beanski

i'm thankful for...

This a little behind because of all of the traveling but here is what I'm thankful for this year...

...for my mom who cooks 24X7 when we are all home and for my dad who ALWAYS does the dishes.
...for family recipes and how Grandma Grace's green jello and coleslaw salad and Grandma Jeanette's sugar cookies and stuffing can almost make you feel like they are there.
...for my husband who hardly ever snaps back when I shove a crying baby in his face and walk away.
...for my Simon Joe cat who doesn't hold it against me that I only have a few minutes a day to love on him and even for The Asashi who does little annoying things to remind me that she needs attention too. Especially at 3AM.
...for Griffin's mischievous little giggle when you put something soft by his face or sneak him something sweet.
...for Charlie's feistiness and how he attacks every single thing he does with an over-abundance of energy.
...for the toughest little baby I know...Sarah-cita (her new nickname)...she's going to be walking before six months, I swear to God.
...for my sisters as I always have not one, but two best friends to talk to about how hard yet wonderful it is to be a mom.
...finally, for the greatest blessing in my life, my Renee...for how she can be totally sweet and totally rotten all at the same time.

The highlights of the weekend were:

A family tradition...Grandma Jeanette's famous sugar cookies. Charlie is finally old enough to sit down long enough to do an activity and we were all so excited to make cookies with him. He was so cute, calling the dough "playdoh" and licking the frosting. LOVE him.

Charlie and Griffin sitting across from one another at the "kid table" totally cracking each other up. It seriously took us all about five minutes to realize what they were doing. Just looking at eachother and laughing. They are going to be such good buds. First, Griffin laughing at Charlie...

Could they be any cuter?

The girls finally starting to notice each other. We decided either Sarah has a small head, Renee has a big head or there is lot a head growing between 16 and 22 weeks:

Your dad IS a geek, Renee. Thanks for reminding me.

The HILARIOUS attempt at a family photo.
Renee: "Papa, seriously, hook a girl up. Do you have a magic boob just like mommy does?"
Papa: "Who gave Renee to me? Couldn't I have had Sarah?"
Griffin: "Did I lose a bet or something to end up part of this crazy family?" 

We were all laughing HYSTERICALLY by the end.
Renee: "Apparently Papa doesn't have a boob. I wonder where that lady is that does."
Griffin: "I've had enough! I want out!"
Charlie: "What is my buddy Griffin crying about? Did I miss something?"
The rest of us: "Is this really happening?"

The S's

The E's

The Ski's. This will be blown up and put in my house in the very near future. Every time I look at it, I laugh my ass off. There Ski and I are smiling our fool heads off and Renee is FREAKING out. Happy Thanksgiving to you too.

Rama & Papa and their grandbabies. That's right, she's still crying. 

One stops crying and another starts. By this time, my sisters and I were all jumping up and down and screaming to try to distract the girls from crying. It worked for the babies and scared Griffin. Taber video-taped the whole thing. I think we could win big on America's Funniest Home Videos.

Renee's first holiday trip started out on the right foot, the angel fell asleep 10 minutes in and slept the entire way but then she transformed to the devil about 10 minutes after we got there. She cried every time anyone even looked at her all day on her first Thanksgiving. Thursday night she woke up TO EAT three times in the middle of the night, something she hasn't done since she was THREE WEEKS old. Friday was better (well, except for during the family photos) but she was up a lot during the night again and Saturday morning she had what I can only describe as a complete and total meltdown. We quickly realized that holidays aren't really for relaxing anymore. It was great to see everyone but man was I TIRED when we got home. I'm so glad we took these pictures. Proof of how totally chaotic holidays are with so many small babies in one house.
      

better late than never?

So I resized and uploaded these pictures WEEKS ago and then forgot all about posting them. Sorry Mel. Little Ava probably doesn't even look like this anymore but she's still cute!

Such sweetness:

Mommy and Ava:

Who would have thought we'd be moms at the same time when we were out watching "the band" every night? I miss seeing you every day!

stocking up

Ski and I were talking this morning that no one on God's green earth has enough time to pay attention to their kid(s), keep up on the housework and the laundry and to put a nice, home-cooked meal on the the table every day. I just don't think it's humanly possible. If you are one of these supermoms, I would love to know how you do it. Me, on the other hand, I have to do all of my cooking on Sunday and I have to cook in bulk. In the last six weeks since I went back to work, I've made Chili, Chicken Wild Rice soup, Pistou soup, Stir Fry, Lasagna each on a different Sunday and we've eaten them almost every day all week. To make it even more exciting, I've doubled the recipes and put half in the freezer. I know it sounds boring (and to an extent, it is) but it's that or eat chips and salsa or take-out for dinner every night. I'm running out of ideas of what to cook in mass quantities next. Any ideas? Or better yet, any ideas on how to make each day have 30 hours instead of 24?

four months

My princess is four months old. Sigh. The belly laughs and the instant recognization of mommy's and daddy's faces are the greatest part of having four-month-old baby. At least my four-month-old. Renee went through a serious "mommy's girl" phase this month where she would laugh every time I looked at her and would cry anytime I wasn't holding her. Right now, she's going through a "daddy's girl" phase where she thinks his glasses are the greatest thing in the world and sees it as her mission in life to grab them off his face and stuff them directly in to her mouth. And she generally accomplishes her mission in one fell swoop (yes, I had to google this phrase to find out if it was gramatically correct and if it was "fell" or "fail"). Moving along...

Renee LOVES books, especially ones that get her mommy to say "PEEK a boo." She likes to look at the letters, loves looking at the colors and letters of the hundreds of books on the bookshelves and is starting to "touch" the books that have textures in them. She has started trying to turn the pages herself and she talks up a storm when I'm reading to her. I think she's trying to tell me that she wants to read the book to me now. And I let her. We make up new stores to go with the pictures together. She says "Ah-ooo Ah-ooo" and I say "yes, that peacock is pretty, isn't she?"

We are finally entering the territory where she doesn't have an all out freak out every time I put her on her tummy. Once in a while, she'll even look up at me and smile. That is, until she inevitably pukes. Then the freak out comes. But at least it's not the second I lay her down anymore. She has started acting like she wants to rollover which ensures that I stand/sit next to her for hours and watch her try. I sure wouldn't want to miss the big moment. She finally likes her Bouncy Seat and no longer regurgitates every ounce of milk she's ingested in the last two days when we put her in it. She likes to sit in it and kick her feet like crazy while watching mommy (or daddy) cook/eat dinner.

I'm sort of ashamed to admit this but she also has a passionate love affair with the TV...especially football and hockey. I keep telling Ski that she loves those two things because that's the only time the TV is on at our house but he's convinced that watching 12 hours of football on Sundays is his way of "bonding" with his daughter. I keep telling myself that as long as we're talking to her and not plopping her in front of it and ignoring her that it can't be THAT bad. The long and the short is that sometimes it's the only thing that can calm her down. She's like a train wreck...once she gets mad and doesn't get what she wants immediately, she loses her mind. Nursing and the TV are the only things that can stop the train. Ski calls the TV the "nuclear weaponry." Nice, huh? Oh well. It's not like I'm forgetting to feed her or letting her sit in a poopy diaper all day.

Halloween was her first real holiday (the 4th of July doesn't count because that was our first day home from the hospital and let's face it, we didn't even really know it was the 4th of July). I had a good time dressing her up in different outfits and taking pictures of her. I'm fairly certain Christmas and Thanksgiving aren't going to slow the trend. I've already started buying Christmas presents for her. Ski keeps reminding me that she is, in fact, just a baby and I keep reminding him that I come by it naturally. Both my mom and my mother-in-law are fanatics about Christmas and buy totally insane amounts of presents for everyone every year. Did he honestly think he was going to get off cheap? I keep telling him he can call and thank Nena and Rama. It's their faults, not mine.

We were pretty boring with the pumpkins this year. In fact, I made Ski do them. Flip a coin. Happy baby or crabby baby. Yep, seems relevant to me.

I love Kit-Kats. So does my baby.

Lil' Miss-Chieveous herself.

Me sized pumpkin (also known as a gourd)

A couple more in the cutest hate ever...and sitting up like a big girl. She looks so proud of herself.

I have to get the picture with her doggie off of the other camera. You can imagine what it looks like until then. A lot like the other doggie pictures but a slightly longer and chunkier baby.

My favorite this month. The elusive smiling photo. She will NOT smile if someone is holding the camera and she can see it. I had to set the camera up on a tripod and use the remote to get a picture of her smiling. This is no lie. Stubborn.
    

piglet

My little piggie: