He’s 3 Months!

Alec turned 3 months old on Megan’s seventh birthday. Megan loves that they were born on the same day of the month…albeit different months. She kept reminding me: “we need to take Alec’s 3 month picture on my birthday.” Here is baby boy’s monthly comparison picture:

Sadly, Alec wasn’t feeling very well on his 3 month date. He and Megan contracted a nasty virus on June 25th which absolutely wiped him out. Megan was hardly phased, but Alec was miserable. Both children had rashes (Megan’s was mild. Alec’s was severe) and both had fevers (Alec’s was super high, while again, Megan’s was mild.) Megan also had sores in the back of her throat, but Alec did not. Their doctor said it was likely Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease, but it was presenting a little different than usual, and covered their entire body.

Other than being sick on the day he turned 3 months old, Alec has continued to just be the sweetest most delightful baby.  He weighed in at 14 pounds 8 ounces when we took him in for his rash.  He sleeps SO WELL, and there are many nights when he sleeps 8 or 9 hour stretches.  He smiles freely, and laughs occasionally.   He can reach and grab for toys and then stick them right into his mouth.  He can roll both from his tummy to his back and back again, but he doesn’t do it too often.  He is always just so content and pleasant. He is an absolute joy.

We call him by a couple of nicknames, “Ace” and “Johandsome.”  When Adam and I were engaged, one of my little nephews thought Adam’s last name was “Johandsome” and ever since then it has been kind of a private nickname/joke between Adam and me.  We have since passed it on to little Alec. And we think it suits him perfectly!

I have LOVED dressing up my little boy.  Sundays are always my favorite day to dress up my girls, and it is no different with my boy.  Who can resist a baby boy in a white shirt and tie?  Not me, that’s for sure.  I kinda went crazy and got him about a million ties and bow ties.  I would have him wear one every day if it was practical!

Here are some random pictures of sweet Alec throughout his 3rd month, starting from the beginning of the month to the end:

We are all so in love with Alec (even the little sister!  She now refers to him as “my Alec!”) I feel so absolutely blessed to have such wonderful, beautiful, and sweet children.  Life is so good.

She’s 7

My first baby is officially 7 years old.

I tell this girl about 100 times a day how much I love her and how I am so glad she is my daughter. Ask her. She’ll tell you. Her mom is crazy about her.

Megan is the sweetest little girl. Literally without guile. She has such a love for other people. She just doesn’t know how to not like people, even those who might not treat her the best. She could teach me a thing or two about love. I think that any perceptible behavior problems or social squibbles Megan gets into are merely due to an inability to understand what is accepted of her and how she is supposed to act. She does not go out of her way to misbehave or treat others unkindly. Her mind is just naturally pure. It is one of the things I love most about her.

While Megan seems to be growing up and maturing more and more each day, she still has the sweetest innocence about her. It kills me to think that the world and it’s darkness and evil is creeping up on her more and more with each passing day. I really wish I could just shield and protect her forever from all injustice and hurt. She just doesn’t deserve it.

You would think that after seven years I would no longer be so in awe of Megan’s beauty and sweet heart, but that’s just not the case. I sure love this girl and think she is just the kindest, most gorgeous little girl I have ever seen.

Megan makes me so happy. I hope that she had a wonderful birthday and I hope this next year is a great one. I promise I will continue to work my hardest to make her life as happy as she has made mine.

PARTY TIME!!!

I thought that it might be fun to throw a surprise birthday party for Megan the day before her actual birthday. I remember last year we had her party on the evening of her birthday and the day was just so long for her waiting and waiting until evening arrived. I was a little scared that she might be a little put off that we were having a birthday party on the day that was not actually her birthday, but she was super excited and pleasantly surprised.

The guests:

After summer school, Adam took the girls to the library and to run some other errands. I was getting Megan all dressed up and doing her hair before the set out and she said to me, “why am I getting all dressed up to go to the library?” Hahaha. Now she knows!

Adam thought it might be fun to have Megan follow a path of messages to the party. The theme of the party was fairies and butterflies, so he prepared messages with chalk on the sidewalk from the fairies leading to the party. On the way home from the library, he parked at the nearby school and said, “I think I saw something! Let’s see!” They hopped out right at the beginning of the messages and followed them to the party.

When Megan entered the yard and saw the party set-up, she was a little confused. Once it dawned on her, she was super excited.

Her cousin Marshall was so excited for her!

We did a couple of party activities. The first was to paint fairy houses and little woodland animals.

Then, Adam led the children on a fairy and insect hunt.

Gift time is always the best part of the party! Megan LOVED all the gifts!

Then we had cake and ice cream. Who doesn’t love cake? Megan…that’s who! She said, “mom, can I just take one bite??” And it was the tiniest bite ever. Sorry sweet girl, maybe next year we’ll forgo the cake and have whatever you want!

The two year olds had no such inhibitions when it comes to cake…

The party was a hit and the birthday girl was so happy. She told me it was the “best day ever!” YAY!

Happy birthday Megan!!! We sure love you!!!

Happy Father’s Day!

Adam is a wonderful father. It was so fun to celebrate him this year. Usually I might get him a small gift or something, but this year I thought I would try to do a little more to surprise him. The girls and I put together this basket and when we presented it to him, Megan said: “Happy Father’s Day to the greatest ‘POP’ in the whole wide world!”

Adam was also in desperate need of some new ties, so I got him some in addition to the POP basket. I was super stoked when I found little matchy-matchy ties for Alec. They are meant for boys a little bigger, but they are still fun and it is still cute to have the boys match. Adam loved the idea of matching his little boy.

We are all so lucky to have Adam as the daddy of our household. He is hardworking and loving and gentle and kind and selfless.

Happy Father’s Day Adam! We love you to the moon and back!!!!

First Giggles

This is a little video clip from when Alec was 11 weeks old. It’s not the best quality because it was taken on my iPod, but we were able to elicit his first giggles at this time. Excuse the messy room and the pale legs and just focus on the sweet sounds of Alec’s laugh.