Colin is Two

Our baby boy is TWO!  These two years have flown by and he continues to steal our hearts everyday.

Colin is a lover, a charmer, a jokester, a wildman, a silly boy who never stops.  Except for an episode or two of Bubble Guppies.  He is obessed with Bubble Guppies.  It is hard to get him to watch anything else.  So of course we had to have a Bubble Guppies Birthday party!  Along with new Bubble Guppies toys.

He also loves Cars, of course Lightening McQueen.  Loves trains, of course Thomas.  He can always be found zooming or choo chooing one of them around.

He is a little brother who loves his Big Sis.  They play so well together and he has learned so much from her.  Most of the time he is good about sharing.  He is learning you can't hit or pull hair.  And adorably he will say "Sorry Neenee".

He is a big brother now too and he loves his Little Sis.  He loves to hug and kiss her.  He asks to hold her and after about 15 seconds he says, "Mama's turn".

He has a little act we call his "Ray Charles".  He likes to move his head side to side with his eyes closed all while trying to eat or while walking around.  It's pretty hilarious.

He has the cutest little stance with his hands behind his back.

He has impeccable manners.  Always saying "please and thank you".

He loves to sleep.  He sleeps about 12 straight hours at night with a 2 hour nap.  He even likes to lounge around in bed in the morning playing with all his binkies.  I think soon we will make the move to his big boy bed.

He was not happy to go to the doctors and was bawling his eyes out while getting weighed and measured.  They weighed him at 31 lbs at 90%.   He tops the charts in weight but short for now at 34" only 32%.  They were super impressed that he is potty trained.  His chubby legs look super cute in his Thomas undies.

He loves to eat and some meals I swear he eats more than I do.  Some favorite foods are cashews, cheese, carrots and hummus and chips and salsa.

We had a fun family dinner out at Los Tios.  Colin loves Mexican and Mama has been dying for one of their delicious and way too strong Margarita's.  We got there at 4:30pm and had the restaurant to ourselves.

Lauren Reese

Lauren Reese was born on February 12, 2014 at 9:46pm.  She was 7 lbs 3.6 oz and 19 inches.  That night over a foot of snow fell as we cozied up with our new little girl.  I fell in love the moment I set eyes on her!

Our sweet Valentine came home on the 14th and was surrounded by love.  The excitement from Whitney was just amazing and Colin's curiosity was so cute.  They both immediately wanted to hold and kiss her.  Their love continues to grow.  We have had such a smooth transition becoming a family of five.

Lauren is our little peanut!  Though she was almost exactly the size of Whitney when she was born, she is not growing at rapid speed like her siblings.  At two weeks she had gained a little weight but was only in the 33%, while Whitney and Colin were quickly close to 100%.  I got my wish for a small baby so I could enjoy this newborn phase longer since it will be our last time.  Setting records for longest time spent in newborn diapers in the O'Neill house.

We have had so much help from our family and are so grateful for it.  Making time for us to nap, taking Whitney to school, making food, folding laundry, the list could go on.  The interrupted sleep in tough but we have settled into a good routine and our days run pretty smoothly.  I definitely have that second cup of coffee and let the laundry pile up.  I just don't want to miss any of these precious moments!

Here are some pictures of Lauren's first few days.

Heading Home

 Anticipating our arrival

 I love Colin's first peak at his little sister!

Lauren was so responsive to Whitney.  I guess all that talking to my belly paid off!

We couldn't feel more blessed!

When There Were Two

I thought I would do a post before the baby arrives to catch up on what Whitney and Colin have been up to. They have been changing and growing up so much in the last few months!

Colin is  22 months and around 31 lbs and seems to have added a little height to his sturdy stature.  He is talking much more and putting two words together now.  Most commonly saying "More Mama", since he always wants to eat!  He is usually the last one to finish his dinner.

 He loves playing with his new trains, cars and airplanes.  It is crazy how innately little boys just make that "vrroom" sound when playing.  So cute!  He also loves to sing and dance.  He sings along to songs in the car and at home we often have music playing.  Any toy that has music he has a little dance to it.  Amazingly he really seems to hear the different music tempos and sounds and adjust his dance moves accordingly :)

He continues to be my little snuggle monster.  I can always count on many hugs and kisses though out the day.  When he gets in trouble he grabs my face and plants a big wet one on my lips.  I mean really!  He is such a Mama's boy and I love it...and am enjoying it because the day will come when we will be his Papa's wingman.  I could never imagine how a little boy would make me feel!

He is also in big boy underpants! We took the plunge with the New Year and he has been doing great.  Don't get me wrong, we have had our fair share of accidents.  But I can say we are only in underwear during the day from here on out!

Whitney is so much fun.  I love spending quality time with her and hearing what is going on in her head.  She is such a caring little lady and loves doing sweet things for the family.  Writing notes, drawing pictures or just giving them a call.  And she LOVES her little brother so much and tells him all the time.  She also hugs my belly and says, "I love you baby sister"!  She cannot wait for this baby to arrive!

I just had her conference at school and she got high remarks for everything.  They specifically noted what a good artist she is, that she has enthusiasm for learning, is a hard worker and has been a delight!  We are very proud of her and excited to see her making friends and showing more of her fun and energetic side to others!

Whitney and Colin have such a sweet relationship.  Whitney looks after him and is so good at playing with him like an equal.  He loves keeping up with his big sis.  He often gives her hugs and kisses too but then it ends in a tackle to the floor. Boys!  I am so glad they have each other as we bring a new baby home.  I know there will be adjustments and tough moments for everyone, but we are thankful for how well they play together and will continue to get closer.

This is most likely my last post before the baby arrives.  Here are some of my favorite pics from the last few months.

Whitney loves pretending to be a dog.  Thanks to her current favorite show, Paw Patrol.

Colin's favorite thing to play is doctor.

Build them up and knock them down!

Passing down her love of puzzles.

Playing in his big boy room.

Big Boy Undies

 Whitney and  I saw a production of Annie.   I have been singing Annie songs since I was 5 and was in the show twice.  It is so fun to share my love of theatre with her!

We feel so blessed.  There were times we never thought we would get here.  We can't believe we get to love another one!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas around here.  Getting to relive all the excitement through your kids is just so much fun!

Whitney had a fun little party at school where they ate way too much sugar and had a book exchange.

 Christmas concert at school

Her buddy Emilie

Parade Downtown

Breakfast with Santa--Colin's first time meeting Santa went down in the books.  I mean when have you seen a one and a half year old hugging Santa!

Making Nanny's Sugar Cookies

Checkers break with Auntie Ann.

Tree Trimming at my parents house.

Gifts from my parents and Ann!

Whitney was in full gear this year and really into all that had to do with Christmas.   She wore this hat almost every day.

So we had to get Colin one too!  Quickly Colin got familiar with Santa and said, "Ho, Ho, Ho" all season!

 Every morning she would run down to find the elf and just think it was hilarious wherever he had camped out.  Then we had three advent activities that were next on the list.  She asked many questions about Santa and we often would play pretend it's Christmas morning.  So, when Christmas Eve came and she got very sick (probably the flu) and woke up forgetting it was even Christmas it was kind of sad.  But she quickly rallied and we had fun rushing down to see what Santa had brought.

Christmas Eve

Colin was super excited about his big Mickey Mouse!

The train set was the biggest hit with both of them.

Around 9am my parents and Marguerite came over for a big delicious breakfast!  We spent the next few hours leisurely opening gifts.  It was a wonderful Christmas morning.

The next day Sue and John came into town and we enjoyed another Christmas celebration.  Then the next day Casey and Jess joined us and spoiled the kids with some more wonderful gifts!

Super fun airport and airplane.

City Cafe lego set she asked for.

We have been enjoying all the fantastic gifts that everyone showered them with.  Finally some boy toys in this house!  

Uncle Casey being a good sport !

That Saturday my parents had a big party with the Butler, Ashbaugh and O'Neill families.  It was so fun to have my relatives all in one place!  

Christmas was a huge success this year.  We look forward to a crazier one next year!