Shutterfly Christmas Cards

Shutterfly has a great Christmas card promotion! You can get 50 free cards just for posting a blog entry about them! I have used Shutterfly for prints before and it is so easy to use and you get great prints! We've always sent out a photo Christmas card and accompanied it with a letter telling about our year for out of town friends and family. I came across this promotion online and have seen a couple of friends' blog entries about it already, so I decided to try it out - it's worth the 50 free cards, right??



There are so many styles to choose from. Go here to check out their many cards. I'm thinking I want one that allows for multiple photos like this one or this one. We got some great pictures of the boys over Thanksgiving and a few family photos too, with all of the choices for cards I know I can find a great one to use!! I really haven't looked through them much yet though, and there are SO many options! There are other great ideas for personalized gifts as well, such as their calenders you can find here. Anyway, especially if you send out photo cards anyway, you should definitely check it out... it's quick and easy and free!!! If you have a blog, go here to get your free cards!

New Things: Sippy Cup, Teeth, and Better Sleep!

First a picture of my boys during one of my favorite times of the week: Saturday mornings! I love our Saturday lazy morning routine: jammies, couch, cartoons, coffee, snuggles, breakfast, and all four of us just relaxing! It's the next best thing to sleeping in, right? ;)


We gave Nathan a sippy cup about a week ago! I just put a little apple juice and mostly water in the cup and have been letting him experiment a little with it. He loves it! Although, I don't think he really gets much out of it ;) I remember it taking Alex a long time to figure it out though, so I figure just letting him play with it once a day for 15 minutes or so for now will help him learn!

Alex enjoyed it as much as Nathan did! I know I say it all the time, but I love how much they enjoy each other already! :)

Such sweet boys.

The other really fun thing about the last week or so is that Nathan has these two little teeth on the bottom. They are SO cute! And Nathan plays with them all the time. He puts his fingers in there and you can tell he knows there's something new about his mouth! I love watching him discover new things. He's also started to like the sound of his own laugh. He'll get going and start "fake laughing" just because he likes the sound of it... it's hilarious :)

On another note, his sleeping has been pretty sporadic lately. He'll sleep straight through the night for a couple of nights without waking or fussing or anything... then the next night he'll be up 1-3 times fussing. I'll let him cry for a few minutes and then have usually been going in to give him his passy, which usually works. Every now and then he'll fuss a few minutes and go back to sleep. I haven't been feeding him through the night anymore and he's been doing great with that :) His naps are getting better and better... he has good nap days and cat nap days. On his good nap days he takes two 1 1/2-2 hr naps and usually a short 10-20 cat nap in between (often in the car). On his "cat nap" days he takes 4 naps ranging from 35min-1 hr ish. He's also gotten to the age where he wants to nap in his crib. He'll still cat nap in the car, but won't really sleep "on the go" unless he's in the car anymore (no more rocking him to sleep in my arms or in the carseat :( ) Occasionally on his cat nap days I can still take naps with him on the couch, although it's a little sad that he's outgrowing this too.

Oh and I also wanted to mention how cute it is the way that Nathan reaches for me! When he wants to be picked up he flaps his little arms and legs and reaches them toward me (accompanied with a big ear-to-ear smile and sometimes even a giggle!) It is so sweet, and of course nearly impossible to resist :) It does make me a little sad in the middle of the night when he'll occasionally do this when I go in to just give him his passy and make him go back to sleep... he'll sometimes protest in dissappointment. It usually lasts only a second though and he's back asleep :)

Little Bookworm

So it's probably the teacher in me, but I am so thrilled with Alex's love for books and reading! It was always perplexing to me how kids can enter kindergarten having not been introduced to stories and not having access to many books at home. Reading is such a part of our day, everyday. I would say on an average day Alex reads at least 8-12 books! He LOVES to read! It has never been something that we forced on him, he has just always loved it! We always read two books before nap and two before bed, but he chooses to read and asks to be read to many other times throughout the day! He rarely doesn't sit through the entire story (even when it is long) and then when it's over, he often asks to you to read it to him again. I hope that this is something that he enjoys forever and that this is just the beginning of his love for books :)


I find him like this often... snuggled up on his bed with a pile of books that he's planning to read :) (His sheets were inthe wash in the bottom picture lol)



His current favorites are the holiday books (we just put away the Halloween books and the Thanksgiving books have been out a while... then yesterday I decided to pull out the Christmas ones!) He also loves Dr. Suess books and train books a lot! When we go to the library he always has requests of what kinds of books he wants me to find (this makes it tricky...) He'll say "Today I want train books!" or "I want a rocket book today!" haha... it's not always easy to find what he's decided he wants ;)

I am always impressed at how much he actually understands what I'm reading to him... I'll stop and ask him questions about what's going on and most of the time he can tell me! We're working on our predicting skills, it's cute to hear what he "thinks might happen". The other thing he's started doing is making sure I read all the words to him... if I try to skip the title page or dedication page and tell him the story starts on the next page, he'll say "No, look mommy there's words!" I love it! :) I love that even though I left a job that I really love (teaching), I still have the opportunity to do it every day at home with my own kids!

My Backseat Driver

I know I've said it before, but Alex is quite the little chatterbox! I love talking to him in the car... he is NON-STOP! He loves the car ride - so much for little boys to look at and talk about.

Need the PPS mommy? (GPS)
A 'ment truck!
A gas truck!
A city bus! Daddy rides a city bus! Daddy workin... makin moneys... for my piggy bank!
look mommy! Lots of dirt... people workin... a DIGGER! Daddy workin there?
What's that?
That the highway?
We go on the highway? Too many traffic... not go that way.
A BUS!!! School bus!
LOOK! a fire truck! it noisy.
Let's go that way... too many traffic!
Turn left! 2 more miles mommy... go 2 more miles.
Look! That's silly! (referring to a truck with ladders on top or something else that is "silly" to a 2 year old!)
A ambulance! Somebody got hurt mommy? It helping?
STOP MOMMY! Red light!
I want go on a bridge mommy. We going on a bridge?
Look mommy, a gas station! Need more gas? Me want more gas!
Turn left! Turn right!
Make a wrong turn? Need a U-Turn? Turn around mommy?
Wow! Be careful! Slow down!
I want a tree tunnel mommy... we go there mommy? (there's a place with lots of trees where it almost feels like a tunnel, he loves it!)
Where we going?
Me want fuit nacks! (fruit snacks) Pleeease mommy?
Wow! Big truck mommy, LOOK! What's in there? Where he going?
A SCHOOL BUS!!! Four of them!! Takin kids to school?
Mommy, a TRAIN!!! Choo Choo!! (when he hears the train whistle... SO excited every time!)
Where the train station? Me see a train? Daddy on the train? (he LOVES passing the train station!)
GREEN LIGHT!
Nafan looking at me!!! Aww, so cute! Hi Nay Nay! He likes me mommy!!
What's that truck? Where he going?
Going my new house mommy? (yes, he STILL says "new" house!)
Two more hours?
Turn right! Go four miles.
Look, a dump truck! Dirt in there? He workin? Where he going?

And I could go on and on... he loves all kinds of trucks and cars, so he LOVES riding in the car! He sure knows how to talk your ear off! It's so fun to listen to him figure things out and put ideas together :)

The cutest kids...

Isn't it funny how EVERY parent thinks (REALLY thinks) that their own kids are the absolute cutest kids? I don't think it's something you really understand until you have your own. The way we love our kids is such a special kind of love. No matter how many other kids we see or spend time with, ours are always the cutest, silliest, smartest, and most loveable! Their hugs and kisses are priceless, you could snuggle all day with them, and they can make you smile and laugh so easily! Anyway, this post is just about my cute kids :) It is extremely random and has been hodge podged together over the past 3 or 4 days when I've had a few extra minutes... so it doesn't flow AT ALL, but here it is for memory's sake :)

*Nathan weighed in at 15lbs 12oz at his 6 month appointment last week! He's in the 17th percentile for weight... which really surprised me since last time he was in the 40th (or so I was told). My doctor this time said though it looks like last time he was really in the 30-35th or so when she looked at it again. His height is 26cm (32%) and his head circumference is in the 27th percent. This all surprised me just a little since he loves his food sooo much so far and just seems bigger than Alex was to me. He's just adorable when it comes to eating. He almost always finishes off whatever we offer him and he gets SO excited! I love it!

*I love Nathan's "sleepy signal" (can't believe I've never mentioned it before!) He rubs his eyes like clockwork when he is ready for a nap. It is so sweet :)

*Nathan is cutting 3 teeth right now! His bottom front left tooth is poking through and the right one next to it is trying. The one on top is still starting to peek a bit, but hasn't cut through yet. He is SUPER fussy with teething... was up several times again last night :( (We're still having sleep issues... finally let him cry it out for a while last week. It was great, took 20 minutes and he was OUT! And then slept all night for 3 nights in a row, for 11-12 hrs each night! Then he got his shots, started teething, and we had a time change. And now it feels like we're back to square one. Oh well... once we get through the teething it looks like we'll have to cry it out again.)

*Correction (since I started this post yesterday!) Nathan slept through the night again last night!! YAY! 7pm-6am :)

*Nathan is such a smiley, giggly boy! Over the past week and a half or so he is laughing out loud regularily! He has laughed before, but he's doing it throughout the day, every day now. I LOVE THIS!! Gary gets a little jealous because he still only gets the big belly laugh when he tickles Nathan... but mommy can get it just by talking and playing with him :)

Alex's language just cracks me up lately! Here are some cute sayings/stories from the past few days:

*He says "Too many room!!" (not enough room) all the time... when things are in his way, or if you're in his spot, etc.

*He mixes up miles, pounds, hours, dollars, cents, minutes, etc. It's pretty cute :)

*As he was waiting eagerly by the door to leave for church on Sunday, he says "let's DO this!" He'll also say "Let's rock n roll!" when he's waiting for everyone, ready to get out the door

*I find him mimicking things that I say a lot... "That's so silly!" "Oh my goodness!" "That's so nice" "Aww... so cute!"

*Gary was getting ready the other day and picked out a plain gray sweater... Alex says to him "That's not cute daddy..."

*Alex is so excited for the holidays already. We got two toy ad magazines in the mail yesterday from Target and Wal-Mart. Alex spent THE ENTIRE DAY looking through them over and over, talking about each toy and what he thought about it... "that's pretty cool" "this one's a little weird" "i like this one!" "I want that for MY kismis" "that not berry cool..." This morning we spent the morning shopping for OTHER kids for Christmas to put together Christmas shoeboxes for kids in need and for a birthday present for another kid. I think we'll spend more time doing that again. I don't want him to think Christmas is all about him and presents!

Anyway, I could go on and on... but seeing that I started this post a couple of days ago and have already spent three days writing this, I better just post it now even though I'm not really done, it's just time to go! haha.

6 Months!

Nathan turned 6 months old on Saturday! I can't believe we've had our little guy for half a year already! Here is what he's doing now:

~We started solids this month! He's eating rice cereal, apples, and sweet potatoes right now. His main meal of the day is dinner... but I have started doing breakfast over the past few days (with the fruit and a smaller amount of cereal) and yeserday he didn't eat much of that, so I gave him "lunch" too. The new things I plan to make and introduce this week are butternut squash and pears! (I'm giving making my own babyfood a shot this time around - it has been very easy so far, and so much cheaper!)

~He's nursing 5 times a day: when he wakes up, 9:30, 12:30, 3:30, and 7:30 (solids around 5:30) I continue to LOVE this special relationship that we have. I love that I'm the only one that can feed and comfort him in that way, and that we have this special snuggle time every day throughout the day (no matter what else is going on and no matter how busy things get... it forces me to stop and snuggle at least these 5 times!) He is still a super quick nurser... 10 minutes or less normally - talk about efficiency! He's getting more easily distracted if there is a lot going on while he's eating. I can't have Alex jumping around and touching us and being noisy anymore or Nathan gets too busy looking around!

~This month he still woke up through the night... and he's gotten into a bad habit over the past couple of weeks of waking up a couple of times just to snuggle with mommy. I would only feed him once (which he was fine with) but he would just want to be held until falling back asleep. And as much as I love his little snuggles, and as cute as he is... last night we decided we needed to put a stop to this before it gets worse. Mommy was getting extremely tired and it's really just not healthy for anyone! Him waking up 2 or 3 times a night is just not good sleep for anyone - Gary who hears him in the monitor, Alex who shares his room, Mommy who gets up with him, and Nathan who is getting broken sleep! Last night was our first night letting him cry more than a few minutes... and it actually went really well! He cried less than 20 minutes around midnight and slept the rest of the night!

~He's becoming a better napper! Days where we don't leave the house go really well because he doesn't get the car cat nap. It's getting harder to plan our days around feedings/naps as I try to regulate his sleep habits now that he's getting older. I don't want to be confined to the house, but I also want him to fall into a 2 nap schedule! Most days he's taking 3-4 naps still... with 2 that are longer (1-2 hrs) and one or two that are shorter (30 minutes ish). The last couple of days he's taking two really good naps of 1.5 hrs and 2 hrs! He goes down for naps with his paci on his own.

~His favorite things to do are play in his excersaucer, sit on the floor with the boppy behind him and play toys, sit in his bumbo and help mommy in the kitchen, and watch his big brother!

~He is sitting really well... he eventually falls over either from getting tired and tipping backward, or from reaching too far for toys. I don't leave him without the boppy yet.

~He continues to be such a smiley boy! He has the cutest little laugh that is just priceless! (It mostly only comes out when he's being tickled... but mommy made him laugh many times by squealing with him the other day!!)

~He does great when left with strangers still (church nursery twice a week for service and Bible study)... I almost always get a GREAT report that he is so happy, sweet, and smiley! No separation anxiety yet... although he prefers mommy to everyone else :)

~He has beautiful, big, brown eyes and light blonde hair

~He loves playing with his toes, puts EVERYTHING in his mouth, and sucks his hands constantly! He also loves his paci if it's bedtime (we only give it to him at nap and if he needs it at night) He doens't usually want it if it's not time to sleep anyway :)

~He is getting his top, front right tooth! It's been starting to peek through over the past few days and you can feel it with your finger.

~He rolls belly to back pretty much right away EVERY time I put him on his belly (he does not like to play like that!) He's rolled back to belly this month between 5-10 times... he plays on his side a lot and every now and then rolls all the way around.

~He looks so much like his big brother, but is developing a bigger build so far. He is quite the little eater - he LOVES his solids! Eating has ALWAYS been a big challenge with Alex (still is!), but Nathan kicks his little legs and moves his little arms around in excitement when he sees the bowl of food! He almost always finishes the whole thing! He's also messy with it... he often puts his fingers in his mouth or trys to grab the spoon while I feed him!

~He loves bath time! He's getting too big for his baby bath, but isn't ready to sit up in the tub alone yet. I put the baby bath inside the big bath and him and Alex almost always bathe together - they both love to splash and play "together" :)

I'll add his "6 month stats" on Thursday once we go to his appointment!

Halloween!

Alex has been into airplanes, rockets, and space stuff ever since going to the Air and Space Museum a couple of months ago! He has talked about "being an astronaut" many times... so when he saw this costume, he was SO excited!! We were VERY careful though about what we said, because he thought the day that we bought it that he was going to fly us in a rocket to the moon on Halloween. Once we realized that he REALLY thought this costume meant he was an astronaut, we told him over and over again to remember it's for pretend in hopes to avoid dissappointment :) After talking about, reading about, and seeing some cartoons about Halloween, he began to understand the whole trick-or-treating and costumes aspects of Halloween and understood that this was just a costume :)



SO excited, ready for trick-or-treating!! He kept asking if it was "MY Halloween today??" (everything is "MINE" when you're two ;) )




We went trick-or-treating in a neighborhood near the church we've gone to the past couple of months, Alex LOVED it! And everyone thought he was so cute... he filled his entire pumpkin in 20 minutes of trick-or-treating!



He would tell us "it's mommy's turn" or "it's daddy's turn" to hold his hand and take him up to each house :)

After trick-or-treating, we headed to a Harvest Festival at Burke Church! Alex was a little overwhelmed with it at first - there were TONS of games, people, costumes, balloons, food, etc. everywhere! His quiet personality comes out when we get in these types of situations... he's just not quite sure what to do! After a couple of games he started to get the hang of it, warmed up to the crazy atmosphere, and enjoyed playing games and winning prizes :)

After heading home, Alex and Gary spent time checking out all the treats!! Here it is, all sorted out! My favorite Gary comment of the night, said to me (not Alex) "There's 8 kit-kats... so we each get 4!" :) I think he enjoys the candy more than Alex!!

And in backwards order (because oops! I put these pics up first):

We carved pumpkins last week before Halloween! Alex loved it! He has been so into all of the Halloween festivities this year - it makes me that much more excited for the holidays!! He was a little tentative reaching into the pumpkin at first, but once he started, he was ALL about pulling out the slime and seeds!

Alex requested a "goofy" face and kept giggling and saying "oh goodness... that's so silly!" He loves those two sayings right now :) Then he has a little fake giggle that usually follows, too cute!!

Final product! What a fun night!