by the animal farm where we can see cows, chickens, horses and donkeys. MM throws fits everytime we have to go home, and shouts "no home, no home" imbetween huge sobs and lots of tears. She is def a two year old! Speaking of two, we have been talking to her about her upcoming birthday or "happy you you." So far, she wants a cup and friends to be at her party. Sweet girl.







Margaret Mary and Henry are really bonding. She loves trying to make Henry smile, and he cracks up everytime he sees her. Lots of times, she will get down on the floor with him, start talking silly, and both of them end up laughing big belly laughs. It is really sweet to watch.

I also wanted to share an interesting milestone MM has hit. We have been teaching her to say her name when people ask her what her name is. In the past the conversations have gone something like this:

Me: Hey babygirl, what is your name?
MM: You!
Me: No, sweetheart, your name is Margaret Mary. Can you say Margaret Mary?
MM: Silence

But now, it is more like this!

Me: Hey, what is your name?
MM: Marget!
Me: Good job sweetheart. Can you say Margaret Mary?
MM: Marget Meery

So, we don't know if Margaret Mary is still too hard for her to say, or if she wants her name to be just Margaret. The other day she was playing telephone and said "hey, its Marget", so I'm not sure what is going on.

Henry is really growing up fast. He loves making farting noises (typical boy), esp in Mass! He is sitting up, which has made his falls when trying to stand up a lot less intense. He is eating some solids, but isn't that interested still. Henry does well in the sling when we are out, but as soon as we get home, wants down so he can play. While putting him down, he practically leaps out of my arms towards his toys. Henry also has a GREAT smile. It reminds me a lot of pictures of Jason as a little boy. Jason and I are thinking about introducing Henry as "John Henry" here, as Henry is a really popular name here. I grew up being "katie K" my whole life because of the overabundance of katies, so we will see how that goes.



P.S- Henry has two teeth!

Our Move

It seems like yesterday that we were standing in our living room saying goodbye to friends. It still hasn't hit us that we aren't going back to Florida. It almost feels like a vacation. Margaret Mary is already calling our apartment home, which is very sweet and a confirmation that she is doing okay. Packing up was probably the most stressful part of the move. I didnt' mind it, but it seemed to REALLY upset the kids. I would pack up a box and put it in the living room, and Margaret Mary would fall apart crying and would go and drag the box from the living room back into the room that I had just packed it up in. Henry was just plain fussy. He had a big eczema outbreak, which totally freaked me out, because I didn't know what was causing it, if it was hurting him, and how to ease his pain. He also didn't like all the people in our house and cried so much that I spent most of our open house in the back bedroom with him calming him down. Here are a couple of pics of our dear friends who came to say goodbye to us.





The night before the move, Jason and I decided that it wasn't smart for the kids to be there when the truck was being packed up, seeing how upset they had been the last couple of days. So we kissed goodbye early, Jason dropped me and kids off at our friends house, and then left to pick up the truck. Jason was on the road on schedule and Margaret Mary was having the time of her life playing with her friends. We were staying in a guest room and she would throw a fit everytime I shut the door to our room to wind her down for a nap. She would cry out "ope doe!", aka "open door!" It took Henry a couple of days to feel comfortable in our friend's house. He would not let me put him down for a while! Henry's little personality is really coming out. He likes people and loves to interact with them, but only from the comfort of his mama's arms. He does NOT like to be passed. He seems to be okay out in public in big crowds, but does not like big crowds in our house. He loves to sit in the stroller now, but if pushed into a situation where people are trying to interact with him, he fusses to be held. It will be interesting to see how this develops as he gets older. Here are my kids and the kids we stayed with. Margaret Mary loved playing rough with Monroe and thought he was the funniest thing ever! Margaret Mary also really bonded with Ava, the oldest. Ava read MM books, and MM would copy how Ava underlined the words with her finger as she read. She now picks up books and says "2 4 6." She says this when counting on her own as well. I guess she loves the even numbers!



The day of the plane ride came fast enough and Margaret Mary couldn't have been more excited to ride on an airplane. She kept on saying "airplane! you!" as in "I get to go on an airplane!" Everyone was so helpful at the airport. People offered to carry carseats for me, they held doors open for me and played with my kids on the plane. We had our hardships. For example, he stroller tipped over in the bathroom when I was changing Henry's diaper, and threw MM on the floor (gross!). The kids did great on the plane. The last forty minutes of our last flight was pretty rough. There was turbulance and MM was really scared and burrying her head into her carseat. Henry was fussy to, so I was trying to soothe MM, while nursing Henry at the same time. I sang to try to calm MM down. She didnt' sing along, but I could see her little hands doing the signs to the songs I was singing, her head still pressed up against me and the carseat. When the plane landed, I looked MM in the eyes and told her "You did it baby! You were so brave. We are on the ground!" She lit up. She was so pround of herself. It was one of those moments as a parent when you just want to cry. I was so emotionally exhausted from trying to keep her calm and so excited, at the same time, to see her learn that she can get through things she is scared of.

Here is a pic of the kids looking for airplanes at the airport.


Jason's drive went pretty well. Despite being stuck in a snow storm in Kansas, he arrived in Denver on time!

Jason picked us up from the airport, and MM gave him a big hug and kiss. Henry was so excited to see his papa too, he bounced up and down in the sling, smiled, and made raspberries (aka farting noises). It is amazing how close Henry and Jason are already. When Jason was on the road, and I would talk to him on the phone, Henry would perk up and smile at the sound of his voice.

We arrived at our apartment, took a walk around Ketring Park, and then went to bed, which is what I am going to do right now. Sorry for all the misspellings and grammer mistakes; I'm exhausted!

We made it!

This was written on the side of a present for Jason and I from some friends. We put it on our fridge as a reminder of what all the hard work of packing and saying goodbye was for.

More to come later... Please pray for us, life is pretty chaotic right now in our half unpacked apartment. I (Katie) have been feeling pretty sick. I think it is a mix of mastitis and altitude sickness. It is hard to rest when everything is in such disorder in the apartment. The kids are great though and are happy that we are all back together as a family again.

How Margaret Mary eats toast

Life in Transition

The house is half packed, filled with boxes, and little children playing in the boxes.




I find it extremely stressful trying to figure out how to fit delicate dishes in a box. Thankfully, Jason refers to it as a tetrus game and really enjoys packing. It is weird to have half the house packed. I keep on going to get something that I need (like an extra blanket out of the closet) and then am shocked when I open up the closet and see it bare, remembering that I already packed them up. I think the stress of packing helps you to detach from your house a little bit.

The kids are also having a hard time. First, Margaret Mary fell at the pool during a surprise going away party (Thank you Glen!) and so she has looked so rough with a scab under her nose. This picture was taken on the way home from the party; as you can tell she is PASSED OUT from having such a great time.



Second, she has come down with some sort of virus. She has had a fever off and on and is waking up a lot during her naps and at nighttime crying out in pain. We think its a stomach issue. Here she is with her papa. Jason fell asleep putting her down. I love how they love to snuggle; it melts my heart.



Third, Henry is teething! He has two little teeth poking through the surface (the two bottom teeth) of his gums. He is really uncomfortable and wants to spend the whole day being held, nursing, and outside. When given tylenol, he is like his old self again, playing with everything, smiling and laughing. But its hard, because I don't want to keep him on tylenol ALL day long. We also found out at his last doctor's appointment that he has eczema on his back and belly. It is very mild, which is why I didn't notice it, but now that I know it is there, I am preoccupied with it. We have had to switch his soaps to sensitive soap and I have to cover him with lotion multiple times a day. Henry loves being rubbed down, and will occasionally stop moving for a couple of seconds to enjoy it. This is huge, as Henry NEVER stops moving. Trying to change his diaper is like trying to win a wrestling match!



Poor Baby.

Don't know when I will be able to post again. Jason packs up the truck on Tuesday and has a goal to be out of town by the afternoon. The kids and I are going to stay at a friends house here in town until Saturday when we fly to Denver. We are having an open house on Sunday from 1-7 to say bye to our friends. I am so bad at saying bye. It is so hard to tell people you love goodbye and how much they mean to you. Especially being distracted by two kids.

House Update: No traffic. One realtor wanted to come see the house but turned down the wrong street and thought that a man was chasing her. She got scared and didn't come see the house because she didn't like the neighborhood. sigh. Jason and I are convinced someone was trying to ask her if she needed directions (she was driving slow trying to find the house), because we know and love our neighbors. Oh well. Our realtor wants to lower the price of our house to 109. I have been comforted by visitors to our house (we are selling tons of stuff on craigs list) who say how cute our house it. Everyone who has come has mentioned what a great home it is without any prompting from us. It confirms that it isn't our home that is the problem, it is the market.

Hard at Work

I had to wash our stroller the other day because it was covered in pollen and a little bit of mold. (On my behalf, it hadn't rained in St. Augustine in two months, so I got in the habbit of leaving the stoller outside. When it did finally rain, I was not prepared). Margaret Mary thought that this was the funnest thing ever. She wanted a sponge and washed the stroller with me. When I was done, she went to her bike and startest washing it as well. What a little cleaner! When she was done with the bike, she started washing the pillars on our house! Little did I know what a great helper I have!

More Papa Pics

Jason is such an amazing husband and Papa. The kids are absolutely smitten with him. Margaret Mary has even started saying "no work" when Jason has to leave each morning. He is so present when he is home with us and is always SO helpful with the house and kids. I can't tell him enough how much this means to me. Even after a stressful day at the office, he gives us 100%. I wish I could say the same about me. Jason is such an amazing man of God; I'm honored to be his wife.

These pics were taken downtown the other night before the Fraternus fundraising dinner, which is why Jason is in a dark suit. Although, it shouldn't be that surprising, as this quote from 30Rock explains:

Liz Lemon: Jack, why are you in a tux?
Jack Donahugh (sp?): Its, after six! I'm not a baboon!

Henry's Craigness

People are always commenting on Henry's looks. He has the Craig facial structure, (I defiantly see his grandfather Alfred in him), but he has my skin tone and BIG blue eyes. The combination is very striking. When Jason is holding him, people comment on how Henry looks like me, (because Jason has such dark skin, hair and eyes), and when I am holding him, people comment on how he looks like Jason (facial structure). Since he was born, Jason and I have been so puzzled as to who he looks like. Henry is defiantly his own person.

In honor of this picture of Henry and his Papa, I can't help but post a link to "It's a Dad Life." Please watch it, it is hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZa7hU6tP_s

"Fish!"

I couldn't resist posting this story. We went to the pool today and Jason and I kept on talking about how people were swimming like fish. (Side note, MM kept on calling the water in the pool the ocean.) Margaret Mary had fun sitting on the steps, kicking her legs and putting her face in the water to blow bubbles. While I was nursing Henry, MM fell off the steps into the water (dont worry, Jason was there and it was shallow). He pulled her out and we expected her to cry and be all done with the water. She spent a few seconds wiping the water off of her face, then looked up at Jason and said "Fish!" with a big smile on her face, aka "I swam like a fish!" She kept on talking about how she swam like a fish the rest of the visit; she was very proud of herself!

While I'm on the subject of MM talking, I wanted to record a couple of other things she says before I forget them.

"Henry coming!" She says this when Henry is crawling after her, sometimes said with excitement and sometimes said in annoyance.

"Happy You You" Aka "Happy Birthday to you." This is her favorite song. Margaret Mary keeps on talking about her upcoming birthday, how she wants presents and friends and balloons and cupcakes. :) I can't wait to throw her a little party! Lets hope we can make friends fast enough in Denver!

"Thank you mail man!" Yesterday she got a birthday card in the mail from Publix, the local grocery story here. I gave her the card and her eyes lit up. "Thank you mailman" she called out.

"Henyay wake" She tells me this everytime I try to put Henry down and he doesnt' fall asleep fast enough for her. She takes it as proof that Henry needs to play more.

Margaret Mary is such a joy. Jason and I daily rejoice over her: who she is, who she is becoming. We are SO THANKFUL for her and cant' beleive the amazing answer to prayer that she is.

Here she is flying like a bird.

Pulling Up

I mentioned earlier that Henry has been pulling himself up to a standing position. This is now his favorite thing to do. I find him standing everywhere. His favorite places to pull up are the bed, the couch, and the little wicker chair. He has yet to master pulling up under the kitchen table, but is very determined to do so. Yesterday when MM was watching her movie after nap, I put Henry on the floor with some toys and went to the kitchen. When I came back, he had ditched the toys and had pulled himself up on the couch and was watching the movie with his sister! He also does this when I'm putting MM down for a nap. I'll put him on the floor beside the bed while I cuddle with MM to say prayers, sing songs, etc. But now, just when MM gets wound down, we see Henry's head coming up over the bed, his big goofy proud smile, and we all cant help but laugh and interact with him. He is starting to cruise a tiny bit too. It is weird to see a six month old do this!






Henry is so mobile that as soon as he wakes up from his nap, he starts to go. Most days, he crawls off the bed before I even hear that he is awake through the monitor. I try to make a pillow barracade to keep him from moving once he wakes up, and it works sometimes. The boy is a climber and seems to take joy in the challenge.