I Love Grandpa

Don't his arms look enormous?! Yes I straightened out his poor neck after I took the picture... :)

Sunday's best

Teenage Birthday/Slumber Party!

To kick off my small group this fall, Rachel and I planned a girls night. In true slumber party style, Rachel put toothpaste on a few blemishes and I had my hair in a side pony! Everyone brought their yearbooks and old pictures, we had a themed dinner (pizza, duh!), and we watched a chick flick (13 Going on 30). We had a blast thinking back to our younger days (which we decided was different for everyone...). MASH was a hit of the night and unfortunately I will live in an apartment, work as a teacher and retire in Wyoming with one grandchild!

Happy Birthday Mike

Sarah was around to help us celebrate Mike's 20th birthday. We had philly sandwiches and chocolate cake! Check out the jeans/pajama pants he got from Grandma Maloney! Sam's debating whether or not he's allowed to wear them when she's around...

"He eat?"

Whenever I nurse Alexander, Elizabeth asks me if "he eat?" Every now and then I catch her imitating me with her baby! It's adorable.

Aunt Sarah!

We were thrilled to have Sarah visit us for a few days! Both of the kids love her and she just might be as good at multi-tasking as me! :) We definitely put her to the test. (A certain stair incident comes to mind... )

While she was here we took a trip to Sioux City which was a ton of fun. Elizabeth behaved better than she ever has and Alexander hardly made a peep. Thanks for visiting Sarah!

Push-ups!

Cooking or decorating?

Elizabeth had a blast making spaghetti sauce with me. We just have to learn how to stir gently ... instead of spraying tomato sauce all over the kitchen and us!!

Tummy time

Watermelon Carnival

Every September, our church holds a free Watermelon Carnival. They have lots of games and activities, a blow-up obstacle courses, a jump house, music, and of course watermelon! Elizabeth wouldn't let Andrew leave the jump house for over a half hour but I guess he really enjoyed it. Mike and Sam showed up and hung out with me for the afternoon. We all had a great time!

Big Sister Duties

Now, Elizabeth just wouldn't be a good big sister if she didn't help her brother accessorize, right?

Cute and tiny outfits

Ahh, the awkward newborn pictures! I just love newborn clothes and am really loving little boy clothes! Alexander is actually a really good baby. He seems to get an upset stomach quite often but calms fairly easily which at 3am I'm very thankful for! I told Andrew the other day that with Elizabeth it was very easy to become frustrated with her crying because most of the time it was unexplained (and often!) but with Alexander, he usually either needs to burp, poop, or just be held - which I can handle!

Bath tub party!

Alexander surprises me during bath time because he loves it so much! (Elizabeth screamed during every bath for the first three months!) He especially likes having the water run over his head. (One might wonder how I know a three week old enjoys a bath and my only answer is, well, after spending every hour - minus 3-4 at night - of the last three weeks together, I'm slowly understanding him! :) Of course Elizabeth couldn't be left out with bath pictures...

New Wheels!

Andrew has talked about getting Elizabeth a bike and thanks to our friends, she finally has one! She is pretty good at steering and getting better at pedaling but just don't ask her to do them both at once! She loves talking about her new bike and even likes to just sit on it! She's also pretty proud of the fun seat cover her Grandpa Maloney bought her!

What a ham!

Prentis Park

Everyone enjoyed the fresh air on our trip to Prentis Park. At first we had issues because Elizabeth refused to share her "walk" (ie: stroller) with the baby. The solution (which was reached after a complete melt-down and time-out...) was to pull out the running stroller for Elizabeth and keep the other stroller for Alexander. Oh, the transition to being a big sister is rough!

Glasses?

Umm...what can I say?

Hair clips for Elizabeth?

Anyone who knows Elizabeth knows that since her first little buds of hair came in she has refused to let me or anyone else do her hair! We're slowly making headway and on this day Elizabeth saw me putting bobby-pins in my hair and decided she needed bobby-pins too. I happily complied - except because she won't let me do her hair often, I'm a little out of practice! Oh well - maybe someday she'll get more into hair clips!

Special Moments

When Alexander was born my Mom was able to come out right away. The special part was that my brother was moving back to Vermillion for the school year that same weekend which meant my Dad could ride with him to visit us! We had a great time and were very thankful for their help - not only with Alexander but also making Elizabeth feel extra special. Thanks Mom & Dad!

Play time with Dad!

Elizabeth adores her Dad (pretty sure the feeling's mutual!) and it is so much fun watching them play together! Sometimes Andrew wraps her up in a blanket and then unrolls her as fast as she can handle...check out the pictures. She loves it! The first picture is of Andrew and Elizabeth "shhh'ing" Alexander because he was crying.

There's a new baby in the house...

Of course, with a new baby comes new routines, less sleep, and a little sibling jealousy. Elizabeth loves to give Alexander kisses and hugs and will gladly help out by fetching a diaper or pacifier. However, she has started throwing huge fits whenever Mom or Dad gives Alexander too much attention. She has even started telling me, "Baby, bye-bye. Baby, bye-bye...?" At Alexander's doctors appointment she chimed in right on cue when Dr. Olson asked about sibling rivalry with a huge tantrum.

Otherwise, Alexander is fitting in wonderfully at our place. So far I've managed to stay sane (okay, I know it's only been a week so keep me in your prayers for the next couple weeks :). Alexander sleeps fairly good at night and only throws a few fits during the day. Each day his dimple gets bigger and we all fall in love with him all over again!