Playful Baby

Well it is 4 a.m. and I am awake.  Meli woke up for a second and I cannot get back to sleep.  So, I am blogging and watching Bones.

Our sweet baby girl is 16 weeks! It is amazing to watch how much she changes each week.  She is now grabbing at everything!  My nose, my hair (ouch), her toys, mama's food, plate and anything else she can reach.  She loves hair. I think she is a little jealous for not having as much. She did not lose her original hair and it is slowly coming in fuller but she does have a circular bald spot from laying on the back of her hair.

She has been razzing like crazy!  Her face turns red she tries so hard. It is super cute to watch.  It also has Colin doing it again but he spits a lot - not so cute.  She also talks a lot and is trying to sit up.  She just amazes me!

Mama and baby girl.  Isn't my necklace beautiful?!  Will bought that for me as anniversary gift.

Meli loves daddy's hair!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

We Should be Better

After 4 years of taking the 'couple' picture we should be better...but were not.  So not.  When I take it, I am too short and always get weird angles.  When Will takes it he usually has me in a little corner of the picture.  When we made another attempt after our anniversary dinner on Saturday (because Will is not a fan of cameras I save my request for a 'couple' picture for special occasions so he cannot refuse) we ended up with quite a few shots that were just, all over the place! 

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

Attempt #3 LOL

Attempt #4 - we are getting better

Last attempt - we at least had fun!

The sad thing is that Will's phone lets you see what you are taking a picture of! Maybe he does weird angles on purpose...  Gotta love him!

Today is our actual anniversary.  4 years!!  It has been a blast so far and I am sure there will be many more crazy adventures to come!  Love you honey!  Happy Anniversary!

Oh, a bonus picture because this mama is so proud that she can fit into a new dress that she bought after Meli's arrival as a 'skinny' dress for motivation! 

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

 The B Family

Going Book Crazy

So, Will thinks I have a bit of a problem.  With buying books.  I normally can resist the urge for the most part but when the books are majorly discounted it is a bit hard.  I find it very sad that a bookstore is going out of business (yeah you Borders) even if I am a pretty loyal fan of Barnes and Noble.  I would much rather that a clothing store or electronic store go under (we have so much more of those around).  I understand the allure of online purchases in general but not for a bookstore.  At least for me.  Part of the experience is going into the bookstore.  I just love it!  But I am also a tad obsessed with books so that may not be the norm.  I do feel I was a very smart shopper and bought the books that I tend to avoid because I find them way to expensive.  Children hardcovers.  Crazily overpriced.  So, I got a whole bunch for future birthdays and Christmases at 60 or 70 percent off! 

I am not going to lie...I did buy a few for myself - which I am so excited to read. 

Like:

Fear of Flying by Erica Jong - a controvesial book from the 70's about women's sexuality.

Omnivore's Dilemna - I will probably go back to vegetarinism after reading that!

As well as books by Isabel Allende, Lisa See, Kurt Vonnegut, Amy Tan, Philip Roth, Alice Hoffman and Kate Choplin.

And look at the perfect book for my baby girl that I just happened to stumble upon...

I was so excited for this one.  Meli will probably not like Audrey as much as I do but hopefully she will a tad at least.  I mean, Audrey was on her list of possible names!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

 The B Family

Miss Content

Meli is 15 weeks.  She is such a happy, content little baby.  She just takes it all in.  She loves to watch everyone.  Especially Colin.  She is also our little talker.  I am not sure yet if she will be as talkative as Colin.  That boy could talk!  Still can.  She is content laying down on a blanket just talking away to herself.  Cutie pie.  A talker...and a mover.  She lays on her back and swings her legs to one side and then the other.  She wants to crawl and can definitely move her self to where she wants to go for the most part.  Just a long process.  If you lay her in one direction it will not be long before she is laying completely the opposite direction. 

Unlike Colin, she is a fan of her pacificer.  She does not always have to have it but definitely prefers it.  For now, her eyes are very blue.  Way more blue then Colin's were at first.  His started as more of a steal blue and now are more of a green.  I wonder if Meli's will change at all.  She is so good at moving her head around and keeping it steady.  She has been trying to pull her self into a sitting position when she is laying down.  Not there yet but looks like she is doing sit-ups!

Is she not the most precious little thing?!?

 

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

"I am Robot"

Colin LOVES to dance! 

He also has picked up the Robot somewhere.  It started as:

And then it developed into this:

And:

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Saying Goodbye to Summer

It will remain hot here for a while but the feeling of summer is ending.  Kids are going back to school.  Colin's camps are over and his regular pre-school is back in session.  We will still be able to go to the water garden probably until October (maybe) but it is still sad to see the summertime go away.  Although, the fall is my favorite time and so beautiful here. That thought makes me happy.  We are planning to go apple picking in September and maybe strawberry picking again.  The fall has a lot of fun activities. Plus, the heat is easier to handle for the kids (and the parents) during the fall. Colin has already brought up the pumpkin patch. 

Just wanted to share a few pictures from our weekend. 

Oh!  Guess who signed up for Tae Kwon Do classes!  Colin starts next week.  He will have class two times a week.  He is a little TKD Tiger! I think he will really enjoy this - I hope so. 

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Meli's Toys

Meli has discovered TOYS!  Some of her favorites are:

Her playmat.  This is where she does tummytime and can lay on her back and pull the musical bird and a few other hanging things.  She likes to grab things with her feet too.

Her flower with all of the tags.  She LOVES this!  Colin is very proud of this toy because a girl from his daycare bought it for Meli.

Her flower, her pooh and her bouncer - all fun!

Her Pooh bear.  The bottom part looks like a blanket.  She likes to rub it on her face.

Laying on the floor makes her happy.  She likes to roll back and forth.

Colin has to join her of course! He also makes a great toy!

She enjoys sitting propped up by her boppy.

I just included this because she is so cute!

As soon as I load them I will post some pictures of Colin's dancing.  He has been dancing like a maniac!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

"Goodnight Moon"

Mae Mae  is 14 weeks now!  She has changed so much these past few weeks.  Ms. B (her amazing daycare provider) says she is a 6 month old in a 3 month old body.  Small but advanced - of course any mama loves to hear that!  I just soak in all of the praise and keep hoping for more.  Proud mama! I need to weigh and measure baby girl, maybe next post.

What to write about??? Hmmm...one of my favorite times of  day as a family is story time.  This is a big part of our day. This is the time where no matter what we have going on we try hard to have all of us there. This is not always the case. But for as long as we have been doing it we have a pretty good record. We started reading to Colin during his first few weeks – more out of desperation to stay awake while little guy was adjusting to a “night time” schedule then anything else. Then when he was a few months old we started involving all three of us and made it part of our routine as a family. The Three Musketeers! There were times when I was on travel or Will had band rehearsal that it was just Colin and one of us but for the most part Colin did not mind. In a way it was a treat. Colin loves story time even though that means he is that much closer to bed.  He loves to pick out his two books and laying down in mommy and daddy's bed.

Enters Meli. Four Musketeers?!? A musketeer who at first was not willing to work with etched in stone schedule, so for a while there Will ran story time/bed time with Colin and I took Meli duty. Now Meli is being a little more cooperative with this part of the evening and seems to like the routine. Fingers-crossed.

Here are some pictures of our typical night.

After dinner we have relaxation/play time.

Then bath time

Then Colin gets a little treat.  Like a hershey kiss or a small cookie.

Then it is clean-up time, followed by stories!

Then the three of us say "Goodnight Colin".

Followed by Will, Meli and I relaxing on the couch watching a show or two until it is time for Meli to go to bed.

Then we say "Goodnight Mae Mae"

We have started to add a book for Meli into Colin's story time.  This week we have been reading "Goodnight Moon".  One of my favorites from when Colin was a baby.  He would try to catch the mouse on each page.  He would pretend he pinched it!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Blogging Mamas

You know those days when you feel like everything is just too much??? You are just so overwhelmed with work, kids, school (or whatever else it may be) and you just want a moment to yourself...you may not but sometimes, not too often, but sometimes I feel like that.  Especially the first few months after Meli's arrival. Usually this happens when I am beyond tired, behind on my homework, stressed from a busy day at work and then I come home and Colin is having a bad day and Meli is fussy - I find myself just wanting to scream!  Luckily this does not happen very often but there have been a few times.  It is hard adjusting to having two kids but I think that we have found a nice routine (a big part of that success is due to having a wonderful teammate), which recently had to change when I started back to work - but that adjustment worked out very nicely. When I do come upon these "down in the dumps" days I visit two blogs.  These two blogging mamas are such an inspiration to me. 

One lady lost her baby boy after 6 days.  I cannot even begin to imagine.  Here is her blog Waiting for Happy.

The other lady gave birth to a sleeping baby boy and then had another boy who was diagnosed with Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa. Her blog is Before the Morning.  He was not expected to reach his first birthday but he did and is doing well inspite of this condition.  Both are very well-written and just amazing women.  Reading for just a second reminds me how fortunate I am to have two beautiful healthy babies and my worries and stressors just disappear...

...or at least do not seem so bad.

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

 

The B Family

A Bunny & a Boy

 “Wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.” - A.A. Milne

I am so happy to say that Colin's buddy (aka Bunny) is still a part of the B family.  He is looking a little tattered and does not have as much spring to his hop as he did a few years ago but Bunny is definitely a trooper. The little guy will be 4 this next Easter.  I am extremely impressed that he has lasted.  Colin has put him through a lot.   I think it is super cute that Colin's special item is a bunny and so was Will's.  Bunrab (Will's special friend) is still around too!  We keep him in a safe place, but have shown Colin a few times.  He likes to compare the two.  I wonder if Meli will have something that she holds so dear.  I hope so.  It has not been hindering like some items can be.  Colin at first would want to take bunny in the store but when he got a little older we started telling him that Bunny needed to wait in the car and as long as you explained why then Colin was OK with it.  There have also been a handful of times where Bunny was left behind and daycare, at first Colin would be upset but then we would explain that he would see him in the morning and that Bunny was having a sleepover with Ms. T - which made it OK.  We also let him borrow a stuffed animal from Meli or one of my old ones that I still have. 

Colin's first birthday

Thanksgiving time 2008

Bunny helps Colin protect mom from bad guys

Christmas 2009

Worn out buddies

Since I do not write on my travel blog as often, check out my entry about Charleston, SC.

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

3 Months

I had to be away from my baby girl for the first time this past week.  I headed down to Charleston, South Carolina.  I had a good time but did miss Meli, Colin and Will.  My favorite part of a trip is when I come back and see my babies.  Colin just stares at me with such a big smile like he is just beyond amazement that I am back.  Meli also smiled at me.  I am telling myself that she recognized me. I think she did!  Mae Mae has done some new things this past week.  She smiled at her reflection for the first time.  She also is playing around with her binky, slowly taking it in and out of her mouth.  Will said while I was gone she discovered that if she pulls on her bird on the playmat music plays.  She was entertained by that for quite some time.  Meli is 3 months today!  As usual - crazzzzy!  Will was so good at sending me text with pictures of my babies.  Here are a few.

Well this was before I left.

My favorite boy in the whole world!

Pretty baby

Colin reading to Meli.

Discovering the bird's musical talents!

bath time with daddy

I really enjoyed Charleston, but so glad to be back.

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

 The B Family