Will's swimming lessons

Due to some changes at work, I was able to enroll the kids in swim lessons this summer and be confident that I'd be home in time to take them. Will's 2 weeks of class just finished. For it being his first lessons, I'm pretty pleased. He looked timid, awkward, and terrified at many points, but he had nothing be positive things to say about it. He's doing a much better job going under water. They worked a lot on glides and floats. He still isn't great about jumping in from the side and is not doing any actual strokes yet. Maybe he'll get there. I love the water and would really like my kids to be comfortable swimmers. But, of course, that takes time and dedication. And, well, we don't spend a lot of our "free" time at the pool. Maybe when the kids are older. Nonetheless, Will is very proud of himself for completing his lessons and he had a really fun time. Ellie Kate starts hers on Monday - that will be very interesting! I probably won't have pictures of hers to post, though, since I'm in the pool with her for her lessons.

There were 3 boys (including Will) in the group.

Front float. Will's teacher, Hannah, was awesome! So patient and fun!

This is just a pic of the pool - pretty cool, huh?

Ellie is convinced her lessons will be over with all the toys....I'm trying to manage the expectations.

Back glide

Jumping in

Mother's Day & Father's Day

It's taken me so long to do a Mother's Day post, I just decided to combine Mother's & Father's Days. We spent a wonderful, relaxing Mother's Day at home. The kids were so excited to bring me breakfast in bed (read: they loved getting stuff from the bakery and having a picnic on my bedroom floor). It was really cute :)
Below are the cards the kids made me at school. Totally priceless...and hilarious - I don't know who the mother they talk about is! It is certainly not me who likes to cook and clean!

A note on "she looks at the computer": as best I can tell, she's thinking of when we look at pictures on the computer. I am really never on the computer when she's awake otherwise!

I am so thankful that their teachers are creative and take time to do this with every child. It's awesome!

This past weekend we celebrated Father's Day with some much-needed family time at home. The kids' cards for Justin are below.

Patrick at 4 months

Our happy little guy is 4 months old! He's getting so big -- sturdy, I say :) At his 4 month check-up:
17 lbs 6 oz (88%)
26.2 in. (86%)
head circumference (92%)
I told you...sturdy. He's happy and healthy. He has not maintained his good sleeping from the 3 month check point, so hopefully we'll get back on that schedule soon. He's eating about every 3 hours at night right now. We can stretch it out during the day, so hopefully he'll start to do so at night too. He has really good head control, is starting to grab and chew on toys (see below) and has fully mastered rolling from his back to his tummy. His eyes are still blue...I keep waiting for them to change, but no sign yet.

I love his little tongue in this picture.

We tried rice cereal for the first time this past weekend. He did remarkably well. Definitely knew what to do with it and kept some in his mouth. I call that a victory.

Really, Mom? What is this stuff?

Hmm...ok...not half bad...

Let me have that spoon!

Ahhh....full belly!

What's that? I get this again sometime?

Hooray!

Hair

We tried curlers in Ellie Kate's hair the other night. She showered in the middle of the afternoon after a t-ball game (i.e. playing in the dirt) so I decided we'd leave the curlers in for a couple hours until bed time. The smaller curlers definitely worked better. And, unfortunately, she has my hair. It only held the curl for about 30 minutes. Oh well. Cute while it lasted.

Before

I just think this is a beautiful picture of her.

after

 Then tonight was quite a different story with the hair. Pretend haircuts got a little too real.

It's like Clue: Mr. William with the scissors in the bathroom

The aftermath. I guess I should at least be thankful he did it over a trashcan.

She has an interesting "layer" on the side now, and a nice big chunk missing. Not sure how we're gonna make that look good. Maybe the bob cut will come soon...

Just one snip from his own bangs.

My sentiments exactly.

So, Will was the barber this evening and did much more work on his sister than on himself (he's no fool). Once he realized what a boo boo this was he asked me not to tell anyone. Fat chance - every parent deserves to re-tell stories like this. Ellie Kate was unfazed by all of this. She kept saying, "I'm a princess!" Chunky hair, but a princess nonetheless. Oh what a night.

Patrick's baptism

We had Patrick's baptism a couple weeks ago. It was a great time with family. He did an amazing job! All three babies getting baptized then were great. Not a single one cried! A lot of our family was able to join us and we were very thankful to have everyone there. Mass was on Saturday evening, followed by the baptism and then a little dinner get-together at our house. Unfortunately, my camera battery died after the ceremony, so I didn't get any pictures of the party afterward.

Several of our family members -- many others were taking photos for us.

Getting baptized! Patrick smiled around his pacifier :)

Patrick with Dad, Mom, Godmother Aunt Casie and Father Riley

Patrick - 3 months

No official stats, just a quick update. Since Patrick is nearing 4 months, I figured I should post his 3 month picture.

Still such a happy, happy boy. He started day care about a week before he turned 3 months and has been doing great. He smiles and coos and reacts so much more now. His hair is growing in on top and he has the bald strip across the back. He rolls to his side constantly! He can very nearly get to his tummy -- if only that  arm wasn't in the way! He is still eating great. He's sleeping reasonably well. We're getting a 5-6 hour stretch most nights. About once a week he throws in a rotten night, but overall he does well. He is eating 5-5.5 oz. every 3-4 hours during the day. He's definitely a growing boy! Oh - and his eyes are still blue! We'll see how long that lasts.

Is there anything cuter than a sleeping baby?

The boys

Things I miss about maternity leave

So you can probably tell by my lack of posts that I've returned to work. And there wasn't much "easing" back into it. We are preparing for orientations so I hit the ground running. I have lots to post about so it's going to take me awhile to catch up. But, here's the beginning: things I miss about maternity leave -- in no particular order.

• Figuring out our (Patrick's & my) routine -- or lack thereof
• Long fingernails
• Seeing my mom every week
• Running errands during the week - Target at 2 pm on a Tuesday is amazing!
• Mid-day trips to Starbucks
• Getting to go back to bed after a 4:45 a.m. feeding
• Yoga pants & KU t-shirts
• the Today show
• Not having to clean and sanitize pump equipment and bottles every day
• Knowing Patrick's every move and seemingly seeing every new development

All that said, I enjoy my work and am happy to be back among friends and inspiring students. Just wish I had more time to blog :)