Thanksgiving 2016

Wow, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted an update on these two little hooligans. Who turn 19 months today. Good grief…where are the days going?

So let’s recap our Thanksgiving 2016. It was a wonderfully relaxing, yet fun-filled 4 days spent at home. Actually, it didn’t start out so great as Fynnlee woke up on Wednesday morning around 1:30 screaming her head off. She proceeded to cry for the next 3 hours so I worked from home and made her a doctor’s appointment. It was an ear infection for my favorite little princess and I’m glad we caught it early.

We were all so excited that Aunt Stephanie was going to spend the holiday with us and she arrived just in time for me to run out and pick up Greyson from daycare.

And she brought new books!!

She had a very captive audience.

The kiddos slept until 5:15 on Thursday morning, which is pretty much unheard of these days. I let Steph and Jerry sleep and got some extra snuggles while we watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (All MMC, all the time)

Thursday morning was spent prepping food for the big Turkey Day dinner. When the kids woke up from their afternoon nap, we loaded them in the car and headed over to my brother’s house for our feast!

Aunt Katie was nice enough to make pasta for the kids (mine wouldn’t touch a single Thanksgiving morsel…not even the corn).

But the grown-ups were treated to all of the fixings.

Aunt Katie and Uncle Kevin made an awesome turkey, fluffy mashed potatoes and brussell sprouts with bacon. I brought the stuffing, spoon cornbread and some shrimp for appetizers.

And Stephanie and Jerry made this amazing Apple pie. It was so delicious!

The kids played and the adults chatted and we wrapped up the night around 7:00. We changed the kids into their jammies before we left. I can’t wait until these cousins can have sleepovers! They are the cutest.

On Friday, Jerry had to work so Stephanie & I (mostly Stephanie…I observed) made Party Mix for the holidays. It’s like homemade Chex Mix with the volume turned WAY up. This stuff is so addicting and is an original family tradition. We even had it at our wedding!

Around 4:00 we drove to Beaver for Light Up Night. We stopped at Mario’s Woodfired Pizzeria  for some dinner first.

The kids had buttered noodles for dinner.

Shocker.

Our friends at The Luckey Agency always host an awesome open house so we stopped by to say hello before walking around the little town a bit.

It was pretty chilly and the kids are still a bit young to stay awake for the parade but we enjoyed getting out for a bit. And it definitely put us in the holiday spirit!

Our fridge broke on Saturday so we spent most of Sunday waiting around for the repair guy. Our stupid refrigerator is only 2 years old! BTW, the repair man said they get the least amount of calls on Frigidaire appliances.

I’ve fallen behind on school time updates so you’re just going to have to settle for a big photo dump.

     

We’re getting our tree this weekend! And the rest of the decorations will go up. We have Frosty, Rudolph, The Grinch and MMC Santa in the DVR. Bring on the holiday spirit!!

Life with Greyson & Fynnlee – 18.2

I’m so happy it’s Friday…I could burst!! We’re doing Christmas card photos on Saturday. And Jerry and I have a brunch date followed by bedroom furniture shopping on Sunday. Yippee!!

So the last two weeks have been kind of lousy. I basically missed all of Halloween, including my Dad’s birthday, because I came down with a stupid case of Shingles. I KNOW! I had been experiencing some pretty horrible pain in my back, right under my left shoulder blade. I thought maybe it was from carrying my sweet babes all over the place (Greyson was going through a “hold me” phase”). And then a few days after that nonsense started, I broke out in a rash all over my chest, under my left arm and the left side of my back. Dr. Jerry diagnosed me when I showed him and Med Express confirmed it was Shingles. Good gravy…it sucked. It basically felt like someone had fired a blow torch on my skin where the lesions were.

My Dad and Anna stayed over one night to help with the kids (it also brings on flu like symptoms and I was wiped.out.) and I worked from home all last week. The good news was I caught it early so the bad part was short lived and now I’m just super itchy,

Then…daylight savings time hit and blew up all the sleep in our house. The kiddos have been off all week. Like way off. Fynnlee is up and ready to go at 3:30. Then Greyson pooped in the tub, which basically ruined bath night for Jerry forever. And then this election. Which was so much UGH…I’m just glad it’s over. And I’m also glad my kids are young and I don’t have to explain this mess to them.

moving on.

Fa la la la la..la la..la LA! Who is excited for the Holidays??? I pulled out the Christmas jammies I bought for the kids on super clearance last year and whoa…I’m just giddy. Like a kid at Christmas. I want to get our tree and hang our stockings and decorate RIGHT NOW! But I will wait until November 26th. I need to figure out how to keep the kiddos away from the tree?? I’m trying to avoid having baby gates that cover every inch of our house!

Onto the kids. That’s why you’re all here, right?  These sleepy faces are thanks to a 4:00 am wake up.

Still sunny and temperate in Western PA. That means there are good times at the playground.

pushing around trucks

banging legos

And dancin!

Indoors, the kids are prepping for the Bright Horizons art show!

They’ve also been having fun with some large scale puzzles.

Dress the clown. (Nothing’s scarier than a clown)

And participating in general goofiness.

He’s the goofiest!! And we need lots of goofy right now.

So Happy Weekend everybody! I’m ready to get over my Shingles/DLS time/Election-nonsense/Poop-in-the-tub hangover and enjoy a couple of  fun days with the fam. Hope you can do the same!

Life with Greyson & Fynnlee – 18 Months

E I G H T E E N months. What the WHAT!

I can’t think of a better way to sum up 18 months than this picture. All the love.

We are definitely not living with babies anymore. These are little people. As our lives with them have been, they are more fun than ever! Really, every month just gets better and better.

Fynnlee
Weight 27lbs 4oz
Height 33 inches
Size 5 diaper
Size 18-24 month clothes. Size 6 shoe

Eat
Pouches, noodles and yogurt are the only thing she’s guaranteed to eat. Most days she likes pasta, strawberries, veggie straws, cereal, cheese, and bread. Sometimes she eats chicken. Sometimes she eats meatballs. Everyday is an adventure in eating.

Sleep
Early to bed, early to rise…that’s Fynnlee FOMO for ya. She puts herself to sleep at 7 and wakes herself up at 4. We make her stay in her crib until at least 4:30 (UGH…seriously girlfriend?). We have hopeful mornings where she sleeps till 5:30 or so. But they are few and far between. And she is AWAKE at 4:30. She is so happy when you pick her up out of her crib. She smiles and giggles and gives me a big morning kiss. It’s hard to be mad at her for waking up so early.  The last few days I’ve heard her around 4:45. She talks to herself, and giggles, and plays with her stuffed animals.

Weekday naps – 2 hours in the afternoon // Weekend naps – 30 minutes in the morning and 1-2 hours in the afternoon.

Play
Favorite things are books. She loves when you read her books but she’ll spend a long time looking through them by herself. She loves kicking around a ball (Jerry is THRILLED). She loves stacking blocks. And she loves anything that lights up.

Communicate
New words seem to come out of her mouth every day. Help, Hello, Yeah, Shoes, More…those are the most common. She babbles non.stop. Fynnlee is getting very good at letting us know what she wants. She also has excellent comprehension for such a little peanut. She’s great at following directions and seems to soak up praise like a sponge. She really is a little pleaser and does not like getting in trouble. A raised voice will bring tears, regardless if it’s directed at her or not.

This little girl is such a love. She definitely has strong opinions and knows what MINE means. But if I ask her to take Greyson his bottle, she gives it to him and then turns for acknowledgement. She eats up praise and is really a good little listener.

Greyson
Weight 25 lbs 8oz
Height 32 inches
Size 5 diaper
18 month clothes, Size 5 shoe

Eat
Greyson is a pretty good eater overall. Pasta, chicken, steamed carrots, pouches, pb&j, english muffins, yogurt, strawberries…all his favorites.

Sleep
Lovebug is such a good sleeper. Left to his own devices, he’ll sleep from 7-6…granted he’s usually up by 5:30. And he’ll take a killer 3 hour nap if he can. This past week he’s had a couple of rough nights due to a virus and teething. But I can’t let that sour his normal stellar sleep.

Weekday naps – 2-2.5 hours in the afternoon // Weekend naps – 30-60 minutes in the morning and 1-2 (or 3) hours in the afternoon.

Play
Greyson also loves books. Unfortunately, he loves ripping apart books. (His sister does too…it’s just not him). They would love the library but I don’t trust that they won’t end up destroying the place! He loves riding toys, the climbing tower at school, blocks, and sorting shapes. And chase…he loves when you chase him!

Communicate
He’s a bit behind his sister in words. He knows about 4-5. He grunts and points a lot. We met with Early Intervention a couple of weeks ago for his tracking appointment and they gave me some suggestions to help him develop his speech. He understands directions and comprehends what you ask him. He has selective hearing when you call him and usually just does what he wants.

Greyson remains the sweetest, happiest, most lovable little bug that has ever lived. He is always laughing, giggling, smiling. He loves giving hugs and Eskimo kisses. And he’s an exceptional snuggler.

I can’t believe I’ve shared my life with the Beans for a year and a half. They have changed me in all the best ways.