24 Weeks

Poor Abby has had a rough last week...she had her first bout with constipation (no fun, but apparently an essential part of being in this family). After apple juice, suppositories, and finally some milk of magnesia, she is cleaned out and good as new! (I'm sorry if this is TMI, but it was just so pitiful to see my little girl go thru!) And then she has another cold that she just cannot kick. I took her to the doctor yesterday and she is now on zyrtec. Hopefully, relief will come soon. She got weighed and the little chunker is 15 lbs 1 oz!!!

Other tidbits from this week:
-Her hair is definitely coming back in, and it's resembling a strawberry-blonde color! Not sure where that came from!
-She refuses to take a bottle if Big Brother is in the room. All she wants to do is watch him. It is cute, but kinda annoying too! :)
-She has mastered taking the passy out of her mouth. Not so great on putting it back in yet.

I.love.this.jumperoo!!! I borrowed it from a friend (thanks H!) and it is BY FAR Abby's favorite. She jumps so hard sometimes I have to look over to make sure she did not jump out of it! Our little jumping bean. And the best part is...it wears her out for naptime!

Have I mentioned that Nate is obsessed with his baby sister? Yes, he wants to talk to her first thing in the AM, give her a kiss, and show her his outfit (I am not kidding). He lives to make her smile/laugh, and I am so thankful that he is so sweet with her (for now :) Here he is trying on Abby's leggings...


So this is my new fave outfit I think. I mean who doesn't love watermelons!? Too cute.

And check this out....the girl is wearing size 6M clothes, and NEWBORN sized shoes! Yes, her feet are tiny! And look at these little "espadrilles" I got at Target...love them! I have the cutest white sandals in sizes 1 (0-3 mo.) and 2 (3-6 mo.) yet she doesn't fit in either. Seriously!?


We took advantage of one of the rainy days this weekend to take the kids to the mall to play. Nate had fun chasing the big kids at the playground, doing the trains at the bookstore, and then riding the "cars" below. The boy loves him some monkeys.

And he loves being our little helper too! Here he is feeding Miss Priss her cereal:

Other fun pics from the week:

Weekly Update

Abby Reece is 23 wks old today! We had quite a busy weekend....Mum Mum & Granddad came to visit! Granddad hadn't seen Abby since Thanksgiving, so needless to say, he was shocked at how big she'd gotten. Mum Mum was a big help, giving Abby bottles & cereal, and holding her during her fussy time at dinner :)

And then on Sunday, my good friend Mary Leigh arrived at the Nashville airport with her new son...from S. Korea! She & her hubbie Nick adopted 16 month-old Bates, and were finally able to bring him home. He is a little guy, but MAN is he cute! Nate & Abby are excited to have a new playmate!

My most exciting news of the past week...I got a double stroller! And I LOVE it! I haven't quite figured out how to work all the gadgets yet (haven't read that far in the manual). For instance, Nate's seat in the back can come out and can be converted to a bench where he can stand and be a "big boy!" (That's why it's called a "Sit-N-Stand" stroller.) I would highly recommend it to families with two kiddos...lots of options. And cupholders/snack trays. Those are a must!

Miss Priss is turning into quite the poser these days. I think she thinks she is a model! She really knows how to turn on the charm when I get the camera out. I guess I have trained her well! Check it out (and look at those thighs!):


Nate has become obsessed with a puzzle that the Easter Bunny brought. Almost every morning before breakfast, he gets it out and puts it together while I'm feeding Abby her cereal. He can almost complete the whole thing w/o any help...pretty amazing I think! He is going to be a puzzle whiz like me :)

My sweet 3 kids. Well, at least I feel like that most days since Mallory is over at our house so much!

And since Abby has decided to spit-up/drool/have explosive poops daily, we have been going thru about 2-3 outfits/day. At least she's getting a chance to wear all of her cute clothes, since she has SO many! So here's our parade of outfits for the week:

Silence

Any parent of a toddler knows that when you hear silence for longer than 10 minutes, your little one is most likely up to no good. And our sweet Nate is no exception.

His newest obsession is our closet. Specifically, my shoes. See below...He is SUCH a good helper and clears off my shoe rack for me. Thanks, bud.

And then he transplants them all to the other side of closet, making sure to line up as many pairs as possible for me. Thanks for the help, Nate.

Let me just tell you...this was funny/cute the first time, but not so much when he does it 10x/day.

There's something irresistible about "cocks"...

(Get your mind out of the gutter!!)

I am sooo excited - I FINALLY found Nate a pair of generic crocs (which he calls "cocks")!! I have been on the hunt for weeks! I guess they're not in style this year b/c I just could not find any knock-offs anywhere. And I refuse to buy him name-brand crocs...they are $25+ a pair!

Anyways, Nate had some had some of these shoes last summer and wore them non-stop. And I think he looks super cute in them, b/c they show off his calves (right Greg!?)


So, I found some at CVS - check them out, only $8 - and I love them! He just looks so handsome and summery! (Is that a word?) And he has told me 1000x in the past 2days "I love my new cocks." Yes, we are working on getting that "r" in there :)

Deuce Deuce

Abby is 22 wks today! She is trying to feed herself with a bottle, holding it and guiding it to her mouth like a big girl. Please stop growing up so fast, Baby Girl!

We have been outside a lot lately since the weather's so beautiful, and Abby is content to sit in the stroller & play with toys, or sit in the exersaucer in the shade and watch her brother play. Thank goodness she likes being outside, b/c we are out there a lot!!

Nate got invited to a bday party for a neighbor at Chuck-E-Cheese this past week. Here he is on his favorite "ride" - Bob the Builder:

Love this pic of Nate & Grant! Grant is a cool dude while Nate is not so sure he likes sharing at snacktime..

Sweet Grant loving on Miss Priss!

Nate teaching Abby what sound an elephant makes

Borrowed a jumperoo from Hallie/Leah...Abby loves it! It's like an exersaucer + a doorway jumper. Perfect combo for her!

Other pics from this week:

Fabulous Five!

It's hard to believe, but Abby Reece is 5 MONTHS OLD today!! She is such a sweet baby girl....loves to laugh and smile, and have the attention focused on her :) This has definitely been a fast 5 months, and we are excited to see what Abby's next 5 months have in store!

Here she is, at 5 days old:

At 5 weeks old:

At 5 months old:

We love you, Baby Girl!

Double the trouble, Double the fun

Being a parent of TWO little ones comes with a whole new set of challenges. But let me just tell you, all of those sleepless nights/poopy diapers/headaches etc etc are worth it, when you experience a moment like Greg & I did this morning.

Greg was sitting on our bed holding Abby, and Nate was sitting next to Greg, making funny faces & noises at his baby sister. (And of course, she could not take her eyes off of him as usual!) Then, out of nowhere, Abby lets out a huge belly laugh after Nate made a funny noise at her. NATE made her laugh!!! This was the first time, and the look on his face was priceless. Pure joy. And he was so proud of himself!

At that moment, I felt so blessed. Because I feel that one of the greatest gifts you can give a child is a sibling. And thankfully, Greg & I were able to do that. Now I know these two will have their fights down the road, but for now, it's nice to know (and see) how much my two munchkins love each other. It only makes me love them (and Greg!) that much more.

Nate & his "people"

Nate's "people" go wherever we go. In fact, I have a stash of them everywhere (upstairs, downstairs, car, diaper bag, purse) because he has so many, and because they can be my saving grace sometimes. Who knew that 3" plastic figurines could be so entertaining?? They are various characters from some of his favorite tv shows: Handy Manny, Sesame Street, and Pooh & Friends that we've collected over the past year or so.

I love to hear Nate's imagination run wild as he plays with his people. He role plays with them, takes them to the drive-thru, kisses their boo-boos, fixes them meals, makes them dance, reads them books, takes them to the playground, and he LOVES to have them in the big boy bath with him.

Nate is becoming such an inquisitive and creative little boy, and I am so proud of him!

The sweetest sound

Abby Reece had her first REALLY BIG belly laugh this week! It was the sweetest sound. Actually, it was more like a cackle. But a sweet cackle! :) Greg was holding her and saying "poop" over and over (for what reason, I'm not sure) and Abby just started dying laughing!!! It was hilarious!!! And let me tell you, it made Greg's day...

Other tidbits from this week:
-She LOVES being barefoot
-She is still a chowhound when it comes to milk & cereal. In fact, my milk supply can hardly keep up with her anymore. Good thing we have that frozen milk!
-Poor Baby Girl is still super congested and we are thinking that she may have allergies :( Pitiful.
-She is trying to sit up already! We did this one day as an experiment and she did great:

Her first math lesson from Big Brother:

Nate is all grown up! I love his new big boy hat!!

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny came early...

Easter came a little early for Nate & Abby this year...Nanny & Poppy arrived on Tuesday for a 4 day visit, bringing with them lots of goodies! On top of the list for Nate was.....a long awaited Bob the Builder doll!!

Bob wanted to go for a walk with Nate & Poppy since it was so pretty outside

Abby was happy to see Nanny & Poppy too (and so was I... I LOVED the much needed help for a few days!)

My girl still really likes her cereal...here she is awaiting meal time. I think I fed her her cereal 1x in 4 days. It was a great break; Thanks Nanny!

Nanny & Poppy picked up Nate Wednesday afternoon at MDO, and they headed to Old Fort Park to play since it was so pretty. And a little birdie told me that there was a stop at McDonald's for sundaes as well...

Nate was eager to show off the treasures he collected at his MDO's Easter Egg Hunt!

Sweet Baby Girl with her Nanny

Deep in concentration in her exersaucer. Plus, check out those bare feet. Too cute!

Nate loves when Nanny comes to visit b/c she is one of the few people willing to do bubbles with him (I cannot stand them). Please look at how happy he is!

Of course Miss Priss got some new clothes out of the visit, and here she is showing off one of my new favorite outfits. Those are capris btw!!

Nate built a "fort" outside

We arranged a mini-Easter egg hunt for Nate and our neighbor, Mallory on Friday. But instead of candy inside of the eggs, there was spare change!!! (Nate LOVES putting coins in his piggy bank.) They both had a ball!



Here is Abby Reece showing off those pudgy thighs. LOVE THEM. (Btw, she had on an even cuter outfit that morning, but since she decided to have a MAJOR blowout diaper while we were out to breakfast for Nanny's bday, I had to change it. Did I mention the blow-out was ON me?! Yes, it was lovely. I sat thru our delicious breakfast at Goodness Gracious with poop stains on me...so appetizing.)

Getting ready to dye eggs with Nanny...does he look like a pro or what? (Or maybe a pastry chef, but hey, he wanted to wear the hat.)



Putting the finishing touches (stickers) on the eggs with Poppy

Friday night we celebrated Nanny's 40th (haha) bday. We are quite the partying crowd these days!




Some other highlights from the week:
-Nate kissing Poppy's beard and then calling him Hairy (Potter)
-Nate taking "big boy baths" in our master tub
-Greg & I having date night at Macaroni Grill & shopping at Opry Mills
-Lunch at Chicfila; watching Nate climb up & down the playground 900x in a row
-Taking family walks
-Nate playing hide & seek with Poppy, his new BFF
-Me & Nanny going SHOPPING! We got so many cute things for the kids (mostly stuff for our beach trip in June. Abby's new bathing suit has a ruffle with strawberries. Please.)

We had a great visit with Nanny & Poppy and Greg & I had fun despoiling the kids today after they left for NC :) It is always nice to have family in town, and ANY of you are welcome, anytime!!