Three Month Update

The days/weeks/months keeping flying by and Miss Lucy is officially three months old.  

I still don't want to jinx anything, but Lucy continues to be a great baby - very easygoing and consistently sleeping through the night (10PM-6:30AM).  She loves to talk and be sang to.  She also thinks that Charlie is amazing and will try to find him whenever she hears his voice or sees him running past.  Luckily, the feeling remains mutual as Charlie still kisses his "baby Lucy" multiple times throughout the day and is always interested in her whereabouts.

My maternity leave ended on November 8th and since we didn't win the lottery, I went back to work.  I pretty much spent the last week of my leave soaking in every moment of her sweetness.  I wasn't sure how leaving another baby at daycare would go in comparison to leaving Charlie, but I can tell you that there were still plenty of tears.  In some ways, it was easier leaving Lucy because we know/trust/care about the staff at the daycare.  In other ways, it was much harder because I have a new appreciation for how quickly time passes.  I blinked and Charlie was one and I turned around and he'll be three in a few weeks.  If only life came with a giant pause button...and a fast forward button for those toddler tantrums!

We're excited for a short work/daycare week this week and look forward to spending some time with all of the cousins!

Happy Halloween

Charlie couldn't decide between dressing as "Jake" from "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" and Buzz Lightyear.  At the last minute, Buzz won out.  I think that he was a little surprised to see himself in the mirror in costume. 

All geared up for trick-or-treating.

Not surprising, going door to door and getting candy made trick-or-treating one of his favorite activities of all time.  He's asked to go trick-or-treating every day since Tuesday. 

It was too cold to take Lucy out during actual trick-or-treating, but I couldn't resist putting her in some Halloween attire the last few days...

 and her trick-or-treat "Sweet Pea" costume.  Lucy and I stayed busy passing out candy while BJ and Charlie trolled the neighborhood.  While it was fun to see all of the neighbor kids in their costumes, my favorite was when I was trying to help a little girl (maybe 4 years old) decide what treat she wanted from our basket.  Do you like Skittles?  Do you like Snickers?  The little girl just kept looking from the basket to me when she finally answered, "I'd like to take your baby."  Ha!  Her mom and I were laughing and I had to break the news that she couldn't take Lucy home.

 Finally, Lucy and I were chatting the other day and she was so involved in the conversation that I had to snap a picture of our bright-eyed little girl. 

Visitor Catch-Up

We've been lucky to have visitors during the last week and, as usual, Charlie and Lucy received plenty of love and attention.

Charlie was particularly excited to have the "girls" (Emma, Claire and Hannah) here.  Why wouldn't he be?  He basically tells them what to do and they happily oblige (tickle me, play with me downstairs, chase me...).  I'm afraid that they are setting him up for future disappointment that girls will do exactly what he asks of them. 

 Claire and Lucy before bedtime.

 Emma and Lucy (these photos will always blow my mind because the pictures of me holding a two-month old Emma feel like last year instead of 13 years ago....can you hear "Cat's In the Cradle" in the background?).

 My parents came on Thursday and BJ and I snuck out for a few hours to go to a movie, which was really nice.  One of the few moments when Charlie wasn't running around like a mad man...

 I love the picture below of Lucy "talking" and smiling with my mom.  She may be little, but she has lots to say.  BJ called me during the day and Lucy was "talking" so much that I put BJ on speaker and let the two of them have a little chat.  I'm pretty sure that BJ got one word out for every ten of Lucy's "words"...that may never change.

 Copper won't let me forget about him when I am taking pictures.  The minute I get out the camera he barks excitedly and poses for me until I actually take a picture of him.  I'm not even kidding.

 My parents with little Lucy before they left on Friday morning.

 BJ's parents came on Saturday and BJ and I left again for a few hours to go out to dinner with some of my co-workers.  So between Thursday and Saturday night, I was out of the house without any kids for 5 hours, I feel like I spent an entire week away!    I know for certain that the picture below is the ONLY time while Nana and Papa were here that Charlie stood still.  It's as if his energy level rises when we have company and I'm still trying to figure out if I can somehow steal some of his energy because it is mind-boggling.

 Finally, a picture of Charlie to the rescue.  Whenever he sees Lucy awake without her pacifier, he immediately puts (i.e. shoves) it into her mouth.  We've tried to tell him that she may not want it, but he's pretty adamant that it is his job to ensure that she has it as much as possible.  I guess better the pacifier than one of his toys!

Two Months Old and Pumpkin Patch Visit

Lucy is officially two months old and it makes me a little sad - the days are flying by way too quickly!  We take her for a check-up this Friday, so I'll have her stats then but I can tell that she's getting a little bigger as she finally outgrew the newborn outfits and is filling out the 3 month outfits more. 



 Lucy continues to be a great baby and we are very thankful because the two-year-old has his moments so it's nice to have one quiet and compliant child for the time-being.  She's slept through the night a few times but otherwise will wake up once around 3:30-4:00, drink a bottle and fall right back asleep until 6:30-7:00.  I am not complaining!  As you can tell from these photos, she hasn't lost any hair and her hair continues to have natural volume :).  Lucy has also started smiling and "talking", which is such a fun stage.  With my luck, I hope to capture a picture on camera before she turns 2.

As evidenced by the "I'm so happy I am going to close my eyes and smile" grin, Charlie was excited to pose with his sister.  Seriously - how do we fix that smile before Christmas pictures? 

For all of his spunk and spiritedness, Charlie is so proud of Lucy. Whenever Lucy and I pick him up from daycare he proudly announces "that's my baby sister Lucy" to all of his friends before covering her face with kisses. So far Lucy seems to tolerate the attention but we are constantly telling him that he's kissed her enough and that he needs to give her some space.

 After Lucy's photo shoot, we took the kids to a local pumpkin patch for some fall festivities.

Charlie loved feeding the goats...

 and riding Cocoa...

 ...and going on a hay wagon ride (he refused to take his eyes off of the "farmer" driving the tractor)...

 and riding his way through the corn maze with BJ.

 Lucy was less than impressed but I assured her that it would be more fun for her next year.

 It was a struggle to get Charlie to sit for a photo and the one below is the best we could come up with - off center and it looks like Lucy and her car seat were photoshopped in.  Oh well - I'm sure that next year we'll be even more interesting with a 3 and 1 year old!

First Trip to Cascade

Lucy had her first trip to Cascade last weekend - she came to town an undecided and left a full-fledged Catholic after her baptism on Sunday.  As with most of our trips to Cascade, it was a little bit of a whirlwind, but we were able to see almost everyone that we wanted to.

On Friday night, our good friend Jen and her girls (Lauren, Reese and Paige) came to Cascade to meet Lucy.  I didn't take any pictures but trust me when I say that her girls are adorable and Lucy was pretty fond of Jen.

On Saturday, Charlie and BJ got to spend some time with Max and Jenn and Lucy and I were able to spend some time with my brother Randy and his girls (Anna, Lauren and Julia) at their beautiful new home.  I was apparently giving the silent treatment to my camera because again - no pictures - but trust me when I say that a good time was had by all.

By Saturday night, my camera apologized for whatever it did to upset me and we were speaking again.  I snapped a few pictures of Lucy while at my parent's house.

Lucy and Emma

 Lucy and Hannah

 Lucy and my sister Molly

 Then we retreated to Nana and Papa's house where Lucy enjoyed some cuddle time with Papa.

 Sunday was the big day and let me just say that most eyes were on Charlie during the baptism because he was extra "spirited"...much to my chagrin.  It was as if he knew that I couldn't leave the altar to have a Come to Jesus meeting with him. 

A quick family picture before the festivities began (the extra cheesy smile from Charlie should have tipped me off that he was wound for sound).

 Charlie "helping" to fill the baptismal fountain.

 Charlie "helping" to make the sign of the cross on Lucy's head.  I'm just glad that she left the baptism with both of her eyes.

 An action shot!  Lucy did great and barely flinched during the entire ceremony.

 A quick picture of Lucy with her godparents (my brothers Randy and Marty).  My brother Barney was taking the picture and we wondered aloud if he was too close and if it he was taking it from a bad angle.  I can tell you the answer to both of those queries is YES!!

 Lucy in her baptismal gown.  One of the more special memories from the day will always be Lucy's outfit.  Her baptismal gown was made from Jan's wedding dress and she wore a special cross pendant that my mom received for her First Communion years ago.  I wish that I would have taken a picture of Lucy in her dress with Jan and my mom so we might have to restage some photos when we are back for Thanksgiving!

 Following the baptism it was sheer chaos with Charlie running amok so the post-baptism pictures were short and sweet.  Lucy with her Gehl grandparents.

 Lucy and her Supple grandparents.

Following baptism we had a very fancy pizza and bowling extravaganza to celebrate the day.  I even opened Lucy's wonderful gifts while the bowling festivities were underway but I made sure to announce who the gift was from so that it remained a fancy affair.

Kansas City Road Trip

We decided last week to take a quick weekend road trip to Kansas City so that BJ and Charlie could go to the Chiefs game on Sunday.  Because of our last-minute planning, we weren't able to see as many KC friends as we would have liked, but it was still great to be back in the area for the weekend.

We spent Saturday afternoon/evening in the Crown Center area which is basically kid-central.  There is a children's museum, LegoLand and aquarium and guess what Charlie loved?  The fountains in the middle of it all!

 I guess it is fitting since Kansas City is known as the City of Fountains. 

Charlie also loved eating dinner at Fritz's, which is a diner-type place where your food is delivered on a choo choo train that circles overhead.  I'm no engineer so I still don't know how the food isn't dumped all over your head, but it worked and Charlie loved it.  Here he is patiently (not at all) waiting for our food to arrive.

 The next morning, our friend Gavin picked BJ and Charlie up for the big Chiefs game.  While BJ was still working for the Chiefs, the stadium was undergoing a major renovation and each employee was able to add their names to a brick surrounding the stadium.  Much to his surprise, BJ was able to find our "brick" and snap a quick picture before the game started.  Clearly we have yet to solve the "Charlie - open your eyes" dilemma during photo shoots.

 Lucy and I bummed around and did some shopping while the boys were at the Chiefs game.  It was a pretty ugly game for the Chiefs, but luckily Charlie was more than impressed with the bucket of popcorn that he was handed.  I'm not sure why Gavin is smiling in this picture because I don't think that Charlie shared any of that popcorn with him.  Maybe next time :).

All in all it was a quick trip, but it was a fun little getaway.  I'm not sure who was more excited about the game - BJ or Charlie.  I have a feeling that this will become a tradition and before long (tear, tear), Lucy will be old enough for all four of us to attend.  We better start saving our pennies now because who knows how much popcorn we will have to buy then!

Fall Fun

Our fall fun continued this past week.  My mom came for a quick visit on Monday to see the kids (I forgot to take any pictures) and her opinion regarding Lucy stayed the same - she's a keeper.

Steve and Jan came for a visit last Friday so BJ and I took full advantage and went out for dinner and to a movie.  We went to see "The Master" and it was the strangest movie that either of us had ever seen.  We actually left a little before the movie was over because this mama's time was up but I don't think that another 20 minutes would have provided much more clarity.  The only other movie I remember leaving early was "The Gangs of New York" because Cameron Diaz's attempt at an Irish accent was giving me a headache.

On Saturday, we went to Boone for a "Thomas the Train Day Out".  The weather was a little chilly, but I think that a good time was had by all.  We missed our allotted 10:00 time (I seriously underestimate the time that it takes me to do anything...I wrongly believe that we can all be ready and out the door in 45 minutes, 90 minutes later I am putting my shoes on and BJ is trying to be patient) so we boarded the train pretty early for the 11:00 ride.  The waiting time on the train provided ample opportunity for pictures and shenanigans with Jan's glasses and sunglasses.

If someone could teach the boy how to smile without squeezing his eyes shut, we would be eternally grateful.

Lucy was also in attendance on the train ride but I kept her pretty bundled up so I had to snap a picture of her later that day.  She hasn't lost any hair and it seems as dark as it did the day that she was born, but it has started to become kind of poofy.  I need to start taking a class on how to do hair because my solution is to keep it very short.  I was never able to master the art of curling my bangs in the 90s (hence I had my bangs, just my bangs, permed before my 5th grade picture - God bless my 5th grade self) and I don't ever remember putting my hair in a proper pony tail.  Let's hope that the pixie trend continues through Lucy's childhood years or that BJ has some secret hair-styling skills.

 Finally, brace yourself for the cuteness of Lucy in her "Sweet Pea" outfit that our friend Kathy gave us.  The outfit came with a little hat but Lucy wasn't feeling the hat.  Lucy might just dress as a sweet pea for this Halloween if I can think of a coordinating outfit for Charlie.  I asked him last night if he wanted to dress up like a carrot but he wasn't so sold on the idea.