Easter 2016

We spent Easter weekend in Cincinnati this year and it was relaxing and quiet, beautiful weather and lots of family time! 

We started early on Good Friday with our tradition of praying the steps in Mt Adams - climbing the steps with the sunrise and my family! 

Saturday we headed to Clifton for an Easter egg hunt followed by lunch at Stefanie and Dave's house. 

On Sunday we decided to spend the morning with just the 4 of us. We went to mass at 8am at St. Mary's followed by a visit from the Easter bunny! The Easter bunny hid Jack and Elisabeth's baskets and lots of eggs around the back yard! Jack had a blast and quickly caught to what it means when we say "the Easter bunny came!"  Saturday night before we went to bed we set out carrots and milk for the bunny which he thought was so funny 

After a nice run and good naps we headed to my Oma and Opas for a great afternoon and evening spent with the family! So great to see so many cousins and get to catch up with everyone!

Nine Months!

Baby E is nine months and cute as could be! She's mastered crawling and can quickly make her way around the house.

She is clapping and saying "ma" "baba" and "dada" she is learning to be silly and repeatedly hands us things when she wants us to play with her. 

She is pulling herself up on everything and starting to take steps while holding on to make her way around the coffee table and along the couch. 

She climbed up her first step the other day and is just reminding us each day that we don't have a baby anymore :(

She's all smiles and an absolute joy to be around! We love you Elisabeth Jane!

"I'm a Hopping Frog Hero!"

Jack is 2.5 years old today and learning and growing more everyday. His vocabulary has exploded and my days of just caring for him have been replaced with days spent hanging out and chatting with my buddy! 

As I write this, Jack is dressed up like a super hero leaping circles around me yelling "I'm a hopping frog hero!" (With a 103 degree fever..) never a dull moment! He is always playing dress ups and letting his imagination run wild - my favorite thing about him. 

I could write pages about Jacks vocabulary and his talking skills - the kid talks A LOT ALL DAY and we love it! He really has great clarity for a two year old and the conversations I have with that kid amaze me. Words come out of his mouth such as: "actually, sometimes, no thank you mama, I'm good, I'll stand up on this chair and help you is that cool?" He always has something to say and is constantly picking up new phrases he hears. I need to capture a bit of his words and phrases in hopes that I never forget - the challenge will be never forgetting his cute little voice!

When I walk in the door in the morning he stops playing to say "hi mama! How was your run?" When Joe or I walk

In the house in the evening he says "hi papa/mama! How was work." He blesses us when we sneeze and says excuse me when he needs to get by someone. He reminds us to pray when we sit down for a meal. He sits in his bed in the morning after waking up and you can just hear his sweet little voice repeating "mama/papa jacks awake" 

He sings lots of songs and sings while he plays, sings to his sister, and sings to Tante Amy on FaceTime. He will start off the song and be a few lines in before loudly saying "sing with me!" He also prefers me not sing...he will hear me singing from the other room, stop playing and come in to ask me "mama, please stop singing."  

He can count to 20 and say the alphabet. When he counts his toys or his trucks he will start counting pause and say "hey guys count with me!" 

While driving down the street he will point at every house in a long row of houses and rattle off the color of each home as we drive by

He rubs my face in the mornings puts his cheek to my cheek and says "hi mama. Hi my beautiful angel." He often rubs Elisabeth's face and says "hi princess" or " hi pretty girl." 

Kids this age just repeat everything we say and I think it's so funny to hear joe and my common phrases later come out of his mouth (I'm learning the phrases I must say All the time!) 

Jack has a mind of his own, he can play by himself for awhile building Legos, playing trains and playing with batman and superman. He still loves to read books and would happily sit and watch cartoons all day if we would let him. He continues to eat well, becomes a totally hyper toddler in the morning and evenings, loves to do anything outside, never lets his blankie get too far from him, and is obsessed with his Papa! 

He is into art and often found busy at his easel. The other day he drew his first face.  He likes to help cook, loves to help care for his sister and talks about "I'm a He and when I grow up I'm going to be a Papa. Elisabeth's a she and when she grows up she's going to be a Mama." 

Potty training hasn't happened yet. Jack tells me "no thank you I'm good." When I ask him if he's ready to go in the potty. On occasion though he gets excited about it and decides to give it a try

Jack is joyful, entertaining and adorable! He's friendly and easy to be around! Henry and Hannah are his 2 close friends and I like to watch them play together. He has his occasional melt downs and is still learning to manage all those crazy emotions. 

Jack, keep being the sweet boy you are. We love you!!

Eight Months!

Elisabeth Jane you have completely stolen my heart! You get more smiley and silly and snugly each month and I just love you! 

You have grown a lot this month! You are crawling backwards and you are so close to crawling forward, pulling yourself up on things, talking babas and dadas, constantly emptying and filling baskets, understanding peek-a-boo, noticing (and hating) when we leave the room, reaching up for us to hold you and snuggle you, and learning to put yourself to sleep in your crib. 

You smile at everyone and LOVE your brother and your puppy! You get so excited when either give you attention. You had your first weekend away from

Your mama this month and you did awesome for Papa! You are still a great sleeper! 

You love love your papa and get so excited to see him!

Happy 8 months sweet baby girl!!

Our Everyday

I want to be sure to remember these days. The days when things are so easy, lazy days can be the norm, the kids are in a great place, I truly enjoy my work days (but of course like my days home better), the kids still go along with whatever schedule and activity I decide for the day - life in our home is truly wonderful! 

I have been told, and believe, I will look back on these days very fondly. You can never get the quiet winter days home with your kids back and for each day I have I am grateful! I only have a few more years until school schedules, sports  and play dates may consume us and I will hold onto these days as tight as possible!

 

As I laid in bed this morning snuggled up with my 2 babies, too cold to leave the bed and without a reason to, I thanked God for mornings like today. I got to lay there nursing my babies and watching them hold each other's hands - a mother is what I was meant to be!

We spend our days together playing at home, doing crafts, visiting the bookstore, library, museum, zoo, parks, walks and friends houses. We like to lay around in the mornings on some days while Elisabeth naps and other days I put her in the baby carrier and she sleeps on the go. We like to head home sometime between 11 and 1 for long cozy afternoon naps. During naps I like to cook, straighten the house, watch a show, read a book, blog, or catch up on a little work. After naps on nice days we may head out to the park but colder days

we like to play inside and wait for Papa to come home!! We recently created a reading corner upstairs in one of the bedrooms - it's become a new favorite hangout!

I feel like we have a great balance right now of activity, time with friends, time with our families and time just home with the kids. We make time for religion, we make time for exercise and we make time to be together! There isn't anything in my life I would change right now.  Taking time to reflect on our everyday and what my life looks like right now makes me even more grateful.  Many years from now I may have clear memories of the big events but I worry I may forget all the simple times in between. The good and the bad that keep me growing and learning as a mom. The giggles and sounds that my kids make, the temper tantrums that happen each day, the endless questions jack asks, the excitement we all get when joe pulls in the driveway, the imaginative play I am so lucky to be surrounded by, the baby handprints on the glass window, the amazed look on their faces when we go new places - All of these are what keep life entertaining. Thank you God for giving me the opportunity to be a Mother. 

Fun in the Snow!

We have had one day of snow this winter - just a dusting really - but we took full advantage and the kids had a blast! 

Jack got a sled and snow shovel from aunt Carolyn and uncle Andrew for Christmas that he has been waiting to use!

Joe is such a creative, active dad - always so quick to create a new game or lay in the snow with jack to make snow angels together. Jack adores his Papa!