Baby Care 101

Grafton is doing her best to teach James allllll about being a big brother.  That's right....we are having another precious baby!  We are all very excited to announce another addition to our family, due September 3rd.  It is going to be one very, very hot summer for a pregnant Mommy!!  Eric and I feel amazingly blessed that God is entrusting us with another one of His children to love and raise in our family.  Of course we are a little scared, a little nervous and overwhelmed- I mean we will forever be out-numbered now!! We can already imagine the children planning their strategies against us- they will have the upper hand with 3 against 2!!  But we also look at how beautiful, sweet, funny, and smart our children are, and we are crazy happy to add another one into the mix! Grafton is ecstatic about another baby, and poor James has no idea how his little world of being attached to Mommy's hip is about to change. I'm very afraid that my sweet baby boy is going to be in for a big adjustment come Fall.

I have some funny moments from Grafton that I thought were worth sharing- she is just such a funny little girl!

One night as she was taking a bath:
     G:   Mommy....Did you swallow the baby?!?!
     Me: No I didn't swallow the baby!!
     G:   Then how did the baby get in your tummy?
     Me: God put the baby in my tummy.
     G:    What is it doing in there?
     Me: Oh it is just sitting in there, growing.
     G:    Is it falling out of your pants?!?!
     Me: Of course not! It is inside my tummy!
     G:    Is it deep deep in your belly button??
     Me: Sort of....
     G:   (as she is looking down and poking her own belly button) I have a baby in my tummy too....
     Me: No, Grafton, you don't have a baby in your tummy silly!
     G:   Yes I do, Mommy!!! God put it there!!! (HUGE smile on her face)  It is a GIRL!!! And YOU are having a BOY!
Who can argue with that!!
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Last night as we cuddled on the couch:
     G:   Mommy can the baby come on out?
     Me: No, it needs to grow a lot more first.
     G:   I REALLY wish the baby could come on out.
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One day as we were playing games on my phone:
     G:    I think the baby wants to play a game....I will find one for it!

     Me: Oh that is sweet but the baby can't play games yet.

     G:    Yes it can Mommy! The baby music game! (As she put on the baby piano game and lays it on my tummy for the baby to hear)

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And lastly, as we are walking in the house after Mothers' Morning Out one day:

     G:    I don't want a baby sister....

     Me: What?! You would love a baby sister! You will be happy with whatever we have!

     G:    No ma'am, I just want a baby brother....

     Me: Grafton...don't say that....

     G:    I really do. I want TWO baby James's!!! That would be just fiiiiiine!  I LOVE baby James!

We may be in trouble if this is a little girl!!

A lovely Valentine's Day

As mentioned in the previous post, our Valentine's morning was sweet and special, and I feel blessed to say that the rest of the day continued to be just as wonderful.  DeeDee came over with presents for the kids, and they were both so excited and happy to see her! Let me take a moment to say that we are all so very blessed to have DeeDee.  She is such an amazing grandmother to the children- she loves on them, teaches them, sings and reads to them, and plays with them.  The relationship she is building with each of them is so special and amazing- we are so so grateful.

DeeDee and I took the kids to lunch then to the toy store to play before naptime. The kids love going to the toy store- they play with nearly every toy in the place before its time to leave! After naptime we played and played with their new Valentine's toys in the playroom until Daddy got home. We spent the rest of the night having some good family time and trying to show the kids how much we absolutely adore them. Here are a few pictures from the rest of the day!

Good Morning Valentine!

We have had such a fun morning on this Valentine's Day! The kids woke up excited to eat heart-shaped donuts with sprinkles and red icing, then it was present time! Grafton and James had a blast opening their gift bags and unwrapping their present.  They are just so funny together and really like to share almost everything with each other. They got books, candy, bath toys, trucks, and a train house for their train table. It has been a great morning so far, and we are excited for the rest of the day!

Spaghetti dinner

Both my kids love pasta- Grafton likes hers plain of course but James likes his with all the good stuff. Eric made spaghetti the other night and the kids were just too cute eating it- so I had to grab my camera for some silly moments. I just adore these two blessings so so much!

Scott's birthday

My brother's birthday was on Super Bowl Sunday this year, so we celebrate a day early with him coming to town for dinner and cake! Grafton was so excited to celebrate her Uncle's birthday- she talked about it all day.  She HAD to sit by him at dinner, wanted to ride in his car on the way home (but of course he doesn't have car seats), helped him blow out his candles on the cake, then was so excite to give him his birthday present! At bedtime she asked if Uncle Scott could put her to sleep, so he came up to her room and told her goodnight.  It was a fun birthday celebration and I am so happy we were able to be with him.

Catching up

It has been a busy few weeks with birthday parties, family time, fun moments with friends, an a little sickness mixed in. Through the fun times and the rough times, God has shown me His perfect presence in nearly every moment I can think of. I feel so incredibly blessed to know that God is in control of my life and is the center of our family- His way is good and perfect, and all we have to do is love and trust Him every day.  Here are a few pictures from the 2 most amazing blessings in my life- they are so sweet, funny, and silly.

The kids love to push the bar stools together and sit on them. They do this almost everyday and climb all over them! Here they are in their matching Valentine's outfits- sweet little loves!

 James is still a Momma's Boy but he sure does love his Daddy too!

James loves to be naked! He runs around the house beating his chest and shrieking (think Tarzan!). He also gets to a whole new energy level when he is only in a diaper- as in he RUNS around the house and climbs on everything and just laughs and laughs and laughs!!

He is just the smily-est kid I have ever seen!

And yet another new favorite...sitting in pots, bowls, the drum, etc. He even gets stuck sometimes but he thinks it is funny!

Grafton came running into the kitchen saying "Mommy come look what I did!" and that is when I found James shut up in her oven!!! He was having a blast and she thought it was hilarious!! They are really having so much fun playing with each other now. Just these past 2 months, Grafton has really really started having so much fun with James. They get into a lot of trouble- for instance she has taught him how to push their chairs over to the play kitchen and climb up to get what they want. And they climb up on their table and think it is hilarious to knock EVERYTHING off and laugh at the loud noise! And finally, Grafton loves to put James on his riding toy and push him as fast as she can down the hall then run smack into the wall! Such trouble....but cute too! I wouldn't change any of it!



Grafton's birthday party

Grafton had a fun birthday with her friends and really felt special.  She had a train party of course- complete with a train pinata, train cake, and wooden train favors.  A lot of her friends from Mothers' Morning Out were able to come, as well as neighbors and other friends who she just adores. The children jumped in the bouncehouse, ran around on the "stage" in the gym, and ate pizza and cake.  It was really a special day and Grafton could not have had more fun!