I wouldn't change a thing

I know my posts have been few and far between. It's summer....what can I say? Baseball...Pool...Parks...oh, and remember that puppy? I haven't even mentioned the puppy since she came home, have I?!
What a wild ride! haha. I definitely have a teenager, preschooler, and two toddlers at this point....things get crazy, but I love it and I wouldn't change a thing!
Every morning, when they are all awake and ready to go, I walk into the kitchen to make breakfast and slip across the floor on a puddle, almost breaking my neck, of the dog's water that Joseph has poured out in a matter of seconds. I'm pretty used to it by now, so I calmly throw a towel down, as I'm sliding, and keep going.
Making breakfast...actually, let's change that to ANYTHING that goes on in the kitchen....cooking, washing dishes, cleaning up, it means there is a puppy trying to lay on my moving feet, a one year old HANGING on my shorts as a monkey would a branch, and a three year old asking EVERY single question she could possibly ever think of. Should we even talk about the dishwasher?? That is the prime spot for the baby and puppy...they can hear it, despite my quiet attempt to open. Things take a little longer, but I wouldn't change a thing.
Play time. This has taken some work to make Ellie understand that play time really doesn't mean that for her. It really means lay there, don't grab toys, don't jump, pretend to have a tea party, be a pillow, don't play bite, don't take food, be a block table, and pretty princess. I'm very proud of how well she does this now...there are still occasional slip ups, but that's to be expected. She loves her little humans so much.
Bed time. This means puppy play/training time and she KNOWS! When I come downstairs without any little people, IT'S ON! She really enjoys that time, of course. The walks are her favorite...she stays at heel, doesn't budge as all these barking country dogs with electric fences get almost nose to nose with her, but does get insanely excited if we run into a human along the way. Loves to play fetch and just burn out all of that energy she has to contain around the kiddos.

Bringing a puppy into our already chaotic family has definitely had its challenges, but I most definitely wouldn't change a thing! I love that our children will grow up having their very own dog that will be by their sides...

How about some cute puppy pictures??
Some are a little blurry or messy...that's what happens with children and puppies...

 

You had me at hello, little Joe-Joe

Our beautiful baby boy, I cannot believe it has been a year. You are absolutely our little miracle. You gave us quite a scare. We knew you were strong from the beginning and you amaze us every day.

Joseph,
"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always.
As long as I'm breathing,
My baby you'll be."

That made me cry to type, but it is true. I love you more than any words I could type and you will always be my baby boy.

When we decided it was time to add a new little love to our lives, Mommy was obsessed with checking to see when you were "in" there. I think I found out before it was even possible....haha...the Dr wouldn't even see us yet!
We fell in love with you the second that I knew. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but we decided to wait and fill everyone in on Thanksgiving by having Madeline wear a Big Sister shirt. You were a huge surprise to everyone. I will never forget the looks on our family's faces as they read the shirt.

 

Shortly after we announced you to the world, you decided to make sure we were fully paying attention to you. I have never been so scared in my life, Joseph.....oh, except maybe when you climbed up the steps and I didn't know where you were, and when you tried to eat that rock, and when you climb onto the toy box, and...well, let's just say you have been living up to the initial scare you gave us.haha. But, really, my heart had never felt so much pain and I have never prayed so hard in my life as I did when I thought we may lose you. Daddy knew you were strong enough to pull through the whole time...even when the Dr. wasn't even sure. I must have checked your heartbeat every 5 minutes for weeks and it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard every single time.

Even with the whole scare, I loved being pregnant with you. To be honest, you didn't slow me down one bit...we were working out and running all over the place. I think that's why you're so "on the go" now. You kicked all the time and did acrobats in my belly. I loved watching you grow inside of me and imagining what you would look like, how much you would weigh, if you were a boy or girl!!!..that's right, we didn't find out and wanted to be surprised.  More belly shots:

 

 

 

You were due on May 31st, but on May 28th we were on our way to the hospital! Everyone showed up at our house, waiting to meet you....only it was a false alarm. Joseph, this story could not be more "you" if I made it up.haha. So, we waited patiently until it was time...it was only an entire week that you had Mommy in contractions, feeling like any second could be it. There were quite a few false alarms with you, kid. After the false alarm, anything went....even jumping on the trampoline....

June 2nd, I woke Daddy up around 11pm and it was raining so hard. We had a long way to go to the hospital, but your Daddy got us there safely in the rain...Nan was with us too. Joshua and Madeline were at home sleeping....go figure. When we arrived at the hospital, Mommy's water broke and that really meant BABY TIME! haha.

Well, as you should expect, you threw another wrench in our plans and started scaring the Dr with your heart rate. So, Mommy was taken in to surgery and at 6:37 am on June 3rd, we welcomed you into the world, 8 lb, 12 oz, and 21 inches. I will always remember those words, "It's a BOY!!" and Daddy saying, "I KNEW IT!!".haha. Screaming your little lungs out, until they laid you on me....then you stopped and stared. We looked into each other's eyes for the longest time and it was the best feeling. I could still look into those eyes forever. You were our little Joseph Anthony.

The first time I comforted you.

 

 

Your name. It is so special to us and our family. I hope you will always love it because of all the meaning behind it. The first obvious is that Daddy's name is Anthony Joseph and you are named after him. Next, Daddy had a "Pop-pop Joe" that he loved so much...his wife was Madeline, Daddy's "Little Mom" that he also adored and I'm sure he will have plenty of stories about both of them to tell you. The very first time your sister met you and Daddy had his own Madeline and Joseph together, he cried....we all did. It was so important for those names to live on to your Daddy. Next, your Pap's name is Joseph Anthony...and Pap had always been your Mommy's best friend. Pap taught Mommy so many things when she was little, he was always so silly and fun...he may have turned me into a tomboy, but it made me into the Mommy I am today. I don't think of things as "boy" or "girl"...when you hunt and fish and do home repairs and sand decoys and do everything your Dad does, it's no longer just "boy" things.haha. I adore him for that. Me-mom loved it too...obviously, she spent so much time choosing it!! Your name has so many years, memories, strength and love behind it....so, even though it is so far from being popular these days, I hope the story makes you cherish it.

Let's talk about now. You are such an amazing little guy. Definitely keep us going, but we love every second of it. You started walking the day before your birthday and you haven't stopped since...walking every chance you get! You are such a little chatterbox...saying and repeating new words every day. There are times that you just start saying something that I didn't even know you knew! haha. Your "lovies" are your favorite...a little white bunny and a brown giraffe, you sleep with them every night. You LOVE watermelon, corn, chicken, kale smoothies, the list goes on and on...we have yet to find something you refuse. You get into everything...especially if you're not supposed to have it. You love the outdoors and always want to be there. Love to be worn, ask to get "up", and are always up for some cuddles...my little lovebug. You still wake up at night to nurse...I think you like to find time for just us.

 

I love you more than you could ever imagine. You had me at hello, little Joe-Joe.

the grumpire

I didn't write the one year blog last night. I will. I need time to process.haha. Plus, we had baseball last night...I feel like we have baseball every night...oh, that's right, we do!

I decided to take Madeline last night. Lately, I have been leaving both littles with Anthony, bless his heart, so I can actually follow the game. This team stinks, but that's another story. I explained to Madeline before we got there that I needed her to sit/be in the same area as my chair, that I would be watching the game, and we were not going out to the other field to play. I brought a little chair for her, some bubbles to blow in between innings, crackers and her leap pad. Just to kind of seal the deal I explained that the umpire is the boss and he prefers for children to be well behaved....don't side-eye me, she's three...unless you have a three year old, you have NO idea. She also hadn't taken a nap, so I wasn't sure what I was setting myself up for. So, we walk the very long walk to the field, set up our stuff and got comfortable. Madeline then leaned over to me and whispered, "Mooooom, which one is the grumpire?". Well, I started laughing uncontrollably, of course! And I did not correct her because, in most cases, that's true! haha.

Have I mentioned lately how open, direct and outgoing this child is? She will talk to anyone...and there are times I want to put my hand over her mouth because she will say anything!!!

We also had to use the porta potty (?..I spelled it how I say it) last night which was an adventure. She leaned over and said those words you don't want to hear at the baseball field after a hot day of the porta potty stewing, "I really need to go". So, on our long walk over, I explained how gross it is,  how it doesn't flush, and how she was going to see yucky things. She was completely intrigued at this point. We get in and she says how gross it smells. I wrap the toilet seat up like a mummy and let her do her thing, she's asking questions about it the ENTIRE time...some are too gross to share. She looks over and sees the urinal, "what's that for?". I explain that it's for boys to pee in. "Why can't girls pee in it?"..."We don't have a penis to aim it in there."..."Ooooooh". It was actually a lot longer of a conversation, if you can imagine, three year olds have a lot of questions. We finished up and opened the door to see a man waiting outside..."Please tell me you didn't hear our entire conversation."...He just chuckled. Then, here it comes, that moment you wish you were fast enough to put your (sanitized) hand over your three year olds mouth. "Oh, hey, you're probably going to use that penis thing, huh?". DEAD. Just DEAD.