Messy Church

During my postnatal yoga class with JB, I met another mom with a baby boy born the same month as JB.  We have kept up through lunches and play dates, and she's such a sweet, authentic person.  I really enjoy her company and friendship.

She is a Presbyterian minister, and her church introduced a new monthly service called "Messy Church".  When she invited us and JB, I asked several times "and you're sure about JB, you've met my toddler, right??" She assured me the service was meant to be experienced by families - including the littlest ones! That the service would be creative, interactive, and flexible.  

JB and I attended this week, and we had a wonderful time! Honestly I don't think JB has ever been in a chapel or sanctuary, minus his baptism (and even then he was sent to the nursery as soon as it was over!) He's gone to church his whole life, but never the actual service.  He's so young, and so busy, and it would be way too stressful (for us.) 

So this service was great.  JB loved the music, the clapping, the instruments they had put in the pews, and the activities they had for the littles.  He was very proud to stand in line and go up for a blessing.  I did have to explain (a million times) that he could not pull out the hymnals and bibles.  Or crawl under the pews.  Or run down the aisle and wave to everyone.

Although I realize he's still young for a formal service, I so appreciated the opportunity to begin introducing him to God and the Church in something he could be a part of.     

Maryn - one month old!

Maryn Elizabeth is already one month old!

Monthly updates are one of the most fun / stressful posts because I just don't want to forget anything about my children.  We love to look back on them because they change so much month-to-month, and this is the best way we can capture the moment.  I can't believe that it's time to start monthly updates on our baby girl.  Maryn - you are growing too fast!

The first month with Maryn has been wonderful. A great transition to a family of four, and she's the sweetest little gal. She likes to sleep, she likes to eat, she doesn't seem to mind too much that we have to change her/dress her/lay her down/put her in her car seat/ let her brother "love" on her.  She would prefer to be held and cuddled all day, of course, but seems content (for a short bit) if that's not possible at the moment.  As long as she's where she can look at the ceiling fan, light, or plantation shutters, she can hang out for a while.

Honest to goodness she smiles real smiles already.  They are not gas - they are REAL.  I love how she loses all facial control and gives the gummiest grin.  I also see that big wide mouth when she's unhappy.  Although it's not too often, when she's upset SHE.IS.UPSET.  No little fusses - she goes from quiet to screaming very quickly.  She also has the sweetest little whimpers when you smuggle her to calm her down.  It makes the screams prior to more bearable.  

She is a pretty big baby, as her stats (and percentiles) confirm.  I adore her little rolls and squishy cheeks.  Her hair is still such a mystery. Although it looks fairly dark in photos (or when she needs a good washing), it's really a reddish brown (or even a reddish blonde in the sunlight?)  And she has so much of it.  Plus it sticks straight up. 

Being second time parents is pretty great, too.  There is just a sense of comfort, ease, and perspective that comes the second time around.  And you're so distracted by the older child that you don't have (as much) time to sit and dwell about what the heck you're supposed to be doing.  It's pretty great.  

  

So here we go -  her one month stats!

Maryn's Measurements:

• Weight: 10 lbs 1 oz (75th percentile)
• Height:  (I forgot to write it down, but she is 90th percentile for height!)

At 1 Month Old,  Maryn...

…Eats every 3 hours during the day, although sometimes she'll wake and want to eat at 2.5 hours.  She's already a fast and efficient nurser like her brother.  We got the green light to stop waking her at night at her first appointment since she was already at her birthweight, and she will now normally sleep two 4-hour stretches at night.  This means I only wake up once a night between 11 and 7.  God bless you child….

…Sleeps a lot.  Typical sleepyhead newborn, girlfriend loves her daytime naps and (see above) does pretty well at night, too.  She never had her days and nights mixed up, which earned her rockstar sleeper status immediately.  Ideal world for Maryn would include someone to hold her every nap, but we're practicing with her in the crib or pack-n-play as much as possible. (At night she's in the rock-n-play, but I don't think she loves it. She grunts and tries to stretch all night.  Her second month update will most likely note her transition to her crib at night!)

...Wears 3 month clothes or 0-3 month clothes.  Our sweet chunk-a-monk outgrew newborn clothes by  Week 3.  (And not just because of her sweet rolls, more because of her torso length.  She's very long!)  She moved into Size 1 diapers on her 1 month birthday, although she probably should have moved up sooner (I just had a lot to use up.)

…Loves being held and snuggled close; nursing; her paci; the plantation shutters

…Does not like incompetent swaddles.  She senses their weakness and fights them until she can break her arm free.  Then she gets upset that she's no longer swaddled and cries.

...Has mixed emotions about burping.  She feels better when she does, but she'd rather just avoid burping and get back to eating. (Not surprisingly, she's a terrible burper.)  

Month One -  Welcome to the family baby girl!  We're so glad you're here and can't wait to see you grow (though, please, not too fast!)

(Coincidentally, I forgot to order her monthly stickers for these updates.  MOM FAIL.  So the sticker pictures are actually at 5.5 weeks, while the above was on her actual 1 month birthday.  I think her cheeks are bigger now, if that is possible…) :)

Previous Updates on Maryn:

• Birth Story

JB's One Month Update  (How do they Compare?):  JB - One Month Old

Celebrating JB's Second Birthday

Although JB officially turned two on Tuesday of this week, we pre-celebrated our little guy's birthday with a party on Saturday.  This allowed my parents to attend (yea!) and also helped get the point across to JB that birthdays are GREAT things!  It means singing, cupcakes, presents - all things he demanded the rest of his birthday week.

Typical second party, it was not near as elaborate as his first birthday.  In fact, it didn't even take place as planned.  We were supposed to host it down at our neighborhood park, but heavy downpours the day before and day of meant a last minute move to our house. But it also meant we could serve Bloody Marys and beer (plus watch some college football), so big win for the adults.

Decor included lots of balloons…and that was it.  :)  Food included pulled pork, mac and cheese, and green beans from one of our favorite places right now (Moe's Original BBQ).  The cupcakes and cookie party favors came from a little bakery down in Dublin, Georgia.  They were fantastic!

I didn't have my camera out for the party, but my dad captured some cute photos during the day.  Get ready for birthday boy overload!!

JB really enjoyed the attention and singing to him.  Quite the little ham, this one.  He did a great job blowing out the candle, too!  Only took a little spitting and one big puff.  (This is why cupcakes are a good idea - JB would have totally contaminated the top of a cake.)

(He is also the neatest cupcake eater ever.  He slowly and deliberately devours them.)

We had lots of friends and family attend.  I didn't get pictures of everyone, but here are some cute ones of those who were willing to smile for the camera.

We had said "no gifts" for the party, but some family couldn't resist.  JB is spoiled, and enjoys all his new toys (and trucks and tractors) so much.  

He played with the John Deere tractors all day, and at some point wearing pants just became too much of a hassle and interfered with playing...

Did I say how cute this kid was on his birthday?  Well, and is right now at 2 years old?  It's a pretty fun age, for sure!

On JB's actual birthday we gave him his big present from us: a Schwinn tricycle!  He has not ventured out of the house with it (waiting on his helmut to arrive - never too early to start good practices!), but he  loves to ride it around the house.  

I also got him a few other things (book, cowboy dinner plate, etc), but forgot to wrap them and give them to him. Oh well - we'll just extend out this birthday week into the weekend so he can keep the presents coming!!  

James Benjamin is TWO YEARS OLD!

We woke up this morning as the parents of a two year old.  How in the world did that happen?  How did we go from our itty bitty baby boy…

…to this tall, lean, handsome, sweet, funny, fun-loving, ball of energy?

I have written 23 monthly updates at this point, and yet - for #24 - I am at a total loss for words.  How to begin to talk about our precious toddler?  There is so much I wanted to say when I wrote the post in my head over the past month, but now I can't get it down!  

If JB is awake, he is moving and shaking.  He is so, so busy, and gets super excited about so many things:  trucks, tractors, water, playing outside, helping, his Da Da, his Mama, hide-n-seek, shoes (particularly blue shoes), books, ice cream, cereal bars, nursery rhymes on YouTube, the kitties, the playground…gosh, so many things (I'm probably forgetting a few!)  We love to hear his enthusiastic "YEAH!" when you ask him about something he really likes.   We hear "MORE!" about 100 times a day - more playing, more reading, more eating, more of anything that JB likes.  If a particular book was rather enjoyable, it's not uncommon that JB will ask to read it five times in one sitting.   JB lives life to the fullest and doesn't let a moment go to waste, even at this very young age.

JB has figured out what it means to be silly, and it totally cracks us up.  He's combined his favorite song ("EE EY EE EY OH") with a new joke - if you ask what Old MacDonald had on the farm, he exclaims "a Da Da" and then laughs and laughs about it.  When I ask "but what does a Da Da say?!" he thinks it's hysterical.

He's a very good sleeper (as long as Pout Pout fish, Curious George, and all his afghans are in the bed), a pretty decent eater (particularly if there is a carb, a fruit, or anything dairy on his plate), minds very well (for a toddler), can throw a mean tantrum (though they are fairly infrequent) and laughs a lot.  JB is a total ham if he has a large audience.  

He is still not the most flexible little guy, and new situations (and people) take him a while to warm up to.  However, he's come a long way over the past year, and we're so happy with how he's matured socially.  Even the most life changing event to our family this year (the arrival of little "sissy", as he calls her) has not had near the impact I expected.  JB is super sweet to Maryn, concerned about her, and appears perfectly happy that she has joined our family.  

When you ask him how old he is he will proudly say "2" and show you his fingers.  We're hearing more and more words from JB these days, and I can't wait to carry on a conversation with him. It's clear he's got a great, curious mind, and we want to know what he's thinking.

Happy, Happy Birthday, our precious boy!

You have brought us so much joy the past two years, and we thank God every day that He blessed us with a son and made us your Mama and Daddy. 

Thank you, Grammy and Gran Gran

Yesterday we said goodbye to Grammy and Gran Gran, who returned to Texas after two full weeks here with our family.  Although I know they were ready to get home, and I know we need to get into our (new) family routine.... waaaaah!

Between Gia, Grammy and Gran Gran, we have had coverage the first three weeks of Maryn's life.  We are so fortunate to have our families. And the kiddos love all their grandparents.  (Maryn particularly loves sleeping in Grammy's arms - she is in for a rude awakening when she's placed in her crib for naps this week!) 

With all the support, we are (relatively) well rested, very well fed, and have survived our month with two-under-two.  Even Enda received a lot of extra love these past few weeks (and you better believe we have a depressed dog today - we may need to up her prozac dosage this week.)

So thank you to our superhero(s)!!! 

Happy 6 Years!

Our two September babies would not be possible without one special Saturday in September six years ago...

We celebrated our anniversary today with our super fun (nearly) 2 year old who had his birthday party, a sleepyhead newborn who happily dozed in different peoples' arms all day, and lots of friends and family (who were sweet to remember our day among the birthday celebration!)

We don't normally do gifts, so I gave James something silly that fit the "wood and iron" theme for six years - some different wood chips and planks for grilling, and new metal  grilling tongs.  And then James turned around and gave me a beautiful, stunning sapphire necklace.  

Now it's time for a nice dinner out for the first time in a while - just the two of us! Can't wait to spend some time with my honey.  Hopefully we don't fall asleep at dinner.  :)

Happy Anniversary James! Here's to many, many more.  

XOXO 

Maryn's First Bath

We're happy to report that Maryn doesn't cry that much.  She'll fuss a bit when hungry, or when she's getting her diaper changed.  She then calms pretty quickly once she's nuzzled up to Mama or as soon as you have the tabs on the diaper closed.

However, the little gal does certainly have the lung capacity to screeeeaaaaaam - which we learned during her first bath at home.  Lord have mercy, I thought we'd never get her calmed down.

We started out okay...

Then Maryn decided that she was naked and not happy about it...

And then she completely fell apart (and pooped in the tub from all the screaming - already taking after her brother!!)

Mama put down her camera long enough to quickly wash her hair and body, and Grammy was quick with a towel to wrap her up again (and hold her while she sobbed and hiccuped).  It had been over two weeks since her last (well, first) bath in the hospital - and I'm in no hurry to bathe her again soon!!  Mustela wipes will have to do for now.