Keeping Tabs

Thursday, February 16, 2012

2 Months & First Valentine's Day!

TWO months?! Doesn't seem like it, huh?
I know :(
What's new..
*Learning he can move his body parts; his favorite: hitting himself in the head, grabbing the side of the changing table as if it were going to collapse while getting changed, and sticking his tongue out
*Smiling! Which of course I updated on last blog
*Sleeping all night! Goes to bed around 9:30-10:30pm, sleeps BY HIMSELF (Gracie didn't sleep by herself til she was 9 months!) next to our bed in his pack n' play til 7am or sometimes 9am! And if Gracie is still asleep when he gets up for his feeding then we all just go back to bed until she gets up, and in that case he stays in the bed with us
*Were seeing more and more each day, how much he looks like Jayden
*Like Gracie, he loves his blanket and can't go to sleep without it. He has to have his head covered with it or he won't go to sleep
*His gas..O.M.G, this kid can run you out of a room! He takes that well after his big bubba, Jayden. Gracie was never like this.
*Loves watching Gracie! He's so mesmerized by her
*Chewing on his fist; he's almost mastered putting the whole thing in his mouth
*Slobbering..we definitely have a slobber box/drooler on our hands
*"Talking"

*Gaining more head control

Look at those eye lashes? Definitely got Chance and bubba's eyelashes :)

"So big at 2 months!"

Sticking that tongue out at daddy :)

"Talking" to daddy

If I didnt tell you, could you tell this was photoshopped on there?

"Mommy is so mean, making me lie on my tummy!"

Im hoping to do a picture like this til hes a year old to show how big he gets :)

Over this past weekend it snowed and we got a good 3 inches, so me and Gracie went out and built a snowman and played. Who knew Italy was prettier with snow?! I'm hoping one winter we'll get to see the Eiffle Tower in the snow, how pretty would that be?! Yeah, be jealous.

Dressed warm!

Oh my! Melt my heart!

"Its snowman!"

Did you know that next month marks our 1/2 year mark of living in Italy?!

Valentine's Day was a blast here! First we got woke up at 6am by Gracie (yes, she now gets out of bed and opens her door on her own) saying "I stink" and sure enough a few seconds later I got a sniff of it. Then she cried wanting to sleep with mommy and daddy (secretly, I love her sleeping with us!). After daddy got home from work we gave the kids their gifts, only to find the Pocahontas movie we got Gracie didnt work in our dvd player and was in Italian. And before you ask no we didn't buy it here, I ordered it off Amazon. So we had quite the melt down over that, but mommy saved the day by finding it for free online. Then we ended the night with roast & potatoes (canned spagetti for our very picky eater) and daddy and Gracie made a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing and sprinkles, yum!

Dont you like their little Italian bears? :)

Goodness, we have a beautiful little girl!

She wanted to hold his hand :)

Yep their Chance's kids..same blank expression he always has :)

Baby's first Valentine's!

Look how big in just two months!!!

They were JUST this little!!

Yep, we need guns, whether were in Italy or not!

"Look at me! Im princess!"

Valentine's Day 2012

Valentine's Day 2010; in the same dress just bigger size..WHERE has my baby gone?!

I guess I'll claim her :)

Handsome little fellow!

They love each other!

Theres that tongue again :)

Eating her chocolates

Red velvet cake, cream cheese icing, with sprinkles, yum!

Oh and guess who got her braces off? Yep, this girl!!

I never really took a "before" photo so this will have to do

AFTER!! I finally love my smile!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Happy New Years!

As Christmas crept upon us, we made the best of our situation (living in Italy, 2 friends, and no family). We made our feast like usual (ham, vegetables, rolls, fudge, and strawberry cheese cake..YUM!) and invited our friends over. That morning we opened our gifts and Gracie was overly excited. Gavin just kinda hung out, nursed and looked around..so much for a first Christmas, huh? Next year will consider it his actual "first" Christmas. We'll just say he was the gift this year, and what a wonderful gift he was! :) Our friends showed up and we ate, then sat around and talked, watched a movie, & us girls beat the boys in a game of Monopoly! Overall it was very enjoyable. But after the day concluded we got to talking..were in Italy..who gets to live in Italy, much less be here on Christmas?! So weve come up with a tradition for the next 3 Christmas'. Instead of spending hundreds on gifts, why not save that money and travel while we can? We'll probably do one gift each and a stocking but thats it.

A few days before Christmas, my uncle (who is 28yrs retired military and still contracts for them) and his wife came to Italy to travel. While they were they got to be the first family members to personally meet Gavin! It was funny, because they were the last to meet Gracie. I cooked supper and they spent the afternoon with us. We talked and they drooled over Gavin! It was so nice to have that family help, and boy do I miss it!

For Gavin, we are still successfully breastfeeding, cloth diapering, and baby wearing (Chance done it for the first time yesterday!!). For the past few nights he hasnt slept good after his 4/5am feed, but overall he lets us get plenty of sleep! & Gracie, oh my, she melts my heart! She has turned into the most loving big sister like I knew she'd eventually be! I can but cant wait for them to play together, run together, and fight together! This is such a dream that Ive waited a long time for!! Im so thankful we were blessed again.

Who doesn't love a fussy picture?

At his one month check-up..do you see mother hen watching over her bubba? :)

Milk-coma

And guess who turned 2 1/2 years last Tuesday?! Our little, big girl! & guess who turned ONE month Friday?! Yep, that sweet bundle of joy I just blogged about. Time is surely flying. "Time needs a ticket for speeding!"

Gracie's stats are:

-31 1/2 pounds

-36 inches

Gracie newest things are:

-Talking! Her speech has gotten so much better. But is it awful that I want her to still have that baby lisp? Her saying "thats purdy good" or "sowy momma, I not mean too" or "my name's Gray-gray" is so cute, and I will miss it.
-Counting! Thanks to Elmo, were up to 15! 2 1/2 years old and counting to 15? She is so very smart!
-She has becomed very attached to Elmo & Mickey Mouse.
-She loves to help me wash dishes now, and might I say..shes quite the "rinser".

-She loves to bark at dogs! Yes, I said bark..even though it sounds more like a howling. Our neighbors dogs bark all the time, and now shes gotten to where she barks back! Its so cute!

-Shes become quite motherly to her baby dolls. She puts them in the swing, car seat, and stroller. One day I even caught her look down her shirt as I was nursing Gavin. I knew what she was thinking about but she mustve changed her mind when she seen nothing there!
-She loves to play the Kinect with me. I have the new Dance Central 2 and then just the regular Adventures game that comes with the Kinect, and she gets down with me!

-Singing! Ah, to hear her little, sweet voice sing melts my heart and puts the biggest smile on my face!

As for Gavin, his stats are:

-9 pounds

-21 inches

Gavin's newest things are:

-SMILING (his first smile was at 1 month 3 days) :)

and then your regular everyday, new baby stuff..eat, sleep, poop, and maybe stay awake and "play" a little.

Now for the 2 1/2 year and 1 month pictures! Remember, Im no photographer but I try! :)