Baby peek-a-boob ... er, I mean boo

Gotcha with the post title, huh?  Thing is, what I'm about to relate isn't that far off.  Now that Andrew is slightly over 4 months old, he has decided that we just aren't giving him enough attention.  I mean, who doesn't literally stick their foot in their mouth when given the cold shoulder treatment?  Amazing as this feat is (no pun intended), baby Andrew has an even better trick in store.

First, some background.  Since babies are notoriously selective about what they would consider funny, I've had to resort to the time-tested activity of peek-a-boo to make him laugh.  Over and over again.  Cheesy wide open mouth and eyes and everything. But hey, it works and I'm a sucker for repetition.

Anyway, the other day, Jennie and I were preparing to herd the kids upstairs for bedtime.  Alyssa had already raced up the steps (no doubt so that she could prepare her stalling tactics), so I picked up Andrew and mentally prepared myself for the 30 minute "calming down" routine.  Only, I looked down to see that Andrew was acting ... hungry.  As usual, I started joking to Jennie that he was going to be severely disappointed, but then I noticed something different about this situation: he wasn't trying to eat, he was hiding.

Yes, hiding.  What I had mistaken for dinner time behavior was actually the beginning of several minutes of baby peek-a-boo.  He would hide his face in my chest, then whip it around towards us with wide open eyes and a huge smile on his face, then whip it back into my chest.  The more we laughed, the bigger his smile got.  Such an attention monger.  Of course, by the time Jennie was able to get the camera over to me to record these antics, he had grown bored and quit. 

Oh well, maybe next time.  Uh, and sorry for the long hibernation. Maybe I'll actually start posting again ...

3. Wow.

Well, Alyssa is 3. We are definitely treated to her "theatrical threes" already! She's incredibly imaginative and creative. We're having so much fun watching her play Mommy to her baby dolls (and, of course, her baby brother!) She's coloring every day (and "in the lines," too, thanks to some careful tutoring by Tula!) and drawing things that we can actually recognize. Look how much she's changed...

Halloween

Halloween was fun... the attached album has pics from the office when a few of us brought our babies. Alyssa refused to wear her costume of course (when, exactly, can we expect the terrible twos attitude to be over?), but Cheyann and Thomas were good sports. Allison and Ashleigh came up to the house for trick-or-treating and even dressed up with us. Alyssa wasn't sure what she thought of it at first, but was completely on board once she saw the candy in her basket.

Allison brought her projector and were player the Thriller video and Nightmare Before Christmas on the garage doors for the trick-or-treaters. Everyone thought it was so cool, including the Rolesville Chief of Police who pulled up on his segway to tell us we had the coolest house in town!



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October '09

October was lovely... my favorite month of the year, as always. The weather is so nice, the colors are beautiful, and it doesn't hurt that my birthday is in October, either! The attached album has pictures from the pumpkin patch where we went on my birthday. Alyssa points it out every time we drive by, even though it is long gone!

The first 2 pictures in the album are of Alyssa in her Greek "booty-shakin' " belt from my parents. The girl has moves! I hope to put up a video once I learn how.

The last bunch are from the trip Allison, Ashleigh and I took to Asheville for the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair... sounds riveting, I know, but it was so cool! We all love knitting and really enjoyed looking at all of the different yarns and projects. We had a great time eating out, watching movies and enjoying each others' company in the beautiful mountain weather. We even went "apple-picking" at Sky Top orchard. We had to buy apples that they had picked because there were none left on the trees, but the view was worth the nearly terrifying drive to the top of the mountain.

I hope we can do it again!



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Remember Me?

I had almost given up on posting! It is amazing how quickly life has flown by these last 8 months or so! The pregnancy was great once I got past the first trimester, then things really started rolling when Andrew arrived. I think I'll get back into the swing of things on here by slowly catching you up to speed.

In September, we went to Myrtle Beach with Mike's family. We had a great time! Alyssa was very brave the first time we took a walk on the beach... she was quickly soaked from head to toe from the waves. I guess she decided it was a bit too much, however, since she was nervous about the water for the whole rest of the trip.

She really enjoyed spending time with Grammie, Grandy, Jeff and John... so much so, that she STILL talks about going to the beach with them. She can't wait for their visit next week!



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Congratulations all Around!

Congrats to 2 friends who gave birth this week!

Rachel and Jared welcomed their third child (but first daughter) on Sunday, 9/13 at 7:29pm... 8lbs, 13 oz. Welcome Kylie Rae, and congrats Rachel, Jared, Jackson and Jaden!



Congratulations also to the Normans who welcomed their second daughter last night at 11:40pm... She weighed 6lbs 11oa a day after her due date. Emma Catherine was wasn't sure she was ready to be born, but a determined Mommy suffered through a couple of days of post- Castor Oil treatment to get things moving!  Congrats Kristina, Dan, and Audrey!



Some sweet little girlfriends for our little man on the way!

I can't wait to get all of these munchkins together!

Oh, BOY!

Well, we had our 18 week ultrasound yesterday! Everything looks good... They say they did not get enough measurements while we were there, so I get to have another one at the next appointment in a month! The baby is measuring at about 9 ounces and 6 inches from head to backside. It is so hard to imagine that it can be that small and still look like a complete little person! What a miracle!

I imagine the most interesting part for everyone is this...



Can you see the little hand by the head? And...

IT'S A BOY!!!!! Alyssa will have a little brother! We are so excited and a little bewildered at having the whole new experience to look forward to. It should be fun seeing how they are similar and different! He was so busy during the ultrasound. I wonder if he will be as busy as Alyssa after he is born!