Memorial Day weekend....

We had a great surprise for Memorial Day weekend....Kristy called and wanted to come and visit. It was Kristy's first time meeting James and we and such a great time.

Lots of time for cuddles...
Meeting new nephews...

More cuddle times...

More getting to know a new little nephew...

Nature walks....
First stroller rides...
And plenty of sleeping....
Even more sleeping....

What a fun weekend. We had such a good time with Kristy.

Preschool Graduation

Well it's officially time for Kindergarten now, Hailee has graduated from Preschool. Hailee was so excited for her program, but so sad to be done with preschool. She has loved going and is going to miss all of her friends from preschool. She made the cutest card for Mrs. Quade, I should have scanned it in but I forgot until after the program.

Hailee's Top Five Favorite Things about Preschool

1. Playing with my friends.
2. Having snack time with mama (I would parent help about ever 6 weeks)
3. Story time
4. Playing outside
5. Singing time
6. Going on field trips (she just couldn't stop at 5, and I'm sure she would keep going and going....)

Although Hailee informed me on multiple occasions that she didn't learn anything at preschool, she did have a great opportunity to make new friends and gain some independence. I just hope she isn't as bored with the learning they do in kindergarten, but I'm afraid she is going to be.

This is Hailee's preschool class. They sang some songs for everyone, then after the program we went to the park so they could play together.

Hallee and Hailee. There were only 5 little girls in the class and Hailee loved playing with all of them.

2 months old

James just had his 2-month check up. Everything looks wonderful. He is in the 75th percentile for height and weight and the 30th percentile for head size. With the exception of a little baby acne, he has been healthy. He is also eating well and sleeping through the night on most nights. Occasionally he will wake up multiple times, but for the most part he goes to bed around 10:00 pm and wakes up between 5:00 and 6:00 am, eats, and goes back to bed. He is definitely a night owl like Hailee was. His favorite time of day is in the evening and night. That is when he is the most talkative and smiles the most. It's so fun to hear him starting to "talk" more. He isn't quite as talkative as Hailee was, but I'm sure that is just a personality thing. He has also gotten to be quite good at smiling. It's so cute to see. So far we can't really prompt him to smile (i.e., tickling or making funny noises or faces), he just smiles when he wants to and when you're talking to him. I've been trying to get a picture of him smiling, but every time I put out the camera he just looks at me like "Why did you bring that thing out again?"


James loves his carseat, which is a nice break from Hailee who hated it. It's the exact same carseat so I'm not sure what the difference is for them. Most of the time he is just a content mellow little guy.


Finally on his exact 2-month birthday (the 25th) I was able to catch a smile on camera. What a sweet little guy. We are so happy to have him in our family.

Hey Mom

"Hey Mom, look what I can do." I turn around to find Hailee holding her brother. After the initial shock wore off I was impressed with how well she did. His head was mostly supported and James seemed to be enjoying himself. Hailee did learn the hazards of long hair and babies, as she put him down he had a big fist full of her hair in his hands. I really love watching these two together (not necessarily Hailee carrying him around like that), I hope they will be good friends despite the differences in their age. Although it was totally planned the age gap has been very nice. Hailee is such a good helper when it comes to baby James and so far the novelty hasn't worn off. She is happy to help him in any way she can, from reading him stories, grabbing his pacifier, singing to him when he's sad or getting me a diaper when he needs his pants changed. (She still thinks changing his diaper is a bad idea.)

Who gets the prize?

This little one gets a prize, he slept from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am this morning. I woke up at 5:45 am and panicked a little that he was still asleep. I ran in to check on him and he was just sleeping, happy as can be. Hailee slept through the night as well, she's had a little cold and has had a rough couple of nights. So after a good night sleep for all of us, we are all feeling a little more normal.

We had a follow up doctors visit for James at about 6 weeks where they weighed him. He weighed 11 pounds 4 ounces. So he's gained almost 4 pounds in 6 weeks. When we got home I decided to measure him to see how tall he was getting, as near as I can tell he is almost 24 inches long. He is getting so big, he's moved into the 3-6 month size.

James has loved his pacifier, it's a new thing for me because Hailee would never take one. The other day he woke up hungry so I went to get him and I found him sucking on his thumb. I pulled it out and he put it right back in him mouth. I'm not sure what to think about a pacifier, but I don't want him sucking his thumb. A pacifier I can take away at some point, a thumb will be a little harder to take away.

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day I really should be buying my children presents. Hailee and James are so wonderful and it makes my job of being a mom so easy. Hailee's favorite thing to do recently is to so something "without being asked." She picks up her plate, makes her bed, gets a diaper for James, etc... with out being asked. I always impressed that she remembers to do things and she gets so excited to do it before I remind or ask her. She loves her little brother so much and is so good at looking out for him. She is so good at reading to him, singing to him and making sure he has everything he needs. Recently she told me that in heaven she and James decided that she would come first so she could take care of him. What a lucky little baby.

James on the other hand has been the best little guy. He rarely cries and is just so pleasant all the time. He is staying awake more and more and paying attention to us more and more. On Mother's Day he gave me the best smiles. You can't get him to smile, he just smiles when he is happy about something. I keep waiting for him to get harder, but so far he is just perfect. He eats well, sleeps well, and is generally so pleasant to be around. It makes me nervous to have another one, is it possible to get three perfect little kids, I think we're pushing our luck at two.

Counting...

With Hailee there are just some things I can always count on...

... If she's had the camera there will always be a self-portrait picture...

and most likely a terrible picture of me when I had no idea she was taking a picture. (In this one I had just finished nursing, but there have been plenty of nursing shots that had to be deleted.)


...She always wants to hold her baby brother and give him kisses, I'm still waiting for the novelty to wear off and so far it's just gotten stronger...

....If James is ever fussy she'll be there trying to help with a pacifier or singing him a song....

.... If I let her she will stay in the bath for hours on end. Recently she discovered goggles and I don't think bath time will ever be the same again. She can't wait for swimming season to try them out.
...Bowling will always put a huge smile on her face.

She is really just such a joy to have in our family.

One thing that did surprise me this past week was she decided to start counting. This all started before our move to Oregon. My mom was trying to teach her how to count to 20, and after a while she told my mom, "Grammy, I am a 'reader-weader' not a 'counter-wounter' " (She was going through a phase where everything had to have a rhyme to it.) So after that I thought I could count on her being in advanced reading, but remedial math. She surprised us one day while out and about driving and she wanted to count the cars, then she counted all the way to 100. She has not stopped counting since. She was so excited to get home and call Grammy and tell her all about counting to 100. Another thing I can always count on with Hailee, unless it's her idea, she doesn't want to do it. Once she decides something is fun, she learns so quickly.