Do they get any cuter?

Joy 22 months and Simon 3months

Happy thanksgiving

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. ~ Psalm 105:1 NLT

Ps Simon was there too. He was just playing the part of the cute baby being passed around the party :). So no picture of him on his first thanksgiving. 

Finger paints

Joy just got over the stomach flu so we had another day at home. She was really bored so I had to bust out some activities. If you know me you know toddler activities / crafts are not my strong suit.... Mainly because they are so messy! I know toddlers like/need sensory messy play but I dislike it. Joy loves it. The homemade finger paint was fun for her. It quickly escalated from paint on the paper to in her hair. Then handfuls and she would clap and it would go everywhere. Thankfully it was homemade so no staining just a girl who then got to go take a shower... Which she also loves!

Inspiration lake

For mom's group we went on a field trip to inspiration lake. The land is owned by Disney. We had a great morning. There was a great water feature for the kids to play in. Needless to say Joy was drawn to it like a moth to the flame. I only brought one pair of dry clothes. So I waited until we left the park before changing her into dry clothes. Hence all the diaper shots. 

Joy dancing

Brad caught Joy dancing this morning while he made breakfast. I see ballet in her future :-) 

Popcorn and You are my sunshine

Joy has found a new love for pockabed (I think because we have been eating pumpkin bread, she gets a little confused) or pockcorn (it is mentioned in the book "Bear snores on" and Joy was insistent that she try some).

She also has been singing You are my Sunshine with me...SUPER cute! FYI: Aunty Lulu is what Joy calls Auntie Ruthie and Sophie is Kalina's dog :-) 

Our 3 month baby

Joy has been calling Simon a "tiny baby" a lot recently. She is probably doing this because she is constantly trying to sit on him or give him full body hugs and we tell her she can't because he is a "tiny baby". Well this tiny baby is now three months!

Who he looks like:  Simon is a mix of Brad and I, but we still think he favors my side of the family and Joy favors Brad's side of the family. His eyes are slowly loosing their grayness and there is brown that is starting to form around the pupil. I think we have a brown eyed boy on our hands. His arms and legs are LONG! He fits 3-6 months in the limbs but not the body. Poor guy...his daddy knows just how he feels.

What Simon is doing:

-sleeping
-eating
-pooping
-awake for 1-2 hours or so each sleep, eat, wake cycle
-generally being VERY cute
-smiling
-holding up his head
-playing on the baby gym and grabbing for the toys

Eats: He is a great nurser and nurses every two-three hours, stretching to 6-7 in the night.

Sleeps:
Night: Simon still likes to be swaddled and goes to bed between 6:30-8:00. He will give me a 6-8 hour stretch and then wants to eat every 3-4 hours waking up for the day between 7-8am.

Naps: He takes roughly 4 naps a day. He loves to sleep in the carrier but isn't a fan of napping in his crib anymore. He sleeps there just fine at night. He prefers his bouncy seat or being carried. I usually try to have him practice one nap a day and he may sleep for 30 minutes......some days I just can't handle him crying and give up and let him sleep in the carrier. This too shall pass. His favorite thing to do is nap while nursing....I need to get this boy hooked on a pacifier....but he hates it so far

Weighs:
 inches long 

Likes: bath time(he kicks his legs the whole time)

eating, being held, smiling at us, the carrier (I even figured out how to nurse him in there...so with his on the go sister he doesn't miss a meal!), the bouncy seat. He is such a content little guy.



Dislikes: the pacifier, taking a bottle (so he spends a lot of time with mommy!)

Favorite event: Going to his first Halloween party dressed as a "crab" and going to the beach for the first time (although he slept through both events)

Joy is 21 months

I really should have had a child born at the beginning and end of the month, instead of days apart, because it makes getting their monthly blog updates a little hard for me.

What Joy is doing 

• Joy is talking up a storm!  
• Joy loves to pretend to feed all her animals when she eats
• She can clean up toys
• Is a bit shy around strangers these days. She will say "Mommy shy up" which is very cute.
• Is great at using a spoon to eat. 
• Loves to drink her food....what a messy process

• Total teeth: 16! i teeth are in....now on to the 2 year old molars. Does this ever end??
  
  

What Joy is saying: Joy is constantly saying "What's that?" She talks in three word sentences and has fixed so many words that just last month she was saying wrong! She can say Jack, truck, Joy and drink all right now. She still says some really funny things!

• Stabut = stand up
• jubog= good job 
• crocodada= crocodile 
• She always says to Simon when he wakes up "Good morning sunshine!" 
• Daddy rocks (it is on one of Simon's onesies and she think that all words on shirts say "Daddy Rocks" 

 Eats: 

• Loves: Our girl loves to eat: We had to put a new baby lock on the fridge because she outsmarted the old one. She has discovered there are dates in the fridge and will sit in front of the fridge demanding a date. She gets about one a day...and when I give it to her she says "no more" ha. 
• Dairy Free: She eats a lot of different food than us because of this issue.
• Still gives us trouble: Joy has been loving having bananas again but I think we need to take a break for a bit as it is giving her some trouble. 

Sleeps:

•  Night time: 7pm-between 6-7am. It is the weirdest thing.  She has been waking up a lot in the night and not wanting to go to bed.This morning she thought 5am was time to wake up.  We have been praying over her a lot recently for bad dreams and the last few days have been better. 
• Naps: One afternoon nap (2 hours-if I'm lucky 2.5 hours). 

Weighs:

Likes:

* Helping mommy in the kitchen...she brings the stool and wants to watch. I sometimes have to hide the stool! (and yes int he picture she has a hair tie in...it was hard to get in and I had to redo it three times....then she forgot about it). 

*Joy was an Olympic swimmer for Halloween. Good thing it was a free costume because keeping it on was IMPOSSIBLE.  But she was cute for the 2 seconds she kept it all on.

* She is never without bear. I washed him a few days ago and she was SO sad.

* Books. I started hiding some of her books and bringing them out when we need some new entertainment but she found where I hid my stash! This girl is too smart for this mamma!

*Playgrounds! We got to at least 5 in any given week.

* Loves going to see her friends or maybe I should say "eating her friend's snacks" ha
*Going to the liboy "library" although she recently has just wanted to run around the library like a wild child...which the library frowns upon :-)

Is learning.....
* not scream when she is upset, but to tell us what is the matter.
*not to hit her little brother or mommy/daddy. 

Dislikes: Big crowds of people and will say she "mommy shy"

Favorite event: Going to the beach! Man that girl has a thing for large bodies and water and has NO FEAR. Swimming lessons will have to be sooner than later!

Baby Audrey

Yesterday Simon and I joined my friends for a baby shower for Joanna and baby Audrey. Simon is 6 weeks older than Audrey and was a good sport about going despite being the only boy there :) we ate yummy food, played some fun games and had fun chatting without our toddlers/young children pulling us away from conversations. 

Wetland park

We went on a fun outing with friends to The wetlands park this week. Joy had a blast and did a great job walking the whole  way (except for a few min at the end where she was tired). She was fascinated with the croc and two days later is still talking about it! 

Watching the croc hoping she will move. Joy kept yelling wake up!

Looking at ants...

 Yes I am nursing Simon in the carrier and walking. I also changed a poopy diaper while nursing the same way. I didn't bring a stroller and you see all the boardwalks with no fences.... I had no choice joy would have gone for a swim! I've become more adaptable out of necessity. 

Simon taking a nap and joy is at least looking at the camera

 Can I swim mom??

Beach morning

We drove to a beach close to our house and had a fun morning. Thankfully we brought an extra set of clothes for Joy because she was soaked! She loved the water, collecting shells and throwing  rocks into the water. She did not like the feel of the sand on her hands and kept saying "messy" and wanting us to wipe her hands off! Simon slept through the whole fun morning and woke up just in time for lunch.