Busy Week...I love weeks like this!!!

Chauncy Lake

Saturday, June 16th, we went to Chauncy Lake.  It is about 2 blocks from our house so we could just walk over there. It was one of the first Saturdays that hasn't been rainy here. Mav did not enjoy it as much as Lanie. She loved everything about it: the lake, the slide on the playground, the swings, the teeter-totter, and stealing the sand toys from random people by us.

Boston Commons

On Monday, June 18th, for Family Night, we went into downtown Boston. Boston Commons is what we call the "Central Park" of Boston. It is quaint and beautiful. It's a very fun and relaxing place to people watch (which I love doing). There is a playground there where Lanie of course enjoyed playing. We had dinner at P.F. Changs. We wanted to go somewhere authentic but didn't know where exactly to go. Good thing though, because Lanie absolutely LOVED the fried rice at P.F.'s and had a ball patio dining. Also, we hunted down my favorite bridge which is right by the stadium where the Celtics play (for those of you that may not know...I love bridges). The detour drive to get home after was long with 2 exhausted children, but we'll deem it worth it. 

So, many of you ask how Lanie is adjusting to the move and if she is happy here and settling in okay....I thought these pictures explained it all.  Look at that smile! I think she is doing just fine. Mav on the other hand might need some more encouragement. :)

Lanie has a special relationship with her "Pops." This all stems from M&Ms.  She begs for "Pops Candy" everyday. Lanie got this letter in the mail from her Grandpa Kerry (Pops). Simply a bag of M&Ms to remind her of him. She was so excited!

Hats, Hats, and more Hats!!! Lanie has been loving hats lately (Mav not so much). And as you can tell, even if they're not hats, she puts them on her head.

Cape Cod

On Wednesday, June 20th, Shawn and I celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary. Shawn took the day off and we took the 1 1/2 hour drive to "The Cape." It was 95 degrees here plus humidity that day; It was beautiful. We had a good time at the beach and in the ocean. I think we'll both say, though, it was a lot of work to do with 2 kiddos.

Double Rainbow

Yesterday, June 23rd, I went out shopping with Lanie. When we left it was humid and hot. While we were out, it started pouring (which is quite common here). As we walked in the store, we saw this double rainbow. Lanie just stood there and stared saying, "Meemo (raindbow)."

This has been such a great week.  Feels like we've been on vacation. I love spending time as a family and I love, love, love recognizing and being amongst the beauties that surround us.

Prayer

There's nothing like hearing an investigator on the mission pray for the first time, and there's NOTHING like hearing your child pray for the first time!!!! The other day we sat down for a meal together, as we folded our arms to pray, Shawn looked at Lanie and asked if she wanted to offer the prayer. No sooner had he asked her and she had her head bowed and was ripping through her first pray. It was simple, she thanked Heavenly Father for the day, the food, and for Mommy and Daddy. But she did it all by herself without help and it sent chills down our bodies. It was so sweet and I think Shawn and I can admit that we were very surprised and proud of our sweet little girl. She teaches us so much!!!

The Baker in Town

So guess who proved to be a great baker this week....? Shawn! He decided that he wanted cookies, and since I have proven in the past 4 years to successfully ruin any baking project, he attempted them himself. Impressive! They turned out to be incredibly delicious. So at the end of the week he decided to go for brownies.....Also very yummy! Yay....I don't have to try to bake anymore!!!!!!!

2 things....

Okay...two things....#1: Maverick is changing....FINALLY! We are transitioning into 0-3 month clothes from his newborn clothes and he's almost 3 months. Shawn and I both looked at him today and said, "Mav's changing, isn't he?" #2: If Lanie knew how to change her own diaper and open the fridge to feed herself, she'd easily be able to take care of herself. If she could make a bottle and, again, change a diaper, she'd easily be able to take care of Maverick. She is such an independent little girl who loves to play by herself reading, singing, dancing, swimming, coloring, learning, riding her bike, running around, eating, drinking yogurt, drinking "KauKau" milk (chocolate milk) and so many other things. We often feel like she does not need our help with much.  Sometimes we forget that she is only 2. I guess that's what happens with the oldest child.

On my mind

First our little Lanie has a new morning routine...she wakes up and wakes us up at 5:30 every morning. This used to drive me crazy, and leave us all tired, seeing as Mav gets up in the night for feedings. Our solution, at least to avoid having a tired/grouchy Lanie, was to change her bedtime from 8:30 pm to 7 pm. It's made all the difference so far.I still wish she slept in till 8:30 like she used to though.

Second, Mav has become a baby of snacking. He doesn't like to eat an entire bottle all at once, not sure if that is due to his reflux or that he just likes to eat ALL DAY long. Another habit he has developed is being rocked to sleep. Who knew that a 10 week-old baby could have demands so early on. Active parenting must take place now! As my friends, Melissa and Jon would say, "Now you know what it's like to be parents." Lanie was so easy as a baby, pretty much left us playing house, but Mav has opened our eyes to what real parenting is going to be like. Gotta love it!

And lastly, for now at least, is that Lanie has a new found love....SOCCER! Thanks to the Backyardigans, "Soccer Monster" show, Lanie now runs around the house screaming, "YOCCA (soccer)" while kicking a soccer ball. She's obsessed!

Lanie reading about shapes.  She has a little problem with 'squiggle' and 'zigzag' but let's face it, those aren't real shapes anyway.

Sometimes it scares me about how smart Lanie is.  Maybe all parents are scared of their kids.  Maybe we're all afraid of our kids realizing that we actually don't know what we're doing as parents, and that we just make things up as we go along.  I'm not sure.  But I'm pretty sure that Lanie is pretty freaking smart.


Since Lanie was born, Anna and I have been very good about reading with Lanie each night before bed.  Mostly children's books of course, but Lanie has also been through The Hunger Games and a little bit of Harry Potter på Svenska.  Well, lately she's taken a more proactive approach.  She tells us the books she wants to read, and she corrects us if we grab one she doesn't like.  I figure that's normal.  Most kids at least think they know what they want.  (whereas most adults don't have a clue)


The scary part came tonight, when, as she selected the books, she said "I wanna hode it."  Okay...  Sure honey, you can "hode" it.  Well, then she proceeded to READ the books to me.  And I'm not talking about her usual two-year old, Lanie gibberish, but actually "reading" or reciting/recalling whole sentences or simply a word or two from each page.  She did that for all 5 books we read tonight.  And these weren't just "See Spot Run," each book was about 20 pages long.


I just sat there stunned.  Maybe all of this is normal.  Maybe most parents are freaked out by their genius/cyborg kids too.  I love my Lanie.  I can not wait to meet the person that she grows up to be. 

We think Lanie is pretty smart.  She's pretty good with her letters, so we thought we would teach her a word or two.  She already knows one 'F-word' (Frog...) so we thought we would teach her another.

Lanie playing with Mav.  Or, Lanie trying to play with Mav.  Or, Lanie trying to play with Mav while Mav pukes.  Yep, that last one sounds right...

Lanie was Skyping with Grandma, and started singing her songs.  She went through Twinkle, and ABC's, then we finally got Sunshine on camera.  It's a little more hyper than most people sing it, but that's just Lanie's style.

Daily Living and Learning the Blog :)

 We have a shoe lover on our hands, problem is, they are not in her size or on the right feet!!!

 Lanie so excited to get the package from Aunt Barbi. She kept telling the mail man "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU."

 

Rain, rain, and more rain.  Lanie brought her princess chair on the front porch to watch it.

Story time. Lanie loves loves loves books. She reads them to us more than we read them to her.

I love dressing this little guy, but he is rarely in clothes cause he pukes too much.

Disney Dresser

Maverick's nursery theme is Disney. We decided to paint his dresser yesterday after our day trip into Boston. I will be finishing up his crib bumpers this week and hopefully the nursery will be ready this week to move Mav into. It's been quite the project but very fun!

Play Time

Rain or shine, Lanie loves to play on the back deck. She rides her car, plays soccer, and draws with chalk.  Thank you Auntie Pico for the car AND the chalk!

Buried Alive

Little Mav-Man buries himself when he sleeps. I promise this is not our doing.

Snuggle Bug

Mav learned to roll to the left in his sleep.  He is so comfy taking his nap. Little man is growing!

Gayle's visit

Our good friend, Gayle, from New Hampshire came to visit on Monday, June 4th.  She drove an hour to get here. She came with gifts for the kids: a Minnie Mouse outfit for Lanie that she was really excited about and a beach outfit for Maverick. We went to Ted's (a local restaurant in the middle of town) for lunch. Then we came back to our house and Gayle fed Mav...of course he puked all over her. Oops! Hopefully he didn't scare her away. We are so happy to be close to my mom's side of the family.

Lesson Learned

So our sweet Lanie was struggling with bedtime after all of the chaos of Shawn traveling back and forth with work, the move,a new baby, and Lanie not having stability for awhile. Shawn and I were at a loss of what to do. My mom will attest also to the fact that we tried everything. The frustrating part was that I was doing our regular bedtime routine, that never failed, and it wasn't working in the slightest; I read to her, rocked her, sang to her, tucked her in and put the usual music on. But nothing seemed to settle her. I remember praying for some guidance and an answer to this problem. The answer came one night in a way that I did not expect. Shawn tucked her in and came out and said, "Prayer." I questioned him with, "What?" He explained that Lanie asked for him to say a prayer. AMAZING! Who knew that prayer was the one thing we were missing with our 2-year-old's bedtime routine? And I have to admit I felt guilty that my 2-year-old had to remind us of this. I learned a great lesson that day and since then, every time we put Lanie down to bed we offer a prayer. She folds her arms in her bed and often times falls asleep during the prayer. She is a gem about sleeping now. Never under-estimate the power of prayer and what little children are here to teach us. Thank you Lanie!

Lanie's Talking

I know I texted this out to many of you, but I love listening to Lanie list the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters: Micka Mouse, Mimi, Danol Duck, Daishee, Gooky, Pootoh, and PEEEEETE!

This is Lanie dancing.  Or just wandering around aimlessly talking to herself.  Also, apparently when we say "Baby Maverick" all she hears is "Baby Maggot."

Baby "Maggot" and Baby "Boy" taking their Sunday naps.

Skyping with Grandma.

This is the baby bear that we gave Lanie when Mav came home from the hospital. 

She insisted that it have a diaper put on it just like Mav. She is so nurturing.

 Lanie loves shoes. She tries on mommy and daddy's all the time.

Big girl putting her own shoes on for the first time...Love Love Love this!!!

Yes I'm growing....yes I have giant eyes to grow into....and yes my hands are always in fists!!!

 Lanie's love....Barney and books!

Mav boy LOVES his bathtime. It is so peaceful for him and he likes it HOT. And because he pukes a lot, we like giving him baths.

Baby Maverick loves snuzzling his head under the covers when he sleeps. The suffocation factor scares me, but even if I move the blanket away from his face, he finds a way to sneak back under it. Pretty cute!

A typical day lounging at home with my kids.  Lanie loves to cuddle her brother and watch "Potty Elmo" on the laptop while sitting in her Princess chair.  This is how we've worked out her being able to watch TV while I do the Jillian Michaels at home video workout. Oh the tricks!