Mid-January

As I type, it's very cold outside...temps in the single-digits and below-zero wind chills. The kids and I will definitely be staying inside all day. Presently, Rory is playing in his bouncy chair but starting to fuss and Taya is playing with Legos. She has gotten out ALL of Ethan's childhood Legos. She loves to build with them but it's REALLY fun to throw them all over the basement (I cringe)!

Grammy and Jarv visited last weekend. Ethan, Jarv, and Taya went to Dayton to the Air Force museum and they all had fun. Grammy stayed with Rory while I went to work. Rory is now a pro at taking the bottle; THANK YOU Grammy...
We are looking forward to Omi and Papa visiting in February, we hope!

I love watching the kids "interact". Right now it stays pretty calm...

This is Rachel, our neighbor/babysitter, with the kids. She asked to come over one day to hold Rory. Taya was super excited when she walked in the door from school.

When Taya goes #2, she will sit for 30-45 minutes on her potty. We will ask her several times if she's done and she tells us to go away!

Sunday morning before church.

Rory looked so handsome in his striped, collared shirt. Navy blue really makes his eyes bright.

Rory and Grammy

Rory in his bouncy chair (Ethan calls it the vibration station). He smiles and coos at the animals.

I love that smile! I promise I didn't do any cheek tickling or anything...he was talking to the lion!

Taya pointing out animal stickers. She likes to play teacher.

I asked for a silly face.

Taya has been doing AWESOME with potty training. She has been dry every day this week at school and goes into her own potty and does everything by herself at home. Now she is starting to wipe herself. I went to empty the potty one time and it was FULL of toilet paper.

And here was the roll. We had to discuss how much paper to use after that. I was afraid it would clog the toilet!

We love homemade pizza at our house. We've actually become quite critical of any other pizza. We use the breadmaker for the dough which makes great. Ethan does such a great job spreading out the dough and putting on the toppings so it's kind of "his" deal now. He has it down to a science, if you can believe that?! Taya really likes to help him.

The flash kind of hides it, but she had flour above her lip.

Look at those lips!!!! Ahhhhhhh, I can't get enough!

God Bless. Have a great weekend!

Playdates and smiles

Since I go back to work tomorrow, Taya and I had 2 playdates scheduled. I also got my 6 week post-partum check up and Rory had his 1 month check up. Needless to say, it was a busy week and I'm feeling tired! It was also time to get more serious about having Rory take a bottle which has been more challenging than with Taya. We have literally tried 6 different nipples and I think we finally landed on the Gerber Nuk latex replacement nipple (for the cheap, small Gerber bottles). We still have a little work to do the rest of the day but the first attempt was by far the best out of all the others. Ethan will be staying home with Rory tomorrow so if it's a horrible day bottle-wise, he can always drive him to see me at work.

I also finally captured Rory's big smile. He has been smiling at all of us frequently and it seems he wants to talk to us or laugh but the sounds won't come out quite yet. It's still the best to see that smile!



Jessica, Jackson, and Taya playing with the kitchen.

Jackson and Taya

How sweet is that?!

Big boy "talking" to dad-o.

Here is Rory as I work on this blog.

Happy 2011

Good bye 2010, hello 2011. It's hard to imagine packing as much into 2011 as we did this past year. To summarize:
Sold house in Omaha
Bought house in Columbus
Ethan completed his PhD
I got my Master's
Moved to Ohio
5 year wedding anniversary
2 trips to Connecticut, 1 trip back to Nebraska
Taya turned 2
Rory was born
As I reflect, I feel truly blessed and look forward to what God has in store for us this coming year. This is my last week home on maternity leave. I start back 2 days/week as of next week. One of those days will be a Saturday; Ethan is planning to take one week day off to stay with Rory then have both kids on Saturdays. I wanted to wait a little longer before Rory starts at daycare in hopes we can ward off any illnesses as long as possible. Taya will continue to go 3 days/week as she has been (she loves it and it keeps her busy). We will go back to our "usual routine" as of January 31st.
New Year's Eve was a gorgeous day so we finally got to try out the double jogger outside!

Rory's first walk outside.

I know I post lots of pictures of Rory sleeping, but is there anything sweeter??

We went out to eat on New Year's Eve with friends Chris and Sheelah and some of their friends. It was nice to be invited and have something planned (otherwise we'd have been at home). Here is a shot of them with the kids.

I took Rory to the doctor today. He got a weight check and his first immunization (Hep. B) today. Taya went with us and was such a good girl! It took us 25 minutes from getting ready to leave to pulling out of the garage but we made it on time! Rory wanted to nurse after his shot so we were at the clinic for 1.5 hours, but oh well. I'm learning to allow plenty of time when I have both kids. :)

Mr. Rory Patrick will be 6 weeks old tomorrow.

Wt-13 lbs 12 oz

Ht-23 1/4 inches

Head circumference-16 inches

Rory loves to be held over our shoulders so he can look around. He has bright beautiful eyes and has been having more awake time during the day. He has been smiling at Ethan and me for the past several days which just melts my heart. He continues to sleep well; he only wakes every 2.5-3.5 hours to nurse (as you can see, he is gaining weight quickly!). We love our boy and we love our daughter. What blessings and life lessons they teach us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!