Smiles

She smiles all the time, but these are the first ones I could catch on camera!

FOG Halloween Bash

Our Sunday school class had a potluck Halloween party tonight. So fun! The A family’s backyard had lots of great toys for the kids. They ran around, ate dinner and dessert in their cute little costumes! What could be better?

We have a shark, a Princess Sophia (from the Disney show Sophia the First), and a tiger this year! (I didn’t get a picture of them all together – planning to do that on Halloween night before trick-or-treating.) Russell absolutely loves his shark costume. Meredith insisted on the Sophia costume, but got a little whiny about it when she put it on, as it’s a little itchy like most princess outfits. Paige, our sweet baby, is fine with or without the tiger costume – doesn’t phase her!

The crown came off pretty quickly, so someone else wore it for a while!

Fun night with friends and good costume practice for Thursday!

USS North Carolina

While we were on our way back from Erin and Derrick’s wedding last weekend, we decided to stop at the USS North Carolina – the World War II battleship that has been docked at the coast for 50 years for tours. Neither Jason nor I had been in years and years, and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t that interested last time But this time, I really enjoyed it! We had to go through pretty quickly due to having the baby with us, but we’re still glad we stopped.

In the museum before entering the ship:

Partial view of the ship from the entrance ramp:

Jason loved pretending to shoot all the guns and cannons, of course!

The 3 of us inside some part of the ship!

I should have gotten pictures of below decks, which was my favorite part – the ice cream shop (yum), the galley, the laundry – all the everyday things that make it seem more real, but we were going pretty fast! I’m sure we’ll go back sometime with all the kids

Two and a Half

On our 8 year anniversary, Meredith turned two and a half!

Meredith constantly amazes us. In so many ways, she acts older than she is, and yet sometimes her attitudes and certain things she does remind us that we can’t expect too much of her – she is only two!

Yesterday’s “still-just-2” example: I had set up some Play-Doh for the kids when Paige started crying. I came back probably 10 minutes later and Meredith said, “I ate Play-Doh.” “How much? A little or a lot?” “A lot.” Ugh! She knows better – but yes, she is definitely two.

She is caring, funny, very articulate, stubborn, and independent. She loves to snuggle, especially while holding her beloved Kitty. She loves princesses – her current favorites are Cinderella and Sofia the First, although her Rapunzel dress and her Tiana high heels (“glass slippers” she calls them) are her favorite attire.

She has developed a much greater interest in her baby dolls since Paige was born. She has several babies, mostly named after her friends: her “teeny, tiny twins” (her words) Evie and Ivey; Charlie, Ella, Madison, and Cameron. Her favorites are Charlie (by far) and Evie (second place currently).

Changing baby Evie’s diaper:

"”Awww, baby Charlie is sad”:

Meredith is very interested in make-up. She is allowed different Chap-Stik varieties and LOVES them. When Paige was a couple weeks old, Meredith got into my makeup and tried to put mascara on like she’s seen me do. I could tell she knew where to put it because it was all smeared very near her eyes and eyelids!

She is pretty much a girlie-girl, throwing fits often if I don’t let her wear exactly what she wants (usually a dress). But of course, she loves to run around and be crazy with Russell, and has decided that when she turns 3, she’d rather try soccer than dance.

Meredith is our little singer – she can often be heard singing around the house, and asks me to turn music on so she can dance about once a day. She is very much a little mama, and has been known to tell me (about Paige): “My baby’s crying! Don’t go get her – I’m going to go help her!” She also orders Russell around, which sometimes flies with him and sometimes doesn’t.

We love to hear Meredith’s little prayers. Often, she says this one which she made up: “Dear God, thank you for the creation and for all of Daddy’s lessons. Amen.” (I don’t know what lessons she’s talking about, or why it’s Daddy’s and not Mommy’s!)

I’m sure there’s so much more I could say. She is quite the character. We are so grateful for this little girl!

Paige is 3 months old!

• Wearing size 0-3 (the bigger ones) and 3-6 mo clothes
• Wearing size 1 or 2 diapers
• Nursing: about every 2.5-3 hours during the day, and usually twice at night : ( She was doing so well for about a month at sleeping from 9:30 pm – 4 am or so, but lately that is a rare occurrence.
• Napping: People ask me how often she naps; honestly, it’s all over the board. It totally depends on what we’re doing for the day and where we are. I was so regimented with the other two, and it’s just not possible to do that with Paige. Thankfully, she is very easygoing no matter when she naps.
• Nighttime sleep: We can usually get her to sleep by about 10 pm, and she usually wakes up twice to nurse (around 1:30 and 5:30) and wakes for the day around 8 am.

Paige seems to have a favorite toy now: a little blue elephant that makes a jangling noise and hooks onto her activity mat. She still likes her paci but since she can’t find it herself, she is often sucking her hands/fingers/thumb. She is pretty indiscriminant with her smiles and coos, but I do think Russell is one of her favorite people – she smiles very quickly when he talks to her!

A note about sleep: Jason and I are VERY big proponents of sleep training a la Ferber (as I’m sure I’ve said on this blog). Usually we start this around 3-4 months old. However, the whole premise of it is that the baby needs to have most/all of her naps and sleep in the same place every time. We decided we’re going to hold off on sleep training with Paige because it’s really not feasible to have her always sleep in her crib – we have to be able to take the kids out to play, to friends’ houses, to co-op, etc. If Paige really starts waking up a lot at night because of this, we’ll have to reevaluate, but for now everything is going okay.

They saw me taking pictures of her and really wanted to be in one!

Happy quarter-year, Paige! (Doesn’t it sound older to say it that way?!)

8 years of wedded bliss :)

This is exactly what I put on Facebook, and I think it deserves a spot on my blog too:

"I never thought so much love
Could fit in a little band of gold
But I'm telling you, darling
I feel it in my heart, got it in my soul"
~The Platters, "With This Ring" - our first dance song.

Happy 8th anniversary, Jason. "I love you, I love you one thousand times."

Wedding Bells

I think I’ve now been in my last wedding – phew! Anyone need any bridesmaid dresses?

My college friend Erin was married in a beautiful ceremony by the ocean  on Saturday. Jason, Paige and I were able to make it for the rehearsal and dinner on Friday, and I was a bridesmaid along with my other 2 best friends from Carolina on Saturday. I think Paige is getting used to the whole wedding thing!

I have to include this picture: The wedding location was right next to a historical reenactment site. In addition to a cannon (!) firing when Erin and Derrick kissed at the end of the ceremony, Erin asked the pirates to come join us for a few wedding pictures. This totally fits Erin’s personality!

We had a nice time and everything was beautifully done! Loved seeing my sweet friends and their husbands!

Pumpkin Patchin’

We L-O-V-E this pumpkin patch and farm. We have gone every year since Russell was just learning to walk.

2011 vs 2013:

This year, we started out at the tractors:

The kids spent a long time in the corn silo this year – they loved it! I let Paige dip her legs in too; she didn’t know what to think

Anytime there was a lull in the action, Meredith ran off to this little car.

We ran into several friends at the farm. We always do. It’s like our church’s unofficial pumpkin patch. Russell and Meredith enjoyed the tire swing with Sophie.

Cow train! They both rode by themselves this year. (Paige, you’ll get to ride next year!)

Meredith did end up loosening her death-grip after the ride started!

Me and sleeping beauty:

 

Russell played on the huge haystacks for a while (while Meredith ran back to that little car):

We took a ride on the train:

The kids basically melted after that. It was 84 degrees and we were in full sun most of the time. They ate a little lunch, which perked them up, while I nursed Paige in the van. After that, each child picked out their favorite pumpkin. Meredith loves her “teeny, tiny pumpkin” (her words):

And Russell wanted one he could carve:

Such special memories! See ya next year!