4 months

John is 4 months old today! It's truly amazing how big he's gotten. 4 month stats:

15.9 lbs (75th percentile)
25 inches (50th percentile)

John is sleeping very well...he's goes down about 8:30 and sleeps until we wake him up around 6AM. Just today I was getting ready to give him a bath and put him in the exersaucer. He started talking up a storm and I looked over and he was turning himself all around, reaching for the toys and just laughing! I have noticed that John talks a lot more than Gracie did and he's so much louder!!! We got the ok from the doctor to start solid foods...he's going to love it! He's so much bigger than Gracie was at that age, we're already into size 6 months!!!!! What a chub!!!

Dave is 31!

My wonderful husband celebrated his 31st birthday this past Monday the 17th. (Wow, a whole decade ago he turned 21...duh...time is really speeding by. I remember my 21st like it was yesterday, well kind of!) This year we kept it low key with an at home celebration that included the kids, balloons and party hats! I mean what more could any man want!?!?! Gracie was so excited when she got home and saw the "birthday party" and had a hard time understanding that this wasn't her party, it was Papa's. (Maybe it is a good thing that the kids share the same birthday...this way when John has his party, it'll be Gracie's too!)

Both kids are doing great! Gracie is doing a phenomenal job potty training...she still has a couple of poop accidents at school but she's working on it! Everyday she comes home with a new saying, the latest is "that'll be fun!" She uses this when you tell her what we're about to do. Mom: Let's take a bath. Grace: That'll be fun! Mom: Let's take our shoes off. Gracie: That'll be fun. You get the idea. John is growing like a crazy man and many who see him comment on how chubby he is. Him and Gracie were about the same weight when they were born but John has definitely packed on more poundage than Gracie did. He is talking, smiling, and giggling everyday, especially at the ladies! He is a bit of a diva though, (according to his Aunt Sissy)! He can entertain himself but definitely prefers to be held. I don't spoil him!! No way!!


David enjoying his birthday pie

John loved his party hat!

Gracie with her pink cupcake at Papa's party

Say cheese Gracie!

Mama's big boy!

Gracie loves her little brother!

Don't worry...no babies were harmed in the making of this video!

Baptism & Potty Training

Baby John, Pat and Pop Pop outside the church

Here we all are listening to Reverend Cobb

John being baptized

Ella being baptized

Me, John, Jen and Ella. John was sweating and had already changed!

Today we had John and Ella baptized. It was a bittersweet day for the family; a day of mixed feelings for me. I felt so much joy and happiness that the kids were being baptized in the same church I was. But I couldn’t help but feel the pain of my mom'sabsence. She was there in spirit but it’s just not the same. Nothing is the same.

The babies behaved during the church service and even little Gracie (with the help of her Goldfish) was quiet. After the ceremony, we headed to brunch. Dave and I weren’t sure about this brunch because Gracie was on Day 2 of potty training. This was the first time we had been away from the house and came equip with the potty chair, M&M’s, stickers, and the Thomas the Train noise makers. But we were still nervous about her peeing in the middle of a restaurant. If any of you know Clarendon, parking is a pain. We parked several blocks from the restaurant and therefore decided to leave the potty-chair behind. Halfway through lunch, Gracie said she had to go potty. Jen and I took her back there where it was my job to hold her on top of this seemingly huge toilet. Grace is very independent lately and I am not her favorite person. Those two don’t mix and I was told, “I do it Mama, go away!” So I did and she fell in. An obvious unsuccessful potty attempt. (By the way, I didn’t just let her go. I did hold on ever so lightly but she still fell in. Oh well!)

Gracie hadn’t peed since 9 o’clock that morning and it was after 2. Now we had to make it the 45-minute drive home. As we were driving, Gracie asked for some water. Oh dear Lord, I hadn’t given the child anything to drink since we left the house that morning. No wonder she didn’t have to pee! Potty training by dehydration!!!! Poor baby. So we gave her some water and not 5 minutes later, we pulled off in Fairfax because she had to go. I’ve never loved my Explorer so much. We had a whole ladies room ready in the back. She sat and sat and nothing!!!! We raced home and no joke, she went in the potty about 5 times in the span of being home for 20 minutes. So far, so good.
Gracie showing Katie how to pee pee on the potty

Gracie and her big girl panties!!

Everyone likes to use the potty with their sneakers on, right??

Move over baby John, I'm comin' in!