Cousins!

Over the 4th of July weekend Annie got see to all of her cousins!

And the exciting news was that Annie and Liv actually started playing together! Everyone was home for a combination of the holiday and Annie's 2nd birthday party.

I must say, growing up there was always plenty of room in our house, but now when everyone's home space is becoming quite the commodity! But it is a lot of fun to have the house packed with everyone and all the kids get to play together.

All about Nicholas

Nicholas is 9 weeks old today! Time really does fly and it hardly seems like it's been 9 weeks. Actually it seems like he's been around for a lot longer. The trepidation you feel when you're adding to your family seems like a lot during the build-up, but after it happens, you quickly adjust and wonder how you ever got by without him.

In 9 wks Nichol has gone from a big baby weighing in at 8.5 lbs to clocking in at around 13 lbs. He is very good natured, and frequently gets a smile on his face when Annie is around. Of course, it may just be a precursor to wincing because usually Annie likes to get on top of him to give him hugs and kisses... He is a good sleeper, at night he usually makes it in at least 4 hr intervals, which is pretty handy. He has a crabby period in the evening around 7pm, but never gets inconsolable. He also has some pretty big eyes and frequently gives us a suspicious, big eyed look -- almost like he's about to say "whach you talkin' 'bout Willis."

He's already really strong, standing for bursts of time and has great head control. And probably the most surprising thing to people is that he's only 9 wks old... I think someone even remarked that we must be feeding him cream instead of milk.

Annie's 2nd Birthday Party Throw Down!

Annie's 2nd birthday was a few weeks ago. We had her party in NY over 4th of July weekend when all of her cousins would be in town. For her party Annie did not have too many requests. She's pretty easy going, for the most part, but she did have one request. When we asked her what kind of food she wanted, she said 'peppo-wroni pizzah.' Recently pepperoni pizza is her favorite food. She requests it at every meal and in every restaurant.

So the menu was pretty simply. Lots of pepperoni pizza... Instead of birthday cake Karen made these awesome banana cupcakes. Bananas are still pretty high on Annie's list, and she loved these cupcakes. Throw in some sides and sodas and you're all set!

For the big party my parents had the idea of renting a bouncy house. And man was that a great idea! Everyone loved it, it kept the kids in an enclosed area and they never got tired of it! We had the bouncy house for the whole weekend, it got a lot of use. We also had a double slip-n-slide, which was awesome. There's not too much better than a slip-n-slide on a hot day! Overall the party was a blast. We were so glad to have it at my parents where all of Annie's cousins could attend, and we could not have asked for better weather! Thanks again to everyone who came and made Annie's second birthday party a ton of fun!

Story time

Now that Nichol has entered the fray we've adjusted our routine accordingly. Some things we've tweaked, and some things we've been able to keep the same. Story time has remained pretty much the same. In the evenings Annie gets a bath, and then after her bath we read a book. Annie loves being a big sister so she likes having Nicholas next to her during story time.

Annie's favorite book used to be "I want a Dog" which we must have read every night for about 3 months. In the past few weeks that has changed and now her favorite book is "The Three Little Pigs" which probably gets read to her at least twice a day. Many days I'll read that to her in the morning, Karen will read it during the day and then it will get read again that night before bed! We're starting to get pigged out!