A Merry Christmas Message

 Skyping with Grandma and Papa

 Cookies!

 Master cookie decorator and mess maker

 These are already all gone by the way

So proud! She wouldn't stop or take a break until they were all done!

I want to start off by saying that Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. Growing up my mom and dad always made it a big deal too. I remember making cookies with mom. We always made a ton and I still make the same ones that were always my favorite. My dad always made a big deal about the tree. I will never forget the year he decided that the tree needed a color theme and wanted a tree that was blue and silver/white, with ONE strand of tinsel on each branch! Katy and I joked that it was a department store looking tree,but it was beautiful. After that it was always something like that-red/white, blue, red/green. To this day my tree is pretty much always red/silver/white. I do love a blue themed tree, but my collection of ornaments hasn't grown to that level yet. I love that this year Lily has really fell in love with the holiday. She loves the tree and everyday rearranges the ornaments. The advent calenders are a hit and the elf Kyle has yet to disappoint.  And of course she loves the cookies and the rest of the treats.

With all that being said the last couple of years have been hard for me. I miss my family so much. I miss the huge Christmas Eve dinner at Aunt Jill's and Christmas dinner at Mom and Dad's house and seeing how many people we can fit into that small little house. And I miss playing games with everyone after dinner. And I miss meeting up with friends that are also home that can make me laugh so hard it hurts.

You might be asking yourself if you miss it so much why do you live 2000 miles away? I too ask myself that same question and believe me we are trying our damnedest to get back in the Wisco area. If I could go back in time I would tell my 25/26 year old self to think about what it is going to be like when you have a family. I don't regret moving here. Shane and I were on our life adventure together. We fell in love here, got engaged here and made our beautiful family here. Our intention was to always move "eventually". We didn't anticipate a housing crisis/disaster. We didn't anticipate how much we would need our families. We didn't anticipate needing our friends companionship so much. We had each other and that was enough. 98% of the time it is enough. I have a house full of blessings. But I find myself feeling lonely sometimes for all the people who love me and mine so much. So the message here is don't take your family for granted. If you have them close scream with joy from the rooftops!

Disclaimer: This post might be stemming from lack of sleep and the tantrum I threw at 3:30 am last night (foot stomping, snot filled sobbing kind of tantrum) because a certain little 8 month old wouldn't go back to sleep and didn't want to be held, fed or rocked. And another certain 34 year old husband just stayed sleeping

8 months!

It was not easy getting a picture this month. I think I took about 70. Thank god for digital cameras!

8 MONTHS!

So happy!

 Pucker up

 Yeah, I'm 8 months

He is on the move! Crawling, pulling himself up on anything and everything. He stands up next to his walker and walks it around the kitchen. He is the proudest, happiest baby when he stands up. He is saying Mama and Dada. In the middle of the night I hear "Maaaammmaaaa" coming from his room. I go in and the sweetest little monkey is reaching out of his crib for me. When I pick him up his head instantly rests on my shoulder. We snuggle for a few minutes in the rocking chair and then he is ready to go back into his crib back to sleep. As much as I love my sleep, I do love these moments with my babe.

As you can see he is a good eater. He still loves squash and bananas and is starting to eat little bits of pasta and pancakes. He is really interested in what we eat and wants to try it all.

His hair has turned completely white, his eyes are still blue and his ears stick out a bit. He is starting to get a third tooth. Everything goes in his mouth. We have trained Lily to keep her small toys in her room and make sure to pick them up when Brock comes in her room to visit. He still loves being out and about. He barely makes a peep when we are out shopping or eating. People are always commenting on what a good baby he seems to be. It is true, he is a good baby, but sometimes he doesn't like the car rides or being cooped up in the house all day. He likes to look at new things and see what is going on in the world. He still loves to watch his sister do anything. sometimes he uses her hair to pull himself up, but she doesn't seem to mind too much. She adores him. He is the first person she asks for when she wakes up in the morning.

Diaper changes have turned into a WWF wrestling match.

Nicknames: Lily and I call him "Boobers" Lily's also calls him "Luigi" and Shane calls him "Bubba" or "Buds"

Two kids, holy cow, they are exhausting! I think we were in bed at 8:30 last night.

As much as I love my two little wonderful monkeys. I am thankful for the babysitter tonight and Shane's Christmas party!

Christmas happenings

Christmas has arrived at the Gaylor house!

 We got this beauty of a tree. Lily was very excited to decorate it and told us how each ornament was very special.

 We went to Bellevue botanical gardens for Garden D'Light and Lily was in heaven. Brock was just happy he had on about four layers.

 Lily was amazed that they used all her favorite colors in the lights and that there were butterflies, dragonflies, turtles, spiders, alligators made out of lights. All her favorite animals of course. How did they know?

 She stopped to smell all the "flowers"

 checking to make sure my babe was nice and toasty

 "I just love this!"

 kisses

A Pucker up and a poke in the eye. Now that's Christmas!

 This is our elf Kyle. Grandma Lois sent him to stay with us this month

The Grandmas gave us these advent calenders. 1st thing Lily does each morning!

Ghosts of Halloween

Ghosts of Halloweens Past.....

Present.....

and hopefully not our future!



6 Months and Other Happenings

6 Month Stats:

19 pounds 14 ounces

27 1/2 inches

90th percentile in both height and weight!

He is our happy boy as you can see. It doesn't take a lot to get a smile out of him. I can get him giggling pretty good too, but by the time I get the camera ready to take a video he is over it. He is sitting up on his own. He hauls ass in his walker. He is trying to crawl. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. He gets himself around doing an army crawl just like his big sis used to. He is rolling from front to back and back to front. He likes to watch Ringo eat. He likes to take Lily's artwork off the fridge and eat it. He likes to watch the washing machine agitate. He likes watching his sister play and always has one eye on whatever Daddy is doing, but I am still his fav :). He loves the hot tub and being outside. He loves to swing and take walks in his stroller. He loves to sit in circle time when we go pick Lily up at preschool. He has started eating more foods. Sweet potatoes are his favorite. He also like to suck on peach chunks in his mesh feeder.

As fun as this age is - Holy Cow! This month has kicked our butts! But today, on his 6 month bday, the little bugger pushed his 1st tooth through! I really hope this means he will start sleeping a little better - day and night. Getting him to sleep hasn't been the issue, he rarely even whimpers when I lay him down awake and leave the room. The problem is staying asleep. I have tried everything, and I mean everything. It is really difficult to hum, "Go the f*%$ to sleep" at 2, 3,and 4 in the morning. Whatever advice you throw at me I am sure I have tried some version of it. Hopefully now that this first tooth is here we will see some changes. cross your fingers for me! What is frustrating me the most is the 20-30 min naps. I am hoping that once we get the nighttime down the nap situation will regulate itself out. For now I will just keep trying. But when he sees me come into his room he smiles and all I can do is shake my head.

Sister and brother



Watching Ringo eat!

Pumpkin patch and corn maze with Branyan

 "Trust me daddy it is this way!"

couldn't resist!

Pics

She did it again! We met up with Jocelyn at Bothel Landing to take some much needed pics and we love them. Lily was a ham and as you can see tried to help us get a smile out of her brother.

Preschool

Lily started Pre-K and she loves it. She would go everyday if it was offered. This year she gets to eat lunch at school and is very excited about what might be in her lunch bag. She is a lot more talkative in class this year and tells me more of how her day was when I pic her up.

Showing off her apple person.

This girl talks NONSTOP! There was once upon a time that Shane and I were a little worried when she wasn't talking that much and now there are some days we wish she would just slow down with the questions. She is very curious and wants to learn about everything. She is starting to learn to add and she can even spell a few words.

She also has no fear when it comes to animals. And by animals I mean slimy things. Snakes, frogs, snails and even slugs are fun to play with according to Lily. 

5 Months!

My babe is 5 months! Time is flyin!

His two favorite things to look at are his sister and Ringo. He likes to follow Ringo around in his walker and watch him eat.

He LOVES his walker! It is also a lifesaver for us since he is too big for his swing and doesn't so much like just lying on his back anymore.

When we do put him on his back he immediately rolls over. He has started to push himself with his legs and gets a few feet from where he started before he gets tired of it.

Naps are still an issue. We have a little schedule but the naps never last longer than 40 minutes and that is on a good day.

The boy loves to be outside so lets hope for a mild winter!

We started on some food last week and so far he likes it.

He is growing so fast and needs to slow down this minute!

4 Months!

Brock turned 4 months while we were on the Island so we did his pictures on the beach. My vision of naked baby with the sticker didn't work out and Brock was a little crabby so we had to do a redo the next day.

Stats:

We have an 18 pounder on our hands and he is 26 1/2 inches long. 90th percentile for both height and weight. He is 3 pounds heavier than Lily was at 4 months and an inch longer. I am well aware that he is a big baby. I heard it about 75 times on vacation!

He is pretty much the best baby ever. Very easy to get smiles out of. Very cuddly and a champion sleeper still (except for the last couple of days, but I think he is teething so I am staying positive that he will be back to his normal self soon). His eyes follow his big sister everywhere and he likes to laugh at her. He is very ticklish and he turns his face into all my kisses.

We love you Brock Thomas!

Some Goings On Around Here

We have been quite busy around here....

Lily has been in desperate need for swim lessons. I don't want to have the screaming kid at schoolhouse and I want her to ask me if we can swim to the raft with Jessica and Nathan and I want her to like the water as much as we do!

She did awesome!!! She did everything the instructor told her to do and she was so excited to have done it. No tears! No screaming! No coaxing her to get it! So proud!
My wonderful little boy. As long as he is fed he is pretty happy. Even with big sister getting in his face all the time, touching him and talking to him in the most annoying high pitched voice ever!

She also likes to make him "beautiful". This is a daily occurrence of accessorizing her little brother.

Lily and Shane "camped" in the backyard. We even made smores! She informed me that there was no room for Brock and I only her and Daddy. She slept in the tent all night and woke up bright and early at 6:00am!

We have been finding these little green frogs in our yard for a couple of weeks. I felt a little bad for this little guy because she would not leave him alone. I was a little frightened she was going to hurt him. But he smartened up and hopped under the deck and got away. She named him/her Rosie.

Cousin Eve stopped in for dinner on her road trip. We had fun talking and Lily had fun twirling and dancing in her new dress from Uncle Ward, Aunt Camille, Cres and Eve.

2 Months!

I can't believe it, he is 2 months old!

13 pounds 4 ounces

24 inches

There is no question he is getting enough to eat!

He also got shots at his appt and he only cried for a minute at the time, but a few hours later... that was another story. Crabby, didn't want to be put down, didn't really want to eat, pale, puked on his daddy. Fun times. Next day he still wasn't 100% but getting better.

this onesie is a 3 month size evidently and I had to stretch it over him!
Funny things we have heard around here:

Brock: a screechy yell he lets out right before he toots
Lily comes running over: "Did Brock crap his pants?"

Me: Your zipper is down
Shane: I know
no action to correct the situation
Me: are you going to fix it?
Shane: No, it is just one more step when I have to go to the bathroom
I didn't realize I was married to a 70 year old

Shane: Why is Lily's hair always in braids?
Me: I am grooming her for plural marriage*
*I am obsessed with polygamy - I find polygamists a bit fascinating
And Lily loves her hair in braids and so do I - It keeps her hair out of her face and she has "curls" the next day and we get to skip a day of having to brush her hair which isn't the funnest job for either of us. So I don't care if it is dated - it is practical!

I Have KIDS!

I still can't get over that I have KIDS! Plural! With an S!

Life is pretty interesting though. Here are some of the goings on around here...

The other day I was changing Brock and Lily told me she was so happy he was normal. Whatever that means.

A few days after we got home from the hospital, my mom was making coffee, Shane was in the other room, and I was in the living room. I ALMOST (I caught myself) asked her who had the baby, only to realize I was feeding him. Interrupted sleep + percocet = stupid questions.

There are plenty of other things that have happened and been said but these stick out right now.

Lily's preschool had a fun art project one day and made us some lovely stepping stones.
Lily's Bfriend Otto playing on the playground.
Lily informed me the other day that she had a boyfriend and I asked her who...
Otto of course!

Hailey turned 3 and had a fabulous sweet shop party. This was all the loot Lily found from the pinata.

Birthday Girl!

Lily looks like a librarian to me here.

Lily's preschool had a field trip to Edmonds beach to learn about different kinds of sea life.

Lily showing teacher Gina a clam shell she found

Very brave holding a starfish

Showing Ranger Pam the starfish

my little guy getting so big!

Tummy time!

Lily helping with tummy time