18 Month Miss Peach

Stats: 

Weight:  25 lbs, 6 oz (82%)

 Height:  33.5 inches (91%)

Head:  47.8 (86%)

Diapers:  Size 4

Clothes:  Mostly 18-24 months, but anything new I buy 2T

Teeth:  All four pointers broke through about the same time recently, so she has a mouthful!

Overall:  As sweet as ever, but showing signs of the terrible two's looming around the corner

Vocals:  Miss Peach is quite vocal.  She attempts to say just about everything.  She has mastered, "Why?" even though she doesn't understand what she is asking.  She mimics everything her brother says and does - his mood, his demeanor, everything.  I hear, "Hold me, Mom" probably 800 times a day between her and her brother.  Those may be Ben's first words… She has started to say, "I love you, Mom" and it makes me so happy :)

Fighter:  She is starting to fight back with Rudy.  She pinches, hits, and has even taken a bite.  Some times she is even the instigator.  John and I break up a lot of fights!  Sometimes they play, "Come get me!" and they chase each other, tackle, tickle, etc.  It so fun seeing them play together or just let them go off to play… BUT it usually ends in one taking things too far and the other mad or crying (not usually real tears, of course).

Lover:  She loves her kisses and hugs.  She often says, "Hug, too" after giving a smooch.  She smothers Ben with kisses.  

Activities:  She couldn't care less about shows, but she does play well with toys and books.  She is non-stop.  Her little run is so incredibly adorable.  She runs everywhere she goes.  The little pitter patter of her feet makes me smile every time I hear it.   

Sleep:  She is so easy to get down for naps and bed.  She doesn't even want to be rocked, even though I try to get her to let me most nights (she's still my little baby girl after all…).  She plays a bit before nodding off.  When she wakes up, she sometimes just hangs out for a bit until she calls out for me.

Mama's girl:  The "phase" I talked about at 15 months still hasn't passed…

Eats:  She's a very good eater and will give just about anything a try.  She loves fruit snacks!  

Hair:  Her hair is really growing and lightening up.  She has the cutest little curls in the back 

One of my bestest friends is getting married and Avery and I were lucky enough to get to join on her dress hunt… Avery was quick to take the stage when Jamie was back changing...

Such a pretty girl...

A moment of sibling love… Avery and Rudy holding hands in the car…I say moment because the next moment one of them was mad that the other was touching them...

Our little Sporty Spice...

Playing a little game of catch with her brother...

and getting creative with play-doh

One Month Old Baby Ben

Stats:

Weight:  11 lbs, 14 oz (70%)

Height:  24 inches (99%)

Head:  38.6 (62%)

Diapers:  Just moved into Size 1

Clothes:  Just moved into 0-3 months, but is quickly filling them out!

Overall:  A dream baby!

Ben's first monthly photo shoot, along with Avery, who loves giving Ben love :)

Ben was hanging on the floor when Avery came up with her baby, placed her next to Ben and covered her up with a blanket, just like Ben.

Ben seems to be following in Rudy's show-loving footsteps.  He sits so content and "watches" shows

I can't express how much I LOVE having a newborn to snuggle.  There is nothing better than a baby falling asleep on your chest.  It takes my breath away sometimes how much I love it.  

Ben is just the sweetest, best baby.  He rarely fusses.  And if he does it lasts for 30 seconds - usually he needs fed or a quick snuggle to get to sleep.  Putting him to sleep is a breeze... he even fell asleep on the doctor's exam table during his check-up.  He eats pretty regularly.  He isn't on a schedule, per se, but he eats just about every 3 hours, give or take 30 minutes usually.  It just varies which times of the day based on how long he sleeps at night.  Some nights he sleeps as long as 6 hours in a row!  And then he's up to eat and right back to sleep.  I don't know how we got so lucky, but we are so thankful!

Ben is already racking up some first's… his first boo-boo (owie?  all these words look funny in print, yet we use them all the time!).  Ben was laying on the floor in the playroom, right in Rufus' path.  Rufus jumped off the couch in a hurry, running for the door, and his paw got my poor baby.  Ben (and Rufus!) is so lucky he just missed his eye.  I was sitting right there, but Rufus is quick and spastic, and I wasn't able to get him away in time :( 

And Ben graduated to the pack-n-play in our room.  He's growing so fast!  

Time can slow down now… 

Random Act of Kindness Recipient

The day of the Belmont race John and I took an hour or so and escaped to Off Track Betting to make a few bets and enjoy an adult beverage together (thanks, Gran!).  I was hopeful we were gearing up to see a Triple Crown winner… one day… 

Anyway, I'm standing in line to make a bet and the man in front of me turns around, with a handful of tickets, and says, "Random act of kindness.  I usually do this at the gas station with lotto tickets but this is more fun" and proceeds to pass them out to those around him.  I was a lucky recipient!  A very lucky recipient actually because my ticket was a winning ticket!  

Now it's my turn to pay it forward and come up with a clever way to make someone else's day!

AND a follow up to this… 

Today I was at the store with all three kids by myself.  No big deal, it is what it is (which is challenging!).  Checking out is always an ordeal.  Getting past all the snacks, who gets to "pay" is a big fight and then a meltdown usually comes from one of them because the cart isn't moving.  As I leave, I usually apologize to whoever is working and the person behind me.  The lady behind me today said, "Oh, don't worry about it!  I have two kids; I know how it is."  That's always a relief.  I'm walking to the car, almost there, when I hear someone yelling to me.  The same nice lady comes running up saying I left some of my bags in the store.  She was really being nice because I left ALL of my bags in the store, and she knew it.  I thanked her and she says, "I've done it before!  I told them I'm run after you because the last thing I'd want to do is get all my kids loaded up only to have to unload them to go back in!"  Again, being so nice.  She could have made me feel bad or like a brainless mom, but instead she claimed to have done the same (which who knows if she really had?).  As I was getting the kids in (on my second trip out), I saw the lady and thanked her again.  She said, "It's nothing!  And hey, hopefully this is the worst part of your day!"  

It is so refreshing to cross paths with such nice people!  Wouldn't it be great if everyone was always this nice to each other?  

Month of Parties!

It seems June is a popular time to have a birthday!  We have had lots of reasons to celebrate in a short amount of time!

Tyler's outdoor water-fun birthday party

JP's sports-themed birthday party at West Campus (he just keeps moving up in Rudy's book)

Dominic's race car birthday party

An evening with the Davlin's, just because

Isabela's birthday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Cicci's

Nolan's birthday party, full of water fun and an indoor picnic

It is so nice having such great friends with kids our kids' ages to get together with!  We really are so lucky.  Rudy does so well around "his friends" and really looks forward to any time we get with them.  Sure it can be hectic and chaotic at times, but it's all worth it!  And yes, all this with a newborn that joined in on all the fun festivities! 

And thought I'd throw in a few pictures of the outdoor progress… amongst all the partying, we have been trying to get the outside project done, too.  It's been quite a challenge for a few reasons: 1) it rains a lot lately, but not full rainy days - days of 30% chances of rain and maybe a rain shower for a couple hours here or there; just enough that we can't plan on doing work or risk starting something because it might rain.  And what's frustrating even more are the days when we don't do anything and it's a perfectly sunny day all day.. 2) the rain has been a big factor in a couple pieces - we need to seal the concrete but in order to do so John has to power wash it, have time for it to dry, then a good clear day to apply the sealer and time for it to dry… all without any rain.  Mix in work days and it has been difficult to find the time!  He did get the courtyard done, I'll post pictures of that soon.  3) A big reason we did the new concrete was because of the water issues we had and concerns with flooding.  The slopes of everything were going towards our house, but now they go away from our house.  We had to raise the driveway up several inches in some areas, which left us with new problem areas.  We need to raise our dirt or what will be grass up several inches to match the concrete so that the water runs off of it, instead of getting stopped by it, creating Lake Cicci.  We were going to just bring in a bunch of dirt and put it down, but decided we better get someone to come in and grade it (grate it?) so we make sure it is done right, considering the problems we could have - both in the front and in the side yard.  This has all slowed down our landscaping plans.  We did get the courtyard plants in, and I'll share pictures of that soon as it is almost all the way done (gasp).  One day everything be done and we will be bored., right?!  (or John will want to move..)

Here are a few pictures of the front concrete, unsealed, with the rock John spread.
View from the street, looking down the left side of the house    

View from the street, looking towards the house

View from our neighbors driveway, looking into the carport

A close up view of the "sidewalk" we put in from the edge of the driveway to the courtyard gate, which extends all the way to the backyard

View from the back of the driveway, looking towards the street

And as of yesterday, the concrete is all sealed (with 2 coats even!) and the concrete project is DONE!! Pictures coming soon… 

"Happy, Dad!"

John's second shift back at work since Ben was born happened to fall on his birthday… unfortunately.  But that didn't stop us from celebrating Dad!

Ben put on some special fire man pajamas for his first trip to the fire house

Rudy and Avery were able to go "way high!" - their favorite thing to do now when visiting Dad

Avery waits at the ladder for her turn

Ben was not participating in this event quite yet… 

And Rudy found the bat in the garage, his next favorite thing to do when visiting Dad is play ball (imagine that)

Proud Dad

I had intended to pick up a cake on our way there, but John mentioned wanting a homemade ice cream cake.  It was the least I could do!   What did people do before the internet??  I was able to find a recipe for a delicious peanut butter ice cream brownie reese's snickers ice cream cake (what a name, huh?)… it was surprisingly easy to make, took about 30 minutes and tasted absolutely amazing, if I do say so myself :) 

The kids got to eat dinner with "the guys," as Rudy says, and Rudy especially thought it was very cool.  Then time for dessert and signing to Dad...

Look very closely at close-ups of both of these pictures...

Notice anything extra that Rudy contributes to the cake??  We didn't notice until looking at pictures later… considering no one turned down a piece and the cake got eaten entirely, someone got a little extra special ingredient...

I was going to buy John shoes for his birthday, but couldn't settle on a pair and while looking got sidetracked … and Avery ended up with a pair of adorable cowboy boots for the fall :) Happy, Dad!

When John got home the next morning he was surprised to see all the decorating the kids and I did the night before (and thank goodness Gran was around to help with the kids while all this birthday prepping was going on - especially during the cake making!).

The morning started with a little dance party and balloon throwing...

presents...

and a breakfast casserole… for lunch… I also found a new recipe for cooking breakfast casserole in a crockpot the night before so you "awake to the smell of breakfast" - how beautiful… if you remember to start the crockpot after you put in all the ingredients!  (Still not quite back on my a-game yet, and at this point, not sure if I will be for another 18 or so years)

We spent the day celebrating Dad and hanging out as a family.  We had cookies and ice cream for dessert and were able to sing to Dad again… lots of "Happy, Dad!"'s 

A little lovin' for Ben before they leave the table (and Avery does everything Rudy does)...

The partying didn't stop there!  We celebrated the next night with Grandma and Grandpa Cicci with more cookie cake! (John isn't a big fan of traditional cake if anyone had noticed)

Rudy was happy to serve up his "cake"

A little video footage, including Avery warming up on our way to see Dad 

John had quite a week of celebrating -- his birthday, our anniversary, and Father's Day all fall in the same week!

The kids making a project for Dad and their Papa's -- popsicle stick frames with pictures of themselves.  Rudy and Avery were happy to make Ben's for him

I ventured out to Lowe's one day when John was gone to get him a gift card - he only wanted new tools, so off we went.  Lowe's is not on my approved list of go-to alone places with 3 kids (as it doesn't have carts big enough for all three kids to fit in) and I forgot the Baby Bjorn carrier… which meant one kid had to be allowed to run free.  Rudy was good, though, and rode on the back of the cart.  And thank goodness we were just running in to the register and right back out, because even that was work!

Father's Day morning the kids were so happy to play with Dad.  They love climbing and jumping on him, getting thrown in the air by him… being crazy basically… all things that are pretty exclusive to activity with Dad

Rudy running and laughing hysterically...

…because Dad and Avery were chasing right behind!

We went to visit Papa Ray and wish him a Happy Father's Day for lunch and a little relaxing for John with the best sleep partner… 

And after naps we went to Gran and Papa's for dinner and swimming at the Kramp's.  John was such a good sport - the kids were so happy to get to go swimming - but when we got there, the water was FREEZING… didn't stop John, though.  He dove right in!  Papa joined waste deep, which was pretty brave, too!

Avery wanted to jump in a few times, but was happy to sit with me on the edge with our toes in the water and play ball with Riley in the water or splash Papa.  Rudy on the other hand didn't want to stop jumping and was getting more and more brave by the minute.  He was also practicing his swimming moves from swim lessons awhile back.  All while Ben hung out pool side with Gran :)

Avery chopping her corn… she loves corn on the cobb!  Wonder where she got that from?? :)