Mixed Emotions

After about 2 months, it is official.  We are moving to a new house!  Although buying a new home was not in our plans at the moment, a good opportunity presented itself and we decided to bite on it.  The house has more space, a full basement, another bathroom and a huge yard!

 It was a tough decision.  We decided to put our house up for sale at the beginning of November.  It was stressful cleaning up the house for showings.  We scrambled multiple times to clean up our clutter.  Thank goodness for our camper, which housed a lot of our junk throughout the process.  After only 8 days on Zillow, we had an offer that we chose to accept.  From that point, there were plenty of ups and downs.  We learned a lot about buying and selling of Real Estate.  The number 1 thing we learned is patience.  There were plenty of delays and snags in the process.  Two days before Christmas we got some bad news and were so afraid that the whole deal was going to fall through.  Adam and I have had many long discussions, plenty of phone calls and emails, frustration, anxiety and excitement.  There were sleepless nights and tears.  I kept saying that if it was meant to be, it'd work out.  Fortunately, through lots of prayers and vigilance, everything fell in to place.  We sold our house officially 3 days ago and then officially bought our new house the next day.  We will be moving in about two weeks.  

Initially, packing and moving seemed extremely daunting.  But, as I've started, it hasn't been too bad.  It helps that we have time and aren't pressured to move out immediately.  The snow days have been a blessing in disguise because I've spent every free moment cleaning closets and cupboards, boxing and packing.  

The boxes are starting to pile up!  Just like every other project we've ever had, our front living room has served as the storage space!

While moving to a new house with more space is super-exciting, it is also a little sad.  The home we live in now is filled with so many memories, and it's a little hard to leave.  Though it's nothing fancy, it's the place Adam and I called home after we got married, the place we brought 2 babies home from the hospital, our safe place with so many firsts  and warm memories.  We have a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in our house.  It looks nothing like it did the first day we walked in.  

I pray that as we move on to a new chapter in our lives, our home is filled with much love, warm moments, and abundant blessings from God!

5 & 6 Months

Vince is growing like a weed and changing so much!  He's now 6.5 months old and learning new things overnight.  It seems like once babies reach six months, they become less infant-like.  That's definitely true for Mr. Vince!

Throughout his fifth month, he started baby food.  His first tastes were green beans, which he likes.  He's been through all of the veggies and fruits; he likes all of them except peas.  He literally gags and makes some pretty awful faces.  I remember his sister was the same way with peas.  Eventually she really learned to like them.  Nowadays, peas are one of Vera's favorite vegetables.

First taste of baby food.  We got a few sour faces.

Vince nearly refuses to lay on his back.  When you put him on his back, he immediately rolls over.  When he is on his belly, he vigorously kicks and "swims" on his abdomen.  It's pretty funny to watch.  When sitting in his bouncy seat or swing, sometimes he gets so excited that he flaps his arms and legs--super crazy baby!

So excited!

Recently, he's started to roll and scoot a little when he's down on the floor.  If there is something he wants, he finds a way to get to it.  It may take him a little while, but sooner or later he finds his way to it.  He knows how to use his arms and turn himself toward whatever he wants.  When he's on his belly, he really gets rocking, and sometimes he can get his knees under him for a few seconds.  He's going to be crawling sooner than I am ready!

During these weeks, Vince also made his debut in the ExerSaucer.  He loves it!  He's gotten really good at getting the whole thing rocking as he jumps.  Recently, he sat in the Jumparoo at my parents' house, and he really gets that thing bouncing too!

First time in the ExerSaucer.

He reaches and grabs anything he can.  He's started to pull our hair and grab my earrings.  He scratches and pinches while you're feeding him and as he's trying to fall asleep.  Speaking of, he's pretty easy to put to sleep.  If he's tired, oftentimes his eyes are closed literally seconds after you sit down to rock him.  I think he's almost ready to start going to bed awake and putting himself to sleep; although, I will never be ready to give up the rocking and snuggle time.

Overall, he is a very happy and friendly baby.  (It's hard to believe he is the same kid we had a few months ago!)  When you talk to him, he will always give you a big, toothless smile.  He has started to really jabber and squeal a lot.  He can also say mamama and dadada.  Often, when he wants attention, he whines like a little puppy until you give him his toys, feed him, or give him the attention he wants.

He must've had a rough day at Patty's because he fell asleep in his bouncy seat watching Vera run around.

Vince really loves his sister.  He's always looking for her and laughing at her.  When the house is quiet, we can tell that he is looking for action and noise.  She does a good job of being in his face and teasing him with toys.

Around the end of the year, he developed a diaper rash, low-grade fever, and snotty nose, which prompted us to believe he was teething.  Sure enough, about 2 weeks later, two little teeth popped through the skin on the bottom.  As of now, they're becoming more visible when he smiles.

He was feeling so lousy that he fell asleep while I was folding clothes right next to him.  Poor baby!

Around the same time the teething started, Vince also learned to sit up on his own.  He's still very wobbly, but does a pretty good job with some pillow propping.  He loves to sit up and play.  It gives him a better view of the action going on around him.  I'm afraid we'll be packing away the swing, bouncy seat and playmat really soon.  :(

Sweet boy!

We've had several snow days lately, and one day I walked up to Vince and said, "Yay Vince!" and he started to clap.  He's really getting too big too fast.

Overall, he's meeting a lot of his milestones sooner than his sister.  Patty told me that it's because he's the second child AND he's a boy.  Regardless, he keeps us on our toes and makes our hearts happy.

"Nora"

Meet Nora.  She's one of Vera's favorite dolls.  We bought her at the Fall Festival just a few days after the real Nora was born.  (Hence the name)  Nora goes to church with us almost every week because she travels in a handy little carrying case with a tiny crocheted blanket. It's perfect for Vera to take to church because it isn't too big and Vera can carry it herself.

Tonight was Nora's baptism.  I was rocking Vin to sleep while listening to Vera play.  She didn't know I was listening, but the monologue went something like this:

Vera:  "You're going to be baf-tized today, Nora.
Nora:  Oh no!  Will it hurt?
Vera:  It's Holy Water.  Don't be scared.  It's just water.  We'll be right by you.

Then, as she knelt over the back of the couch, she extended Nora out and said, "Baf-tize of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

I was shocked to hear her say the actual "...Father, Son and Holy Spirit" part.  She is awfully observant because I've never explicitly told Vera what is said when someone is baptized.  Amazing what she picks up.

Later, when she was done with the baptism, I asked her what it means to be baptized and she said, "It's when you pour water over a baby's head.  I went to Blake's church so the real Nora could get baf-tized.  Vince was baf-tized at our church.  I stayed at Aunt Lindsey's house when Scarlett was baf-tized."  I think she says "baf-tized" because she associates it with "bath."  Makes sense, doesn't it?

I guess she does know a thing or two about what it means to "baf-tize" a baby.  Every one of Vera's aunts has had (or is having) a baby, so baptism is definitely something she's exposed to.  I had to write this down before I forgot about it.  It truly warmed my heart and made me smile to see her pretend in such a creative way.

Here is the newest Catholic in our family, Nora.

Christmas 2014

This year's Christmas was exceptionally special for two reasons.  It's Vince's first Christmas, and we have many great memories of that.  Secondly, it was our last Christmas (possibly) in our house before we move.  I did my best to soak in each moment of the holidays, because next year we'll probably be making new memories in a new home.

Santa came while everyone was napping on Christmas Eve.  Vera didn't even notice the gifts when she woke from her nap.  It wasn't until she went to take her diaper off that she realized Santa had paid a visit.  She was so excited that she was almost speechless.  She ran giddily from room to room announcing Santa had come.  It was so fun to watch her tear open her gifts, and see the excitement on her face!

Vin gave his best shot at opening his gifts.  He managed to chew on the paper and the gift inside.

A new swing for the swing set--in big girl size!

Kinetic Sand and cookie cutters.

Love her face here!

Vera helped Vince open some of his gifts.

This is a "beauty salon doll" that came with plenty of hair accessories and make up.  Vera named her Rapunzel because she has really long hair.

She wasted no time hopping on the scooter.  She actually did really well on her first attempts.

 We spent the rest of our Christmas Eve playing with all of the new surprises.  It was a fun night with lots of great memories.  After the kids went to bed, Adam and I enjoyed a movie and some drinks.

Princess Anna

Princess Anna and her sidekick brother.
Santa brought the beanbag, and it's a perfect seat for Vince.

Princess Anna and her horse.

We played a lot of beauty shop.  The spray bottle was a huge hit.  Rapunzel's hair was soaked by the end of the night.

The next day was Christmas Day.  After church, we took off for the Bertke Christmas at Grandma Otte's house.

Vince and Eli hung out together for a bit.  Eli is about a month older than Mr. Vince.

Two days later, we went back to Grandma Otte's house for our family Christmas.

Nora-3 months     Scarlett-1 month     Vera-3 years      Vince-6 months     Blake-2 years

Vince tried to open his own gifts again.  But he got a little snippet of paper in his mouth, gagged a little, and then spit up.  That prompted the end of him opening his own gifts.

And finally, we ended our Christmas parties with the Pearson family on Sunday.

Rosie had the kids put on a "performance" before the gift-opening.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, filled with many warm memories and time with family.