Leaving In a Minivan

Well, we are off to Chicago for the weekend. Thursday the boys and I will drive to Michigan to meet up with Mario who is now working in Detroit. He'll work there Friday while I hang out in Michigan and then we will all drive to Chicago. Bridal Shower, Bachelorrete Party, Baby Shower (for two different people)... should be good times. Here is a fuzzy picture to remember us by while we are gone. I know I've said it before, but MJ really likes his brother. He plays with him and gets him to laugh. He's also started to play again with the only baby doll we have. He mimics the way Mario and I play with Joey. He does "flying baby" and other games with the baby. It is quite cute.

Oh, and before I forget, I'd like to mention that I leave for this journey with 2 boys who are in very good sleep habits. I hope this trip doesn't mess that up. MJ (who is growing smarter by the minute) I believe has started to realize that bedtime is ok, it is nice to relax and fall asleep. I leave the room and he says "Daddy is working, Mommy is working, Joey is sleeping, and MJ is sleeping". I tell him I'll be working while he's sleeping, so I have to leave the room (which is true). He wakes up in the morning all excited and says "I did it... You fall asleep in the big boy bed!"

Joey (my sleepiest baby from the beginning) will sleep a big stretch of about 7-9 hours, eat once, and then sleep some more. He still occasionally falls asleep on me before I'm ready. For example, the night this picture was taken, he last ate at 5:30pm, which I worried would get him up too early. So, at 8:30pm I tried to wake him up and bathe him... the kid was actually falling back asleep in his tub (which by the way is way too small for him already). He managed to eat a little bit more and then sleep until 4:30am. What a crazy kid.

Take a Picture!

We went to the library today and Mr. Tony was there leading the story time (the kids really like him the best). Speaking of story time, MJ proved again that he loves his little brother...he is a bit protective of him. At story time, a little girl came over b/c she was fascinated with Joey in his car seat, and whenever she'd get close to Joey, MJ would lean over and kind of hover over Joey, or put a hand on him. Very cute!

Drew's mommy is still hanging in there, and we extended our play time by heading to the park. I had a camera with me just in case a Kodak moment arrived. Sure enough, MJ (who really isn't the biggest swing guy) hopped on a swing and said, "Take a picture" I guess I take pictures of him almost every time he gets on the swing so he was ready for it. Deb and I also noticed that we were going for the yellow and blue color scheme today (even Joey and I were sporting those colors).

New Parents

Also, this weekend we were able to visit with Mario's brother and sister-in-law Christian and Michelle. They drove up from Jacksonville, NC and stayed with the Kazas. Michelle is 33 weeks pregnant, so sometime in mid-July they will be new parents! I was having moments of reflection on new parenthood. We will be getting 2 new neices this year and one unknown all from first time parents. Seeing Christian and Michelle after having our first 2 kids gave me a glimpse of how my friends and family must have felt seeing Mario and I have MJ. It is just truly exciting to see how the love between two people can grow into a family. I find myself relating to Michelle and seeing her body grow and change as it makes this new baby. Becoming a parent is entering this great unknown, but by God's great plan, at least our bodies know what to do...and we kind of grow along with that.

Joey with Uncle Christian and Aunt Michelle.

Weekend Fun

Friday we watched Drew. He's a friend of ours from the library, and he's going to be a big brother next week. Drew and MJ play so well together.

Joey on the couch...

We spent Saturday-Sunday with the Kazas in Manassas. There house is totally party central. MJ had a fun time with all of his cousins. He and Peter made a big mess of themselves and then got a good bath.

Joey's Buddy - fixed

Oops. Picture problem...I'll try this again. Mario's cousin Tony and his wife Tara live in our neighborhood. Their older son (Tony) is almost 4 and is truly fascinating to MJ. Their younger son (Xavier) is 7 weeks younger than Joey. So now both of our boys have good friends. I think Joey and Xavier had a nice time hanging out together today.

Joey's buddy

Mario's cousin Tony and his wife Tara live in our neighborhood. Their older son (Tony) is almost 4 and is truly fascinating to MJ. Their younger son (Xavier) is 7 weeks younger than Joey. So now both of our boys have good friends. I think Joey and Xavier had a nice time hanging out together today.

Weekend Fun

Mario and I agree that this was a pretty fun weekend. We were quite busy, and he worked a lot (I'm looking forward to the job when he doesn't work on weekends) but it was still good. Saturday, MJ and I got our haircut (MJs was free at home, and mine was cheap at the Hair Cuttery). We got a babysitter for MJ and then took Joey out with us to help suprise Andrea for her 26th bithday. Her husband Andy planned this great suprise. Kelly and I took Andrea out to dinner and we returned to a party full of people. Kelly was not ready for the picture, but sadly, it is the only one we have from the night. Happy Birthday Andrea!!!

Sunday was a fun day... despite all of the forecasts for rain, the day was nice... but windy. Perfect kite day. We all tried very hard to get this kite in the air. However, when Mario was the kite holder and I had the string, we got it right on the third try. This was MJs first time actually flying a kite, but somehow (I guess from books) he knew that the kite was going to fly in the sky before we even got out there. Oh, he has seen Mary Poppins a few times, so maybe he got it from that. Joey was awake in his stroller the whole time. I'm not sure if he could see much of what was going on, but he was happy.