Buddy Update

Henry looked at me a few weeks ago and said,

"Can you believe we have two kids?"

no.

I can't.

I also can't believe Finn is already four months old. (and then some.)

He's big enough to sit in Bence's old walker.

and he does great in the booster seat.

which is really saying something 'cause he's got a big noggin. 

Finn is such a sweet baby.

from day one he has been a little angel.

he usually only wakes up once a night to eat.

and then he stuffs his little face

and goes right back to sleep. 

and boy, is he a talker. 

henry and i were lying in bed the other morning and we just laughed. 

bence was talking to himself in his room 

(while pounding the door with his feet)

and finn was having a very loud conversation with himself at the foot of our bed. 

he is constantly gurlging, laughing, or cooing. 

He is such a happy little buddy.

he hardly ever fusses unless he's really hungry, poopy or exhausted.

and if he's really tired, all he wants is mommy to pick him up for a quick snuggle.

and then he falls asleep before i even sit back down in the rocker.

he was such a champ getting his 4 month shots.

he barely started to cry when his second thigh was pricked.

and once I picked him up he gave me a big gummy smile.

 I think he may have surpassed his brother's chunkyness too. 

at his appointment last week I found out that he gained 7 pounds (from 12 to 18) in the last two months.

and he grew two inches. 

he went from the 17th percentile in weight to the 80th. 

and his head is still in the 99th. 

like I said...big noggin.

and then there's mr. Bence. 

this one...

he keeps me on my toes. 

he is always making me laugh.

and he comes up with a new word every day. 

he can point to his eyes, nose, fingers, piggy-toes, mouth, teeth, tongue and head.

(he slaps himself to show me where his head is.)

He can also say the following:

Daaa: Dad

Pa: Dad or papa

outz: Ouch

Baaa: Ball

eeease: please

see/da: yes (we're not teaching him spanish or russian, so I don't know where this comes from.)

ock: Block or clock

duce: juice

He understands so much.

We have one of those "babies first 1000 words" books,

and we can ask, "where's the truck, bence?" or "point to the orange."

and he gets it.

It's so cool to see him comprehend more and more. 

On the same side, I can tell him to "shut the fridge door,"

or "give me those eggs,"

and he just runs away from me.

so it's kind of hit and miss. 

He's still a picky eater, but he's gaining weight well and consistently. 

and he loves to be busy and active.

the weather has been so yucky and cold since christmas,

we haven't really been able to get out to the park at all. 

so the last few frigid, grey weeks mommy has been a jungle gym. 

i give horsey rides,

make blanket forts between my legs and the couch, 

throw bence onto the furniture,

play airplane, 

and have frequent tickle fights. 

He loves it. 

and it helps tire him out.

I just love these boys.

Happy 2015!

It has been a pitifully long time since I last updated.

But between thanksgiving and christmas,

and single-momin' it when henry is away for business,

I'm lucky if I'm wearing matching socks and have showered that day.

So this is a monster post.

To make up for everything i've missed and to include the huge amount of photos I haven't posted yet. 

It'll probably take you a year to get through it. 

I can't believe 2014 has come and gone!

I was telling Henry the other day that the older I get the harder change becomes.

time goes by so much faster,

and the changing of seasons seems so much more drastic.

Day lights savings was, what...two months ago?

and every night around 4:30 I still catch myself saying,

"geez! It's already dark out?"

But 2014 was a pretty awesome year.

Here's a ton of pictures you've probably already seen. 

but I had too much fun looking through them all again. 

and there's some real winners.

I can't believe how much this boy has changed in one year. 

And Bence had his first real haircut. 

He went from being a baby....

To being a little boy!

He ate lots of treats and yummy food....

Which meant lots of baths where I played with his hair and made him mad.

(Don't worry. He got over it.)

Daddy started his new job the last day of March.  

He traveled all over the country throughout the last year

and got to visit lots of different cities.

to keep ourselves busy,  little buddy and I went to park as often as we could.

Bence loved to run across the ball field and climb on all the big rocks. 

we had more than one meltdown which resulted in big pregnant mommy carrying a screaming bence to the car. 

speaking of big pregnant mommy, we found out we were having another sweet boy in September!

And I got sick of my hair sticking to my neck so I chopped off eight inches.

We had lots of fun visits with family. 

Bence swam in the pool, played with hose and was loved on by nanas and papas and aunts and uncles.

And when daddy got to work remotely 

we had so much fun distracting him! 

We even got to visit him while he was working for a client in Baltimore. 

We stayed in a nice hotel,

went to the aquarium 

and walked along the harbor. 

Bence didn't really care about anything we saw at the aquarium. 

He just wanted to climb.

He had the most fun at the splash pad, though. 

We had such a fun summer. 

And then on a 98 degree day in september, , four days overdue,

little finn decided to make an appearance. 

and bence decided he liked his little brother. 

We decided we like Finn too.

He's a keeper.

And then we celebrated bence's second birthday.

which blows my mind. 

He didn't even eat his own birthday cake. 

He just ate the whoppers off the top. 

oh, well.

and then, before we knew it, it was halloween!

Bence was a monkey.

Finn was a baby.

go figure. 

Bence wasn't really diggin' the pumpkin carving. 

he refused to put his hands inside where it was cold and gloopy. 

but I think he still had fun. 

And a second later it was thanksgiving!

I seriously don't think I've ever seen so much food. 

I think we had three kinds of potatoes six different ways, 

a hundred homemade rolls,

and at least ten 'zerts. 

(that's desserts if you're not familiar with Parks and Rec.)

And while we were with family, we decided to try and take some family pictures.

you know, for christmas cards.

we had a few that didn't turn out so great.

They're real.

We'll leave it at that.

At the beginning of December, we were able to bless Finn.

It was beautiful.

and we had a bunch of family come down for it.

and then we ate chili and the best homemade cornbread. 

Which seems to be a blessing day tradition in our family.

Bence couldn't wait to show papa his nursery class. 

And since everyone was together that day already we were able to ordain Henry's youngest brother Sawyer.

And bence stole Pappy's hat. 

Before we knew it, it was time for our new friend, Sparky the elf, to make his appearance!

Bence is still a bit young to really get it,

but he had alot of fun coming out every morning to see what sparky would do. 

Unfortunately, sparky didn't stick around all the way till christmas. 

The weekend before the big day,

bence woke up at two in the morning projectile vomiting. 

and then he made the rest of us sick. 

sparky went back to the north pole so he wouldn't get sick too. 

after all, santa needs all his elves to be healthy during the christmas season. 

we managed to see some family for christmas,

but it's only been in the last week that we've started to feel better. 

bence, of course, recuperated the fastest. 

and so he's watched lots of movies while I've gotten better. 

We still had a wonderful christmas despite the sore throats, runny noses, and ear infections. 

Bence was so funny on Christmas morning.

He was mad about something, and didn't want to come into the living room.

But when he saw that bike....

We actually had to put it in a different room while we opened presents because he nearly killed himself standing on the seat. 

Bence learned to play the ukelele.

(jk)

These photos are in the wrong order, but on Christmas eve night,

bence got to open his presents from Grammo and poppo,

and he got a catchers mitt and a baseball.

and despite his mother and father having no inclinations toward baseball,

he knew exactly what to do with both those gifts. 

The baseball is now safely hidden to ensure that certain belongings 

like the flat screen TV and any windows 

remain unbroken. 

We were all so sick that whole week leading up to christmas.

I was so scared Finn would get it. 

I lost over five pounds in one day because I couldn't keep anything down (or in)

and I had a feeling that if Finn got the same thing he would end up in the hospital from dehydration. 

He had a blessing and everyday that went by we held our breath.

and what do you know, he didn't get it!

It was our christmas miracle this year.  

   

We got to spend our new years with the ones we love.

and I got to hold my babies close and go to sleep early. 

so all in all, I'd say it was a pretty great end to a pretty fantastic year. 

We can't wait for 2015!