Janey Bea's 2nd Birthday

We're celebrating our little girl today - looking back...









Her party was a Cake! theme. We decorated cakes and of course ate them! The highlight for Jane - Papa coming bearing gifts!





the goodie-bags were filled with cookie cutters and this recipe in case anyone needs a good recipe for this Christmas...
Best Ever Christmas Cut-Outs
By Shirley McGlin from Black Creek, Wisconsin

“I have been making these for 30 years and they are the best I’ve found.”

1 c. butter, softened 2 ½ c. all-purpose flour
1 ½ c. powdered sugar 1 t. baking soda
1 egg 1 t. cream of tartar
1 t. vanilla extract optional: sugar
½ t. almond extract

Mix together butter, powdered sugar, egg, vanilla and almond extract. Blend in flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Cover dough and chill for 2 to 3 hours (Jane and I make the dough in the morning and the cookies after nap ☺). Divide dough in half; roll one half on floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters; sprinkle with sugar if desired and place on lightly greased baking sheets. Repeat with remaining half of dough. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 8 minutes or until lightly golden. Makes about 5 dozen.


Jane also got spoiled on our last day in Ohio. Here's pictures from her pre-party party!

The pictures over the past few weeks tell most of the story around here - but we've left out some of the stress. About a month ago we started calling Little Hank a "sensitive baby." One of Jane's favorite phrases is actually, "baby cry, baby cry." I thought it was mostly sleep related and hence the sleep training that started last week - that is going great - he's waking up happy for the first time! But the crying persists later in the day and most notably, his evening and last feeding of the day is always uncomfortable for him.

At the Dr's yesterday, we found out that he has Gastroesophageal Reflux - it developed somewhere around his 2nd month. I know from my class that this means one of his sphincters - a smooth muscle tissue between the stomach and esophagus - is not completely closing between feedings. We started him on Zantac, an acid suppressor, yesterday. Last night he slept longer than he has in 2 months!

We also found out that Jane - our hot dog loving kid - somehow has an iron deficiency. She'll soon be on the Popeye diet.

Henry is 15 lbs and 26 inches. His head is just 3 cm smaller than Jane's. She is now 26 lbs and 33 inches. Henry is as long as Jane was at 6 months. He will soon tower over her - but don't you worry, Jane will still be putting everything in its place.

Finally, I'm loving our downstairs neighbor Grace's reactions to Henry...

The unthinkable

Turner played for the Red Sox today in our baseball game - He beat me 10-2 with two grand slam home runs. Even with his wild pitching, I couldn't come back.





Some cute pics of the iittle ones...



Jane is becoming a big fan of anything stuffed - she fed the bears their dinner last night at Nanny and Papa's and pretended they said cheese to the camera. William, Ava, Turner Jane and Henry had a Pajama party before the we said good-bye.




We're off to the Dr's tomorrow for Jane's 2nd year and Henry's 4th month!

Friday Afternoons

On most Friday afternoons you can find Turner and I making pizza - He likes his with out sauce and loves to flip the dough the best. Today he said, "Mom, most 4 year olds don't know how to make pizza you know." These are the special moments I treasure.

Jane - caught here in mid-kiss- insists on being kissed or kissing anyone else when a boo-boo happens. Today Ben accidently bumped her with the race track and she was after him until he'd kiss her.

Henry - day two of working himself to sleep. The morning was not so good, but the afternoon - he's been asleep for 2 hours all by himself! Yeah Hank!

And finally, here is the Trio playing together in the bed - all was well until Jane decided to straddle Henry - he didn't like that very much. Yankee Dog came to his rescue.













Happy Friday everyone - Molly, our baby sitter is on her way to hang out with Jane and Turner while Henry and I are off to the library to study the Human Muscular System. I'll post pictures next week of my dissected RAT!

Veteran's Day Parade

We were out on a walk and ran into the Veteran's Day parade yesterday. We met quite a few WWII Veterans - Turner asked one of them, "Who did you fight for?" I had to smile but then when the man replied: "I was in the airforce with B-7's, you know bombers." I realized this was going to be a hard one to spin later when Turner had questions. Turner's next question - "When is confederates day?" umm...

When Turner is away...

We like to play. Jane and Henry miss Turner when he goes to school - but they do get a little extra attention. We play "roll baby roll," our friend Ben comes upstairs and we have "washtime,"- our new washing machine in the bathroom is pretty cool - mom and dad like the ease and the kids treat it like a new TV.






Hanky-Danky - his new nickname - sounds like a mix between Jane and Turner when he laughs ;)

The beautiful weather continued today and we were outside...

swinging, collecting bugs and reading the Sunday paper - Sesame Street turned 40 years old this week.



Nanny and Papa surprised us with a visit too!


It's enough to wish that Monday never came...

On this cold fall day...

We're having fun with the new camera... Here are some pictures from the last few days:

Cummo would cringe if he knew I let my kids make 'candy pie' in our cephlon pots, but they are so cute working on it together.
Matt had a couple of busy weeks so we were celebrating him being home - the kids all getting some daddy time.
Candy Apples!







And one quick story - a moment when I reconsider ever leaving the house again with all three in tow - the kids did amazing with their flu shots - it was the stickers after that got us. Jane had a full on tantrum in the Dr's office learning she could only take one of the stickers. She was sobbing as we left earning empathy from all of the nurses and kids next in line - little did they know that it wasn't the shot that hurt.

The painting of the house continues... pictures to come when it is all finished.

marketing

No picture for this one - just a funny moment.

We were in Wendy's - Jane was eating the ketchup from the small little cup that is unique to Wendy's, Henry sleeping :) ! - when Turner said, "Mom - I thought we were some place else - that's the sign for Old Mc Donald's," pointing to a poster size hamburger hanging on the wall. marketing works.

Trick or Treat

My mom and dad left yesterday morning after 5 fun days out here with us! Lots of spoiling going on - I went to the library with all 3 by myself and I thought, "How do I do this again?" There were a few more tears yesterday, but we are getting along.

Trick or Treat was a lot of fun - We had an Arizona Rattlesnake, a "dog-dog" and a Giraffe. Tammy & Bill hosted us again with yummy treats for all ages.

Aunt Frannie and our Westborough cousins also joined into the mix as we enjoyed a sunny trip to the playground & ice cream!


pictures from all the fun...

















Also, Henry has turned into a rolling machine...



The days are busy busy but with lots of love.