Merry Christmas!

I don't even know where to begin - this has been such an amazing holiday! We started off the celebration with almost 50 people over last night. Wow, that was a lot of people. All went well thanks to the efforts of my Aunt Carm and Nonna Carlotta. I couldn't have done it without them.









Most of my pictures are of Will because Max just wouldn't stay still he was just too excited. Will is battling a bit of a cold and only napped for about 30 minutes yesterday so I have to admit I was REALLY worried about how he would deal with the celebration. He was actually a little trooper! He posed for pictures with two of my wonderful Great Uncles.

Max was all excited to put out the cookies he had baked for Santa, but I think he was even more excited to sprinkle the special reindeer food with Nonna.



By far the highlight of the evening, other than the great food and fabulous company of course, was a surprise visit my Santa. The kids were so excited! Max was nervous but thrilled to be standing next to Santa. Graham had no fear and was chatting up a storm. Paisley wasn't so sure. Santa's visit was short, you know he has lots of boys and girls to see so he had to get on his way, but I think it is something the kids will remember for quite a while.





This morning Max couldn't wait to come downstairs to see if Santa did indeed bring his car garage. He was so excited when he saw the garage with Santa's note. Will was just excited by all of the pretty paper and bows. Although he did take a break from the paper to check out his toy from Santa. We had an amazing relaxing morning playing with the boys new toys and enjoying breakfast together - not to mention lots of coffee, hosting a holiday is exhausting!

Once we were rejuvenated we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a little low key brunch. It was so nice to relax and chat. Max is always super excited to see his cousins.

Mommy got a new camera lens for Christmas. I think I need to figure out how to get both kids in focus in the same shot . . . I guess I'll just have to practice and take more pictures of my beautiful little boys. Darn. Merry Christmas everyone!

Preparing for Santa

Last night we began our Santa preparations. Max worked with his Great Aunt Carm to make cookies for Santa. He loved every minute of the attention as she showed him how to place the cookies on the pan.

Once the cookies were made Max wanted to write a letter to Santa telling him what he wants for Christmas. I know we are a tad bit late, but I think Santa will get the message.
"Dear Santa, I want a garage for my cars please, thank you. Merry Christmas. Max" I helped him with the writing, but he came up with the words all on his own.

Today we caught him looking up the chimney. He told us that Santa is going to hold on to the flue to help come into the house. I can't wait to see how excited he is tomorrow morning when he realizes that Santa has visited. So much fun!

8 Months + 1 Day

I sit here looking at the Christmas tree. Both boys are asleep and my list of things to do is a million items long. How am I spending this precious time? Blogging. I love reflecting each month on Will and the changes I see with him. I feel like I need to keep in mind Ferris Bueller's famous quote "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it."

Will changes so much from day to day. He still just has two teeth although the drool hasn't slowed down at all, so more must be coming. Just in the last week or so he has begun pulling up to his knees. He wants so badly to be able to stand. While he is an expert roller, he hasn't shown too much interest in trying to crawl. I need to work on giving him opportunities to practice while I'm home over winter break. After a little tough love from mommy he is sleeping thought the night - from 7pm until about 6am. Thank goodness - three nursing sessions a night was getting very, very old.

Brian and I are constantly amazed by the amount of babble we hear from him. We joke that he is more verbal now than Max was at 18 months. He loves to hear himself 'talk' in the car. Will has also gotten the hang of eating something other than milk - which I appreciate. He loves fruits, except for bananas. This is rather funny to me because I swear Max would be happy to live off of nothing other than bananas. Will tolerates green beans and carrots, but makes the most awful face for peas, squash, and sweet potatoes.

Probably my favorite thing about Will right now is his love for his big brother. He lights up when Max walks into a room and calms down whenever Max talks to him. What makes it even more adorable is that the feeling is mutual. Max loves Will more than anything. Max hates to see Will upset and he does anything in his power to make it better. The other night in the car Will was upset. We pulled up to a stop light and Max leaned over to him and said "It's okay Baby Will, it's only a red light." Too sweet.

I guess I took my moment to slow down and reflect, now it is time to get back to that to do list. It seems to be pretty long when you are preparing to host Christmas Eve for 40+ people. Remind me again what I was thinking when I volunteered for this? Oh yeah, that's right. I love my family very much and I wanted to give my sweet Aunt Carm a break.

Christmas with the Klippels

Uncle Will and Aunt Sue were in town from New York so we had an early Christmas celebration with the Klippels this past weekend. The boys were all excited - or at least Max was. Will was actually a bit cranky due to a shorter than necessary afternoon nap. He did perk up a bit to play with his Uncle Mason.

The boys posed for a few pictures in front of the tree. I have to say they look pretty cute! After a fabulous dinner we gathered around the tree to open presents. Will was pretty excited just to hold on to his gift - and try to chew on it. Max was more than willing to show his little brother how it should be done.

A good time was had by all. We are just so incredibly fortunate to have such wonderful people in our lives! We look forward to a few more Christmas celebrations to come over the next few weeks.

Oh, Christmas Tree

Trying to get the Christmas tree up with all the other craziness going on was a bit tough. In fact for the first year ever I didn't pick out my own tree. Brian headed to Costco, paid $30 at the checkout and picked up a wrapped tree from the truck on the parking lot. I have to say I was very pessimistic - how could this tree possibly be up to my standards? I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Max helped us get the tree in it's stand on Saturday night. Baby Will was all excited about helping with the lights. He kept putting them in his mouth - just like everything else. He was also pretty excited about this crazy green thing in his living room. Something new for him to explore.

The tree is now all decorated and Max gets all excited everything he sees it. Baby Will seems to love it too. I just love Christmas!

Breakfast with Santa

We were fortunate enough to meet my Aunt and Uncle for mass this morning before heading to breakfast with Santa. Max was all excited to see Santa - and eat pancakes. Will was just excited to have lots of people to watch, a teether to chew on, and some pears to eat. Now that his tummy is better, he is finally getting the hang of eating something other than milk.

Max waited in line with daddy and couldn't wait to get to the big guy. He walked right up to Santa and stood near him without any fear. I think he was more concerned with what Santa might do with his sweet Baby Will. They love each other so much already - it melts my heart. Baby Will was okay for a bit, but then he decided he wasn't too sure about the jolly old guy.

I have to admit that I'm disappointed with my pictures today. I really need to get the hang of my camera. For some reason a bunch of them turned out blurry.

Christmas Lights

The stockings may not be hung with care quite yet, but the lights are! Brian and I started the lights while both boys were napping and after Max woke up he joined in on the fun. Daddy even let him climb a step or two on the ladder - Max has been very excited about the ladder. Last Christmas we had been in the house for less than a month, so I was just happy to get a tree up. This year Max is all excited and we are hosting Christmas Eve, so I feel like we need to step it up a notch or two.

Will woke up just in time to see the finished product and pose for a picture. I love that Will is wearing a little Truman State jacket. This was the first piece of baby gear I bought when I was pregnant with Max. It has special meaning since Truman is where Brian and I met. It is hard to believe that we met so long ago. I swear I can't imagine my life without any of these three very special boys.

Tomorrow morning should be lots of fun. We are meeting my Aunt and Uncle at St. Ambrose for 9am mass and then we will head to the gym for breakfast with Santa. I'm curious to see how the boys react to the big man in the red suit. So far I think Max is just excited that we will get to have pancakes - it's his favorite.

Wild Man

After bath tonight Max was modeling some wild man hair. He is just too darn cute. He was pretty proud of his crazy hair. I think he needs a haircut.

Max is really into the idea of Christmas this year. Max knows that Christmas is coming and he knows that it is Jesus' birthday. He also knows that Santa comes into play in some way, but doesn't quite get what he has to do with gifts. I think his favorite part of the holiday season so far is looking for Christmas lights as we drive around. He now chants 'Christmas lights, Christmas lights, ho ho ho' whenever he sees lights. This is exactly what my mom and I did when I was little so it brings a huge smile to my face. Tomorrow's goal is to get our own Christmas lights on the house.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow, we have so much to be thankful for today, and everyday. Brian had to work some crazy data center conversion this morning, so I had took the kids over to Grandma and Grandpa's. Max didn't sit still at all. He had the best time running around with his cousins, Paisley and Graham. In fact he was so worn out that this is how he spent his first two hours at my parents house. He had his first taste of Thanksgiving turkey and it did him in.

Will was in pretty good spirits as long as mama was in view - I think separation anxiety is beginning to set in. He loved the gobble gobble sounds Mario the turkey made. He just giggled every time I squeezed Mario's waddle.

After a second fabulous meal Max changed into his PJ's and posed with this 'pine cone turkeys'. Nonna Carlotta found the craft idea on line and she and Max made a whole family of turkeys last week. He even named the turkeys according to the size of their pine cone. Baby Will was the tiniest. He was so proud of his creations!




It is amazing how different my life is than four years ago. I thank God each and every day that he saw fit to put these two amazing little boys in my life. I guess daddy isn't half bad either. I just feel so incredibly, unbelievably lucky. Life is good, very good!

Gardenland Express

We took a little bit of time out from Thanksgiving preparations to visit the Gardenland Express at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. I don't think I was able to get a single picture of Max looking at the camera because he refused to take his eyes of the trains. The decorations and flowers were beautiful and the trains were adorable. They also had a little seek and find for the kids to complete. Here Nonna and Max are taking a look at what they needed to find.

One train had a very special engineer - Santa Claus himself! Max was so excited when this train stopped and he was able to see the man in the red suit guiding the engine.

Baby Will also joined us for our visit to the trains. He still doesn't seem to be 100%. I thought he was doing better but then tonight he started vomiting again. Poor little guy. Yesterday morning he got sick as well and I already had an appointment to get his ears checked out. His ears looked good, but the doctor did think it was odd that he is still having some stomach issues. Dr. Goldenberg prescribed Prilosec with the hopes that it would help settle his stomach. I'm really hoping Will seems better tomorrow - we have big plans with our families!

Seven Months Old

My poor Baby Will has celebrated seven months of being with an awful stomach bug. Last Monday the sitter called to let us know that Will wasn't keeping much of anything down. In fact we ended up in the ER on Monday night. They went back and forth on putting an IV in and ended up just giving him an oral anti-nausea med. It seemed to take the edge off, but I still didn't give him his antibiotic for his ear infection for a couple days because he seemed to make his stomach issue worse. On Friday he ended up sick at the sitters again - this time Brian picked him up. He seemed to be better Saturday night, but then was super cranky at the sitter's today. We have a follow up for his ear infection tomorrow afternoon and I have a sinking suspicion that his ear infection has not cleared up since he hasn't gotten in all of his antibiotics.

Will has taken time out from being sick to perfect a few other tricks. He loves to sit up and can do so for quite a bit of time all by himself. He has also become very interested in books - he even looks at them for a bit before starting to chew on them. I remember when Max perfected sitting up, it felt like such a huge milestone - like he was a real little person now, rather than just an adorable blob. I feel the same way about Will. While I do enjoy some aspects of the newborn stage, I love that Will is growing up and becoming so much more engaged with what is going on around him. It is just so much fun!

On top of all his sicknesses, Will has also cut two teeth. In looking back at the blog I realize that Max has eight teeth at this point - crazy! Will's bottom two are just through the gum and they look adorable. If you look close enough you might be able to catch a glimpse of them in the picture - I'll have to post another pictures once they are more visible.

The Things Max Says

I swear that Max's speech therapists are miracle workers. A year ago I first spoke to the director of our early childhood program about beginning the process for SSD services. At the time I remember telling her I was all excited that Max said 'ma oh' for more Cheerio's. Here we are a year later and Max is saying all kinds of things.

The other day we were in the car and this is the conversation that took place:

Max: Mommy, I need sharp knife.
Me: What?
Max: Pretend, Mommy
Me passing back a pretend sharp knife: Here Max
Max: Thank you Mommy. I cut asiago cheese with sharp knife.

He then passed a slice of his pretend asiago cheese forward for me to eat. It cracks me up that my three year old can't get enough asiago cheese. He often asks if we can go to the asiago cheese store - AKA Viviano's. I guess we can thank Nonna for his fine taste in cheese.

Pitiful Will

My poor baby boy. He was a bit cranky on Wednesday and then I got the dreaded 'fever' call from the sitter at work yesterday. I picked him up after school and my poor little guy was just plain pitiful! He just cried and cried for most of the night.

Momma stayed home with Will so that I could take him to the doctor this morning - which is a good thing because he also woke up with a pink, swollen right eye. Sure enough my poor little guy has an ear infection (luckily the eye is just a clogged duct and some icky drainage). After heading to Target to fill his prescription Will and I spent the rest of the day at home. After a dose of medicine he seemed to perk up a bit. We had lots of snuggle time and in between we played on the floor with one of his new favorite toys the rocking rings.

I think after just two doses of medicine and lots of love from momma, Will isn't quite as pitiful.

Daddy's Little Helper

We took Brian's car in for some work and they recommended that we get a new battery. Brian, being his always frugal self, figured he would just change it himself. The job was made all the better by his little helper. Max helped get out tools and watched every move daddy made. I'm sure there will be many more times Max will help out in the years to come.

Gross

Sometimes having little boys is gross. Max's allergies have been acting up - his nose runs like crazy. Yesterday I sent him to the bathroom to get a tissue and this is how he came out. When I asked what was going on he said he needed a big tissue for a "really, really, really big booger". Gross. I guess it could be worse - at least he used something other than his sleeve to take care of the issue.

Six Month Check Up

I had the day off on Friday, so we headed to the pediatrician for Will's six month check up. We were just a tad bit late, but hey it's tough to get to the doctor when you work full time! I was glad to hear that Will is growing just as should be expected. He weighed in at 17 lb 8 oz - 55th percentile - and measured 26 3/4 inches long - 70th percentile. His growth has slowed down a bit, but that is to be expected at this point, especially for a breastfed baby.

Will's spending lots of time focusing on his fine motor skills. He passes toys from one had to another - often stopping at his mouth in between. I'm also loving the amount of babble we are hearing from our littlest bit. He just jibber jabbers like crazy and it makes us so incredibly happy! He rolls like crazy to his tummy, but still won't roll back. I asked the doctor about it and he isn't the least bit concerned since Will obviously has the core strength that he wants to see in a six month old. Every day he gets better and better at sitting up. He can now sit and play with a toy at the same time - although he doesn't last too long.

By far the highlight of the check up was getting the green light to start solids. We are going to start out slowly so we did just a little bit of rice cereal yesterday. He loved it! He opened his cute little mouth of his. He even seemed to swallow some of what was offered - although a big majority of it ended up on his face and clothing - I guess this is to be expected. I'm sure he will improve with practice. In a few days we will add squash to Will's new diet. I'm pretty proud to say that I actually baked the squash and made him a batch of baby food yesterday. I felt so domestic! We'll see if it lasts. . .

Happy Halloween!!

Don't you just love that pumpkin? Brian stole the idea from someone else on Facebook and he was pretty proud of how it turned out.
Grandpa and Uncle Tim came by to see the kids in their costumes - and to pose for a couple pictures. I swear every time time I see the kids in their costumes they look cuter and cuter. Max celebrated the holiday at preschool with not one, but two, parties. I guess that is a perk of being a five day a week kiddo. After all the celebrating his yellow pants weren't looking quite as yellow.

This was the first year that Max went trick or treating and he loved it! He and daddy headed out while Will and I hung out and passed out candy to the few trick or treaters that came our way. I have to say that our first Halloween in the new house was a little sad. In our last house we would get 100 + visitors, tonight I think we got 20. I guess we will have to keep that in mind for next year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

Pre-Halloween Festivities

My aunt and uncle were kind enough to host a pre-Halloween celebration last night. Max and Will were able to show off their costumes to our family and they were a hit! Who would love to see The Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George?
Aunt Carm had pumpkins for the kids to decorate as well as sidewalk chalk. Max had a great time decorating his pumpkin and he loved drawing on the sidewalk with the chalk.

Will was passed around from person to person and everyone commented on how easy going he was. I swear he looked too darn cute with his little monkey ears - and I can't get enough of those big blue eyes.

Max also had a great time roasting marshmallows in the fireplace, but he didn't want anything to do with turning his marshmallow into a smore. I don't get it :) The boys did pose for a pictures with the other little ones at the party. Four adorable little boys running around - crazy!

The holiday celebration will continue for Max tomorrow as he has his second Halloween party at preschool. I'm also excited to celebrate our first Halloween in the new house - I wonder how many kiddos will visit. . .