Going to Sleep

One of MM's favorite games is "going to sleep." She will tell you to go to sleep, you will close your eyes, and she will YELL "WAKE UP!" and then laugh and laugh. I don't know where she learned this mean method of waking people up, but she thinks its hilarious. The other day we had some friends over and they put her and Henry "to bed" in the living room. The kids were beside each other with excitement and Henry even shared his bottle with her. Henry likes to get in on the game too. He will lay himself down on a pillow and say "shhh shhh", which is what I say when putting him to bed.

I have to brag on Henry for a minute, he is sleeping so great at night thanks to Dr. Jay Gordon's nightweaning advice. I don't mind nursing at night until I get pregnant and then it starts to drive me crazy. But even then, I don't want to stop our sweet co sleeping, so this guide was perfect for us! It was really gentle and slow, and now he goes 9 1/2 hours at night without nursing. But boy does he wake up hungry. He has like three breakfasts by 8:30. :) He's such a boy!

Beautiful Quilts

My mom loves to sew and has made each of my kiddos beautiful quits. Henry's has a toy shop theme. He is too little to appreciate it yet, but Margaret Mary likes to hold it and name all the objects she can on the quilt, esp on the back where there are trains, dinosaurs, etc. I love that the kids will always have a blanket hand made by their grandma!

Margaret Mary's has lots of pink and greens. She calls it her "quilt." Here she is snuggling up at nap time. She is very big on things being HERS, and no one elses. At nap time if you accidentally lay on her pillow, she will tell you ( sometimes nicely and sometimes not so nicely) to move your head off of her pillow. She also likes to sleep with her own blanket, and doesn't want your blanket touching her or her blanket touching you. Silly girl. We have made a little bed up for her at the foot of our bed and she will sometimes sleep half the night in it. She wakes up calling for her Papa and says "i missed you!" Papa loves his nighttime snuggles with his baby girl as much as she does. I like that I get a turn to snuggle with her at nap time.

What a Voice

On the way home from picking out our Christmas tree last night, Margaret Mary was singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star over and over again. It was so cute. She has a cold right now so her voice is really nasally, but it only adds to the cuteness. I love how innocently she is singing. She has no care right now for how good her voice sounds, only for the pure enjoyment of the song. Enjoy.

Helping Mama Cook

Look at my little helper! This Thanksgiving, Margaret Mary helped me to make the Macaroni and Cheese. Unfortunately, I was so concerned with making sure she was being safe, not touching the pot, etc, that I forgot half the ingredients until the end. Oops! At least she had fun.

Thankful

This Thanksgiving, I can't help but to be overwhelmed with gratitude for my kids. It wasn't that long ago that I was in tears every month thinking our house would be still and quiet forever, with no little ones to kiss and love. Now our house is filled with sounds of joy: laughter, tantrums, singing, whining, repetitive requests for things... I am so thankful.

I am also thankful for how these two love each other. When I found out I was pregnant with John Henry, I studied the site BabyBunching, wondering what having two under two would be like. Its harder and better than I could have ever imagined. They really are best friends and it is one of the greatest joys, as a mom, to overhear my children laughing and playing together. They defiantly have their moments when they want space, but they truly enjoy each other. What a gift!

I normally don't do naked pics on our blog, but thought this one was okay because Henry is protecting his modesty. :) That's our boy!

Cuddling on the couch after nap time...

My prayer for these two has been that they would be like St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, two siblings who became a monk and nun (respectively), and then saints. They loved each other so much that once, when visiting each other, St. Scholastica (in tears) prayed that a big storm would come so her brother wouldn't have to leave to go back to his monastery that night. God answered her prayer and the two spent all night laughing and talking.

So curious to see how baby #3 will fit into our little family....

Building a fort with Papa

The kids love it when I wash the slipcover to the couch (which is a weekly thing with two little ones!). They pull the pillows off the couch, building roads with them, forts with them and jump all over them. Here is how a typical fort building experience goes down: Margaret Mary is happily contained in her little "house" and then Henry knocks everything over.

Playground Fun

Margaret Mary was really impressed with the football we found. She has a really good arm! Henry, on the other hand, is a total ball hog. Once he gets the ball, you know a tantrum is around the corner because he HATES having to share.

Thank you!

Just wanted to say thank you to Granny and Grandma for making my kids the following things:


The blankets:Margaret Mary esp loves having things that are "just hers." She loves that Granny made her a blanket and Henry a blanket. She likes for me to lay them out side by side on the floor and pretends to sleep on them. :) I am keeping these in the car for our travel blankets because they are so soft and aren't cold when you first put them on. The car is also freezing in the morning when we get in for the first time. Hopefully keeping these in the car will cut down on all the blankets we lug to and from the car. In Denver, this is a much nobler use that it would be in NC : ) All other blankets have failed this daily task and the kids will be much happier.

The dress:
All my other pictures came out blurry (can't wait for a new camera! hint hint) but my mom made this dress for Margaret Mary and it hangs beautifully on her. There is a little frog button sewn on the middle of the dress and MM loves pointing to it and talking to it. :)

Thanks Grandmas!

On a side note: Today at the grocery MM saw a man with a Mohawk. "Look!" she exclaimed, "he has LION hair!" hehe Couldn't help but laugh and hope that the man with the Mohawk overheard.

House Update

So we got an offer on our home for $60,000 and the bank approved the price as a short sale (!). However, when the buyer went to do the inspection on the house they discovered that the stove is missing. We did not ask anyone to move it; our only guess is that it was stolen. My question: how does someone get a stove out of a locked house with no signs of forced entry? It doesn't matter, the realtor says that it is affecting the closing. We don't know how but are praying that our buyer wont back out. We also don't know if they will want us to replace the stove (we can't afford this). We are so ready to move on and are so close to the finish line. It is defiantly a headache; please pray for us.

Visit to NC

I mentioned before that we took a trip to NC to see family and friends (and esp our grandparents). These are a couple of pics taken by family members that I love. Thanks for capturing my children so well! Family, we are still collecting pics, so send them if you have anymore!

Not to Brag but...

Jason got an A on his first exam in grad school! I am so proud of him. Not only did he prepare well for the exam, but he had a big Fraternus project to finish (which he did), AND a sick wife to take care of at home (whom he cared for wonderfully), AND a big trip to NC to pack for (which he did while his sick wife slept). I am so impressed with his ability to juggle so many things; all with great joy, love and patience. As his wife, I never feel neglected, always honored and cared for, and I know the kids feel the same. What a Man my Jason is. We are so proud of you Jase! Keep up the hard work; fight the good fight. Two years will fly by!

The Difference Between Girls and Boys

A friend just passed down a little people construction set. Henry is busy figuring out what moves and what makes noises. Margaret Mary is busy inviting all the little pieces to her birthday party.

Fall Fun

Henry and Margaret Mary loved the hay maze at the Gardens on Santa Fe. Margaret Mary was running through it so fast it was impossible to take her picture. Henry liked playing peek-a-boo and was thrilled beyond belief when you would find him in the maze.

Jason took the kids to the Farm the other day while I napped. :) Here's what he came back with. He said that Margaret Mary was having so much fun picking up and moving the pumpkins. Henry tried to do the same and got really frustrated because he couldn't. Not being able to do what his sister is doing is probably the number one frustration in Henry's life.



The next set of pics are from our visit to Wilmington to see family. We went to a pumpkin patch and Granny treated each of the kids to a little pumpkin to take home and decorate later.



So much fall fun!

Our Little Flower

We wanted a versatile costume this year as Margaret Mary needed a costume for the All Saints Day Party at Church and a Halloween party later that night. I thought that going as the little flower was a perfect solution. Margaret Mary LOVED her costume and couldn't stop looking at herself in the mirror with excitement (she pushed the box up against the table so she could see herself in the mirror, and what MM does, Henry does too). Unfortunately Saturday, the day of both the parties, was the day I got sick, so I couldn't take pictures or enjoy either one of them. We couldn't go trick or treating either because Jason and I were still both vomiting on monday. :(

John Henry went as Blessed Pier Giorgio and was dressed up as a hiker, as this saint was either in a suit or hiking gear (Jason's kind of man!). no pics because i was sick. :( the above pics of mm were taken during a dress rehearsal the day before we got sick. He had on jeans, a thermal shirt, an orange vest, and drug around one of Jason's climbing ropes.

more snow fun...

fun sibling series:

But while I'm Here...

Check out Henry's NEW big boy smile! Isn't it ridiculous? How he scrunches up his nose is the funniest part!

Below is Jason and MM heading out to sled in the snow today. She had such a great time and Jason was just as excited as she was. :)

We've been sick

That pretty much explains it all. Vomiting, the works, extreme tiredness. Mommy is still recovering (the doc says it takes pregnant ladies longer to heal from these kinda things) but the rest of the family is healing quite nicely. The one good thing from all of the chaos is that Margaret Mary is no longer using her pacifier! Nothing like throw up to gross a little girl (and a Papa who threw it in the hamper never to be seen again) out...

More posts I promise once I feel better. Please continue to pray for us...

P.S. We woke up to 8 inches of snow this morning!