What we've been up to...

Sorry it's been a while...you know us, always have lots of fun things going on! We feel SO blessed to have so many great friends and family things to be involved in :)

Here's an update in photos:



Jack is still loving his Hummer power wheels; he calls it his "monster truck" and it is ALL he talks about from the minute he wakes up till he finally crashes at night. I'm not kidding, driving it is the ONLY activity Jack wants to be involved in. We had a meltdown on the way to storytime last week because he wanted to stay home and drive some more (he had already been driving it for about an hour that morning :) Best $60 I've ever spent on this kid!


Lucy is happy to ride along...they're buds :)


And Connor is still our happy, happy boy! We've nicknamed him "smiles" for he is rarely wearing any other expression on his face. He's just an angel baby!



And he's fully crawling now. I got jipped on the phase where you can plop a baby down on the ground, have them be able to sit up and entertain themselves with a few toys while you tend to things. Connor can crawl, but he can't sit up, and whenever he does begin to do that, he'll never stay in one place since he knows how to crawl :)


Lucy and Connor spend a lot of time together! She's an awesome helper!
Growing boy!





Lucy still sucks her thumb at night...


which is SILLY... :)

and she loves to paint her nails and show them off!


and pose...here, you can see her rare "Sarah face" making an appearance.


and even six months after having our third edition, Lucy and Jack are still OBSESSED with him. All they want to do is hold him, play with him, etc. This morning, they got some love before heading off to school.


Connor cheats death daily with big brother Jack...



Connor: "Mom! Why do you keep letting this big person get near me!?! Haven't you learned he is incapable of MODERATION!?"




And when Jack gets the special privilege of holding Connor by himself, you can see how it puts Lucy off! LOL! (and how happy it makes sweet Jack!)


That's all for now, have a great day everyone!

A weekend for our boys...

This weekend was a special weekend for our little guy, Connor, as he was baptized (or "bathitized" as Lucy says it) today. And today also turned out to be a special occasion for Jack (who as the stereotypical "middle child" can always use any extra attention - planned or not.)

I LOVE yard sales, and so I was tickled pink when a facebook page was created for our little community this side of the mountain in Hampton Cove. And not just any FB page, but a community YARD SALE page where people from the valley can post things they're selling. I've already bought a free standing floor mirror for our room (always wanted one as I hate standing atop the bathtub ledge to see what the bottom half of my outfit and shoes look like on :), and today, I decided to quickly pop onto the page and just see if anything fun had been posted.

So glad I did!...because just twelve minutes prior a lady had posted her son's Hummer Power Wheels two-seater with battery and charger!!!!! And for just $60! A steal for one of these things in great condition. I jumped on it because Jack has been driving around Lucy's "Barbie Take Along Tunes Power Wheels" and while it was kind of Lucy to let him drive it so much (she never hardly got a chance to drive it because it is seriously ALL Jack lives to do - first words out of his mouth in the mornings are "Can I go drive Lucy's Jeep?!?"), Jack really needs a proper manly toy car!

So, we brought it home after lunch and surprised Jack with it! His face was priceless! I just edited and posted all these photos to our Shutterfly share site, so I'm just going to link to it here if you want to see the pics and his surprised face!: (the "hummer" pics begin at #63 I believe in the album "August and the new house"

http://kjjlmartinpics.shutterfly.com/#editPictures:albumId=2866

And now for what the weekend was originally planned to be about: Connor's baptism. My mom and Jason's parents and several of our dear friends joined us for the happy occasion, and despite Connor falling asleep on Barbara's shoulder during the praise time, he woke up and did just fine - if not a bit confused - up on stage as John baptized. Thanks to my friend Dawn for snapping some pictures of the event, and you can see them in the folder, "Connor's Baptism":

http://kjjlmartinpics.shutterfly.com/#editPictures:albumId=2866

Daddies are from Mars, Mommies are from Venus

Case in point...this brief - yet so revealing - interlude took place just two night ago. Quick background: Jack has become a bit preoccupied with "big bad wolf" and it's quite common for Jack to stay back from a room's entrance because "the big bad wolf is in there!" When I'm home with him during the day, Jack will dramatically announce the big bad wolf's location, and I'll make a big scene of running into the room with my arms waving, leap forward, and yell, "Go away big bad wolf!" The kids giggle with delight, and then I'll announce that the wolf is gone, having either jumped out the window and into the construction trucks at the Carney's new house across the street or sometimes I just have the wolf disappear through the closet.

Okay, so anyhow...dinner was finished, kids had played around, and it was time to go upstairs and get ready for bed.

Jason: "Okay kids, upstairs, let's get ready for bed..."

Jack: "But the big bad wolf is up there."

Jason: (with a smirk and attitude) "Jack, no there's not."

Me: "Jack, I'll go scare it away."

Mommy saves the day... :)

Happy Half-Birthday Connor!

Today is a cool day; my mom turned 24 :) and Connor turned 6 months! And as is the tradition in our house, we celebrate the first half-birthday with half of a birthday cake.

Lucy picked the icing color - lime green, and both kids helped put sprinkles all over the cake (and the floor :) We sang happy birthday, and Connor had a grand time sucking the icing off his fingers. Watching ever so closely, Lucy asked me, "Mommy, are babies supposed to have icing?" Me: "No baby, not really, but it's okay (unsaid: It's okay because Mommy is going to bunco and Daddy gets to watch you tonight :) She seemed a bit confused but let it go...

So happy half-birthday sweet lil' boy - it's flying by! I officially crown you, best baby! :)


We have his 6 month check up tomorrow, so I'll post his stats then, but for now, Connor eats A LOT! Twice a day, he consumes about 1/4 cup of baby food plus rice cereal, and he's nursing no less than five times a day (and somehow he has picked back up a nighttime feeding. We tried to let him cry it out a few night ago, thinking that he's just nursing at night because he wants to, but after 90 minutes of crying I figured perhaps he really is just hungry. He's always ravenous every time he eats.

We've nicknamed him "smiles" because he is such a happy baby and most of the people we encounter remark about how happy he is. He really is a delight! Also, he's a tough cookie, hardly ever crying when Jack throws himself on top of him, or Lucy squeals at a glass-breaking decibel in his ear. Great kid, just a great kid! We're so fortunate!





Lucy still ADORES him!
'


Some sibling love...

Thanks Baba for the cute "cupcake" outfit; it was perfect for today!



There's a smile!

a few house pics

Sorry for the delay family; I know some of you are eager to see some pics...

So, I've taken a few, but more to come.


Here's my favorite room - the kitchen. It really was love at first sight :) This is super close to exactly what I would design if customizing my own kitchen. I love the cream-colored distressed cabinets, the large center island that's done in a dark color and also distressed. There's a prep sink in the island with disposal, which has come in very handy, and the new appliances are very nice. I don't mind unloading the dishwasher...yet :).

Jack and Lucy have their own barstools they use to eat on at the island, and the large kitchen table space is a huge improvement from our old house, where you practically bumped into the wall when you scooted your chair back to get up :)

Thanks mom for the lovely housewarming present, the new kitchen rug and seat cushions. I love it all!


Another view of the kitchen. The opening on the right, just past the wine rack is the pantry door, and the pantry is a long, hallway type pantry...so nice to be able to walk into it. The cabinetry on the right starts with the fridge, followed by an opening where we have a "coffee station", then more cabinets before the 90 degree turn from where you can see the countertop against the backwall with the stove. So, basically, the kitchen is a rectangular shape, with three of the walls housing all the cabinetry (which we so needed as we have filled up almost every cabinet) and then the area I'm standing in to take this picture is an open wall into the downstairs den.




Standing in the kitchen, looking into the den. We have a tv in that armoire, although we mostly watch tv in the upstairs media room. The opening to the left goes to our bedroom.




Foggy, because I just stepped back inside, but this is the view from the front door. Dining room (not pictured) is directly on your right.



Front door/ entryway


Okay, here, I'm standing in the little hallway at our bedroom entryway. To the right of the stairs goes to Connor's room, the guest room and guest bath, and eventually to the laundry and garage. To the left of the stairs is a hall bath, the den, and opening to the kitchen.

The window to the left of the fireplace looks out onto the screened-in porch, and the door to the porch is on the right of the fireplace.





My new favorite piece of furniture - and BEST CraigsList find EVER: a sofa from the Jeff Zimmerman collection. (These pieces sell for several thousand new- owner said this one was $4000, and I paid $350! I'm telling you, if you aren't shopping Clist, you should!) We ended up knowing the owner of the couch once I contacted them (has happened several times with pieces I've bought off CL :). It is filled with down and is hands down my new favorite place to nurse Connor. I love how my friend Tiffany calls it the "Matilda Jane" couch. It's a funky blend of all kinds of fabrics that are very different, yet all go together. Everything is reversible, and the trim on all the pieces is so pretty. I love it!




So, that's it for now. I'll work on getting more pics up soon.

Let me out!

Super cute "Lucy-ism"

So, on the way home from Pump It Up this morning, Jack and Lucy were discussing when their grandparents would be visiting next.

Jack: "Baba coming soon, tomorrow..."

Lucy: "No, Jack."

Jack: "No! Baba coming TOMORROW!"

Lucy: (oddly enough, with quite a bit of patience): "Jack, Baba is not coming until Connor is getting "bath"itized."



I love it!

And yes, said bathitized is taking place this month, Aug. 21. We're looking forward to it!