Catching Up....

I have made the occasional post over the last couple of weeks - but I have to admit my heart hasn't been in it.  We have been so busy, I know we're always busy, but trust me the last few weeks have been even busier than normal!  We sold our Meade Street house, closed on January 28th and vacated on the 31st.  We only moved 20 blocks south to 2424 Osceola Street, but we had to put a lot of our "stuff" in storage.  Mike has been working so hard.  Between finishing the final touches on all his improvements to the Meade Street house, packing, storing and moving all of our belongings and remodeling the Osceola house in time for us to move in to the main floor he's exhausted!  The basement is still under construction which presents a few challenges for us - mainly that we're crammed into what Mike refers to as "15 pounds in a 10 pound sack".  But what bothers me the most is the constant dust and debris we track around every time we come up from the basement.  Soon, it will all be worth it!  I hope we have as easy of a time selling this house as we did our last.
As if the home improvements and moving aren't enough to keep us occupied, we also have extremely active children!   Lillian is 21 months and more fun than I can adequately express in writing.  Jak is 6 months and just knocked the socks off his doctor at his 6 month checkup.  Here's a little synopsis of both kids at this moment:
Lillian:
 Talking more and more everyday!  They say kids at her age are learning 10 new words a day even if they aren't articulating them well.  Lillian is articulating our ears off!  She has no trouble communicating.  Sometimes when she gets upset, we remind her to stop crying, take a breath and just tell us what's the matter.  Afterall, she is only 1!  She just forgets she knows how to tell us with words.  Some of her best words  and moments currently are:

• "Self" - Better yet "Lily-self".  This is what she says when she doesn't want help.  Which is pretty darn frequently.  She loves to try everything by herself.  When she gets exhausted, she'll giggle and say "Help, Help, Help" until you do. 
• "Ope"  Which stands for open - pretty easy to figure out but so darn cute when she says it!  
• "Ray Rays" - Raisins, her favorite snack of all time.  (Although frozen peas are a close second!).  We don't make it home from daycare without our daily does of Ray Rays.
• "Walk" - What Lillian says when she wants to show you something.  She grabs your pinky and says "Walk", or if she's already in your arms and she wants to have you take her somewhere else, she'll push on your shoulder in the direction she wants you to go and say "Walk".  
• "HAPPY" - One of my favorites to imitate.  When Lillian isn't happy or doesn't want to do something like change her diaper she'll cry and whine till it's over.  Then while she's still crying a little she'll call out "Happy, Happy, Happy" to let you know she's glad it's over!  I taught the "old people" at work this saying and we call out "HAPPY" during exercise when we finish the weight lifting portion of the class!
• "Bless You" - Lillian only says Bless You when she sneezes....she doesn't say Bless Lily, just Bless You, and she doesn't say it to you when you sneeze, only to herself.  It's so funny, I giggle every time and don't have the heart to correct her!
• 20 Second Hugs - Daddy and Lillian adopted this little plan a couple of weeks ago.  Lillian loves to count.  She's pretty close to being able to count to 10 already.  Our morning drop off at daycare has been a challenge pretty much always with Lillian.  She hates to say goodbye.  Mike started offering to give Lillian a 20 second hug before he leaves every morning.  They count out loud and hug real tight, then Lily jumps down and runs off with her friends never looking back.  So simple, yet so sweet.  Some mornings Lily invites one of her teachers to join them, she'll hold her teachers hand while she hugs her daddy.  

Jak:

• Almost 17 pounds!!!!  Seriously, he's almost quadrupled his birth weight!   At Jak's 6 month check up he weighed in at 16 pounds 12 ounces and measured 26.5 inches.  His doctor says she doesn't even want to compare him to other preemies, he's right on track with where he should be at 6 months.  He's not sitting up by himself yet, but we're working on it!  
• He's rolling over from his belly to his back.  He holds his head up high when he's on his belly and looks all around. 
• Jak is the happiest when he's getting his diaper changed, he just loves to be naked.  I frequently let him hang out that way for a minute or two.  And I frequently regret it!  Lillian never peed when I let her "dry out"......but ohhhhh Jak does!  It shoots up over his head all over the wall, changing table and unfortunately our bed where he gets changed most frequently.  At least Mike and I get fresh linens on a regular basis because of it!  
• Jak is still the happiest, most relaxed baby I've ever met.  He loves to watch his sister play and giggle at her. 

Loving her doggies

Lillian's "Rats Nest" we have to comb out every morning! 

Love those brown eyes!

Lillian and her cousin "Ev-y"

Lillian and her friend Lola, holding hands and loving their first play date in the "new" house.

Jak at 6 Months

Jak is a "talker"!  He is cooing, giggling and babbling all day and night.  He still bunks with Mike and I and several times in the last week we've awoken in the night to hear him squealing with delight as he rocks back and forth in his crib.  Jak rocks side to side, flopping his legs way up in the air to the right, then back over to the left.  He spins himself around in circles, but won't roll over.  I think he's just perfectly content where he's at.  When he's laying on his belly he lifts his head way up to look around at his surroundings, but still won't roll over!  He's really working on his leg strength, pushing up on your legs when you hold him and trying to climb up and over your shoulder.  One of his favorite toys at daycare is to sit in the bouncy seat that lets you pretend you're standing.  He jumps up and down with a big ol' grin on his face.  Jak loves to watch Lillian play, some of his biggest giggles come from watching her (mommy kissing his neck is a close second though!).  We have his 6 month check-up next week, I'll report back to let you know how much he's grown in his first 1/2 year!

Squeelin' with Delight

Our little man is still sweet as ever and such a happy baby but he is no longer the silent sibling.  Lillian often raises her eyebrows at him, she can't believe he can make so much noise!

Showering Baby Burns

Casey's baby girl will arrive in 5 weeks - give or take - and the family is so excited.  We had a great Orange and Pink themed baby shower last weekend.  Ironically, Casey pointed out that her wedding shower was April 19th, her wedding was July 19th and her baby shower was January 19th.  Casey's due date is February 25th - it is possible this little girl will follow the trend and arrive early on the 19th!

Kim made Casey (actually she made Casey's un-named baby girl) the cutest crib mobile.  It was the focal decoration for the party hanging above the food table and a huge hit with all the guests.

We only served orange themed food: orange hummus with carrots and orange bell peppers, mandarin orange fruit dip, orange bell pepper and black bean salsa, spicy orange sour cream dip, shrimp skewers, mandarin orange chicken salad triscuits and brie baguettes topped with mango chutney....yum!

Coworkers:  April, Susanna, Casey, Erica, Laurie, Sommer & Shannon

Friends: Sara, Mira, Meaghan, Casey & Duck

Friends:  Allison, Amy, Casey, Courtney & Emily

Family:  Meaghan, Kim, Colleen, Courtney, Casey & Mom

The second the shower ended; the boxes and packing tape came out of the garage and the family got to work. The house closing is next week!

 

The girls thought the packing bubble pop was so much fun of course.

Kim was a packing machine....seriously she made quick work of boxing up the back room.

Uncle Severin and Jak taking a cuddle break on the couch.

Last family dinner at 4465 Meade Street - last kids meal in the front room.  Maybe the next house will have enough room for us all to eat together in one room!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!
We appreciate every silly moment, all the cuddle time and every lesson along the way.  We couldn't love you more!  Can't wait to see what the next year brings.
Love Lily-Bird and J.J.

Jak at 5 Months

Jak is a HAPPY boy!  This picture says it all.  He's a smiler!  Lillian is too, but at 5 months old we had to work pretty hard to get her to smile this big.  Not Jak, all you have to do is glance at him and he grins from ear to ear. 
Jak is really trying to use his legs to push up, he wants to stand already.  Lillian has notices this too, she points to the ground and says "Walk", "Walk", "Walk" over and over while nodding her head.  We play along and try to teach Jak how to walk.  Then we tell her, "Not today, we'll try again tomorrow".  I think she's ready for him to start playing with her! 
Jak loves to watch Lillian, still loves to watch TV and enjoys sitting upright with a view of whats around him.  When you talk to him, Jak tries to copy your mouth shape.  He's making lots of vowels sounds over and over.  Mostly happy sounds and coos, but occasionally Mike and I check to make sure he is happy, because sometimes his "practice words" come out a little sad or fussy.  At any rate it's fun to hear his voice!  Jak still hasn't rolled over.  He gets plenty of floor time, but laying on his tummy doesn't bother him at all so I think he has no desire to roll over.  I'm sure it'll happen soon, he wiggles and kicks all the time. 

Not Too Sick to Love Thy Brother

Lillian and Jak have been "snot nosed kids" the last couple of weeks.  But through their runny noses and red, watery eyes they sure do love each other.

"Are you lookin' at me?"