My girl and my boy

Anne and I were discussing our insta-family while the kids were sleeping on the way home from visiting Mama and Papa. Within a 14 month timespan, we went from being married with time for things like mountain biking, fixing up the house, gardening and stamping to married with two children and barely any time to do anything else.

This is why my blog entries have been few lately. Mary Grace continue to talk more and more (her latest phrase is "good girl"). William has been a very hungry baby and has had good and bad sleeping. The good nights he'll sleep 6 hours straight (10-4) and the bad nights only 2 hours at a time. He seems to know night time is sleepy time.

Here are a few photos I took tonight of the little people in my house

 

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I've apparently been lax in adding to the blog, so here's a quick update.

It's mother's day and we're visiting the relatives in Lyons. It's a pleasant day and we're happily enjoying showing off the kids. William is being true to form and sleeping for the entire visit. Mary Grace only got a 1/2 hour nap, so she's a little high-maintenance.

We're having a great time! Hope all the moms reading this are having a great mother's day!

Pooping on a toilet!

Mary Grace has been a little vixen. She's handled William's arrival and the loss of 100% of our attention in stride, but now there's something new.

She gets a bath every other night, unless she gets really dirty like she did today. Last bath I noticed that she would squatt and pee after she was undressed, but before she was in the bath. She left several small puddles on the bathroom floor. Then she peed again in the crib after her bath. So I formulated a plan...

After undressing her, I let her squatt once, then I put her on the toilet. She sat patiently for a while then I called in the big guns. I ran the water in the sink. She seemed to dribble a few drops in the toilet but still sat patiently. So I tried something else. I asked if she wanted to poop, then showed her a big cleansing exhale. She did it too and made a splash!

Yes, today is the first day that Mary Grace used the toilet and she both peed and pooped! Needless to say, Anne and I are both very proud and gave her lots of praise and a sticker for a reward and a reminder. Time will tell if this is reproducable, but we have high hopes for our little over-achiever.

William is still doing well. He's an eating and sleeping machine. Anne and I are still trying to figure out our schedule and how we will handle the night feedings this week and once I go to work. But we know that regardless, everything will work out because we continue to be blessed by St. Anthony and St. Anne.

William Schreiber is cute!

Maybe the girls in school will say that some day, but for now, it's all Anne and I say. From his grunting noises to the way he always coughs while he's eating, to the little smiles he's been showing us, to the splatter of poop 5 feet from the changing table.

Here's some recent photos of our little guy. As always, click to see larger.

Bird nest

In the very early spring, Anne and I noticed a few birds (the flying kind, not the neighborly kind) hanging around the back porch. We took a closer look and found the beginnings of a nest. The nest was in a spot that was incompatible with us living here, so I removed it. About a week later Anne told me "our friends are back". They had made a nest in a candle lantern on the opposite end of the porch. We decided to let them stay.

A few weeks later, I noticed mommy bird in the lantern constantly, and checked the nest and saw a single egg. I've been seeing both parents in the lantern and out, so on one of the "out" times, I peeked in with my camera. Here's what I saw!












(you can click the image for a bigger version)

There are at least three fuzzy little baby birds in the nest, being watched over by a very attentive mommy and daddy bird. It's been really cool having the birds going through exactly what Anne and I are going through. I had hoped to get Mary Grace interested in these little chirpers, but she's much more interested in the tree and flowers below.

I'm still on vacation and really enjoying my time with Mary Grace. We do something fun outside each day. William is doing really well with Anne watching over him mostly. He pee'd on me tonight, through his clothes this time. He's also back up over his birth weight, which is a small relief.

Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment if you have a second!